Drugstore Make up Disappoitments

Essence Make up to Match Foundation 

I bought it the moment it hit our shelves in Müller. The colour match looked fine, which is rare for us pale girls, so I took it. It has zero pigmentation. I mean zilch, nil, nada. It's not even worthy of a name tinted moisturiser let alone a foundation. It's like applying a moisturiser and not a good one at that. Four euros out of the window.

S-he Stylezone Khol Kajal Eyeliners 

In short: poor pigmentation, impossible even application, lasts about 2 seconds and smudges like crazy. No thank you.

S-he Stylezone Quad Eyeshadows

The chalkiest eyeshadows ever. Pigmentation is poor and they last about a second on the lids. Get their mono eyeshadows instead. Those are pretty good.

E.l.f. Bronzer/Blush Duo 

A lot of people actually really like this duo. It's a supposed dupe for the Nars Orgasm/Laguna duo. Well, I just can't get it to work on me. I own Orgasm and the blushes are not even remotely dupes. Orgasm looks great on me, while this is an odd peachy pink colour with shimmer. The bronzer is the weirdest colour ever. It's way to orange and a really bad colour for pale skins. Also both feel very powdery and just odd.  

Wet'n'wild Mega Glo Illuminating Powder

This was hyped up on one of the sites that has reviews of cosmetic products. I bought it years ago when Wet'n'Wild was still sold in Slovenia. It is rock hard. There was just no colour pay-off whatsoever. The lousiest highlighter I ever had. Went straight to the bin.

Essence Sun Club Mat Bronzing Powder Blondes

I bought it when I was on a search for a better bronzer. It is way too light even for someone as pale as me. It's swatched here. Smells nice though, like sunscreen.

Bourjois Blush

These blushes are really popular and most people like them. I hate them with passion. They are rock hard, I can't get any colour on the brush, let alone on my cheeks. It comes with the most useless brush ever.

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder

 My arch nemesis. Oh, how excited I was when I got it. I mean, the thing looks like a chocolate bar. However, first there is almost no pigmentation and second, the colour is too orange for my skin tone. I barely got any colour on my face. I thought that perhaps it's just the top layer that is hard, so I scrapped it off. It didn't help at all. A complete no go product for me.

Manhattan Eyelash Curlers

 Also known as the torturing device from hell. It pinches and rips eyelashes every time you get it near your eyes. Even some no-name curlers from a supermarket were better (though not by much). Just pay a few € more and get Tana instead.

Essence Lip Liner 

These are not the worst pencils in the world. The shades are actually quite cute, they are soft and apply nicely. However, they last about 5 minutes on the lips. I do still wear them sometimes, though.

E.l.f Lipstick

The weirdest texture of a lipstick ever. It feels like you're applying crayon on your lips. It's hard and waxy, it's really difficult to apply nicely. It has a strong, very sweet berry scent. The packaging is horrendous in terms of quality. Essence has better lipsticks for the same price (but those are more like tinted lip balms, though)

Essence I <3 Runway Highlighter

 With huge chunks of glitter it looks miles away from a pretty wearable dewy glow. Personally, I have no desire wearing massive sparkles on my cheeks. Get the their MyBase one instead. You get more product and that one looks actually wearable.

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Drugstore Make up Favourites

FACE PRODUCTS

Foundation 

Bourjois has some of the best foundations among drugstore brands and their Healthy Mix Range is my favourite. We, pale ''Snow Whites'' in Slovenia, are terribly overlooked in the drugstore foundation market. There is a handful of foundations available in shades that are appropriate for (in Mac terms) NC15 or lighter. Bourjois Healthy Mix range is one of those. Shade 51 in both original and serum version is light enough, though perhaps a bit too yellow, but thankfully Bourjois realises that not all pale people have pink undertones. I love both versions. Serum has light to medium coverage, while the original foundation has medium coverage. Both look extremely natural, feel very light on the skin and leave a lovely dewy finish. (I did a review of the serum version here.)

Concealer 

I've already done a post on drugstore concealers (here), but the one that stands out is Maybelline Instant Anti-Age The Eraser. It has a light formula, but offers a lot of coverage. It manages to look very natural on the skin and basically undetectable.

