April Favorites

And here are my April favorites:

• Calvin Klein Euphoria - I've been drenching myself in my beloved Escada Taj Mahal for a while now and I adore it. But a couple of weeks ago I spritzed a bit CK Euphoria just for fun and for the entire day I was in scent heaven. Holy guacamole it smells divine, it's such a great oriental fragrance. But it is rather strong, so I tend to not use it on warmer days
• Make Up Factory True lip color 47 - I've worn this lipstick almost every day this month. It's such a great light pink shade and so easy to wear. I just love it. And the formula is superb.
• IsaDora Glow Stick in 10 Rose Bud - My recent addition and addiction. It gives a gorgeous light flush and gives your cheek luminosity. I love how easy it is to apply, you just dab/swipe a bit on the cheeks, blend and you're ready to go. Also is so portable you can just put it in your bag and retouch your blush anytime you need.
• Essence Stay With Me lipgloss in My favorite milkshake - what a great shade, pink but slightly peachy. I love the texture and the scent, it's really a great gloss.
• I didn't wear much eyeshadow this month, but when I did it was Mac's Satin Taupe. It a great mushroomy brown colour, fantastic on blue/grey eyes. Mostly I wore only some black eyeshadow by NYX smudged into the top lash line. NYX black is such an intense black, it's literally like coal. If you're looking for a really black eyeshadow I highly recommend this one.
• And again I'll rave about L'Oreal Voluminous Million lashes mascara and Tana eyelash curlers. Together they make my lashes long and defined, a great combination for a daytime look.  

• I've bought and used quite a lot of Dove Beauty Cream bars this month. I just love this bar (the classic one). It doesn't dry my skin, it doesn't leave that squeaky clean filling (I hate that), there no plastic packaging and the scent is divine. I like those classic soap scents a lot.
• I've made quite a few changes in my skin care routine this month, but the product that literally transformed my skin is Vichy Aqualia Thermal serum. Initially I wasn't particularly impressed, but with it I finally got rid of the dry patches that I've had the for years (no matter what moisturizer I used or how many times I exfoliated). But this serum got rid of them in two weeks. I also noticed that my skin looks healthier.
• My two most worn nail polishes were Essence Replay and You Belong To Me. I love turquoise shades and these two are so pretty. 

And here is I my ''I need to use them up'' box. Most products are practically empty like that CadeaVera moisturizer and Clinique Pore Minimizer for example. I need to finish that ancient bottle of Lancome Ideal (review can be found here), some lipsticks and tinted balms (because I fell in love in Chanel Coco Shine Chance so I want to use up some of my stash before I buy it) and some other products that have been laying around for a while.
 

There's one product that just frustrates me and that is Clinique's Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector. It has the potential of making your skin look fantastic, almost retouched. It erases pores, leaves your skin mat and flawless, but only if your skin is hydrated and has no dry patches. It clings to every dry spot and patch and emphasizes it, therefore making your skin look horrible. So I suppose it's better suited for oily skins, it works fine on my cheeks and nose, but not my forehead. Also once, when I applied it, it initially looked great, but in a matter of hours several dry patches appeared around my mouth. However it's a great mattifier, one of the best I ever tried.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, Essence Stay All Day Concealer and Lancome Color Ideal

I don't really wear much foundation (I'm more of a tinted moisturiser + a bit of concealer kind of girl) and I usually have only one bottle at a time. I've had a bottle of Lancome's Color Ideal for more years that I care to admit, but now I'm determined to finally use it up and it is nearing it's end. So I've been on a search for a new foundation, one that's light enough and has a sheer to medium coverage. Originally I wanted the Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua, but I ended up buying Bourjois' Healthy Mix Serum instead.

