Haul Time! Nailpolish, skincare and Make up

Happy Monday everybody! I've been slacking in the Mani Monday department lately and I was totally planning to do a great one today, but if you follow my instagram, you know I was rocking a great red mani and I just didn't want to take that off. It didn't help that yesterday temperatures rose to 20 degrees Celsius and all I wanted to do is soak up the sun! So I decided to head into town, do some shopping and park my behind on a chair in the sun.

So no mani today, but instead you get to see all the good stuff I picked up yesterday and I also have some new polishes that landed on my doormat to show you!

First up: mascara! I love mascara and am always on the hunt for the perfect one. I heard a lot of great stories about Essence mascara, so for under 3 euro, I wanted to give it a go! But which one? I couldn't decide, so of course, I got them all. I know... I have issues...
I will be doing a comparison between all of these, so more details about them later!

I wanted to try the Origins brand for a while, but didn't know where to start, so yesterday, I asked for some help at the store and a lovely lady helped me pick out my first product: Checks and Balances frothy face wash. I've used this a couple of times already and so far I really like it.

I also received 2 Origins samples, Make a Difference moisturizer and Out of Trouble face mask.

MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NW15. I'm blessed with incredibly dark circles underneath my eyes, so a good concealer is a definite must for me. I've tried a lot of concealers, but they either vanished after a couple of hours, didn't give me enough coverage or dried my skin out.  I tried this in the store and it covered my circles really well, without being to heavy, so I'm looking forward to giving this a good try and fingers crossed this is my perfect under eye concealer!

Elie Saab Le Parfum, eau de parfum intense. I received a sample of this fragrance in my Beauty Box a few months ago and loved it so much, I went out and got the full size. I'm terrible at describing scents, so I'm not even going to try, but it's an intense (duh!) scent, not for everybody I think, but if you like your perfume to not be floral or sweet, give this a sniff. And just look at that gorgeous bottle!

I also received a sample of the new Elie Saab scent, L'Eau Couture and I love that too, it's just a bit fresher than Intense.

While at the perfume counter, I heard they had a discount if you bought 2 scents, but I only wanted one. So I bought one of those dispensers for your bag and had that filled with Issey Miyake Pleats Please.

I received a Bvlgari sample with my Origins face wash, really love the scent, it reminds me of oranges.

Lush Lemony Flutter. Stupid Lush... nearly gave me a heart attack by telling me they don't have Lemony Flutter anymore. It took them a full minute to add the "at the moment, because we had a problem with the delivery and it will be back in about 2 weeks" part. Luckily, they did still have the tester and where kind enough to give me a little bit to ty me over.

I finally got my hands on a teeny tiny Benefit Porefessional sample. I wanted to try this primer so bad, but I didn't want to spend the hefty price tag, only to find that I didn't like it. So I just asked and received a baby sample. So far, I love it!

And last but not least: nailpolish!

I already showed you one of these beauty's, China Glaze Grass is Lime Greener. That is the star of the show in my book, but actually I love all these polishes.
From left to right: Grass is Lime Greener, Petal to the Metal, Thistle do nicely, What a Pansy, Little drummer boy, Sugar Plums and yes, I did decide to pick this one up: Live.Love.Carnaval.

One of my favorite sellers, Color4nails, started selling Zoya and I was over the moon! Finally, I don't have to ask my friends for favors anymore if I want Zoya polish (thanks again Holly!). Of course, I had to get just a few...
From left to right: Odette, Stevie, Arabella, Sunshine and one that I've had on my wishlist for so long, but I could never get my hands on it: Roxy.

That's it for my little haul, I hope you enjoyed seeing how I spend my money :D
Would love to hear about your most recent splurge in the comments!

X

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Empties #1 Beauty and nail polish stuff

I love watching empties video's on Youtube and I seem to have been collection mine for a while now, even though I don't do video's... So I thought, why not do an empties blog post? I can't be the only one who likes to hear (or read) all the mini reviews on peoples trash, lol. So here is mine!

