Empties #8 - Summer Edition (Hair & Body)

Καλημέρα σε όλους! Σήμερα μετά από πολύ καιρό σας έχω ένα empties post, και μάλιστα είναι το summer edition, δηλαδή όλα εκείνα τα προϊόντα που τελείωσα μέσα στο καλοκαίρι. Πρόσφατα άνοιξα τη σακούλα μέσα στην οποία φύλαγα όλες τις άδειες μου συσκευασίες και προς έκπληξη μου είχα μαζέψει υπερβολικά πολλές ,οπότε για να μην βγει το post τεράστιο αποφάσισα να τα χωρίσω σε 2 κατηγορίες, μια για προϊόντα σχετικά με τα μαλλιά και το σώμα και μια για προϊόντα μακιγιάζ και περιποίησης προσώπου. Σήμερα σας δείχνω όλα τα προϊόντα μαλλιών και σώματος που τελείωσα μέσα στο καλοκαίρι, όποτε τι λέτε, αρχίζουμε? 

Summer Haircare Routine.

Τέλη Ιουλίου και νομίζω πως είναι η πιο κατάλληλη στιγμή να σας δείξω όλα τα προϊόντα που χρησιμοποιώ στα μαλλιά μου για το καλοκαίρι. Η ρουτίνα που ακολουθώ τους καλοκαιρινούς μήνες  για την περιποίηση  των μαλλιών μου διαφέρει αρκετά από αυτή που έχω για τον χειμώνα, και αυτό γιατί τους χειμερινούς μήνες χρησιμοποιώ συχνά πιστολάκι για να στεγνώσω και να ισιώσω τα μαλλιά μου ενώ το καλοκαίρι τα αφήνω να στεγνώσουν τελείως φυσικά, και αυτό για τα δικά μου μαλλιά σημαίνει μπούκλες, και όπως γνωρίζετε οι φυσικές μπούκλες θέλουν άλλη περιποίηση και styling. Όποτε πάμε να δούμε τα αγαπημένα μου προϊόντα μαλλιών για το καλοκαίρι και πως ακριβώς τα χρησιμοποιώ! 

June Favorites.

Αν και γνωρίζω ότι πολλοί από εσάς δεν έχετε και την καλύτερη διάθεση αυτό τον καιρό και για να ελαφρύνω κάπως και την δική μου, αποφάσισα να ασχοληθώ με το blogging και ανεβάσω, έστω και καθυστερημένα, τα αγαπημένα του προηγούμενου μήνα. Τι λέτε, πάμε να δούμε μαζί ποια ήταν τα προϊόντα που αγάπησα περισσότερο τον Ιούνιο? 

Empties - Products I've Used Up #5 - Part 1

 Hello my lovelies! As you can see from the title this is going to be an "empties" post, I recently realised that I haven't done one in ages, last time I wrote one was in May and since then I managed to collect two whole bags of empty products! So I thought that including them in only one post it would be too much, so I decided to split them in two parts. This first part is going to be about hair and skincare stuff, and the next one is going to be again about skincare and make up. 

So let's start!

  Soap and Glory Clean, Girls Body Wash

I got this huge shower gel last year when I visited London, the quality is amazing, very creamy and hydrating plus it has a masculine scent which is incredible unique. If I had access to these shower gels I would definitely buy one again.

Elvive Total Repair 5 Shampoo and Conditioner.

I don't have much of experience with Loreal's shampoos and conditioners, I find that this is an OK shampoo, I really liked the fact that it never made my hair greasy or dry, in my opinion it's perfect for normal hair, it's not moisturizing enough for drier hair. To be honest I liked the conditioner more, and I've already mentioned it in one of my monthly favourites post in the past, it made my hair super soft without making it feeling heavy or greasy. 

  Ausie Miracle Moist Shampoo and Conditioner.

It's very rare for a shampoo and conditioner to impress me but these two actually did it, I absolutely love them! Even though their name is "Miracle Moist" if you have dry hair you won't be pleased with the shampoo, it's not very moisturizing but for my normal to dry and fine hair it's moisturizing enough, and it leaves my hair really soft! I have to admit that I love the conditioner a bit more, and if I had to choose only one conditioner for the rest of my life it would be this one! It has a unique cream to gel texture but it manages to make my hair incredibly soft and detangled.

