Empties May - September 2014

So this is what I managed to finish now these last few months:

Empties May - September

The body shop Nutriganics foaming facial wash - a very nice and gentle facial wash, it might not have the best smell in to world, but not too bad either and 98% organic - which I love.

Proderm sunscreen mousse SPF 30 - paraben free and my favorite sun-screen, only downside it is quite expensive and can not be bought everywhere.

Oleosome eye gel for dry skin - this is my first eye cream, my skin is not dry, but it has not irritated my eye area. But don't know if I see a difference, but it has not made my eye area worse.

Nivea Sun protect and bronze SPF 30 - contains parabens, sadly - but it is a great sunscreen - did not burn once - and got a really nice bronze tan :)

Lumene Arctic Aqua 2in1 skin perfecting moisture booster - a very nice gel like serum, gives my skin some extra moisture, though even it might be oily, it's sometimes lacking moisture.

Peter Thomas Roth mega rich body lotion - got this when I was staying in a hotel somewhere - do not like the smell, and the cream is too thin also - but handy while travelling.

Nivea Sun pocket size SPF 30 - this is genius, only 50 ml - so it's not to heavy to carry in your purse while strolling through cities, and you can take care of your skin and re-apply sunscreen without dragging a huge bottle around.

Nivea sun protect and bronze SPF 30 - spray bottle, I like this one better than the cream - as it is more lightweight, and doesn't leave you with white streaks all over your body after you come out of the water. Only downside; it has parabens in it.

Vaseline essential moisture pure oat extract. This has been my favorite brand for many years... they have so good moisturizers - downside: it has parabens, magnesium aluminum sterate (is that bad for you?) and petrolatum - I swore I was not going to use any products with petrolatum and parabens - but sometimes you can not find anything else so you have to compromize.

Aerie Whoa eau de toilette samplers - love the smell of this one, if I had an Aerie store within my reach and not too many toilettes already I would definetly buy this one.

Steam cream in happyness - I absoloutly hate the smell of this - it smells to me like a foot cream. My sister gave it to me with good intentions a few years ago, and now when I went to Turkey I thought I would finish it up as it was lightweight and not to heavy for my skin during summer. What happened when I opnened it after the flight, it had all separated, the cream and oil were now floating around in the jar, and it was super liquidy. If it was the heat change from home to Turkey, the shake during the flight, airpressure or what, I don't know. But I used it for my face in the beginning and then ended up using it on my feet and legs, as suddenly it got more rich than before. Really strange - will not buy again!

Turkey haul

So as my stay in Turkey is coming to a finish I thought I would do a gathered haul of the beauty items I have bought while I have been here.

Turkey haul

Golden rose nail polish no. 09 - a nice white slightly shimmery
Golden rose nail polish no. 247 - a hot pink almost neon colour
Flormar nail polish in QD02 soft pink - a nice neutral pink
Pastel pro fashion quad eyeshadow no 280 - nice neautral browns
Cecile nail polish number 96 - light pink colour
Sephora bronzer brush no. 44
Sephora complexion kabuki no. 47
Pull & Bear shot woman perfume gold colour
Miss Manga, mega volume waterproof mascara from Loreal
Golden rose mascara city style - mega volume and length
Alix Avien pearly eyeshadow in bronze (I would say it's more pinky taupe in colour)
Flormar nail enamel dryer
Alix Avien - multicolour no 03
Golden rose nail polish no. 242
Golden rose nail polish no. 238 - this one has small silver glimmer sparkels - but it's impossible to use as it is extremely streaky

I'll give out more detailed review as I start using these products on a regular basis ;)

Sunscreen edition

So as I'm living and working in Turkey for the summer season, sunscreen has become a daily ritual. So I thought I would share with you what products I'm using and what I think of them.

The sunscreen and after sun products

Clarins 30 UVB UVA sun wrinke control cream for face - I decided to buy this at the airport on the way to Turkey, as I'm going to spend so mutch time here that it would be nice to have a special suncream for the face, and I chose Clarins because my mom used to buy it when I was a kid. I'm very happy with it, it's not too oiliy for my combination skin, I don't use a moisturizer before I use it though - that would deffinetly be too rich for me. I have only once gotten a red face while using this product, and that was basically because I didn't re-apply when I was spending all day out in the sun. Now while tanning - about once a week on average I keep my face in the shade though - both to prevent burning and also it's simply too hot to be all in the sun.

Escabel Sun aloe vera after sun gel - this I bought from a small market on my street, I got red shoulders after spending a day on a boat, and had to get something with aloe vera in it, and this the store had - this is probably not the newest bottle, as I have seen other bottles from the same company with a pump and the product is a little bit thick from the bottle I have. But I think it's not expired as it's not a cream-product, and it does get rid of redness after sun pretty quickly ;)

Proderm sunscreen mousse 30 - this I also bought at the airport on my way to Turkey, I wish they sold this brand here, but I have never seen it while abroad - but it's sold in Iceland. This is absoloutly my favorite sunscreen, it penetrates further into the skin than other sunscreens and thus protects your skin better from the sun. Plus it's non greasy and does not run in water or smudge onto your clothes.

