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.  

Hi gals!

I'm back!

I spent most of last week in our summer cottage continuously whacking my brain over what I did wrong in the process of changing my blog's template, and what was still to be done, fingers itching to get near a PC with Internet access. That, of course, is pretty much out of the question in Horány, so only today could I finally smooth things out here. (And to my great annoyance, some things are still not perfect...)

Thank you for your lovely comments on Binary Star's new look, everybody! It was a great surprise to arrive home to such positive reception of the new template. :-)

Take a look around the InfoCreek Blog, where you can find many other great templates, most of them available for Blogger.

There's a lip-gloss I've been "lemming" for a while now, as is obvious if you read some of my earlier posts mentioning it.

It's Bourjois's Les Cocktails d'3D Effet in Rouge Sunset (27), and as it turns out, it's just as gorgeous as I imagined it to be.

I bought it a few weeks ago on E-Bay.co.uk, together with another gloss from the same line, Cassis Tropical (26), and because Bagaela was eager for me to review them, here they are. (Hope you'll like it, dear! ^_^)







This one has always tickled my fancy more than Cassis Tropical, and for good reason. Just as I expected, Bourjois' Rouge Sunset is a shade that matches olive skintone perfectly, probably because this particular skintone has yellow and green undertones. As you probably know, green and red are complementary colors, meaning they contrast with each other and make each other more bright and vivid. Now, I imagine that if a woman with olive skin puts on a red lipstick or gloss, both the gloss and her skin will become brighter and the two will emphasize each other.

Which is perfectly fine by me. :-)

The slight tan that I have boosts the green in my skin and this sheer red lip-gloss looks great one me.

Some of its features:

• Color:
  
  Red (obviously), and very-very sheer. You want to layer this pretty heavily, otherwise you'll get very little color-payoff.
  
  
• Texture:
  
  Like most Bourjois lip-glosses this one is not really sticky either, although I find that the old formula is much more smooth and moisturizing than the new one. (Rouge Sunset has the new formula already.) Well, I'm actually perfectly fine using Bourjois' glosses alone, without any kind of lip-balm, and they still don't dry my lips out.
  
  

• Special FX:
  
  Bourjois claims that it:
  

1. Gives exceptionally high shine
   
   Hmm, I don't know... Most of the time, I really cannot spot any difference between different glosses: they all seem ridiculously shiny to me (In a good way! :-)) I wouldn't, however, say that this gloss has "exceptionally high shine". Okay, maybe if you layer it on thickly, it has. But if you apply it sheer, it has a more subtle, discreet kind of shine which I prefer and which makes my lips look moisturized and healthy.
   
   
2. Has super glossy, sheer texture that burst with color
   
   Oh, it's sheer all right, but that's fine by me, as I usually stay away from things that look unnatural and that are too bright. And while Rouge Sunset does burst with color (Yeah, in the tube... it almost has a neon glow...), I can't say the same about Cassis Tropical. (I see a kind of paradox between being sheer and bursting with color anyway...)
   
   
3. Helps plump up lips for a fuller, sensational look
   Nope. Does only what all lip-glosses do: optically enhances one's lips and makes it look a bit more plump and full.
   

• Applicator:
  
  Has the usual precision brush applicator that I love so much about Bourjois lipppies. As someone who's usually not afraid take a brush in her hands and use it, I welcome this kind of application technique, because it allows for greater precision and better control over layering on the product.
  
  
• Price:
  
  I can't really say anything about this as I bought mine on E-Bay for 5.5 GBP (including shipping), but you can also get it on Strawberrynet.com for 14 USD (with free shipping), and I guess the original retail price is 15.5 USD. (For which amount I would probably not buy it...)

What remains now is for me to show you how it looks on my lips. :-)






Cassis Tropical is obviously a more berryish shade, and again, quite transparent. It reminds me a lot of two other Bourjois lip-glosses, both fairly sheer: Framboise Energetic (11) and Framboise Excentric (98). It gives the same my-lips-but-better look: just a hint of berry/rose tint and some not over-the-top shine. From the above mentioned two glosses I prefer No.98 (discontinued), so I was very happy to discover that Cassis Tropical is a pretty good replacement for it.

What I wrote about Sunset Rouge stands for this gloss too (except the color part), but I got this one for 4.25 GBP, which I think is pretty cool in itself, and more so because they don't seem to be available in Hungary. *insert picture of Izar banging her head into the wall* :-)




Finally, let's see these glosses in action!




Questions, comments about Bourjois Les Coctails glosses? Don't spare me! ^_^  

Don't you just love 'em? I sure do. And now, inspired by Grayburn's post Current Lemmings, I'll show you mine. Thanks Grayburn for the prompt!



