Empties #3

Balance Me cleanse and smooth face balm

I love this cleanser and so does my skin. It's a balm cleanser in a liquidy form with small oatmeal scrub particles. I love the scent, it works great and keeps the flakies at bay. The only bad thing is that it's expensive. Original review here. 

Repurchase: Yes.

Mavala Double-Lash

I got this a long time ago because I wanted to strengthen my lashes and stop them from falling out so much. I had no results whatsoever the first time. Then I stopped using it for a while and started using it months later, however, again I saw no positive changes. My eyelashes did stop falling out, but that happened when I wasn't using this for a long time. Original review here. 

Repurchase: No.

Balea Eye Makeup Removing Oil Pads Waterproof

These remove the most stubborn waterproof mascara, but they are too oily. I need to use a separate remover to get rid of all the oil. I prefer the Maybelline remover.
Repurchase: No.

Balea Makeup Removing Wipes 3 in 1 for dry and sensitive skin

These are too harsh compared to my favourites from Speedy Care. It hurt my skin when I was using them.
Repurchase: No.

 Nivea Soft

I buy a pot or a tube of this every now and then. It's a standard cream that is quite light and refreshing. Honestly, I buy it because I love the typical Nivea scent.
Repurchase: Maybe.

Skin Doctors Ingrow Go

This is a liquid lotion that smells horrible and contains a lot of glycolic acid that should help with ingrown hair. I have the worst ingrown hair, literary the worst (even if I just shave and/or scrub everyday, flm), and this doesn't do squat for me, neither to prevent them nor help them get out. Waste of money.
Repurchase: No.

Skin Doctors Hair no More

A spray that is supposed to inhibit/stop the hair from growing. There were promises of having to shave less often and the hair becoming finer. All a load of crap. It does smell nicer as the Ingrown go.
Repurchase: No.

Yves Rocher Noix de Coco Malaysian Coconut Silky Lotion

This feels and smells the same as the silky cream, it's just a bit runnier. It's ok, but not for dry skin. The scent is barely coconuty, it's more of a milky scent that is similar to Lush's Sympathy for the Skin.
Repurchase: No.

I Love... peaches and cream body lotion

A very decent lotion that is nicely moisturising. The scent is a great as well - peach mixed with cream.
Repurchase: It's really nice, but no.

 L'Oreal Ever Rich Mask

A great drugstore treatment for dry hair. It's quite light for a mask, however it still manages to moisturise well. The scent is a sweet caramel one and it's quite strong. Original review here.
Repurchase: Yes.

L'Oreal Ever Rich Shampoo

This made a great first impression, however, with every use my enthusiasm was fading. I mentioned before that I have awful dandruff, dry and itchy scalp, so I'm trying the whole sulphate free thing (and I'm not liking it, to be honest). The shampoo is really creamy, foams nicely, is sulphate-free, smells nice and doesn't leave my hair dry. Sound nice, right? However, my scalp hates this. I think it's building up on my scalp and that's why it's ridiculously itchy literary right after washing my hair. Strangely, I had much better experience with the Ever Pure one. One more thing, it's so thick that towards the end, it get really difficult to get it out of the tube.

Repurchase: No.

Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque

Me and this mask do not get along. Almost everyone loves it, but I find it painfully average. It leaves my hair dry and abnormally frizzy. There are so many better cheaper products as well as salon treatments. Original review here. 

Repurchase: No.

Redken Extreme Anti-Snap

This is a protein leave-in treatment that helps prevent breakage and split ends. There is 250 ml of a very light lotion with a sort of artificial sweet fruity scent in the bottle. I've had mine for about a year and I used it almost every time I washed my hair. As far as results go, I noticed my hair was more tamed and it was definitely less damaged. Why I love this is because I started using this right after having my hair cut and my hair was in such great condition that I didn't feel I need to get my ends trimmed for a year (honestly, it saved me a lot of money since I pay 30€ for a simple trim. The joy of having long hair, greedy bastards). I got it cut when it got too long since it reached the end of my back.
I often get a question how do you get the hair to grow faster. Well, first off, everyone's hair supposedly grows at the same rate, however, if your hair is damaged and breaks off easily, you have the felling that your hair doesn't grow or it's growing really slowly. If you're one of those people, I highly recommend giving this a try (also anything with protein). Ingredients here.

Repurchase: Yes. But since it's not that good to use protein treatments for too long or you might risk making more damage, I'll buy it in a year or so.

 Balea Shower Gels: Fiji Passionfruit, Brazil Mango, Hawaii Pineapple

Though some people find Balea's shower gels drying, me and my skin actually like them. These three were a part of this summer's limited edition and they all smelled great - one like fresh passionfruit, one like Haribo candy and one like Pina Colada.
Repurchase: I would if they weren't limited edition.

L'Occitane Angelica Face Toner

A run-of-the-mill hydrating toner. Smells similar as the hydrating cream - herbally fresh and I like it. It leaves the skin slightly sticky. There are cheaper ones that are similar. Ingredients here.

Purchase: No.

L'Occitane Sublime Essence Skin Perfector

The texture is thick for a serum, but not greasy. It feels super light on the skin and gives that silicone like feeling, despite that it doesn't have them. It's leaves a great velvety matte finish, like using a super light primer. I think it's not hydrating enough on it's on in the winter for dry skin, but it should be enough for combination, normal and oily. The scent is nice, flowery (rose perhaps) and closer to something by Vichy than L'Occitane. Based on two samples I can't really report on results, but it did help to make my forehead smooth again. I really like it. Ingredients here.

Purchase: Yes.