Sunsilk Nourishing Soft and Smooth Conditioner

I've tried almost every single of the Sunsilk conditioners and this one has got to be my favourite. I don't consider this as a conditioner but more of a deep conditioner or a mask because it's super hydrating, I've tried hair masks that hydrated my hair less than this baby did! But I had to be careful and use only a small amount of this otherwise it made my hair very greasy. I also loved the fact that it has an amazing warm scent, it must be the argan oil.

Proderm Sleep Easy Body Lotion

Yes I know that this is a baby body lotion, but I couldn't resist to the smell, it smells like..........I can't really describe it, but it smells like a baby and lavender, yeah I know I'm really bad at describing scents! It has quite a thick texture but it blends nicely into the skin and it never leaved a greasy feeling to my body. I recommend this to everyone that love baby lotion's smells in general, and to be honest with you I really want to buy the matching shower gel!

L'oreal Gentle Waterproof Eye Make Up Remover - Eyes and Lips

This is by far my HG drugstore duo-phase eye make up remover! It even managed to beat my previous favourite, the Johnson's Gentle Eye Make Up Removal Lotion. It removes any type of mascara very easy and it leaves my eye area hydrated, also it never irritated my eyes.

Johnson's Gentle Eye Make Up Removal Lotion

 I've mentioned above that this used to be my HG favorite eye make up remover from the drugstore, and whenever I find it on sale I always grab one but to be honest it cannot beat the L'oreal waterproof one, and that's because is not as strong, it needs a bit more rubbing than the Loreal one to take off the eye make up. It's great for those who don't like the really oily dup-phase eye make up removers, and also for those who have sensitive eyes.

Pom Pon Make Up Removing Wipes for Sensitive Skin

I rarely use make up wipes to remove my face or eye make up, I prefer my Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm or a micellar water, but let's be honest, these wipes are so handy when you're away on holiday! So whevener I go away on a trip I always choose these ones, the Pom Pon Soothing & Regenerating for sensitive skin. They're the best ones from all the make up removing wipes I've tried in the past, they never irritated my skin or my eyes like most wipes do and they're extremely wet, even after one month opened they're still very wet and that's quite impressing.

Avene Cleanance Gel Cleansing Gel

If you're reading my blog long enough you'd propably already know that I'm using this cleansing gel for many many years and I've been through countless bottles of this baby. My skin changes quite a few times within a year, from super to oily to combination to dry, but since last spring my skin has been quite oily so I started using this cleansing gel again, it's the only one I trust for my acne prone skin.

Seventeen Specifics 2-Phase Eye and Lip Make Up Remover

Yeah I know, another eye make up remover but I go through them really quick so once in a while I like to try different ones. This one from Seventeen really dissapointed me, even though it's quite oily it failed to remove my eye make up quickly, and it's quite expensive for a drugstore eye make up remover so I don't recommend this one, the Loreal and Johnson's ones are way better.

So that was the first part of my empties post, let me know if you've tried any of the these products, if you liked them or not. The second part with more skincare and make up stuff will be up really soon!

Summer 2014 Favorites.

 Long time no see my lovelies, I hope you all had an amazing summer! In August I took a long break from blogging mostly because half of the month I was away on vacation, at the beautiful Naxos island, which is amazingly beautiful and dreamy. But it was time to get back into blogging again, and since summer is not completely over yet in Greece, I thought it was a great opportunity to show you all the beauty products I used the most in the summertime.

 Sunsilk Sensational Curls Leave-In Cream

In my opinion this is the best curl cream out there, hands down! I have naturally wavy/curly thin hair, I've tried many curling creams in my life, from salon and drugstore brands but this one is the best I've found for my hairtype. It defines them so well without feeling sticky or weight down my hair, and you cannot beat the price, it costs only 2.5 euros.

