This post will have to begin the same way that all other "first-Fyrinnae-haul" posts do:

I knew I was going to love their products, and I ended up being right. Some of you probably know by now that I'm a huge lipgloss junkie, but Fyrinnae are doing everything they can to turn me into an eyeshadow aficionado. Also, they've convinced me to expand Binary Star's technical potential and use my camera's video recording feature to show you how insanely sparkly one of their eyeshadows, Dokkálfar, is.

I can only show you one of them though, because as soon as I finished recording, the sun decided to take a well-deserved rest and hid behind the approaching stormclouds. More eyeshadow swatches to come in Part II.

Please excuse the quality of the video, but I was too excited to care about things like a script, angle or artistic vision. :) It is blurry on purpose though: the lack of proper focus allows me to show you the sparkles better.




Dokkálfar was, by the way, a free sample the guys at Fyrinnae threw in with my order. I was actually thinking of ordering it, but eventually decided to hold off and get it next time. (See? Even back then I knew there'd be a next time.) Anyway, it's a gorgeous, dark moss-green with lime, grass-green and turquoise sparkles, which, despite the crazy amount of sparkle, I can actually see wearing during the daytime as a liner to spice up my otherwise laid-back makeup. It's kind of like powdered hematite and pirite mixed together. :-)




I did get some other things too. In fact, here's my haul:



What I got from Fyrinnae:

• Lip Lustres in Visual Kei, Lollipop Pop, Romantique and Lickable
• Pixie Epoxy sample
• Velvel-Gel Silica Primer
• Blushes in Enchant and Mesmerize
• Eyeshadows in Changeling, Herbivore, Envy Me, Equality, Immortality, Bastet and Beholder
• Arcane Magic Eyeshadow in Dark Fantasy

It's been a long time since I was so happy with a make-up haul. It makes me wonder why I stuck to EDM for such a long time when it came to eyeshadows and blushes. Sure, blushes are not Fyrinnae's primary products, but those 12 Glow Blushes that Fyrianne has will beat those of EDM (and other companies) anytime. I'm especially fond of Enchant: it looks scary in the jar, and even more scary in the picture as it somehow came out all orange-looking, but trust me that when you apply it with a skunk brush, it'll give your cheeks a beautiful coral glow just like its name suggests.

Fyrinnae's eyeshadows... I don't even know where to begin. One thing's sure: they are unique and are of exceptional quality. I was a bit skeptical about them first, but now that I've seen them with my own eyes, I probably won't be shopping for new eyeshadows anywhere else. The colors are very pigmented, intense, and look as if they'd magically been extracted from a peacock's feathers. :-) You have to try them to see what I mean, and I promise you, you won't be disappointed if you do.

They come in two sizes:

• sample size (a very generous 1/3 teaspoonful that'll last you for ages) for 2 USD
• full size for 5.9 USD

Their Velvet-Gel Silica Primer is another thing that made me jump with joy the moment I tried it: first off, it doesn't contain silicones. If that's not something to be happy about then I don't know what is. My skin hates silicones, and while I have found a very decent priming product sans silicones in Alverde's Tagesfluid Perle, I could very well do without all the oils in it. Fyrinnae's primer contains Aloe Vera juice, silica (totally not the same as silicone) and some gel-forming agent. It'll probably also last me ages, as it's possible to apply on wet skin, and even when applied to dry skin, you need the smallest amount. It creates a perfect, smooth canvas for my foundation and keeps the oilies at bay for a much longer time than anything I've ever tried before. I'll have to perfect its use though as it also tends to dry out my skin a bit, but I'll probably be able to solve that by applying it over a thin layer of moisturizer.




Of course, having read so many raves about Pixie Epoxy, I just had to get a sample. I was hesitating between a sample and a full size, but I'm glad I ended up buying the smaller size: you need so little of the product to cover an eyelid (think smaller that a poppy-seed) that the sample will last me very long.




Pixie Epoxy is not an eyeshadow primer. I can attest to that, as I tried using it as one and it's obviously not in the same league with my beloved Artdeco Eyeshadow Base. What it does, however, is make all that fooling around with water and mixing medium when foiling your eyeshadows a thing of the past. Just apply a tiny amount of the gel to your eyelid, smear it, let it dry a bit until it's sticky and brush on your eyeshadow (brushing is better than patting in PE's case). It makes a world of difference:




Being the self-professed lippie junkie that I am, I just have to share Fyrinnae's Lip Lustres with you. They are, indeed, not lipglosses in the traditional sense of the word. They really are more like lip tints, but very yummy and moisturizing ones. You can apply a tiny amount and top it with lipbalm or gloss if you only want a slight tint, or you can apply them as you normally would a gloss and they'll cover your lips in bright colors in no time as they're very opaque and will look the same on your lips as they do in the tube. The texture is nice and I guess I could say that these are to regular lipglosses what mineral foundation is to liquid foundation: sort of velvety and barely-there, they feel almost as if I didn't have anything on my lips.

