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!

Empties September - December 2015

I did not finish a lot of products during this time, one of the reasons might be that I have developed a skin condition called perioral dermatitis, which describes itself with a rash around the mouth (and can appear around eyes also). Thus I have been very hesitant to use new facial products, as it started in the beginning of September, when I started using a new facial wash, a new moisturizer and a toner I had not used in over 2 months. It is really hard to cover up, as makeup can make it worse. I have now been on a 2 month antibiotic tablet course, which has made it disappear. But it might come again, so I need to be super careful of what I use on my skin, and have become very skeptical regarding different products, I have not dared to use the moisturizer or the facial wash I had just started when the PD (perioral dermatitis) appeared. So I might do a another post soon on products that I am afraid to use, as they might have been the PD trigger, either due to ingredients or the fact the products I have are turning old.

But here are my empties for Septemer - December 2015:

Empties September-December 2015

John Freida full repair full body conditioner - a good and softening conditioner, but nothing spectacular. Over priced, might buy again when on discount

Lumene bright touch refreshing cleansing foam - super nice facial foam wash

Golden Rose mega volume and length city style mascara - I think this mascara has tiny black fibers in it, it did not bother my eyes, and was super nice and the price in Turkey was great (wish I had bought this type again)

Nivea pure and natural regenerating night care - very nice night cream, my first night cream in fact. Now the bottle comes in plastic which makes me not want to buy it, as it is cheap looking.

Beauty goals for 2016

I was not sure if I should call this post beauty or makeup goals. But as I include a perfume and a body mist - it is more beauty goals.

I have been sticking quite good to a low buy, not an official one though - and when I am abroad travelling or in a duty free it is the most difficult.

With all the free time during my Christmas school break, I have been very active at watching beauty videos on Youtube, and seeing all the holiday palettes, but incredible enough I have not been craving them so bad, but I started to crave a ridiculously expensive eyeshadow from Nars, in fact one of the dual intensity eyeshadows in Himalia... but I can tell you that much I am not willing to buy an single eyeshadow for 29 USD. After that episode, I am currently craving an eyeshadow worth 19 USD from Urban Decay, half baked as a matter of a fact, a cult favorite. Neither Urban Decay or Nars are sold in Iceland, but half baked from UD is available from feelunique and they ship free to Iceland, on everything that is more that 10 GBP (half baked fits that category).

But how on earth could I justify buying a single eyeshadow when I have more than 20 eyeshadows in my collection, and I have only 2 eyes, and don't even bother to put on eyeshadow every day?

That's where the beauty goals for 2016 come in - it is  inspired by the project pan - videos from Youtube (which I love) but with my twist on it. So my goals for 2016 are to finish 10 spesific products, and the reason I choose them is because they are well along to be finished, and just need the extra boost to actually finish them, plus some of them are turning old in my collection, so it would be good to see them used and gone from my "collection".
The incentive, or reward is then when I finish three of the following products (Garnier concealer and elf mineral eyeshadow primer excluded as they are almost finished anyway) I will reward me with the Urban Decay eyeshadow - if I still crave it at the point of finishing these three products.

Status of 4 products

The products are;

Revlon moisture stay lip tint in sheer spice 07 - a super old lip colour I bought on holiday in the US years ago - there is just a little nub left of it. I will try to dig into it also, we will see how I will manage with the Clinique left overs.

elf blush in mellow mauve - more than half of this is finished, so it is time to give it the extra push to finish it completely. Then I can also start a new blush in my stash.

Victoria's secret very sexy sheer sexy mist - a very hevy schent, untill now I have used this as a perfume on holiday, I will try this out as a body mist and try to finish it like that.

Guerlain Terracotta lip gloss in Terre d'or - this is so ancient that it does not have a colour number and the line has been discontinued, so this is probably the first gloss Guerlain did in this type, and comes in a 6 ml bottle. I remember I bought it on a plane and it cost a fortune, so I will try to use the hell out of it. Now almost half of it is gone.

Aerie sheer roll on eau de toilette in Sheer - this used to be a staple in my travel toiletry bag, but on my last holiday I could sense it will soon go bad, so now it is in daily use to finish up.

Lancome le crayon khol noir - this my friend gifted to me for x-mas some years ago, as a part of a eye-makeup remover, and mascara kit. It has dried out a bit, even though it was never super soft. And that is probably why it is taking so long time to finish, as I have been using it consistently to finish it for a year.