Garnier Fructis Surf Hair Paste
I've always had a love-hate relantionship with styling products, I've tried so many, from mousses to hair gels and sea salt sprays to try and make my curls look more defined and last for more than a few hours, and none of them could do what this God sent product can do! It creates the most beautiful and texturized curls I've ever seen, especially if I use it with the Sunsilk leave-in cream! I only use a small amount of this paste on really wet hair, if I use a lot my hair's sticky as hell. If you have thin/frizzy curly hair and sea salt sprays do not work on your hair you should definitely try this one, trust me.

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm
OK I should be honest with you, but when I first bought this cleansing balm I hated it, I was trying to use it as a one step cleanser whenever my skin was feeling more dry but that didn't work. I decided to give it a second chance now that my skin is oily again and I completely love it, but I always use a seperate cleansing gel afterwards. It saved my skin from all the sunscreen that I was using this summer, I've never felt my skin more clean than when I started using this balm, it does an amazing job at removing heavy make up and waterproof sunscreens.

Sephora "Sol De Rio" Bronzing Powder
Bronzer of my choice for this summer was this amazing limited edition one from Sephora, it's very subtle nothing too much,completely matte and perfect for everyday use. You can see a swatch here.

Revlon Nearly Naked Powder
I was very much into powders this summer, sometimes I was just using some concealer and a powder on my face. In my stash I found this one from Revlon which I purchased last year when I visited London, it's a tone darken than my skintone but now that I'm a bit tanned it matches me perfectly. And as you can see I've used a lot of it because I hit pan only after two months of using it. 

Mac Peaches Blush
This is the only blush that I've seen using for two months now, it's the perfect true matte peach blush for the summer. If you have warm skintone you have to try it!

Mac Prep and Prime Highlighter in Bright Forecast
I love use highlighting pens as undereye concealer when the weather is hot, even though they doesn't cover as well as a regular concealer. This one has a peach shade that neutralizes my dark brown undereye circles, it makes me look more awake and fresh, and that's more than enought for me.

Essence Get Big Lashes Waterproof Mascara
I was blown away by this mascara, I never thought that such a cheap mascara would give to my lashes so much curl and length. You can see my full review on it here.

NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel
I love using peachy glosses at summer, and this one was just perfect because it's super glossy and doesn't have any shimmers in it. It looks amazing over any peachy and coral lipstick but I loved using it on it's own for a fresh everyday look.

Mac Flamingo Lipstick
I have so many peachy lipsticks, but this summer Flamingo was my number one choice. It's more of a neon coral pink, and it looked amazing even when I wasn't wearing anything else on my face. You can see a swatch here.

L'oreal Color Riche "Lemon Meringue" Nail Polish
I never thought I'd say that a pastel nail polish was my top shade for the summer but it's true! I always go for reds and corals but this one changed my mind! It's not the traditional opaque white nail polish, it has a light yellow-lemonish tint into it that makes it special. Also it looks amazing on toes when you're tanned.



So these were all the beauty products that I loved the most this summer. Have you tried any of those?
What were your favourite products for the summer? Let me know!

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!

Empties - Products I've Used Up #3

I realised that I haven't done an empties post since May, and since my "empties" bag was really full so I thought it was about time to do one now. I don't know about you but I love reading empties posts, it's a great opportunity for the bloggers to share their complete opinion on a product. So let's start because it's going to be a long post!

Avene Cleanance Gel Cleanser

I'll start first with some of the skincare products that I've been using for a long time, Avene's Cleanance gel cleanser was my one and only cleanser for many many many years, it's great for oily and acne prone skins. But recently I've stopped using it because it became too harsh for my skin, I think with age our skin changes and mine became more sensitive and dehydrated, so I stopped using it, but if your skin is oily and can handle harsher cleansers you should definitely try this one, it's the least harsh from all the ones that I've tried that are targeted for oily and acne prone skins.

