January - April haul 2021

Covid 19 remains to be a defining factor for 2021, with very few events, no social gatherings, hence very few occations where one wears full face of makeup or fells inclined to buy something new.

So in the first four months of 2021 I only bought three items:

January - April haul

Gosh - Kohl eye liner (1,1 g): So I took a second attempt to use a skin colored eye liner to use in the lower water line to open the eyes. Have I used since? No...

Nailberry - Breathable nail polish - Simplicity (15 ml): I had been very curious about this nailpolish brand since it launched in 2019 or 2020 in Iceland, claiming to be toxic free, breathable and not discoloring the nails yellow. Number of uses? Once, did not feel at all differnet from regular nail polish.

Gua sha - rose quartz facial massage stone: I grabbed this item on a birthday sale with Nola. I had wantet to try this type of facial massager and also wanted to try to use it on my stiff shoulder/neck to see if it would be able to release some tension. Have I used it? Yes once on my face and once on my neck/shoulder area. 

Should I maybe stop purchasing any beauty products, as I do even use them more than once? Yes deffinetly!

July-September haul

It seems to have become a standard for me to do an update on my beauty product purchases in about every three months. This being no exception, so here come the items I have purchased abroad and domestically in the last three months:

Face powder, mist, blush. strobe cream, eyeshadow, gloss and a lip brush

Nail polish, cleanser and foot scrub

Boots No. 7 - Lift & luminate triple action translucent finishing powder - Light/Medium (10 g): After I saw Jessica Braun sing praises for this finishing powder, I just could not resist buying it in Target on one of my visits to that store. Did I need it? No. Do I need it in the next 4 months? Probably not...

Mac - Strobe cream - pinklight (50 ml): I had heard so many good things about this product, I was really curious to try. so far I really do like it, it gives the skin a subtle glow and also works good if I mix it with my foundation. But to my surprise I found out later that you can purchase a smaller version of this product. If I had known that I would for sure have bought the smaller, over the whopping 50 ml bottle.

Sephora Collection - Pro lip brush #85: This purchase was probably the most sensible one out of this haul, as it is perfect to use to finish up lipsticks that are almost done.

Caudalie - Beauty elixir (30 ml): I have been curious to try this facial mist, as many of the beauty bloggers rave about it. And as I managed to lower my "stock" of face mists, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to grab this 30 ml one to try. 

L'oreal skin awakening blush - 01 peach addict (9 g): I am just a sukker for blushes and offers, even though I had decided that one of my beauty goals for 2019 would be not to make a purchase just because there is an offer. Failed once again.

Tromborg eyeshadow - Winter leaf (2,5 g): I really love the Tromborg eyeshadow I already owned, so I really wanted to add another one into my collection. And I picked a really basic usable color, brown, a bit on the darker side.

Clarins - Natural lip perfector - 06 (12 ml): This has long been a very popular gloss in Iceland, and I had never tried it so one day in the duty free I decided to give it a try.

Essie gel couture duo - Fairy tailor and top coat (13,5 ml): I previously had set the goal for myself in 2019 not to buy any colored nail polishes, but I had heard such good things about the top coat, and this duo was on a good deal, so I caved in and bought it.

Matas Natur - 2 in 1 Cleansing milk, e-vitamin and aloe (200 ml): When I was in Copenhagen this summer for one day, I went back to my old "stomping-grounds" in the Danish capital. Rented a bike and biked around all my favorite places, school and old neighbourhood, with a few stops in my favorite stores; Matas included. And they have really renovated the stores, and they look amazing! There I came across their Matas Natur line, which is formulated without all the bad ingredients you can find in cosmetics. And from that line this cleansing milk appealed the most to me - so it came home with me.

Footlogix - Exfoliating seaweed scrub (250 ml): Me and my mom went to a spa in Montréal this summer, and both of us really liked this product the beautician used on us. So we both ended up buying a bottle.

So 10 new items in the last three months? Seriously, as much as I have set myself a goal to finish in 2019? Now something really has to change!

Beauty goals for 2018 - results

So as it has come to the end of the year, it is time for an update on my "Beauty goals for 2018" where I planned to finish ten selected items from my collection.

So out of the ten items I planned to finish or hit pan on, I was successful on seven of the items. 

Five products that I finished marked with X (original photo)

I did finish my Lancome kohl pencil

 

Two fails and reached my goal to hit pan on one (marked with /)

Did not finish this one but managed to use up about 1/3

So I reached my goals on seven of the ten items, and the items I reached my goals on were:

Dove - intense repair overnight cream (120 ml): used up 1/3 of the product that was left.

