frozen spring

cruelty free & sustainable living

KICKS Beauty Makeup Brush Cleansing Mat Review

KICKS Beauty Makeup Brush Cleansing Mat

A few weeks ago I came across this small brush cleansing mat at my local KICKS store and I purchased it on a whim. These types of mats have been popular for years now, but I somehow thought I didn’t need one because I was doing well cleaning brushes of my own. Not to mention I really didn’t want to pay $30 dolars for a Sigma glove, so I simply forgot these products even existed. Then, a few ago, I was browsing through KICKS and I was looking at their tools (they have their own brand KICKS Beauty) and I noticed this cleansing mat. It got my attention because it was rather compact in size, affordable and seemed like it had a nice variety in texture for both smaller and bigger brushes. So, I purchased it and tested it the next day since I had a pile of brushes waiting for me to clean them.

I was so excited to use it and I was amazed by how much faster it was to clean my brushes and sponges! I think I had around 30+ brushes and a few sponges. I’ve noticed the biggest difference when I cleaned my foundation brushes and sponges. Usually it takes me 2-3 washes to clean a foundation brush (I am really thorough) and it takes me probably 8-10 minutes to clean my beauty blender. But, thanks to this little helper, it took me only one wash and a few swirls to clean foundation brushes and it took me approximately 3 minutes to clean my beauty blender (and other similar sponges). I think I’ve also used less soap than usually because these textures make it easier for a soap to lather.

In conclusion, I think it was silly of me not getting something like this sooner because it really makes my life much easier when it comes to cleaning brushes. I really didn’t like to clean my brushes before (obviously, I did it regardless), but now I actually enjoy doing this since it’s going much faster. :)

Details

Suitable for vegans/cruelty free? Yes
Where to buy? If you’re in Sweden, you can buy it in any KICKS store or online. If you live anywhere else, I know similar products are available on ebay.
Price: 59 SEK / $7 / €6

Vesna ♥

Empties Vol. I

In today’s post I’m sharing products I’ve used up in the past few months. As you can see, it’s mostly skincare, which isn’t surprising. It is a lot easier to use up skincare than makeup. There is not a lot to say about these products since I’ve mentioned them before on my blog, so I’ll just quickly go through them.

I’ll start off with estelle & thild. A few days ago I reviewed the BioCleanse Make Up Remover so there isn’t much to say about it except that I already have a new bottle ready for use. Next two products are as well from their BioCleanse range – Fragrance Free Cleansing Gel and Multi-Action Facial Toner. I repurchased those as well. I think I’m using my third tube of cleansing gel and fifth bottle of toner! Needless to say – I love these products! Last year in February I wrote about my first impressions and I still stand by them. I really do love this toner and I’m happy with the cleansing gel as well! I don’t think I’ll change them any time soon, I just don’t feel like it’s necessary and, to be honest, I don’t feel like testing something new all the time. I’ve come to the point where I want consistency in my skincare. :)

The next product I used up is Skintegra Hydra B Advanced Hydration Serum. I’m actually on my third bottle already! This si a really light, and yet hydrating serum that kept my skin under control this whole winter. Of course, it’s important to mention that this is not the only product I’ve been using, but it definitely is one of the few I keep going back to. The thing that I like about this product is I can use it all year round – it’s hydrating enough for winter, and yet light enough for summer. This product can be used both in the morning and evening, but I use it mostly in the morning since it suits me better. I will be reviewing this and other Skintegra products in my upcoming post(s).

My last skincare product of the bunch is Green Girl Cosmetics Hydrating Serum LIGHT. This is the first time I used a product that contains niacinamide, and I was so glad I tried it! I don’t think niacinamide is talked so much about, but if you haven’t tried it – be sure you do! I instantly noticed my skin texture improved and any spots left over from ocassional pimples faded much quicker thank usual! I have to write a more detailed post about this serum as well, and I can tell you right now that I will order it again for fall!

My last empty product is a product I mentioned many times, over and over again, and it’s no surprise I used up another bottle of Rouge Bunny Rouge Aqua Primer. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to repeat myself since you can read all about it in my review that I wrote back in January, 2015! I think I’ve been using this primer for almost four years now! Of course, I already repurchased it! ;)

What are yours recent empties? :)

 Vesna ♥

estelle & thild BioCleanse Eye Make Up Remover Review

estelle & thild Biocleanse Eye Make Up Remover

Last year in January, I wanted to test some new skincare brands (Swedish ones) and estelle & thild was one of those brands. At first I purchased only their toner and cleansing gel, but with time I ended up buying a few more products. So far I have four products from the BioCleanse range: multi-action facial toner, cleansing gel, eye make up remover and micellar water. I’m satisfied with all four products (I already repurchased all of them except for micellar water which I still haven’t used up) and I’ll share my reviews on them in upcoming posts. Today I’m sharing my review on the eye make up remover.