Some of my color choices turned out to be a bit unfortunate, but I'll never blame Fyrinnae for that. I mean what the h*ll was I thinking getting a bright pink lippie??? (Visual Kei anyone?) Especially knowing that it'd be opaque... Okay, so I was in the mood for something bright and cheerful, but I really should have known better... :-)))



Visual Kei: The brightest of them all, sort of fuchsia with slight bluish shimmer. Not my thing, but I'll probably be using it as a tint under lipbalm.

Romantique: Again, not the best choice for my skintone. It's too light and washes me out, but will probably look nice over something else.

Lollipop-Pop: It looks sort of like a toned-down Visual Kei. Medium pink with blue shimmer and looks a lot cooler in real life than on Fyrinnae's website. I'll be able to wear this on its own.

Lickable: Okay, this is my favorite. :-) A pinkish golden-brown, quite complex although it looks unassuming in the tube. It makes my lips lighter than they are, gives them a subtle golden sheen and is perfect combined with a brown smoky eye or any sort of green eye makeup.
Also, what the heck??? Lickable is nowhere to be found on Fyrinnae's website anymore! What gives? *scratches head*

Oh, and another thing: Fyrinnae's Lip Lustres smell and taste delicious. I like the scent of Romantique the best (I mean I could sniff it all day), but all the others are equally mouth-watering.

Fyrinnae's Lip Lustres come in two sizes:

• 3 ml for 2.5 USD
• 5.8 ml for 4.5 USD

Both sizes come with doefoot applicators, and while I'm not fond of those, I understand why they would be picked for this product. Brushes just wouldn't work with this texture.




All in all, I'm ridiculously happy with my Fyrinnae haul and will definitely order from them again. As the Hungarian Forint has plummeted thanks to the financial crisis in Greece, that order will have to wait a bit, but I already have my wishlist full and can hardly wait to try some more of Fyrinnae's eyeshadows, Lip Lustres and blushes. I will also order a full size from their Velvet-Gel Silica Primer. ;-)

Have you ever tried Fyrinnae? What's your opinion? Have their products managed to bewitch you just as much?

Finally, here are some more swatches of the Lip Lustres.




 

I promised in this post that I would swatch my latest* lippie haul from SN as soon as the weather and lighting conditions allow it. Well, when I left to Nuremberg it was still winter in Hungary: cold, cloudy, silent, snow on the ground, short days and all. On my way back the sun came out of hiding, the sky cleared up and I saw its azure blue tint for the first time in months, even the last inch of snow melted, and the weather was finally warm. It's been like that ever since: the birds are singing, it's 17:39 right now and there's still some light outside, it was 10°C today (50°F), and the lighting was perfect for taking some well-overdue shots of my lippies.

* Only they're not my latest lippies from SN anymore: our group haul arrived last week and in it another 7 glosses I'm gonna rave about very soon. (SN glosses seem to be my very own version of Pokemon: if I carry on in this vein, I'll have collected them all. :-D)

Anyway, the lippies I'm going to tell you about today are:

• Cultured (vegan)
• Bisou (vegan)
• Raindrops On Roses
• Bitten

I ordered them before Christmas 2009 and immediately fell in love with Bitten. I can now safely say that I absolutely don't care for Bisou (neither the shade, nor the formula), would love Cultured if only it were a bit less pink and more brown/yellow, and have found a perfect way to wear Raindrops on Roses: mixed with Gold Blush it gives my lips a lovely bright coral tint and my complexion the perfect "I'm wide awake and happy as a lark!" look.

Anyway, let me give you some details and show you some pics.




And now, lo and behold, the same lips wearing those four SN glosses:



Karen's description:

"Cultured Vegan Lip Gloss is inspired by MAC's Slimshines...so sorta like Maiden- it's not quite as pigmented or "formal" looking as a lipstick- perfect for the office or more casual occasions. It's a lighter nude with a hint of plum and a little bit of pearl. In comparison Maiden is pinker, and more golden,Polished Pink is browner and more shimmery."

No, not quite as pigmented, but it still manages to accentuate every little crease on my lips... I have the same problem with the other Vegan lippie I have, Bisou: they both make my lips look cracked and badly taken care of (which I swear they're not).

My other gripe with Cultured is not Silk Naturals' fault: because it has too much pink in it, it washes me out and makes my complexion look really dull. I was actually hesitating about whether to buy Cultured, Polished Pink or Maiden, but eventually I ended up buying this one. Since then, I have placed another order and put Maiden in my cart so we'll see how that one looks. (That order has yet to arrive though... I absolutely hate the Hungarian postal service.)

There is actually one very positive thing I can say about Cultured: its formula is incredibly smooth and moisturizing and I love the feel of it on my lips. If only it looked good on me...

Price: 4.75 USD
Rating: 3 out of 5

Karen's description:

"Bisou is a lightly pigmented berry tone with a little bit of peach, balanced with a bit of cooler raspberry. It gives your lips just a hint of shimmer and a healthy pink flush."

Sorry, but WHAT? Lightly pigmented?? Healthy pink flush???

