Some time ago Fan and I were having a conversation on her blog about Catrice lipsticks and how the whole brand is totally missing from Hungary. (No surprise there...) She then offered to send me two Catrice lippies of my choice because she's sweet like that, and I promised to send her some goodies in return. Later she mentioned in one of her e-mails that she had also included some surprises, but I would never have imagined something as awesome as this:



Contents of the parcel:

• Catrice Absolute Moisture lipstick in Dark Rosewood
• Catrice Absolute Moisture lipstick in Spicy Coral
• Estee Lauder Pure-Pops lipgloss in Blackberry
• Thierry Mugler Angel Innocent sample
• a packet of tiny stars made by Fan herself
• a sweet, handwritten letter (I absolutely ♥ it!)
  

As a typical teenager from Orange Country would say: "Oh my God!!! Like, this is soooo cool!!!" Well, that's pretty much what I said when I opened the parcel, so thank you a thousand times Fan for making my day... no, my entire week! (And for turning me into a brainless chit of a girl too. :-DDD) I've been playing with my new goodies ever since they arrived 6 days ago, and now I feel confident to share my opinion about them.




We all want different things from makeup, right? Some want vibrant colors, strong pigmentation and for the stuff to stay on the entire day. Others don't mind if they have to re-apply their lipstick during the day as long as it provides sheer coverage, some shine, and comes in wearable, natural shades. They also always consider it a bonus if said lip product doesn't dry their lips, making them shrivel up and turn into prunes. I happen to belong to the second group, so these lippies are perfect for me.

Both are relatively sheer and natural and with a layer of lipbalm underneath they're perfection in a tube. (I've always worn lipbalm under my lipsticks, it's an old habit of mine.) Lipsticks often fool me with their creamy formula (full of petroleum, might I add...), making me thing they would moisturize my lips well, but after only an hour I find my lips are cracked and dry and in desperate need of some heavy-duty lipbalm. Not these though. These lipsticks don't lave me hanging in the middle of the day, searching for my lipbalm and realizing with a sinking feeling that I've left them at home again. Nope, they protect my lips all day and impart some much welcome shine to them. They also have a rich, powdery-vanilla scent, almost cocoa-like. Nice, huh? ;-) The packaging is also gorgeous: Catrice lipsticks come in shiny, dark, metallic-brown tubes that feel heavy in my hands so they're probably made of metal too.

Spicy Coral is a lovely, cool coral shade with no sparkle or anything, while Dark Rosewood is a deep, almost neutral rose color (with just a hint of brown), again, without any sparkle or shimmer. (I've been experimenting with the two and noticed that mixing them creates a lovely mid-tone, neutral rose shade that's perfect for daywear.)

So, my verdict? If you ever get the chance to be in a 5 foot radius of any Catrice stand, then don't be afraid to approach it, because this brand has lipstick-making down to an art and I'm pretty sure they're pro at creating other kinds of makeup too.


Price: 2.99 €
Where to buy: Not in Hungary, that's for sure... Erm, okay, in some (most?) European countries.
Amount: n/a
Ingredients:
POLYBUTENE, OCTYLDODECANOL, PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRAISOSTEARATE, CERA MICROCRISTALLINA, POLYGLYCERYL-3 DIISOSTEARATE, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE-2, OCTYLDODECYL STEAROYL STEARATE, OZOkERITE, HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL DIMER DILINOLEATE, DIISOSTEARYL MALATE, CANDELILLA CERA, BEHENOXY DIMETHICONE, MICA, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA BUTTER), ALLANTOIN, PARAFFIN, HDI/TRIMETHYLOL HEXYLLACTONE CROSSPOLYMER, TALC, PROPYLPARABEN, AROMA, [+/- CI 15850, CI 15985, CI 19140, CI 42090, CI 45410, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499, CI 77891





Doesn't it look a bit scary in the tube? Magnificent, yes, but scary... ;-)))




Now stop shaking in your pants, because really, this is just a gorgeous, perfectly wearable gloss. Again, whether you'll like this product or not will mostly depend on what you generally expect from a lippie. Some girls on MUA bemoan the fact that it's too sparkly, while some bawl their eyes out because it's not sparkly enough for their tastes. Others yet are perfectly content with the way it is, claiming it contains just enough multicolored sparkles to make it a bit interesting, while at the same time it remains a perfectly wearable gloss for daytime. I tend to agree with these gals. :-) Blackberry gives your lips a slight purple tint (the stuff seems waaaaay more pigmented in the tube), a few bits of sparkle here and there, and a generous amount of shine.