Healthy Mix Serum provides a lighter coverage than it's 'sibling' Healthy Mix. I found that Bourjois Healthy Mix range is one of the very rare ones that has light enough shades to suit me. My first impressions about HM Serum are that I love it. It makes my skin look so natural, healthy and luminous. It evens out my skin tone, however it doesn't cover my under eye circles or blemishes (I don't mind though, I'll use concealer anyway). The shade 51 is perfect for me (yay!). It's a very light formula, you don't even feel you have anything on your skin. It feels very comfortable. The formula is a bit runny, but not as much as Lancome Color Ideal one's. I just love the fact that it looks like your skin, like you have nothing on. That's one great foundation. However if you're very oily, you might not like it, because it's very luminous (I intend to powder the T-zone). The packaging is great, a slim glass bottle with a pump.

I got  a sample of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in B10 which is the lightest shade in beige category. (by got I mean brought my own little jar and filled my own sample, of course trying to avoid detection. Samples are just not for granted here in Slovenia, even if you spend a fortune). Unfortunately it's a bit to dark for me. I'm very upset about this, because it's a fantastic foundation. It just looks so natural and great. Still once it was blended on my skin it really wasn't that obvious that the shade is too dark (because similar as Color Ideal it sort of adapts, but I still didn't want to risk it). I  have some of the sample left, so I'll try it on again and decide how I feel about it, but for now I'm happy with Healthy Mix Serum.

Lancome Color Ideal is a great foundation. It has everything I'm looking for in a foundation - sheer to medium coverage, lasts through the day and most importantly it looks very natural. It doesn't give that retouched finish but it just makes your skin look amazing and very healthy looking (but only providing you don't have any dry patches, it just emphasizes them unfortunately). The shade I have is 004 and sadly I just can't find this shade anywhere any more  I have a neutral skin tone and this shade was the most neutral shade I ever found (however it was still a bit more yellow). The best part of this foundation is how amazingly it adapts to your skin. The minute after application it still looks quite obvious, but after a few minutes it just blends in with your skin tone. The formula is very runny. It comes in a glass bottle with a pump. I like the pump, it's makes it very easy to squeeze only a little amount. The price here in Slovenia is outrageous, it's even more expensive that Chanel foundations. I would image that most people wouldn't like it, just because it doesn't cover much, but I really don't need much coverage. I wouldn't recommend it to people with dry skin, it's not particularly moisturising.

I bought Stay All Day concealer for my mother, but naturally I had to try it out. It's actually a good concealer. It doesn't have that much coverage as Healthy Mix concealer (probably one of the best drugstore concealer in terms of coverage and of course light enough shades), but it does cover under eye circles quite well. I also used it on a blemish, it wasn't perfect but it looked ok. It has a doe foot applicator which is handy. The formula is quite thick. Shade 10 Natural beige is light enough even for me. The only issue I have is that it blends kind of odd. It's about 2-3� which is a bargain, compared to HM which is around 7�. Here's a picture of how well it covers my redness under the eyes?:

I hope this was helpful. Have a great day!

Review: La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Melt-In Cream 50+

Continuing with my reviews, next up is La Roche-Posay's sunscreen that I bought for my mother. I only used it a couple of times but I decided to write a review anyway. It's meant for sun intolerant skin and has a big shinny writing on the box that says Recommendation of 2011, so I guessed it must be good. The manufacturer claims it doesn't contain any parabens, it waterproof, has no fragrances and it's non comedogenic (it doesn't clog pores). It has a new filter system with UV filters caled Mexoryl SX and XL and it's suited for normal to dry skin.

The cream comes in a nice squeeze tube. The lid seemed a bit suspicious because I always had a feeling like I didn't close it properly. It's a slightly yellow, relatively thick cream with a faint classical sunscreen scent. I applied about a 1/4 tea spoon of cream on my face. You have to rub it in quickly because it sinks in fast.

