Do You Clean Your Face The Right Way?

I don't know about you, but for a long time, I didn't put that much thought into cleaning my face the right way. Mostly a cleansing milk and water did the job quite well. Ok, I was also in my teens and have probably only had a pimple 5 or 6 times. My skin has always been very kind to me, but it was only when my chlorine soaked face ( from swim practice, not from any masochistic activities) started getting dry, I realized that more effort needs to go into all things skin.
Last week I stumbled upon these two videos and I have to say, they are the most spot on thing I have seen. They always say that the French put an extra bit of effort into anything beauty, and skincare is no exception. 
Here are the amazing videos on how to care for your skin the right way.

                            

So, how many of you actually do this?

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My Absolute Beauty NO-GOs

I think all of us have our pet peeves when it comes to beauty and beauty products. I'm sure each of you has at least one of those things that will make you go OH NO! and will result in making you less than happy.
Well,so do I.That's why I made a list of the things I really dislike, be it the attributes of a specific product, the frustration that some others give,or simply things that I cannot believe can happen to someone who says they like beauty and like to take care of themselves.

To the right, you can see my TOP 6 "Please don't!"s, starting with my personal frustration and obvious incapacity of applying mascara when you give me a rubber brush and ending with the cringing that always happens when I see people walking around with chipped nail polish, or even worse, just a bit of nail polish remaining on their nails!
I'm going to go into detail with each of them as we go along, and I'm going to be very curious what your pet peeves are, once I'm done.

Rubber Bristles on Mascaras and Plastic Hairs on Brushes

They wanna make me use all those things but I said No,No,No!

1. I mean it! Don't give me a mascara that has rubber bristles. I might not be good at applying it, or my eyelashes simply don't fully understand its good intentions, I really do not know, but I can tell you that my lashes never look good when such a mascara brush touches them. They end up clumpy, stuck together, and all in all not too pretty. I always get a feeling that they are super heavy and it's very uncomfortable. I've tried. I've tried time and time again to give it one more try, but it just doesn't apply right. Sorry rubber bristles, but I don't like you.

2.  I suspect I'm not the only one who isn't a fan of plastic hairs on brushes that you are supposed to apply your make-up up evenly with. It never works. The powder doesn't stick well, it does everything but apply it evenly and when you clean it, it's like cleaning saran wrap. Once again, I'm sorry but you are not touching me again.

Awful Smelling Lip Balms and The Sudden Shock in Your Hair

3. I'm a big fan of lip balms but when I opened this therapeutic little fellow I felt like I just entered a housewife's living space during spring cleaning. It smelled like orange toilet cleaner mixed with bleach and some other chemicals I can only imagine carpets are being cleaned with. This thing has never touched my lips simply because the smell put me off so bad that I couldn't even imagine letting it come in contact with any part of my body.
It's especially disappointing when you look forward to using a product and the smell is just so bad that it robs you of any and every joy you might have had. Not funny.

4. Has THAT ever happened to you? If you have long hair like me, then I'm pretty sure it has. You're just minding your own business, trying to get that hair in a pony tail as tight as possible so it doesn't move when you run to where you have to be in 5 minutes and BAM! your trusty hair elastic pops open and becomes double in size and close to breaking. Hair is not gonna sit well and you know it can and will break when you least need it to.
The imminent death of the elastic is one of those laws that Mr. Murphy would have mentioned if he would have been a woman, I am sure!

and last but not least

Inefficient Razors and Chipped Nails

5. We've all been there: jumping in the shower in the morning, grabbing the new razor we have just purchased and having high hopes that it will work with us as a perfect human-razor team, like the higher powers had intended it. Ah, but not so fast! Razor has other plans! You do a first shave just to find that half of what shouldn't be there is still there. You do another shave to find that the other half is now somewhat gone, but your skin is looking at you and asking why you've attempted to kill it. At this point, all you want to do is take the razor and throw it away, all the while wondering why can't you just do your job?

6. If you want to make me cringe, you just have to show me chipped nails and someone wearing them proudly. Still can't fully understand how someone can have no problem with the polish on the tips having  long left the building.
I intentionally chipped off my tips in the photo above and took the polish off immediately after, just in case you were wondering. The things we do for art, don't you think?

In my opinion, a manicure is done so that nails can look well-groomed and neat, not so hat they look even worse than before. I also have problems seeing nails with just a splat of color left somewhere in the middle of them. For me, it's just not pretty. Keep it tidy or take it off.

These have been my ultimate No-Gos when it comes to beauty, maybe you will agree with some and maybe you can tell me about yours! What are your pet peeves when it comes to beauty?

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Highlighter Addiction Wishlist

Confession time:

I have an overgrown fascination for highlighters in general and for blushes that come in non-powder form.
I truly love the glow that they give your skin.It looks much more natural and it generally makes you look healthier.
I don't know why powders don't really do it for me,but I truly love a liquid or creamy highlighter or blush to apply on my face.
Here's a couple of these that I am very in like with and that are sitting nicely on my wishlist.
What's frustrating is that some ( like NARS or Stila) are not available in my close proximity. The other things is that others,such as the Benefit products,I just can't seem to find at their counters.Not cool guys,not cool!
Either not cool,or my timing is really ridiculously bad...