First up: skin care. I have very weird skin... extremely dry in some places, but I still tend to get pimples in those dry patches. I usually can't use the same moisturizer for more than a year before it starts to break me out again. So I'm very picky with what I put on my face.

 L'Oreal Skin Perfection sample. As I mentioned, I have really weird skin. So before buying a new moisturizer, I usually ask for a sample, so I can test it to see how my skin reacts to it. This was really nice. It hydrates my skin, making it nice and soft and didn't cause me to break out. So I bought the full size version.


Full size L'Oreal Skin Perfection

The one thing that is a stable in my routine is my make-up remover. I use the Etos brand eye and lip make-up remover (Etos is a Dutch drug store). It's very gentle and even removes waterproof make-up. And it's cheap. This bottle lasts me for about 4-5 months and I paid € 2.89 for it.

Kruidvat Q10 eye cream. This is another little gem in my opinion. It's very hydrating, reduces dark circles and puffiness. This little tube lasted me for 6 months and only set me back € 2,49! Can't beat that!

Diadermine night cream. I used this up a while ago, but never gotten around to throwing it away. I liked it, but it wasn't exceptionally good. Just an average moisturizing night cream.

Diadermine make-u remover wipes. Oh... my... god!!! These were awefull!!! They did take off my make-up really well, but they stung my face like nobody's business! I hated them! And the worst part? I bought them on sale, buy 2 get 2 free, so I'm stuck with 3 more packs!

Philosophy Hope in a jar for dry skin. I LOVE this cream, love, love, love it! It made my skin feel so soft and smooth, no dryness, no break outs, just soft, hydrated skin. I scraped the last bit out of the jar and almost cried a little when it was gone, because this baby is € 40 and I just couldn't afford to spend that much on a moisturizer right now.

Philosophy Hands of Hope. Great hand cream, really enjoyed it, but soooo expensive! For a full review, click here.

Make-up items. I use a lot of different brands, drugstore and high end on my face, but I don't tend to use up a lot... Whenever I throw away a foundation, eye shadow or lipstick, it's usually because its just getting to old and gross. But this time I actually used up everything!

Maybelline The Falsies Flared mascara in black. My favorite mascara, I love everything about it! The brush is curved and thin, it defines my lashes, gives me lenght and volume and it's really black. The only bad thing is that it starts to flake a little when it's almost gone.

Maybelline The Rocket mascara in black. When I first started using this mascara, I didn't like it at all! I hated the big ass brush and I got mascara everywhere. So I started layering it with my Falsies mascara and that worked really well! It gave me long, defined, voluminous lashes and I started to like the Rocket. When I finished The Falsies, I just used the Rocket and that gave my pretty much the same result. Love it! Have allready repurchased :D

E.L.F. Cosmetics eye lash curler. Ok curler, but it pinched a little and at the end it started to pull out my lashes... Time to go!

Catrice Prime and Fine Face Primer. Did an ok job, but that smell... I can't get used to it. It smells like peaches, but in a chemical kinda way... not nice and it lingers. Even though it's a cheap primer (€ 4,99) I won't repurchase.

L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream for light skin. Can you say carrot? Enough said...

Urban Decay Primer Potion. Great stuff! Would repurchase, but Sephora decided to close all their shops here and that was the only place I could get UD products... big bummer...

Dior Addict lipstick in 222. This is the first time ever I finished a lipstick. I actually scraped out the last bits with a lipbrush, because I loved it so much. It's a brownish, nude color with a lot of shine. It was the perfect nude color for me, my lips but much, much better. I am looking all over for this baby, but Dior decided to take this color out of production... Of course, story of my life!

L'eau D'issey Florale by Issey Miyake. Really nice perfume, fresh, clean and a little fruity, but not to sweet. I got this as a gift from my in-laws and I really enjoyed it.

And now, the nailpolish stuff... I always finish 1-2 bottles of nail polish remover each month, but when I finish a bottle, I stuff my used cotton balls in it, so I didn't take a picture of it. I didn't think you needed to see that.

Can you tell I like my Seche Vite, lol?
I was cleaning out my nail drawer and discovered a load of empty SV bottles. I ment to poor them all together and try to use some of it, but it's just to goopy. That's the reason I'm currently trying a new topcoat. I just feel like I throw away so much product...

