Showing posts with label Real Techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real Techniques. Show all posts

Sunday, February 22, 2015

My Current Foundation Routine.

Hello my lovelies! I think it was about time to do a whole post about what face products I'm using and loving right now. These past few months I've been testing out lots of new foundations, concealers and powders and not only for my makeup, I've been testing out lots of new skincare products, but this is going to be a whole different post in the future. My main reason is because lately my face became more oily, so I've started a new foundation routine. I'm still trying to figure out which products are right for me but for my now this routine seems to work pretty well with my skin. 

Monday, March 31, 2014

Collective iHerb and Pharmacy Haul (Apivita, Bourjois, Real Techniques, Frezyderm, Elancyl, etc.)

If you follow me on Instagram you propably already know that a few weeks ago I placed two orders, one from iHerb and one from an online pharmacy, the Pharmnet, so I think it was about time to do a detailed haul post showing you exactly what I got.
Bourjois Happy Light Foundation
I'll start off with something that I got about a month ago and I absolutely love, the Bourjois Happy Light foundation. A couple of months ago I tried a sample of this foundation and I knew I had to get it in full size, the formulation of this foundation is something else! It doesn't have the texture of a regular foundation or any foundation that I've tried so far, it's extremely thin and fluidy, it provides a light to medium coverage and the best part is that even though it leaves a matte finish it's not that flat matte that most oil free foundations leave, but more of a glowy matte if that makes any sense. It may sounds really similar to Mac's Face & Body but it's not, Mac's F&B was extremely sticky on my face and it was really hard to blend , also the coverage was close to zero. Happy Light's texture is very similar to Garnier's BB cream for oily skins, I actually compared them both on my face and I find them extremely similar, they also provide the same coverage but the Garnier BB is more matte, it doesn't have the glow that Happy Light has. My only problem is that the shade 52 which I always buy at Bourjois foundations, the Happy Light in 52 is way too dark for me that's why I got the 51. I can still a small difference between my face and neck, especially the first half an hour of wearing it but after that it's like it melts with my skintone and I can't see any difference, which I find too weird.
 
Apivita Light Texture Face Cream SPF30 with Sea Lavender & Propolis
The quest for a face sunscreen that doesn't break me out has officially begun for me! Generally I have a really bad luck with face sunscreens, 99% of what I try always end up breaking me out, and I've tried so many brands, Avene, Vichy, LRP, Clinique, Korres, Shiseido, Roc, and many many more but in the end they all broke me out, and the ones that didn't, which are very few, they were extremely oily for my skintype. But there's one brand that so far I hadn't try and that's Apivita, so I decided to get the Light Texture Face Cream SPF30 with Sea Lavender & Propolis, which also came with a Face Mask with Sea Lavender as a gift, which is a huge bonus! I've tried it four times and so far I like it, I haven't noticed any break outs yet ,but it's be too early to tell. It doesn't leave the skin super matte, even though it says it's for oily skintypes, but it's not heavy at all. One time it did get shiny on my skin but that happened because I put way too much product on my face, and after I blotted my face with a blotting paper it didn't get shiny again even after many hours of wearing it.
 Elancyl Cellu Slim Night 
I don't know how many of you have tried anti-cellulite creams, but I have and that's because I do have a cellulite problem and to be honest I hate it, so once in a while I try a new one, and that time just happens to be only a few months before summer, (you get me right?). I do not expect any miracles from creams like these, but if the cream is good I do notice a difference at the texture of my skin, it's smoother and I like it. So far I've tried a few drugstore ones, which did absolutely nothing, and from french pharmacy brands I've only tried the Vichy one which I used to like until they changed the formula a few years ago. I've heard really good things about Elancyl, which is a very famous brand when it comes to slimming creams, so I got their newest one which is the Cellu Slim Night with Cecropia extract, Caffeine and booster GP4G, and it's an intensive night slimming care. I haven't tried it yet so I don't have an opinion about it, I only hope it works.