It didn't leave any white marks whatsoever, but it did leave a slight shine and for the first couple of minutes it felt a bit sticky. I then continued with applying my regular products: Clinique Pore Minimizer and Lancome Color Ideal foundation. I didn't feel like I need to powder it. It didn't look completely mat but slightly dewy, but I'm not that fussy about a bit of shine anyway. It feels very comfortable on the skin, you don't even feel like you have anything on. It didn't clog my pores, but as I said I only wore it a couple of times and I rarely stumble on a product that clogs my pores. At the end of the day my make up looked fine, as if I didn't add anything into my routine. 

It's great sunscreen with a great sun protection, I would suggest this one for people with dry to normal and combination skin (I suspect that those with oily skin might find it a bit to shinny. I bought it for 14-15�.

Nadaljujem s svojimi ocenami in naslednja na vrsti je soncna krema od La Roche-Posay. Sicer sem jo kupila za mami in sem jo sama uporabila le nekajkrat, ampak sem se vseeno odlocila napisati oceno. Namenjena je netoleratni ko�i in ljudem, ki trpijo za alergijo na sonce. Vsebuje nov filterni sistem, ki zdru�uje UV filtra Mexoryl SX in XL. Proizvajalec pravi da je najprimernej�a za suho in normalno ko�o, ne vsebuje di�av, parabenov, je izjemno vodoodporna in ni komedogena (ne ma�i por).

Krema je pakirana v prirocni tubi, pokrovcek se mi je zdel sumljiv, ker sem vsakic imela obcutek, da je nisem dobro zaprla. Sama krema je zelo svetlo rumene barve in kar gosta z rahlim klasicni vonjem po soncnih kremah. Na obraz sem nanesla priporoceno kolicino 1/4 cajne �licke. Mazati jo je treba kar hitro, ker se hitro vpije in potem prsti kar malo bremzajo po ko�i. Ni pustila nobenih belih sledov, sem pa opazila rahel sijaj in pa prvih nekaj minut je ko�a bila malo lepljiva. Nato sem nadaljevala z mojo obicajno rutino: Clinique-ov Pore Minimizer in Lancome Color Ideal tekocim pudrom. Ni sem mi zdelo, da rabim uporabiti puder v kamnu, ceprav ni izgledalo kompletno mat, ampak mene rahel sijaj sploh ne moti. Cez dan sploh nima� obcutka, da ima� soncno kremo (kot pri navadnih naprimer, pac tisti masten obcutek). Ni mi ma�ila pore, ampak sem jo nosila le nekajkrat, pa tudi redkokateri izdelek mi ma�i pore. Cel dan je mejkap izgledal popolnoma ok.

Meni se zdi odlicna soncna krema s super za�cito. Nazadnje ko sem imela soncno kremo s za�cito 50+ (se mi zdi da je bila od M�llerja) sem bila bela kot stena, tako da tole je velik korak naprej. Meni se zdi najbolj primerna za suho, normalno in me�ano ko�o, tistim z mastno ko�o se bo morda zdela prete�ka in da pusti prevec sijaja. Kupila sem jo v Lekarni Ljubljana (City Park) za nekaj cez 14�. 

Review: Schabens Erdbeer Face Mask

Erdbeer or strawberry mask contains AHA, kiwi and (no surprises here) strawberry extracts. The manufacturer claims that it works in 3 phases - peeling both mechanical and chemical and it purifies. The mask itself is light pink with little beads. The consistency is very much like Neutrogena's 2 in 1 mask, but this one dries and tightens after about 5 minutes, so it's a bit hard to move your face (but this tightening can't be compared to Lush masks, when those dry you can't move a muscle). It scented with a very sweet fake strawberry scent (lol), it smells like Chuppa Chups Cremosa Strawberry and Cream lollipop?. 

Image courtesy of Google seach

It is divided into 2 sections, each containing 6 ml of product, I used about a half of section. I left it on for about 10 minutes, during which my skin didn't tingle so I presume that the amount of glycolic acid is fairly little. When I rinsed it off, my skin looked a bit brighter, more healthy. Basically the effect of this mask is very similar to Neutrogena 2 in 1 mask. Buy it if you like sweet strawberry candy scented products and you want to pamper yourself, but it's nothing special.Personally I prefer the Neutrogena one, just because of the packaging and the amount you get.

