Sunday, December 31, 2017

Beauty goals for 2018

Now at the start of a new year, it is time to pick out which 10 items to finish up, or hit pan on in the year of 2018. And considering how poorly I did with the products on my beauty goals in 2017 - I will have to aim to finish one product a month approximately this coming year to keep the ball rolling, and manage to finish the items before the end of the year.

 Hair, cream and nail polish products to use up in 2018
Foundation, eyeliner, eyeshadow and a blush to use up in 2018

The ten items I picked this year are the following:
Dove - Intense repair overnight cream (120 ml): a little less than 1/3 of the hair cream is left, and the mission this year is to finish it up.
The body shop - Vitamin C skin boost (30 ml): of this cream probably 6-10 ml remain, and will aim to finish it up in the year to come.
Bourjois Paris - Happy light luminous serum primer (15 ml): I have only used this primer a handful of times, so it's about time to get some good use out of it, and finish it up.
Dove - Repair therapy, Colour radiance hair mask (200 ml): a decent mask for hair, there are only a handful of applications left in the tub, but it's about time to finish it up.
Wet and wild - nailpolish in the colour 442A (14 ml): one of my oldest nail polishes I have in my collection, and also the one that has the least amount of product left, estimating somewhere inbetween 4-6 ml left. Goal? To finish it up, or use it until it gets to thick to work with.
Victoria's secret - Unwrap me, beauty rush, whipped cream and winter pear, body dial-a-shimmer lotion (200 ml): a lovely shimmering body lotion, where you can adjust the level of shimmer you pump out each time. Goal? To finish it.
Estée Lauder - Double wear, stay in place powder makeup SPF 10 (16 g) - colour 2N2 Fresco 01: One of my oldest foundations, and I have actually already hit pan on it, so this year I am going to make an effort to use it up completely. But it might proof to be hard to do as the pan is quite thick on the sides. 
Lancome le crayon kohl noir (0,7 g): this item is a roll over product from last year. And starts the year 2018 at 3,5 cm long.
Maybelline - depotted eyeshadow in a champagne shimmery colour: this is also a roll over product from last year, the goal remains to hit pan - which seams to be harder than one could imagine.
Clinique - Blush in Fig (1,8 g): this is a blush I got as a gift with purchase, but as the pan in that palette was so tiny I decided to depot it into this empty Elf pan, which makes it so much easier to use. But I would love to finish this blush this year, specially when it is only 1,8 grams - and I have used some of it already. But I find it amazing how much 1,8 g is really, it sounds as a tiny amount, but this will take some time to use up though.

My second goal for this year, is to put a 12 item limit for the year of new makeup products and nail polishes (so I guess I would say a 12 item limit on color cosmetics). As I have more makeup than I can ever use, I really want to purchase fewer items, and get to use and enjoy the items I already have this year.

What are your goals for 2018?

Friday, December 29, 2017

IS + X-mas gift haul

I have to admit that most of my beauty purchases are made abroad, so it's about time I make an account of the items I bought in my home country + the two beauty items I got for X-mas.



Benefit - They're real mascara: I have for a long time really wanted to try some of the mascaras from Benefit, and when I saw this on a sale, I snatched one.
Nars audacius lipstic - Anna: my nephew was so kind to give this to me for Christmas. And am super excited to try this one out
Milani - Prep+Set+Glow illuminating transparent powder 02: This I bought as I had some credit left on a gift card I received last year. Heard some really good things about it - so it will be exciting to try
Inglot eyeshadow - colour 363 (3,0 g) - a medium grey, brown with a hint of purple: when I turned in my master-thesis I thought I did deserve a small reward, and as I have never tried anything from Inglot before I thought it would be a perfect treat.
Essie nail lacquer - buy me a cameo: a rosy metallic colour a friend of mine gave me for x-mas. This colour is a tiny bit darker than the one I am planning to use up in 2018 - so will have this one waiting.
Helena Rubinstein - All mascaras, complete eye make-up remover: there was a 25% discount in one of the big supermarkets in Iceland, on all cosmetics, so I thought it would be a perfect time to get a better eye makeup remover than micelar water which is not performing so well with my Lumene mascara. Unfortunately this brand in my opinion is not as good as the Lancomé Bi-Facil one, which remains my favorite ;)

