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5 Products I Want To Use Up In May

05/06/18

 

5 Products I Want To Use Up In May

In the past few months I’ve been following some great youtubers who talk about consumerism, low-buy, using up your products, etc. and they inspired me to start a new series on my blog. Every month I’ll choose a few products that I want to use up. Sometimes it will be a few products I want to use up in 30 days, other times it might be a longer period like 3 months or maybe 6 months. I think it’s important to be realistic, I don’t want to demotivate myself by choosing unrealistic goals, for example, like using up a blush in 3 months. That’s just not going to happen. :D On the other hand, using up skincare products is much faster since I do use many of my skincare products twice a day.

This series will serve as a my motivation to use up those products that, for some reason, I stopped using after a while. Most (4 out of 5) products you see in these pictures are more than half empty and that’s why I think it’s realistic I’ll be able to use them up in May. Here’s an overview of these 5 products and why I stopped using them in the first place:

Rituals The Ritual Of Sakura Body Cream – this is my favourite range from Rituals, but I really dislike the packaging of this product. I dislike it so much that it actually turns me off from using the product completely! I just think this new packaging (they changed it some time last year) for the body cream was a bad idea – the combination of plastic jar and partally wooden lid just doesn’t work well. I always struggle with it and it’s takes me a few attempts to screw the lid back on! I never had a similar issue with packaging and I know it’s laughable but it is what it is. On top of that, some lettering came off after only 2-3 uses because the oilyness of the skin rubs it off. That shouldn’t happen eather. Anyway, it’s less than half full so I guess I’ll use this up quite fast.

Lumene Lähde Arctic Dew Quenching Aqua Serum – Lumene’s range Lähde (source of hydration) is my go-to range. I already use the face cream and face mist from this range, so I thought I’d pick up this serum and see how it works for me. It actually reminds me a lot of The Ordinary’s Buffet – they have quite similar texture and feeling on the skin. They obviously have different ingredients, but I don’t really feel like they have different effect on my skin. They really feel like the same product. I stopped using Lumene once I purchased Buffet, but I’ll definitely get back to it this month and use it up. Once I use up both of them, I’ll repurchase only Lumene since Deciem (The Ordinary’s parent company) is a bit sketchy right now and I don’t feel like supporting them. Anyway, this is a good hydrating serum for my combination skin and I definitely feel like it helps my skin during colder/windy weather and I’ll buy it again in the fall.

& Other Stories Sicilian Sunrise Hand Cream – & Other Stories has a great beauty range and I really like the Sicilian Sunrise range which smells of fresh lemons! Such a great range for sunny weather! Anyway, I picked up only hand cream because I have too many body creams, scrubs, etc. To be fair, I have too many hand creams as well but… :D Anyway, I find these mini creams to be great on the go, so I always carry at least one in my bag. Since I have a few creams I’m using right now, I feel like I’m not using this one enough so I decided to put it in my ‘Use Up In May’ product selection. This cream contains only 30 ml so it shouldn’t be a problem using it up, I just have to remind myself to use this cream everytime I want to use a hand cream (and I have to motivate myself to be more regular with that, too!).

Catrice Liquid Camouflage High Coverage Concealer in 020 Light Beige – I’ve been using this concealer for almost the whole winter and then I stopped using it. I think I just got tired of it? Anyway, there is not so much left of it and I really think I can use it up this month if I use it regularly. I don’t remember the last time I used up a concealer so using up this one would be refreshing. The best of all is I really like this concealer but I think the problem is I’m just a bit lazy, especially in the morning when I need to get up early to get to university (sometimes I have to get up at 5 a.m. so I don’t really feel inspired to use full face of products). Anyway, looking forward to covering my dark circles on a regular basis! :D

coop deo roll-on – the reason I don’t feel like using this deodorant is because its texture is too wet when applied – it feels like I splashed some water on my underarms LOL. It’s a good thing I have another deodorant, but I will use only this one in May because I really want to use it up and be done with it. Otherwise it’s a good product, but it’s just too watery for my taste.

5 Products I Want To Use Up In May5 Products I Want To Use Up In May

5 Products I Want To Use Up In May

Are there any products you feel like you should really use up? How do you motivate yourself to use products that you haven’t clicked with for whatever reason?