Folks, for one thing, this looks nothing like the swatch on SN's site. The shade is not what I expected at all: it more sort of an intense cool red in sunlight, no brown in it at all, nothing neutral about it.

For another, it is anything but "lightly pigmented". Compared to other SN lippies, it's actually very heavily pigmented and the color is very intense, it's just that when I try to put it on, it tends slide off my lips and streaks like bad quality nail-polish. And it tends to gravitate towards above mentioned wrinkles and creases on my lips.

Sorry, but even combining this with other lippies (Clear among them) has not yielded any acceptable/wearable results.

Price: 4.75 USD
Rating: 2 out of 5 (And I was very generous.)



Karen's description:

"Raindrops on Roses is a shimmery, slightly sheer pink with little hints of gold in our yummy original Kisser Slicker formula. It's understated, very seasonal and absolutely gorgeous."

Well, hallelujah, I don't have to grumble anymore. :-)))

ROR is indeed absolutely gorgeous and very versatile. It was also one of the two lippies I took with me to Nuremberg. The other one was Gold Blush, and the reason why I took these two is that Gold Blush is a perfect everyday color, ROR comes in handy for a business dinner or any other fancy occasion, and the two mixed together give the loveliest coral/golden berry shade I've ever worn, great for both everyday and formal occasions.

But back to the product itself. Raindrops On Roses is a cool-ish berry shade tempered by some golden shimmer so that it becomes more sort of neutral rather than cool. It's a bit more pigmented than my other SN lippies, sort of in the range of Berry Crush and Temptation. The gold shimmer in it is a brilliant idea as it makes the gloss just warm enough for me to wear, but like I said it's best mixed with Gold Blush: nothing's better than those two together. ;-)

It goes well with my skintone which is always a bonus, and the texture is all right too.

Price: 4.50 USD
Rating: 5 out of 5


Karen's description:

"Bitten Organic Lip Gloss is the Fall version of Damsel. It's a true red, absolutely sheer- sort of like you ate a lollypop. It's deeper, and more red than Damsel, and a true red compared with the more purple Berry Nice."

I was bitten by the love bug the minute I tried this one. (Pun totally intended.) As a matter of fact, I fell for it the first time I saw it on SN's website: the description and the swatch looked too good to be true. I mean I've been wishing for a lipgloss like this for ages. I loved my Bourjois Les Cocktails lipgloss in Rouge Sunset and have been dreaming of a slightly more pigmented version from SN. And whaddaya know? Karen made my dream come true. :-)))

Bitten is a lot like Damsel when it comes to sheerness: both are more sort of lip stains than lipglosses in that they don't have such a high pigment content that would add thickness to their formula. Bitten is really just a sheer lollypop red that makes your lips look as if you'd been kissing. ;-) It does make your lips shiny too but that really just depends on how much you put on. One swipe, and it just tints your lips. Two-three swipes: yeah, it's obvious you've got something on. Full-on application (i.e.: swiping for ages): lovely, fresh red lips. :-) A bonus is that even when most of the gloss is gone, some color remains, so it's perfect for girls whose lips are not that pigmented.

Truth be told, I haven't been wearing Bitten non-stop ever since I got it (which, judging by the tone of my review, should be the case), but I have to be in the mood to wear red and that doesn't just happen every day. Nevertheless, it is an awesome lipgloss and the one I turn to when I want to wear red on my lips.

Oh, and the texture? Perfect. :-)

Price: 4.50 USD
Rating: 5 (or even 6) out of 5


Finally, here are some swatches on my arm to give you a better idea of what these glosses look like.
(Btw, why does Cultured look so darn nice in every picture??? It's really not as appealing as that... Gives my lips that sort of lilac tint that drowned people have... *scratches head*)




So has any one of these four Silk Naturals glosses caught your fancy? Do you actually own any on them? I know Sagu has ROR (I bought it upon her encouragement). Anyone else? Let me know. :-)  

Remember this post? It was so much fun to write. :-)

When was the last time I posted something other than a product review?

I have all these little tips and tricks lying around, miscellaneous stuff I've found, things I'm happy about, random thoughts no one but you might be interested in, questions I need answers to, and a blog to tell others all about them, and... I still post friggin' product reviews. And it just sometimes happens that I want to talk about something other than cosmetics and make-up.

Sooo, it's time for Random Tidbits, Episode II.

Having a salary is so liberating: I can finally delve into the wonderful world of mineral make-up and order product samples from all those brands I set my eyes on a long while ago.

There's of course Fyrinnae whose eyeshadows, Lip Lustres and Pixie Epoxy I want to try, and Adorned With Grace where I hope to find the perfect match amongst their foundation, after all they are a MMU company creating foundation shades for people with yellow/olive skintones. Sagu called my attention to Sassy Minerals a while ago, and I've seen some great swatches of their eyeshadows on various blogs, so I'm probably going to raid their store in the future.

There's also LaurEss and their Neutralize corrector that I want to try, and though I've lost interest in Pure Luxe a while ago, there's still a small order I want to make, because I find it's hard to live without two of their eyeshadows from their Fall '09 Collection: Boy Toy and Tryst.