So that summons up all my cosmetics and beauty purchases and gifts in the year of 2017. Which comes to a total of 15 items.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Empties November - December 2017

In these last two months of the year, I managed to finish three products up:

Empties in November and December 2017

The three items I managed to finish up were;

Lumene body magic - hydra luminous body lotion (200 ml): this was a part of my Beauty goals for 2017 - and managed to finish it up. The branding and packaging for Lumene has since I got this changed several times, so I am very glad it is finished.But the texture of it was lovely, it gave a nice shimmering effect without smearing onto clothes.
YSL - Black opium - eau de parfum (1,5 ml): I am trying to use up my testers instead of having them lying around for ages.
Avon care - Paraffin hand cream (100 ml): an excellent hand cream my mom gave me a few years ago. Loved the fact it did not have a strong fragrance so it was perfect to use just before I went to bed.

Thank you for reading.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Beauty goals for 2017 - results

Of the ten products I planned to use up or pan in 2017 I hit my goals on only five products - which is only 50% of the original goal, but fortunately there is not much left of the items I did not manage to finish up.

Products used up from Beauty goals for 2017


I managed to finish the following products:
Lumene body magic - hydra luminous body lotion (200 ml): goal is to finish this up - as a matter of fact there are only a few uses left I guess... but this is one of my oldest products I own, so it needs to be used up.
Hollister - So Cal - perfume (75 ml): a discontinued fragrance by Hollister, love the scent, but is one of my older fragrances so I want to make a sure I use it up before it goes bad.
Burt's Bees - gloss - 203 Autumn haze (5 ml): I managed to use almost half of this in 2016 - so the goal for 2017 is to use the rest of it up.

Products I hit pan on as a part of Beauty goals for 2017

Then I managed to hit pan on two of the three products I wanted to hit pan on this year:
Maybelline - colour tattoo 24hr - gel cream eyeshadow - 35 on and on bronze 
Bourjois Paris - Smokey eyes trio - 09 Lady vert de gris (4,5 g) - the middle shade (the lighter brown grey colour)

The five remaining products

So the products that still remain are:
Victoria's Secret - Beauty rush - Candy baby - body double mist (250 ml): only a few uses remain of this product - I am sure I will finish it before the end of January.
The body shop - Vitamin E face mist (100 ml): I can only blame myself about not reaching my goals on this product, as I was not using it at all majority of the year. 
Maybelline - Instant age rewind eraser dark circles - light pale (6 ml): just a tiny bit remains of this product, or about 2 mm at the bottom of the container - I predict it will be finished latest at the end of February.
Lancome le crayon kohl noir (0,7 g): I started this year with 4,5 cm remaining of this item, and currently it is 3,5 cm - so I only managed to use up about 1 cm of this eyeliner. But luckily it is getting shorter, and soon it will be impossible to sharpen - then this eyeliner will finally be finished. But the formula of this kohl pencil is a bit stiff, which I assume is the reason it is so difficult to use up. But compared to last year, when I managed to use about 2 cm of this product, I must have done my eyes about 50% less this year, compared to last year, which can totally add up as I was writing my thesis from mid March untill the end of August, and did not wear a lot of makeup during that time. 
Maybelline - depotted eyeshadow in a champagne shimmery colour: also I did not manage to hit pan on this item.

Merry Christmas

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Empties January - October 2017

This year I have been a bit out of the blog scene as I have been busy writing my master thesis, but now when that has been handed in, defended and I have formally graduated there is about time to get back to blogging. And it's about time for me to do an empties, and this time, a whopping empties from January to the end of October 2017.

