Essie ~ Bahama Mama, a perfect fall shade

Hello everyone! How is it going? Here in Ljubljana we are just good 4 days away from the 3rd Sci-fi and Fantasy convention Na meji nevidnega and I am super excited about it!! I have a new costume, and I think it is just going to rock, I cannot wait! If you will be in Ljubljana, come visit us at Tabor! :) 

Another Essie, and by far my favourite one. Such a gorgeous deep purple, a bit jelly-like. Absolutely adore it. As you will notice on the photos, my fingernail on the middle finger broke horribly  about a  week before I shot the swatches. And even on these it looks ugly as hell, imagine how it looked like a week or so beforehand. And it hurts like a little bitch when it breaks like this. But anyway. Bahama mama, perfect shade for Autumn days, I think.

This was three coats, again with a bit wonky brush. But it was manageable and as the colour built, my love for the colour washed all the frustration for the brush away. ;) I do not think I will ever get sick of a good dark crelly, that doesn't look black in everyday light. That's why the three pictures look so different - I took a shot in different lights, so you will see it actually is purple in every light. FTW! Bahama Mama is on my "must have Essie" list, together with Bobbing for Baubles and School of Hard Rocks. Oh, and Angora Cardi, of course. Man, I need to wear these soon again.


Which Essie is on your "must have Essie" list?


Thank you for reading and commenting!


Have a good week!

~ Ulmiel

*I got the Essie from L'Oreal Slovenija as a gift.

New in ~ A haul post

A haul post in the middle of the month? Why not. Lately I have been buying and already testing some things and I want to point them out. This is going to be a bit random, or, rather connected with the stores where I bought or got the items.

Let's start with Ilirija and Click2Chic. As the latter is their web store I always connect them.

In Ilirija (it is a drug store we have in Slovenia, and it is also a brand that does cosmetic lines, such as Subrina, hair, body and face products and I really like them) I found two LE by Essence and Catrice and I grabbed two brushes by Essence, since I have good experience with them, plus I am always short on brushes. I haven't even tried them yet, will do so this week.

Catrice Transparent Mattifying powder from Sense of simplicity LE I bought on a whim, because my Bourjois "to go" powder got crushed right before I finished it off. I am really happy that I bought it because it is fantastic powder, it really mattefies the skin and yet you do not look half dead. Wonderful product for really affordable price (I think it was around 4 euros, not sure anymore). The smell is gentle and really pleasant and it lasts on the skin. I do recommend it. 

Sabrina Juicy Jasmine shower gel

I also got it in Ilirija, it is a new smell and although I usually do not put shower gels in my blogposts, I need to tell you that this smell is simply fantastic. If you have a chance, and you are a fan of jasmine and white peach, just get three bottles, this stuff is fantastic. I am a freak for jasmine smell, so I gave it a go, but what they did is mix the white peach smell with it and it just rocks my world. Great, great stuff. 

Darling Granny Gentle Touch Body lotion with chamomile oil

I got this one on Click2Chic, it had a good price and I love chamomile smell, plus I always like to try new brands - I have never heard of Darling Granny before. When I first tried it I actually thought the smell was a bit too gentle, but what is great about it, is, that it lingers. It is not artificial at all and is quite soothing. And I haven't had skin so soft in ages, not with The Body Shop, not with the Afrodita. I am getting it in lavender scent as well, they convinced me with chamomile, I think lavender will be just as natural and subtle, yet with a decent silage.

Sleek Dip-it  Eyeliner in Pink

Those of you who know me know also that pink is really not my colour. :) And yet, eyeshadow combinations and general eye make up with pink and black I always find beyond awesome. So when Click2Chic had the pink eyeliner on sale, I said I will risk the 3+ EUR for it, as I know that Sleek has kick ass make up quality. When I opened it, I unfortunately say it wasn't closed well and some of the product got out. I sent the photos to Click2Chic and they immediately replied with a solution. As this was the last eyeliner they had, they wanted to give me the money back and asked me to send the product back on their expenses. I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly they reacted, kudos to Click2Chic. Since I had my fiasco with najlonke.si, I am a bit on the fence with the service of online stores when there is a problem, but with Click2Chic I had no troubles whatsoever. I decided to keep the eyeliner, I got it for a really good price and I love its quality, it lasts for ages. 

