July 2016 Favorites

Hey Beauties!

July has been a hot month and I've been embracing the glowing makeup look and trying to make my body feel nourished and my hair look less dry. It's been a true summer month and I think August is going to be pretty much the same.



Avon Senses Joyful Tropics Papaya & Peach Shower Gel

In summer time I love to resort to summery smells with all my products. Shower gels are the easiest way to add some tropical scent to your bathroom. I love this one, as you can see, because I've almost used it up. The smell is very sweet, fruity and tropical. I wouldn't say it smells like peach and I don't know how papaya smells, but it's definitely fruity. It's yellow cream that doesn't dry out my skin. My skin is also a lot less sensitive in summer and I haven't gotten any red patches after showering with this one.

Garnier Olia Conditioner

Well this is a random product in my favorites. As you may notice, I color my hair and I always use Garnier Olia hair colors. With the box also comes this conditioner. Since I use more hair colors at once, I have a lot of these conditioners laying around my bathroom. It's probably the best drugstore conditioner that you can get. I think these are sold separately too, but in a tube version. If you have a chance definitely try one. It makes my hair really soft, nourished and healthy looking. It's thicker consistency cream and it has a very hair salon scent to it. The only thing I don't get is why don't they just make this kind of conditioner in their regular range?! Those conditioners that come with hair colors are always so much better, because frankly, they need to make your hair look extra good after you attack them with chemical of hair color.



My favorite face sunscreen and one that I always go back to. It has light liquid creamy consistency that doesn't leave white trace all over your face. It soaks in pretty quickly and leaves behind slightly luminous finish. It doesn't have any perfume, but I can definitely smell some heavy alcohol in the beginning. It doesn't irritate my skin and it never breaks me out. That's why I keep coming back to it.


I was not a fan of this foundation. It seemed really matte at first. In these really hot summer days I needed something more mattifying and I came back to it. It's true that it covers well and I like that the pores look a bit more diminished, especially in this heat. However, I still hate L'Oreal foundation shades. This one is too dark for me (still) and I hate it's orange undertone. I mix it with Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation to make it a bit more yellow and lighter. Sometimes I might even add some of Missha Perfect Cover B.B. Cream. I like it in combination with other foundations and the thing that I like the most is matte finish and slightly blurred skin effect.


I use this with pretty much everything. Lately especially with my foundation. If I said before that I mix together three foundations, I also add this in for a bit more luminous look. Just a small drop can make the skin look a bit more natural and not as dead matte. I think this is one of the best Catrice products and as such should absolutely be in their regular range. Why not even add it to some of foundation formulations? Just a suggestion.


Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Or Multi-Purpose Dry Oil

I got this as a gift from Sandra and I immediately fell in love with it. It's not necessary product, but once you have it, you just find the time to use it. I like that it has gorgeous bronzed golden shimmer in it and it seems like it's a bit tinted, which means it also adds just a small tint of color. I love to apply this on my arms and legs, if I wear a dress. It also smells so good, nutty and a bit oriental. I might even start putting it in my hair. 


H&M Pure Radiance Powder Blusher Apricot

Gorgeous satin finish and beautiful apricot shade that almost has a bit of pink in it. It looks great with pretty much all my makeup looks and I've been wearing it a lot this month. I just adore H&M blushes. Since getting this one, I also got another one Rosy Brown. I love that they have wide range of really light shades and that they are not your typical bright corals and pinks.


Golden Rose Silky Touch Pearl Eyeshadow 121

Golden Rose impressed me with affordable precise. I already bought their nail polishes and really liked wide range of shades. Now I wanted to try some of their eyeshadows. The range is not as huge, but they have some nice shades. This one 121 is one of the best bronzed brown shades with warm golden sheen to it. It's not just the shade, it has great pigmentation and very silky formula. I am really impressed. Shame I didn't get more shades. 

Clio Kill Black Waterproof Brush Liner

Another amazing Asian brand brush liner. It has good black color, dries fairy fast and doesn't move through the day. I love the precision of a brush applicator, because you can really make a sharp line. It's just really nice and I have nothing bad to say about it.


Who would have thought that I would have not one, but three blue nail polishes featured in my favorites. I always say I'm not a fan of blue, but it seems I just haven't used the right blues before.

Avon Magic Effects Neon Electric Blue Nail Polish

Amazing vibrant true electric blue shade that looks bright and perfect for summer. It has lots of small blue shimmer that makes it extra sparkly. 

Avon Nailwear Pro+ Nail Polish Minty

This one is a perfect mix of pastel blue and pastel green, which means I would call it perfect mint shade. It looks really pretty on the nails and is definitely a crowd pleaser.

