The perfect Christmas gift!

 

Only last week I got this ah-maaazing gift bag from Estee Lauder and I can honestly say that I have been using these products non stop ever since!

 I was so excited for this gift set, mainly because it contains 8 full sized products, which are 2 lipsticks, 2 eye shadow palettes, their best selling mascara, Sumptuous Extreme, a blush and highlight palette, the amazing Advanced Night Repair serum and the Gentle Eye makeup remover and as a little bonus, a mini Revitalizing Supreme + anti ageing face cream; and of course, that gorgeous burgundy bag! And all for something like $90 ! Considering that only their Double Wear foundation costs $40, you can imagine how much all these products would cost individually! So it was kind of a bargain for me and I knew this set had to be my Christmas present for myself!

   

The pigmentation of those eyeshadows is quite good and they last 10 hours without creasing or fading away (I've tested them!) one palette contains blue shades and the other one is a bit more warm toned and has purple shades, both matte and shimmer. The lipsticks are also lovely to wear, they are not long lasting matte lipsticks, their formula is quite creamy and moisturizing, but the colors are gorgeous! And what is Christmas without a red lipstick, am I right?

 

 I, of course, love their luxurious packaging, all gold and shiny, simple and clean.

It makes a great gift set, I mean, how could anyone say no to a free gorgeous bag and loads of makeup products?

As an ending note, I will wish you all a very Merry Christmas and maybe, a luxurious one!

6 Christmas Makeup Essentials

 

Christmas is just around the corner and I am feeling more festive than ever!

 I wanted to share with you my excitement and so, I put together a few makeup products to try out for Christmas. Or rather, my idea of a makeup for this occasion. I am going for something simple and yet daring. I am feeling attracted to the red color more than ever this time of year so I was really yearning to have a bold red lip while keeping my eye makeup rather simple.

 Scroll down to see what products I used and maybe you'll find them useful!

   

My idea of a perfect foundation is definitely the Revlon Colorstay; if you need a matte base and also a long lasting product, this foundation is the one for you. I have been using it for years and it never disappoints. Plus, now it comes with a pump, which makes the application much more easier and less messy!

 

And how about a bit of sparkle? For eyeshadow I used this gorgeous glittery pot from Glazel Visage in the shade C7, I am really sad I cannot show you how beautiful the color looks on the eyes, it has both pink and blue sparkles and it just looks really beautiful and festive, photos do not do it justice!

My go to mascara is the L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes, Feline - to be honest, what attracted me mostly was the packaging, then the brush, it doesn't stick my lashes together as most mascaras do, so that's a plus too!

As for the eyeliner,  am currently trying out the Maybelline Master Ink Matte, a product I am loving so far, the applicator is firm and very easy to use, it glides on the eyelid like a dream!

Aaaand lastly, what else is suited for this holiday than a bright red lipstick?

I opted for this matte lipstick from NARS, I brand I recently started to try out and I have to say, this is one great lip stain. My lips don't necessarily feel sticky or dry, it literally lasts for hours and I just love the fact that I can eat and drink at dinner without feeling concerned that my lipstick will fade away.

Let's not forget about the manicure! Of course, the same classic red shade, this one is from Maybelline Colorama in the shade 43.

That is it for this article, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you are sharing my excitement for Christmas as well!

A few Christmas gift ideas

 

Christmas time is approaching us rapidly so I thought that an article with a few gift ideas is just perfect for this occasion; there are 15 days left (yay!) so be sure to find your presents in time to avoid the mayhem from the Christmas Eve. I know I used to search for the perfect presents on the day before Christmas Eve and it was simply chaotic.

I absolutely adore the idea of tiny gifts hidden in globes, I think they are just perfect for this holiday, so how about this adorable one I found in H&M that contains...socks! But not any socks, Christmassy ones with penguins with glittery hats? They are lovely and also, only $6 !

Next one contains a few eye makeup products, some eyeshadows, a black eyeliner and a black mascara - both in mini versions - they are great for travel especially! I found these in Douglas (this beauty retailer has the moooost amazing holiday offers) and you can get it for about $10.

The Benefit Frisky Six mini set is one of the many options they offer. All the products are in miniature version and they are great to offer to someone for a first try or just for yourself to keep. This box costs about $38 which is the price of one item only in full size! Available in Sephora.

This box includes:

Sun Beam Highlighter

Lolli Lip Balm

Lolli Tint - works for lips and also as a blush

Sugabomb Blush

They're Real Mascara -  one of their most famous mascaras

I mentioned about Onecklace before, they create personalized jewelry, you know, name necklaces, earrings and bracelets, but they also have other type of jewelry including the popular chokers! A little glow on our skin can make us look so glamorous and well, Christmas is all about glow right?

