Biz Time

And now for the second part of the MUA haul. Starting with cream blushes. They are actually bigger than I expected. There is a nice quantity of product and the packaging is big enough to be able to use a blush brush. I picked two colours out of four, Bittersweet (light barbie pink) and Dolly (coral-tan colour). These are very creamy and give a dewy glow to the cheeks, more so than Maybelline's Dream Cream blushes. 

Fortunately, it turned out it was just the very top layer that was like that. It's actually quite pigmented and shows up well on my cheeks (however, I'm very pale). Very cute, but I wonder how it would perform on someone darker than me. Surprisingly it lasted a quite a few hours, which is more than I expected from a 2£  blush, especially since it is a pale colour. I apply it with fingers or with a brush (I use a synthetic Real Techniques contour brush).

Dolly is very, very pigmented. I can't apply it with fingers because I always get way to much colour on. Because it's a more pigmented blush, it lasts very well on the cheeks and fades slowly.  

I got two individual eyeshadows. One is from the pearl line called shade 12, a brown green duochrome colour, the second is matte shade 15, a very light pink. Both are very pigmented and blend nicely. They are soft, the pearl one is almost like a creamy texture and the matte one is more powdery.

Shade 12 looks very dark green in the packaging, but applied lightly looks warm brown. When you intensify it with more layers it gets a slight greeny blue sheen. However, it's hard to get so much colour on the lid to see the duochrome effect, also it fades fast, so for the most part it just stays sort of brownish taupe colour. It blends out nicely into a light warm brown shade. I heard it's close to Mac's Club eyeshadow, but I don't have that shade so I can't compare. 

I wanted something matte and it was just a pound, so I gave it a go. I imagine it would work well also as a setting powder under the eyes, but I haven't tried it for that yet.  

It's more creamy and applies without dragging. For a pound you can't miss.

I bought Heaven and Earth palette as a Christmas gift for my counsin, hence no swatches.

I'm sure you've heard of MUA before, but for those of you who haven't, it's a affordable line of makeup based in the UK. This is my first experience with MUA brand and I must say it's not bad. For one they send me five nail polishes for free, but more on this later. The package arrived quickly, something I wasn't expecting, especially since I was sure they will be swamped with orders because of the offer. I took a lot of pictures of the products and the haul is not that small, therefore I decided to make three separate posts. I hope you don't mind. 

As I said before, I got five nail quake polishes for free. The shades from left to right are: Quiver (cobalt blue), Broken Arrow (purple), Shattered Ice (silver), Shiver (beautiful coral pink) and Jailbreak (black).

I have a confession to make. I dislike crackle polishes. In the last two years that crackle polishes are all the rage, I never even considered trying one. Honestly, I don't find the look of cracked nail polish appealing or pretty at all. I was kind of happy that the crackle craze was finally dying down. But hey, now I have five. And I still haven't changed my mind. However, I do really like the shades they sent. If any of nail polish experts out there is reading this, can you please recommend me dupe shades for regular nail polishes? Mostly I would like to know a dupe for Quiver and Shiver, please.

Quiver

There are a lot of homemade beauty recipes. Everything from hair masks, face masks, scrubs, etc. that you can make at home. Most recipes I stumble upon either online (mainly MUA) or in some magazine use some ingredients I'd have to go buy specifically for that mask or treatment (like avocado for example) and because I'm usually not that committed to do that my collection of recipes is rather limited. 

First thing that I use very often are oils. Mostly I use them for my hair. My favourites are coconut, macadamia and olive oil. The first two are great for really dry hair. Coconut oil reduces protein loss, helps hair growth, gives shine, plus it's smells nice. It's great for your scalp and helps with dandruff. The latter can also be applied to macadamia oil (a fact I have noticed myself). Macadamia oil contains a lot of vitamins and minerals that your hair needs. It makes your hair more silky and smooth, it's also supposed to help hair growth. My mum doesn't like it, I personally don't mind it that much, but yes, coconut oil does smell nicer. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so you have to warm it up between your hands to melt it and then apply it on your hair.