Kiko Nail Lacquer 530 Pearly Blue Peacock

When I saw it in the store, I was mesmerized. It look so pretty in the bottle and it actually translates the same on nails. This is seriously a true peacock shade. It looks dark blue and has lots of shimmer which gives it greenish gold sheen. It reflects light beautifully and looks really unique. 



These are the only matte liquid lipsticks that I can wear without the fear of getting super dry lips the next day. It's almost mousse like consistency and the shade is my perfect peachy nude. It's actually the lightest liquid lipstick that I own and goes with pretty much every standard warm look. 


I've been testing these this month and those three shades became my most used. Iced Mocha is my all time favorite shade of this collection. It's perfect mauve brown shade that looks good on pretty much everybody. Nude Shine is my kind of brown lip gloss with silver shimmer. It looks really juicy and a bit more natural. Rose is perfect muted pink that goes with so many different makeup looks. I adore this shade almost as much as Iced Mocha, but Iced Mocha is a bit more versatile. 

Yellow and Purple Summery Eyes

Hey Beauties!

Summer is always that time of year, when I see so much colorful inspirational makeup looks and the season that just inspires you to wear bolder colors. I love my safe neutral warm choices, but every now and then I feel like I need some color. Makeup should be fun and so was creating this colorful wearable makeup look.


I always start my eye makeup with eye primer and bone colored matte shade as a base. Then I added warm light brown matte shade in the crease and darkened it with redish medium matte brown, especially in the outer corner. I decided to play with yellow and purple. On my inner part of the lid, I applied vibrant shimmery yellow shade. 


Then I added matte orange shade on the outer part of the lid to give that half of the lid a warmer, darker and more orange base. I then went over it with the same yellow shade, but left out the very outer corners. There I use two matte medium and dark brown shades to darken outer corner. This creates gradient from yellow to orange to brown.


Around the lower lash line I applied light pastel purple. I darkened outer portion with darker vibrant purple. Of course I had to finish with black winged liner.


At the end I applied black mascara and added some really natural false eyelashes. I also added light golden yellow in the inner corner of the eye to further accentuate that upper gradient and make eyes look more awake.


On my face I did the usual foundation and concealer routine. No summer makeup would be complete without bronzer. Bronzer is seriously my most abused summer product. It just instantly gives you that sun kissed look. I also applied a very yellow toned light golden highlighter and apricot satin blush. On my lips I used light peach matte liquid lipstick to make the whole look warmer and summery.





I got a few compliments with this look and it's definitely one of those looks that doesn't look too over the top, but gives you that fun summer color. Upper lid almost looks like a summer sunset and purple is a complimentary shade that makes yellow pop even more. I just love combination of these two shades. What colored eyeshadow would you wear for fun summer makeup?


Products used:

Face:
L'Oreal Infallible 24-Matte Foundation 11 Vanilla
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation 51 Light Vanilla
Catrice LE Sound of Silence Fluid Glow
Catrice Liquid Camouflage High Coverage Concealer 005 Light Natural
MAC Studio Finish Concealer NC15
Kiko Radiant Fusion Baked Powder 01 Ivory
Essence LE Light of Orient Bronzer 01 Sunkissed Beauty
H&M Pure Radiance Powder Blusher Apricot
Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter Golden Lights

Eyes:
Avon Ideal Flawless Primer
Zoeva Cocoa Blend Bitter Start
Zoeva Cocoa Blend Substitue For Love
Zoeva Cocoa Blend Freshly Toasted
Morphe Brushes Eyeshadow Starlight
Sleek i-Divine Ultra Matts V1 Palette - Strike
theBalm Nude'tude Eyeshadow Palette - Sultry and Sleek
Avon true Colour Eyeshadow Quad - Sun Washed Blooms Shade 3
Manhattan Multi Effect Eyeshadow 65Q Violet
Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter Golden Lights
Clio Kill Black Waterproof Brush Liner 01 Black
Maybelline Lash Sensational Lash Multiplying Mascara Intense Black
Primark PS... Full Look False Eyelashes
Artdeco Adhesive for Lashed and Sparkles

Lips:
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Athens

Review: Avon Shine Burst (Gloss) Sticks (All Shades)

Hey Beauties!

Avon has came out with a new range of lipsticks. Well actually, they are a hybrid of lip gloss and lipstick. I was interested in what these could offer, since lip glosses are usually very liquid and shiny and lipsticks can look creamy, but are a lot more pigmented. I guess it is something in the middle.