Benefit Sun Beam - Liquid sunshine,as they like to describe it
NARS The Multiple - For eyes,cheeks,lips AND body!It's one of those things I'd carry in my bag at all times.
Benefit High Beam - I truly like the descriptions Benefit has to offer and this one is "supermodel in a bottle". I think it sums it up quite nicely.
Benetint - Blusher in a bottle? I'm in!
Clarins Instant Light Blush - I especially like the fact that it's not an "in your face" blush.It's a lovely,subtle shade.
Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush - I'll be honest here,I wanna stick my finger in the bouncy and see how it bounces. And also,I've heard some great things about it.
Stila One Step Illuminate - This one has three bronzers that you swirl (aka mix), in order to get the ultimate,perfect illuminating serum. Really craving this one.


Do you have any favorites in the department?



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July Favorites

This past month,I've been using very few products as temperatures have been above 30C almost each day.
With that heat,I personally like my skin to be able to breathe and feel light so less really has been more in July.
That's why I'll show you my favorite beauty products of the month.

Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer and Highlighter

I've been using this one for years now and am still liking it a lot. The great thing about it is that it adapts to your skin and will actually, well...match to perfection.

Another thing I like is that it is also a highlighter and doesn't just act as your regular concealer. I've given a number of other concealers a go,just to have an alternative in case of emergency. From Estée Lauder to Benefit,nothing worked as well as this one. It also is quite cheap: 7.99€  and lasts a very long time.

Of course you will want to change it out regularly ,as it has a brush tip and might end up causing more bad than good once bacteria gets on it, but it is worth it.

Catrice Black Gel Eyeliner 

Last year gel eyeliners started getting popular and as an avid consumer of eyeliner I wanted to give it a try.It quickly turned out that it was much easier to maneuver and had a much better coverage. That's when I was hooked and remained hooked ever since.To be honest,Catrice was the first one I found,and I kinda just stuck with it since I was satisfied.

To me,eyeliner and mascara can easily be enough make-up,and gel eyeliner serves its purpose really,really well.

Manhattan Multi Effect Eyeshadow in Cotton Candy

This one is just a very,very pretty and subtle pink that brightens up the eyes and works amazingly well with eyeliner.

Eyeko Fat Brush Mascara

I suggest you read my post about it ,because it has very quickly become on of my favorite mascaras!

Vichy 3 in 1 One Step Cleaner

The best thinkg to have ever happened to my make-up removal routine. It is a cleansing milk,toner and eye make-up remover in one. I can honestly say that there is nothing my eyes appreciate more than this. It's very gentle on them and successfully removes even the most attached eye make-up. I'm super pleased with it and will write a full review about it soon!

I Love... Raspberry & Blackberry Hand Cream

Summer,sun...dried out hands. Not only cold gets to them,but heat and sun exposure too.As I already have dry hands and nails that are at risk of becoming brittle,I always have some hand cream in my bag. This one just happens to smell so good!

China Glaze Surfin' for Boys

Oh coral neon,how I love the! This one was adoration at first wear,and since it is a neon,it is perfect for summer. About this one,you can read all my swooning right Here.

I'm curious,what have you used most this month?

The New Kids On The Block!

I've been doing some purchasing lately and figured I'd share some with you.
They'll all get their spotlight but here's the big bunch.

First up,the polishes,which are mostly pastel and awesome for summer:

We have Manhattan,Rival de Loop,Catrice and my new discovery: Mi-Ny.
They'll all have their turn on the blog,and I have already started with the ambiguous Grey/Blue from Mi-Ny HERE


Then we've got the face masks.I'm  a bit nuts for them...clearly

And last but not least, goodies for the bath.I'm gonna tell you more about the soaps,especially about the Adzuki Bean one soon,because it is simply amazing! Of course,I'll be swooning about the gorgeous smells of the rest of  the products too.They can't be ignored!

 

That's it for now. Stay tuned for the detailed reports! :)

Eyeko Fat Brush Mascara

The time has come to swoon over Eyeko. As I mentioned,I had gotten my order from them a couple days a go and I was very impressed when I saw they threw in an extra FAT Eye Stick in petrol blue,which by the way,is super creamy and easy to apply and work with.Blue eye liners may not be my thing,but I might give this one a shot. And as I  was saying in my other post,I find their packaging so so cute!

I ordered this mainly because I am obsessed with fibre mascara. I love fibre because it makes my lashes feel naked,and not heavy at all. It also gives them a natural look and it's good for them. What can you want more? After my favorite MAC Mascara got discontinued,I started searching for a replacement and so I got to Eyeko.
Thus came the time to test!

The mascara came with an Eyeko Shield.It helps the application and prevents smudges on your lid.And so it did.
This is the little magic tool. I might try to use it as a guitar pick too,just to see if it works :p

 


Here's the magic mascara.

 

It's called Fat Brush for a reason.That brush is really fat! The downside is that it takes some getting used to in maneuvering it.For the record,it is the biggest brush I've dealt with so far,but thanks to the Eyeko Shield (which I'm gonna need some training with too,before I use it to its full potential) it does manage to cover the entire lash,even the tinier fraction amongst it.

And here's the moment we've all been waiting for: What does it look on your lash? Well,this is what it looks like:

You also get this handy guide to what their Mascara range does,contains and what their brushes look like.

 

All in all,I like it! It gives my lashes the natural look I was aiming for,keeps them feeling super light and long. Gonna need to get used to the brush,but once I do,I'm sure my lashes are gonna look even fluffier.

You can order the Fat Brush Mascara on The Eyeko Website