Collective Haul (Sephora, Clinique, Essence, Vera Wang, Seventeen, Ecotools)

Hello my lovelies, how is everyone doing? Today is a sunny but chilly day here and I decided to write a haul post about all the goodies that I bought recently. I've been buying all these since the end of October, I also did a mini Mac haul last week but I took the pictures for this post before I bought them so I may include them in a future haul. Let's continue with the haul!

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clarifying Lotion

I've used the Clinique Clarifying Lotion #2 for almost 5, and I really like it. But since I was using it only on certain areas for my blemishes, I decided to go for the Anti-Blemish one this time to see if it works better. After using it for almost a month my opinion is that both this and the #2 Clarifying Lotion do pretty much the same job, the only problem is that the Anti-Blemish one is super strong, so unless your skin can handle it, I'd say go for the #2 which is milder and has a better scent.

Vera Wang Princess Perfume

This has been my HG perfume for the past year, and since the one I was using  finished, I went and bought a new one. I can't really describe the smell because I'm really bad at doing that, but for me it's the perfect everyday perfume, it's not too light or too strong. I'm very picky with my perfumes, I don't like that most of the perfumes I'm testing out on my skin at the stores, after an hour all end up smelling the same. Princess keeps its unique and light scent even after many hours of wearing it.

Sephora Smoothing & Brightening Concealer in Medium 05

I really wanted to try this highlighter/concealer for a long time, because I read that it's a really good dupe for YSL Touch Eclat and Mac's Prep n' Prime Highlighter, but this one is way cheaper. I was surprised that they have such a good color range, I chose the peach one because peach is a really good color corrector for my dark brown undereye circles. I have to admit that it's not very brightening, perhaps I should go for a more pinkish shade instead of a peachy one, but the peach does correct the brown shade of my undereye circles. It's not exactly a concealer so I like to use it on top of my regular one or maybe use it on its own whenever I feel like I just want to have a light coverage undereye my eyes. Perhaps next time I'll try the Mac Prep n' Prime Highlighter, because I used to have the YSL Touch Eclat and even though it's an amazing highlighter for underneath the eyes, it's ridiculously expensive.

Sephora 10HR Wear Perfection Foundation in Medium 25-Beige

I got this foundation because there was a deal at Sephora buy one and get one free at the Sephora brand products, and because I really wanted to try the Smoothing & Brightening Concealer that I mentioned before I thought it was a great opportunity to try one of their foundations. I've only used this foundation twice and so far I have mixed feelings about it. I thought it would be similar to Mac's Pro Longwear foundation because they're both longwearing but I was wrong. Firstly the texture is not liquid, it's something between a liquid and a mousse, and I'm a person who prefers liquid foundations Secondly it's not as long lasting as it claims to be, it doesn't stay for more than 5 hours and after that it starts to transfer all over my face. And lastly the coverage it's light to medium, I was expecting more of a medium to full. The only thing that I really like it's the shade, I chose the 25 Medium and I have to say that it's a great match for my NC25 skintone, I like the fact that it's a true beige shade rather than a yellow one like Mac's foundation shades are.

EcoTools Six Piece Essential Eye Set

This is a set of brushes that I wanted to try for a long time, ever since I saw Lucy using them in her Youtube tutorials, so I ordered them from iHerb here , and I'm surprised that they're very cheap for their quality. I love the fact that they are short handled, because that makes them very travel friendly and also cute! Since I got them I seriously can't stop using them, I love them all, especially the angled and the blending one! At first I thought that because they have synthetic hair it would be difficult to really pack the color on the lids but I was wrong, they're doing an excellent job and because they have synthetic hair they're more gentle on my sensitive eyes.

EcoTools Bamboo Flat Eyeliner

One more brush from Ecotools that I wanted to try is their angled liner one, but I couldn't find it so I went for the flat eyeliner instead, which I also got from iHerb here. I'm quite happy with it, it's very dense and it applies with precision my eyeshadows as eyeliners, especially on my lower lashlines, but it doesn't create very thin lines.