By the way, Pure Luxe also carries one of my favorite eyeshadows of all time: Golden Sands.




It's a gorgeous charcoal-brown with golden sheen and, according to PL, bronze shimmer. Well, the bronze shimmer is only visible in daylight, otherwise it's more sort of greenish to me. It's a very complex color, hard to describe, but until I tried to swatch it, I hadn't even noticed the bronze. I was totally convinced that it has gold and green shimmer in it, but apparently there's no such thing mentioned on PL's website.

Oh well, it's still a HG for me as it goes perfectly with my skintone, and somehow manages to be both subtle and extraordinary at the same time. It's great if you just want a wash of color on your lids, perfect for workdays when you want to look polished but not made-up and is also an excellent base for a more complex look created of browns, greens or even bronze/purple eyeshadows.



It wasn't love at first sight but now I couldn't live without it and will definitely get the full size when I place an order at PL.

Now comes my question. Back in Nuremberg I got a small jar of virgin coconut oil from Tropicai, an importer of fair-trade coconut food and cosmetic products.




It smells amazing: it has the purest, most delicious coconut scent I've ever encountered. I did use it on my short, wavy, bordering on curly, and annoyingly frizzy hair on a few occasions and got great results: only half a pea size (or even less) made my hair much softer and manageable.

But that's not the point. (Not even if this is a beauty blog and I should be telling you about things exactly like this. Will do so though, soon.)

The point is that ever since I got a sniff of that jar of coconut oil, I've been obsessed with everything coconut: the smell, the taste, everything!

So my question is: can you help out a girl with a serious fixation on coconut and let her know about your favorite coconut products? I'm mostly thinking about cosmetics here (body-lotion, hand-cream, shampoo), but you're more than welcome to share your favorite coconut recipe with me too. ;-) It doesn't matter if it's not available here in Hungary (although it'd be great if it were): there's always E-Bay to hunt these things down on, and dreaming about something unattainable has its benefits too.

Things to exclude from your suggestions: LUSH's coconut-scented products (I know them.. Wish they'd drop the vetiver...), Balea's coconut body-lotion and hand cream (Tried it, hated it, sorry.), The Body Shop's coconut line (I know about it, will hopefully sink my teeth into the body butter soon.)

So enable me girls and feed my coconut craze, will you? Thanks a bunch!  

There’s really not much to say about Silk Naturals’ Oil Control Primer, other than that it’s the best mattifying product I’ve ever tried.

All my life I’ve been trying to regulate my skin’s sebum production and have been dreaming about silky matte skin that stays that way throughout the day.

Back in the days I’m sure I must have used more than one alcohol-laden toner, and my only excuse is that I really didn’t know better. Then I bought every drugstore moisturizer that promised to make my skin matte, and was disappointed with the results every single time. Afterwards I was on the pill for two and a half years, but although it took care of my zits perfectly, to my great chagrin, it didn’t much affect my comedos or the oiliness of my skin. Next I tried applying a micro-thin layer of jojoba oil to fool my skin into thinking it was really not necessary to hide behind thick layers of grease and that the world was a much safer place than it had thought. It worked for a while, but then one day it saw through the ruse and was truly irritated at being treated like such a gullible fool, so it huffed and puffed and made my life a living hell once again.

Half a year ago I started to experiment with mattifying creams and lotions again, but I quickly realized that most of them were chock-full of silicones, and that after having sat dutifully on my skin for an hour or two keeping the oilies at bay, they suddenly got up, dusted off their mantles and sauntered off into oblivion, quickly followed by a swell of sebum and other nasty stuff. (My theory is that somewhere in the world there exists a pub for stray-minded cosmetic ingredients where they come together for a drink or two after having got bored of sitting on our skin and doing their job properly.)

Anyway, back to the product at hand. It’s white, silky and feather-light, and for some reason it possesses a pathologic aversion to makeup brushes. Let me tell you though that it’s a good thing. It made me start using it as if it were some sort of lotion and rub it into the skin on my T-zone with gentle circular motions. This way it disappears completely after a while leaving no trace of that dreaded white cast, and for some reason it makes my skin much smoother and silkier than it could if I applied it with a brush.



Used together with Silk Naturals’ Oil Control Serum, it kept my face nice and matte for at least three hours longer than it would have been without them. Also, it’s the only stuff that successfully battles the greasiness of my sunscreen (Bioderma Photoderm Sensitive) and keeps my complexion relatively oil-free throughout the day. It’s safe to say that I would not be able to use that sunscreen without this primer and that makes this product from Silk Naturals an integral part of my daily routine. (To see why I still insist on using that sunscreen despite its obvious shortcoming, take a look at this post.)




