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09:09
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Makeup
Base
This combines a foundation with a medium coverage, a skin care product and a decently high SPF in one product. It has arbutin, niacinamide, adenosine, rosehip oil, jojoba oil, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, peptides, collagen, amino acids and several extracts. Its formula reminds me of one of my all-time favourites, Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation, as it has a similar light texture that looks natural on the skin. Finish is natural-satin, but it can on some days also be more glowy on me (normal-dry skin). Shade #17 fits me great, which is another big plus.
Another coverage product with nice skin care ingredients. It contains niacinamide, vitamin C, caffeine, resveratrol, hyaluronic acid, peptides, salicylic acid and a couple of extracts, so it's a nice looking list of anti-ageing & brightening ingredients. It's been my concealer of choice since I got it a couple of months ago because it has a good medium-full level of coverage, it's not drying matte and blends into the skin ok.
Such a beautiful shade, a muted pink with a hint of peachy-brown tones that make it that "nude" shade that goes with everything. Revlon blushes are well pigmented, especially the other shade that I have 020 Ravishing Rose, yet the formula is still smooth and can be applied & blended easily on the cheeks.
Honourable mentions:
DERMACOL Make up Cover - proper full coverage foundation
Eyes
It may look terribly boring to some, but this is exactly my type of a selection of shades. In particular I mean the great selection of matte taupes that I use for a simple neutral eye look. The shimmers are not the best with the exception of Constrictor, which is luckily my favourite because it's an old gold type of colour. Mattes have a great pigmentation, there's not much need to build up the colour and they blend well. This and my custom made Artdeco palette are pretty much the only things I use currently.
Honourable mention:
Lips
A beautiful every day shade, a type I like to wear, so a natural light pink. The formula is a great matte one that glides on the lips easily, feels smooth and to me isn't drying (it's also not moisturizing).
These are like the next generation of lipsticks. Formula is ultra-light, I can't feel these on the lips and despite the matte finish and completely dry-to-the-touch non-transfer formula, they glide like a creamy lipstick at application. They don't transfer on a glass and last well on the lips, some of the best I've tried. Ultra Nude is a neutral nude that fits my skin tone.
Probably my most worn shade this year. I just grab it because it's about the same colour as my lips, it just evens them out and defines the shape. It's makeup without being obvious. Formula is soft, creamy, very easy to apply and comfortable on the lips, but as expected for such a formula also not very longlasting.
This formula is great for dry lips, since it's so comfortable and feels like a nice lip balm. Shade Luscious Taupe is a natural-pinky mauve that is similar to another of my favourites, Revlon Vinyl Lip Polish Birthday Suit.
Honourable mention:
REVLON Colorstay Satin Ink - very longlasting
Nails
One of my favourite ever shades and formulas. Colour is a nude powdery pink, very close to my skin tone in depth, just in a more pink version of it, so a good neutral I can wear for any occasion (or better said, it's a great shade for my level of laziness when it comes to doing manicures). Application is smooth and needs two coats for an opaque look.
Skin care
After Biobaza was discontinued, I feared I'll have to order Hada Labo all the time from Japan, but luckily I gave this a try and it's quickly become a favourite. Formula is thin, so it doesn’t emulsify much (it’s similar to Balea one in that respect), but it removes all impurities and makeup, it washes off completely and doesn't irritate my eyes. It’s also not fragranced, which is surprising for Nuxe (it has a natural oil scent). It can remove most waterproof mascaras except for one ridiculously stubborn formula: Catrice Glam & Doll.
This is meant to be a cleansing gel, scrub and mask in one, but I mostly use it as a mask. It has no scrubby bits worth mentioning and as a cleansing gel it's best if there's no makeup or SPF to remove. It contains niacinamide, salicylic acid and some extracts for unclear skin, so I use it mostly when I get a spot, apply it on the skin and leave it for a while (it's clear on the skin with a few sparse blue beads). I have very few breakouts, but those couple of times I did since I got this, this helped heal them faster. Actually the entire Young & Pure line proved to be quite effective those few times I needed spot products, but I don't suffer from major breakouts.
