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

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

Catrice Luxury Lacquers ~ Sandhopper

Ok, honestly, people, the whole hype around sand finish never got to me, I just did not find that finish appealing. Typical of me that I am slowly discovering it now, with perhaps more affordable brands. I kind of like it, especially if it is glittery. I found Catrice Sandhopper in one of the "on sale" jars in Leclerc and it looked stunning in the bottle so I took it. Apparently it is from a limited edition called Sand'sation, I do not remember this one at all. :)

Sandhopper looks amazing on the nails too, I love how shiny, glittery metallic it is. The finish is very sharp comparing to other sandies I already tried, and it lasts really, really long time. I am very pleasantly surprised about that - I do not have top coat on and it is still on my nails after 6 days of wearing with only two minor chips. 

Oh, my pinky nail got really badly broken right before we went to a music festival in Germany, and at that point my nails were really long and I really didn't have time to file them down, so I used the Nail Crazy advice and tutorial with fast drying glue and it works like magic! Thanks, Žana, you saved my life that day, when I didn't have enough time to eat, let alone do my nails!

What else? Oh yes, this was three coats, you know me, better one coat extra than a visible nail line. ;) The brush is OK. Still not the old Catrice I remember, but it is ok. The polish dries really fast, and, as mentioned, has really good staying power. I might look for another one from this limited edition, Sandhopper was a good surprise!

Have you gotten anything from Sand'sation edition? Any sandies you would recommend?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

New In ~ A haul post

Hey everyone! This is a haul post I planned to do a couple of days ago - in between I already bought three new varnishes and an eyeshadow. I need help. In the next New in post! 

I split this one in nail polish, hair care and "other". 

Group photo! I forgot the Manglaze on the group picture.

I already showed you the ManGlaze Mayonnaise in my previous post. 

Catrice is from LE Doll's Collection, shade Playing in Lavender Heaven and I bought it on a whim, because it has this awesome shimmer in it. I already wore it, swatches will follow, but I am most impressed by its staying power - I wore it for 7 days and it didn't chip.

Another LE, Essence Hidden Stories, shade Enchanted by Hint of Mint. I saw it on a friend of mine and had to have it. Haven't worn it yet though. 

And Essence sandy, Me & My Lover, which I took primarily because of the glitter in it.

IsaDora face primer Under Cover. I took it because I ran out of my primer from Max Factor (All day primer, I think), and in the last 5-6 months of usage I am pretty sure it clogged my pores, so I decided to try something else. IsaDora primer was really well received on blosphere and even though it costs a lot, I gave it a go. So far I love it. More about it when I use it for a couple of months. :)

Ebeline lip brush, because I lack them in my collection, hopefully it will be good, haven't tried it yet. 

Jane Carter Solution Wrap And Roll hair foam I got on a whim in January, I think. I bought it on IHerb, and I have no idea why I got it, I was just convinced by the article. It is actually a decent foam, what bothers me most is how fast it is going, this thing won't last me two months. 

Redken Extreme Anti-snap. When I got back to blogging and my hair really went to hell in the beginning of the year, I decided to really follow my hair guru on just about everything concerning hair. Redken was my first purchase and so far I have used it a couple of times and I cannot believe how good my hair feels after this. I am saving it now for after my visit to hairdresser, because my ends need to go, and then is Redken all the way.

Le Petit Marseillais Hule Elixir and Le Petit soin, Karité & Argan line. The oil again bought after reading about it on Mateja's blog, as a pre-shampooing treatment. Love it, although the packaging is a bit of a fail.

The LE Petit soin leave-in treatment is a bit older, a friend of mine got it for me from Paris, but I wanted to show it to ya as it is from the same line. It is a really awesome leave in conditioner, considering it is an affordable drugstore brand. If you see it, I recommend it, it doesn't make hair greasy, but it tames them. Love it. 

In the corner you can see the Ebelin brush I got. Mateja, I swear you can read mind. Like two weeks ago I decided that my old brush is too disgusting and it needs to go, and I googled good brushes but I either wasn't convinced by them or they were too expensive. And I decided I'll just ask on Mateja's blog once I find the time. And I swear, a couple of days later Best Beauty Tools post pops up on her blog. I got the Ebelin brush, the bigger one, and I love it, with the Tangle Teezer they are a perfect match. 

What's new in your beauty world, any recommendation? 

Have a nice week!

Catrice ~ Berry Potter & Plumbledore

Heya my people! How are you doing? It's been crazy here lately, wohoo! But I really wanted to show you this beauty. Alas the pictures are not as good as I wanted them to be, IRL the colour looks much nicer. I feel like the shimmer is still a bit more tealish than on the pictures, you know? Those who have this colour, do you agree? 

Anyway. Naturally I bought this for the name itself. Geek references in make up names, that's what we want!! Lucky for me, the colour itself is gorgeous. It reminds me of a simple version of Royal Velvet by Orly, but it is different enough to have both.

I think that on the last one you can see the shimmer is in fact more on the teal side. Excuse the cable and the dust, I was improvising. :)

So yeah. New line of Catrice colours. I actually want another one, but the rest didn't really call me from the stand. But as I am on a mandatory no-buy (meaning I am too broke to buy nail polish), this might be the only one I buy. Luckily the brush on this Catrice was very nice to work with. It is not the brush from Catrice's former glory days, but it is by far better comparing to the previous two asortiment changes. Thumbs up! I needed three coats for full coverage, if that matters to you. The formula was good, it applied nicely. 

So yeah. One of those Catrice I would totally recommend! 

Which colours did you get from new line of Catrice, any recommendations? 

Thank you for reading and commenting!

New In February ~ A Haul post

Hello my darlings. I'm back. I haven't written anything in the past two weeks of being home, because I did not feel like it. Coming back home hit me pretty hard. I was warned that this will happen after my Erasmus exchange ends, but you do not really realise how hard it hits you until you experience it on your own skin. The first week was pretty hard and I still have bad mornings and evenings (during the day I occupy myself with million things), but seeing all my friends really helps, I am tons thankful for them. Plus me and my BF started looking for a flat (baby steps, slow, wonky baby steps, but nevertheless, we are doing it), which, even if we are only discussing our options at this point, gives me an idea that being on our own isn't THAT far away. Oh yes, and of course I need to finish my studies. Small thing. ;) All in all I am not in a bad place. But I miss Bratislava like hell, every thing about it. My flat, my awesome flatmate, my room, walking in the old town ... just about everything.

Enough with the yammering, yes? I will show you the goodies I received in the past month, also to show you what is to come on the blog in March.

Group photo!

Review stuff from OMG and Born Pretty Store, nail polish, skin care, hair care (going nuts about my hair care!) ... I tried to put the purple scarf to break the whiteness under the products, and failed.

This being a nail polish blog in its essence, let's begin with nail stuff. Two nail stripes from OMG, I am looking forward to trying them, and a bunch of goodies from Born Pretty Store that I am super excited to try!! Especially the foil, I have never tried that technique, so I am curious. 

I bought one nail polish from new Catrice line, mainly because of the name: Berry Potter & Plumbledore. COME ON, HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! Plus the colour is amazing as well, epic win! I am wearing it right now and love it, I need to show it to ya ASAP.

 

Lately I am going nuts about hair products. My hair is getting pretty long and is at this point pretty damaged, so I need to visit a hairdresser pronto. L'Oreal Leave-In Spray I got from my flatmate and it is amazing stuff. Smells like heaven and it really works wonders on the hair, they look so much nicer, fall really nicely, they don't tangle ... perfect stuff. I do not think we can get it in Europe, which is a pity (let me know if we can, please!)

Subrina's Hair Code I also got as a gift, it is a two-faze shine serum. I used it once, but it looks promising, it did not grease up my hair. 

Got2b anti-frizz lotion again I got from my flatmate (she cut her hair completely short, so she does not need the products anymore), and it is pretty neat stuff, you just need to be careful not to overload it as it does get your hair greasy fast. Smells like grapefruit, sometimes i like it, sometimes I don't. 

Estee Lauder travel set for very dry skin, alas it does not suit me (my skin is combination to greasy, so it is a no-go), but my mother will love it. 

Essence eyeshadow brush from the new LE. I actually bought another one after testing this one, I love it so much. I regret not buying the smaller one too, but it went superfast. I bought this one off completely full stand in the afternoon, came back next day around noon and it was basically empty. Girls work fast!

A set of Aldo Vandini Olive & Granatapfel with a gorgeous bag. A good friend of mine surprised me with this, and it smells amazing, I already tried all of them. The set contains body peeling, body milk, hand creme and travel sized shower gels. Love them! And the bag is perfect for my purse!

And an additional photo of a present my girls brought me in Bratislava. I framed it the other day for my room here in Ljubljana, and remembered I haven't even shown it on the blog. It is perfect for moi. :)

Coffee and Lord of the Rings? Yes please!


What did you get for yourself lately? Oh, and of course, if you wish to see a detailed review of anything in the haul posts, all you need to do is ask in the comments. :)

Thank you for reading and commenting!

Review: Texture Metal Stickers on royal purple base

Hey girls! How are you doing? I finally finished with my exams for December and I'm looking forward to my visit from Ljubljana tomorrow, a friend of mine is coming for a couple of days and I'm really excited about it. :)) Blava is still gorgeous, even with Lady Winter showing her claws in last few days. Most of my colleagues are leaving for holidays, going home, but I decided I'll stay here, since I'm staying only for 6 months, three weeks/a month back home seemed a bit of a waste. :)

So I could finally make this mani, I tell you, I wanted to make this mani since the moment I saw these stickers. I'm talking about Embossed Texture Metal  Style 3D stickers (ID code: 5659) Born Pretty Store is offering and honestly, if there was only one product from now on I could buy from their store, it would probably be this one, I effing LOVE the effect! I won't even describe Born Pretty Store in these posts anymore, I'm sure you all know the store, it's like one of the best for nail art out there. :)

I wanted it on a very dark base, and Catrice The Dark Knight seemed perfect. Sadly my camera makes it a bit too blue, it is actually the royal velvet-y purple shade. I had the same problem with Illamasqua Baptiste, my camera just couldn't capture the awesomeness of this particular shade of purple. And it's probably my favourite purple shade. Oh well. :)

Seriously, love the effect, it is awesome. The stickers are really easy to use, I use tweezers to pull the pattern from the sheet and to place it on the nail and it takes no time at all. It sticks to the nail, but not so much you couldn't pull it off and replace it. The stickers can be cut, so if your nails are shorter, that is not a problem. You can also cut them to have more short tendrils all around the nail (I'll do that the second my nails grow out a bit). 

The only minus is that the edges don't stick to the nail really well, even after applying top coat. So it is not a mani that would last for days, edges on most of my nails started twirling a few hours later when I made my lunch, so yeah ... but nevertheless, I really love the effect, so I'm gonna wear it again. 

You get two patterns per sheet. 

And Catrice The Dark Knight, even if the colour is too blue on my pictures. The polish has a great sentimental value for me, as I bought it in Vienna in March, on our moot court competition. :)

The Texture Metal Stickers are available in Born Pretty Store and they are on sale right now, only 1.99$! And BPS has my favourite type of shipping - the free one. :) So go grab it! You can use my discount code to get 10% discount too: SSL91!

What do you think, your kind of thing?

Thank you for reading and commenting!


*Product sent for reviewing purposes, you can read my disclosure here.

Water decals on mint ~ Born Pretty Store review

Hey my dear people! Lots of stuff going on here, but today I had some time to finally do this review of the second product Born Pretty Store so kindly sent me and that I have shown it to you before. I think the store has done some changes with the page and it looks much more organised now to me, so that is great for the customer as well. If you are planning to do some shopping there (their nail art section is insanely vast and has basically everything), you can use my code to get 10% discount on your buy: SSL91! 

About the product of today's post: they are called 4pcs Nail Water Decals Stickers Black Stripe Ripple Triangle Moon Star Round (item ID: 5631) and are currently on sale for only 2,99$! They have 4 different sets of different patterns, I have chosen the sheet with patterns D196 to D199.

And quite honestly, I did not expect these to work. When I got them, I saw just how big they were and knew there was no chance getting them on my extremely short nails, I did not feel like trimming them and ruining the pattern, but they looked so wide and long I was like ... who can put this on their nails?? So I waited for my nails to get long (I need to do a post about my holy grail of saviours for nails) and figured it is time to try it somehow. I trimmed it a bit, because the shape of the start of the decal is completely useless in my opinion and then tried it, following the instructions.

The instructions are the same on every water decal, it was the same on butterflies.

As I started to put on the decals, I saw that my nails are still too short for the entire decal and that I have not trimmed it enough, they were too wide. I already saw a disaster waiting for a nail polish remover, but then I put the TC on and tried to remove the decal around the nail with a wooden stick. And it worked! Apparently top coat kind of melts the decal on the edges and so it is actually very easy to shape the decal according to your nail lenght. So all of the sudden this was by far the easiest nail art I have done in ages. The pattern is not complete, but I do not mind this, it looks like I have my nails covered in lace and everything is awesome when covered in lace. :)

This is after trimming, and on my longest nail. Your nails have to be REALLY long for these decals.

For all other advice, please check the Butterflies post, they are the same, just add the TC advice to it. :) My pictures are the best I could do in the Bratislava weather. I need to get my lightbox here from Ljubljana, I think I will need it. I am currently wearing Catrice Mint Me Up, that contains gold shimmer and it looks amazing with the water decal, I wish I could capture it.

I adore the final result, it looks awesome, I will definitively purchase these when I use them up. Plus, they take basically no time off you, they are perfect for those who are too impatient or not skilled enough for the stamping or freehand nail art. Love them! 

Here is my coupon again, if you want to buy the decals, I totally recommend them. :)

Have you ever tried the water decals? Did you like them?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

*Product sent for reviewing purposes, you can read my disclosure here.

Kiko 266 and a comparison with Catrice

Hey my darlings! How are you? I put this Kiko 266 on yesterday and realised I probably never even posted a comparison I did ... well, probably a year or two ago with Catrice Blue My Mind. I did show you 266 before but the photos are not so good, so let's look at it again. It is a gorgeous shimmery blue, I cannot get sick of these type of blues.

This was two coats, very easy application, Kiko has great brushes. And now for the old comparison, Kiko 266 vs. Catrice Blue My Mind.

My gosh, look at my nails! I can't remember the last time I had them this long. Blue My Mind is a discontinued beauty Catrice made in the first wave of their polishes, and both brush and formula were amazing. The colours are very close, Kiko is a tad bit lighter.

Which is your favourite Kiko shade and which one is the winner for you in the comparison?

BTW; this made my day:
 

Thank you for reading and commenting!