Avon says that these Shine Burst Sticks shine like a lip gloss, cover the lips like lipsticks and smell of summer fruit. They also state that they give shiny color, offer high coverage, are long lasting and give you the feeling of moisturization. Formula should keep lips hydrated with fruit extracts and those are smoothing papaya, moisturizing pomegranate and nourishing coconut oil


Range offers 15 different shades of lipsticks. They are segmented into four color groups. Nudes have rose gold packaging, pinks have pink, reds have red and purples have purple packaging. After swatching them I can say that there is a lot of pink variations. I am definitely missing some orange or real reds. I would also add some more nude shades, maybe a bit warmer and very light in color.


Packaging looks metallic, but it's actually plastic. Metallic design looks really classy and fun looking. In each lipstick is 1.8 grams of product and the regular price for it is 6.50€. In the next campaign, when these will be in catalog,  you can get them for 4.50€.


They have a slim pencil kind of shape and are fairly easy to apply. The bullet is small enough for you to get precise application without needing to use lip pencil. 



Texture is very buttery and it gives you a very shiny or even glossy finish. I find that they all apply with ease and  feel extremely comfortable and even moisturizing on the lips. It feels a bit like a comfortable lip gloss, but it gives more color. They can feel just slightly sticky where you're lips come together, but it's nothing like regular sticky lip glosses. They sit on the lips nicely and won't particularly enhance dry patches, but some shades can look uneven. After a while they might start gathering in the middle of the lips, especially if you apply too much.

Obviously they are not long lasting, because they are really shiny and glossy looking. I can't say how long they stay on the lips (maybe one, two hours, it really depends on what you're doing), but let's say they won't survive eating. Some darker shades actually leave a stain and are more long lasting because of that. It all depends from shade to shade. They also wear off a bit unevenly. The first place where it disappears it's on the inside of the lips, which can look a bit odd. That is if you're wearing them on their own. Over lip pencils that's not as noticeable.

Pigmentation is different depending on the shade. Some look really sheer almost like true sheer lip glosses with some shimmer and others look like very shiny lipsticks. Some really remind me of Avon Ultra Colour Indulgence Lipsticks, which have similar bullet and the same creamy moisturizing formula. Difference is that Shine Burst Sticks are a lot shinier and glossier.

Avon promises that these lipsticks have summery fruit scent. I detect no such smell. In fact they all have the same smell, which kind of reminds me of clay or crayons. It's not artificial, but also not fruity at all. I found that really weird. Why would they advertise summery scent, if there is none.

Now let's go onto the actual shades.

Nudes


Peach Punch - warm bright baby peach. It almost looks a bit coral. It has good pigmentation.



Nude Shine - warm yellow toned light brown with silver shimmer. It's more sheer and can look really uneven.



Honeysuckle - warm medium copper brown. It looks like it has silver or gold shimmer in it and it's also a bit sheerer and can look uneven. 



Iced Mocha - cool medium mauve brown. It has purple undertone and really good pigmentation.



Pinks


Tangerine Gleam - warm coral pink with silver shimmer. It has really good pigmentation.



Rose - cool dusty pink. It almost has a bit of lavender undertone. It has really good pigmentation.



Calypso - warm muted pink with silver shimmer and it has really good pigmentation.



Dragonfruit Pink - warm muted pink with cool blue silver shimmer. It gives a very cool blue sheen to the lips. It's also more sheer and can look uneven. 



Reds


Grapefruit - warm redish pink with silver shimmer. It has good pigmentation.



Berry Burst - warm bright pink with silver shimmer. It has good pigmentation. 



Raspberry Glaze - warm red with lots of red shimmer. It's very sheer and can look uneven.



Strawberry Blush - cool darker red with silver shimmer. It's also on the sheer side and can look uneven. 



Purples


Fresh Fuchsia - cool bright light fuchsia. It has really good pigmentation.



Vivid Cherry - warm medium berry purple. It has really good pigmentation.



Plum Shock - dark plum with red shimmer. It's sheer and can look uneven. 



All of you pink lovers will definitely find at least one pink for you. I personally am not a huge fan of pinks and like more of nudes and plums. My favorite shades are Nude Shine (over other lip products to use as a lip gloss), Iced Mocha (such a pretty taupe nude), Rose (I love muted pinks), Fresh Fuchsia (I am always all over fuchsia shades) and Vivid Cherry (perfect mauve berry shade).


Obviously you can wear these on their own as a flush of color and lots of shine. You can also apply them over other lip products. Here I am showing you how different they look over lip pencils. I used Essence Lipliner in 06 Satin Mauve as a base and then went over it with Plum Shock. It give lip pencil nice mauve plum tint and makes it glossy looking.