Seventeen Supreme polish #150

Seventeen it's my HG drugstore brand, especially when it comes to nail polishes! They released four new shades with their fall collection, two cremes and two shimmery ones, this was the one that I liked the most. It's a true black shade with lots of small silver glitter particles, when it's on the nail it almost looks like a graphite shade. Very pretty for those who love dark and vampy shades on their nails with a hint of sparkle, without being too much.

Essence Longlasting lipstick in 07 Natural Beauty

I've been looking for this lipstick for almost two months but it was always out of stock, and now I finally found it! Actually it's the only shade that I wanted to buy from the new longlasting lipstick line. It's a medium neutral pink with plum undertones, such a beautiful shade with a great texture, it's something between a Mac lustre and cremesheen lipstick, and it's also quite pigmented.

Have you tried any of the products that I mentioned? Do you like them?

Let me know!

Stila "In The Know" Eyeshadow Palette Review.

Hello everyone! I know it's been a few weeks since I wrote a post but now I'm back with a review for an eyeshadow palette that I'm sure that most of you will love it! It's the Stila "In The Know" eyeshadow palette, which contains only matte eyeshadows, yes it's a rare thing to find but there is a premade palette that contains only matte eyeshadows! I got this palette almost a year ago, and to be completely honest with you I haven't used it as much as I would want to, but there are shades in it that I reach for almost every single time I do my make up.

In this palette you get 10 neutral matte eyeshadows, with an amazing silky texture. I have to admit that Stila knows how to do a good matte eyeshadow, they're amazingly pigmented,very silky and blendable. You also get a full size Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in "Halfmoon", which has one of the best textures you can find at an eyepencil. The shades in this palette are:

Air - an almost white shade
Wind - an ivory shade
Desert - a light cream peachy shade
Clay - a tan/flesh shade
Earth - a dark warm toned brown
Driftwood - a medium warm toned brown
Fire - a dark orange shade
Rain - a muted mauvish brown
Smoke - a medium grey
Ebony - a true black

The shades I've used the most from this palette are the warm toned ones, just because the cool ones make me look sick. I love using Desert all over my lids, it's a little lighter than the color of my lids and it brightens my eyes a bit, it's a great dupe for Mac's Arena eyeshadow. Clay is also a good "all over the lid" eyeshadow, but because it's almost identical to my actual lid color sometimes it doesn't show up at all. Earth and Driftwood are the two browns that I enjoy using the most, sometimes I use Earth as a liner and it works perfectly. Air and Wind are the perfect "browbone" whitish-ivory cream shades and the fact that they're matte it makes them perfect for that job. Fire is a very unique shade I would say to be included in this palette, because it's a dark but bright orange, I've used it a few times on the crease, it creates a warmth to my eyes, and when it's blended with the rest of the warm toned browns like Driftwood and Earth it creates a beautiful "fall" look. Rain and Smoke are the ones that I rarely use just because I don't look good with greys. Also in my opinion it would be better if the palette came with a warm toned shade of eyepencil instead of a grey.

I really like the packaging of this palette, it's very pretty and girly but practical, it's very lightweight because it's made from cardboard, and it has a magnetic closure. Also it comes with a huge mirror which I find very handy, unlike the Urban Decay's Naked palettes.

Stila is not available in Greece, I have to mention that I bought it from Beautybay, now it retails for 30 euros but I got it with a Black Friday discount last year, and since Black Friday is really close keep your eyes open that day for any discounts.

Overall I think that if you love matte eyeshadows, especially neutral ones, this palette is a must have for you. You can create beautiful everyday looks for the school, the office or anywhere you want. You can also mix them with shimmery ones to keep a balance on your eye look. The eyeshadows have an amazing quality, I haven't found such good quality matte eyeshadows at Mac for sure. I highly recommend it.


Have you tried the Stila "In The Know" palette before? 
Let me know!

October Favorites

I still can't believe this, but November it's already here, but the weather has been so good all this time that it feels like it's September! Anyway it's time for my monthly favorites, and as you will see I didn't have lots of new favorites last month, but this time I will show you some of my non beauty favorites too, because the past few months I hadn't show you any. So let's start.