Because of wanting to save on the shipping a bit, I bought the refill baggie and put its content into an old, unused EDM jar. Safe to say is that I'll never do that again. Next time I’m buying this stuff in its original packaging, which I expect to be a lot more practical than that of EDM’s. *grumblegrumble…*

Where to get it: www.silknaturals.com
Price: 8.95$ in jar (7.95$ in refill baggie), and 0.99$ for a sample jar
Amount: 2 teaspoons of product (full size); 1/4 tsp. (sample size)
Ingredients: calcium carbonate, silk powder, silica
My rating: 6 stars out of 5 ;-)  

Gah, I have to stop listening to Sounds of the Universe or else I won't be able to write a single coherent sentence... ;-) I can't wait until the 20th April to buy the album!!!

Anyway, who wants to see my Everyday Minerals brushes? I know at least one person who does, so here they are in all their glory (or at least looking as good as my photography skills could make them) with commentary from yours truly. :)

From the two brushes that are meant for applying mineral foundation, I like this one much less. Yes, it's a wonderfully dense and soft brush (just like all of EDM's brushes), but I can't shake the feeling that this one is better suited for applying some sort of finishing powder or maybe even bronzer. I don't like the way its head is slightly dome-shaped, resulting in uneven distribution of any kind of powder on my skin which leaves my face it splotchy and the brush downright useless in this department. I think, however, that that's just me. Other might have much better luck with it, but I have already gathered from trial and error that EDM's Flat Top Brush is the only one for me.

Length: ~10.5 cm
Diameter of head: ~4cm







Exactly because of its flatness it fits to every nook and curve on my face, and enables me to reach even the area next to and around my nose. It follows the angles of my face quite nicely and distributes an even amount of powder everywhere which makes it much more suited for applying foundation (in my book at least). Imagine stenciling a pretty motif on your wall with the Kabuki and then this one: as someone who knows her way around art and different kinds of brushes I can safely say that while this one would leave behind a nice, even layer of paint, the Kabuki would definitely smear and color with varying intensity.

Length: ~10 cm
Diameter of head: ~3.5 cm









I bought two of these as I had thought it would be practical and less time-consuming to have one for shimmery blushes and one for mattes. (You know, not having to wash my brush every time I want to apply a matte blush after a shimmery one.) Now I think maybe I should have bought one for cool-toned blushes, and one for warm-toned ones, and another for bronzers, and a further one for highlighters, and so on... Although for really intensive colors such as Wake-Up Call and Sunday Brunch I will probably use a fiber optic brush, this brush is still a great little tool to work with. I like that it's relatively flat and angled: this way I can cover a rather big portion of my cheek at the same time and distribute the blush evenly. Nice work, EDM!

Length: ~11.5 cm
Diameter of head (width): ~3.5 cm
Diameter of head (length): ~2.5 cm









This one should have been included in my 10 piece eyeshadow kit, but alas, it wasn't. As far as I remember it was out of stock at the time, so I reconciled myself to the thought that I just managed to miss out on it and would perhaps buy one some other time. (So I'm a loser, so what's new? :)) Then one day, the postman turned up with an envelope, and as I wasn't expecting anything at the time, I was a bit surprised. Upon opening the envelope it was my missing eyeshadow brush that fell out, which only built up my trust in EDM's ways of doing business a bit further.

Anyway, EDM's eyeshadow brush is nice, but it's a bit too inflexible and tough for my liking. It's very easy to have a lot of sparkly eyeshadow end up on your cheeks using this one as it just springs back whenever I try to bend it and make it follow the contours of my eyelid. I used to apply concealer with it, but when I got my Eye Kabuki I tossed this one altogether and never looked back. (Okay, maybe I did use this brush for contouring once or twice, but that's it.) I say you'd do much better with a softer, easier to bend brush.

Length: ~16.5 cm
Head (width): ~1 cm
Head (length): ~1 cm




Lovely, only I use it as a concealer brush.

Just like EDM's other brushes this one is also very dense and soft, making it perfect for applying any sort of powder, especially concealer, as the size of the brush head allows for buffing and perfect blending. Unlike the previous brushes, this one already has a bamboo handle (I got this for myself for Christmas), just like all brushes EDM will sell in the future.

Applying eyeshadow with this one is not entirely impossible, but I just wish it were a bit smaller as working with it in its current state is a bit awkward to say the least. It comes in handy though when you want to apply a base color quickly or just blend two colors, but you have to be careful while doing the latter one: the size of the brush doesn't allow for much precision unfortunately.

Length: ~13 cm
Diameter of head: ~1.5 cm



 

Before I start this small review I'll seize the opportunity to welcome all my fellow Hungarian readers here on Binary Star. So many of you have visited me today and I truly hope that what you found here was to your liking and that you could benefit from my reviews.

Let's get down to business then. A few months ago I placed another small order at Pure Luxe and got myself some more eyeshadows. Half of them I managed to swatch before the truly dull days of winter set in: these are the ones I'll share with you today. The other half: let's do a little dance and pray that the sun comes out of hiding, because I'm not willing to lower my standards and give you desaturated pictures the colors of which are way off.

(In the bottom right corner of every picture there's a wet [top] and a dry [bottom] swatch of the shadow.)


And now, without further ado, I give you...








