Turkey Haul - what made it home

Bioderma; I picked up the legendary Bioderma micellar water - and I'm testing it out as we speak - but truth be told I can not spot the difference between this and the Garnier micellar water.
Nivea sun bronze and protect sunscreen spf 30: picked this up in Turkey as I imagined it would be a lot cheaper in Turkey compared to Greece - which turned out to be the case as i paid about 1200 ISK for it in Migros supermarket in Marmaris, compared to INKA supermarket in Greece where it was about 2100 ISK. Like it a lot, only downside: it contains parabens.
Golden rose maxim eyes mascara
Favorite sun - after sun aloe vera gel: the cheapest I could find in Side and was 15 turkish liras. It works fine
Golden rose miracle lash mascara
Elidor shampoo and conditiones (this bottle represents both) - pretty good for the price
Sephora glass file
Sephora pink tweezers

Helsinki airport haul

So these are the products I bought at the Helsinki airport in June:

Lumene haul from Helsinki

Lumene blueberry wild volume mascara in rich black
Lumene bright now visible repair tone corrector serum
Lumene cloudberry lenght serum mascara in 01 rich black

Have not tried any of them

Sorry for the delay

Empties April - June 2015

So here are the items I have used up in these last few months and my thoughts on them


Nivea gentle eye makeup remover: will not buy again as it works reallt poorly, but the bottle is small and convenient to travel with, or put in your gym bag.

Crabtree & Evelyn jojoba bath and shower gel: pff this smells like a hotel shower gel, glad it is finished and the smell did not linger (I hope).

The body shop lemon scrub: this small jar came with a set of lemon stuff from The body shop and is this the first thing I use. Liked it very mutch, but will buy one in a squeze tube next as it is easier to use.

Olivelia body butter from Macrovita with olive oil and white tea scent: really nice, and the scent really lingers. Might buy again when in Greece.

Maybelline Falsies volum' express flared mascara: loved it, will buy again.

Garnier eye-makeup remover 2 in 1: it was ok, but the micelar water from Gaenier is so mutch better.

Empties April  - June 20155

Garnier Miracle skin cream vs. Bourjois 123 perfect CC cream

So now I have finished a full bottle of the Garnier Miracle skin cream, and loved it. Even though it only comes in one shade it matches my skintone perfectly. It feels light on the skin and has a light coverage.
The Bourjois 123 perfect CC cream on the other hand has a medium coverage, but is much more oily on the skin. I got two samplers in the colour 32 light beige and was a bit too dark for me, it does deffinetly not suit my combination to oily skin, not even during winter as I tested this out early this spring - and spring in Iceland almost feels like winter.
In both cases I put the cream over a light moisturizer - maybe the Bourjois 123 perfect CC cream would have worked better without a cream first. The Bourjois cream has a SPF of 15 which the Garnier has not.

Winner of the two that I will buy again: Garnier Miracle skin cream (when I have finished some of my other foundations)

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream and Garnier Miracle skin cream

Thank you for dropping by,

Ella

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

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