I haven't experienced any drying, so that's good, and the scent... oh, the scent is simply to die for!!! It's an incredibly rich, almost chocolaty blackberry fragrance that I, being the foody-scent lover that I am, would wear as a perfume in a heartbeat. I wonder why there are so many perfumes smelling of fabric-softener when they can come up with scents as delicious as this? Go figure...

I haven't had any problems with the tube either: it has a brush tip and you have to turn the base anti-clockwise to let the gloss flow freely into the tip and clockwise to turn off the flow. Just make sure you don't turn it too much, because the whole thing will come off. Not a very sensible mechanism, but if you pay a little attention, you'll be fine.

Anyway, great gloss, and whether you're willing to spend the 20.5 $ mostly depends on what you expect from a lippie. In any case, I love it. :-)

Price: around 20.5$, but I suppose that varies, and you might also be able to find some good deals on EBay.
Amount: 10 ml
Where to get it: Estee Lauder stores, Amazon, EBay, and department stores
Ingredients:



In a previous post, I shared with you the details of my private little war with Angel. (Check the comments too!) You see, I wanted to like it so much, but I just couldn't. It was too much and just too something I am not. There's something domineering in it, something bold and audacious, but thank heavens, that "something" is missing entirely from this incarnation.

Let me quote a reviewer from MUA, drvogue:

"This is an Intro to Angel for sissies like myself. It's Angel's playful little sister who aspires to be Angel one day but doesn't quite get there. That's okay, because she is quite beautiful in her own little way."

I couldn't have said it better myself, and yes, I will happily admit: I'm a sissy too.

Just like its big sister, Angel Innocent also starts off with a mix of pine and pineapple, but they don't smell rotten this time. These two notes are the essence of this perfume and while it's still definitely a gourmand, foody scent, sweet and a bit spicy on my skin, it doesn't dry down to a musky cocoa the way Angel does. That, by the way, is a shame really, but then as a compensation we have something that's much more tolerable/wearable, something that doesn't give me a headache the minute I put it on, and something that I've been wearing since I got it and still love. Now that's a remarkable feat from a perfume, as most of them bore me to hell after only a few uses.

Angel Innocent is now officially my scent for this fall, and since I only use a small drop, it'll last me the entire season. That reminds me though: be prepared that while Angel needs several hours just to unfold and show you all its layers of scent and one drop of it is enough for the whole day, Angel Innocent is completely gone in about 3 hours. I don't mind though: it's better than wanting to gag and suffering from a migraine all at the same time because no amount of scrubbing will get the d*mn thing off your skin. ;-)


Last but not least, take a look at these amazing little "lucky stars" Fan made for me:



Now I'd like to thank Fan for this amazing set of goodies: I had such a good time oohing and aahing over each of them. You're a real angel and I hope you'll like my gifts for you too! *hug*


 

I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but here it's been raging at us for a week now: high wind, rain, cold (below 10°C/50°F), and darkness all over the country. It came out of the blue, and sooner or later I'll have to accept that summer is officially over and dig my winter clothes out of the wardrobe.

As I mentioned in a previous post I don't mind the greyness that much: it feels like a cozy blanket has descended on the city and I can walk among the crowd unnoticed. For those who are not particularly fond of this kind of weather, here's something you can play with: colorful, smells good and protects your skin from the cold weather.

Alverde have really proved their mettle with their latest products. I'm nowhere near the end of trying them all, but I've been using a few and I'd like to share my findings with you.

These were the products I was most curious about, and I'm happy to say that all of them have met my expectations.



Let's start with the two body products.

This has got to be their most liquidy lotion to date. (I just wonder why they can't produce something similar for facial moisturizer.) It's pink and smells exactly like their facial moisturizer with acerola cherry and carrots (=Vitamincreme Acerola Karotte).