Propolis products tend to make my skin look more healthy with a nice glow and keep my skin in check. This is the only such product in our drugstores and it's expensive, but I'm already on my second bottle, as my skin likes it a lot. It's a light serum that absorbs quickly and is easy to layer over.
A peptide product in a toner/mist form that I've been using every day since I got it and I don't know if it's working in terms of anti-ageing, but my skin has been behaving well. It's a light, simple toner that absorbs quickly and feels moisturising. Aside from three peptides this also has panthenol and hyaluronic acid.
I've been using this for a while now and I said in one of the monthly favourites that though I didn't notice a difference in the mirror because it takes time for it to work, I noticed when I was editing my before/after pictures for foundation reviews that my skin is becoming more even and sun damage is disappearing. It's so far the only vitamin C product at which I've noticed some visible results. This has 10% Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, which is a more stable version of vitamin C than ascorbic acid, but needs more time to work. This is very expensive though, but a less strong drugstore version exists, which I'll likely get when this runs out.
This was recommended to me by one of the readers and I liked it instantly. I'm fussy about lip balms, as I dislike the thick, waxy formulas that just sit on the lips and don't nourish, so I only used Palmer's for a long time. This reminds me of it and it's sold on my local drugstore, so no ordering online. It's softer than most lip balms, nourishes instantly and stay on well on the lips. Mango wasn't the best choice of a scent, but they have plenty others.
Honourable mention:
Body
This has such a delightfully creamy formula with small beads that almost feel like if I were using a baking soda (they are a bit larger) and it scrubs well enough, yet doesn't feel abrasive. It's not as good as Soap & Glory for example, but feels such a luxury to use it. The scent is as usual for Dove another great creamy goodness.
Hair care
This one is filled with all the goodies for the hair (proteins, aminoacids, peptides, oils, a protective lipid), so great for my bleached, dry hair. It foams a lot, the foam is dense (compared to regular shampoos), it's a bit nourishing and doesn't leave that squeaky clean feeling I dislike (because my hair is so dry). I also like the mask from this line, but I only have the travel size.
I regret not trying this sooner because it's a great shampoo. Formula is so thick, I think it's the thickest shampoo I've tried and it creates a very rich, dense foam. Since it's silicone free, it doesn't leave that silky feeling when I'm rinsing it off, but it's rich enough for my very dry hair.
This is better in terms of how it makes the hair feel than N.3 treatment and N.5 conditioner. It leaves my hair nourished and feeling silkier despite being without silicones, the only thing it can't do all that well is tame the frizz. Unlike n.3 I can't spread this one as much, so I use up a lot at once and 100 ml is so little for my hair, which is a minus at this.
One of the best masks I've tried for very dry, coarse, thick, bleached hair, but it's also very expensive. It's silicone free, yet it doesn't behave like that and it leaves my hair well nourished, including my ends, so much softer than most of my stash and the effect lasts for about 5-6 days, which most treatments, even expensive ones can't do. A half an hour of this makes my hair feel like I did an several hour long treatment with Olaplex n.0 + n.3 + Cantu Conditioner.
Another fantastic mask, this one has a similar effect to Lazartique, so another that can make my coarse hair softer, but also feeling silky and just so nice to the touch, something I've experienced at other Kerastase masks before. My hair feels like new with this, though I'm not impressed with its ability to control frizz, but that's work for leave-ins and styling at almost every mask when it comes to my hair. This contains maleic acid, creatine (both care for hair bonds) and ceramides.
Holy grail for super frizzy hair. Masks above that I've mentioned are great for making the hair feel great, but this one smooths down my hair amazingly well. I don't even have to use a straightener or curler, I don't even have to dry my hair endlessly with a round brush and dryer on medium heat. All I need is my fake Revlon One Step dryer on the lowest setting. Of course I use several leave-in, but I use the same ones with other masks and the results aren't as smooth. It's another super expensive masks, but at least Moroccanoil has travel sizes.
One of the best drugstore hair masks I've tried, it's on the same level as Cantu conditioner. It leaves my hair feeling silky, detangled and it's nourishing enough for my very dry hair. It also works quickly, since I also use it just for a minute after a conditioner that leaves my hair not as silky as I want. In combination with Moroccanoil All in One leave-in, my ends don't dry out for 3 days, which is an achievement for a drugstore formula.