Empties Jan-Oct

Empties Jan-Oct

So I have accumulated quite an amount of products I have finished up this year.
Favourite sun - After sun aloe vera gel: I bought this in Turkey a few years back, and these type of product; Aloe vera gels I use in particular when I go abroad. And is a complete must for me to have on a beach holiday as it can really help when you get sunburned, or if the skin is red after a day in the sun. This brand was quite the average Aloe vera gel, neither better or worse than any other.
Pantene Pro-V - Repair & Protect, miracle protecting conditioner: when I go to the States, I tend to stock up on shampoo and conditioners, as they are so much cheaper in America compared to Iceland. And this was no exception, and would I say that this is an average Pantene Pro-V contitioner.
Garnier - Micellar cleansing water: my absolute favorite micellar water brand. It get's rid of all eye-makeup without any rubbing or scrubbing. Have tried a few other brands, but Garnier remains my favorite of all time.
Lumene - Radiant touch refreshing toner for normal/combination skin: I loved this toner, it left my skin clean and clear. Would buy again, if I would not have a thing for trying new toners on a regular basis.
John Frieda - Brilliant Brunette multi-tone revealing daily moisture shampoo for natural or highlighted brunettes: this is one of the shampoo's I bought in the States as well. I generally like the John Frieda shampoo and conditioners and love the smell of them. In the States I tend to buy them, but I think they are a bit over priced in Iceland for what they are.
Kiss my face - Natural Active Life deodorant, fragrance free: a few years ago after seeing a documentary about aluminum in deodorants I took on an extensive research about aluminum free deodorants and watch video after video on Youtube about them. And did I end up ordering this brand through Amazon. As a matter of a fact I love it, it has no scent, which sometimes I miss a little bit. But it does not irritate my skin (which some more "organic" deodorants do). But I love that it is a stick, which is my preferred type of deodorant, I hate the sprays and the wet roller-ball feels too cold and wet in the morning.
Burt's Bees - Tinted lip balm, honeysuckle: loved this lip balm, and even scraped the product out of the container, so I was able to use every single bit of it up.
Biotherm Eau Soleil, fragrance tester: I love this scent, and would 100% buy if I did not own way to many fragrances at the moment. But will for sure keep this in mind when my "stock" goes down.
Hollister - SoCal, fragrance: one of my favorite fragrances, but unfortunately it has been discontinued. But very happy I was able to use it up before it went bad, plus it was a part of my "beauty goals for 2017" to use up.
Forever - Aloe Jojoba shampoo: a small tester I got when I was buying a aloe vera juice from Forever. This packet though was way to small for me to have some opinion about it.
Dr. Organic - Organic Manuka Honey cream - rescue: I bought this cream on a whim when I was in Copenhagen last autumn, after my perioral dermatitis flared up. It was a good facial cream, but not sure it worked any miracles, and not sure if I would repurchase.
Lumene Cloudberry length serum mascara: a plastic wand mascara, which I usually prefer over the natural bristle wand. But this is a very casual mascara for me, not a lot of umpf, but good to wear day to day, and did not irritate my eyes.
The body shop - grape fruit body butter: a very nice body butter from the body shop, a smaller jar which was perfect to take with me to Greece. I might actually buy this scent again as it not overly sweet.
Burt's Bees - lip gloss in Autumn Haze: this is an average lip gloss, a bit on the sticky side. But 100% natural, and that is a rare find. This item was a part of my "beauty goals for 2017" to use up, which I did, as I removed the stopper and used the product as much up as humanly possible without cutting/slicing the tube in half.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

UK + GR+ DK + FI Haul

So far this year I have been on two holidays, one to Corfu, Greece, with connecting flights in London, and then to Copenhagen and Finland. And these are the things I grabbed on those trips.

UK + GR + DK + FI haul

Finlayson Coronna cosmetics bag


On my trip to Greece, I bought two items, one in the airport at Gatwick where I grabbed a Mac paint-pot in Groundwork. This is the perfect no effort, minimal eyeshadow product for everyday. Do not regret it for one minute.
In Sephora in Corfu I bought a Sephora Lotus face mask - which claims to be moisturizing and soothing. Obviously I have not used it yet, but come winter I am sure it will come in handy.

In Copenhagen I picked up the Essence Lash princess mascara. And this type was the one that I had heard the most positive reviews about. In fact I have been trying to get my hands onto one for a couple of years, but the Essence stands where I have bumped into them abroad tend to be very picked over, and sold out. So I was pleasantly surprised they had a full stand in Føtex in Fredriksberg Center in Copenhagen.