Highlighter/Primer

L'Oreal Lumi Magique is definitely my favourite everyday highlighter. It gives a really nice glow without looking too shimmery. I much prefer liquid/cream highlighters and this one comes in a nice sleek packaging with a very precise pump, so you are not wasting any product. Review here.

Blush 

I favour cream formulas over powder ones. They are just easier and faster to apply plus they look more natural to me. Maybelline Dream Touch are really creamy, pigmented and apply like a dream. The shade range is very limited though, there are only four shades in total. I have two, Peach and Berry. There is another, previous version, called Dream Mousse blush, which I think is discontinued, but I love the shade Peach Satin. Review and swatches here and here. 

EYE MAKE UP

Gel eyeliner

 Essence has a great quality gel eyeliner for the price. It's really pigmented, applies nicely and lasts all day without fading or smudging. Honestly, I don't notice any difference between the much more expensive Mac one and this one. Review here. 

Cream eyeshadows 

Essence Stay All day eyeshadows win this category. They are very pigmented, apply nicely without looking patchy and last brilliantly on the lids. Another honourable mention with a similar formula, but just a touch more expensive are the Catrice one's. Reviews of both here and here. 

Eyeshadows 

A definite winner for me is the L'Oreal Color Infaillible range. I already own 6 shades and I want more. They are extremely pigmented and last so long on the lids. At about 9€ a pop they are quite expensive for drugstore eyeshadows, but the pots are big and you get a lot of product. My favourite shades are 21 and 24, which are probably my most worn shades. My preferred method of application is with fingers, then I blend the edges with Mac 217. I only wish there were more shades, preferably some matte. Review and swatches here, here, here and here.

I also can't get pass Catrice mono eyeshadows. They are really cheap (only about 2€), pigmented, lovely quality and have the best colour range in drugstore. There are shades similar to Mac's Copperplate, Satin Taupe, Patina and Retrospeck. I highly recommend you check them out.

Eyeliner 

Max Factor has some of the best eyeliners in drugstores, both in terms of quality and shades. It's the only drugstore brand available here in Slovenia that, to my knowledge, carries a flesh toned shade called Glaze. I wear it almost every day. I also own a white and a brown shade from their khol line. Their newest range called Liquid Effect is just amazing. The pencils are so soft and long lasting. I have the shade Brown Blaze, a dark coffee shade, which is the perfect everyday replacement for black. I wear it everyday on the top lash line. Reviews and swatches here and here. 

Mascara 

As far as mascaras go, there are several mascaras I like, but if I'd have to go for one brand, it'd be L'Oreal. I liked most of their mascaras I tried. Volume Million Lashes Carbon Black is fantastic, another great one is Lash Architect 4D False Effect Black Lacquer. Voluminous Carbon Black is also nice. Currently I like Maybelline the Collosal Volumin' Express. I did a drugstore mascaras comparison here, more reviews here and here.

LIP PRODUCTS

Lipgloss 

I don't like wearing lipgloss too much, but the ones I really like are the Essence Stay With Me. I have almost all colours now. They are not too sticky, there is no annoying shimmer, the colour range is beautiful, they smell great and are nicely pigmented. Reviews and swatches here and here.

Liquid lipstick

I know I might be cheating a bit by adding this category, but Manhattan Soft Mat Lipcream and Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream definitely deserve their place in my favourites. They are full coverage matte liquid lipsticks that last exceptionally well on the lips and don't transfer once they dry. I love matte lip colours, so these at the top of my list. Reviews and swatches here, here, here and here.

Lipsticks 

Catrice have great lipsticks in drugstore range, especially for the price. They are really pigmented with a good staying power, apply nicely and they have one of the best colour ranges. I believe there are no annoying mega shimmery, frosty shades in their Ultimate Colour range and there are also some non-shimmery creamy shades in the Ultimate Shine line (like 210 Kiss Kiss Hibiskuss, also a supposed dupe for the famous Mac Impassioned). Swatches here. 