Out of the three such "magic waters" I've tried, this is the best version. It's emulsifies into a richer texture than others and I can use it on its own, instead of just a rinse before applying a conditioner/mask (not that's I'm saying the others won't find L'Oreal's & and Redken's versions enough on their own). My hair feels insanely silky when I'm rinsing this off, which sadly doesn't translate into my hair being any less frizzy, but it's nourished sufficiently and in combination with Moroccanoil All in One Leave-in, the effect lasts longer than a typical drugstore conditioner/mask for dry hair, which tend to keep my hair moisturised for a day. It's really takes mere seconds for this to work - I've tried it both way, so under a shower for a short time and left it on for 20 minutes, but results are the same, so these are excellent for a quick wash. I have two out of three versions and both are about the same, maybe the gold one is slightly more suited for dry hair and it smells better.
MOROCCANOIL All in One Leave-in Conditioner
This is the best leave-in conditioner I’ve tried. I have a bunch of leave-in conditioners that don’t do much, but I use them for ingredients (hydration, proteins, aminoacids, bond repair), but this one makes a difference. I especially see it when I use a conditioner/mask that isn’t that good on its own and this helps make my hair softer to the touch, the ends are nicely hydrated (the promised 72h), it protects against heat and it has proteins + amino acids, so it really is all in one. Well almost, the only thing that is doesn’t do is tame my frizz, but that is a job for the heavy hitters like Moroccanoil Smoothing Mask & Concentrate.
This became an essential product for me. From the start I was using it like I normally used such non-silicone, regular oil, so on dry hair when my ends were parched and it's really good for that, as usually on the second day my hair doesn't feel like I used an oil, it's just nicely nourished, but I can't do that for many days in a row. Latter I discovered it's even better on damp hair after washing, as it keeps my ends nourished longer. I also find it helps tame the frizz quite well, though the hair is not completely sleek. This smells like mint chocolate.
Another hair oil with no silicones and it's lightest such oil I've tried so far. This really grew on me and I use it often - it's actually replaced my silicone oils because it does about the same job or taming and adding shine, but it's more nourishing. Also when my hair is very dry and super frizzy, I apply this before going to bed in a large amount and by the morning when my hair drank most of it, it looks so good, like I had a great blow-out, it's frizz free, looks healthier and doesn't look like I applied an oil. However, I can only do this for two days in a row, then it already gets that dirty hair look like I applied a regular oil. It's not as rich as Palmer's and the latter is still better for very dry hair, but this is more suitable for applying all over the hair and avoid weighing it down, as you don't have to be so careful with the amount.
I've tried plenty of toning product and they work great if your hair is very light to light blonde with yellow tones, but for medium blonde hair with golden-orange tones this was the unexpected discovery that turned out to be most effective. I got it because I wanted cool purple hair, but I bought just the 30 ml, so I had to mix it with another regular conditioner to get enough for my hair. After 7 minutes the result wasn't purple, but a really nicely toned ashy, medium blonde colour. It managed to tone my orange roots more than anything I've tried, though in certain lights they were still visible, but much less intense. It was a lot more effective than Matrix Brass Off which is designed for toning for dark brunettes that bleach, but this will look purple on hair lighter than level 8. I'd still like to get the purple look, but I'd have to get the big tube and use most of it not mixed with anything.
Fragrance
FARMASI Sensational
Eau de Parfum for women
Top notes: bergamot, green leaves, peach
Heart notes: aquatic notes, lily of the valley, rose
Base: amber, musk, sandalwood
This is a tester size which my cousin gave to me, but the full-size bottle is very D&G The One inspired. Farmasi sometimes writes in their catalogues, which perfume their stuff is most similar to and this is supposedly like Dior's J'Adore, which I can't confirm it's true, but it's such a great clean white floral. It's a nice clean, fresh scent, very feminine, classic and to me similar to the scent of face creams, shampoos or fabric softeners. Quality is great for a cheaper scent. It's strong (for some 1 spray will be enough), it develops nicely and lasts surprisingly well, after about 6-7 hours I can still smell it on my wrist.
Posted in: Skincare
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