Asp is more layed-back color, a sort of pinkish gold-beige with multicolor shimmer. Don't let the shimmer part fool you though: it's a perfectly wearable color that any teenage relation of yours will probably leave where it is, not because it's not beautiful, but because the shimmer is very low-key and elegant, and not even visible when you apply it to your lids. It's there, make no mistake, but it's rather something that gives Asp its unique quality and not an in-your-face kind of thing.







Cooler than I expected, Carnivale is a pretty purple with a bit of pink shimmer, and probably not something that will make your heart flutter in your chest every time you look at it. At least I was not impressed. Nonetheless, this is a color I'll reach for time and time again to accentuate the green in my eyes and to create a not-so-ordinary smoky eye.








Oh. My. God.

Now this baby deserves all the praise I can give it. It's a beautiful taupe/dark-beige/mid-brown with gold and pink shimmer, but looking at it from afar it's just an incredibly elegant gold color, the kind I've been dreaming about all my life. What's missing here (I don't miss it at all though) is the slight orange undertone all gold eyeshadows tend to have and that made me give up on ever being able to wear gold.

What an incredible find! If you've been hesitant about wearing gold on your eyelids so far then this sure is a product for you to try.







A very unassuming color at first (and unfortunately the dry swatch came out a bit awkward too), but it really is lovely: it's a greenish grey (or vice versa?) with gold and multicolored shimmer, and it looks lovely on its own or paired with some other greens, like EDM's Cypress or In The Garden.  

2008 was a year that had brought many changes into my life, including cosmetics and makeup. Remember my rant at the beginning of last year bemoaning the fact that we have such limited access to beauty products here in Hungary? Well, the situation could still be improved, but along the way I discovered the miracle that is online shopping, starting with Everyday Minerals and then moving on to eBay and other online stores. So yeah, I guess I could say 2008 was rich in anxious anticipation of much awaited little parcels and boxes, new discoveries and sometimes disappointments, and receiving inspiration and great tips from so many fellow beauty- and fashion bloggers.

Because of the above mentioned changes I did not manage to review all my precious discoveries back in 2008, but that won't stop me from listing them here (with the promise of discussing them later), because I think it'd be an absolute crime not to share them with you.

I would like to thank Grayburn for bringing us fellow bloggers together to do this project and for supervising it all the way. Thank you dear!

To me 2008 rolled by in the spirit of discovering mineral makeup and then taking notice of the unfortunate fact that my skin just won't tolerate mineral foundation in its present state. I've been struggling with PCOS for the better (?) part of my life and I've been dreaming of having perfect skin ever since. (Fine, it doesn't have to be perfect, but one or two zits less would be great...) It seems I won't be able to achieve that until I consult with an endocrinologist this year.

Otherwise though I just love MMU, and will now introduce you to my favorite items from several different brands. I've noticed that most brands excel at producing and prefecting at least one type of product, and it seems to be just as true of MMU companies.



I tend to favor those of Everyday Minerals: they offer a huge selection of shades and produce really unique combinations of different base colors, shimmers, sparkles and whatnot. They're quite cheap and can be bought in small amounts which means less waste of both money and product.

My favorite go-to blush is Best Friends. It looks absolutely scary and unwearable in the jar, but once you blend it into your skin it becomes the most beautiful matte, rosy, just-came-in-from-the-cold shade.
I wear it practically every day now, especially when I don't want anything fancy and just want to create a low-key look.




I'll have to vote for Pure Luxe products in this category. Their shadows can't be beaten. They're wearable, vibrant, creative, long-lasting, come in a huge selection of shades and you can buy generous samples for as cheap as 1$. (Not to mention that their shipping prices are very International Customer friendly. ;-)

I have 15 or so colors so far, but I'm definitely planning to order more. The ones I recommend are: Asp, Twinkle, Seashore, English Ivy, Enlighten and Splendor.

Will review them soon!



You hear raves about Silk Naturals lippies everywhere and with good reason: these are the most gorgeous, wearable and moisturizing lip products I've ever come across, and I have tried many lippies in my life, believe me.

Right now I have seven of them, but I'm definitely ordering more as soon as our currency gets a bit stronger. *blushes*

My review of them can be found here.



Back to Pure Luxe now: I find their cream Eraser perfect eyeshadow primer ever created, though unfortunately it can't touch my face lest I break out with ever more zits due to the silicone in it...

It's not perfect in that it doesn't contribute anything towards mattifying my skin, but on my eyelids it does real miracles. Try it sometime but make sure to read my review on it before you do!




I have not been impressed with any of the mascaras that MMU companies make, but I do so love my Clinique Naturally Glossy Mascara in Jet Brown. I've been blessed with relatively long lashes but I need something that'll lend them some color and volume, and this mascara does the trick perfectly.

It's a favorite of many women who don't want any extra ooomph, but merely wish to accentuate their lashes with a pretty brown tint in a preferably clump-free way.