Vesna ♥

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estelle & thild BioCleanse Eye Make Up Remover Review

05/05/18

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 ♥

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

02/16/18

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

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Meow Cosmetics Swatches (part II)

01/30/18

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

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Meow Cosmetics Order + Swatches (part I)

12/23/17

Meow Cosmetics samples

I’ve been a Meow Cosmetics fan for a LONG time (10 years or so), but I haven’t placed an order in a while. Not sure what the reason for that was, but last month I just felt like I really missed indie brands (plus I’m really tired of boring collections that so many brands keep launching) so I decided to order something. In case you’ve never heard of Meow Cosmetics, this is a privately owned mineral-based company. All their products are hand made. They are well known for their mineral foundation, eye shadows and blushes. They are cruelty free and many of their products are suitable for vegans, too.

I placed my order during their traditional Black Friday sale when they, not only offer a 30% off code, but they also offer free international shipping (for orders over $40 or something like that – not that it’s hard to spend that much, LOL). I placed my order on 24/11 and it was shipped on 3/12. I think it took a week (or 10 days max) for the order to arrive once it was shipped. I was seriously impressed with how fast it came considering it was Black Friday!

Price: $1 per sample

Here are my swatches (part I) and I will be swatching the rest of the shades I have on Sunday or Monday.

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: all collections are vegan except for Winter Spirits collection (will be sending them an e-mail to ask which shades are vegan). Vegan collections are marked with a (V)**. Click HERE for all product information.

SWATCHES

Everything was swatched with a damp Linda Hallberg 304 blending brush, no eyeshadow primer on my skin. Photos were taken in natural daylight next to a window.

Winter Spirits Collection*

I think this is my favourite collection! Now I’m actually sorry I didn’t order all shades since they’re just so wonderful! My favourite shade is definitely Merlot – such a deep berry shade! It has 14 shades inspred by wine so if you’re a wine lover this collection is a must have! :D

*available only during winter/Christmas.

Winter Spirits Collection (l-r): Chianti, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Rose, Shiraz, Sirah

Pandora’s Box Collection (link) (V)**

Pandora’s Box is a permanent collection, available all year round. It consists of 16 shades and I have 8 of them. My favorite shades are the first two – depravity and malevolence. I’m obviously into deep purple/burgundy/red shades this season!

Pandora’s Box Collection (l-r): depravity, malevolence, mortal sin, plague, poison, scourge, sorrow, villainy

Shattered Equinox Collection (link) (V)**

Another permanent collection. It has 14 shades and I got 12 of them. This collection has many beautiful green shades and my favorite of the bunch is deranged. Other shades I really like are morose, purpuraceous and violaceous.

Shattered Equinox Collection (l-r): balderdash, bane, contagion, deranged, dour, melancholy

Shattered Equinox Collection (l-r): morose, perverse, purpuraceous, sardonic, tarnished, violaceous

Sugarplums Collection* (V)**

This is a quite small collections that consists of 3 eyeshadows and 2 blush shades. I have only eyeshadows. As you can see, these are gorgeous purple shades! I’m really impressed wih Meow’s purple shades, they really know how to make beautiful and good purples!

*available only during winter/Christmas

Sugarplums Collection (l-r): fairy, nutcracker, vision

Egyptian Treasures Collection (link) (V)**

This is another permanent collection that has some really impressive shades! I think I’ll end up ordering the rest of the collection because the more I played with them, the more I loved them! I have only 5 shades, but there are 22 shades available. This collections includes 3 blush and glow (highlighter?) shades, too.

All shades I got are really gorgeous and it’s hard to pick one favorite. I can tell you that my least favorite is nile just because I don’t really wear silvery shades, but it’s still gorgeous looking when swatched!

Egyptian Treasures Collection (l-r) anubis, miw, nile, royal, tutankhamun

Other collections

Here are some swatches of random collections. I have only 2 shades from each so I swatched them together.

l-r: Harvest Moon* (V)** (pegasus, twiligt) | Deck your Halls* (V)** (lit, rumcake) | Neptune’s Grotto (V)** (black crystal abyss, styx)

l-r: Mythos Mattes (V)** (enchantress, mystic) | End of Days* (V)** (armageddon, hopeless)

How do you like these swatches? Do you feel like you’d like to order some of them? :D Let me know in the comment section!

Vesna ♥

* seasonal collection
** suitable for vegans

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