The main reason I purchased this product is because I needed something that’s suitable for sensitive eyes. My eyes have gotten really sensitive in the past 2 years or so and I haven’t been able to use just any product to remove my eye makeup so I’ve been trying out different products until I came across this one. I was already using estelle & thild toner and cleansing gel (which I liked) before I purchased the eye make up remover so I was really hoping it will be good because back then I already tested (and wasted money on) 4-5 different eye make up removers which did not work for me. And, well,  this one did work for me! Just recently I purchased another bottle of it so you can imagine that I really do like it!

So, what do I like about this product? First of all, my eyes don’t react to it and it removes all my makeup without any issues. Since it’s dual-phase, it’s great for waterproof makeup. It’s fragrance free (it has this typical estelle & thild scent which isn’t perfume but rather clean scent?). Even though it contains 150 ml, which at first I thought wasn’t enough, but it really is since you don’t need a lot of it for each use, even if you have heavy eye makeup. I always place the cotton pad on my lid and I wait around 30 seconds for my makeup to dissolve. That’s much easier, better and more effective than rubbing.

What I don’t like? I really don’t have anything negative to say about it.

Details

Suitable for vegans / cruelty free? Yes
Where to buy? Sweden: most stores carry estelle & thild (Åhléns, KICKS, apotek hjärta, etc.);  if you don’t live in Sweden then you can get it through estellethild.com or naturisimo.com  
Price? 189 SEK / £18.50 / $21.5 / €18
Ingredients: aqua, simmondsia chinensis seed oil*, aloe barbadensis leaf juice*, glycerin**, gluconolactone, disodium phosphate, sodium chloride, sodium gluconate, citric acid, sodium benzoate. *Ingredient from Organic Farming. **Made using organic ingredients.

Vesna ♥

Make Up Store Microshadow Eyeshadows – Savannah, Misty, Beetle, Brown Sugar, Maroon, Spirit, Future

l-r: Savannah, Brown Sugar, Beetle, Misty

This is my current Make Up Store eyeshadow collection – Savannah*, Misty, Beetle, Brown Sugar, Maroon, Spirit, Future*. The last shade, Future, was purchased last year and the rest of the shades were purchased recently, in the last 2 weeks. Make Up Store has a big selection of shades, the Microshadow range comes in 80 different shades and on top of that they have other types of eyeshadows as well. Another great thing about Make Up Store is that they have many vegan options and their plan is to have 100% vegan products in the future (I think by the end of this year or something like that, I know they’ve been reformulating their products for a while now and there is a ‘vegan’ search under each section, so be sure to use that if you want only vegan products).

One downside is that Make Up Store doesn’t have descriptions of each shade on their website and some images might be misleading / color area is too small to see what color it is (for example, lip pencils). Or at least should they offer some swatches, that’s something that is basically a standard today when you have an online store. Anyway, I’ll do my best to describe these shades as accurate as possible + I have swatches at the end of this post (in natural daylight).

Brown Sugar – light beige/champagne with fine shimmer. If you look at the shade on their website, it looks nothing like the shade IRL. I managed to find a good color chart where Satin Souffle is the color MUS has on the website, but in reality it looks more like Washed Sand. It’s the closest thing I could find that matches MAC’s pigment in shade Naked (not cruelty free!).

Beetle – this is a beautiful, deep moss green shade. This shade, along with Maroon and Future, has a specific almost powder-to-cream formula with a metallic finish – the more you blend it, the creamier it feels. I’d say this looks best when applied with fingers because you can work with it in the way that you can’t if you’re using a brush.

Future* – deep, warmer aubergine purple with the same powder-to-cream metallic finish as Beetle and Maroon. This is a perfect shade for purple smokey eye look, especially with a darker base. In the pan it looks more like a burgundy-purple shade, but on my skin it looks definitely like a deep, warm purple.

Maroon – light, rich maroon red with a warm, orange base (looks darker in the pan). Has the same formula and finish as Beetle and Future. These types of colors don’t necessarily suit me, but I really like Maroon and I’ll make it work! :D

Misty – deep, smokey shimmery grey with a hint of purple. The formula of this shade is quite dry and I don’t like to use it dry for this reason. Another reason is that it’s a much richer and deeper shade if used wet. Almost like gunmetal that’s purple on the surface.

Savannah* – gorgeous deep, matte and warm aubergine shade with a brown base. It looks fantastic in combination with Future. This is a must-have if you like dark purple smokey eye looks.