Let's continue to licila.si surprise package I got a while ago:

There is a new brand in town, called Freedom Makeup. I have not heard of it in my life, so naturally I am curious about it. Honestly, it reminds me so much of Makeup Revolution it feels as if they just changed the name and the logo. The blush is called Banish and although I haven't tried it yet, it looks like the perfect wearable shade for me, and I am keeping my fingers crossed it is as good as the Make up Revolution blushers are, as I am running out of a similar shade that I adore. The eyeshadow is called Nude 208 and when swatched looks like a very lovely milk chocolate shimmer. It is also very pigmented. I will try to get a decent swatch ASAP. 

The liquid lipstick Freedom Make up Pro Melts liquid lipstick in shade Jammy Dodger I had to try immediately and, oh dear lord of the Rings, is the colour just perfect. Blue toned red, bold and beautiful. Really nicely pigmented, albeit a bit sticky, but that means it also sticks to your lips! :) It leaves trails like crazy, on the glass and cups, but try to wear it as a stain, it looks fantastic that way. I adore it. 

Me and my Mum are huge fans of Derma E cosmetics. I usually order it via iHerb, but lately I was trying to find another solution, because the customs are a bitch. Luckily BB Natura had a lot of Derma E products on sale, so I got two toners and a creme for my mother. Derma E is not exactly the cheapest, but their ingredients are really awesome. If you have a troublesome skin or you are just looking for a better quality in your skincare, I recommend you check their lines up, they have quite a few, to cover the many types of skin we have.

That leaves us with my dear Leposana of E.Leclerc. I already ran out of my Bourjois make up remover I bought in France and since it was the thing for my mascara and heavier make up, I wanted to give another one a chance (and we do not have the Bourjois make up remover in Slovenia, sadly). Uriage Waterproof Eye Make-up Remover  seemed like a brand that would actually meet the expectation of these two-phase MU removers not to be too oily. We'll see how it goes, but for that price (over 11 EUR for 100 ml) I want it to work.


A long post! I hope you find anything useful and if you want a more detailed post on any of the products, just let me know!

Have a lovely start of the week tomorrow!

~Ulmiel

Essie Mezmerised with Bourjois accent nail

Hey everyone! How is it going? It seems it is going to be a beautiful Autumn here in Slovenia. Other than that my schedule has not found any sanity yet and I am starting to think about cloning being a really good and legit work, if that means that my consciousness will take it all to the mother source - me. That, or a crash course at Hogwarts to get a wand and start mutitasking wizard-mode. 

I am still playing with my Essies that L'Oreal Slovenia so nicely provided for me. Next was Mezmerised, I combined it with Bourjois Turquoise Block beauty. 

I absolutely adore the colour. Rich blue creme. And the turquoise colour of Bourjois fits so perfect with it. However, Mezmerised has less than good brush as its fault. I actually took a photo of both brushes, because, in theory, they are practically the same. Both a bit too wide for my nail, and both quite thick as well. But, the Bourjois bristles seem less yielding, and thus the brush is a lot more manageable, while Essie has such a soft brush it is very difficult to control it. I was really surprised by that, considering that Essie always had pretty good brushes.

Both colours were two coats, plus topcoat. They lasted forever on my nails, so no complaints there. I love the combo, I just wish the brush on Mezmerised would be better.

Did you have the same experience with the Essie brushes, is this a new thing?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

I Heart Makeup Nail Geek ~ Wild at Heart (39)

Hello everyone! How is your Summer finishing up? August was great for me, I went to the seaside, plus we had an amazing week of camping with our Society, so it was just awesome, holidays usually are. That is why I am a bit late with this post, I wanted to show it to you earlier, but nevertheless.

This was two coats. Nail Geek Wild at Heart was given to me by licila.si team as a surprise package and the second I saw the colour I knew it is going to be love at first nail. The brush is OK, a little wonky, but nothing too problematic. The colour is great, classic sexy red that probably everybody loves. Finish is standard creme, nothing jelly-esque about it. 