Frezyderm Moisturizing 24H Hydrating Cream
The last thing that I got is my HG moisturizer the Frezyderm Moisturizing 24H Hydrating Cream, because I just run out of the one that I had and I seriously cannot live without it! This is the third time that I've repurchased this moisturizer within 7-8 months, and for me that's a record, I don't think I've ever repurchased three times the same moisturizer in the past. If you want to know more about this moisturizer and why I absolutely love it, you can read my full review here.
Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge and Blush Brush
I always enjoy an iHerb haul, especially when it comes to make up brushes! I really wanted to get a second Blush Brush because the one that I had till now I've only used it for bronzer and I wanted a second one to use it for blushes, that's how much I love this brush! Also it was a great oppurtunity to try the Miracle Complexion Sponge, I've never tried the original Beautyblender because to be honest I would never spend 20 euros for a make up sponge that I would have to throw away after a couple of months but I read really good reviews about the Real Techniques one and it only costed me 5 euros so I said why not? Plus I really love sponges to apply my concealer, I always use some cheap disponsable ones, I hope this miracle complexion one will do an amazing job!
Cococare Jojoba Oil
Jojoba Oil is something that I've never tried before, and I read really good reviews about it. I got it mostly for my undereye area because sometimes it's super dry and an eye cream isn't moisturing enough for me, that's why I went for the Cococare Jojoba Oil, because even though it's a small bottle I think it will last me for ages as you only need a tiny amount of this for both eyes. I haven't tried it yet because I don't have a problem with dryness on my undereye area this period, but I hope I'll like it.

Thayers Unscented Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Formula
A witch hazel is also a product that I've never tried before and I really wanted to, and because I wasn't the only one, my brother also wanted to try it so I got the most plain one that I could find, the Unscented Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Formula. So far I've only tried it once, and I'm not so sure if I like it or not, it leaves a tight feeling on my face, maybe I will like it more at the summer when I'm super oily.




So that's everything that I got, I hope you liked it. Let me know if you've tried any of these products, I want to know your opinions about them! 

Oh and if you've never ordered from iHerb before, you can use the code TDZ975, and you will receive $10 off your first order of $40 or more, or $5 off if your order is less than $40.




Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Top 13 Favourites of 2013.