Nivea sun protect and bronze 30 - I bought this one here in Turkey in the supermarket (stick to supermarkets and pharmacies when buying sunscreens while abroad in Europe - because their product turnover is fast, so you are always getting a new product). I basicly bought this one because I wanted to save my proderm protection a bit - and use the nivea one for tanning by the pool, as you would have to re-apply reglulary so my proderm one would run out too fast. I totally forgot about nivea sunscreens, they really run in water. I usually put this on me about 30 minutes before I go out in the sun, then maybe lay on a bench for another 30 minutes and then dip into the pool - and then white streaks are running on my legs. It says water-resistant on the bottle, but I really think you have to put this on about an hour, to an hour and a half before going in the sun, and if I'm not dipping into a pool or showering it's not a problem. But when this one runs out, I think I will get the protect and bronze spray in 30 - that seems to be a clear or yellow fluid, and maybe my skin will absorb it better. I wish they had it in 20 thought, or maybe I'll just stick to number 30 - I'm still getting a good tan, and no bad burning so far... I'll see when I finish these two bottles.

So all in all, some good products, and some not so great products.

Empties March - April 2014

So these were the empties these two months:

Trash-goers

Versace Bright crystal eau de toilette - a light and feminine scent

Tommy Hilfiger True star Gold - a little bit spicy scent

Avon advance techniques moroccan argan oil - this thing worked wonders on my dry ends, and it's not that expensive either - a win win. Recommend 100% for dry ends, it will change your hair.

Lumene arctic aqua 24h balancing moisturizer -

Crabtree & Evelyn La Source relaxing body lotion - a light and quick absorbing body lotion, but I just hate the smell of it - never going to buy again.

Zara lip gloss - a pink lipgloss that goes on a bit clear, an average lip gloss, a bit on the sticky side, so take care and not put too mutch on - Buy again? No.

Olivelia by macrovita lip balm in vanilla -  a super soft and moisturizing lip gloss - would definetly buy again if I can get my hands on it (probably somewhere in Greece)

dr.organic organic pomengranate lip balm - this is a bit on the waxy side, but I love the fact it's organic and lasts a long time on the lips, I always put this on my lips before I go to bed. Buy again? Yes when I have made a dent on my stock of lip products.

Bodyfarm avocado nourishing night cream for all skin types (sample) - a bit thick cream, propably great for dry skin - as I have combination skin I would only use this once a week - as it's too rich for my skin.

And then this sucker:

Almay oil free gente eye makeup remover - worst makeup remover I have ever used - see video here

See you soon with more empties,
Ella

Empties January - February 2014

This time around I managed to finish four items:

Sothys Hydra-nourishing mask:
I just love this mask, it's thin enough to be able to put it on at night and sleep with it, not having to wash it of, and my skin is extra soft and moist the morning after. Will buy again, as soon as Sothys becomes a paraben free brand.

TRESemmé vitamin C&E natural for all ahir types conditioner:
A terrible conditioner for my hair, it's way too light for my dry ends - never going to pruchase this again.

Lumene bluberry curl mascara:
My abosolute favorite mascara - see review here and here. Will 100% buy again, when I finish my other mascaras.

L'oréal Elvital nutri-gloss shine shampoo:
Average shampoo, not good and not bad. Might buy again, when I'm on a budget.

Thank you for reading,
Ella

Lumene blueberry curl mascara - review

This is absoloutly my favorite mascara!

It has a plastic brush that has short bristles on 2 sides, and longer on the 2 other sides - so it makes mascara application on the bottom lashes super easy!
It is made with 100% organic blueberry, it's not blue though.. it claims to keep lashes perfectly curled and to be clump-free volume. I'm not sure if it makes the lashes extra curly, or if it keeps the curl better if you curl your lashes with an eye-lash curler. I don't have super straight lashes.. so I'm not a good judge of that.. but it is clump free :) And I just love the wand so so mutch!

Some pictures (clean wand):

Video review here

What is your favorite mascara?

Another eye update

So yet another eye update, now I'm again on the rash train, yes again eye-rash.. 

Then again, it's a bit different from the previous ones, which completely stayed in the crease, this one on the other hand is all over the lid... and the culprit this time around: my Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in java 23 - which was my beloved beauty budget of November. Still I find it very strange that something I have worn before can suddenly cause such a rash - which is totally normal though. At first I used with a primer, but now I put it straight on the eyelid, and right away on day one using this product I got tiny little bumps all over the lid, exactly where I put the shadow. It got a bit better the next morning, but in my madness I decided to put it back on - as to double check if this was 100% the culprit, as I had been wearing other shadows the days before. Needless to say it got instantly worse, and I decided to put the cream I got from the doctor the first time around onto my lids... and when I did, I really understood how bad it was, I could just feel all the tiny little bumps with my fingers.. this has never been so bad before. Then again, it's not itching at all, and no redness.. my lids are a bit dry.. but that's it.  

So I washed the real techniques brush, I just hope I'm not allergic to that one - could it be? Or is it something with the purple dies in the shadows that cause the rash? Both of them have a bit of a purple/violet hue in them - or is that just a coincidence? One of them has shimmer, and the other is matte, so that's not the case.

So now back onto the no-makeup regime, still I slap on concealer and a mascara... but nothing on the lids themselves, unless the cream for healing purposes ;)

In the future: do not buy any eyeshadow unless it's from Clinique, as everything from them is supposed to be safe and allergy free, from Benecos or a similar allergy free brand for sensitive eyes. 

After healing to do list:

Use a pink shadow from Clinique for one week and see if that's ok

Use Blackberry by Mac for one week (that colour is described as muted burgundy-plum brown - but it looks a bit violet/purple)

I'll keep you posted on these experiments,

I'm currently on day 2 on cream, nothing else on my lids.
Have you ever experienced eyelid rash, then this is a good read.

Thank you for getting to the bottom,

Ella