The Nail Geek polishes are extremely affordable, they cost 2,95EUR at licila.si, and at the moment they are actually on sale for only 1,95EUR. A real bargain, go check them out: licila.si I heart Makeup. 

Do you own any Nail Geek colours? Do you recommend any I need in my collection?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

Essie Watermelon and Cute as a button combo

Good evening everyone! Just before I jump to my book and read for a couple of minutes at least, I want to show you a combo I have been wearing for almost a week, before I changed it due to a chipped nail. 

Honestly, I combined Watermelon and Cute as a button because I didn't deem them as my colours, that is to say, colours I would actually like to wear. I fell in love with Watermelon immediately. Cute as a button needed a couple of days but in the end it kind of grew on me. 

Naturally they were a hell to photograph. Both colours seemed kind of muted on my photos, especially Cute as a button, being a nice lively coral colour IRL. I tried every setting on my camera - some of them were quite fascinating, actually - and this is the closest I could come up to the actual colour. Those of you who have any of them or both will know they are in fact much livelier. I see a lot of wrong swatches of Cute as a button on blogsphere so I guess it is just one of those colours that do not photograph well. I think this is a must for coral colour fans, even I like it, plus the jelly-esque finish gives it the squishiness I really like. It is not a colour I would wear very often, but I can see how this is one of the more popular ones in Essie collection.

Watermelon I adore. I thought it will be too pink for me, but it really is a colour of a ripe watermelon. Yummy. Kind of red, kind of pink, but really neither of the colours. Fantastic colour. 

Watermelon is a two coater and Cute as a button needed three, as it has a bit more jelly like consistency. Both have the new (for me at least) Essie brush that is very wide, but still manageable. 

Love the colours, love the combo, perfect for summer. 

Which shade of Essie is your favourite?

Have a lovely weekend!

~ Ulmiel

*I have received both shades from L'Oreal Slovenija as a gift. This fact, however, does not reflect in my review or opinion of the polish, 

"What's been going on" randomness

Heya folks! So I haven't been blogging for a while again, which, as it seems will happen every once in a while. I am getting used to it, and I am not bothered by it anymore. I write when I have the time and that is it. I still wish I could write every (other) day though, I like blogging. But you can't have it all, and lately I have been very busy with some stuff that makes me happy, which is good as well. :)

My first "real" job is great and it is keeping me busy enough. It is a lot of work, but the pay is fair and on time. In the end of June I spent my first week on holidays and finally arranged with a good friend of mine to go to Paris. Now, for years I though Paris was a totally overrated city. I am not a romantic person and all everybody ever speaks of about Paris is what a romantic city it is. Luckily for me there is a lot more to Paris and I am forever in love with it. I spent one whole day at Louvre, one whole day at Versailles and their gardens with singing fountains. Plus Montmartre stole my heart. A week in Paris is not enough, I am definitively returning there.

Church of Sacre Coeur and the crowd infront of it.

I love these Metro stops, they look like something Tim Burton designed for one of his movies.

View of Grand canal and gardens of Versailles

I also went to Bourjois store in Paris. Yes they have a whole store there!! I loved it. I was a very good girl and I held back, I actually bought only three things - a bronzer for contouring, make up remover and tweezers to put false lashes on.

Tweezers are missing because I have no idea where they are at this point of the chaotic state of my stuff. See below.

Another thing that was a lovely surprise was a package of 6 Essie nail polishes Slovene L'Oreal sent to me. I remember in the beginning of my nail polish obsession I wasn't a fan of Essie nail polish, but in all these years the brand grew on me. I am currently wearing a combo of Watermelon and Cute as a button and I love it. Plus I was really surprised to see that Essie changed their brush when I wasn't looking!

On top of that we also started to renovate the house. It meant painting the walls, changing the rooms and buying new furniture. I thought it will be done in two weeks tops ... I was so wrong. It is taking now over a month, ATM my boyfriend is still finishing up two small closets we bought the last time and I still want some shelves done in my room as well. This has taken so much more of my time than I ever expected it, and I still haven't finished with moving all my things inside.

My very new and very big closet.

Another thing that is taking a whole lot of my free time is the one I love - dancing. I am a part of a project we have been working on for almost a year now and I cannot say much about it at this point but when I will be able to, I will post it on the blog immediately. 