"My current list of lemmings consist of a few items that I think will be perfect for the Summer. What about you? What are your current lemmings?" /Grayburn/





1.) Clinique Naturally Glossy Mascara in Jet Brown (02)

Judging by the customer reviews on MUA this is exactly what I need and the mascara I've been looking for all my life. Unfortunately, here in Hungary it costs twice as much as in western parts of Europe or in the US which is why I'm waiting for it appear again on Strawberrynet. You see, I saw it about a months ago, but I didn't have the money to buy it, and by the time I got paid, it was gone. (And there was weeping and gnashing of teeth...)

What I want from a mascara:

1. it should be brown (=natural), as I have medium brown hair and eyebrows so black mascara usually just looks fake on me.
2. it should make my lashes, well... "naturally glossy"
3. I don't want it to lengthen at all: my lashes are long enough on their own, just not very visible
4. can add volume, but it's not compulsory either
5. shouldn't be waterproof

 

I know, I know... I should just go and take shots of birds, sunsets and pretty flowers instead of bugging you with my swatches. But I can't help it, I enjoy taking pics of my make-up sooo much and the weather outside is lousy anyway...

Oh, by the way, this going to be totally random, but there's a rumor on my favorite Hungarian women's forum that there might just be a chance that we'll have The Body Shop in Hungary after all. Some ladies decided to take matters into their own hands and planning to fly over to NYC to start negotiating with the folks at TBS. There's another rumor, however, according to which a Russian company has already bought the franchise and will bring TBS to Hungary in 2009, aaand everything will be insanely expensive...

Okay, I'm at a total loss when it comes to business and trading (I'm an arts graduate, after all... :-) so I don't exactly understand all this, especially why the fact that the franchise belongs to a Russian company would make the products so expensive, but whatever... I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope that the above mentioned ladies succeed in the end.

Okay, let's move on to the Bourjois Rouge Connection Lipstick Swatches. About a year ago there was this huge discount on Bourjois products and I managed to "swipe" quite a lot of stuff for ridiculously low prices. (Think 3 USD for a lipstick or gloss and 1.5 for a nail polish.) That's when I bought these lovely lippies too, and they've been my favorite ever since. (Right after the glosses, of course: those are the absolute winners.) These lipsticks have a nice, smooth texture, a pleasant smell, and thankfully they're not matte like those from the Pour la Vie line. (I have several of the latter kind too, but I need to use them with a lipbalm underneath.)

If you click on the piccy, you'll get a much bigger picture this time. ;-)

Oh, by the way, the lipsticks don't have names, just numbers.

 

Guess what! The other day I was particularly in the mood for a tag and even searched around the web looking for blog memes when all of a sudden The Seeker left a comment in one of my posts saying I was tagged. I say she can read minds. :-)

Anyway, what I have to do is show you my bag and six items that I usually carry in it. Here goes...

My bag is from AVON: it's one of the few I actually like from their collection. And until I get a job and get some money I'll have to make do with cheap bags from AVON.... Oh, by the way, say hello to Bara, my doll! :-)

My make-up bag (crocheted and embroidered by me) and its contents:

• Alverde lip balm (can't live without it)
• Bourjois Petit Guide de Style in Call Me Rose
• Freeman Peppermint and Plum Foot Lotion depotted into a pump-bottle (I use it as a hand-cream: it's the best! See my blog's sidebar!)
• Guerlain Insolence EdP sample (I adore that scent!)
• A pair of foldable scissors
• Two Bourjois lip-glosses: shade 49 and 5

My brown leather wallet and keys: the keychain has an ankh (this symbol means a lot to me) and a handmade glass bead on it.



A Zebra pen and the annual ELLE calendar. I religiously buy their December issue every year. (And the other 11 issues as well... :)


My battered, old cell-phone... I've had it for 3 years now. I actually don't like cell-phones much (Every time I turn it off, which happens very rarely, I feel as if I had cast the ball and chain off my feet.) but I must have mine with me, otherwise I can't function in this modern world of ours.



I almost always have a book in my bag in case I get to sit down on the bus or the subway and read a bit. Reading makes boring travel-time fly by: one minute I sit down, and the next I'm already at my destination!


A pair of gloves: I simply won't step out of my home without them in this cold weather. :)

And now comes the usual whining: who the heck should I tag??? I don't have many blogger friends yet and they've probably done this already. Oh well, I'll tag:

Mikaela
Divine Blackness
Chililady

Do it if you feel like it. :-)

 

Today I decided to put my brand new camera to good use and post swatches of my existing Bourjois eye-shadows and blushes.

Click on the pictures to view a considerably larger version!