vegan products Archives - Page 2 of 2

Review | Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Ash Brown

01/29/17

photo anastasia-beverly-hills-dipbrow-pomade-ash-brown01_zpslato4nc9.jpg

It took me a really long time to finally purchase the well known Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade, and once I finally did, I kept asking myself: “Why on earth haven’t I purchased this product ages ago?!”. I don’t have any good reason, to be honest, I guess I was just trying to convince myself I don’t need any other product as long as I have Illamasqua Brow Powder in shade Gaze. That was, obviously, not true because as soon as I got Dipbrow Pomade, I stopped using Gaze. Well, I guess I needed the change since I was using Gaze for at least 6 years and it is (was?) my holy grail product. Until now.

I guess you’ve already seen Dipbrow Pomade all over the internet, so it’s not like I’ll be saying anything new. I’ll simply start by saying that, if you’ve been on the fence about buying it, well, just buy it because I don’t think you’ll regret it. You might, though, if you get the wrong shade, but that’s something else and not related to the quality of the product. And, since I mentioned the quality, let me tell you that everything about this product is simply superb – it is highly pigmented, waterproof, incredibly long-lasting and so easy to apply (you can easily go from ‘barely there’ brows to ‘strongly outlined’ brows). I love the packaging, too – it comes in a glass jar with a screw-on lid. The jar contains 4 grams of product, a decent amount that will last me at least 6 months, but probably more.

I purchased the shade Ash Brown because I prefer cool toned brow shades, which are, if you ask me, really hard to find. Even Dipbrow Pomade has mostly warm toned/too dark brown shades, but this one is really good for cool toned/ashy brows (like mine). I would, though, prefer if it was a bit more ashy since Gaze is quite ashy and I guess I’m just used to it, but it looks good on my brows either way. I apply it with an angled brush (usually ecotools) or Anastasia Beverly Hills #12 (#12 brush is actually Dipbrow Pomade brush, but you can use any angled brush, just make sure it’s clean).

Anyway, to make the long story short, this is a product that you do need in your life. Or, to be more precise, your brows do. ;) I’ve been using it all the time for the past two months, and I really doubt I’ll buy anything else instead of it. I really don’t think anyone could make anything better than this.

photo anastasia-beverly-hills-dipbrow-pomade-ash-brown02_zpsliv2ij56.jpg

photo anastasia-beverly-hills-dipbrow-pomade-ash-brown03_zpsvruphrzi.jpg

I’m wearing Ash Brown in this photo, applied quite lightly since I prefer light application. I think it shapes my brows really nicely. ♥

photo lindex-matte-lipstick-plum03_zpshcb810wb.jpg

Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Silica, Polyethylene, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Ozokerite/Synthetic Wax, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Mica, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Propylparaben, May Contain/Peut Contenir: (+/-) Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163)
Suitable for vegans? Yes
Where to buy? here or here (and many other websites); if you are in Sweden, you can get it at Kicks and Åhléns
Price: 255 SEK / 28$ (I know it’s cheaper online or in other countries, but this is the price in Sweden

Vesna ♥

Lush New Shampoo Bar – Review

10/01/16

photo lush-new-shampoo-bar01_zpsw8p8rft4.jpg

In all these years it never occurred me to try out a solid shampoo, but after switching to cruelty free products, I tried to find a shampoo that would suit my thin, silky and straight hair. On top of that, I really wanted to avoid using conditioners since I’m always running late and I don’t have time for that. After trying out various products which were fine, but I wasn’t that impressed, I decided to try shampoo bar(s) from Lush. It wasn’t an easy choice since Lush has quite a few shampoo bars to choose from, and they all smell deliciously (so delicious that it actually makes me wanna eat them!). So, after a few minutes of sniffing, I chose NEW. Why? Well, to be honest, I love everything cinnamon and, you probably guessed – this shampoo bar contains cinnamon. Bingo! Of course, the fact that it stimulates and soothes scalp was additional bonus.