Erdbeer oziroma jagodna maska vsebuje AHA kisline in izvlecke kivija ter jagode. Proizvajalec pravi, da deluje v 3 fazah: mehanicni in kemicni pilig ter ci�cenje. Je zelo svetlo roza barve z drobnimi zrnci. Meni se zdi �e kar podobna Neutrogenini 2 v 1 maski, ampak s to razliko da ko se Schabensova posu�i malenkost zateguje (seveda ne tako kot Lusheve pri katerih sploh ne more� premikati obraza). Di�i zelo sladko umetno jagodno, podobno kot Chuppa Chups Cremosa Strawberry & Cream lizike (slika zgoraj). Maska je razdeljena v 2 �epka, v vsakem je 6 ml maske. Jaz sem za eno uporabo porabila pribli�no polovico enega �epka. Na obrazu sem jo pustla okrog 10 minut, vmes nisem cutila nobenega �cemenja, zato previdevam ga je kolicina glikolne kisline precej majhna. Ko sem jo sprala je ko�a izgledala bolj zdrava in cista, pravzaprav zelo podobno kot po uporabi Neutrogenine 2 v 1. Privo�cite si jo, ce so vam  v�ec sladki, jagodni bonbonckasti vonji in se �elite malo pocrkljati, ampak kar se efekta tice ni pa nic posebnega. Meni osebno je Neutrogenina bolj v�ec, �e zaradi prirocnej�e embala�e in kolicine. Schabensova stane 99 centov.

This Week's Haul and My Skin Care Routine

I went a bit crazy with shopping this week, but who really cares :). I'll try to review most of the things as soon as I can. Today I'll just talk a bit about my skin care routine which I changed a bit.

I bought:

• Micro peeling cloth/ Mikropiling krpa
• La Roche Posay Anthelios XL melt-in cream 50+ / topljiva krema za obraz 50+
• Helena Rubinstein Lash Queen Feline Black waterproof mascara
• Sun Dance Aloe vera gel
• Essence Nail polish remover
• Bourjois Healty Mix Serum 51 Light Vanilla
• Essence Stay All Day concealer 10 Natural Beige (great concealer)
• Schabens Erdbeer mask (contains glycolic acid)
• Dove beauty cream bar (I love these bars! They smell amazing, don't dry out my skin plus there's no extra packaging. Currently I prefer them to regular shower gels.)

Incorporating baking soda in your skin care routine seems to be all the rage. Since I read Sam's post on makeupandbeautyblog.com I decided to try it out myself. I mixed about a quarter of a teaspoon with my regular cleanser (Nivea Baby Kopf bis Fu� wash lotion) and then gently rubbed the mixture on my face. I left it on just for a couple of minutes (leaving it too long can irritate your skin and for the same reason don't use it too often, about once a week). My skin felt amazingly soft and so polished. No face scrub that I tried can compare with the effect of baking soda. However, I will use it only a couple of times a month because using it too often can destroy your protective acid mantle.

I bought a micro peeling cloth. It feels very soft to the touch but really removes all make up. All you have to do is to use it damp in a gentle circular motion. I used a cotton pad soaked with my favorite make up remover Bioderma Sensibio and it was completely clean, so traces of foundation what so ever. And it leaves your skin so smooth. I guess the only problem is that you have to wash it often. On the box it says it's suitable for sensitive skin.

 

Sun Dance Aloe Vera gel is a light green very liquidy gel. It has quite a strong but pleasant scent (it smells sort of flowery). A few seconds after application it becomes very sticky but it dries in a couple of minutes and the stickiness disappears. I bought it to use it for my homemade aspirin toner. I used an old toner bottle, put about 50 ml of water in it, then crushed one aspirin and squirted some aloe in the mixture. I used it yesterday for the first time and those few blemished I have, diminished and some even disappeared.

