August Favourites 2012

Time for a new favourites post, as usual the coloured text are links to swatches and original reviews. 

This August has been seriously hot and products like dusting powders from Lush come in really handy at such times. I have two: the lighter jasmine scented Silky Underwear and a more heavily scented Vanilla Puff Powder. I already raved about these powders last Summer as they are really multitasking. They are great at absorbing extra moisture, you can sprinkle it on the bedding so it smells nice and I even use it sometimes as a setting powder (it is very white though, so don't use it too much. Also wear lighter clothes if you use it on your body). I actually prefer the scent of Silky Underwear, it is truly one of the nicest scents out there. 

I took a trip to Refan again which sells imitation fragrances. This time I picked up Bruno Banani's Magic Woman and Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle. The first one is a very sweet scent, I get strawberries and other berries with some musk. The second is again a sweet but a very sophisticated scent. I get mostly patchouli with oranges and a touch of vanilla, simply a gorgeous scent! I find that Refan's fragrances last very long on me and are actually very good imitations of the originals. 

Balea released a LE deodorant called Hawaii and it's a very candy-tropical scent (papaya and frangipani). I love the scent, it's right up my alley and I will repurchase if I'm lucky enough to still find it in DM. 

I wanted a peach smelling fragrance and after consulting fragrantica.com (being a bit obsessed with fragrances, I just love this site) I decided to try Victoria's Secret Love Spell. I bought a 250ml body spray on eBay for an exaggerated price (a result of high shipping costs). I looove the scent. It's very tropical, like a tropical fizzy drink, for Slovene readers I can compare it to the old Bibita smell (dark blue label) and very similar to Escada's Marine Groove, other reviewers described it as a Hawaiian Punch smell. Sadly it doesn't last long, about an hour, so I'm planning to get the body butter as well to intensify the scent.

Phyto Phytopolléine universal elixir is my mini super expensive miracle worker. I've been suffering from dandruff for more than 10 years, used almost every shampoo on the planet and nothing really worked. Now I use La Roche Posay Kerium for dry hair, just repurchased my third bottle in a row and I also use Alpencin Forte treatment which works fantastic for getting rid of the itching. But Phytopolléine is the product that really made a massive difference. It's a heavily scented oil (it smells of rosemary and lavender) that you massage on your scalp before washing your hair. It completely purifies my scalp, no other product I've tried was that effective. However, it costs an arm an a leg - over 20€ for a small 25ml bottle, but it did last me six treatments already and there is still about 1/5 left. I'll will repurchase it once it runs out, despite the insane price. I've been planning to write a post about my hair care for about a month (the pictures are already ready), but I'm simply too lazy. And I think I'll have to write it in three parts, because I use a lot of things on my hair.

My current favourite everyday eye look consist of a Max Factor eyeliner in Glaze (a nude shade) on the waterline and of a shade Brown blaze (dark brown) on the top lash line and a bit smudged under the lower lashes. It's simple and it just defines your eyes. For a darker look I use L'Oreal's Color Infaillible eyeshadow in Endless Chocolate all over the lid. 

Still in the spirit of Summer I've been wearing brighter coral and pink shades on my lips. My favourite this month have been Essence Miami Roller Girl TE Colour Changing lip balm in Miami Heat which is such a fantastic bright coral pink shade on me, Catrice Kiss Kiss Hibiskus and Shiseido PK 224 (the most perfect peachy pink shade! The texture is a let down though).

Thanks for reading!

My Favourite 5 Nail Polishes This Summer

These are the five nail polishes I've been wearing over and over again this Summer:

1. Ciate - Sugared Almonds (on my thumb, left top picture): a pink nude shade, needs 2-3 coats for an even application as it tends to go streaky. It's quite expensive for a nail polish, I bought it online on Ličila.si for almost 14€, but it is one of my most worn colours. Here is another swatch click. 

2. Depend - Holographic 2025 (index finger, top right picture): a silver holographic shade, needs 3 coats for full coverage. One of my absolute favourite shades. I got mine in DM for around 4€. Here is another swatch click. 

3. Essence - Season Extreme's TE in Bright Alert! (middle finger, bottom left picture): a super bright coral-pink shade (almost neon), needs 3 coats for full coverage. My other favourite shade this summer, but a colour that is incredibly unphotogenic. I tried every setting I could find on my camera to come close to the shade. It's very close in the first (intro) picture, just a more bright and coral. The same goes for the swatch picture on the bottom left and just ignore the other one's where it looks orange. This definitely my most worn colour this summer, too bad it limited edition.

4. Barry M - 305 Pink Flamingo (ring finger, bottom left picture): a pink with a hint of coral, needs 1 coat. Barry M has one of my favourite formulas, it's never streaky and very pigmented (one coat is enough, but I put one more just in case). Here is another swatch click.

5. Depend - 245 (little finger, bottom right picture): a pastel mint green shade, needs 2 coats. I adore mint green shades and I have quite a few of them already (even though some look just identical). It all started with Essie Mint Candy Apple, Depend 245 is actually quite a spot on dupe for it as is You Belong to Me from Essence, and I keep all of them on my vanity because I have the whole mint green theme going there. 

My collection of mint green shades: Essence 73 Replay (discontinued), Season of Extremes Did Someone Say Nude?, You Belong to Me, Essie Mint Candy Apple and Depend 245.

Thanks for reading!

July 2012 Favourites

This post includes all of the products that I took on my holiday. It's not all I took, obviously, but these are the product that stood out the most or I used them most. Btw I was in Vodice, Croatia, for a week and it was amazing.

Sun protection was obviously vital, so I stuck to using BB creams. I took both Skin79 (review) and Holika Holika (review here and here is a picture of me wearing it) with me. I absolutely hate the sticky, heavy feeling sun creams leave on the face and BB creams are such a step forward in that department. Mind you, they are still a bit sticky (especially Holika Holika Peach Girl), but nothing compared to regular sunscreens. It's also important to protect your hair, so I took with me Orofluido Sahara which has UVA and UVB filters, not to mention it smells gorgeous. 

Maybelline's Popstick in 020 Tropical pink (review), L'Oreal Rouge Carresse in 301 Dating Coral (review) and Essence colour changing lip balm in 01 Miami Heat (review, I'm also wearing it here) are great summer lip choices. All three are really moisturising, light and are lovely summery shades. 

On my nails I was wearing 04 Bright Alert! by Essence from Season Extreme TE, which is a bright pinky coral. 

I took Match Perfection concealer by Rimmel with me (review), because it offers a lot of coverage and I can use it on circles and spots. For mascara I went with my current one, Maybelline Collosal Volum' Express Waterproof (review), which is a great mascara just keep it away from water, because it falls short of it's claim of being waterproof. I used a touch of Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Soft Mat bronzer (review) all over instead of powder and blush. 

My trusted Nuxe Huile Prodigueuse (review) also went with me. It's a great multi-purpose product, I used it on my face, body, lips and hair, so aside from shower oil by L'Occitane this was my only body care product, which also functioned as hair treatment and face moisturiser. It gives a lovely glow to the body on the beach or when you're going out. 

The last product I'm loving (still) is Fantasy by Britney (review). I just adore the sweet fruity-vanilla notes it has, also I received a lot of compliments. 

I've been playing with Picasa a bit to edit my pictures. They're not the best, but it was fun to play with different effects. Thanks for reading!