Best Buys Under 5 €

It's actually not that easy to find a good product that is under 5 € and I admit I struggled to get a nice bunch of products for this post. I have loads of products that I love which are just above the price mark (literally a few cents more), but I won't cheat and I plan to show them in a another drugstore favourites post. I selected 11 products that are available either in drustores or online or even in larger supermarkets and all are nice cheap thrills. So here is my selection.

CATRICE Absolute Eye Colour Mono

2.89 €.

Yes, I could select a lot of products from Essence for this post, but you know what - I don't find them that thrilling and I much, much prefer Catrice, especially when it comes to quality. Although L'Oreal's eyeshadows are my uncontested favourites in the drugstore ranks, Catrice's are a close second. I love the colour range, there are some gorgeous neutral shades as well as a few brighter colours and you can create a selection that rivals any combination in the popular neutral palettes. The pigmentation of these is great and they blend really well, even the matte shades are excellent quality. If you're looking for some inexpensive fun products I highly recommend you check them out. My favourite is a taupe shade called 350 Starlight Expresso.
By the way, I just quickly swatched the new velvet matte eyeshadows by Catrice and they are fabulous as well. 

CATRICE Defining Blush

3.79 €.

I just can't shut up about these blushes. The formula of these won my heart - it's just perfect - smooth and pigmented, these blend so well, but foremost they actually manage to stay put on my cheeks a lot longer than any other blush I tried, except Benefit's Coralista. My favourite shade is Rose Royce which is an amazing rosy-neutral shade that goes with everything. 

MAYBELLINE Color Tattoo 24 HR

4.95 € (might be more expensive depending on where you buy them).

These really are so good! They boast with a lovely creamy texture that is super pigmented, blends well and once it sets stays put for hours. I tend to use them for a quick eyeshadow look or, my preferred way, as a base. There are a lot of shades to choose from, but Permanent Taupe, a matte taupe, is without a doubt my favourite cream eyeshadow as well as one my favourite colours in general.

LABELLO Fruity Shine Peach

1.85 €.

These could easily be described as the most convenient product to satisfy the craving for a cheap trill. Everyone needs lip balm, you use it all the time and they are usually in every grocery shop at the registers. Fruity Shines are one of the most fun ones with is a nice selection of tinted balms with juicy scents. My favourite is peach and I find it has one of the best peach scents out there as well as a lovely natural peach tint. These aren't the most moisturising lip balms, but they are nice for everyday use. 

EBELINE Blending Brush

2.95 € , only in DM (not in Slovenia, sorry).

I never expected such a brilliant brush for such an affordable price. It's an excellent super soft blending brush that I use also for applying a gentle wash of colour in the crease or on the lids. Basically, I can do almost an entire eye makeup with it, though due to its softness it's more for subtle looks and it performs best with high quality eyeshadows. 

E.L.F. Studio Flawless Concealer Brush

£3.75 (4.7 €), E.l.f. website.

I love how dense, yet still soft this brush is and it's just feels so well made. I use it for so many things from blending concealer, applying setting powder under the eyes and around the nose, applying a base eyeshadow colour all-over the lid, blending and even contouring. Truly a versatile brush.

INELL Eau Micellaire

2.29 €, only in E.Leclerc.

Micellar waters are a part of my everyday routine when I'm removing makeup, so I use a lot of them. This one is incredibly affordable and just as good as the rest drugstore versions. As most micellar waters it feels super light - like water and it removes makeup effectively, leaving the skin clean and refreshed. 

INELL Mousse Nettoyante Hydratante

1.51 €, only in E.Leclerc.

This is such a wonderful, gentle cleanser that is also really fun to use. It looks like those whipped creams in a can and the mousse actually resembles whipped cream a bit due to the super dense texture. It also smells so lovely and it really makes the morning cleanse an enjoyable experience.

DOVE Nourishing Shower Gel

2-3 €.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was another version of this lying somewhere in the house - I think our house might be the fan central of Dove Nourishing shower gels. These are seriously so good - incredibly creamy and luxurious feeling due to a thicker formula, they are especially loved in my household because they are nourishing and don't leave the skin feeling dry or itchy. I love the scent of these, all three actually: the classic original Dove scent, the sensuous coconut milk with jasmine one and the sweet almond with hibiscus one. If your skin is dry, give them a go.

BATISTE Dry Shampoo

£2.99 (3.7 €), online on Boots International and Asos.