I don't know how many of you know about Yves Rocher but they are one of my favorite skin care brands! Especially during the holidays, they offer limited edition Christmas shower gels, hand creams and body lotions, they also have them available in gift boxes at a special price.

Pictured here is the Cranberry and Almond hand cream and the Clementine and Spices shower gel -  the scents are simply delicious!

Back to Douglas, I told you they have amazing holiday offers - this one is from Les Delices, a set of body care products with a scent of Rasberry Macarons - yes, it is as delicious as it sounds! The set comes in a cute pink house shaped box and it includes a shower gel, a shower sponge, body lotion and a bath foam.

Last but not least, how about some tea? For all you tea lovers, Basilur is a brand that offers the most delicious tea ever created. Black or green with so many different sublte flavors, but not only is the tea that is amazing, but also the packaging! Just look at that brilliant box. This one is from their holiday edition, they also have other adorable collections, based on a theme or by season. I really can't recommend them enough!

I hope you like my ideas, I'll leave you on that note and wish you Happy Shopping!

Beauty products I'm into recently

 

I am not much of a beauty hoarder, although I do have sometime impulses to buy 7 types of face cleansers or 10 eyeshadow palettes just because there no such thing as too many colors right? But I cool down thinking that I do not need that many cosmetics, I just need to find the perfect formula, or makeup color that is right for me, no matter if it is a lipstick or blush.

Recently I've discovered some great products in Sephora, such as the Wonderful Cushion Illuminator, which from what I could see it's recently launched, then there's the Cleansing Oil and the Beauty Amplifier, which is a face primer.

The rest of the pictured products are bought after an extensive research and I am pleased to say that I really love them!

Let's begin!

 

I ordered about 7 or 8 Coastal Scents brushes  but pictured here are my favorite ones I am using pretty much every time I am doing my makeup. I wanted to try this brand because I heard many good things about it and because I don't have to give away half of my paycheck for a makeup brush!

I have the Bionic Flat Top Buffer (these names are killing me..) aka BR-110 which is a very dense foundation brush, it really applies my foundation very well without consuming the product extensively, so that is awesome.

Next there is the Classic Blender Natural (BR-C-N09)  - it is an eye shadow brush, made from natural hairs, they are so soft and amazing to use. It's recommended especially for the crease, it blends out the eyeshadow amazingly in that area, I was really impressed by it, I don't think I could ever let this one go.

Then, there is the Classic Detail Round brush (BR-C-S12) - a little synthetic brush that really controls any smokey-eye makeup, it's perfect to add color under the eye and to blend out any little mistakes that can appear.

Last but not least is the Pro Blending Fluff (BR-250) -  a natural hair brush, used for, as you might have guessed by now, blending! I telly you, it's wonderful, it picks up the product so well and it really concentrates it where you need it without scattering it chaotically everywhere, which is why it's more rigid than the synthetic version, but it works better in my opinion!

 

In the above image I pictured the Body Sorbet Gel from SABON , I don't know how familiar you are with these products, but I absolutely adore their scents, their packaging and their discounts especially! I chose the gel texture for this body cream, because my skin absorbs it more rapidly and I just dislike that greasy texture a body butter leaves for example, so this is just perfect for me! I have the Patchouli Lavender and Vanilla scent and it just smells... like a cake made of flowers, I don't know how else to describe it, it's just delicious!

This is the Triple Baked blush from Makeup Revolution in Peach Keen Hearts shade, which as you beauty experts might now, it's a perfect  dupe for the  much more expensive Too Faced blush - I swatched both products in Sephora and the formula is identical, I could even say the Makeup Revolution one is even more pigmented, but I guess it depends on the shade. I totally recommend it, it's wonderful! The packaging really was the one that convinced me, haha.

 

Here is the Sephora Cushion Illuminator which I talked about at the beginning of this long post; it has a liquid formula, it is not silvery or white, but not a true gold either, it's a shade somewhere in between but it's simply lovely on the skin, you can apply it with your fingers with tapping motions and it just instantly creates a beautiful glowing skin.

Next up are some face cleansers I am very excited about and happy to share with you - I am very picky when it comes to a face cleansers. I have a quite sensitive skin, prone to acne, so what I am looking for is a gentle cleanser with a soft formula that does not leave my skin dry or irritated.

I tried the Bioderma Sebium cleansing gel which I use in the morning and I think I will be sticking with it for a long time now because my skin really feels great after each time I use it so hooray for that!