 It's the last day of the year 2013, and what a better post to write than my top 13 favourite products of the year that is about to end in a few hours! You've may seen already these products many times in previous posts but that's the whole point of this post anyway, to write about the products that I've used and loved the most this year. So let's start!
 The highlight of the beauty products that I've tried this year has to be the skincare ones, because I experimented more with my skincare routine this year and I found some really good products that I love using this period. I changed the cleanser that I was using for many many years non stop, to the Apivita Creamy Face & Eye Foam Cleanser with Olive and Lavender. My skin now is not how it used be a few years ago, the continuous use of harsh cleansers dehydrated my skin a lot, so I had to change it. This one from Apivita is the best for those who have oily but dehydrated skin, you should definetely check it out! A moisturizer that I really love and purchased twice within a few months is the Frezyderm Moisturizing 24H Hydrating Cream, this one also helped a lot with the dehydration of my skin, it's not very  lightweight but it also doesn't leave a heavy feeling on my face. One more thing  is that it never broke me out and I have a bad history with break outs from various moisturizers, so this one is definitely one of the best moisturizers that I've tried so far. One more moisturizer that I really love, this time a little heavier and more appropriate for the nightime, is the Burt's Bees Sensitive Night Cream. It can be a little heavy underneath foundation, but it doesn't leave my skin feeling oily, so it's comfortable enough for the nightime, also it never broke me out and it's really good for those who are sensitive to perfumes.
My top foundation of the year hasn't really changed at all since last year, it's still the Mac Pro Longwear! I just love this foundation, it's long lasting and the coverage it provides it's really good. I like trying new foundations every once in a while but this one will always be my top one, you can read a full review about it here. My top beauty discovery of the year has to be this blush from Seventeen, the Cafe Au Lait Silky Matte Blusher. I've completely stopped using any of the bronzers that I own and I've been using only this one since last summer. I don't think I've ever used a better shade of bronzer before, it's a warm brown shade without any red undertones, it's also very longlasting and the texture is very velvety, I just couldn't find a better bronzer for sure!
 The Stila In The Know eyeshadow palette is also one of my best beauty discoveries of the year, an eyeshadow palette with only matte neutral eyeshadows. They have amazing quality and pigmentation, I wouldn't expect anything less from Stila, they know how to make amazing eyehadows! I've already done a full review about it here, check it out!
Even though  I included 2 blushes in my top 13 favourites, I'm gonna cheat and count them as one product. Essence's Silky Touch Blushes completely changed my mind about cheap blushes, I even think that they're better than my Mac ones, they have amazing texture and pigmentation. The ones that I love the most are the Secret it-Girl, a true peach shade, and Sweetheart, a light neutral pink. This year also I decided to try some of the Real Techniques face brushes, and they're definitely the best brushes that I've tried so far, especially the Blush Brush which I love using it to apply my bronzer and blushes, I'll definitely need a second one, really soon.
The lipgloss that completely blew my mind this year is the NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Beige! I'm not a lipgloss person, and even though I own many I rarely wear them, but this one from NYX is my weakness, I keep reaching for it and it's always in my make up bag whenever I go out. It's a medium pink that goes with every single look that I do, and the texture is very silky without being sticky but in the same time it's not watery, it has just the perfect texture for a lipgloss. A lipstick that I used a lot last spring and summer is the Dior Addict lipstick in Delice, it's a medium sheer coral-peachy shade, it's so easy to use it like a lipbalm, and that's the main reason why I love the Dior Addict lipsticks.
When it comes to nails, the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top Coat is definitely my baby and I just can't live without it! It dries my nail varnishes within a few minutes and it's way better than the famous Seche Vite which is very thick and hard to work with. The Insta-Dri does the exact same job as the Seche Vite but it's very lightweight and not sticky at all.  The perfume that I literally wore the whole year is the Vera Wang Princess, it has a light everyday scent that I love wearing all the time. If you like light scented perfumes, you should check this one for sure.
And I left the last favourite of the year for the haircare, the Sunsilk Nourishing Oil Spray for dry hair, which is propably the best product I've used on my hair this year. It's the perfect detangler, it makes my hair super soft super soft without weighting it down, I've tried many leave in conditioners but they never worked as good as this one.



So those were my top 13 products for the year that is about to end. Have you tried any of them? Let me know what were your favourite beauty products of 2013. I hope you'll have an amazing New Year's Eve, I'll see you next year my lovelies!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

July & August Favorites.

This year like the previous one I decided not to post my July favorites and post together my July and August favorite products in one post, just because at summertime I don't usually wear make up that often and also because the whole July I was experimenting with some new products that I got. I think now it's the perfect time to show you what I enjoyed the most this summer. Sorry in advance because this post contains too many pictures!
Frezyderm Face Foundation PF30 
 I've talked a lot about this foundation in my blog for more than a month, I really really like it! It's a foundation and a sunscreen in one, which is very convient because I didn't have to use 2 different products on my face. It's also good for oily skintypes and it stays on for hours!

  Benefit Boi-ing Concealer
This concealer really saved me the past moht because I had some bad skin days and I broke out a lot around my chin. This concealer is actually one of the best I've tried for covering pimples and redness! The shade #3 is the best for my skintone ( NC25) but under my eyes the #2 looks better, sometimes I like to mix both shades.
Seventeen Cafe Au Lait Matte Blusher
I've talked about this blush like a million times, I switched from a traditional bronzer to this and I'm very happy, it gives to my face a beautiful warm tanned look. I'm pretty sure I'll continue using this for the next few months a lot!