Somehow Alverde's body lotions are the only ones that keep my skin hydrated during winter. Bioderma has some really cool body lotions and I also really liked La Roche Posay's Lipikar, but I'm on a tight budget now and don't exactly have the money to spend on those products. Alverde's products have always worked for me, and this one's no exception. Every time I put it on in the morning (on slightly damp skin) I can practically hear as my skin drinks it all up and gives a contented little sigh afterwards. It sinks in fast and leaves only an extremely thin layer of oil on my skin which, contrary to what you might think, does not feel like a layer of oil at all. It's more like a protective barrier that feels velvety and doesn't allow my skin to tear itself apart from dryness.

So far this stuff has even kept my hands silky soft, but for extended periods spent outside in the cold weather I recommend Alverde's new body butter to be used as a hand-cream.

Ingredients:
Aqua, Alcohol, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (almond) Oil, Vitis Vinifera (grape) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (jojoba) Oil*, Butyrospermum Parkii (shea butter)*, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Xanthan Gum, Parfum**, Sodium Lactate, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Tocopherol (vitamin E), Helianthus Annuus (sunflower) Seed Oil, Lactic Acid, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (cranberry) Fruit Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Lithospermum Erythrorhizon (borago-like plant) Root Extract, Linalool**, Limonene**, Geraniol**
*ingredients from certified organic agriculture
** from natural essential oils






Like I mentioned above, this doubles as a superb handcream. Since I like to carry some around with me in my handbag and have an empty 30 ml pump-bottle laying around, I'm considering mixing the two (the body butter and the lotion) to create a cream that will both moisturize and protect my hands. (And not annoy above mentioned pump bottle too much. Aaaand smell like walnut cake with cranberry sauce on top. And... No more wishes. :-))

Anyway, what can I say? I'm glad I bought this one. :)

True, in the beginning I was somewhat hesitant about the the smell: it had something in it that reminded me too much of a product I hated because of its smell (Alverde Körpercreme Mandel Teerose). Somehow, though, my initial aversion to this product quickly faded away as I gradually began to tolerate and then later like its scent, and also because I soon discovered how much my skin and this product like each other. Well, who am I to argue with my skin, right? So now this body butter and I are best buddies: I put it on before I got to bed in the evening and I swear it's more comforting than a teddy-bear. :) It's really does smell like a slice of walnut cake (or my favorite, "Eszterházy-cake") and makes my skin silky soft. It needs about 5-7 minutes to sink in, but afterwards it's perfectly grease-free and lovely.

I can't recommend it enough. :)

Ingredients:
Aqua, Glycine Soja Oil*, Glycerin, Alcohol*, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil*, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter*, Theobroma Cacao Butter*, Olea Europea Oil*, Xanthan Gum, Calendula Officinalis Extract*, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Extract*, Rosa Damascena Flower Water*, Tocopherol, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Ascorbyl Palmitate Parfum**, Limonene**, Benzyl Salicylate**, Linalool**, Citral**
*ingredients from certified organic agriculture
** from natural essential oils


There's not much to say about this one. Smells mouthwatering, though I'm not sure it actually reminds me of pineapples, but whatever... It's Alverde's usual shower gel formula, this time packed in a 200 ml tube.




An excellent brush and unbelievably enough it was a mere 700 HUF! It's fine, hard and easy to line your eyes with. Judge for yourselves:



Aside the ones I mentioned here, there are some other new products to look forward to:

Two new bubblebaths.


Cleansing foam with silk.


Two lip and cheek stains.

And a shower cream with figs and raw sugar. Yummy!

 

Aaah, I remember those days when Bourjois was on sale and their products could be bought for ridiculous prices... I kept searching the stores for some so far undiscovered gem to pop up and was simply giddy when I came upon something new. Good times...




Up until recently I had been struggling with my acne and never really felt like using flashy makeup for daytime. I wanted something low-key, something that would not call people's attention to my zits too much (not that that could be avoided, but still...). Silk Naturals lippies were perfect for this purpose with their incredibly creamy and moisturizing texture and sheer, wearable colors.

