Saturday 24 October 2015

Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara review


Better Than Sex, your reputation preceeds you. Everyone has heard about the silly name, about the boudoir pink packaging, the volume and definition it offers. But is the hype really justified? Yes. 


I'm going to disregard the name as no matter how cheap this marketing trick is, luckily it doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the product itself.  
Pink isn't my favourite colour, but I really like the fact that the tube is made of metal.
I'm not a fan of such massive brushes, but somehow it works for me. It coats all my lashes evenly, reaches all places top to bottom, though it's too big for my bottom lashes, where I need to wiggle a lot to get any effect.
I must say, though, that one man's meat is another man's poison. Last week I did my friend's make-up (yes, I pretended to be a make-up artist and gave her a makeover for the first time in my life) and I realized how different we all are. On her differently-shaped eyes with less lid space this mascara turned out to be a major disaster. The mascara was everywhere. I started doubting my skills, but when I reached for a skinnier wand all the problems disappeared.


The formula is neither too wet nor too dry.
On my lashes this mascara offers the volume I like without any clumps, smudging, crumbling, etc. What's more it gives my lashes curl without the use of curlers and extreme length which often results in colour transfer onto my upper lids and lower lash line. On my friend's lashes the curl was non-existent.

I absolutely adore how effortlessly this applies on my lashes and how much definition it offers. I also do appreciate the fact that this mascara isn't difficult to remove at all. For the time being, this is one of the best mascaras I've ever used, and definitely the best one currently residing in my stash. 


Wednesday 21 October 2015

MAC lipsticks in Diva Antics and Persistence review and swatches

MAC lipstick in Diva Antics

I don't know how this is possible, but I overlooked the opening of MAC Cosmetics in my home town. Having realised that what I'd dreamed of for years was just round the corner, I decided to pick up a couple of things. The first two I got round to reviewing are fall lipsticks.  

Diva Antics comes from the Macnificent Me collection ( I have no idea whether it's also permanent or a repromote) and it's the most gorgeous wine colour. The colour is super opaque and even and there's a nice glossy finish to it. The lipstick feels incredibly comfortable on my lips, moisturises them throughout the day and wears for long hours, which is quite surprising for such a dark and glossy shade. I absolutely adore this lipstick in the autumn!  

MAC lipstick in Diva Antics

MAC lipstick in  Persistence

The other lipstick comes from theit permanent line, but for some reason is rarely mentioned by beauty bloggers. 
This is a beautiful matte brown lipstick that applies beautifully and wears well for hours, though may eventually feel drying. Unfortunately this lipstick has a warm peachy undertone, which in no way suits my complexion. I blend it with cooler-toned lipsticks or glosses to make it more wearable, but to be honest I think it would suit my mum better.

MAC lipstick in Persistence


Monday 19 October 2015

Ole Henriksen Perfect Truth CC eye creme review

Ole Henriksen Perfect Truth CC eye creme

There's been much rave about this Ole Henriksen brand. Everyone seems to love their moisturisers and cleansing wipes, but no one ever mentions this little beauty, their Perfect Truth CC Eye Creme.
Here's what the claims of this product are: 

Ole Henriksen Perfect Truth CC eye creme

I must say that this is one of those rare instances when a product does pretty much what it promises. It brightens, refreshes, enhances the effects of an eye cream, hydrates the area and thus reduces the appearance of fine lines. What's more it contains sunscreen, which is rare in case of eye creams and concealers.

Ole Henriksen Perfect Truth CC eye creme

There are a couple of issues, though. 
This product, just as the description says, is sheer. If you have dark circles and think this would replace a concealer, you'd be seriously disappointed. For me, however, it offers enough coverage to tone down the redness without packing on tons of product which will eventually cause dryness during the day and make all my wrinkles show.
Secondly, this product is kind of shimmery, which may be quite risky under the eyes. Shimmer tends to highlight instead of concealing, but strangely enough this product makes my undereye look fresh. Perhaps it's because I have oily skin and this CC creme strikes a balance between my dry undereye and oily skin elsewhere. 

Ole Henriksen Perfect Truth CC eye creme

Another thing is that the tube is tiny. It somehow skipped my attention that there's only 7ml of product, so I was astonished to see how little product there is, which makes it even more expensive.  