The body shop - Vitamin C skin boost (30 ml): estimated 6-10 ml used up.

Dove - Repair therapy, Color radiance hair mask (200 ml): used up the remaining 3-4 applications.

Wet and wild - nail polish in the color 442A (14 ml): when this got too thick and difficult to apply, I finally gave up on it, I had originally 4-6 ml left. And maybe I was able to use up about half of the remaining product.

Victoria's secret - Unwrap me, beauty rush, whipped cream and winter pear, body dial-a-shimmer lotion (200 ml): this item probably had about 100 ml left when I started the project. The pump on it broke early on, so I ended up depotting it and use it up from a different container.

Lancome le crayon kohl noir (0,7 g): it started the year 2018 as a 3,5 cm long pencil and was I able to use it until it became 2,5 cm long, at which point the kohl itself fell out of the pencil. And to use that 1 cm took me almost the entire year.

Maybelline - depotted eyeshadow in a champagne shimmery color: this item was a roll over product from 2017, and whas my goal to hit pan on the eyeshadow. Which I managed to do in early January. 

So the three remaining items I did not reach my goals on were:

Clinique - Blush in Fig (1,8 g): this is a depotted "gift with purchase" blush, and if I compare how the pan looked in the beginning of the year, I perhaps finished a little less than half of the blush I started the year with. OMG and this has been my primary blush of the year, and I probably finished less than 1 gram of it - BUT it is a very pigmented blush and I only need a tiny bit of it to give me a nice rouge on my cheeks. 

Estée Lauder - Double wear, stay in place powder makeup SPF 10 (16 g) - color 2N2 Fresco 01: I acknowledged the fact that it would be hard to use this foundation up in the year as the pan was and still is quite thick on the sides. And as can be seen this goal was far from reached. As a matter of a fact I kind of gave up in the middle of the year and abandoned this as my main foundation, and used Cover Girl - Ready set gorgeous, which I hauled in 2015. 

Bourjois Paris - Happy light luminous serum primer (15 ml): from the point I started the year until now, I have probably used up just over 1/3 of the product, so about 5-6 ml of product I have managed to use.

So all over I am pretty glad about my success, as there was more success than failure for sure. And super glad that I was finally able to use up the Lancome le crayon kohl noir, which I first put in a project pan for the year 2016 - so it "only" took three years to finish up. 

Did you do a project pan this year?

Beauty goals for 2018 - Six month update

As it is about six months into my year long project to pan or finish my ten items for the year 2018 (original post here), so I figured it would be about time to give an update into how the project is going so far.

I have reached my goal for four of the items from the project pan

I have finished two of the items which are as follows:

The body shop - Vitamin C skin boost (30 ml): I managed to finish this product up, it was a kind of a serum/primer - will probably not repurchase as I did not like the consistency of the cream - as it had a bit of a silicone feeling to it - but I prefer more creamy or liquid products.
Dove - Repair therapy, Color radiance hair mask (200 ml): managed to use this one up, but it only had about 3-4 applications left.

Empties - orignial photo from December 2017.

The other two items I have reached my goal on are these two:

Wet and wild - nailpolish in the color 442A (14 ml): this has finally reached the point that it's almost impossible to use, it is super thick and takes FOREVER to dry - but I really love the color and as it turns out it has been hard to replace.
Maybelline - depotted eyeshadow in a champagne shimmery color: my goal on this product was to hit pan, and was a roll-over product from 2017. And in fact I managed to hit pan early January!

Over night hair mask - nail polish - primer

Eye kohl - eye shadow - blush - foundadtion

The progress on other products:

Dove - intense repair overnight cream (120 ml): I have used a little less than half of what was left of the overnight hair mask, I for sure have to use it more consistently for the remainder of the year.
Bourjois Paris - Happy light luminous serum primer (15 ml): Sadly I did not mark this product in the start of the year, but it is clear I have used very little of it. So I will for sure have to use it more consistently for the next six months.
Lancome le crayon kohl noir (0,7 g): At the start of this year this measured 3,5 cm and now it measures 3 cm long. So in six months I have managed to use up 0,5 cm of it.
Clinique - Blush in Fig (1,8 g): I have for sure expanded the pan on this blush since the beginning of the project. But I am not using it right now, as I am giving it a bit of a break over the summer, so I can use some of my other blushes.
Estée Lauder - Double wear, stay in place powder makeup SPF 10 (16 g) - color 2N2 Fresco 01: I can see a small "wear" in this one, at the beginning of the year only a quarter of the pan rings was showing, but now the entire ring is showing. But according to this progress, I might think it is impossible for me to use this item up in this year. But all progress is good, and I will keep using it, it is one of my favorite foundations, and better yet, it does not seem to aggravate my perioral dermatitis.

