New In ~ A Haul Post

Hey everyone! How are you doing? It is a beautiful day here in Ljubljana and I had a great family gathering for most of it, it was fun! And I am totally going jogging after I finish this post. :) 

These are the things I got in August. I am really happy with them, I finally got a few things from licila.si I really wanted to buy for a while ago, and a few surprises I bought on a whim.

Let's start with my licila.si orders, yes?

I made two orders there last month. First one because of the nice offers, I got Makeup Revolution Vivid Blush Lacquer in Desire, becuase I adore the Rush shade they send me for a review. From Makeup Revolution I also got nail polish in Are You Still Available?, because the swatch Nihrida made really stole my heart and I wanted to see if the brush is the same in every bottle. Alas it is. 

I Heart Make Up Wow Gloss No Need To Panic I bought on a whim, because I Heart Make Up lipstick really convinced me to buy more make up made by them. And it is a great lip gloss, more like a liquid lipstick (I generally dislike sheer glosses), I just wish it would be a tad bit less pink and more purple. Still, it is a great, really nice wearable colour. 

Barry M Liquid Eyeliner (shade is simply called 03) was my substitute purchase for Beauty UK Blue Lagoon that was out of stock ATM of choosing my items. It is a matte eyeliner, so I said I need it anyways. And it is utterly gorgeous. It does smudge easier, comparing to Beauty UK, but nevertheless. It is a matte cobalt blue eyeliner, that looks gorgeous on the eyes, I got tons of compliments wearing it. 

Konad Matte Topcoat was on sale and as my Essence matte TC is turning into a toothpaste, I decided to get it. Hopefully I will be able to stamp with it too.

Aaand then I got an email that Beauty UK Blue Lagoon was back in stock (the page has this option, that they notify you when the item you desire comes back in stock, quite neat). And I couldn't resist, even with Barry M eyeliner romance I was having at that moment. And I do no regret buying them both, not one bit. Blue Lagoon is more vibrant and it stays on the eyes just as permanently as its sisters. 

I decided on a whim to get the Beauty UK Posh Pout Sugar Plum Fairy tinted lip balm, because I am trying to get something for the lips that I could wear to work without too much correcting over the day. Still, I kind of felt like I just bought an overpriced lip balm. So it is quite ridiculous how much I love this product. It gives a bit of colour, actually more than I expected, it is moisturising, and insanely easy to apply and re-apply. The colour actually stays on for quite a while. Total love. I am discovering the usefulness and beauty of the subtle lip shade. 

And some swatches. Barry M and Beauty UK eyeliners are insanely inaccurate. All the gals that have H&M Blue My Mind nail polish shade, you know, the vibrant blue creme? Both are in that vein of blue, with Blue Lagoon being a bit more deeper blue, less pastel comparing to Barry M. The rest of swatches are accurate, that's why I am posting them.

I did a quick comparison for you of Makeup Revolution Liquid Blush in Rush and Desire, from top to bottom: Rush, Desire, Barry M Liquid Eyeliner (totally inaccurate!) and I heart Makeup Wow lipgloss in No Need to Panic.

Natural daylight:

Beauty UK Posh Pout in Sugar Plum Fairy and Beauty UK Blue Lagoon (again inaccurate, it is by far more deep and vibrant blue).

A shot of both Vivid Blush Lacquer. See how it looks like Desire (on the right) is more used than Rush? I already thought my bottle is a dud, because I pumped it for two days, every days for a couple of minutes, and nothing happened. Then all of the sudden it jumped to one quarter of the bottle and the product came out without a problem. As I do not use a lot of it (even with regular use, as you need just the tiniest blob of blush), I do not mind, but it did surprise me, like the bottle had air inside or something. Anyway. I adore Desire, it is less pink blush and a lot more wearable. I am buying a lot of blushers for someone who thinks two to three are more than enough for one person. :) But I love how good these are, they stay on the cheeks the entire day. Ever since I got my stippling brush to apply them they are pure magic.

I also got three sets of water decals and stickers from Born Pretty Store, I am already making some manis with them, swatches will follow.