Ole Henriksen Perfect Truth CC eye creme

I think this is a very nice tinted eye cream, but not a concealer. I really like how this applies and works, but if you're looking for a concealer, you'll be bitterly disappointed.


Ole Henriksen Perfect Truth CC eye creme


Sunday 18 October 2015

Max Factor Facefinity Primer rewiew


I have oily skin which I suppose makes foundations move on my face and disappear sooner than expected. I've been playing with primers, hoping to find the one to keep me shine free, conceal my pores and prolong the wear time of my foundation. 
Max Factor Facefinity Primer makes only one claim: extend the wear of foundation.

The primer is white, but is completely transparent when applied. It goes on very smoothly and differs from other primers that I've tried. I find it hard to compare it to anything. It's not silicony, it doesn't ball up, it's not watery, it's not thick and super dry and tight like Make Up Forever Mattifying primer. 
This primer leaves a natural matte finish, doesn't tighten my pores, but I'm also not sure whether it does anything to extend the wear of foundation. I've been using this primer daily for over a month now and I've almost reached the bottom of the bottle, but I'm still not convinced whether this works. Some foundations last longer, some shorter. But one thing is certain, they apply easier due to the slip the primer offers.

Will I repurchase? No. But I do appreciate that this has an SPF of 20, so it may act as a primer/sunscreen hybrid. 

Friday 16 October 2015

Burberry Eye Colour Cream eyeshadow in Damsel review


The introduction of Burberry make-up to Sephora Poland coincided with their 20% off offer, which I decided to take advantage of and ordered 2 of their items. One of them is their new Eye Colour Cream in the shade Damsel.


The packaging is as gorgeous as always with Burberry, a clear plastic pot with a charcoal gray Burberry checked lid represent the class and style of the brand. 
The product itself may surprise those who expect a cream eyeshadow within the vein of MAC Paint Pots or Maybelline Color Tattoos and their likes. The texture is buttery and somewhat spongey and bouncey, but cream it is not. Perhaps the name of the eyeshadow refers to how it applies as it goes on much creamier than powder eyeshadows. This eyeshadow is closer to cream-to-powder hybrid eyeshadows by Armani, Chanel or Dior than typical cream eyeshadows. There's a brush attached, but I prefer dome-shaped brushes to distribute and blend out the product.


Damsel is a plum shade which keeps the right balance between the bright and the muted autumnal purple. It's not completely matte, but its irridescence is barely there. There's a kind of satin sheen to the product. It blends well and lasts at least 8-10 hours over a primer. This looks great on its own or paired with other eyeshadows.
I really like the product and the shade and I keep playing with it all the time, but I don't think I'll purchase more as the formula isn't revolutionary enough to make me interested.


Thursday 15 October 2015

Korean goodies: Ariul Stress Relieving Purefull Cleansing Foam review


Today I've got yet another review of a Korean foam cleanser, this time  the Stress Relieving Puerfull Cleansing Foam by a brand called Ariul. 
This comes in a handy, travel-friendly tube with a screw-on cap. The product looks like a pearlescent paste, has thick consistency, which turns into dense foam when mixed with some water. It cleanses my skin well, leaving it noticeably clean, but not stripped of moisture. 

This product claims to have some refreshing, relaxing, stress-relieving properties, but I haven't noticed any. It barely has any scent, so it isn't aromatherapeutic, it's not a mask, so it's not associated with stress-relieving pamper rituals. 
If I picked this cleanser solely because of the stress-relieving claims, I'd be sadly disappointed, but it does its cleansing job well, without drying out my skin, so I can wholeheartedly recommend it for everyone who, like me, is a fan of Korean foam cleansers.

Wednesday 14 October 2015

Made in Poland: Bell cosmetics overview


This is going to be a story of my love for a very low-end Polish brand, available in drugstores like Hebe and discount supermarkets Biedronka. The products are dirt cheap, so I added one to my grocery basket, out of sheer curiosity, and then kept topping my mundane shopping with a make-up item and have gathered quite a collection of different products and strangely enough no product has disappointed me so far.