And then there is one item missing in the photos, as the pump broke on my body lotion:

Victoria's secret - Unwrap me, beauty rush, whipped cream and winter pear, body dial-a-shimmer lotion (200 ml): as the pump broke on this one, I managed to crank it open and depot it, I reckon I have finished half of it - which is quite convenient as then I will for sure manage to finish it before the end of the year.

Have you had any progress on your goals for 2018?

USA haul continues

So here are come a few more items I picked up in the last few stop-overs in the States

Sigma brushes and nail polishes

Strengthening nail polish, hand creams and a makeup remover

Face mask

Sigma - Eye shading E55: This is exactly what I was looking for when I bought the Elf eye shadow brush, which turned out to be very different from the one I had previously from Elf. But the Sigma brush is beautiful, picks up eye shadow beautifully and deposits it on they eye perfectly.

Sigma - Blending E25: I was also on the hunt for a blending brush, as I wanted to have the most essential brushes in my makeup bag ready to go, and another set in my bathroom where I always do my makeup. And this brush was do disappointment either, blends product beautifully in the crease.

Sally Hansen Color therapy - 200 Powder room (14,7 ml): I was looking for a dupe for the Wet and Wild polish in 442A, that I decided to finish up this year and is a part of my beauty goals for 2018. This is a bit lighter than the Wet and Wild but pretty close.

Essie - Tea and crumpets (13,5 ml): I got this one first thinking it was a dupe for my Wet and Wild in 442A, but this is more pink than the Wet and Wild one, which is more of a peach nude.

Nailtiques - Formula 2 (7 ml) (12,99 $ + tax @CVS): One of the senior stewardesses on one of my flights recommended this polish for peeling nails, and said this was the only thing that worked for her nails which had the same peeling problem. And as The opi nail envy does not seem to be doing any miracles on my nails I decided to pick this one up and give it a try.

Kiko - intensive hand cream (60 ml): I thought I was running out of hand creams at home so I decided to pick this one up as it has a pleasant and a nice scent and seemed very soothing on my hands when I tried it out in store.

Lancome - Bi-Facil double action eye makeup remover (200 ml) (40 $ + tax @Sephora): I am running out of a good eye makeup remover, and as Lancome Bi-Facil has never failed me before I decided to pick it up in Sephora.

Nature Republic - Lime hand cream (30 ml) (8,90 $ + tax for 2 @Nature Republic): I ran into this cute little store in NYC where they were selling these Korean cosmetics, and body products. And did the hand creams just suck me in as there were scented with very different scents from the average hand cream.

Nature Republic - Avacado hand cream (30 ml): as there was an offer 2 for 8,9 $ this was the second one I chose.

Nature Republic - Real nature hydrogel mask with aloe vera (22 g): There were several different masks to choose from, but I decided to pick this one up as many of the cabin crew tend to burn in Boston, and as that is my next stop I decided to pick this one up, just in case.


So now less than one month after my latest "haul" I have managed to buy three more items from my quota for the year of 2018, three more nail polishes. So now I have gotten up to 15 out of 18 of the quota for 2018. But given that nail-polish is something I have to wear for work, it is not the absolute worst spending of my quota.

Three month haul

One of the goals I put for myself in 2018 - was not to buy more than 12 beauty items in the following categories; makeup, nail polish and perfumes for the entire year of 2018. So that adds up to about one item per month.
So my shopping for January, February and March tallies up to three items form the particular categories that I have a 12 item limit on, and one item that I don't have a particular limit on.

Three month haul

The eye-shadows were a birthday treat for myself on my birthday, they are from Inglot, and did I pick the colours 303, which is a matte pinky colour with a hint of terracotta orange, and 450 which is a shimmery cranberry colour. They are really blendable and gorgeously pigmented, and am I really intrigued for more products by the brand.
The other two items I bought the other day when I was going through duty free, I was for sure not going to buy any nail polish this year until I would finish the polish that is a part of my "Beauty goals for 2018". But as I have to wear a lightly colored nail polish for my summer job this summer, and Essie help me grow and Nicole by OPI moisture plus, have not been working any wonders on my nails recently I decided to grab OPI Nail Envy in the color bubble bath. That way I could wear it for work and still strengthen my nails.
The forth and final item in this haul is the Clinique, take the day off, cleansing balm. This one does not count towards my 12 item limit for the year of 2018, but I had heard so many good things about it, I decided to try it, also I have to wear a full face of makeup this summer, so this was specially bought for that reason.