Essence Secret It-Girl Silky Touch Blush
This blush is the only I've been using for a little over a month, it's beautiful, pigmented, matte and peachy, what more could I ask? Propably one of the best peachy blushes that can be found in the drugstore, and it's so cheap!
Essence Dreaming Under a Cherry Tree quad
I didn't use much for my eye make this whole time besides a mascara, bust sometimes whenever I was feeling the need to use a little more color on my lids I used the peachy and the coral shade from this Essence palette. this palette was released with the Cherry Blossom Girl collection last fall, too bad it was limited edition.
Mac Pleasureseeker Lipstick
 One of Mac's most beautiful peachy lipsticks and it had to be a limited edition like pretty much all of their peachy ones. It's a sheer light peachy shade perfect for the summer, with a satin finish. This is my second tube of this lipstick, I used to have the one that it was first released back in 2008 with another limited edition collection, but for some reason it gone bad really quick.

Essence I'm Sailing Lipstick
This one from Essence is a little more coral peachy than Mac's Pleasureseeker and also more pigmented and glossy. I've mentioned it a couple of times in my blog, I love it and if I had to choose only one lipstick to wear all summer it would be this one. Unfortunately it was limited edition a couple of years ago.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lipgloss in Kate
I don't usually wear lipglosses, but because it's summer sometimes I wanted a more juicy look on my lips, this one from Bare Escentuals is just perfect, because it has a light pink tint and it's very glossy, I wore it on top of my peachy lipsticks or sometimes on its own.
Real Techniques Blush and Setting Brushes
Since I got my Real Techniques brushes I've been using them all the time, but the blush and setting brushes are the ones that I love the most. I use the blush brush to apply my bronzers, occasionally I use it for blush too but I find that it applies the blush way too light for my liking. And the setting brush is just amazing, I use it to apply powder under my eyes to set my concealer, but I also love it for appying highlighter on my cheekbones and sometimes apply concealer under my eyes. This brush is so multipurpose that I seriously consider purchasing a second one soon!
Frezyderm Moisturizing 24H Hydrating Cream
This is the only face moisturizer I've been using for more than a month day and night and I'm very happy with it. My skin has been through many changes this summer, it went from oily to super dry and flaky with break outs, and back to oily and then just to normal, and this moisturizer really helped to control the hydration on my skin. The only problem is that whenever my skin was very dry and  flaky this moisturizer wasn't enough, but it's perfect when you have normal and mixed skintype.

Nivea Soft
Such a cult beauty product, and only this summer I realised just how awesome it is. At first I was using my mother's jar to moisturize my legs and feet and now after 2 months I've gone through 2 jars, a 200 and a 300 ml one, and I've already repurchased a big one. It hydrates my body very well without feeling sticky at all, it leaves a cooling sensation on my feet which is pretty amazing because most of the lotions and creams that I apply on my feet they feel so sticky and heavy, and I can't stand them. And when my face was in a bad situation I used this cream twice and I was amazed by how good it hydrates the skin without feeling oily. Such a multipurpose cream.
Herbal Essences Bee Strong Shampoo
From all the Herbal Essences shampoo that I've tried, and I've tried like most of them, this is the best one by far. If you have normal to dry hair you will love it. The rest of the Herbal Essences shampoos that I've tried can be drying, even the ones that are targeted for dry hair, but this one never did that, it leaves my hair soft and detangled. And even if I like to switch up my shampoos very often, I will come back to this one for sure.

Sunsilk Nourishing Oil Spray
I've already talked about this hair oil a lot, I've been using it a lot all summer and I love it. It's a mix of a hair oil and a leave in conditioner in a spray bottle. It's so practical you, can carry it around with you for a quick hair fix, or travel with it or even at the beach, it leaves my hair incredibly soft.