Depotted Clinique chubby stick in whole lotta honey - this is what still remains of what I dug out of my chubby stick, now on a mission to use up.

Boots no 7 eyeshadow (depotted from a trio - a pinky purple shade) - this actually broke when I depotted it to put into my Uni-palette and just a little bit of the corner that broke remained salvable, but as this is my only eyeshadow showing pan, and it is making a mess of my uni palette, it needs to be used up.

Garnier roll-on anti-dark circles in 02 - just a tiny bit of this remains, and I remain torn between if I should use it up or save it as it has been discontinued and it is my absolute favorite under eye concealer. Most of the time I skip foundation, and just use this under my eyes - and it looks great.

elf mineral eyeshadow primer in sheer - I have already removed the stopper from this product, I totally love this primer, but it needs to go for the other that is waiting in my stash. 

Remember less is more,

thanks for reading and happy holidays!

Empties October 2014 - March 2015

So these are my empties over the last few months:

October '14 - March ' 15 trash

Purity basics moisturizer from hampton - an average hotel body lotion- came in handy on travels.
Lady speed stick in shower fresh - love the scent, but will not repurchase as it contains aluminum.
Lumene sensitive touch gentle toner - love it will repurchase if I like this better than the other Lumene toner I am using currently.
Garnier micellar water - love this makeup remover will repurchase.
Garnier miracle skin cream - like it a lot, the colour matches me perfectly and it is easy to use when you are in a hurry (I am always in a hurry). Would like to try the Garnier BB cream next time (when I finish some foundations).
Nuxe paris micellar foam cleanser - would repurchase if it was available in Iceland. But it ran out faster than my Body shop nutriganics foaming clenser. Am now working on a one from Lumene.
The body shop Aloe protective serum for sensitive skin. Love this - a light and a creamy formula. Do I like it more than my Sothys serum? No, but I like the price better of the body shop one. Might repurchase.
Avon Moroccan argan oil shampoo - average shampoo. Will not repurchase.
Estée Lauder Emerald dream eau de parfum - my favorite summer scent, would repurchase if it was still on the market - do you know of a dupe?
The body shop Moringa body scrub - a decent one. Will probably not buy this scent again.
Physicians formula Organic wear in black. It became dry too fast - but maybe it was an old tube? But when it was good it was GREAT.
Lumene sensitive touch mascara. Ordered this one when I was having eye alergy problems. It was gentle on my eyes - a natural basic mascara.
Clinique chubby stick in 02 whole lotta honey- like the colour but hate how much product is left inside the bottom of the bullet - scooped it out - it will last for months.
YSL mascara in shocking, black - a deluxe sample. Love this mascara, too bad I had to throw it out before it went bad on me, as I got an eye-infection while using it. And didn't want to risk getting it again if the germs got into the tube. Would love to buy this, but not sure if I can justify buying such an expensive mascara. Maybe when I finish all the other mascaras I have, and have managed to finish some other products.
Clinique solour surge gloss in 21 azalea - too sticky - hated it. Will not buy EVER.

So some hits and misses,
will gladly throw all of this away

untill next time,
Ella

Florida haul February 2015 + 1

Less is more did not apply this time around, I got kind of crazy on Amazon, in Target, Walmart, Sephora, Ulta, Ross, Tj Max and Marshalls and here is the result:

USA haul winter 2015

Batiste dry shampoo - dark and deep brown
Jergens BB body - medium deep
Swoon - gloss scooper
Lumene refreshing cleansing foam
Yes to cucumbers - natural after-sun serum with shimmer
Pantene pro-v ultimate 10 BB cream
Proganix anti-fade argan oil and uv spray for hair
Lumene bright now vitamin c BB serum
Garnier eye makeup remover 2in1 (this is the +1 item - as it is bought in Iceland)
Bleanderclenser (for beauty blender)
Beauty blender
Organics organic wear BB mascara
Burt's bees lip gloss - 203 Autumn haze
Urban decay primer potion
Mederma advanced scar gel
Cover girl - redy sed gorgeous in 115 buff beige
NYC smooth skin bronzing face powder - sunny
YSL Volupté tint in oil no.4 I rose you
Milani baked blush - 05 Luminoso
Wet and wild - Fergie daily
Maybelline colour sensational - 235 warm me up
NYX butter gloss - creme brulee
Sonia Kashuk - sweet pea 04

Thank you for looking by

USA haul fall 2014

So I dashed to NYC with my sister in the end of October, of course I did some beauty shopping along with the eating and sight seeing. The biggest damage was done in Bergdorf Goodman, then Sephora but most of it was bought in CVS or in one of the small drug stores of New York. But still I tried my best not to go overboard, as I already have too much beauty stuff, and as of late I really believe less is more!

