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*