I use oils as a pre-wash treatment, which means I apply oil generously all-over the hair including massaging it into my scalp. I leave it on for at least an hour, but the more the better. Do not be afraid to leave it on overnight (wrap you hair in a towel or put on a shower cap to avoid getting your pillows greasy). Then I proceed with my normal routine - shampoo, conditioner and styling products. It makes such a difference, my hair feels more moisturised, I feel like my conditioner works better, it feels more silky and smooth. If your hair is very dry give this a go.

There is plenty more uses for oils, like as a make up remover (great for removing waterproof mascara) or as a moisturiser.

She recommended to  use egg yolk on my hair. It contains a lot of protein that help to strengthen the hair, make it less brittle and dry. As with oils I use it as a pre-wash treatment. You can use both the egg yolk and egg white if your hair is normal or use only egg white is your hair is oily. 

First I beat one or two egg yolks and then add a tablespoon or two of oil (olive, macadamia, coconut,...). I add a bit of honey, I usually just eyeball the amount of all ingredients. I find that this mixture is too runny to just apply it on my hair, so I add conditioner to make it thicker. I apply it on dry hair all over including the scalp and leave it on for 15-30 minutes. Be careful that the water is not too hot when your rinsing it off. 

Baking soda is another very useful product to have. I use it as a face scrub. It makes my skin amazingly soft. Add water to make a thin paste and apply it on your face avoiding the eyes. I usually leave it on for a few minutes while I brush my teeth, then very gently massage it in and rinse it off (key word here is gentle, otherwise you might end up with a burn). I don't use it too often, but for now it's the only scrub I use, it's just so cheap and actually effective.

Aspirin and honey mask is a remedy I use when my skin starts to misbehave. Aspirin contains acetylsalicylic acid, a cousin of salicylic acid. It does not have the same properties that are good for preventing acne and blackheads, but it works anti-inflammatory. This means it will help reduce the redness. Honey is antibacterial, contains loads of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals. You can use them separately of course. I use honey mask when my skin is mega dry and it works better than any moisturiser I ever tried. And I used to use aspirin mask without honey. I just used 1 or 2 uncoated aspirin, then add a drop of water and it dissolves instantly. It looks like a thick paste which I applied on the face. Now I add honey just so it's easier to apply and it works even better. Cinnamon is another ingredient that works antimicrobial.

I've been using aspirin toner for quite a while now. It's very simple to make. Just use two aspirins (there really is no need for more and it's expensive), dissolve them in warm water and it's done. I also add some aloe vera and honey, but it's not necessary. I make about 20 - 30 ml at a time, never the whole bottle. This toner is also great for razor bumps.

It's another type of toner that helps calm down inflammations. We grow camomile at home so there is not fear of any chemicals.

If a massive red spot appears on your face and you need it to disappear as fast as possible, try ice cubes. Just hold an ice cube on the spot and it will calm the inflammation and reduce the redness.

Sugar scrub is probably the most known home made recipe and it's so easy to make. I often use it, because I don't have a habit of buying scrubs regularly. Most scrubs on the market contain sugar anyway. I just eyeball the amount of sugar and olive oil plus I sometimes add some honey.

Some homemade recipes I tried and didn't like:

Vinegar - In my desperate attempts to rid myself of dandruff I tried apple vinegar. You apply it on your scalp for a few minutes and then rinse your hair with some more. It's supposed to remove build up and add shine to your hair. Well in my experience it dried it out like nobody's business. It looked and felt like straw. I needed some heavy duty conditioner to fix it. Not for me.

Lavender oil - It's supposed to be a great spot treatment. I did not notice any difference at all.

And what are your homemade recipes? I'd love to read about it in the comments, you know - sharing is caring.

One more thing about a project I've been doing for the past two days.

Thanks for reading!

I ordered from E.l.f. UK website again after ages. They had an offer with free shipping to Europe so I bought a few bits and pieces.

I got one of their Studio cream blushes in the shade Heart Breaker, Studio pigment eyeshadow in Golden Goddess, a liquid eyeliner in the colour Copper and a Flawless Concealer brush.

Granted the name is not the best, but the liner is really nice, especially for the price (1.7€).  It's a nice addition to spice up the make up.

It's actually quite a lot bigger than I expected. I'd like a smaller brush for applying concealer under the eyes, but nonetheless it's a very nice brush. In fact I've been using it loads since I got it. It blends concealer under the eyes, around the nose, on the chin and I use to dot concealer on blemishes. I just wish it were smaller. I'm planing to get some Real Techniques brushes in the future, but until that time it's become my every day brush.