CND Stickey base coat. My favorite base coat. I tried a different one, but that wasn't a succes... click here for my horror story. After that, I quickly went back to my trusty and much loved stickey base coat.

Essence Studio Nails base coat. I've had this for so long and never use it anymore. It was just time to say goodby. Nothing wrong with it, I just like my Stickey better.

Bourjois nail polish remover pot. I like this product, but it gets dirty so fast and when it does, it stains my nails... Just not worth the pricetag when I can get my Essence remover for € 2.39 and I like it better.

And finally, I used up 2 Bath and Body Works votive candles.

I love B&BW candles, but I can only get the baby ones, because of the shipping. I burned Marshmallow Fireside and Bonfire Maplewood this past month and I love these scents! If anyone can send me the three wick versions for these candels without me having to pay around $ 50 for shipping alone, please let me know!

T'hat's it for now, I hope you enjoyed reading about my trash, lol.
What are your favorite video's/ posts to read about?

X




 

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Powder Perfect Goodies!

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an indie make-up brand and fell in love! Powder Perfect is an Australian brand, created bij Jacinta. They create handmade cosmetics from luxury ingredients. Their products include organic lipstick, cuticle balm and nail polish. Of course I was all over the nailpolish, but due to the harsh shipping conditions on nail polish, Powder Perfect doesn't ship polish internationally.

I had my hart set on a polish, so I contacted Jacinta and as she was more than happy to help me out. She let me know she was willing to ship polish to me, but only at my own risk, which I think is fair enough. So I placed my order.

I have to say, the shipping costs were extremely reasonable and I was stunned at how fast it arrived at my doorstep. I placed on order on a Monday and I received my package 8 days later, just 8 days from Australia to Europe! Now that's impressive!

I opened my package immediately and pulled out all these goodies:

2 Cuticle balms, 2 nailpolishes and 2 lipsticks. I absolutely love the packaging. Simple but playfull. I especially think it's funny that I ordered 2 cuticle balms, Raspberry and Orange and that my raspberry is actually in the orange packaging and Orange is in the pink packaging.

The lipsticks are organic and vegan and they are extremely creamy. I love how they feel on my lips, rich and soft and I think they actually hydrate my lips. These lipsticks are nicely pigmented, but a little on the sheer side for me since my lips are quite dark. I apply just one good layer when I go to work and add  a couple of layers to intesify the color for my evening look.

Dark Paradise and Fireside

Dark Paradise is a magenta lipstick with a purple undertone, perfect for pale skinned people like myself.

Fireside is a brick red lipstick. It reminds me of fall leaves and I think it's the perfect fall color. I have been wearing this non stop since I got it, I just can't get enough!

The cuticle balms are called Cute-icle balms for a reason. Just look at them, aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen? They come in silver tins, with a cute colored sticker. I have 2 scents and I really like them both. I can't stop sniffing my hands when I've applied them. They feel rich and buttery and do a good job at keeping my cuticles nice and soft.

Raspberry and Orange

And now for the, in my book, main attraction: the nailpolish! I have just one for you today, Downworlder (the other one and the raspberry cuticle balm are for a friend of mine, so unfortunately I have to part with those...).

Downworlder is part of the Shadowhunter collection and is a blue jelly base filled with blue, teal and silver glitters and hex holo glitter. The hex holo glitter makes it look like you're under water, so gorgeous! The formula is spot on. No need to fish for glitter, they come out easily and distribute evenly on the nail. This polish is opaque in just 2 coats and dries really fast. It does dry a little on the dull side, as most glitters tend to do, but that is easily fixed with a shiny top coat.

Just look at that gorgeousness! I wish the sun would come out, because it's so much more stunning in real life, but I just can't get it to show up in my pictures because of the dreary weather...

The brush is very nice to work with, it looked a little shorter than the average brush, but it didn't give me any problems, it made glitter application very easy. Overall, I'm very impressed and am allready thinking about my next order. Powder Perfect has some really nice Halloween polishes that I'm dying to get my hands on, I would definitely recommend checking out the Etsy store, website or Facebookpage.