USA haul

Hourglass ambient lighting palette

The most expensive of the items, and was I totally sold by the staff at Bergdorf Goodman, who were super nice and helpful and gave me and my sister the time to an demonstration (which is very uncommon in Iceland). The phrase "treat yourself" was used a lot, and yes I did treat myself - have to encorporate this to my daily routine, as of now I feel this is too fancy and nice to use everyday. Wrong, I should treat myself every day to use this product.

Loréal infallible eye shadows in 890 bronzed taupe and 892 amber rush

A regret buy? Almost as these came at over 9 USD a pop, wow, and then I think two of the colours from the comfort zone are dupes for these two - but they are beautiful - I would buy them on a sale only.

Wet and wild shine protective base coat

An oldy but a goody - there says new shade on this bottle, but I have a 10 year old bottle from wet and wild in the same clear purply shade. I am quite sure it is the same. Too cheap to resist even thogh I had picked up the Orly bonder.

Orly bonder rubberized basecoat

I had heard so mutch things about this base coat, so when I saw it at CVS I just could not let it pass - still testing it out, but I totally belive the youtube beauty gurus.

Inm out the door top coat for nails

Another thing I had seen on some beauty chanel, picked this one over the Seche Vite, as it's supposed to contain less harmful cemicals. Yet to be tested.

Love express eau de parfum roller ball

Have wanted to buy this perfume for several years, I indulged in buying a roller ball - as I already have too many big perfume bottles.

Cover girl clump crusher by lashblast mascara in 800 very black

Youtube made me buy it

Wet and wild eye shadow palette in 738 comfort zone

Again Youtube made me buy it - it was not easy to find, found it in a random health + glass store in Astoria-Queens. Price was dirt cheap.

Clarins radiance-plus golden glow booster

Ruth Crilly on Youtube talked about this one sometime this summer - I had been searching for it in airports in Istanbul, Copenhagen and Iceland - and it was nowhere to be found or sold out everywhere - so I snatched it up in Sephora.

Untill next,

Ella

Seattle Haul

So I went on a long weekend trip to Seattle, USA in November and this is what I managed to pick up in Target, Sephora, Ulta, MAC and online at Amazon:

The haul

The shopping list:

Target:
Revlon just bitten kissabe balm stain in romantic
Elf blush in mellow mauve
Almay eyeliner in 207 brown
Rimmel scandal eyes in 005 nude
Maybelline instant age rewind concealer
Maybelline falsies flare mascara in black
Physicians formula organic wear mascara in black
Nicole by opi in kissed at midnight - from the Selena Gomez line (missing in photo see here)

Sephora;
Tarte blush in exposed
Formula X for Sephora nailpolish in light my fire (missing in photo see here)
Kat von D eyeshdow trio in dreamer
Korres lip butter in pomegranate (missing in photo see here)

Ulta:
Revlon just bitten kissabe balm stain in honey
Revlon just bitten kissabe balm stain in adore
 
Mac;
Mac amplified lipstick in dark side
Mac lip pencil in vino

Amazon online:
Real techniques powder brush
Real techniques expert face brush
Real techniques travel set with essential foundation brush, domed shadow brush and multi task brush
Almay intense i-color satin-i kit for blue eyes
Nicole by opi moisture plus (missing in photo see here)

I also ordered one parfum from Amazon: So Cal by Hollister - which is a discontinued scent - so I couldn't resist.

Regrets:

I wish I had picked up a neautral every day lipstick colour from Mac, and would like to swap one of the Revlon red just bitten kissable balm stains for a more neutral one. Wish I would have had more time in Ulta, even though my purse would probably not like it - I'm now craving an essence eyeliner in 08 Teddy (which is supposed to be a dupe for Mac Teddy) and it's only 0.99 USD. Then I'm almost regretting not to have bought the Naked 1 palette from Urban Decay - nr. 3 was not out yet when I was there... then again I try to convince myself Naked 1 contains parabens, and I have a lot of the colours in my collection already (even though they are not from Urban Decay).