I would like to add that I'm unfamiliar with the brand and their mission and philosophy, but I've noticed that their products fall into two ranges, products sold in Hebe claim to be hypoallergenic and they bear such print on their surface while those sold in Biedronka are cheaper and more basic, but by no means worse. What's more in all points of sale the display looks really nice and the testers of all the products are provided.


So let's start. The order of appearance of the products in this review reflects the chronology of their appearance under my roof.

The first one was their Perfect Skin Eyeshadows Base. This is a faintly purple-tinted product that comes in a small jar. It applies like a dream due to its silicony texture. This product makes eyeshadows blend better and last all day on my super oily, hooded lids. However, this primer doesn't enhance the intensity of my eyeshadows, but I use high quality eyeshadows anyway, so thisis not an issue for me. I must say this is a great budget-friendly drugstore option that actually works.

Excited by the success of the eyeshadow primer I reached for a make-up base.


The Perfect Skin Matte & Smooth make-up base comes in a bigger pot than the eye primer. This product has silicony texture, glides beautifully, fills in my pores, smoothes and mattifies my skin, makes it easier to apply thicker foundations. But whether this prolongs the wear time of foundations, I cannot tell. I have oily skin and foundations simply don't last on me whether I wear primers or not.


Next up is a gorgeous bronzer for pale skin.


The Bronze Sun Powder comes in a simple, cheap packaging that reminds me of Wet'n'Wild style, but the powder itself is beautifully embossed with an image of the Sun. The powder is divided in half into light and dark powders.


The one on the left is very fair, but it does offer natural warmth to pale complexions and the one on the right is neutral to cool-toned and may serve both as a bronzer and a contour powder. Of course both powders may be swirled together to obtain an in-between kind of shade. 
Good drugstore bronzwrs are a rare gem and this is one of them.


Both powders are matte and apply beautifully on the cheeks. They're neither too powdery nor too dry, the brush picks up the right amount of product and packs enough colour for the bronzer to look natural on pale skin.


Next up is probably the least favourite product out of the whole bunch.


Look Now! HD Powder comes in the same kind of drugstore packaging as the bronzer and is one of those translucent powders that mattify and blur pores without adding coverage.  The thing is that they're quite risky products as they may not only leave white cast in flash photography, but also give you a chalk-face that's only suitable on Halloween.


And this exactly is the problem with this HD powder. The brush picks up too much product, which is powdery and turns my face sickly white and I suppose would look even worse on olive skin tones. 


This is by no means a terribly bad product, but you need to be very careful not to overdo with it as it will look ghostly white on all complexions except the palest of pale.


The next product comes from a different line and is available in Hebe drugstores only. The line is slightly more expensive, sophisticated and it claims to be hypoallergenic. I don't suffer from allergies, so I'm not in the position to test its hypoallergenic properties, but it has definitely been receiving much love for what it looks like on my skin.


The Face &Body Illuminating Powder is a perfect highlighter for pale and oily skin. This powder is an off-white shade which brightens super pale complexions without leaving any kind of white cast.


This product is rather creamy, but sheer. As a result it offers glow, but not armour plate shine on the cheeks. This product doesn't accentuate my enlarged pores or make my face look as if it was dripping with oil. It's in no way similar to such iconic highlighters like Becca Shimmering Skin Perfectors, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks or The Balm Maryloumanizers and their likes, but it's exactly what my skin likes and what makes me glow.


Next up is a BB powder, which is clearly inspired by Korean BB pacts the concept of which I have never been able to understand.


This product consists of 2 powders, a neutral beige base and super pale embossing. I use this powder mostly as a matte highlighter, but the colours can be swirled together to achieve a darker shade.


This powder has quite a lot of coverage and I think this could serve as a sheer-to-medium powder foundation. When used as a highlighter it may turn cakey if overapplied, so use sparingly.


Next up is a matte foundation.


Royal Mat Skin Camouflage comes in a very basic tube, which is great for travelling, but doesn't look fancy on the shelf. The foundation claims to mattify and hydrate at the same time, conceal blemishes while still looking skin-like. It contains aloe vera and vitamins and a 'natural UVB filter', whatever that is, which are beneficial for the skin. 
The foundation applies effortlessly and offers a natural matte finish. This is a sheer to medium coverage, which surprisingly does a whole world of difference to the skin.This stuff doesn't look like much, but somehow it does a lot to my skin. When I wear this I feel like I'm having a good skin day.