I haven't bought the full size version of this product yet, but I received a very generous amount of samples (6x10 ml) from a very friendly SA in my very favorite drugstore, and I'm absolutely certain that I'll invest in this cleanser as soon as I run out of my samples. The first time I used this stuff I was blown away. It removed all the makeup from my face without having to vigorously rub it with the cotton pad, which was definitely a first for me. According to instructions it doesn't need to be washed off, but I prefer to follow up with my regular gel cleanser just to have my skin free of chemicals.





I gushed about this at the end of November and I was amazed at how long-lasting this product is. Well, I bought my first tube in the middle of September and lo and behold, it only ran out the day before yesterday. I say that's pretty good mileage for a facial cleanser; at least I tend to go through them like crazy.

It's a very concentrated gel with a nice aquatic scent and the ability to cleanse your face without drying it. It also doubles as an exfoliant and a chemical one at that which, in my opinion, is far more gentle and effective than physical exfoliants.






In all honesty this product was never meant for my oily, problem skin, yet I'm on my second tube now. It's the perfect night cream and the perfect base for when I want to tone any of my serums or skin treatments down a bit. (e.g.: AHA, BHA, retinaldehyde)

It's unscented, contains no colorants, is preservative-free and hypoallergenic. Perfect for people with sensitive skin or anyone who doesn't want to irritate her/his skin more than necessary.

It also doubles as an eye cream for me.




I wish I could say that it's the best acne treatment as well, but I can't, though originally it's supposed to be just that. I mean, who's the idiot who put silicone into an anti-acne product?!?!?

Anyway, I used this for about a month and a half, and though I noticed some improvement first, it soon became obvious that the cyclomethicone in it is yet again making this product useless for me. My zits just weren't willing to disappear and I got those small zits that soon turn into full-fledged cystic acne that I get whenever I put any kind of silicone or mineral foundation onto my face. I hoped it was just what people nowadays call "purging", but sorry, I don't want to "purge" for one and a half months on end, thank you very much...

But (and that's a huge BUT, and the reason why I still mention it among my favorites) I did notice an impressive reduction in my wrinkles on my forehead (you know, the ones you get when your frown) and even around my nose. I guess that means that retinaldehyde (0.1%) and glycolic acid (6%) are capable of successfully fighting wrinkles, so if your skin tolerates silicones, a product with retinaldehyde might just be what you've been looking for all your life.

Be very careful though: retinaldehyde diminishes wrinkles through accelerating the turnover of your skin cells, meaning it's a powerful exfoliant, which leads us to two things:

1. Use a strong sunscreen (min. SPF 40 in my opinion, but 50 is better) whenever you use any kind of retinols on your face.
   
   
2. Be very very patient with your skin in the beginning, introduce it to retinols only very gradually, and never ever start with such a strong product as Diacneal. You'd better try Ystheal first and then slowly move on to stronger concentrations, lest your skin should become irritated by it. (You want to avoid irritating your skin, as it leads to the formation of free-radicals, which in turn results in aging.)

A lady I got to know on a Hungarian forum for women mixes her own blend of hyaluronic acid and vitamin B5 (ala Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 Gel), and she was kind enough to share this miracle product of hers with me.

The results are immediate and simply amazing. Approaching 26 I still have no reason to worry about wrinkles (especially because worrying leads to more wrinkles ;-), but I do have some fine lines under my eyes, next to my lips and on my forehead. They're only visible when I smile or frown, but this product makes them almost invisible in all situations.

My Mum also loves this gel and, unlike me, she has quite a few wrinkles to get rid of, one the one hand because she's 64 and on the other because she'd been neglecting her skin all her life. This is the only product she's been religiously using ever since I introduced her to it, and that says a lot about this gel. She only uses things that really work and give instant, visible results, and boy does this gel deliver...

We also have a wrinkle correcting serum made by Clinians and we've both been seeing the same great results from that one, indicating the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid.









In this cold and dismal weather my Neonatura Cocoon EdP is a real godsend and though it doesn't smell better than it did in summer (nothing beats warm skin), it sure is even more comforting and pleasant.









This concludes my list of favorites in 2008, but the fun is by far not over. Head over to these beautiful ladies who each have their own favorites to show you:


Beautiful Makeup Search

Beauty 411

Beauty Talk

Beauty Tyrant

'*:.blu3.:*'

For The Love of Beauty

Grayburn

Life Of A Ladybug

lily loves mac

Make Do Style

Miss Whoever You Are

Perfume Shrine

Platinum Blonde Life

Searching the Inner Me

Slap Of The Day

The Beauty Alchemist

The non-blonde

Urbane Girl  

Karen Stark, the woman behind Silk Naturals, is unquestionably the Bobbi Brown of the mineral makeup world.

Her creations, no matter how extravagant they are in color, are extremely wearable and universally flattering on all skintones. They look equally good on my mother, who has medium olive skintone, my best friend, whose skin is golden, and me, who has light olive skin with just a hint of beige.