This is how Lush describes NEW:

A solid bar with cinnamon, clove and peppermint to stimulate your scalp. Cinnamon leaf, bay and clove bud essential oils combine with peppermint to boost blood flow, stimulating the hair follicles. An infusion of nettle and peppermint helps to stimulate the scalp and promote healthy hair. Rosemary soothes, calms your scalp and adds a glorious shine to your hair.

At first I was kinda sceptic (maybe because my first reaction was – white worms?! :D ), I’ll admit that, but I’ll also admit that I had no reason for that because this shampoo turned out to be much more than I expected it to be. I’ve been using it for three and a half months, and I still have a tiny bit left which will last me for another two weeks. That’s four months in total! I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect it to last that long. Keep in mind that I wash my hair really often – every second day so that’s a lot of washing. :) I don’t have anything negative to say about this product, but there are a few positive things:

this shampoo is gentle – my scalp isn’t feeling itchy or irritated (this happened a lot during the years and it varied a lot, but haven’t had any issues during these past few months)
less hair loss – turned out this shampoo definitely stimulates the scalp; my hair is usually all over the place, but it is getting better and that really surprised me, wasn’t expecting that :)
no more conditioner – my hair used to tangle a lot, especially since it got a bit longer (well, longer according to me), but now I don’t even use conditioner and my hair is just fine!
no static – this is even worst than tangling – going around while your hair has a life of its own, LOL! Well, not any more!
affordable – you can get it for 99 SEK / €10 and it contains 55 grams of product.

How To & Availability

Once my hair is wet I simply rub it between my hands or directly onto my hair. The result is always the same – squeaky clean hair.

Tips: After I’m done, I always use a small piece of a napkin to dry it and I leave it on the shelf until it’s completely dry. Once it’s dry I just have a napkin underneath. Lush does offer shampoo tins for storage, but I think it’s not necessary. Unless you’re travelling, but even then, you can use a paper bag or something like that.

This product is available in Lush stores and if you’re in Sweden you can get it HERE.

All in all, I’m more than thrilled with it! Needless to say I already have a new bar waiting to be used. ;)

Have you tried shampoo bars?

Vesna ♥

Nabla Cosmetics | Photos + Swatches

08/31/16

photo nabla-cosmetics01_zpsk7jl33rk.jpg

10 days ago I placed an order with Nabla Cosmetics and my order arrived yesterday morning! They actually had a sale going on (even though I forgot to use the code, LOL) and almost free shipping so I figured it was about time to try their products and, here they are!

I picked only a few products – four eye shadows, one bronzing powder and an empty palette where I’ll keep these beauties. ~~I had no issues while ordering.~~ Well, the only issue I had was my dilemma about picking just a few shades and not a whole bunch, LOL! Otherwise, my experience with their website and shipping is perfect. It took a week longer for the order to arrive, but that’s because they were closed for a while and that was noted on their website. Since they use DHL to ship their packages, mine arrived the next morning! My order was packed more than properly and everything was well protected. Love how they add all these print outs about their products. It really makes you wanna place another order :D

In case you didn’t know, Nabla is a relatively young brand coming from Italy. They offer quite a stunning eye shadow collection, as well as other products. They are affordable and cruelty free (many products are vegan, too)! All products I got are actually refill products which are not only cheaper, but you get rid of the extra packaging as well.

PRODUCTS:

Madreperla (eyeshadow / €6,50 / 2.5 g) – described as “duochrome Mother of Pearl”. They couldn’t describe it any better! It has a satin formula and its duochrome shine is amazing!
Daphne N°2 (eyeshadow / €6,50 / 2.5 g) – lovely burgundy shade
Baltic (eyeshadow / €6,50 / 2.5 g) – bright navy blue shade with indigo highlights
Selfish (eyeshadow / €9,90 / 2.5 g) – kaleidoscopic duochrome shade
Gotham (bronzing powder / €10,50 / 3.5 g) – light taupe bronzing powder, should be perfect for those with cool undertones
empty palette (€10,00)