La Roshe Posay Physiological Micellar Solution

This micellar water has got to be my HG one! I've tried lots of pharmacy micellar waters, Vichy, Bioderma, Avene but this one is the best for my skin. It doesn't irritate my skin like Bioderma did, doesn't leave a sticky residue like the Vichy and Avene did. But just so you know, I don't use micellar lotions to remove my eye makeup because they tend to dry out my eye area and I don't like that. In my opinion the Physiological Micellar Lotion is one of the best out there. I've already repurchase it in the huge bottle.

Sephora Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover

I've mentioned this eye makeup remover in the past a lot, it's one of the best  eye makeup removers that I've tried. I think it works really good, it never irritated my eyes and it's not super oily like some of the high end ones I've tried, such as Clinique. I only wish it was cheaper that's why I don't buy it that often, I always use drugstore ones in between, but once in a while I love buying a bottle of this one.

Johnson's Face Care Gentle Eye Make Up Removal Lotion

This eye makeup remover is an old favorite of mine, it's propably the best drugstore one out there. It reminds me a lot of the Clinique Take the Day Off Eye but it's not as oily. I think it's better than the L'oreal duo phase eye make up remover, and way better than the Garnier one. I think it's available only in Europe though, but if you can find it you should definitely try it.

La Roche Posay Thermal Spring Water

I love using thermal water sprays, especially in the summertime and in the winter too, whenever my skin is very sensitive because of the cold. I've tried this one from La Roche Posay, it's OK but not my HG for sure. What I didn't like the most about this thermal water was how it sprayed all over my clothes but always managed to miss the main target, my face! It's not a bad one, it's just nothing too special, save your money for the next one I'm going to talk you about.

Avene Thermal Spring Water

I've tried lots of pharmacy thermal water sprays, and I'm telling you that if there's one that really worth the money it's this one from Avene. It does exactly what it says, it soothes the skin and it's anti-irritating, it even helped me whenever I had sunburns. And it's the only one that calms my skin whenever it's itchy from the cold. 

The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream

I've used this product a lot when my skin was more oily and not dehydrated, it's a light moisturizer for oily skins, that's all, but if you want it just for that it's perfect. If you want to know more about it, I've done a review post about it here.

Nivea Soft Cream

I've already talked about this cream, my mother and I used this cream so much last summer, that we've gone through two tubes of this one, actually one of them was the big one but I threw it away so I'm now showing you only the small one. If you like a lightweight but mosturizing body cream that doesn't feel like pure silicone on your body then this is the one for you. I hate when lightweight body moisturizers have that silicone feeling, I just can't stand it. I also used it on my face once because it was very dry from the sun, and it really helped. I will forever repurchase a tube of this one for sure!

Dove Go Fresh Shower Gel with Blue Fig and Orange Blossom

I never thought that I would show you a shower gel, because mostof the ones that I'm using they're kind of meh, nothing to special to talk about. But I changed my mind when I used up this one from Dove, I have to tell you how awesome it is, mostly about the scent. It has such a summerish scent and I can't really describe exactly what it smells like but to me it's summer, and beach and sun and........I don't know why, but it has to be the blue fig Please smell it next time you'll be in the drugstore or the supermarket, you will love it!

Sunsilk Conditioner for Straight Hair

Sunsilk is one of my HG hair drugstore companies, especially when it comes to conditioners and leave in creams, it never dissapointed me and this conditioner is not an exception. It really does smooth my hair and it makes the straightening process way easier. I really want to try all of their conditioners, from all of their lines and decide which one I like the most, but I've only tried this one and the one for curly hair and loved them both!

L'oreal Total Repair 5 Conditioner

This is also a conditioner that I really love, I think it's a high quality drugstore hair conditioner that really helps my hair feels stronger and healthier, I've already repurchased it. Next time I want to buy the hair mask too because I've heard really good reviews about it.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Hair Mask

Herbal Essences is the only brand I use for shampoos because they don't irritate my scalp, I've tried so so many products from this brand and I've come to the conclusion that I absolutely love their shampoos, I absolutely hate their conditioner and I love love love their hair masks. The Hello Hydration hair mask smells divine, like coconuts and summer! The best part is that it actually hydrates my hair, I don't really love hair masks, I rarely use them but if I find a good one I stick with it, and that's the case with this one! I'll definitely repurchase it in the future!