Another line that deserves praise (even though we can only order it online) is the E.l.f. Mineral lipstick range. The two shades I own, Runway Pink and Natural Nymph, are matte and look great on my skin tone. An ancient review and swatches here. BeautyUK is also a brand we can only get online. I own the shade called Passion and it's so pigmented, long lasting and the colour is just gorgeous. Review and swatch here.

NAIL POLISH

Essence Colour & Go line offers a great selection of shades of great quality for an affordable price. They recently revamped this line, the bottles are different, there are new shades and the brush is a bit wider. Swatch and picture of one shade from the new line here. There are also a lot of Trend Edition shades released throughout the year. 

 Catrice and BarryM have inexpensive and really lovely quality nail polishes too.

TOOLS AND RANDOM

Brushes

I use E.l.f. Powder brush for applying and blending foundation. It's so soft, dense and doesn't shed. A really nice and inexpensive brush.

Ecotools range is widely available here in supermarkets. Bronzer brush is fantastic quality, so dense and soft. I use it for applying powder and bronzer. Eyeliner brush is one of my most used eye brushes and the eyeshadow brush, though quite big, is nice for applying eyeshadow all over the lid and also blending. More on my favourite brushes here.

Eyelash curlers 

I can't imagine my make up routine without Tana eyelash curlers. I actually have two, I had one at home and one in Ljubljana. These are the best curlers I ever had. I never pinched myself or got any eyelash ripped out (this happened to me a lot when I had other curlers). I got mine in Műller (they are in a dark blue/white box). Highly recommended.

Lip balm

This is kind of a random category, but since I apply lip balm under lipstick or use tinted lip balm instead of them, I'll do it anyway. My absolute favourite lip balm (which is not technically a lip balm, but a multi-task product) is Palmer's swivel stick. It's the most moisturising and soft lip balm that doesn't feel waxy like a lot of lip balms do. I love it. I also like Rosal Milk and Honey lip balm. It smells nice and moisturises well. Best tinted lip balms are Labello (or Nivea, depends on where you live), in particular the taste/shade/version with dragonfruit. I've bought several in a row.   

So this completes my favourites ramble. There will also be a post about drugstore disappointments and probably one that is going to be a sort of a guide thought drugstore brands in Slovenia and my experience with their products in general (if anyone is interested in reading about that).

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Updated Skincare: Skin79 & Eucerin Review

A couple of months ago, I did a post on my skin care routine (click). I mentioned two products I had samples of that impressed me. I replaced the Saubär cleanser with Skin79's BB Cleanser and since I ran out of my beloved Estee Lauder Advance Night Repair serum, I bought Eucerin's Aquaporin Active Light moisturiser instead. 

I took a picture of the blurb on the back of the BB cleaner's packaging, so I won't go into details about it. Basically, it's a cleanser that starts to form oxygen bubbles after application. If I understand correctly from my Google research, the science behind the oxygen in products is that it kills bacteria. The cleanser comes in a quite big packaging (at least it seems a bit big for 100ml product) with a nice pump. I use three pumps of product and spread it evenly on my face, but avoid areas around the eyes and mouth. It starts off like a thick gel consistency which begins to foam in about 30 seconds. You can feel a slight tingle while the bubbles are forming. When the bubbles create a nice thick foam, I massage the product all over the face (also over the eyes and mouth. So far the product never got into my eyes, nor has it ever irritated them). The foam is really thick, similar to that of a shaving gel. I really like that part.

It's a nice cleanser that doesn't dry out my skin and I really like the thick foam it forms. It reminds me of L'Oreal's HappyDerm mousse cleanser that I love. It's a bit of a nuisance that you have to wait for the bubbles to form, still no biggie. But I don't notice my skin getting any better in terms of clarity, radiance and that sort of things. It is just a cleanser though. I don't expect miracles from it. I bought it on eBay from this seller (I ordered a few packages from them and they're really reliable). Click on the picture to read the blurb and ingredients.

When I ran out of Estee Lauder Advance Night Repair, I decided to get Eucerin Aquaporin Light to replace it. I had some samples before and I really loved it. It's so light, but super moisturising and sinks in really fast. It reminds me of Vichy's Aqualia Thermal serum except Aquaporin is thicker. It's the perfect base for make up, I much prefer it to the La Roche Posay Cicaplast. Really a lovely moisturiser. But I do miss EL ANR, though. 