Otherwise there is nothing standing in the way of me looking gorgeous in the near future..

Thank you for reading,
Ella

November beauty budget

This is bit delayed post, but I didn't actually pick this up in November.. but it will be registered as November beauty budget. Also it's my first ever Bobbi Brown product, but I got sucked into buyin it on sale earlier this fall.

Bobbi Brown metalic eye shadow in Java 23

Java 23 swatched

And what do I think of it, sad to say I'm a bit under-impressed... it's a bit duller and colour-less on my eyes than I thought it would be. Have to try it a bit better with a primer.


Another post to come soon, as I did some serious shopping in the states in November,
Ella

Shopping the stash for fall-trends 2013

I found this image from Lancóme online and used it for inspiration - and as a point of reference of shopping my stash:

Lancóme l'absolu désir - fall collection 2013

And this is what I found in my stash:

Elín's absolout desire?

Clinique lipstick in Flamenco no. 13
Revlon nail polish in Raven Red
Lancóme purple nail polish no. 117
Red nail polish from Gallo (Greek brand?)
OPI nail polish in Skyfall
Christian Breton bronzer in Terra Tan
Cover Girl blush duo in Fresh Roses
Lumene black mascara - just had to add this one as it's my favorite, very buildable

I think I'm good for this fall

Thank you for reading,
Ella

August beauty budget

So this is what I picked up on a sale in The Body Shop in August;

The Body Shop - 17 eye definer shade: golden brown

Swatch - golden brown colour

Pros: beautiful medium golden brown colour, a bit buildable and very creamy. And it's paraben-free ;)

Cons: the product is a bit thick in the pencil, so you probably have to sharpen it more often than a regular pencil, and maybe waste more product than you would have to.

Thank you for reading,
Ella

June beauty budget

Last months beauty purchase (June) was an eye shadow from MAC in the colour Blackberry.
First I had my eyes on the color Trax, which is a burgundy-plum color with shimmer. In the store I decided though to buy Blackberry, as I found Trax to have too mutch shimmer, and Blackberry would be a more versitle colour. As it turnes out Blackberry is described on MAC's website as a matte muted burgundy-plum brown colour.

When I came home I figured though, that I actually own a colour very close to Blackberry, a colour from a brand called Trucco in the colour Eden, see the resemblence (picture with flash);

On the left is MAC Blackberry and on the right is Trucco Eden.

And swatched in daylight;

MAC Blackberry on the left and Trucco Eden on the left.

As you can see on the swatch the Trucco Eden colour has more hint of brown, it's really strange really that it looks so purple-pink in the pan and then more like a  taupe-brown when I put it on my eyes. But still that's a good thing, as then the colours are not 100% the same. And I who thought I would have to give someone one of the shadows as they were so similar..

As of today Eden by Trucco is my favorite eyeshadow and I use it almost every day.. hehe hard to imagine I had to buy another similar colour to start using what I already have in my stash!

Question of the hour; how long time will it take me to use up 2 g of an eyeshadow when I use it on average 5 days a week?

Thank you for reading,
Ella

Lumene Vitamin C+ BB cream

Last year I ordered this BB cream from Lumene on Suomikauppa.fi an online store that sells Finish products  and ships them world wide. What's so great about this store is that you can send them an e-mail if the product you are looking for is not available on their website, and that's exactly what I did in my case. They didn't have tht BB-cream available at first so I sent them a line, and in about 4 days, they sent me an e-mail that the cream was now available on their web-site! What an amazing service. So this is what it looks like:

Lumene Vitamin C+ BB cream

The clolor I ordered was 01 Light

Blended out

At first I thought the cream was a little bit too thick for my liking (especially compared to my Maybelline BB cream), and still it is a bit thick so I can't use my fingers to blend it out on my face- well I can, but it looks way too cakey. So I purchased a stipple brush from elf, and that works perfectly with the Lumene Vitamin C+ BB cream, as it applies thin enough not to look cakey or enhancing my few face lines. It does not offer a lot of colours, as it only comes in two shades, but this is perfect for me in winter, I'm somewhat fair, but not very fair. This has become my winter staple (even though I don't prefer to wear makeup every day). For me, with a bit oily skin I do need to use powder on top. 