If you use similar shade of lip pencil and Shine Burst stick, you can only apply it on the center of the lips for added 3D effect. Here I used Kiko Creamy Colour Comfort Lip Liner in 301 and went over the center of the lips with Nude Shine.



Shine Burst Sticks really look like a hybrid of lipstick and lip gloss. They have really glossy finish, comfortable moisturizing formula and a bit of color. Some can almost pass as a creamy glossy lipsticks and some are more like lip glosses in a bullet form. You will love these if you're afraid of full on pigmented lipsticks, love comfortable formulas for drier lips or are a fan of lip glosses and shiny lip products in general. Some shades look great on their own and some I would use over lip pencils or matte lipsticks. The shade range caters more to pink lovers, although they have some nice muted nude shades and purples. Design is also a plus and it's really nice to carry around, because it's super slim. It probably won't be for everybody, but if you find yourself in my description, definitely try some. 


*PR product.




Avon je spet dodal v svoj nabor nove šminke. No v bistvu gre za hibrid med lip glosom in šminko. Zanimalo me je kaj lahko takšna mešanica ponuja, saj so lip glosi precej tekoči in sijoči, šminke pa so lahko bolj kremne in bolj pigmentirane. Ti so vsekakor nekaj na sredini.

Avon pravi, da Shine Burst stiki zasijejo kot bleščilo, prekrijejo kot rdečilo in dišijo kot poletno sadje. Pravijo tudi, da dajejo ustnicam sijočo barvo z visoko prekrivnostjo, dolgo obstojnost in občutek vlaženja. Formula bi naj ohranjala vlaženje s sadnimi izvlečki in sicer z gladilno papajo, vlažilnim granatnim jabolkom in negovalnim kokosovim oljem. 

V ponudbi je 15 odtenkov šmink. Razdeljene so v štiri barvne skupine. Kožni odtenki imajo zlato roza embalažo, roza odtenki imajo roza, rdeči imajo rdečo in vijolični imajo vijolično embalažo. 

Embalaža izgleda kovinska, čeprav je plastična. Kovinski dizajn izgleda res elegantno in zanimivo. V vsaki šminki je 1.8 grama izdelka in redna cena je 6.50€. V naslednjem katalogu so na voljo za 4.50€.

Imajo tanko embalažo podobno svinčniku in se z lahkoto nanašajo na ustnice. Šminka je ravno dovolj majhna, da jo lahko nanesete precej natančno, brez uporabe čopiča. 

Tekstura je zelo mastna in daje ustnicam visok sijaj. Nanašajo se z lahkoto in dajejo zelo udoben občutek. Mogoče ustnice celo malo vlažijo. Občutek na ustnicah je podoben zelo udobnemu lip glosu, ampak z malo več barve. Tam kjer se ustnice dotikajo, lahko nastane rahlo lepljiv občutek, ki pa ni niti malo podoben tistim lepljivim lip glosom. Na ustnicah izgledajo dobro in ne poudarjajo suhih predelov. Nekateri odtenki lahko izgledajo precej neenakomerni. Po nekaj minutah nošenja, se lahko začnejo nabirati v sredini ustnic. Še posebej če naenkrat nanesete preveč izdelka. 

Seveda niso obstojni. Gre za zelo sijoče izdelke. Ne morem trditi točno kako dolgo ostanejo na ustnicah, (mogoče uro, dve, odvisno od tega kaj delate) vsekakor pa ne preživijo hranjenja. Nekateri temni odtenki pustijo na ustnicah rahel barven madež ali stain in so zato malo bolj obstojni. Vse je odvisno od odtenka. Iz ustnic izginejo ne preveč enakomerno. Najprej izginejo iz notranjosti ustnic, kar lahko izgleda čudno. Če jih uporabite preko drugih svinčnikov za ustnice ali šmink, to ni tako očitno.

Pigmentacija je odvisna od odtenka. Nekateri so zelo prosojni kot pravi lip glosi z bleščicami, drugi izgledajo bolj kot sijoče šminke. Nekateri me zelo spominjajo na Avon Ultra Colour Indulgence šminke, ker imajo podobno obliko in podobno kremno vlažilno teksturo. Razlika je, da so Shine Burst stiki veliko bolj sijoči. 

Avon obljublja, da imajo te šminke poletno saden vonj. Sama nisem opazila nič od tega. Vse imajo enak vonj, ki me spominja na glino ali voščenke. Ni umeten, ampak prav tako ni niti malo saden. Zdelo se mi je res čudno, da oglašujejo poletne vonje, če pa jih ni.