Sunsilk Sensational Curls Leave In Cream
One of the best curl creams that I've ever tried, and if there's any of you that has curly or wavy hair you should definitely try it. It creates the most beautiful and well defined curls, even more beautiful than the ones that a curling iron gives, because they're small loose but well defined at the same time! All summer I didn't use any heat on my hair, I was just using hair oil and this curl cream. And the best part is that it's ridiculously cheap, only 2.5 euros.



I know this post is way too long but I wanted to show you all the stuff that I've been enjoying the past couple of months. I want to know if you've tried any of these products and if you like them or not. Also what were your favorite summer products? Leave me a comment.


Sunday, July 28, 2013

July Collective Haul - Part 1 (Real Techniques, Benefit, China Glaze)

I've been hauling a lot this month, I still do please don't judge me, for some reason I want to try a lot of new things especially for my face make up and skincare. At this post I'm gonna show you half of the stuff I got a few weeks ago, and I'm gonna do another one next week about the newest stuff I got recently.

I have to start with the big order I did from iHerb, I got lots of Real Techniques brushes for the face, mostly because my skin started to react to most of my brushes in my collection and since Real Techniques brushes are synthetic I thought that it would be a good opportunity to try most of them, this is something that I wanted to do for almost a year now. I got the Core collection, the powder brush, the blush brush, the stippling brush and the setting brush. I've tried all of them and I have to say that they're amazingly soft, my absolute favorite so far is the Blush brush, I use it for my bronzer because it has the perfect shape! Also I've been loving a lot the setting brush, which is really good for applying concealer under my eyes and around my nose, and also applying highlighter on my cheekbones. I really want to try and experiment with them more and see which are the ones that I love the most.

A few weeks ago Sephora I got this Benefit How To Look The Best At Everything make up kit with 40% off, which I think that was such an awesome discount. I got the kit in medium and it includes the famous Porefessional face primer, the Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW Brightening make up in Honey, two shades of the Boi-ing concealer in 02 and 03 and the Hello Flawless powder foundation in the shade Honey, all the products of course are in a mini size. I've been testing them out for a few weeks and besides the powder foundation which I already love and I've mentioned it countless times in my blog, Porefessional is the one product that I enjoyed using the most from this set, it's an a amazing primer and I want to test it out with the rest of my foundations too besides the Hello Flawless, and see how it performs. I'm still not sure if I like the Hello Flawless Oxygen liquid foundation, I love the shade it's the perfect match for my skintone (NC25), but it gets really oily after two hours and it transfers a lot, I'm not sure if this is happening because the weather here is being super hot and humid, but I really want to test it out on a colder weather too, maybe I'll like it more then. The Boi-ing concealer is really good, it reminds me a lot of the Mac Studio Finish concealer, a little less creamier though. The shade 03 is really similar to my Studio Finish in NW25, but Boi-ing performs way better as a face concealer, on blemishes and scars, it stays on longer.

Lastly I got from Ebay two polsihes from the China Glaze Summer 2013 Sunsational collection, Shell-O (left) and You Drive Me Coconuts (right). I love neons for summertime, actually I only wear neons on my toes for the whole summer. These two are jellies, which are more sheer than the usual cream textured neons, but most of the times I end up hating cream neons because they create lots of streaks. Shell-O is a beautiful coral pink shade and Drive Me Coconuts is a bright pink with purple undertones. Actually Drive Me Coconuts is the one that I love the most and that surprised me because I'm more of a coral person, but the texture is way beter than Shell-O's, is not as sheer, and the purple undertones matches really good with my skintone.



I hope you liked my haul post, there are more to come in a new post! Until then tell me, have you tried any of these products? Do you like them?

Oh and one more thing, if you want to make an order from iHerb for Real Techniques brushes and more,  you can use this gift code, TDZ975, and you will receive $10 off your first order of $40 or more, or you can take $5 off if your order is less than $40.