 Apivita Creamy Face & Eye Foam Cleanser with Olive and Lavender

I mentioned that I stopped using the Avene Cleanance gel cleanser because it was very harsh on my skin, so I replaced it with this one from Apivita, and I haven't regret it. It's an amazing cleanser, it has a creamy and not a gel texture, it's perfect for conbination skintypes! This is the mini bottle that I recently used up and I have repurchased it in the full size already.

Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment

I have had this for way too long, I used to like it when I first bought but then I was kind of meh about it, I realised that it didn't control the frizzyness on my hair at all, I had flyaway hairs everywhere. If I had to compare it with other high end hair oils I have to say that Moroccanoil is way better, but I have to say that  prefer the Macadamia's scent, it's more tropical.

Benefit Hello Flawless Powder Foundation 

I've talked about this powder in my blog many times, it's one of the best powder foundations in the market, it leaves a silky finish on my skin, never looked powdery which is the main problem with powder foundations in general. The only problem is the price, it's way to expensive for the amount of product you get, it's 36 euros for only 7 grams!

Garnier Anti-dark Circles Roll-on

I didn't had the chance to finish this product because after one an a half year it went bad so I had to stopped using it. When I first got it I hated, it did nothing for my concealing my under eye circles, after a few months I decided to give it a second chance, I liked the refreshing and cooling sensation it gave under my eyes, but that was it, I still didn't like it because in terms of concealing any darkness , it was awful. Overall no, I didn't like this product and I would never buy it again.

Maybelline The Rocket Mascara

This is one of Maybelline's most famous and beloved mascaras, I liked the volumizing look it gave to my lashes but I hated the formula, it's too heavy for my eyes. You can read all about it in my review here.

L'oreal Volume Million ashes Excess

With this mascara I have the exact opposite opinion of the one that I have for the Rocket, even though I absolutely adored the formula and the texture of this mascara the results were mediocre. I've done a blog post about it here.

So those were all the empties that I gathered for the past 5 months, I really hope my next one won't be that long, and I'll do one much sooner! Let me know if you've tried any of these products, I really wanna know your opinions about them.

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.

Summer Essentials Part 1 - For Skin, Body and Hair

Hello my lovelies, I hope you're having a great summer so far! And speaking of summer, I thought I would share with you my beauty summer essentials. I know I should have done this post earlier, but hey it's still summer, it's never too late.This first post is going to be all about my skin, body and hair products that I use the most at summertime, and the next one will be all about my make up summer essentials. So let's start!

Face

Now that it's summer our skin tends to become more dry and dehydrated from the sun and the salt water, so it constantly needs to be hydrated. It's very important to use a sunscreen that is right for your skintype, here I chose a lightweight sunscreen, the Korres Sunscreen Face Cream Yoghurt Extreme Fluid SPF30, which is perfect for combination and oily skintypes, and the yoghurt hydrates your skin really well, after you apply it you can feel your cheeks very refreshed. I love the Korres Yoghurt Sunscreen line, the one for normal skintypes is also one of my faves whenever I feel that my skin needs more hydration. You always have to be sure that your sunscreen protects you from both UVA and UVB rays.

A good moisturizer is also very important for the nightime, the Garnier Moisture Match for normal skintypes is very good, I love using it at nightime because it can be a little to heavy underneath make up. It really helps with my dry cheeks a lot, plus is very affordable, and you can find it almost anywhere.

A thermal water spray is a summer essential of mine for years now, whenever I feel my skin dehydrated throught the day I always spritz a little bit of this on my face, and it instantly feels refreshed and hydrated. Avene's Eau Thermal Thermal Spring Water is the best one out there, and I've tried lots of them. It also helps with skin irritations from the sun.

 

 

Body

Sometimes we forget to moisturize our body along with our face, but hydrating your body is also very important. I really like exotic scents at summertime, one of the best exotic scents in my opinion is The Body Shop's Coconut Body Butter, which is super moisturizing it smells like suntan lotion and summer!