Kožni

Peach Punch - toplo živa marelična. Izgleda skoraj koralna. Je dobro pigmentirana.

Nude Shine - topla rumeno obarvano rjava s srebrnim šimrom. Je bolj prosojna in lahko izgleda zelo neenakomerna.

Honeysuckle - topla srednje bakreno rjava. Izgleda kot da ima srebrn in zlat šimer in je prav tako bolj prosojna in lahko izgleda precej neenakomerno.

Iced Mocha - hladno srednje vijolično rjava. Ima precej vijoličen podton in je  zelo dobro pigmentirana.

Roza

Tangerine Gleam - toplo koralno roza s srebrnim šimrom. Je dobro pigmentirana.

Rose - hladno umazano roza. Ima skoraj malo sivka vijoličen podton in je zelo dobro pigmentirana.

Calypso - topla umazano roza s srebnim šimrom in je zelo dobro pigmentriana. 

Dragonfruit Pink - topla umazano roza s hladnim modrim šimrom. Ustnicam daje zelo hladen moder sijaj. Je prav tako bolj prosojna in lahko izgleda neenakomerno.

Rdeče

Grapefruit - toplo rdeče roza s srebrnim šimrom. Je dobro pigmentirana.

Berry Burst - toplo živo roza s srebrnim šimrom. Je dobro pigmentirana.

Raspberry Glaze - toplo rdeča z veliko rdečim šimrom. Je bolj prosojna in lahko izgleda neenakomerno.

Strawberry Blush - hladno temno rdeča s srebrnim šimrom. Je prav tako bolj prosojna in lahko izgleda neenakomerno.

Vijolične

Fresh Fuchsia - hladno živo svetlo fuksija. Je zelo dobro pigmentirana.

Vivid Cherry - toplo srednje jagodičasto vijolična. Je zelo dobro pigmentirana.

Plum Shock - temno vijolična z rdečim šimrom. Je bolj prosojna in lahko izgleda neenakomerno.

Vsi ljubitelji roza odtenkov boste zagotov našli vsaj en pravi roza odtenek. Jaz osebno nisem oboževalka roza odtenkov. Raje imam kožne in kakšne vijolične. Moji najljubši odtenki so Nude Shine (ki ga uporabim kot lip glos preko drugih izdelkov za ustnice), Iced Mocha (res lep hladen kožni odtenek), Rose (zelo so mi všeč taki umazani roza odtenki), Fresh Fuchsia (fuksija odtenki me vedno pritegnejo) in Vivid Cherry (popoln vijolično jagodičast odtenek). 

Seveda lahko te šminke nosite brez kakršne koli podlage. Ustnicam podarijo rahlo obarvanost in visok sijaj. Nanesete jih lahko tudi preko drugih izdelkov za ustnice. Tukaj lahko vidite kako različno lahko odtenek izgleda preko svinčnika za ustnice. Kot podlago sem uporabila Essence svinčnik za ustnice v odtenku 06 Satin Mauve. Preko sem dodala še Plum Shock, ki da svinčniku lep vijoličen odtenek in ga naredi bolj sijočega. 

Če uporabite podobna odtenka svinčnika za ustnice in Shine Burst stika, ga lahko nanesete samo na sredino za bolj 3D videz ustnic. Tukaj sem uporabila Kiko Creamy Colour Comfort svinčnik za ustnice v odtenku 301. Na sredini ustnic sem dodala še Nude Shine.

Shine Burst stiki res izgledajo kot hibrid med šminko in lip glosom. Imajo zelo visok sijaj, udobno vlažilno formulo in ustnicam dodajo nekaj barve. Za nekatere bi lahko rekla, da so zelo kremne sijoče šminke, med tem ko so drugi bolj kot lip glosi ujeti v obliko šminke. Te stike boste vzljubili, če se bojite močno pigmentiranih šmink, iščete udobno vlažilno formulo za suhe ustnice ali ste na splošno oboževalka lip glosev in sijočih izdelkov za ustnice. Nekateri odtenki izgledajo odlično sami po sebi, drugi izgledajo bolje preko svinčnikov za ustnice ali mat šmink. Nabor odtenkov je vsekakor bolj roza, čeprav se najde tudi nekaj kožnih in umazano vijoličnih odtenkov. Sam dizajn je prav tako plus, ker je zaradi tanke embalaže odličen za nošenje s sabo. Verjetno stiki ne bodo za vse, če pa se najdete v mojem opisu, pa vsekakor kakšnega preizkusite. 

*PR izdelek.