Are you familiar with this brand and what is your favorite "undiscovered" indie brand?

X

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Sleek blushes

I've been hearing and reading so many rave reviews about Sleek, I really wanted to try some of their products. Their color range is huge, they have make up for every skintone.

"Sleek MakeUP knows the importance of looking and feeling good in your own skin. That’s why we’re the only high-street makeup brand with a whopping 30 shades of foundation. We comprehensively and honestly cater for all skin tones, with fashion-forward and innovative products at truly affordable prices.

Sleek MakeUP’s fresh and trend-led products have forged an iconic following among makeup professionals and beauty enthusiasts worldwide"

When I read that their blush in Rose Gold is supposed to be a dupe for Nars Orgasm (a blush I am lusting after, but can't get my hands on) I immediately placed an order at Enchantra.

Ofcourse I couldn't let poor Rose Gold travel alone, so I ordered 2 more blushes (and just a few polishes) to fill the box. I have been using them for a few months now and I think it's time for a review :D

First up, the packaging. I love it! It's a simple and sophisticated matte black rectangle with the Sleek logo in shiney black (my Rose Gold has the new packaging, on the left). Inside you'll find the blush and a large mirror. The packaging is nice and compact, no unneeded extra's that just take up space.

Rose Gold is a pink with a ton of golden shimmer. Personally, I would have liked it even better with just a little less shimmer. I think this is definitely a spring or summer blush. It's just to shiny for fall and winter.

Life's a Peach is a gorgeous matte orange peach blush. It gives my cheekes a really subtle and natural glow. This color is perfect for every season.

Coral is not actually a coral color, it's more of a brick red color, but I love it any way. This gives such a natural looking flush to my cheeks, it's the perfect blush for fall and winter.

The pigmentation of these blushes is really good, although Peach seems to be a little less pigmented than the other two. I think this is actually a good thing, as you can build it up to the color you want and with an orange blush it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Rose Gold, Coral and Life's a Peach

I usually apply my blush with my Real Techniques blush brush in the morning and these don't come off untill I take them off right before I go to bed. I have been using all three blushes guite a lot, but you still can't tell by looking at the product. Needless to say, I absolutely love the Sleek blushes and would highly recommend them!

A great blush for a great price with lots and lots of colors to choose from.

These blushes have made me want to try more Sleek products, especially their palettes. If you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them!

X

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Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic

"Dear Diary,

I can't eat! I can't sleep! All I can think about is concealing. You name it, I'll conceal it, hide it, erase it, camouflage & cover it! I'm losing control (especially of my drawer space)! Could this kit be my cure?!"

I love Benefit products, but they aren't cheap. When I saw this kit, I was all over it! It contains a good sampling of products to try out, without having to pay a lot of money for the full size products. 

Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic holds everything you'll ever need to create a flawless complexion and comes complete with brushes for easy and hygienic application.

That Gal is a brightening face primer. You can use this all over your face underneath your foundation or apply on certain areas that need instant radiance.

Erase Paste is a brightening camouflage paste. I use this underneath my eyes to cover my dark circles. It gives a very dewy finish and I actually think it moisturizes my skin. I love it, but I do need to set it with powder.

Boi-ing is an industrial strenght concealer. I love how creamy this is and it comes in 2 colors in this kit. You can use just 1 or blend them together to get the perfect shade. I just use number 1, as I have really fair skin. I love this for blemishes and spots. It covers really well and stays all day.

Lemon Aid is a color correcting eyelid primer. The fact that this primer is yellow, helps to hide any discolloration on your eyelids (at least it says so in the booklet). I don't really use this, as it doesn't do much for my eyes. It does brighten a bit, but it creases on my like nobody's business and a yellow line on my eyelids is not a good look for me... 

Eye Bright is an instant eye brightener. If you look tired, just blend this pink cream in the inner and outer corners of  your eyes and you'll look instantly refreshed. Or at least that's what Benefit says. Me, I don't really see a difference.