Apivita Creamy Face & Eye Foam Cleanser with Olive and Lavender

I've already mention this cleanser a lot the past few months, it should be in my previous monthly favorites but I completely forgot about it, but anyway I'm adding it now. This cleanser is incredible, so good that it actually helped my oily but dehydrated skin so much and now I no longer have dry patches all over my face. If you have the same skintype as me, or even just normal or combination skin, you should give it a try, I'm pretty sure you that will love it!

Burt's Bees Sensitive Night Cream

I used this moisturizer mostly at the beginning of October when my skin was a little bit more dry, and it helped a lot! It's a basic unscented moisturizer, with a very light texture like a mousse, but it hydrates really well. I wear this only at nightime because it can be a little too heavy under make up for my oily skin, but if you have normal skintype I think you will love it as a day time moisturizer too. It never broke me out, and as it says it's perfect for sensitive skins, because I've tried other moisturizers that are targeted for sensitive skins but they irritated my skin which for the record it's not super sensitive, so this one is a winner for me!

 Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 20

As for my makeup favorites, last month I enjoyed a lot this Maybelline concealer. It's my latest addition to my concealer collection, well actually no it's not, I recently got another one but I will show it to you in a future haul post. I have to admit that I have a concealer addiction, I always buy new ones, I use them for a while and then I move on to another, it's like I'm never fully satisfied, I have this problem with foundations too but with the concealers it's worst. So anyway back to the Fit Me concealer, I have to say that it really surprised me, in a good way, it's very hydrating, perfect for under the eyes. I don't know about you, but for me it's always hard to find a hydrating concealer even in the high end ones, so this one was such a good buy for the wintertime! My only problem is the shade, I wish that it wasn't that yellow, I prefer more peachy and beige ones, but nevertheless it's a great cheap concealer, and I think you should all try it.

NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss in Beige

Literally this is the only lip product that I've been using in October and I still do. I never thought that I would love a lipgloss that much, and I'm not even a lipgloss person, I believe that says a lot! Everything about it it's perfect, the texture, the color, everything. It's not sticky but also it's not watery, it has no shimmers which I love, and the shade is the perfect neutral pink that goes well with every single eye makeup look, what more can I ask? If you haven't tried it yet, please do! 

Essence Sweetheart Blush

This is one of Essence's newest shades, it's a very beautiful light pink shade, definitely not a cool toned one, it's more of a neutral pink with some beige undertones. It's the most lovely pink I've ever seen in a blush, and even though it's very light colored, as you can see from the swatch on my hand, it manages to really show up on my face and that's really surprising because I tend to have a problem with blushes in general, they all go sheer on my face. It's the perfect everyday blush in my opinion and the shade goes with every look, cool or warm toned. And the best part, it costs only 2.5 euros. 

Non Beauty Favorites

 

I think it was about time to start showing you some of my non beauty favorites again, and this time I have something that I absolutely loved watching for the whole month. I've always been hearing great things about Scandal but for some reason I was never interested in watching this tv show,  I think it must have been the fact that the show is written by Shonda Rimes who also wrote Grey's Anatomy, and I've never been a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, I think it was way too boring and meh. But I kept seeing all these GIFs at Tumblr and it looked kind of intresting so I gave it a chance and I'm telling you, it only took one episode and I was hooked! Within a month I watched both seasons and now I'm watching the third. This show somehow manages to always keep your interest, it has never being boring and the plot it's getting better with every single episode. I also have a huge admiration for every single one of Olivia Pope's coats, my only wish is to own one of them in the future! So yes this was a HG discovery for the month of October!

And last but not least, it was impossible not to include the second part of Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience album in my favorites this month! I loved the first one, it's still one of my most played albums in my playlist and the second part I think it's even better! My HG songs from this one are Electric Lady, Gimme What I Don't Know (I want) and Take Back The Night. It keeps the same mature sound as the first one but I think it has more of a beat, the tracks are definitely more rhythmic. Justin Timberlake is like a good old wine, he gets better with age. If you liked the first one you will love the second one too!

So these were all of my beauty and non beauty favorites for the month of October. What were your October favorites? Let me know!