However, as a result of my medical program (diet + medicine + exercising), I no longer suffer from cystic acne and my skin has cleared up incredibly (= at the moment I have only one zit!), and what remains (scars) is relatively easy to cover up with makeup. I feel I can whip out my Bourjois lipglosses again and wear these shiny, flashy and creative concoctions again.

I just feel soooooooooo liberated. ;-P

So, it's high time I redone all those Bourjois lippie posts I wrote back when I had but a scanner and lots of free-time on my hands. This time I intend to provide quality pictures and swatches as faithful to the original as possible.



In this first post we'll take a look at the four prettiest shades:

• 10 Miel Acrobatic
• 49 Rose Enigmatic
• 5 Rose Angelic
• 59 Ocre Rythmic

It is lovely and I was ecstatic when I spotted it among the discounted items one day, but I have to concede that it's just not for me. This gloss has a peachy base infused with golden pearly shimmer and is much lighter than my lips, which is never a good look for me. Nevertheless, for those who like shades like this, it's perfect: doesn't dry lips, isn't sticky, has a nice scent and a brush that allows precise application. What more could a girl ask for? ;-)


Oh. My. God.
This gloss is perfection in a tube. I call it 'liquid grapefruit' and you'll see why once you take a better look at my swatches.
It's basically golden shimmer all over in a sheer coral/pink grapefruit base. The whole thing is incredibly sheer and glossy, and I can imagine it'd look just gorgeous on any lip. I don't know if this one's still available (many Bourjois glosses in my stash have been discontinued), but if you find it anywhere, go ahead and get it.





My other favorite, and annoyingly difficult to photograph. It's basically a pearly pink with hints of coral, lots of golden shimmer and there's also an almost undetectable amount of green in there somewhere. This last thing is what makes it so special in my book: I love lip products that have green shimmer in them: it just makes them a bit more exciting and gives them an extra depth. Plus is makes stuff go well with my Martian (=olive) complexion.



As sheer as Rose Enigmatic and chock-full of antique gold shimmer. Looking at it closely, I have a hunch that the base it totally transparent and colorless, it's only the ridiculously fine shimmer that lends it its color. I kinda like that it's so sheer and that it's very easy to control the amount of product I use, so I've found yet another favorite in this one.

Finally, let's see them in action.



Read more about Bourjois lipglosses in the following posts:
Erm... Gloss anyone?
3 More Glosses
Bourjois Makeup
Bourjois Lipgloss Review

All images on this blog are © Izar, unless stated otherwise.  

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I used to have an insane amount of hair until my idiot of a doctor at that time put me on the pill because of my PCOS. Then my hair started to fall out in huge amounts and kept at it for alost three years. This post is not about my struggle with hairloss though, but you need to be aware that back in those good old days when I still had a haystack on my head, one bottle of shampoo didn't last very long. None of them did. Every time I washed my hair, I used a lot of product and it took ages for it to lather up and be worked through that untameable mane of mine.

Then when I got to know LUSH I was given one of their signature shampoo bars (New) to fight hairloss with. Truth be told, it didn't do much in the way of making my hair stick to my scalp; nevertheless it soon became one of my favorite beauty products because of how it managed to transform my hairwashing ritual. I really just needed to swipe it on and around three times and it produced enough lather to make another wash perfectly unnecessary.

When I used up New completely, I decided to try a different scent (I'm really not a fan of minty things) and chose Ultimate Shine instead. The scent was much more tolerable (though still kinda minty thanks to the rosemary in it, sort of like Wick Vap-o-Rub), but it really did manage to make my hair more shiny and that's what mattered at the time. I used up about 5 or 6 of them before I yet again decided to try something else. By that time I'd been using Ultimate Shine for many years and was ready for something that didn't have any mint in it whatsoever.