Lemon Aid, Eye Bright, Boi-ing #2, Boi-ing #1, Erase paste and That Gal

This is a great kit to try out all the different concealers and brighteners that Benefit has to offer. My favorites are the Erase Paste and Boi-ing #1. I use those every single day. The mini sizes have lasted me for a good 6 months allready and I think I have another good few months left. When I do run out of them, I will definitely purchase the full size for both.

Do you own any Benefit products and what do you thing?

X

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Would you rather? TAG post

A few days ago, I read this tag on Zenorah's blog (if you don't follow her allready, please do! She's awesome!) I commented that I was glad I didn't have to answer these questions, because that would be almost impossible!

Somehow this tag stuck in my mind and I kept thinking: "What would I answer?"
So I decided, what the heck, I'm going to do the tag!"

So here goes :D

1. Would you rather lose all your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks and lip glosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?

I think I'd rather lose all my palettes and eyeshadows. I love my shadows, but I just feel naked without mascara. No way I can give that up!

2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Chop off all my hair. I have a LOT of hair and it's extremely thick and heavy. It's just to hot in the summer without a good trim and thinning it out (my hairdresser uses a special pair of scissors for this, no clue what it's called... ). I actually shopped of about 35cm (google tells me that's roughly 14 inches) and donated this to www.haarwensen.nl
It's an organization that manufacturers wigs for children who lost their hair. I hope they've made my hair part of a beautifull wig!

3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

I used to love pink cheeks, especially because I'm so fair, but lately I've been loving coral cheeks, so this is a hard one for me... I think I'll have to go with coral, it just gives me a beautifull natural glow.

4. If you had 1,000$ to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

No brainer: make up! I HATE shopping for clothes...

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick?

Lipstick as eyeliner? That would be one stickey mess...
Eyeliner as lipstick please!

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Sephora.
Stupid Sephora closed up shop over here and I miss that store every single time I'm shopping. Although Sephora in The Netherlands was different form the one in the US/Canada. It didn't sell Sephora by OPI (bummer) or Nars (another bummer).

I do love MAC by the way, their lipsticks are awesome!

7. Would you rather only use one eyeshadow color or one lip color for the rest of your life?

One eyeshadow I think. I love experimenting with lipcolor.
But I also love switching up my make up... oh boy... dilemma, dilemma...

Nope, sticking with my first instinct!

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in the summer or summer clothes in winter?

Summer clothes in winter, if I can layer them.
I do this anyway, I don't have one wardrobe for winter and one for summer, I make my clothes work in both seasons. At least, I try.

9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

I love both, but I think everybody can guess my answer if they look at the titel I choose for my blog ;)

10. Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product?

Hmmm... I don't think I would have any troubel giving up either one. There are good dupes out there for both. But since it's taken me quite a while to find my perfect matte red lipstick with a blue undertone, I think I'll go with eye product. (as long as I can keep the Naked 2 if I give up Naked 1. Yes, I'm sneaky like that!)

11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

Messy bun. I love the casual look a messy bun gives me. But right now, my hair isn't long enough for a messy bun, so I'm stuck with a regular pony tail.

12. Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lip gloss?

*gasp* Give up my nailpolish??? Don't make jokes about that!!!
Never use lip gloss!

13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have non at all or Sharpie then in everyday?

Bring on the Sharpie!
A face without eyebrows... just isn't right...

14. Would you rather live without makeup or nailpolish?

Oh no.. oh no.. oh no... make up... nailpolish... make up... nailpolish...
I don't know... can't live without either...

I've gone back and forth with this question. I love them both so so much! I can give up a lot of make up items, but not my mascara! I just don't look like myself without mascara.

Same goes for my nailpolish. We're a team, you never see me without it!

Oh boy, this question is making me break out in sweats... I just can't do it...

But that would be cheating... o, help...

I'll make it quick and never think about this horrible question ever again: live without make up

I'm tagging everybody who reads this, misery loves company :D
And especially:

• Yv (Mijnkleinegeheimpjes)
• Myrthe (ByMyrthe)
• Jans (PolishKitten)

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