I picked shade 02 Sand, which is a fair, neutral-toned beige which would suit a variety of skin tones. Being relatively sheer, this has wonderful self-adjusting properties and looked great on my slightly tanned skin and now that I'm pale.


The Hypoallergenic Liquid Eye Concealer is a product I'm on the fence about. It makes a number of claims that made me buy it, although I'm extremely fussy about concealers and tend to avoid the cheapest ones. It promises to brighten the eye area, conceal the symptoms of fatigue, cover dark circles, optically reduce wrinkles, adapt to the skin tone. 


I have dry undereye area and most concealers accentuate my wrinkles and tend to be hugely uncomfortable as the day goes by, that's why it's very hard to find a good concealer for me. I have blue-toned redness under my eyes, but no prominent dark circles, so the main goal is to neutralize the redness instead of packing tons of concealer to cover the darkness. 
Bell Hypoallergenic concealer is rather sheer and liquidy. It applies effortlessly and never looks cakey, I also find it moisturising. However, it doesn't do much to brighten the area unless I use quite a lot, which it turn makes my wrinkles appear and my mascara melt.
It's a good concealer for summer days when I don't want to wear any heavy duty make-up. It's small and  lightweight, easy to carry when travelling.


I suppose there are 2 or 3 shade options available, out of which I picked the lightest one, which is a very pale, almost whitish neutral beige. This is probably the fairest concealer I own, but since it's on the sheer side, it never gives a reverse panda effect.


And finally an eyeshadow from their Hypoallergenic line. These promise buttery smooth texture and no fallout while containing non-irritating ingredients.


I must admit that the tester seemed smoother and silkier than the actual product, but I must say that everything it claims is true. This eyeshadow is on the creamy side and blends really well. It can be applied hight-handedly for a sheer wash of colours or built up for more intensity.


Shade #90 is a gorgeous plumy taupe, which suits my cool skin tone really well. 
It's a very pretty eyeshadow and for $3 you just can't go wrong.




Saturday 10 October 2015

Burberry Cashmere foundation in # 12 Ochre Nude review and swatches

Burberry Cashmere foundation

Sephora Poland have recently launched Bueberry make-up, which is a great step for me as, even though I was able to get Burberry through strawberrynet and feelunique, Sephora have been outdoing themselves at offering 20% off discounts, free shipping, return to the shop options, and with the current exchange rate foreign goods have become more affordable here. 

I picked their new foundation, Burberry Cashmere, because according to the claims this seemed to be an excellent choice for me, and also I was super curious about it as I couldn't find any reviews anywhere.

My relationship with this foundation got off to a bad start. First of all I had issues with the pump. Although I pressed it 500 times or more, it wouldn't work and then suddenly started squirting out product. 
Secondly, the foundation didn't apply as effortlessly as I expected it to. I started with a buffing brush or fingers and the foundation didn't go on smoothly. The problem is that this foundation lacks the silicony slip of other foundations and sets rather quickly, which makes it difficult to move.
But then I tried using a make-up sponge and everything changed. The foundation applied beautifully, didn't accentuate my pores or look cakey or heavy. Burberry Cashmere feels rubbery on the skin and definitely needs to be set with powder if you wand to apply blush or do powder contouring. When dusted with my new favourite powder by Inglot, this lasted all day long and looked naturally luminous. The finish is satiny matte throughout the day, which never ever happens on my oily skin. No matter how matte my face looks at first, my olies normally break through within 2-3 hours and turn my forhead and chin to some kind of oily mess but not this one!
This is a medium-coverage foundation which is not buildable, IMHO.

Burberry Cashmere foundation in #12 Ochre Nude

The shade I picked is #12 Ochre Nude, which is a fair, yellow-toned beige colour. My skin tone is pink, but this mismatched shade helps me tone down any redness and discolouration

All in all, this is a great foundation for anyone struggling oily skin and looking for natural, yet matte finish.