I can't wait to show you the new Essies and some other things i have planned. Until then, enjoy the Summer days, don't forget that pale is the new tan and wear lots of crazy colours on your nails!

~ Ulmiel

Comparison: Nubar Greener vs. H&M Envy me

Hey everybody! It has been a while, I know. About a week ago I got a lovely surprise in my mailbox - a request from one of my readers for a comparison. Which is exactly the nudge i need to get myself to pick up the camera and work with it, as lately I did not have time for that. And I really am a fan of requests like these, they give me an idea for posts and additional motivation to actually post them.

To get to the comparison. As it happens, these two are amongst my favourite nail polishes in my stash. Absolutely adore the rich green shimmer. And yes, they are quite close, but are they dupes? Let's find out. 

Index finger: HM Envy me,

Middle finger: Nubar Greener

Ring finger: HM Envy me

Little finger: Nubar Greener

No topcoat on the photos. 

The bottles emphasise the fact that Envy me is in fact bluer than Greener. But on the nail that difference is not as obvious. After wearing them both at the same time for 5 days now, here are my observations:

- H&M Envy me has a bluer, hence colder undertone, while Greener is a slightly warmer green, even though they are both definitively on a colder side of green shimmers.

- Nubar Greener is a richer shimmer, which creates more depth in the colour.

- In most of the lights they look almost the same, but if you look at the nails up close you notice the difference between the undertones.

- After five days Envy me is chipped on half of the nails, Nubar remains only with a slight tipwear (I put topcoat on after I took photos).

Both brushes are excellent, although I am a firm fan of Nubar brush, it is my winner. Although H&M Envy me has more coverage with just one stroke, both can be two-coaters (and both get more depth with a third one). 

There you have it. I cannot pick a winner, I love them both, both are nail polish of excellent quality and I wouldn't switch one for the other, as I do find them different enough to own both. However, if you are not too picky about your undertone and all you need is a very rich dark green shimmer, you can easily pick either of them.

If you have any other comparison questions, let me know via email or comments. I hope this was helpful!

Have a lovely weekend!

~ Ulmiel

New In ~ A haul post

New month, new haul post! This month I was a good girl and wore the nail polish I already have. However, I finally, finally put my hair treatment to a full circle, meaning, I bought new shampoos and conditioners. Naturally now comes the testing phase. But, honestly, I do not think it can get worse than what my scalp looks and feels like now.

Like always, a group photo. A bit of make up (a very nice surprise there as well), mostly stuff for hair and a bit for my skin as well.

Hair and skin

oh look, you can see my lightbox lamp here! say hi, lamp!

Let's do the big haul first. It was actually gradual, but it happened in this month. I mentioned several times before that I need new products for my hair and I ran out of toner and night cream, so I guess it was the month to really buy the stuff I actually needed. Which is good!

Paul Mitchell Spring Loaded Fizz-Fighting Conditioner

Ok, so my first encounter with Paul Mitchell was not the best. But I went to my awesome hairdresser again and I checked her stash again and I checked the ingredient list REALLY WELL and decided to pamper myself with another expensive-as-hell (24 EUR and do not dare to judge me) conditioner. I used it twice now and it is pure magic. Hair like silk, especially when combined with Redken Anti-snap leave in treatment. Ah yes. I will let you know after I am at least down to one third of the bottle, how it worked in the long run, ok?

John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shampoo

I got this in Germany, it was on sale for 4,99€ , an extra big tube and I remembered Mateja praising the thing, so I bought it on a whim. Later on I realised she was talking about the conditioner of the same line, not shampoo, but hey, I already have it, might as well use it. And so far so good. I use it on my lenght, not scalp and it is a good shampoo. I have it for about a month, so I'll get back to you after a while on the decent review.

Derma E Scalp Relief Shampoo 

You have no idea how happy I was when I saw this new thingie on Iherb. I adore Derma E. It is the brand that works for my skin best, and not just mine, but my mother's as well, which is probably the biggest test you can give to a cosmetics line. It is awesome, and this is their brand new shampoo for fighting dandruff. I have no idea how it works, I got it today and I am washing my hair after I post this. It cannot possibly be a bigger disappointment than La Roche Posay Kerium. Cost an arm and a leg and was worse for me than washing my hair with ... well, anything, really, anti-dandruff or no. My scalp and my dandruff at this point are in the worst state of the past two years and I thought at the end of the year 2014 that I cannot get any worse. 