One more product that I love using now is a body oil, Garnier's Beauty Oil is one of the best I've tried. I used to use plain baby oil on my legs after shaving, but it was too thick and it was impossible to sink into my skin. Garnier's is like a dry oil, I use it on wet legs and my skin instantly absorbs it, and it smells amazing! If you like body oils you should try it.

 Here in Greece, the sun is super hot and dangerous, a body sunscreen shouldn't just be used whenever we are on the beach or the pool but also while we are outside in the city, the same way we protect our face we should protect our body too, especially when we're wearing shorts and short skirts because our skin is exposed to the sun. Since I'm very white at the moment (my body is a lot paler than my face which I don't understand), I always use a sunscreen on my body with SPF50, the Garnier Sensitive Advanced SPF50 is really good, and absorbs really quick, which is rare for a lotion with an SPF50, most of them are very sticky and whitish. After I get a little more tanned I like to switch to an SPF30 one, the Piz Buin Wet Skin is their new range of sunscreens and they are supposed to be used on wet skin, which makes the sunscreen absorbs really quick and it doesn't feel sticky at all. I'm quite impressed with this one, is the perfect sunscreen to use whenever you're at the beach or the pool.

And here's a product that I can't live without, Apivita's Moisturizing and Cooling After Sun Cream Gel, and if you remember from last year I've already done a post about it here. It's my absolute love, I will never switch to another after sun lotion, ever. It's the best product to use when you have skin irritations from the sun, even the bad ones. Please try it if you can, you won't regret it!

Hair

And now it's time for the hair. Sun and salt water is hair's worst enemy, especially if they're already dry and damaged. I personally noticed a huge change on my hair and scalp the past few months, they switched from oily to dry, and I'm trying a whole lot of different products to keep them hydrated, I also let them air dry a lot which is rare for me because I'm not particular a fan of my natural curly hair but that's OK, it's summertime and I don't care that much.  A hydrating hair mask is very important, a favorite of mine is Herbal Essence's Hell Hydration Hair Mask, it leaves my hair really soft and hydrated, and even though it's a drugstore hair mask is a lot better than many others from salon brands. And you cannot beat the smell, OMG it smells so coconutty and exotic, it feels like you're on holiday everytime you're in the shower!

 

I always use a hair oil after I wash them, and my choice is Sunsilk's Nourishing Oil Spray with Moroccan, Argan and Almond Oils. It's seriously one of the best hair oils I've ever tried on my hair, it leaves them syper smooth, and since it's in a spray bottle I can take it with me at the beach to use it as a detangler.

And as for styling products, since I don't blow dry or use a flat iron to straighten my hair, I need to use something to enchance my natural curls,  last summer I got the L'oreal Professionnel's Play Ball Beach Fizz and I haven't regret it, even though it's a little on the expensive side, it's the best sea salt spray I've ever tried, way better than Bumble & Bumble's which I absolutely hated! It never left my hair dry, and it creates the best cute beachy type of curls, I couldn't ask for more. Sometimes I use a curl cream from Sunsilk before I use the sea salt spray, and the results are even better!

I hope you liked the first part of my summer essentials and really soon I'll post my make up essentials for the summer too. Until then, let me know what are your summer essentials for your skin, body and hair.

June Favorites.

Apparently I must be the last person to post my monthly favorites this time, I'm sorry I know, I've been so lazy the past few days, it must be the summer's heat.

I'm so happy that this time in my monthly favorites post I can show you some new stuff that I've been really enjoying using these past few weeks!

Revlon Nearly Naked foundation + powder

I got these two a little over a month ago when I was in London, and I've been loving them since. The foundation is very lightweight, with sheer to medium coverage, which i think it's perfect for summertime. It can be a little oily sometimes, especially now that it's summer and here in Greece it's super hot, it gets oily mostly around my nose and chin, but I always blot with a powder or blotting papers. I'm pretty sure a primer would help but I don't own any primers right now, it's something I really want to invest to in the near future. The powder really compliments the foundation, it gives a really beautiful dewy look, I love that it makes my cheeks look flawless. The best part is that the powder is a little darker than the foundation and more beige toned, which neutralizes the yellow shade of the foundation.