I couldn't resist, I needed to buy the Balea Mango Mambo Bodylotion, even though I have waaaay too many body lotions at home. I adore mango and this lotion is actually really good, it smells divine. 

Radenska Naturelle is a water spray refreshener for the face, when I saw it in store I was so curious I needed to buy it, plus, I thought I will need it regularly, as I worked outside whole day and I expected a very hot August (ha ha. hahahaha. ha). It is actually a lovely thing, very refreshing. 

And that is it. If you want any special reviews, let me know in  the comments!

What is the favourite thing you got in August?

Thank you for reading and commenting, have a lovely start of the new week!

New In ~ A Haul Post

Hello everybody! How are you doing? I am just about to go for my jogging hour and then to my studying. As it happens, I got the job I was hoping to get and I start tomorrow, I am quite excited about that. I'm moving to my own place, similar to what I had in Bratislava, with entirely new schedule for me. We'll see how it goes. :)

I planned to do this post yesterday, but we went out and I ran out of time. It is essentially May haul post. And I kind of bought a lot this month. 

Maybe a lot is a strong expression ... certainly more than in previous few months. :) The pictures are an adventure, because my camera went crazy, I hope it is not too annoying. I think I really need to toss it at this point, but I dislike the pictures my cell phone makes, so I am trying to make it work ..

Nail stuff first! Afrodita Oliva nail polish remover is the only nail polish remover with acetone I can use and it is my favourite nail polish remover ever, together with its acetoneless sister called Aroma. I finally used up Sally Hansen remover I bought in Blava, where you can't get Afrodita and the change in quality is amazing. I love Afrodita, if you have the chance, try it! :)

China Glaze Splish Splash nail polish I bought on a whim from a girl, because I really liked it on swatches and it was on my WL since the collection came out. I am wearing it ATM and it feels very very similar to Zoya Tallulah. Comparison will follow. 

And Born Pretty Store water decals, three of them, you already saw Pandas, and I have two more to show you. Fun stuff, I love water decals!

Stuff for skin and face! :) A little package of testers I got from Sabex, our distributor of Bioderma brand. You can go online and give your information and they send you testers every once in a while. That is where I got my tester of their BB Sensibio cream and now I got a perfect package for my mixed skin, Sebium Global creme is already on my WL, I think it will be great for me, as my skin condition worsened in the past year. 

Illamasqua blusher Allure. Oh dear Lord of the Rings. One word comes to mind whenever I think of this blusher: pigmentation!! It is hands down the best blusher I have ever used. You need to touch it with your brush really really lightly and then tap it on your hand and then put it on your face, otherwise it will be too much. Amazing blush. And I LOVE the colour. Gorgeous little thing. I need to get more Illamasqua in my life. It was a bargain, I got is as exchange on mojbutik, but I honestly think it is worth whatever money they are demanding for it.

Oriflame double sided brush I got as exchange on mojbutik and it is a good brush, albeit a bit hard to store. But it is good for applying eyeshadow.

Etude Proof 10 Eye Primer is an eyeshadow base that I was planning to order for a loooong time. Ever since I saw the review on mejkap.si so yeah, long time. I still haven't tried it, as my ArtDeco one is still acting nicely, but I can't wait to put it to the test! You can see on the first picture a bunch of testers I got with it.

And something for hair and body. :) Le Petit Marseillais brand got on my radar when a good friend of mine brought me a couple of their products all the way from France and I loved them. Later on I noticed our Leclerc has some of their lines and I tried them again and loved them. So it was great news for me when I saw they are coming to Slovenia for real, with most of their lines and Leclerc had this huge sale on them a couple of weeks ago. So I got their Shea butter and honey hair conditioner and their Shea butter, almond and Argan oil body lotion. They smell divine, especially body lotion and they are great (I prefer the white, almond hair conditioner though). 

Balea Warmwachs I got again after reading amazing review on mejkap.si, and I already tried it on my legs and loved the result. It is good stuff. It is on sale right now since they are discontinuing it (figures!) so I already bought another package.