L'Occitane Angelica Ultra Matte Fluid

When I was a teen with oily skin, their previous versions, the Lavender and Red Rice fluid, were my staples and I adored both. This is very similar. It has pretty much identical light, yet hydrating texture that leaves a matte finish, again like using a light primer or powder. L'Occitane excels at this. It has the same fresh herbal scent of the angelica line that I like. It's on my wishlist together with their Hydrating cream. Ingredients here.

Purchase: Yes.
I must say, L'Occitane's skin care works wonderfully for my skin. I had a bad skin moment and these samples made it all right again. Their products deserve more praise and attention that they get.

Sante Shower Gels: Grenadine Spirit and Coconut Dream

How this get to be sold?! Saying they are awful is an understatement. Both smell horrific and there is nothing dreamy about that coconut scent. Both have a revolting alcoholic rotten scent and the texture is ridiculously runny. Thankfully, I only had samples.
Purchase: No Way. 

L'Occitane Sublime Beauty Cream BB Cream SPF 30 

The texture is light and runny, very Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum like. It feels light on the skin and I wouldn't say moisturising, which considering it's a BB cream, is a bit odd. So this not for dry skin, rather better suited for normal to oily skin. It leaves a satin finish and it's slightly dewy, but not from the moisture like other BB's. It lacks that silicone feeling, which makes it not blend that well on dry skin. It's the type of product that I have a feeling might cling to dry patches. It's pretty much immediately dry to the touch, a feature I love. Coverage is light, maybe light to medium. It has the same flowery scent as the serum, but it's stronger, so not the best product for those sensitive to fragrance. I had samples of both of the shades they offer, light and medium. Look at the swatches. In what universe is that light? Yet another western company released only dark BB shades as if everyone in Europe spends their entire lives sunbathing in friggin Ibiza. Light is slightly darker than Bourjois BB in 21, but close, while medium is very dark. Ingredients here.

Purchase: Until they stop screwing around and make actual useful shades the answer is no.

Have a great day!

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).

Thanks for reading!

What I Bought in France and Other Recent Purchases

It's been more than two weeks since I've returned from France, but I wanted to a least try some of the products before I wrote anything. I didn't get much stuff. Strangely I left Sephora empty handed, but I did purchase a couple of things in Yves Roche, Douglas and Carrefour. 

I already reviewed the Dream Touch blush here -> click. 

I got two things in Douglas: I love... peaches & cream set and Bourjois Magic Nail polish remover.
I love... peaches & cream set includes a shower gel, lotion and a mesh bath sponge in the prettiest light peach colour.    Both products have a nice peach-mixed-with-a-bit-of-cream scent, so sweet and fruity. Actually, it reminds me a bit of Britney Spears' Midnight Fantasy, or at least on how it smells on me. I was quite impressed by the lotion, because it's thicker than I thought it would be and it moisturises well.  

Bourjois Magic Nail polish remover really cuts the amount of time you spent on removing nail polishes to a mere couple of minutes. I'm sure most of you already heard about this product. I do like it a lot, however, it is way to expensive for what it really is (I paid over 8€), so a bit of sponge with some remover. I'm just waiting for cheaper knock-offs to appear on the market. It does smell nice, like fruit and vanilla, also it leaves your fingers and nails quite moisturised, so it is better than your run-oft-he-mill nail polish remover.

I left Yves Rocher with two items: LE fragrance Mango and Passion Fruit and Monoi de Tahiti oil. I regret purchasing the latter as, if I use the description of my (male) friend, it smells like grandma. Ok, that's a bit harsh, but it is a bit to flowery for me (a lot of people like it a lot, judging by the good reviews on MUA). I expected a nice coconut-beachy fragrance and this is not it. But it does have a nice consistency and sinks into the skin quite fast.
The mango-passion fruit fragrance is lovely. It's a typical summer-coctail-Escada type of scent and I really like it. It doesn't last long though. There was another LE fragrance, which smelled like pina colada, but I restrained myself from purchasing a small bottle of that too.

Last month I suddenly wanted some jasmine scented products and after some well executed Google searches, I found that Lush Flying Fox shower gel and Lust perfume fit my wishes best. Both have a very strong jasmine scent, Flying Fox also has a bit of honey mixed in. It's not the type of scent I'd love to smell every day, but sometimes I do like something different. Flying Fox is very runny and I hate Lush packaging with passion (does anyone else find their plastic bottles so damn hard to squeeze?), so in general I probably won't repurchase it. I much prefer my L'Occitane almond shower oil for pampering. 

Lust solid perfume has a very strong jasmine scent that I think a lot of people wouldn't really like (my friend  - btw the same as above- pointed out it's nice, but too strong). The scent lasts really long on the skin, also beware that it leaves red stains on clothes. 

Ruby Kisses nail polish in Tropical Blend looks amazing in the bottle. It's an amazing bright pinky-coral shade that unfortunately translates into neon orange on my nails. And I don't like that, so it's a miss purchase for me. The quality of the polish itself is quite nice though.

Essence recently released a collection of 6 fragrances that are available in 50 and 10 ml bottles. After testing all, I liked the Like a First Day in Spring the most and I purchased a small bottle. It's again a very Escadaish type of scent, so very sweet and fruity, but also a bit fresh. Top notes: orange, tangerine, pineapple. Middle notes: rose, blackberries, praline. Base notes: musk, sandalwood, vanilla. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long (but so don't Escada fragrances for a much heftier price tag), I don't mind respraying it anyway. The 10 ml bottle is a great purse size and not that expensive, it retails for around 3-4€.

Thanks for reading!