Benefit Hello Flawless powder

Last summer this powder foundation was the only thing I was using the whole time, and as you can see I'm almost done, but I got a back up last fall while it was on sale. Now whenever it's super hot and I can't stand anything on my face, I skip the Revlon Nearly Naked foundation and I only wear this with some concealer underneath. It provides amazing coverage, it's super easy to use, I apply it with ELF's Powder Brush, which is a flat top kabuki brush but not with synthetic hair, this powder doesn't apply well when you do it with a synthetic brush. I only wish I had the next-darker shade, just because I find this shade to be a little too light and yellow for me right now, this one is in the shade Champagne.

Benefit Dallas

Dallas is a versalite face powder, it can be used  as a bronzer and as a blush. Right now I've been using it as a bronzer, it's not my favorite bronzer but it looks good, I really like the soft texture it has. I prefer my bronzers to have strong brown undertones, they look better with my skintone, Dallas has more of a plum-rose undertone, and that's what makes it good as a bronzer and as a blush too.

Benefit Coralista

I got Coralista in a mini size as a part of the Go TropiCoral make up set last summer, and I haven't used it that much, just because it's too sheer, for some weird reason Coralista doesn't show up on my cheeks at all, and I'm only a NC25. But I tried to layer it on top of other peachy blushes and it works really good, it adds a very beautiful peachy sheen to them, so that's why I have been using it as a subtle highlighter. Plus it has an amazing smell, very fruity, like mangoes.

Artdeco Blusher in #05

A true peachy blush in summer for me it's an essential! One of the best peachy blushes I've tried is Artdeco's 05, it has an orange-peachy shade with matte texture and it costs only 7 euros, what more could I ask? I don't know if it's in their permanent line because I got it last summer with their summer collection, but if you can find it, grab it!

Here are swatches for all three products:

from left to right: Benefit Dallas, Artdeco #05, Benefit Coralista

Benefit Coralista Ultra Plush lipgloss

I have the mini size of this lipgloss, I also got this in the Go TropiCoral make up set. For almost a year I rarely wear lipglosses, I like glossy balms, glossy lipsticks but glosses....no, not so much. But this one is just perfect, it's like a balm, super smooth on the lips and not sticky at all. I love using it under bright lipsticks to make them look more sheer, the shade is a very sheer coral one. I'm really considering trying more of their Ultra Plush glosses in the future, especially Hoola.

L'oreal Glam Shine Balmy Gloss in 910 Bite The Maracuja

I got this a few weeks ago, and it's already been my HG lip product for this summer. It's an orangey-coral, glossy-balmy lipstick (I hope I didn't confuse you with this description) with some gold glitters. The shade it's perfect for summertime, and it's super easy to use. 

Here are swatches of both:

from left to right: Benefit Coralista, L'oreal Balmy Gloss in 910 Bite The Maracuja

Sunsilk Nourishing Oil Spray with Moroccan, Argan and Almond Oils

This is propably the one product that I enjoyed using the most this month, and I'm still loving it. It's a duo-phase hair oil and conditioner, I'm using it right before I comb my hair as a detangler, and then I do a few more spritzes all over the hair and using it as I do with a hair oil. It makes my hair incredibly soft, and helps with the whole process of blow drying. If it's available to you, because I know Sunsilk is not available in many countries, please try it!

Non Beauty Favorites

Even though Awkward is a teen TV series, for some weird reason (as if I don't watch Teen Wolf already) I was hooked on this show. I started watching at the beginning of June, and within 2 weeks I watched all 3 seasons. I really like it, it's funny and I think it's a really good choice for the summer. But now I have to wait until next summer for the fourth season.

And for my music choice this month, I've been loving Rihanna's Unapologetic album. I know this album was out in November, but I just started listening it to it, and I'm so hooked, propably my HG album for this year, along with Justin Timberlake's the 20/20 Experience. My favorites songs are: Loveeeeeee Song , Nobody's Business, Get It Over With and Jump.

So these were my beauty and non beauty favorites for June. What were your favorites? Beauty and non beauty related. I wanna know!