So I am keeping my fingers crossed for this one! It actually a good price, I got it for 9,40 USD or little under 8,50€ EUR, of course I need to add the shipping and the customs, but it is still a good price for a higher range shampoo. Let us hope it works as well.

Omnia Botanica Argan Oil

DM had 50% off coupon for this baby, so I gave it a go, otherwise I deem it too expensive. I use this for everything, dry spots on my face (although these will probably disappear now that I bought the face toner), for my hair ends and whenever I need some high end oil. I love the package, it comes with a dropper, for a really precise usage. I got it for 7,00€.

Derma E Soothing Toner

Like I said, huge fan of Derma E. This is my third toner I am trying from their line, and I am excited about it. Iherb had 20% off beauty products and naturally my favourite one got sold out, so I had perfect excuse to try this one (got it for about 9 €). If my previous experiences with Derma E are any indication, this will rock my world. Or skin, at least.

Derma E Visibly Clear Moisturiser

I am planning to use this at night. You could say my facial skin is demanding. I say it is a little diva bitch. It is dry on some areas, but if I use anything too moisturising, I get spots on other areas of my skin, not to mention the constant struggle with black spots. So I will give this a go during night. For 11,20€ is is actually one of the more affordable facial creams I bought in the past few years.

iHerb file for nails. I realised as I updated the photos it really looks like a free advertisement for the page, when I put it on like this. I like that it is green though. And I really like iHerb, I order there all the time. 

Makeeee uppp!

Bourjois Volume Glamour MAX definition

So. IsaDora Big Bold Lashes is crap. Do not buy it, it smudges like crazy, and nothing EVER smudges under my eyes. Very disappointed. When Müller had its 20% off make up, I bought my favourite mascara so far, the monster-pink Bourjois and I am happy again. I think it is around 12€ normally, I got it for under 10€.

Essence Love & Sound black eyeliner with three points I bought because I thought it can be either really weird and bad or phenomenal. It is actually a good eyeliner! And I love the three lines. It doesn't actually show on my eyelid, but on the outer line it shows nicely. It was really cheap, especially with the 20% off it was under 2€.

And now for the biggest surprise I got from licila.si. TODAY! I never expected it, and they wanted it that way. I <3 MAKE UP I <3 obsession eyeshadow palette. JUST LOOK AT EEEET! Utterly gorgeous everyday colour set, that can be turned also in a nice soft smokey eyes for night (especially with a bold red/purple lip!), I cannot imagine a girl that would hate wearing these. I cannot wait to play with them, I will do a decent review ASAP. And another picture of I <3 obsession, because I lahv it.

Thanks, licila.si team!:)

Drage moje bralke, ličila.si pa podarjajo tudi kodo za 15% popust na neznižane izdelke (z izjemo Sigma Beauty, Kardashian Beauty in Anastasia Beverly Hills) s kodo BRALKABLOGA15. Izkoristite jo! :)

So yeah, looks like May is going to be a fun month, with all the new gems and toys!


Why gorgeous thingies have you gotten for yourselves lately?


Have a wonderful week and thank you for reading and commenting!

Catrice ~ Doll's Collection ~ Playing in Lavender Heaven

Hey everyone! Another Catrice polish. I am sort of re-discovering my love for Catrice nail polish. I have some true beauties in my stash by Catrice, I need to wear them again. Playing in Lavender Heaven caught my eye on the shelf because of the shimmer that was nicely visible when moving the bottle, plus it looked like a very nice subtle lavender shade, great for office as well, so I grabbed it. 

The application was good, this is three coats, as my nails were a bit longer at that point. I think Playing in Lavender Heaven will appeal to many, as it is a very wearable colour. I am a bit on the fence about it, I feel like shimmer is almost brush-strokey, even if it is really not. I don't know. It held beautifully on my nails, almost a week. 

Did you get any of the shades from Doll's collection? 

Thank you for reading and commenting!

~ Ulmiel