It retails for 10.95 € in Müller which is definitely not cheap , but it is great quality that I believe can match with some high end brands. 

Thanks for reading!

A couple of months ago, I did a post on my skin care routine. I mentioned two products I had samples of that impressed me.

I took a picture of the blurb on the back of the BB cleaner's packaging, so I won't go into details about it. Basically, it's a cleanser that starts to form oxygen bubbles after application. If I understand correctly from my Google research, the science behind the oxygen in products is that it kills bacteria. The cleanser comes in a quite big packaging (at least it seems a bit big for 100ml product) with a nice pump. I use three pumps of product and spread it evenly on my face, but avoid areas around the eyes and mouth. It starts off like a thick gel consistency which begins to foam in about 30 seconds. You can feel a slight tingle while the bubbles are forming. When the bubbles create a nice thick foam, I massage the product all over the face (also over the eyes and mouth. So far the product never got into my eyes, nor has it ever irritated them). I really like that part.

It's a nice cleanser that doesn't dry out my skin and I really like the thick foam it forms. It's a bit of a nuisance that you have to wait for the bubbles to form, still no biggie. But I don't notice my skin getting any better in terms of clarity, radiance and that sort of things. It is just a cleanser though. I don't expect miracles from it.

When I ran out of Estee Lauder Advance Night Repair, I decided to get Eucerin Aquaporin Light to replace it. I had some samples before and I really loved it. It's so light, but super moisturising and sinks in really fast. It's the perfect base for make up, I much prefer it to the La Roche Posay Cicaplast. Really a lovely moisturiser. But I do miss EL ANR, though. 

I've only had this scrub for a few weeks, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it a HG. It's the best smelling scrub I've ever tried. If Miss Dior Cherie and Chanel's Coco Mademoseille had a baby, this would be it. And the scent lasts so long. I can actually smell it in the morning. It's a very thick scrub with big grains so it really does the job properly. This one doesn't just exfoliate well, but it also moisturises. It leaves a slight oily filter, so you don't need to use moisturiser afterwards. It's that oily filter that keeps you smelling nice for so long.

I got my 300ml jar from eBay for 12€. I highly recommend you trying it, if you like more moisturising scrubs. I'll definitely try more Soap & Glory products. Righteous Butter is next on my list.

Since I've already done posts on chocolate and coconut scented products, I promised to do one about peach scented products as well. I have to say I was having real difficulties finding any in our drugstores, especially shower gels (the only one I could find was from Subrina and I hate it). I thought there's going to be loads of them everywhere, but the only places I found them were DM and Yves Rocher. So this post does look a bit like a Balea commercial, but in my defence it's not intentional. 

First up is my favourite peach scent ever and unfortunately it was a LE, but I stocked up, so I still have one shower gel and deodorant left. It's Balea's Traum Geschöpft LE of which I already raved loads in favourites posts over the year (I think it was released in the Spring). Oh, how much I wish it were in their regular line. This two items fuelled my peach obsession.

There is one peach and one apricot scented line, or at least it was, it looks like their are in the process of discontinuing them and replacing with mango scented line. There is also a hair mask in the peach line and besides a really lovely scent that lingers quite long on the hair, I have nothing good to say about it. It's so runny (why not pack it in a bottle then), light and it does absolutely nothing for my hair (I have very dry hair). The mask is not being discontinued, but I won't repurchase. 

Their shaving gels are really good quality and cheap, I've been buying them for years. But the scent is nowhere near peach or milk. To me it smell exactly like pears. 

I really like the quality of both products. I bought them in France. 

This is such a disappointment for me. Ok, maybe a bit like peach snaps, but there is no juiciness or sweetness. It's quite sharp and smells too masculine for me.

I wanted something very sweet and creamy, similar to Raffaelo. But I remain positive, there is a lot more products to try. So here are the things I have, I'll do sort of a quick review style on all of them.

Yves Rocher's Noix de Coco line was on the top of my list after reading very positive reviews, but it mostly left me disappointed. I've already done a review on all of the products here and here, so I'll be short.