Spirit – warmer brown with bronze shimmer / reflection. Spirit has the same formula as Misty – dry and powdery, but it’s well pigmented.

All eyeshadows are really pigmented, but some have a dry and powdery formula – I’m not really a fan of that. The good thing is that all eyeshadows can be used both dry and wet, and I definitely prefer using them wet, not just because the formula is better, but because they look more intense and the colors look way deeper and richer.

Photos & Swatches

l-r: Beetle, Brown Sugar

l-r: Maroon, Spirit

Maroon

l-r: Savannah, Misty, Beetle, Brown Sugar

l-r: Savannah**, Misty**, Beetle, Brown Sugar, Maroon, Spirit, Future

Where To Buy | Price

You can order Make Up Store here, they ship worldwide. In Sweden they are available at Åhléns and Kicks (+ they have their own stores).

Microshadow eyeshadows are 155 SEK ($20 / €15); they contain 4 grams of product (quite a lot!). You can buy them cheaper as well because Make Up Store always offers some deals, so keep an eye on that if you’re interested in these shades.

Vesna ♥

* non-vegan shades
** the swatches were applied semi-wet because I just wiped clean mu arm and I think the eyeshadows got “stuck” on my skin because my arm wasn’t completely dry at the time, but rest of the shades were applied dry

Meow Cosmetics Swatches (part II)

In my previous post I posted some Meow Cosmetics swatches and here’s finally my 2nd post with more swatches! There will probably be two more posts because I have the Wild Child collection + many blushes that I want to show you! As I mentioned in my previous post, some collections are seasonal but I can see that their holiday collections are still available! Anyway, let’s get to swatches!

Please note: some collections are seasonal collections which means they are available only during a certain season like Christmas, Halloween, etc. These collections are marked with an asterisk (*).
Please note 2: Vegan collections are marked with a (V)**. Click HERE for all product information.

SWATCHES

As in my previous post, I used a damp Linda Hallberg brush 304, no primer on my skin. Photos taken in natural daylight next to a window.

Random collections* (V)**

First I’m showing you my favourite shades of the bunch! Here are 6 (!) different collections and I’ll name all of them under the picture. All collections are seasonal. My favorite shades are Solemn Stillness, Violence and Kisses. Violence  and Kisses look almost identical in the packaging but, as you can see, they look different when swatched.

l-r: Holiday Wishes Magic; Midnight Clear Solemn Stillness; 4 Horsemen Violence, Santa Baby (Kisses, Yacht); Secret Santa Vacuum Cleaner; XMas Ghost Midnight Kiss (seasonal & vegan)

l-r: Holiday Wishes Magic; Midnight Clear Solemn Stillness; 4 Horsemen Violence, Santa Baby (Kisses, Yacht); Secret Santa Vacuum Cleaner; XMas Ghost Midnight Kiss (seasonal & vegan)

IdealEyes (link) (V)**

This collection is permanent and I think it’s really an old one. I remember it from 10 years ago, when I just started ordering from Meow Cosmetics. For some reason I was never drawn to this collection, so I have only 5 shades, but this collection has 56 different shades! My favorite shade is probably the lest one, but I think I’ll have to order other shades as well. I don’t think I find these so fascinating when compared to other collections. :D

IdealEyes (l-r): Huntress, Intoxicat, Pussywillow, That Cat!, Tongue Tied

Shades of Meow I, III and IV* (V)**

These collections are all seasonal, but I’m not sure if these are fall collections maybe? I can see that they are available now. There are 5 collections in this range and you can see all of them here. These have some very gorgeous shades, I picked only a few. My favorites are spank and master.

l-r: Shades of Meow I (bondage, kink, spank) | Shades of Meow III (bdsm, master) | Shades of Meow IV (aphrodisiac, carpet burn)

Merry Mayhem* (V)**

Another seasonal collection that contains 11 shades and I purchased only 3 shades. I think I like jingle the most, it’s somehow really vibrant and interesting.

Merry Mayhem Collection (l-r): fa la la, jangle, jingle

Feliners (link) (V)**

Feliners are shadow liners and I had a hard time swatching them as normal eyeshadows so that’s why there is only a thin line :D BUT, as liners, they look really stunning! These come in 43 (!) different shades so I’m really surprised that I got only 2. Why would I get only two shades when there are at least 10 more shades I’d like to try out! Well, guess I know what I’m ordering next time! :D

Feliners (l-r): Cat O’Nine Tails, Domesticat

I hope you like these swatches and I hope they’ll help you when you decide to place an order! :)

Vesna ♥

* seasonal collection
** suitable for vegans