 

 And for the end just a couple of pictures of daffodils. Aren't they lovely :).

Review: Lush H'Suan Wen Hua

This is one one those products I'm not quite sure if I really need it. I does have an nice effect on my hair, but I don't find it worth 5� per use plus putting up with the incredibly strong scent. First off something about my hair: I have very long (a bit over the half of the back), thick, curly, frizzy and very dry hair. I used a half of pot for the entire length of my hair (It's applied on dry hair as a pre-wash treatment) and I massaged some in my scalp and it was barely enough. I know it says to use the whole pot, but I'm sorry there only so much that my hair can absorb, I'm not wasting any product. Just an advice, hold your hair over the sink or tub when you're applying it because it's quite runny and slippery. So about the scent. It's really, really strong. I smell clove mixed with a bit of cinnamon and some other herbs. Personally I'm not particularity fond of the scent of clove and I found it a bit difficult to put up with the scent. I left it on for about an hour and a half. When I rinsed my hair it was basically a very tangled mess. I then used Nivea Pure Gloss Anti-Dandruff shampoo and my trusted Garnier Fructis Oil Repair mask and finished of with John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shine Shock. I let my hair dry naturally (btw the scent gets on the pillow to). They are more shinny and definitely softer, the scent is still present but it's mild. They're not as tangled as usual but apart from the shine they just look like the same curly, frizzy mess as always. I still need to use some heating tools or tie them in a bun over the night to make them presentable. A pot costs 11� which is way to expensive considering I get two uses from it. I do like the effect and I think it's a nice product, but I just can't put up with the smell and the price is too high. I'm sticking with my regular regime, anti-dandruff shampoo and Fructis Oil Repair mask or John Frieda Brilliant Brunette conditioner, it works just fine.

To je eden izmed tistih izdelkov za katerega ne vem ce me je res preprical. Ima zadovoljiv efekt na laseh ampak se mi enostavno ne zdi vreden 5 � na uporabo plus tega ima �e neverjetno mocen vonj. Moji lasje so zelo dolgi (do sredine hrbta), gosti, kodrati, frizzy in zelo suhi. Za celotno dol�ino las sem porabila pol loncka, malo se jo �e vmasirala v lasi�ce. Pol loncka je bilo skoraj premalo, ceprav pi�e, da naj bi porabila cel loncek ga dejansko nima smisla ker lasje pac ne morejo posrkat toliko maske in dejansko vr�e� pol maske stran. Maska je zelo tekoca in nekako sluzasta, zato je bolje ce jo nana�a� nad umivalnikom ali banjo. Kar se vonja tice, kot sem �e rekla je izjemno mocan. Jaz voham klincke (nageljnove �bice) zme�ane z malo cimeta in drugimi zeli�ci. Meni osebno vonj klinckov ne odgovarja in sem vonj kar malo te�ko prena�ala. Na laseh sem jo pustila okrog ure in pol. Ko sem jo sprala so bili lasje zelo zavozlani. Nadaljevala sem z Nivejinim Pure Gloss �amponom proti prhljaju, Garnierjevo Oil Repair masko in John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shine Shock. Lase sem pustila da so se posu�ili naravno (btw blazina na kateri spite se bo navzela vonja maske). Lasje so mehkej�i in se bolj svetijo, vonj je �e prisoten ampak je bolj mil. Lasje se mi ne zdijo tako zavozlani kot so ponavadi, ampak razen sijaja izgledajo tako kot ponavadi, zavozlana, frizzy zme�njava. �e vedno rabim ravnalec ali kodralnik ali pa jih pustiti v figi cez noc da izgledajo ok. Loncek stane 11� kar je predrago glede na to da ga bom imela le za dvakrat. V�ec mi je efekt in se mi zdi v redu maska, ampak jaz enostavno ne maram vonja in cena je veliko previsoka. Ostajam pri moji obicajni rutini, �ampon proti prhljaju in mojima dvema maskama Oil Repair in John Frieda Brilliant Brunette.