As always, if you want any specific reviews of any of the products in this post, just let me know in the comments. :)

What did you purchase for yourself in the last month? :)

Thank you for reading and commenting!

Taking care of my 10 little divas

Hello everybody! How are you doing? It's a beautiful day, darlings! Classes were interesting, I had a lovely coffee before them with lovely people, sun is shining as I speak, I went everywhere on foot just to enjoy the pretty, warmer weather. And I'm really excited about my GA ending tomorrow at midnight! It's been an interesting journey. :) BTW, people, please use the form! I don't acctept comment entries, I've warned about that and I still got new one today. Will add the warning, again, to the GA entry. But anyway! This post is long overdue. Taya asked me a month ago if I can show you how I'm taking care of my nails, and now I'm finally typing this away. So sorry it took that long, Taya, hope you don't mind! 

It's also the last one I owe you for now. Again, if you have any wishes for comparisons, specific colours or anything nail (polish) related you'd like me to write about, let me know!

To the topic. It's going to be a longer entry, but I'll try to explain everything in it, I'll also share my nail care WL with you (yes I have that one too). There are some steel facts about my nails you need to know. 1. They are divas.  2. There are strict rules for taking care of them, and I can't change that too much or they'll start to layer and break. I actually had to refuse a review of a really awesome gadget because I was worried about chaning file for filing down my nails. The last time I did it, I had to cut down my nails completely, layered as they were. 3. I have a slight cuticle/hand skin OCD, I cannot have them dry. Serisouly, I get nervous, I can't think about anything if I feel like my hands are made of paper bag because of the dry skin. Thus, I admit, I may get a bit extreme about hand cream and cuticle care.

I'll show you the things I pay attention to throughout the year, but especially in cold winter times. I have no idea what the order of things should be, but let's start with my best secret for perfect cuticle and nails.

• Hand Creme And Cuticle Butter

Lord Of The Rings, how much I adore Badger Cuticle Care!!! This baby is my number one product for nails and I worship it for what it has done to my nails. Not to mention the cutest packaging ever! Look how the little badger is showing its claws. Together everybody: awww! Seriously people, this baby does everything it's promising to do for the nails. Cuticles are fed, not dry, they get dry slower, the nails are growing almost too fast, they are super strong (seriously, they don't layer or break, unless you really hit the wall with them. What I usually do when I break a nail), and just ... you know, healthy, happy, spoiled nails and cuticles. 

I use it just about every day, in average 6 days a week, usually when I go to sleep. The amount you use is really small, since it's really butter-like and you massage it into your fingertips. That's it. I purchased also cotton gloves not to wipe it off my nails, but more about that later on. Smells of lemon, it's also yellow. Badger also has USDA organic certificate, so major plus, people! I adore Badger, really, I'd love to try the body butters and other stuff as well, but usually never manage to keep money on me for that long to buy it. I buy my Badger goodness in BB Natura shop, they have a stand in Supernova in Ljubljana, it costs 7€. Since I am around the middle of the contents with every day usage after whole 4 months (!!) I'd say it's a fair price. You get magic with it, people!!

Second thing I'm always - and I mean always - having with me is hand creme. The one on the picture is actually my 4th or 5th favourite. The best cremes for me are Balea Urea Handcreme (urea on second place of ingredients!), Balea Olive Oil Handcreme and also Afrodita Aroma. These are also very cheap. I tried a wide range of hand cremes, very expensive and very cheap, and I'll tell you, the price does not always bring quality. Balea is laughably cheap and I adore it. Fact also is I use one 100 ml hand creme per month, so I couldn't really afford extra expensive ones. My advice is: use hand creme as often as you can. For me it has become essential like a tooth brush. I use it almost every time I wash my hands, which is quite often. Make a habit out of it. 