When I want to remove my makeup I am currently using the Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Water mainly because it's recommended for sensitive skin and because it has a few hydrating ingredients as well. I was reluctant at first to try it, because I used micellar waters before and I was totally not impressed. I had trouble removing my eyeliner and mascara, it created a hot mess around my eyes and I just hated that. But the Bioderma one works like magic! Everything goes away beautifully, it has no fragrance which is great and also I don't feel my skin irritated or still dirty as I used to feel it while using makeup remover wipes for example.

Last but not least, I recently bought the Sephora Supreme Cleansing oil to give it a try because I wanted to try a cleansing oil for a veeeeery long time. I thinking about the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing oil, but I searched for that product like crazy and it appears it is not available in my country, so instead I took the Take the Day off Balm , which was great but what I didn't like was the fact that it was packed in a jar and I had to dig in it with my fingers every time I used it and that is not exactly hygienic, all sorts of bacteria can gather in there over time.

So the Sephora version is for me a great replacement for the Clinique version, I tried it about three times and it does wonders! I love it because it turns into a soft lotion in contact with water and you only need one pump, rub it on your face and then clean it off with warm water. It's that simple and it leaves suuuuch a soft, happy skin! It does not leave a greasy finish whatsoever, but rather a velvety touch and you don't have to use cotton pads like with the micellar waters, so you get to spend less money on it.

I saved these two last because they are both silicone based products, although one is used in makeup and the other one is a skin treatment.

I have been using Paula's Choice for many years now and even though I am trying new skin care products just of pure curiosity, I always go back to this brand and reach the conclusion that they are simply the best! And Clinique. So if  were to recommend a skin care brand, I would shove these two brands in anyone's face, I am aware they are not for every budget, but unlike other luxury brands, they are really worth the money; just look at their ingredients list and you will see all sorts of state-of-the-art ingredients that are really doing good for your skin!

So I have now the Resists Super Antioxidant Concentrare Serum which I use every morning and night before my main moisturizer and this particular product is great for people with mixed or oily skin and for those who are also concerned with wrinkles - the fine lines, not the big bad wrinkles you get when you're over 60, you know what I mean.

Next to it is the Sephora face primer, to be honest, I have nothing to compare it to yet, I never used a proper face primer before so I decided to start with this one and see how it goes.

So far I am quite happy with it, the makeup does apply more smoothly and it stays on fresh for a longer period of time, I don't know what magic it has in it, but it's just great!

Do you have any recommendations when it comes with face primers?

And tell me what do you think about these products, if you tried them yet, I am curious to know your opinions!

Until later..have a gorgeous Sunday!

Sleek eyeshadow palettes

Today I want to talk about my Sleek eyeshadow palettes which I am totally excited about!

For the last several weeks I have this obsession with eyeshadows, I have been searching and looking at all colors from every possible brand, I even wanted to make my own Z palette, but I just couldn't choose the colors myself so I ended up purchasing these ones from Sleek at a very reasonable price!

I already had one, the Ultra Mattes Darks bought about a year ago, but the other two just arrived today!

I was so excited, I immediatelly started taking photos and I even made swatches, I can't believe the mess I created but I hope the result will be satisfactory for you.

This is the newest one from the big collection, the All Night Long palette and as you can see it consists of neutral , earthy tones and it's funny that I bought this one because if you would have shown me these colors last year I wouldn't even took a glance, I hated them, I found them boring and useless, but just look at these shimmery tones, I especially love the copper colors and the light color from the first row, it's actually a soft pink with golden highlights, the photo simply does not do it any justice, it's gorgeous!

Ah, the Garden of Eden -  this palette seduces you only by hearing its name. This is my favorite of all because it has the perfect violet shades which you can mix together with the perfect green shades! Each color compliments the other perfectly and I just couldn't resist that, you can make endless color combinations that will balance out amazingly.

There are sparkly colors with a satin finish and also matte colors with a light, but very light shimmer, which makes them appear so delicate and beautiful!

This is the Ultra Mattes Darks, the one I had for about a year and I have been using it since, especially the lighter transition colors. As you can tell, all colors are matte and highly pigmented, I especially love the crazy turquoise, the navy blue and the deep violet from the second row.

I also got the Nyx Matte lipstick in the shade Alabama, I really wanted to try out their lipsticks, I heard many great things about them and you know, it really is amazing because the color still has some gloss to it, but it reaaaallly stays on the lips! I mean, I ate and drank in the last 5 hours and it still stays on, but not just that, it looks as the first time I put it on, just perfect!

I wish I could've taken a photo before trying it on but somehow I managed to ruin the top and it looks pitiful right now, but hopfully the swatch will help you see the shade. It's a copper red, a color I really love and I was really looking for a long time!

In Romania, you can purchase these products from The Makeup Shop and I pretty sure you can find them in Sephora as well.

What do you say about them?