Thank you for reading,

Ella

Last years purchases

Maybe I should start the year with a summarization about the beauty buys of 2012, well all the things I bought or were given to me last year!

So this is what the pile looks like:

The Pile

And this is what the pile includes (not in an alphabetical, preference or time of purchase order):

-Lumene vitamin c anti-puffiness roll-on eye serum
-Lumene vitamin c illuminating anti-age bb cream - 01 light
-Youngblood mineral rice setting powder
-Maybelline dream fresh bb cream - universal glow
-Maybelline eyestudio gel eyeliner - brown
-Maybelline eyestudio natural impact eyeshadow - 05 glamour browns
-Body shop vitamine e face mist
-Clinique chubby stick - 02 whole lotta honey
-Clinique lipstick - 13 flamenco
-Benefit watt's up
-Kiko eye shadow - shade 122
-Kiko angled blus brush - face 103
-Kanebo lip brush
-Collistar eye pencil - shade 4 - dark blue
-Garnier roll on anti-dark circles - 02 light
-Loréal eye designer (eyepencil) - 413 ebony
-Loréal color riche le smokey (eyepencil) -211 purple dream
-Makeup store microshadow - ghetto
-Estée Lauder blush - 20 sweet nectar
-Mac eyeshadow - contrast
-elf complexion brush
-elf blush brush
-elf stipple brush
-elf professional eye shadow brush
-elf professional eye crease brush
-elf mineral eye shadow primer - sheer
-Nip + fab eye fix - light
-Viva la juicy by juicy couture (missing in the picture)

I have actually not started using the last two of the purchases of the year - as I'm trying to finish a couple of my perfumes before I open this one, and the Nip + fab eye fix is a backup for my sensai/kanebo eye concealer.

So what is the most loved purchase of the year? My elf eye shadow brushes as I use them a lot, the maybelline and Makeup store eyeshadows I also get a lot of use out of. I also LOVE my Kiko angled blush brush, the Estée Lauder blush - it's such a beautiful colour and the Benefit what's up - it'g gorgeous on the face!

Disappointment of the all of the products? My Clinique chubby stick, as the colour pay-off is almost none.

Products that contain parabens; Maybelline eye shadow, Makeup store eye shadow, Kiko eye shadow and the Body shop vitamin e face mist. I'm not sure if the eye pencils contain parabens, but all the other products are paraben free (to the best of my knowledge) - and thus very to my liking!

Untill next time,

Ella

The rules

Now to the boring part; the rules!

This is inspired on the Make out 2013 on the Beauty travel channel by Christine, with a little bit of tweaking to my needs and preferences ;) So kind of a "no beauty buy" for the year of 2013 (with exemptions).

I'm going to allow myself to buy 12 beauty items in the year 2013, one for each month so to say, or maybe it should be 13 items (as it is the year 2013), 1 item for each month, plus one bonus item?

These beauty items are going to include; eyeliner, eyeshadow, foundation, powder, blush, bronzer, lip-gloss, lipstick, mascara, brushes, facial creams, facial serums, eye-creams, nail polish, facial toner, facial mask, bb cream, facial cleaner, facial wash and perfume.

They are going to exclude; shampoo, conditioner, body scrub, body lotion, body mist, deodorant, hairspray, hair foam and other hair products, though I know in advance that I'm not going to buy a lot of these products as I never do (well I do buy shampoo and conditioner, but not a lot of the other products).

The big rule-exemption is that I'm not going to count beauty products I buy when/ if I go abroad, as beauty items are so expensive in Iceland I might want to stock up on some items when abroad, so they are not going to count to the 12 items of the year. Repurchases in Iceland are going to count though, as well as palettes are going to count as one item. This I think is quite bold, as I know I will soon have to buy a new mascara, eye make-up remover, face cream, serum and a toner as I'm out of toner already. To this would count as five, which is about 40% of my item allowance, eeek... I'm in trouble already.

I'm still going to share with you my thoughts on excluded items, items I buy aborad or items I already have in my collection.

Thank you for reading,
and we will see how I'll do on given promises

Luv,
Ella