The SOS product for cuticles, when I'm at my BF's and I don't carry around my Badger, is the best lip balm I've ever tried. Ziaja Orange Butter Lip Balm. I love Ziaja's products, they have the best body scrub, shower gels and so on, but this is the winner in my opinion. Not only for lips, but also for your cuticles. Awesome! And I hate it sooo much I can't find it anywhere in Slovenia anymore. :( 

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WL: I'm perfectly happy with Badger Cuticle Care, I'd be happy to use it for the rest of my life. However, I'm always happy to try new things (you can be sure I'll have Badger lying around too, JIC) and frankly, I'd like to try LUSH Lemony Flutter just because people say it's so damn good and I want to see if it will beat Badger.

As for hand creme, again, I'd love to try something made by Badger, also the LUSH one, Lalica told us it's really good. 

• Nail polish remover

I had the worst experiences with nail polish removers possible. One dried out my nails so badly, I had to start taking biotin pills for them to recover. It was horrible. I know lots of you are perfectly fine with low price, Essence/Ebelin/etc. removers but they cause chaos for me. Thus I stopped even trying and am strictly using Afrodita Oliva and Aroma nail polish removers. Both of them on the picture are perfect! You can se the ingredients too, they're pretty decent, I'd say. And they don't dry up my nails, which is essential. As I empty around one bottle (maybe more) per month, with 2.20-2.70€ per bottle they aren't really the cheapest out there, but they are excellent. If you're having major problems with your nails, perhaps you should try and change your nail polish remover. People think it doesn't do damage, trust me, it does!

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WL: Zoya nail polish remover. Because I've heard it's perfect.

• Shaping the divas

Crystal file was a complete revelation for me. Before that my nails layered as i filed them down, so the dust actually went between the layers of the nails. It was horrible, people! Remember the mentioned refused review? That's the reason why. I can only file my nails with crystal file if I want to avoid layering. Essie file is really great, I love it! On the picture also the wooden stick for cuticles, although I rarely need it (please don't push your cuticles off the nail with the iron one, it hurts me and I'm only writing about it. It's way to agressive) and a buffer cube. Now, people, I don't buff unless I really need too, I don't want to weaken my nails. I have it just in case if I need to buff down really bad stain or some kind of irregularity on the nails. Otherwise I'm against buffing, I fear I'd ruin my nails with it. 

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WL: Little travelling version of the Essie file, to have with me all the time.

• Gloves 

I use three pairs of gloves. The white cotton one are for night treatment with cuticle care balm. If you want to use cuticle oils regularly, I really recommend them, because then you won't have the excuse for not using it like: i don't want to get oil all over my keyboard, books, dress, sheets, etc. They also make sure the oil stays on the nail and cuticles not just about everywhere else. With cotton gloves you can type, read, just about everything while you're pampering your nails. :)

The black one are obviously for the cold outside. I see lots of people going out without gloves, for me that's a killer of nice cuticles. If I don't have gloves my cuticles dry up completely, it's awful. Especially if I have to carry something and don't have my hands in my pockets. Obviously these are important for winter and it's cold, I don't walk around with gloves in Summer. :)

The latex one are for cleaning house. No matter what it says on your dish cleaner, people, it's aggressive and you should be wearing gloves while doing the dishes. We have a dish washer, so most of the time I don't need gloves (I don't put them on to put the dishes into the washer), but when I'm cleaning like bathroom or using any kind of really aggressive cleaners, I use the gloves. I have latex one, because those we had at home, otherwise you have much better ones for cleaning out there.

•  Base Coat??

This is where my care of my nails fails. Good base coat. I thought before I don't need one, but the more I use nail polish, the more I see I need one for certain colours. Because my nails are really badly stained. Not that it's a problem most of the time, but I'd still like to try and invest into a good base coat, especially after I realized it can sometimes mess up the colour accuracy with swatching (remember depend and night sparkle fiasco?). The only one I've got is this Essie Fill the gap! mini bottle. :/ 

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WL: I don't know. You tell me! I have my eyes on Zoya base coat. Dunno why, but I like Zoya, and I'm guessing it must be good. :) 

I think that's just about it. My secrets revealed! ;) Well, not much of secrets, anyway, I'm sure most of you know and do all of this already. :) 

Tell me your opinions on my treatment, please. And if you know a good base coat, I'd be glad to hear your suggestions and tips!

Thank you for reading! :*