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Rave: Soap & Glory Flake Away Scrub

I've only had this scrub for a few weeks, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it a HG. It's the best smelling scrub I've ever tried. If Miss Dior Cherie and Chanel's Coco Mademoseille had a baby, this would be it. And the scent lasts so long. I can actually smell it in the morning. It's a very thick scrub with big grains so it really does the job properly. I dislike scrubs that are too gentle with hardly any scrub particles in it. This one doesn't just exfoliate well, but it also moisturises. It leaves a slight oily filter, so you don't need to use moisturiser afterwards. It's that oily filter that keeps you smelling nice for so long.

I got my 300ml jar from eBay for 12€. I highly recommend you trying it, if you like more moisturising scrubs. I'll definitely try more Soap & Glory products. Righteous Butter is next on my list.

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Peach

Since I've already done posts on chocolate and coconut scented products, I promised to do one about peach scented products as well. I have to say I was having real difficulties finding any in our drugstores, especially shower gels (the only one I could find was from Subrina and I hate it). I thought there's going to be loads of them everywhere, but the only places I found them were DM and Yves Rocher. So this post does look a bit like a Balea commercial, but in my defence it's not intentional. 

First up is my favourite peach scent ever and unfortunately it was a LE, but I stocked up, so I still have one shower gel and deodorant left. It's Balea's Traum Geschöpft LE of which I already raved loads in favourites posts over the year (I think it was released in the Spring). For me this is the perfect peach scent, it really smells like a sweet, ripe, juicy peach. Oh, how much I wish it were in their regular line. This two items fuelled my peach obsession.

Because I couldn't find any (decent) peach smelling shower gel, I resorted to Balea hair line. There is one peach and one apricot scented line, or at least it was, it looks like their are in the process of discontinuing them and replacing with mango scented line. I use both shampoos as a shower gel (I have very sensitive scalp, so I only use La Roche Posay Kerium shampoo), but the rest of the family uses them as a shampoo and they say it's quite good, especially for the price. There is also a hair mask in the peach line and besides a really lovely scent that lingers quite long on the hair, I have nothing good to say about it. It's so runny (why not pack it in a bottle then), light and it does absolutely nothing for my hair (I have very dry hair). The mask is not being discontinued, but I won't repurchase. 

The next product also from Balea it their shaving gel in Milk'n'Peach. Their shaving gels are really good quality and cheap, I've been buying them for years. But the scent is nowhere near peach or milk. To me it smell exactly like pears. 

I already reviewed I Love... peaches&cream shower gel and lotion here. It's one of the best peach scents and it really smells like it has some cream mixed in. I really like the quality of both products. I bought them in France. 

I've also already done a review on Yves Rocher's Peche Jaune/Yellow Peach eau de toillete here. This is such a disappointment for me. I really dislike the scent, it doesn't smell like peach at all. Ok, maybe a bit like peach snaps, but there is no juiciness or sweetness. It's quite sharp and smells too masculine for me. This also turned me off from buying the rest of their peach line. 

I'm still looking for a nice peach line of products (since Traum Geshöpft was sadly only a LE), but I have my eye on The Body Shop's Vineyard Peach line. I hear it's quite good and I'll order at least the body butter to try it out (image by Google).

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Some Bits from the Newest Essence Products

Essence released a lot of new products this Autumn. They revamped Colour & Go nail polishes, added a new Colour Arts collection and some new shades and products to their line. I bought four new products: nail polish in the shade 107 naughty and pink!, a clear lipgloss from Colour Arts line, a glowing in the dark topper polish and a pigment in the shade 06 Wow!That's Orange. 

I tried the glowing in the dark topper on one nail and it gives the colour underneath a slight violet hue. I haven't tried it under a black light yet.

The lipgloss is really nice. It has the same scent and feels like the Stay with Me line, which are my favourite lipglosses. It's actually my first clear lipgloss in years.

I like the new revamped nail polish bottles and I believe some of the shades are new as well. 107 naughty and pink is a bright pink shade. The pigmentation is fantastic, you get an (almost) full coverage in first coat. The brush is wider than the predecessor's and it's quite an improvement as it makes application easier and faster.