I can't really pick my favorite from the seven glosses I have so far: I like them all with equal fervor, either wearing them on their own or mixing them and creating an endless variety of custom shades. Mixing these and coming up with new colors is especially advised to those who, like me, prefer neutral shades, ones that can be worn all day, everyday, for all occasions. (Sorry, I'm still not brave enough to wear an entire rainbow on my face.) As I'm a teacher and can mostly be found in the offices of various multinational companies during the day, I really have to be careful not to overdo my makeup. Also, I'm planning to acquire a more professional look in 2009, and though these lip glosses are but a minuscule step in that direction, I'm still happy to have them in my arsenal. They're sheer, brown-based (I'm quoting Grayburn here!) and practically melt into the skin on your lips leaving no streaks or buildup in the creases. Also, they're as shiny as a mineral lipgloss can ever be, though if you crave that 1000 Megawatt shine, you should probably stick to regular glosses.

Often when I look at them, I find myself thinking: "This is what lipstick should be like."
I've never much cared for lipstick, as it's usually too pigmented, too artificial, and too dry for my taste. Regular lipgloss is better, but still not perfect: more often than not it's sticky and gooey, dries my lips just as lipstick does, and it's just too glossy to look natural.

Silk Naturals "lipglosses" are, in my opinion, the perfect remedy to my predicament. They're less pigmented than a lipstick but still show up quite nicely on my lips, they aren't as saliva-like (sorry!) than glosses, they give just enough shine as to make my lips look moisturized, and not only do they make them look moisturized but they do actually condition my lips like no other lip product I've ever tried. They're definitely the greatest find of 2008 for me.

Forget my raves about EDM's Cozy Night and my adoration of Alverde's Cool Red lippie. Silk Naturals lipglosses are superior in every way.











The Silk Naturals website describes this as "a shimmery, slightly sheer golden red coral", and that seems a very accurate description to me, but let me just add my own two cents. ;-)

I've never been able to wear bright red colors as I've always felt that they either wash me out or look too bold and "just not me". Well, not this one. For one, it has this magic quality of somehow seamlessly blending into the color of my lips, which makes it look natural even though it is anything but. (I mean, look at that bright color. Whoever was born with lips like that?? Scratch that. Bagaela was, and boy do I envy her... ;-))

For another, the color itself seems to get along with my skintone just fine without the two of them playing power-games and wreaking havoc on my face making me the ultimate loser...
This cheerful color brightens up my complexion, reminding me of warm summer days and geraniums in the window. :)







Right. I ordered this color because I recently noticed that when I mix a peachy-coral shade with a brown one I get a really stunning shade for my lips, and I wanted to have a brown lipcolor in my stash to mix it with a peachy one. Now the peachy one was supposed to be Foreplay, but it turned out that I need something much stronger than that ('Peach Melba' might just do the trick).

Also, I'm not quite sure I got the right color: according to both the official description and the reviews Toffee is supposed to be a tan color with warm peach undertones, but I'm sorry to say that I can't detect any of that in my gloss. Not to mention that this tube is the only one that reeks of wax and oils-gone-bad. Obviously, that yummy vanilla fragrance got left out of it, and I can't really see myself wearing this as it has too unpleasant a smell to be worn around people.

Otherwise it wouldn't be a bad color really: I think I'll use smidgens of it to tone down other colors when I need a really neutral tint on my lips.








By the way, Tender isn't the only gloss that somehow reminds me of EDM's Cozy Night. Sweet Nothing is a perfectly sheer mauve gloss, yet again with a tiny bit of brown in it just to make it all the more wearable. It's the most moisturizing of the seven SN glosses I have; at least it feels the creamiest, which is probably due to its sheerness and how it doesn't contain much pigment. Again, a lovely shade, something you can easily pull off on any occasion. I love it!







Seemed a bit pale for me to consider wearing it, but to Ms Stark's credit I can pull this off without a hitch. It has "a raspberry pink undertone with an overlay of gold" and it's a clone of MAC's Viva Glam V lipstick. The cool berry-pink is nicely complemented by the golden shimmer and yet again, we get a lovely, neutral, wearable color from the mixture of cool and warm ingredients.

PEACE

Izar © 2008

I got this one as a free gift with my order as part of Silk Naturals' Christmas special, and even though it's on the verge of being a bit too pale for me, it makes up for its lack in the wearability department with it's yummy sweet peppermint taste. I've never been a fan of minty lip products (or mint in general), but I think I can see the light now. It feels just a wee bit tingly and cool on my lips while I enjoy the sweetness of the vanilla flavoring. Very cool! ;-)

***

These glosses are too good not be reviewed in 2008 for the sole reason that I want to include them in my Best of 2008 post coming up in January. Credit for the prompt goes to Grayburn, and if you're a (beauty) blogger too, then feel free to write your own post on the Holy Grails and "can't-live-without-it" products of 2008.


Also, check out Grayburn's post on some other SN lippies and another one discussing their foundations.
I wrote about SN's Gold Blush lipgloss and a few of their other products in a previous post.

EDIT (2009/12/30): And here's another review with lots of swatches.
I have a hunch I'll be adding more to the list soon. :)