Review: Lush Charlotte Island

I've been to Lush last week. I don't usually go there even though I have one near me when I'm in Ljubljana. So I finally bought H'Suan Wen Hua hair treatment which I'll review in the next days and Charlotte Island (that perfume bottle is from Refan and it's D&G Light Blue).

Charlotte Island is a wash-off tan, a sort of instant tan but without the annoying self-tanning scent. It a relatively thick, chocolate brown cream with some red tones. The application is very easy and even, of course providing you have a relatively smooth skin (it applies uneven on parts with body hair). On the skin the colour is bronze with some red undertones, which in some lights can make you look a bit sunburned (however my cousin and mom say it looks fine and that I'm overreacting), it also contains a tinny bit of shimmer. With one application you get a faint but noticeable tan and you can layer it. It dries fast and it doesn't stain the clothes. There are two things that really bother me. First it's the bottle. I hate Lush bottles. The plastic is way to hard so the bottle is ridiculously hard to squeeze. Second it's the scent. The sales woman said it smells of chocolate and some reviewers on MUA said it has a tropical scent. Well I don't smell anything tropical. It kind of smells like old chocolate, I would describe it as a scent of an old stuffy room, sort of musky. It's very strong  and it lingers for hours. I just really dislike it. I like the idea of the wash-off tan, this is one of the rare ones (if not the only one) available in Slovenia, but I really doubt I'll repurchase it. A 100 ml bottle costs around 8� here, there is also 250 ml bottle available.

Edit: It definitely makes me look sunburned. The colour is just to red. I applied it all over my legs and the first comment I got from my mom was why do my legs look so red and that they look sunburned. If you're really pale don't buy it.

Charlotte Island je obarvana krema za telo, ki da efekt takoj�nje zagorelosti in se preprosto spere. Gre za �e kar gosto kremo cokoladne barve z nekaj rdecimi toni. Nanos je enostaven in enakomeren, seveda ce ima� relativno gladko ko�o (namrec �e kar neenakomerno se na nana�a na nedepiliranih predelih). Nane�ena na ko�o izgleda kot lep zagorel ten ampak z nekaj rdecimi toni, ki v dolocenih svetlobah lahko izgleda kot rahla opecenost (ceprav moja sestricna in mami pravita da izgleda cisto v redu in da pretiravam). Ima tudi nekaj res drobnih in redkih ble�cic. Z enim nanosom dobi� rahlo ampak dovolj opazno barvo. Na ko�i se hitro posu�i in se ne prenese na oblacila. Dve stvari me zelo motijo. Prvo je embala�a. Vse Lusheve fla�ke so narejene iz pretrde plastike, ki jo je skoraj nemogoce stisniti. Drugo pa je vonj. Prodajalka je rekla da di�i po cokoladi, na MUA pa ga nekateri opisujejo kot tropski vonj. Jaz ne voham nicesar tropskega. Mogoce malo di�i po stari cokoladi ampak jaz bi vonj opisala kot vonj po stari, zatohli sobi, pac enostavno zoprn. Vonj se obdr�i zelo dolgo in je precej mocan. V�ec mi je ideja instantne zagorelosti ampak dvomim, da bom tole �e kdaj kupila, kljub temu da je eden izmed redkih (ce ne celo edini) wash-off tan. 100 ml fla�ka stane okrog 8�, dobi se �e v 250 ml izvedbi.

Edit: Definitivno da opecen videz. Enostavno je barva prevec rdeca. Nanesla sem jo po nogah in prvi komentar, ki sem ga dobila od mami je bil zakaj so moje noge tako rdece in ce me je opeklo sonce. Ce ste zelo svetli je ne kupujte.

Taken in sunlight: