Review: Louis Widmer Skin Appeal gel

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Aaaahhh, I know, I know, such a long time since last post, aaahh! The days just sort of whiz by with way too much to do and way too little time *blushes*.

Anyway, lets talk pimples! Yes, doesn’t that just sound ever so cheery? 😀 Even though I use Paula’s Choice BHA liquid which works wonders with acne-prone skin, I do still get the occasional pimple here and there, specially during that particularly eerie time of the month. So I decided I need spot treatment. I consulted with the salesperson in a pharmacy and she suggested I try this gel. That was a year ago and I’ve been regularly using it so I think it’s high time to talk about it!
This is how the Louis Widmer Skin Appeal gel looks like (sorry, mine doesn’t look mint, it has after all survived a year of frequent use):

It comes in a relatively small tube but it lasts forever and then some since you’re only dabbing it on spots.

Pros:
* Not too expensive
* Actually works!
* Dries up fresh pimples very fast
* Lasts forever and then some
* Doesn’t irritate the skin

Cons:
* Despite it promising to work on blackheads as well, that it doesn’t do

Overall if you can find this gel anywhere, I’d definitely recommend it! Thumbs up!

And I promise I’ll be back soon. If not sooner, then on Sunday I’ll have you the first nail polish wear test 🙂 If you have any requests as to what polish you want to see tested for wear, please leave a comment below or send me an e-mail at kirikadawn@gmail.com! I’ll do my best to grant your wish 🙂

OPI Just Spotted The Lizard, short and sweet :)

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been neglecting nailpolish posts recently and it’s not like I love polish any less, my newish office job combined with being a mom means I simply don’t have the time to do my nails very often anymore (I worked from home before so I had way more time to play around). So I’ve been painting my nails once a week with mostly a-england polishes since they’re my favorites. That led me to an idea which will start next week – I’ll do wear tests and show you how the polishes hold up over a week.

But anyway, as late as I am to the party, I wanted to show you OPI Just Spotted The Lizard which I got thanks to my friend in France with the OPI Spotted a while back. Estonia just sucks when it comes to new collections. Seriously. The latest collection in the store here is the Muppets collection and they have like two of those.

So! Lizards aboard!

This is one of the many many Chanel Peridot dupes and like Peridot, it’s an interesting duochrome-y metallic. The trouble with metallics is that they’re prone to streaking which is my personal petpeeve and the reason why I don’t buy them. However this was such a cool color that I just had to try. Sure enough, it’s streaky. Could be worse though, it’s streaky enough to annoy me but not streaky enough to drive me bonkers. Other than that, it’s a classic OPI, very nice quality and OPI still has my favorite brush.

Now. Where can I get my hands on the Germany collection? I so want those vampy ones!

LUSH Grass & Dirty Springwash shower gels

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

I’m a shower gel snob and addict. I really dislike water, a weird quirk, given that I’m a Pisces and while I do not believe in astrology, still, what kind of a fish dislikes water? 😀 Anyway so since anything where I get wet is a pretty unpleasant thing for me, nice shower gels and moisturizers and shampoos and so on make the experience much much nicer. Thus I don’t tend to count pennies when buying shower gels for instance and I always have several at once.

So I turned to LUSH on my everlasting quest on finding nice shower gels. LUSH doesn’t have a store in my city and thus I haven’t bought their gels before since I usually like to smell what I get beforehand. But… Grass? Really? That I just had to have!


They say it smells like freshly mown grass in the morning sunshine with bergamot and neroli oil. I have to say, I don’t get the fresh grass in it, bergamot however is fairly strong. Overall it smells fresh and herbal in a good way, definitely very unisex and lovely. I love it, regardless of it not smelling like grass. I love fresh unisex scents, I’m not a fan of really sweet smelling shower gels.
It lathers really well and cleans nicely, doesn’t leave a weird residue like some shower gels do. Definitely a really good one! I do wish LUSH was in my city as well, I’d love to go and smell EVERYTHING! This shower gel gets a big thumbs up from me!
I got this in 250ml size which was 12.90€.

The second shower gel from them that I got to try was Dirty Springwash. Now, again since LUSH isn’t in my city, I didn’t want to buy two full gels without knowing how they smell. So I asked with my Grass order that if at all possible, could they add a sample of Dirty Springwash. Which they were more then gracious to add. For your information, samples aren’t something natural and everyday in Estonia. Most of the time it is totally pointless to even ask. So I do appreciate this very much. Since I got a small sample jar, I’ll show you what the bottle looks like on the official picture, credit to LUSH.


This smells like the baby of lady Spearmint and mister Menthol. It’s absolutely divine! The sample lasted me quite a few washes, these gels really do lather incredibly well and last a while. And I do say, this helped me survive the few really hot days we had here (this summer has been really dreary, only a few truly summery days), I don’t do heat well. This is a truly energizing concoction and very unisex once again. I’m definitely thinking of getting a full size, it’s just so awesome!
This is priced at 12.25€ for 250ml so slightly less then Grass.

Overall, I fell for LUSH shower gels with these two. And I fell hard. I definitely want to get my hands on more of them! My usual favorite has been the Body Shop when it comes to shower gels (I don’t buy anything else from TBS, I’m not really a fan of their other stuff) but I think LUSH might prove to be even cooler. And another awesome thing about them – they’re cruelty free. Always a plus!

LUSH home page – go check them out! And if you have cuticle troubles, Lemony Flutter is a really good fix for that *wink*

Estonian Glambox, August / Eesti Glambox, august

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today I have to start with an apology – I’m sorry I haven’t posted for such a long time, I’ve been sick and trying to work at the same time. I do not recommend doing that. To avoid a few days in bed, I managed to organize myself into a week in bed instead with that tactic because nope, it didn’t go away, it went worse 😀
Anyway, lets see what the Estonian Glambox had for us this month! And boy, is it amazing or what? I am so heartbroken that I have to skip next month, the costs of sending a kid back to school are just way too mindblowing, I can’t afford a single luxury like this for myself this month 😦
Alustuseks vabandused pika vaikuse pärast! Kuna haige olemine on kallis lõbu, siis ma käisin haigena tööl ja ei jaksanud postitada. Ja loomulikult selle ürituse tulemusena saan nüüd hoopis kauem kodus haige olla. Doh ma ütlen.
Igatahes vaatame, mis see kuu Glamboxis oli ja seda ma teile ütlen, see kuu on siiani kõige parem! Ja mul on tõeliselt kurb, et ma pean järgmise kuu vahele jätma. Lapse kooli tagasi saatmise kulud on niivõrd röögatud, et no lihtsalt ei saa vähimatki luksust endale lubada. Pärast sellist ägedat kuud oleks eriti järgmist ka tahtnud 😦


Bielenda Aloe day & night cream – I couldn’t test this since I’m allergic to aloe. So this is one product this month that I can’t give an opinion on.
Seda ma ei proovinud kuna ma olen aaloele allergiline, seega see on selle kuu ainuke toode, millest mul arvamust ei ole.
Morphosis Anti dandruff shampoo – this smells quite nice but it really dries out my hair like crazy. Well I don’t have dandruff anyway, my trouble is a flaky scalp due to its dryness so this shampoo made it worse. If you have dandruff and oily scalp, this could work though.
Lõhn oli meeldiv aga muus osas ei töötanud minu juustega kohe üldse. Mul kõõma ei ole, pigem on probleem selles, et mu peanahk on väga kuiv ja seetõttu ketendav. See šampoon tegi asja hullemaks. Aga ma pakun, et kui sul on kõõm ja rasune peanahk, siis see võib täitsa aidata.
Essence Vitamin Eye Gel pads – aaahhh how nice! These really feel nice. I work in an air conditioned office with a computer so by the end of the week, my eyes are really tired and puffy and meh. These gel pads felt like a peace of heaven. I’d definitely buy these.
Oi kui mõnus! Kontori kuivas õhus arvutiga töötamine võtab silmad väga läbi ja nädala lõpuks on nad mõnusalt paistes, need geelipadjad olid kohe ikka erakordselt mõnus leevendus. Ma kindlasti ostaks neid.
Essence Paper mask – this has been in the Glambox once before and I liked it back then already. And still do. I wouldn’t buy it because I recall it wasn’t the cheapest of them all and it doesn’t really do much aside from smelling nice and freshening you up a bit. But I don’t object to getting it in the Glambox since hey, it smells nice and freshens me up a bit! 😀
See oli ükskord varem ka juba Glamboxis ja mulle meeldis ta siis ning praegu ka. Ma ei ostaks seda ainult sellepärast, et mulle meenub, et see ei olnud eriti odav ja ega ta midagi eriti ei tee, lõhnab hästi ja värskendab korraks ja ongi kõik. Aga Glamboxist on seda rõõm saada sest… noh ta lõhnab hästi ja värskendab! 😀


Gatineau Radiance Energizing Cream – ahh the smell of this! It’s divine! The consistency is really nice and it didn’t leave my skin oily or shiny at all. At first I was absolutely sure that this will be my holy grail for all of time but sadly it turns out it breaks me out. I got breakouts in the oddest places, the moment I stopped using this, the breakouts calmed down. Tried again and ta da, a whole new pimple parade. That is just heartbreaking. Because it really is amazing in all other aspects.
Selle lõhn on lihtsalt jumalik! Tekstuur on väga mõnus, kerge peale kanda, ei jätnud mu nahka läikima ega muidu vastikuks. Alguses ma olin kindel, et jess, sellest saab minu uus päevakreem aga oh ei, kahjuks tekitab see mul punne. Kui kasutamise lõpetasin, kadusid ära, proovisin igaks juhuks uuesti ja jep, punnid. Sellest on nii tohutult kahju, kõik muu selle juures on lihtsalt fantastiline.
Gatineau Mild enzymatic exfoliator – this is a little too mild for my taste but it doesn’t dry my skin and it does exfoliate. I liked it but I do admit I wouldn’t buy it. I like rougher scrubs (like my absolute favorite Himalaya one). If you like them mild, do give this a go!
Minu maitse jaoks natuke liiga leebe aga ei kuivata ega ärrita mu nahka ja tõepoolest koorib. Mulle meeldis aga samas ma ei ostaks seda, mulle meeldivad natuke karmimad koorijad (nagu mu lemmik Himalaya oma). Kui sulle meeldivad malbed ja leebed koorijad, proovi kindlasti!
Gatineau Rich cream – yes. For dry skin. Which I have. But as said before, my dry skin doesn’t believe it’s dry and acts out like a moody teenager. So this was no surprise that this cream is too much for my skin. But it smells nice!
Kuivale nahale. Mis mul ju on. Aga olen ka enne öelnud, et minu kuiv nahk on äärmiselt kummaline, see ise ei tea vist, et ta kuiv on ja reageerib kõige peale üle. Nii et minu nahale oli see liiga rikkalik. Aga lõhn on väga mõnus!
Decléor Harmonie Cream – this was also in the Glambox once before if I’m not mistaken and I really like this! It’s lightweight and smells nice and does the trick. I don’t even know why I’m not considering this as a full sized product. It doesn’t make me oily or leave me dry and it’s just great overall. I should love it passionately but instead I just like it a lot. Go figure! 😛
See on samuti varem korra olnud kui ma ei eksi ja mulle see kreem väga meeldib! See on kerge koostisega, lõhnab hästi ja töötab nagu peab. Ma ei oska öelda, miks ma seda uue ostuna ette ei kujuta, ometi see ju niisutab, ei tee õliseks ega kuivaks ja on üleüldse mõnus ja tore. Ma peaksin seda kirglikult armastama aga ometi see lihtsalt meeldib mulle. No võta kinni! 😛


Wild & Mild Full Nail Sticker – no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get these to look nice on my nails. They just wouldn’t cooperate with me. But the design is quite pretty and flowery and cute. And hey, I’m all for trying out all kinds of nail stuff! So yay!
No ei saanud mina nende kleepsudega hakkama, proovisin ja proovisin aga no lihtsalt nad keelduvad koostööst. Aga disain on päris armas ja lilleline. Ja igal juhul mulle alati meeldib väga proovida uut küüntevärki!
Rimmel 60 seconds, 310 Red Carpet – YES! You see that? That is a full sized nail polish, my friends. And from Rimmel, a brand I haven’t tried before. This is a really bright and vivid red with microshimmer in it. It claims to be one-stroke, one-layer and one-minute. Well. It’s definitely not one-stroke, the brush is wide and comfy, sort of like OPI but one stroke? No. One-layer? Nope, two layers. Which isn’t bad though, a lot of polishes take three or even four layers. And one minute? Nope, more like five for the first and ten for the second layer, that is until it’s completely dry and you can still bang it up for a while after that if you’re careless. Anyway regardless of the bold promises not delivering, this is seriously nice! I should definitely try to get my hands on more Rimmel polishes! Love it ❤ And I love the color they sent me, I don't have a red like this in my collection.
Jep, kohe päris täissuuruses küünelakk! Ja Rimmelit ma ei olegi varem katsetanud. See konkreetne toon on lõbusalt ergas punane, tõeliselt rõõmsameelne. Pudelil väidetakse, et laki saab kanda peale ühe tõmbega, ühe kihina ja kuivab ühe minutiga. No. Pintsel on küll lai, umbes nagu OPI omad aga ühe tõmbega? No ei. Üks kiht ei vasta ka tõele, vaja oli ikka kahte. Ja ühe minutiga ta ei kuiva kah, rohkem nagu viis minutit esimesele kihile ja kümme teisele. Aga need on nagunii tõeliselt ulmelised lubadused. See, mida ta teeb on tegelikult väga hea! Kindlasti tahan selle peale kohe veel Rimmelit proovida. Tõeliselt äge! Ja mulle meeldib värv, mis nad mulle saatsid, mul ei olegi sellist punast.
China Glaze Glittering Garland – and can you see THAT? A full sized China Glaze polish! Gasp! The nail freak is much pleased yesyes 😀 Too bad I already have Glittering Garland. But no biggie, I’ll save this one for a giveaway *wink* It’s a really gorgeous dark green with glitter in it. And a really good quality polish like most China Glazes. Love it that they added this! I’d so buy the next box if I could just because of the two nail polishes this month!
Ja seda näete? China Glaze! Küüntefriik minus kiljus rõõmust. Kahju, et mul juba on seesama toon aga pole hullu, hoian giveaway jaoks 🙂 See on hästi ilus tumeroheline lakk, sätendab ja puha. Ja tõesti väga hea kvaliteediga nagu enamus China Glaze’i lakkidest. Ma olen täiesti vasikavaimustuses, et nad selle saatsid. Paljalt nende kahe laki pärast ma kohutavalt tahaks järgmist karpi osta.


And now for the completely random part, another prepaid card and an unscented tea candle. Considering all the other stuff in the box, these don’t call on any reaction, the rest is just so awesome that I don’t mind getting a pointless prepaid card this time 🙂
Nojah, järjekordne kõnekaart ja tavaline teeküünal. Kuna kõik muu oli seekord nii äge, siis need siin ei tekitanud mingit reaktsiooni, no ei pane kurvastama nagu eelmine kord 🙂

So overall, OMG! This was an awesome month. I am really truly VERY sad I can’t buy the next one 😦 It’s just… so awesome! Yes, awesome. Awesome! 😀
Kokkuvõtteks appi kui äge kuu! Ma olen tõesti väga väga kurb, et ma järgmise kuu karpi osta ei saa 😦 Sest see kuu oli lihtsalt nii äge! Jah, äge äge äge äge äge!

Glambox Estonia home page

Etsy finds: Karramba earrings

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m always on the lookout for quirky silver jewelry. I can’t wear anything but silver, I’m allergic to both copper and nickel, both very frequently found in all kinds of mixes, copper is also present in gold for instance, rendering it unwearable for me. Silver is always a safe bet though. So I was really overjoyed when I came upon this fun store on Etsy, Karramba. The artist behind Karramba is Giedré Kolokšanskyté from Lithuania. And no worries, she speaks excellent English so you’ll be well taken care of in regards to customer service. Her jewelry is really fun and cute, she makes these adorable little creatures that you just have to see so keep reading!

Anyway this is the box the earrings came in, she even added a silver polishing cloth!

I got three pairs, I simply couldn’t resist. I got all of them in mixed pairs, the hedgehogs originally come as a pair of hedgehogs, I asked to switch one for a moose, which she very kindly did:

For scale, this is how the moose looks worn, they’re all pretty much the same size, the smallest is the bee:

If you don’t like stud earrings, she also offers an option to have the pair of your choice as dangles instead. I love studs so I was happy with that. The stoppers or however they’re called are also made of silver and they have a good grip, there’s no fear of them coming loose and performing a disappearing act. The earrings are 24$ per pair and the selection is awesomely wide from parrots to mosquitos. Anything your heart may desire!

She also makes matching necklaces (picture by Giedré, not by me):

I’m not sure if they’re the same size as the earrings, I think they are, they’re pretty small. I’d love to get one someday, specially cool if it were a hedgehog, I have a thing with hedgehogs 😀

Anyway you should definitely check her store out! The stuff she makes is just crazy cool!

Karramba on Etsy. This link will also be in the love list that you can find above the banner for easier finding later 🙂

Take care everyone and see you on Friday with something new and awesome! And by the way, Estonian Glambox wonderers, this month is just SPECTACULAR! I got mine yesterday and I’m still testing everything, I’ll have a post for you sometime next week but oh man, I can tell you right now that this is the best box yet! So stay tuned for that as well.

Review: Haus of Gloi, summer pumpkin butters

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well yes, I have an addiction to Haus of Gloi. Anyway I went there to see if I can get my hands on a full sized Elevenses and walked off with four summer limiteds instead. Elevenses was simply out of stock. But hey, lets talk about these wonderful summer ones!

I got two small ones and two full sized ones:

SanctumA welcome respite: muskmelon, coconut water infused with bergamot flower, kaffir lime polished ho wood and sticky benzoin. First whiff of this definitely gives watermelon, combined with something I can’t quite pinpoint down. It’s a gorgeous scent, soft and lovely.
The Brier PathA sun drenched trail leading to a daydream of ripe wild berries and woods’ rose, rich forest loam, ozone, dark amber and cream. Now this is amazing. It really does smell like a warm summer day in the woods. Absolutely awesome. I wish I’d had had the change to get a big one but it was already out of stock. Ahhh it’s so great!
ZazzWhen something feels a bit lackluster, dull and boring, it is obviously lacking zazz. To fix this we recommend something definitely zazzy and not overly complicated: Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne all shook up with crushed ginger root. This I bought for my daughter (she uses way more body butter then I do, she’s always had intensely dry skin and needs daily moisturizing). The scent is fresh and grapefruit-y but not overly tart. To me it smells a little bit soapy but not necessarily in a bad way. On my skin, it turns into something completely awful. On my daughter it stays amazing. I guess I have strange body chemistry.
NarcosaA thick haze of tonka and black vanilla, three jasmines, tuberose and ylang ylang. This I got in big size cause they were out of small ones and I just HAD to have it. I’m a sucker for jasmine and tuberose and if I can have them both in one product, I’m willing to do anything pretty much 😀 I was a bit scared that it will be more vanilla then jasmine and tuberose but luckily that’s not the case. The scent is dark and thick, kind of incense-y which I love and both the jasmine and tuberose come out pretty well, jasmine a tad bit more. Ah I wish I had gotten two! Oh well. That’s just greedy thinking 😀

The ingredients:
Water, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) seed oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, glyceryl stearate, PEG 100 stearate, glycerin, cyclopentasiloxane, behenyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, dimethicone, proprietary fragrance blend, phenoxyethanol (and) caprylyl glycol (paraben and formaldehyde free preservative), hydrolyzed cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) seed extract, tocopherol, tetrasodium EDTA, xanthan gum, citric acid

They still have Narcosa in full size and Sanctum in sample size in stock. Others are sadly sold out though.

Overall House of Gloi completely rocks. Their body butters are deeply moisturizing, absorb really fast and spread nicely, the texture is lovely. The scents last quite a while but even if you’re not into scents, they also have an unscented butter available. They have a huge regular lineup, lots to choose from! And they always have some limited edition selection going on. I love it that their sample sizes are a generous 2 oz, that way my collectors spirit can have tons of different scents and actually have them last a little while. I wholeheartedly recommend them! I generally like to buy as many things as I can locally but this is just too awesome not to order from abroad. I honestly say I have never experienced an equal to these butters.

And best of all – these keep my daughters skin nicely moisturized! She tends to get rough scaly skin even with daily moisturizing but with these, she’s nice and soft and silky 🙂

Go check out Haus of Gloi 🙂 This link is also in the links tab above the banner for easier finding.

Going natural – organic rose and witch hazel tonic

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve wanted to cut down on the amount of chemicals I put on myself and one way to do it is to switch out my toner. Before I used Guinot and it was great but it’s ingredients list sounded pretty scary. So I decided to try something truly pure and organic. In came the Estonian online store Gaia Cosmetics. For organic stuff, look around in your area. In Estonia, I definitely recommend Gaia, they ship fast, the waters are in dark glass bottles which helps them preserve longer with spray pumps and the pricing is friendly.
Anyway so to solve my toner conundrum, I decided to get both rose water and witch hazel and mix them together for a toner. I basically just made a 50/50 mix in an empty spray bottle.
First, look at how gorgeous these bottles are!

As for the mix toner, it feels refreshing, doesn’t dry my skin and tones very well. It removes stuff that my cleanser somehow managed to miss and creates a nice base for my moisturizer. The only con I’d say is that the witch hazel doesn’t have the most delicious smell in the world, it overtakes rose completely and so the aromatherapy part in this is lost. I think for that reason I’ll be using the 50/50 mix for that time of the month when I get breakouts since witch hazel is great for pimples. Otherwise I’ll stick to pure rose water which smells great, is moisturizing and generally awesome.
You can read more about the properties of both waters here for instance. Though you can get a huge amount of extra information from Google. Obviously.

Overall, these are great! I store mine in the fridge, it’s so amazingly refreshing on a hot day to spray some gorgeous smelling rose water on myself. Ahhhh, the simple pleasures of life!

Gaia Cosmetics currently has a week-long sale going on, their waters are marked down a little as well. I definitely want to try their orange blossom and juniper water and I’m toying with the thought of trying out if castor oil really does help with stopping hair fallout (something I’m currently in serious trouble with). But yes, with school starting, my finances are going elsewhere this month, given that my 9-year old needs a whole lot of new stuff 😛 So maybe later. In which case I’ll write about whatever else I manage to try as well!
Their oil bottles follow the same design, just no spray (picture credit to Gaia Cosmetics):

As for the store, they shipped very fast and I got my waters quickly. There were no issues whatsoever. They also have reviews on products on their page which can be helpful when deciding what to try. So yes, in Estonia, go check them out! I don’t think they ship internationally. But for international people, find your local organic store and you’ll get all of the same stuff, just in a different packaging. The nice thing about organic waters is that no matter who makes them, they’re always pretty much the same.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful day/night and yay, tomorrow is Friday! I’m so exhausted, I really need this weekend. See you guys on the weekend with more fun stuff so stay tuned!

Schuh shopping spree, part two – Converse love!

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ahh, Converses are the love of my life. Seriously. I could have hundreds of shoes and if I didn’t own a pair of Converses, my shoe collection would look sad. Though I haven’t owned hundreds of shoes but still, point remains 😀

So anyway when I found these in Schuh, I knew I had to have them. And they started my Schuh shopping spree…
So here’s how they look, my brand new Converse Star Player Ox trainers:

And worn:

I’ll be the first to admit that they were insanely expensive, I’d say 65€ for a pair is a slight overkill. But I just love them so much! To kick me in the groin, the local sports goods store had a sale on Converses at the same time that I bought these from Schuh. But my local store had either sizes too small or too big, nothing in my size range, not even one size bigger. They had everything up to EU 38 and then EU 43-44. Me being 40 had no options there. But in the end it’s actually good because these red ones are unique to my city. Nobody has these!

Converses are always of exceptional quality and these are no exception. They’re sturdy, comfy and oh-so-pretty. My previous pair survived six years of vigorous wear (that’s daily wear while the weather was even remotely appropriate) and they would have lived longer but my cat decided otherwise. Anyway Schuh has quite a wide range of Converses so if you’re stuck in a country where you can’t buy Converses anywhere (or can but with a low selection and nothing strikes yer fancy), this is the place to go.

And in case you haven’t read shopping spree, part one, here’s what I think about Schuh:
First of all I have to mention this separately, they have the best system for showing you the shoes, not only do they have a load of pictures of every model, they also have a 360 degree view AND a video of them being worn! Seriously. I’ve often tried on shoes in the store that looked great on the rack but when worn were kind of meh. And vice versa. So it’s definitely a plus to see what they look like on someone. And the pictures are also great, for instance they even give you pictures of details, like this (picture credit to Schuh):

Pros of Schuh:
* Excellent view of the product, lots of pictures, 360 degree view and a video
* Very fast shipping, they ship the next day and use a courier service
* Low shipping costs! From UK to Estonia it’s 5€ and if you order over 75€, you get free shipping
* Clear and simple returns & exchanges system
* Takes Paypal in addition to major credit cards
* 100% authentic brands, no knockoffs sold as being real
* Wide variety of brands, including Vans, Converse, Keds, Doc Martens etc
* On the UK site they also have customer reviews, check those out for helpful tips on whether something runs a bit small or whatever else
* Customer service works 7 days a week and you will get a quick reply to whatever is worrying you. Also they have an extensive FAQ on their page.

Cons of Schuh:
* Pretty expensive but they do have sales
* The colors so far seem to be presented with less saturation then the shoes are in real life. Colors themselves are accurate, just in real life the shoes are much more vibrant. However it’s not a big deal at all for me. Just something to consider. This you can also read from the customer reviews, people usually mention if they look a bit different.

Overall I’d totally recommend Schuh!

Schuh UK
Schuh EU

Yeahhh, I’m totally pleased with them! I have a third part to this saga as well which will also give you my experience with exchanges. Which is always an important safety net to have when shopping for anything really, shoes in particular.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful day and see you on Thursday with something new and fun!

Review: ELF Madness – chapter five, misc items

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chapter one – Studio Cream eyeliners
Chapter two – Waterproof Eyeliner pens
Chapter three – eyeshadows
Chapter four – lip products

Lets continue with the ELF madness! Almost done! The last post will be about their brushes and from then on, I’ll write about them if/when I get something new. I do have their undereye setting powder on the way so I’ll probably write about that at some point in the future 🙂

So! Misc items that didn’t really fit in anywhere else.


Wet Gloss Lash And Brow Clear Mascara – I bought this for my eyebrows. I usually use the Tweezerman clear brow gel but I figured I’d try this out since it’s a MUCH cheaper alternative. Anyway it performs well, sets the eyebrows nicely. Only difference I noticed is that Tweezerman version lasts longer, usually the entire day and then some, my eyebrows are still in place after 12 hours. With this, I can get through work and if I want my eyebrows perfectly still, I need to reapply. It’s not bad though, the lasting power is there, it just doesn’t last as long. So I think I would repurchase this. I wouldn’t use it on my eyelashes but for eyebrows, this thingy is a very good option. 1.70€ on the UK site, 1$ on the US site.
Mineral Eyeshadow Primer – a really decent primer. I also have the Too Faced Shadow Insurance and so comparing to that one, this mineral one isn’t half bad! It absolutely beats no primer but it’s not as awesome as the Too Faced one, mostly for lasting and staying. I use Too Faced for my undereye area before applying concealer, that helps with it staying and also against concealer pooling into my fine lines. With the ELF primer, it also works for it but it’s not quite as nice for preventing the fine line party. For eyeshadows, this is brilliant though. Everything stays where it should and the colors just pop! So I’d definitely give this a thumbs up. Oh and I also tried the 1$ primer and the mineral one is definitely a lot better. Mineral eyeshadow primer is 3.50€ (UK) or 3$ (US).
All Over Color Stick in Toasted – this I got in the Jubilee surprise bag which is kind of awesome since I wouldn’t have bought it myself and thus it was cool to try out something I wouldn’t have tried out otherwise. Lets start with a swatch though and then talk some more about this:

Okay so Toasted is a warm bronze color with shimmer in it. It totally doesn’t work with my very light cool-toned skin but that aside, the stick itself is quite a cool concept. I tried it out on a slow day at home (read: when nobody can see me with weird test projects on my face) and its lasting power is quite average, for a cream product it is expected though. If you use it as a cream eyeshadow, you can make it last with primer and some similar eyeshadow but as a bronzer, I suppose if you’re going to set it with a powder, you’d be better off with just powder.
In general, this is a fun idea and not expensive to try out but I’d probably suggest trying out some other color though. This is 1.70€ (UK) or 1$ (US).


Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Luminance – this is actually a highlighter, not a bronzer like its name implies. Anyway it’s very nice, silky and smooth texture, slightly shimmery but not insanely so. For me the only trouble is that I’m too light for this. It’s way too close to my skintone to work as a highlighter, it simply won’t show. Which makes me wonder, would my dreams of the Balm highlighter end with a huge disappointment? This particular highlighter works for normal people though, I’m just pale as a ghost 😀 And for this price, you should try it if you’re looking for a highlighter! 1.70€ (UK), 1$ (US)
Studio Blush in Tickled Pink – I’ve heard so many good things about the Studio blush that this one kind of took me by surprise. It is indeed finely milled and everything but the color payoff is so poor! I don’t know if it’s just Tickled Pink or not but this did make me very hesitant about the other ones as well. This really needs some serious digging to get a little on your face. Strange but oh well. 4.50€ (UK), 3$ (US).
Swatches of both of them (thank god for a slight tan, otherwise you wouldn’t see Luminance at all :D):

Yep, I really had to keep swiping the blush on to make it show up for the swatch. But it is a very pretty and natural pink! That I do like about it.


And last, but not least!
Studio Shimmer Palette – ahhhh, instant love! These are creamy shimmery (but not glittery!) colors that you can use on your entire face, they can work as eyeshadow base or highlighter or whatever you fancy really. I like it that they’re shimmery but more in a glowy way then in a glittery way. I’ve been using the lightest one as a highlighter and it looks fantastic! The only downside is that without setting them with a powder they only last a few hours. And for me, setting the highlighter means losing it. I’ve also worn these as eyeshadow bases and they’re awesome as those too. They make the colors pop! I think this palette is one of my most favorite items from ELF 🙂 4.50€ (UK), 3$ (US)
Swatches? Sure!

I couldn’t get the colors to show up real well for the picture, all four are different, I promise.

So this was the misc part, next time brushes and at some point, the undereye setting powder. I also got an ELF nail polish in the Jubilee bag that I haven’t tried yet, I’ll give that a go in the future as well and will let you know what I think.

Eyeslipsface USA
Eyeslipsface UK

And now my vacation is over, next vacation next year! But I’ll keep posting, I have so much stuff lined up for you! So stay tuned, next week will be interesting 🙂

Review and how to: Travalo

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you haven’t heard about Travalo, do tell which planet do you hail from 😀 Anyway I bought two of these, one as a gift to my sister and one for myself and figured I’d tell you guys what I think and how it works.
For those from foreign planets, Travalo is this little bullet that holds roughly 50 sprays of perfume or whatever liquid you wish to carry around. It’s an atomizer so it sprays and everything. It’s perfect for travel since it can be taken aboard a plane. Which is why I thought it’d be perfect for my sister, she’s going to go study abroad for a while.

First lets talk about how the filling of this thing works. This is what my packaging looked like and my smaller Valentina by Valentino that is dying to go into it:

Start by removing the top from the perfume bottle, sometimes it takes removing several pieces, until you reach this white thingy:

On the bottom of your Travalo, there’s this white spot which you put over the perfume spray pump, this is where the perfume gets into the Travalo:

Aaand then you pump!

Ta da! There’s a clear window on your Travalo so you can see how much is left:

Pros:
* Great for travel
* Fills up fast and easy
* The atomizer is really good, it sprays evenly
* Comes in a ton of pretty colors
* Despite the small size, it really does hold 50+ sprays
* Very sturdy metal casing, your perfume is safe and also your bag that you have this in

Cons:
* Get one, want more 😀
* Nearly impossible to clean, you’ll need to stick with one perfume per one Travalo

Overall I’m loving this! I do wish for two more, one for my Serge Lutens and one for my pure rosewater. That because I work in an air conditioned office and while that’s great, it dries my skin like there’s no tomorrow and it would be truly awesome to have some rosewater with me. This will have to wait though, with school starting, my kid is eating all my money 😀 But anyway, I think it’d be cool to also have orange and purple ones, the three would look like my hair. I have red hair with orange and purple in it. They have two sizes of them, one for 50 pumps and one for 65. I’m not sure which one I have because I bought mine from Cheapsmells but I think by the plastic around it that it’s probably the smaller one.

Travalo also makes cases by the way (picture credit to Travalo):

That’d be so perfect to carry around my future red-orange-purple trio. I have one of those black hole bags that sucks up everything I put in there 😀 I don’t know how well this case holds the bullets though, I mean whether they stay well and is it easy to put them in and take them out but I guess it’s a matter of trying it out.

Oh and look at these, these are their Boots specials, aren’t they cute? I just adore this gold one (again, picture credit to Travalo)

Travalo also has a Facebook page and they have a daily spray game there, you have a chance to win one pretty much every day as far as I can tell. I’ve played it for a while and so far no luck sadly 😛 I’ll keep trying!

Do check it out, I’m not just saying it’s awesome. It IS awesome!

Travalo homepage – this will also go to the links I love page above the banner for easier finding
Travalo Boots specials
Travalo Facebook

I’ll possibly be out of town for a few days, I’m still undecided. But I still have a few days of my this years vacation left so I might as well use it and get out of town. So if I will go, it’ll be quiet here for a few days. But do check back, I still have the ELF madness to finish and a lot of other interesting stuff in the works 🙂