Have you bought anything recently?

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?

My take on Christian Dior Holiday collection 2014

My biggest weakness when it comes to cosmetics is eye shadow palettes, so when the big high-end companies bring out their new Holiday collections I am always tempted to purchase one of them.

On the other hand I really don't need any more eye shadows, so I decided to try to shop my stash and come up with a similar idea I can use over the season, instead of buying more stuff that is not used.

Dior Christmas 2014

Nail polish in Gold shock - Eye shadow palette in 756 Golden shock

So this is what I came up with:

With flash

The body shop eyeshadows in 13 and 39 - both matte, one off white and the other black (I trew in a black to deepen the purple coulour.

Mac blackberry

Nicole by OPI - Selena Gomez in kissed at midnight

EGO eye shimmer (no colour indicated)

Maybelline eye shadow in 610 silken taupe

Bourjois eye shadow loose pigment in 01 regard praline rosé

And swatched:

Swatches without flash

Compared with swatches from the Dior golden shock eye shadow palette (you can see swatches on the blog Mostly Sunny) the purple and sparkling gold are not as pigmented, but I am quite sure you can get a similar result with these products.

The nail polishes are both clear top coats with gold glitter particles, the difference being that the Nicole by OPI has regular cut glitter particles and a bit of silver particles while the Dior more of a irregular particles only in gold colour.

Thank you for reading,

Ella

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

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 ;)

December beauty budget

The December beauty budget is a Maybelline nail-polish from the color show line in the colour 159 Mauve Kiss:

Maybelline Color Show by Colorrama in 159 Mauve kiss

It's a beautiful light mauve colour, can even be considered a light brown - and reminds me of the mushroom colour that everyone and their sister were wearing a few years ago (apart from me). The colour is light enough for me to wear at work (where we can wear light and not loud colours). The best thing was though, I got it from heimkaup.is which is one of the biggest online stores in Iceland, and they carry everything. As it's a fairly new web-site and I had bought something from their sister-website in the past they gave me a 500 ISK credit with them, and the nail-polish being on a 20% discount, I ended up paying 92 ISK (less than 1 USD) for the bottle and they gave me a free home delivery. Plus the bottle is not too big - so the chance of the polish drying out or me getting tired of the colour is fairly slim ;)

I love the colour (not a very christmasy though), this is one coat on the photo, and that is enough most of the time! Longevity? I experienced some chipping on day 3, with base coat, only one coat and no top coat, so I'm sure you can get longer ware with 2 coats, or a top coat.

Thank you for reading,
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

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

July rediscoveries / July favorites

So last month rediscoveries or July favorites would be these 2 very summery products;

OPI nailpolish - My chihuahua bites!

Joli rouge lipstick from Clarins in 711 papaya

711 papaya swatched - it has no shimmer

Both of these I bought last summer, when the coral colour was so very mutch the colour of summer 2012. Happily for me it's still in fashion, and have been my go to items last month... just love the nail-polish as it's somewhere between pink, orange and coral. A very pretty and summery colour. The lipstick is an absoloute favorite, and was a bit neglected in June (mostly due to rainy weather in Iceland), but it looks lovely on the lips, not too much, but still a bit of a pop of colour. Plus it's very soft and moisturizing on the lips

Thank you for reading,

Ella

Shopping in Stockholm

I went to Stockholm with work in the beginning of February, and of course did a little shopping, a few items of clothing were picked up in Gina Tricot and H&M.
Beauty wise, I went on a bit of a shopping-spree and got my hands on a few Lumene products, which are considerably cheaper in Sweden than in Iceland, so I stocked up on the following products;

- Arctic aqua 24H balancing moisturizer for oily and combination skin
- Radiant touch refreshing toner
- Blueberry curl mascara
- Waterproof eye make up remover

- H&M matte top coat
- H&M lipstick in Bare if you dare
- Maybelline colorama nail polish in Ballerina

 

Stockholm shopping

Then I bought a few creams from Lumene to give as gifts, and as I won't use them myself and thus not able to review them (and the recipients might read this blog) so I won't mention them here...
As I bought so much stuff the lovely ladies at the Lumene counter in Ahlens gave me two Lumene lip-glosses as a gift. Wow, how those little gestures make a big difference, I was just thrilled about getting something extra.

These will of course not be counted in the yearly allowance, as they were all bought abroad ;) Kind of cheating, I know.

Thank you for reading,
Ella