There are 20 pigments in the Colour Arts line, as well as a lipgloss, an eyeshadow base, a clear nail polish, a mixing spatula and little pots. I bought Wow! It's Orange for only one reason - it looked like it might be a fantastic lip colour. And it is. Even though, it looks orange in the pot, when swatched it looks almost neon pink but with some coral tones. On the lips it looks similar, not so neon, but still bright pink with a bit of coral. It's a very nice shade for those who aren't afraid of wearing a bit of colour. The swatch on the lips is quite accurate, it's just a bit more bright in real life. I apply lipgloss first and than dab the pigment using a synthetic flat eyeshadow brush (from TBS, I tried using a lip brush but it was to small and it didn't apply the colour evenly enough). The colour lasts really long, also be aware that it stains the lips. You don't need a lipgloss underneath, a lipbalm works fine, you just need something the pigment sticks to. Works well as a blush, but it is very pigmented so you really need the tiniest amount.

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Exotic Coconut Scented Products

I've recently done a post about my current obsession with chocolate/cocoa scented products (click) and in that post I mentioned I had a coconut craving sometime in the Spring. I had a very definite type of coconut scent in mind. I wanted something very sweet and creamy, similar to Raffaelo. It turned out to be quite a task, despite the fact there is a lot of coconut scented products. Most of the things I tried either didn't really smell like coconut at all or it was a very synthetic version of it. But I remain positive, there is a lot more products to try. So here are the things I have, I'll do sort of a quick review style on all of them.

Yves Rocher's Noix de Coco line was on the top of my list after reading very positive reviews, but it mostly left me disappointed. I've already done a review on all of the products here and here, so I'll be short.

Noix de Coco Malaysian Coconut Silky Cream 

It's a nice body cream, but not for dry skin. It's very silky, light, thin (almost liquidy) and sinks in fast. However, the scent is not what I expected. I barely smell any coconut at all. The scent is actually very similar to the Lush Sympathy for the Skin, kind of light milky scent. The packaging is extremely impractical and I hate it with passion. I also had the lotion version and it's basically the same thing just in different (more practical) packaging. 

Noix de Coco Malaysian Coconut lip balm 

(not in the picture)

Apart from the scent, which is one of the best coconut scents I tried, it's just not worth it. It's not moisturising and the packaging is very impractical. The opening is way to small, so the only way to get the product out is with a lip brush and I just can't be bothered. 

Noix de Coco Malaysian Eau de Toilette 

I was a bit too harsh about this fragrance in my original review. I said it smelled a bit plasticky in the beginning, but now I don't get that at all and it's become one of my favourite fragrances. It's one of those where I don't really have to be in the mood for such a scent as I always like it. It's a very nice coconut scent, I'd say straight up coconut, but not too sweet and not at all artificial. People compliment me a lot when I wear it. It's very cheap, I got mine 100ml for 9€. Bargain! And it lasts so well on the skin. Not all day, but a long time nonetheless. If you're on the market for a nice coconut scent, give it a go.

Balea Deospray Cocos 

a cheap deodorant that I bought on a whim. The scent is a bit artificial coconut, but quite nice. My mum really likes it. It's quite a strong scent and it does last. An ok product for the price.

The Body Shop Coconut Oil Hair Shine

 I'll start with the fact it doesn't smell like coconut at all. It smells like hazelnuts. It's a treatment for hair ends, basically solid coconut oil and some little extras (it doesn't have any silicones). It's quite thick and you have to warm it up quite a bit between your hands and then apply it to your ends. It's smooths it out and gives shine. It's very greasy and heavy, so I'd recommend it to those with very dry hair (or at least ends). It's not my favourite treatment (actually I prefer regular coconut oil), but it's very handy to carry it around.

As I said there is a lot of coconuts products out there, but the ones that caught my attention and I hope I might get a hold of them sometime in the future are Victoria's Secret Coconut Passion range (supposedly a mix of coconut and vanilla, so exactly what I've been looking for) and the Coconut range from The Body Shop. (Images by Google)

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