After eliminating all the shampoo bars that I knew I would rather not experiment with (e.g.: Godiva; sweet Merlin, how I positively loath smokey jasmine...!!!; Seanik: had it once, used it up, but was royally pissed off because of the tiny bits of algae that kept sticking in my hair, the blah scent and the weird consistency when lathered up) my choice fell upon Squeaky Green, a nice, deep-cleansing shampoo bar with a lovely, smokey and woody green scent that just smells clean and fresh in my hair. It lathers up nice and fast, and unlike some people mentioned on MUA, it does not leave little bits of algae in my hair. However, like all of LUSH's shampoo bars this too begs for a conditioner to be used afterwards, otherwise it might leave your hair a bit brittle and dry. It's nothing a good conditioner can't help though (I recommend LUSH's Veganese or Fresh's Meadowfoam Cream Treatment Conditioner (thanks, Ladybird! ;-)) and I don't really mind it until the bar still cleanses my hair in a jiffy like it has faithfully done for years.

My only pet peeve is that LUSH shampoo bars seem to run out much sooner these days than they used to. (This one and my last Ultimate Shine practically melt compared to the shampoo bars of old.) Still, they are an essential part of my haircare, and I have a hunch I'll always keep one in my stash for days when I need to get washing my hair over with quickly.

Where to get them: in LUSH stores near you or one of LUSH's online stores
Price: 2190 HUF
Amount: 55 g
Rating: 5 out of 5
Ingredients: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Perfume, Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Nettle (Urtica dioica), Water (Aqua), Tea Tree Powder (Melaleuca alternifolia), Peppermint (Mentha piperita), Rose Absolute (Rosa damascena), Chamomile Blue Oil (Chamomilla recutita), Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), *Coumarin, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Chlorophyllin (CI 5810)  

After starting to use mineral foundation and sunscreen I quickly discovered the importance of proper cleansing. I got a very generous sample from a friend first and immediately fell in love with the lovely thin formula and the delicious scent. It was just a matter of time before I bought my own 200 ml bottle and I've been using it ever since. (With minor interruptions. There's always something new to experiment with. ^_^)

To remove makeup and sunscreen in the evening I use one pump (it's perfectly enough as the oil is kind of runny and spreads easily), occasionally dilute it with some jojoba oil and then give my skin a thorough massage with the mixture. Afterwards, I wet my hands a bit and massage my skin a bit more: water turns this oil into a sort of cleansing milk which is then very easy to wash off and absolutely no residue remains. My skin ends up being soft and supple and perfectly clean.

Some people I know have reported this cleanser to sting their eyes and to dry their skin, but those are issues easily resolved. You really need to be careful and close your eyes tightly when you wash it off. I'm actually thinking that it wasn't the cleansing oil that stung people's eyes but the sunscreen that went with it. (That has definitely happened to me too.) Also, I have combination skin (oily in the summer), which is probably why I haven't experienced any drying yet. People with dry skin might want to try a sample first to make sure the product will agree with their type of skin.

It is pretty expensive though (almost 5000 HUF for a 200 ml bottle), so it might be a good idea to use a bit less and add some natural oil (jojoba, almond, olive, apricot kernel): it won't take away from it's effectiveness at all, but will probably make the product last much longer.

A word of caution: the bottle leaks like crazy. I learned this the hard way when, after coming home with my brand new bottle, I laid it on my bed and found a palm-sized oil stain on the bedspread upon my return from the kitchen. Make sure then to store it in a standing position, and instead of taking it with you when you travel, just decant some into a smaller bottle.
Also, opening the bottle for the first time proved to be a bit tricky (and I am a dexterous girl), but don't give up: you just have to turn the pump dispenser counter-clockwise by about 45 degrees for it to work and then turn it clockwise to seal it off. It's a cool idea but it still gives me a hard time sometimes... :-P

Anyway, despite all my grievances with its mechanics, L'Occitane's Almond-Apple Cleansing Oil is a five star product and a Holy Grail for me. I absolutely recommend it, though keep in mind that I haven't tried any other oil cleanser yet (e.g.: Shu Uemura or DHC) so I have nothing to compare it to.

Where to get it: in L'Occitane stores, online stores and EBay
Price: 4790 HUF
Amount: 200 ml
My rating: 5 out of 5
Ingredients: C12-15 alkyl benzoate * DI-PPG-2 myreth-10 adipate * sweet almond oil * sunflower seed oil * apple fruit extract * tocopherol * parfum/fragrance * rosemary leaf extract * limonene * linalool * citronellol