Though my hair is far from greasy, I don't shy away from dry shampoo on days between the washing. I've tried a few so far and Batiste is my favourite. It properly refreshes the hair, giving it more life and body as well as makes it smell nice, it's like an additional fragrance. When it comes to dry shampoo, for me the most important features are that it doesn't leave the hair white and that it smells nice. My hair is dark brown and Batiste can leave a white cast if I spray too close, but it's easy to blend it in. However, what I really appreciate is the large selection of scents and Wild is my current favourite. It has a lovely oriental scent, I smell notes of chocolate, vanilla, musk and wood that combine into a nice perfume version of a scent rather than gourmand one, like the Tropical version has.

TONI & GUY Sectioning Clips

3.08 €, eBay this seller.

These are so awesome. I could never find decent sectioning clips for a reasonable price here, so I ordered these from eBay and they are so good. They feel so professional and well made with the matte rubberised texture, you'd never think they were so cheap. I use them all the time when I blow-dry my hair to clip the hair out of the way or to create volume or curls - just brilliant stuff. 

Do you have any recommendation for great affordable products? Have a great day!

More Inell Skincare bits: Mousse Nettoyante Hydratante and Démaquillant Yeux Spécial

I already spoke about the incredibly affordable micelar water by Inell (the house brand of Leclerc), but I have more skincare bits to talk about.

Mousse Nettoyante Hydratante

Hydrating Cleansing Foam
Ingredients
1.51 € in E.Leclerc.

This product was one of those unintended, spur of the moment purchases that turned out pretty bloody brilliant. I have been searching for a nice, quick and gentle cleanser to use in the morning, but I wanted to avoid gels because they tend to dry out my skin. I have mentioned before that I used L'Oreal's Happy Derm mousse in my teens and it was one of my favourite ever cleansers until it disappeared from the shelves. After years I have finally found a dupe for it and this is it.  

I am not impressed by those "mousse" cleansers that produce some pathetic watery foam, but this is a whole other thing. The texture of this cleanser resembles a super light whipped cream, but in a foam way. It cleans well, feels super comfortable, doesn't dry out the skin and is in general a very fun product to use. The packaging is just as one of those whipped creams in a can and it has the same dispenser. It smells amazing to me, pretty much identical to L'Oreal's 15 Second Miracle Cleansing Oil which is one of my favourite scents ever. It's so difficult to describe it, maybe as powdery-floral, but to me it smells like the beach for some reason.

For me this is the perfect morning cleanser and it's so affordable. If you stumble upon it in E. Leclerc, I highly recommend it.

Démaquillant Yeux Spécial Waterproof

Special Eye Makeup Remover Waterproof
Ingredients
2.03 € in E.Leclerc.

I wear a waterproof mascara on a daily basis so my lashes stay curled and I need a good oily remover to get every last scrape of it off at the end of the day. My favourite such remover is from Maybelline, but recently I have been trying some removers from other brands. One was from Nivea, which I don't like, and the other is this one, which didn't quite impress me either.

It looks and it is a regular two phase remover that feels a bit oily on the skin, but it's not as greasy as using an actual oil. Texture-wise it's somewhere between Maybelline's and Nivea's meaning it's not as oily as the first one, but not so light as the second. It removes mascara and other makeup quite well, though it does require a bit of rubbing to get all the mascara off, but what bothers me at this remover is that it leaves me with a strange sensation in the eyes. Not irritated in a sense that my eyes would water or become red, but it's like a strange cooling sensation. I consider myself a very hardy person when it comes to beauty products and none so far (*knocks on wood*) has ever irritated my skin, but this is the product I would not recommend to someone with sensitive eyes. Similarly to Nivea's, it doesn't leave my eyesight foggy, while Maybelline's does.

Despite it's shortcomings, I must praise the packaging. It has the most practical lid I've encountered at these dual phase removers and it's the only one where the product doesn't run everywhere, so I am keeping it to put in other removers.

It is a very affordable remover, but I can't get pass the strange feeling it leaves my in eyes. I'm sticking to Maybelline's for now or I might try L'Oreal's next.

Have a great day!

Inell Eau Micellaire (Micellar Water)

Inell, the house brand of E.Leclerc, offers a remarkably similar bottle of micellar water as the much more renowned Bioderma and the beloved Garnier's drugstore version, but it holds an impressive 500 ml of product for a mere 2€. Obviously, I could not pass up the bargain and I immediately began to wonder how it compares to the, lets face it, quite excellent competition. For those who might not be familiar with micellar waters, they are makeup removers that have a super light texture which resembles water. I currently have Garnier's and Green Line's micellar waters to compare, so it's a battle of the drugstore versions today, but I have already compared L'Oreal's versus Bioderma a while back.

The first thing that caught my attention was that just like Garnier's and L'Oreal's micellar waters, Inell's one also contains Poloxamer 184, which is the ingredient responsible for dissolving makeup. However, that also means that if you found either of those two versions irritating, it might be the same case with this one as well (Bioderma's and Green Line's micellar waters don't have this ingredient). I personally had zero problems with it, but I was informed by one of my readers that it is not the best choice for skin with problems (in that case it was atopic dermatitis. Thank you Irina for sharing that).

Inell's has identical light, almost water-like texture as all the rest and leaves a clean, yet not stripped feeling on the skin. Much like all the others it quickly and effectively removes makeup, the base is pretty much gone with one cotton pad, but eyeliner will require more, so a grand total of three pads is usually sufficient for removing an every day amount of makeup. It's is the same with Garnier's, L'Oreal's and Green Lines, only Bioderma is quicker and more effective. Of course, it won't remove waterproof mascara as an oil-based remover is needed for that task.

As opposed to the rest with exception of Green Line, Inell's one has a slightly stronger chemical scent, but it's not offensive.

In all honestly, I notice no significant difference between the three and I use them interchangeably. All, including Innel's, are a brilliant drugstore buy. If you're lucky enough to live in a country with E.Leclerc (France, Andorra, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia), then I wholeheartedly recommend you to pick Innel's one up based on the price alone (2.29 € for 500 ml).

Have a great day!

New in #18

L'OREAL Nude Magique Eau de Teint

100 Porcelain

After my cousin bought this foundation and kindly let me test it, I had to get it for myself as well. I was concerned that the lightest shade would be too dark for me and it is indeed a bit too warm and dark, however, due to the supremely light is-it-a-tinted-moisturiser-or-a-foundation texture, I can make it work. This has a finish that looks like you already used powder on top and is so light only an occasional patch due to the drier matte texture reveals your wearing something. I'm glad I got this for the summer months. I'll do a proper review. 

Feel Unique, 12.99 €.

MAYBELLINE Fit Me Concealer

15 Fair

I have heard rumours of this being very similar to NARS Radiant Creamy concealer. They are so wrong. There is no comparison between the two except the packaging is similar. Maybelline's is much lighter and more liquid, it's not as creamy and the shade, well, the shade is a disappointment. 15 is supposed to be the lightest one and it's not all that light and unfortunately it has some very unflattering orange hues. So far I'm not loving it, I mean it's decent and the coverage is ok, but I've had better. There will be a review. 

Feel Unique, 7.79 € (Slovenes can get it on Salma).

 During one of my strolls through E.Leclerc, a new brand caught my attention called Inell. It's ridiculously affordable and from what I could see from the ingredients, it has some very decent products. Here's what I got:

INELL Eau Micellaire

Micellar water 

The first thing that caught my eye was a massive micellar water that bears a striking resemblance to Bioderma as well as Garnier's bottle. It holds an impressive 500 ml of micellar water and costs only 2.29 €. My jaw dropped to the floor so hard it landed somewhere in the Pacific and after a quick glance of ingredients (Poloxamer 184 on second place, the same ingredient as in Garnier's and L'Oreal's versions), I promptly put it in my basket. I'll do a comparison of Garnier's and Green Line's micellar water in a future post, but so far I can say there is very little difference and you should grab it if you see it.

E.Leclerc, 2.29 €.

INELL Démaquillant Yeux Spécial Waterproof

Eye makeup remover waterproof

You have no idea just how much hate my current Nivea's dual phase remover has stirred, so when I saw this little affordable guy that again shares similar ingredients to my favourite Maybelline one, I didn't hesitate to take it as well. The packaging is so much better than all the rest, but I'll show you that in the review. I've used it a couple of times and I'm not convinced yet, but it is better than Nivea's.

E.Leclerc, 2.03 €.