The rest of the shopping was done in Finland, where I bought several items from Lumene, the Finnish skincare brand and shampoo and conditioner from the Swedish brand Maria Nila.
Lumene Lahde [Source] Arctic spring water enriched facial mist. I bought this with the intention to replace my Body shop vitamin E facial spray which is almost finished.
Maria Nila Luminous colour shampoo and conditioner. They are vegan and cruelty free, and do not contain sulphates and parabens. I have tried a shampoo from their volume line and so far I like it. And as per bottle is about 10 EUR cheaper in Finland compared to Iceland I decided to pick them up.
Lumene soft touch hydrating toner for dry and normal skin. I still am using the toner I bought in DK last year, but it always good to have a backup ready to go. And as things in Iceland tend to be quite expensive, it always pays off to stock up while abroad.
Lumene Lahde [Source] Pure arctic miracle 3 in 1 micellar cleansing water. This was on offer, and also bought as a back up, when I finish the micellar water I am using currently. But now days I only use micellar water to remove my eye makeup.
Lumene Invisible Illumination - Instant glow beauty serum. This is a colored serum, and I did I choose the color: universal light. And claims to subtly enhance ones complexion, so it is probably a very sheer coverage.
Then I totally fell in love with this little cosmetics bag from Finlayson Coronna, so that also fell into my shopping cart. 

Thursday, January 5, 2017

DK + SE Haul

While I was on an exchange program in Copenhagen, Denmark I of course went shopping, and did some damage, both online (as I did not have to pay import tax from EU countries into Denmark, as I have to do if I order something and have it shipped to Iceland).
Also I went for a day to Malmo Sweden and bought one of the items there.

DK + SE haul

The Body shop Himalayan charcoal purifying glow mask - have used this once on my nose - did not see any miracles, but maybe they will happen if I use this once a week.
Lumene Spring water intense hydration 24h moisturizer - this is my favorite skincare brand, and it is Finnish, and is the one product I picked up in Sweden. And I was so happy to find it - as it is not sold in DK. 
La Roche-Posay toleraine ultra - a cream that is highly recommended in the POD community for perioral dermatitis, as it is a skin cream for ultra-sensetive or allergic skin. Really looking forward to try it, unfortunately it is not sold in Iceland.
Dr. Organic organic manuka honey cream - it is a little bit to rich for me, so I can just get away with it in winter. This is also recommended for POD, but for me it is not working too good. As I have some dry flakyness going on as of late.
Sephora triple action cleansing water face and eyes with calendula extract - Calendula for one is recommended for POD, so I am looking forward to try this one when I run out of the Garnier micellar water.
The body shop aloe calming toner - this one is fragrance-fee, colourant-free, perservative-free and alcohol-free. I am just loving the new look and emphasis of The body shop on cleaner products. And am on the final drops of my Lumene toner, so I it will not be long untill I can crack this open.
Gosh darling lashes extreme volume mascara - you can not live in DK without buying a danish product, right?
Too Faced soul mates blushing bronzer in Carrie & Big - was tempted to order this through Amazon to DK, as this was a limited edition and again unawailable in Iceland.
Garnier BB cream sensetive skin in light - not sure how I will get along with this as it has chemical sunscreen spf. But I just loved the Garnier miracle skin cream, and I really wanted a Garnier tinted cream back into my life.
Lily LoLo mineral foundation in barely buff - have not tested it yet, as I have too many open foundations as of late. Maybe I should have opted to put one foundation into my beauty goals for 2017?
Lily LoLo super kabuki brush - had to buy the matching brush, but if you are interested in Lily LoLo, I would deffinetly recommend to buy around Black Friday - as they had several offers going on around and on that date in 2017 from the Lily LoLo website.
Tromborg eyeshadow in fairy - just a beautiful danish brand, that is all about good ingredients, wanted to buy their mineral foundation, but it did not contain clean enough ingredients for me, so I opted to buy an eyeshadow. And what a selection they have, their eye-grease quads were just beautiful. But as they stated on that packaging it had an expiry date 3 or 6 months after opening, and  I have several cream eye-products today I opted for a powder eyeshadow. And omg it is so finely milled, it is hands down the softest eyeshadow I own. And the colour is gorgeous, either in the crease with a lighter colour on the lid, or on the lid, with a darker colour in the crease!