INELL Mousse Nettoyante Hydratante 

Hydrating Cleansing Mousse

Many, many years ago I used L'Oreal's Happy Derm mousse in a can and it was my favourite cleanser, but I can't find it any more, so I was delighted to find something similar and for so much cheaper. Basically, the texture of it is like a whipped cream in a can, so a dense mousse that is very different from that diluted crap everyone except L'Occitane is selling. Best of all, it smells exactly like that cleansing oil from L'Oreal, the scent that I adore and describe it as beach like, even though it doesn't really smell all that typically beachy. I'll do a review when I'll be using it long enough, but so far this gets my two thumbs up and it's become a part of my morning routine.

E.Leclerc, 1.51 €.

I was told in the comments that Inell is a brand from E.Leclerc, so it's only sold there.

LE PETIT MARSEILIAIS Masque Nutrition

Nourishing hair mask shea butter and honey

Ulmiel from Did some say nail polish? pointed me into direction of Le Petit Marseiliais hair products with her recommendation. I could only find this mask from the line for dry hair, though I had hoped to try more things. First of, this smells divine to me, it's a very good, albeit a strong, honey scent. I've tried it twice so far - it's super thick (a very good sign for me) and the results were very satisfactory. I'll do a proper review after a few uses, but I think I may have discovered a new drugstore gem.

E.Leclerc, 5.18 €.

GARNIER Fructis Wunder Öl 

Miraculous Oil 

I bought this to use on others when I do their hair, but naturally I'll test it out myself as well. It is a very light and runny hair oil that is the closest in texture to Elixir Ultime. It smells a bit blah to me, like Nivea with a slight fruity twist or some baby cosmetics. I may have expected too much from it. In the mountain of drugstore hair silicone-oils, judging purely from ingredients, absolutely none apart from this one and one other whose brand name I don't recall is anything particularly special. Given that the argan oil is supposedly not only in trace amounts since it's placed third on the INCI list, I presumed it was pretty much on pair with the professional salon brands ones. It is not. I may be thoroughly spoiled by Orofluido and the likes (I've tried most of the popular ones which you can read in my Hair Oils Series), but yes, there is a difference between high-end and drugstore treatment that I guess most people won't notice on their hair, but on my dry hair there just is. I will do a proper review for this.

Müller, 10 €. 

ALVERDE Cellulite Körperöl

Anti-cellulite body oil

After two empty bottles of the Coconut version of Alverde oil, I picked up a different version as I have grown tired of the scent. I chose this based on recommendations from my readers (I remember Kristina recommending me this), it seems that this is the most popular one and based on the scent itself, I can see why. It has a wonderful lemon-citrus scent that is familiar to me as one of  Alverde's scrubs has the same scent. It's marketed as anti-cellulite product, but since I have none to speak of or at least one that I would care about, I won't be using it for that purpose, but like all other oils for a multitude of uses. It has the same light texture as the coconut one and in terms of performance there is no difference between them whatsoever. It's great what else can I say.

Ingredients here.

DM, 6 €.

REXONA Clear Pure Crystal Dry Deo Stick Anti-Perspirant

A repurchase as I implied in my latest empties. This is the only deodorant so far that hasn't stopped working on me and after my recent disappointment with Garnier Neo (well that was money well spent!), I ran off to the nearest supermarket and bought my trusted Rexona again. It just works so well, though the white marks are a bit of a pain, but I can deal with it.

2 - 3 €, Tuš.

NIVEA Anti-perspirant Pearl & Beauty 

I always double my deodorant meaning I use a stick or a roll-on one and then spray on top. It's my technique to make sure that deodorant don't lose their mojo on me too fast and it keeps me fresh longer. I used Pearl & Beauty sometime during my teens, you might remember the utterly ridiculously claims they had about how it contains pearl extracts that make your armpits nicer (I'm still laughing), but I remembered liking the scent, which was the original reason I bought it all those years ago. Of course, when it stopped working I moved to the next one. It smells so lovely - powdery floral and just very feminine. I really like it and it works fantastically in combination with Rexona as it keeps me dry and fresh super long. By the way, this one leaves white marks as well.

DM, 2.99 €

YUMMY Strawberry Shower gel, Body Butter and Hand Cream

These products smell like Milka strawberry yoghurt chocolate. Yes, I'm serious. I get the strongest craving for chocolate when I use these. Anyway, the shower gel is huge with 500 ml of product, the body butter is a nice thick one as I like them and the last item is the hand cream, a beauty item I practically never use. I'll do a proper review of the set.

I was sent these from Click2Chic, but this set costs 14.99 €.

By the way, I went to Austria recently, so naturally, there will be a second part of the New In and I dare say a more exciting one. 

Have a great day!