essence ethno couture LE

I am back with a little picture of the latest essence LE, that I know some people are interested in. It looks pretty nice, the pigmentation seems pretty good. I think it has been just put up today, looks pretty untouched.

Klick image to enlarge!

Personally I am going through a lot of changes and I had very busy the past weeks. Thursday I am flying away on my vacation and I can hardly wait to go on the plane.

So updates when I come back in 4 weeks.

A nice vacation to everyone who's going away and a great time for those who stay at home!

tiny haul

Yesterday I got the oppurtinity to go to a NARS counter. This is a huge celebration for me, because they are really rare around here and the closest one over 1 hour away. So I swatched a lot, but still prefer to order online because it's cheaper.

I got this eyeshadow in strada which I loved right away. It's a medium purple colour with tiny gold sparkles. As usual, picture and swatch for you underneath.

I also got this little tampon box (isn't it cute?) in a store called butlers, that sells pretty much everything.

summer sale...

...is not only on fashion. All the counters have put their sale items in front, selling out things that are being discontinued. I also purchased some products and all of them have been marked down pretty good. I got:

-Biotherm Summer Source daily radiance body lotion for medium skin tones, it's basically a lotion that contains some self-tanner. It feels really good and gives you a slight, natural tan, without exposing yourself to the sun.

-Lancôme Laque Liner in Piha Sparkle, which I wanted to get anyway and now I found it for more than half off. Yay! I already had the black one and I love it!

-T. LeClerc Lipgloss in Pink Delice - it's a very sheer pink with some shimmer in a cute small tube and it smells like chocolate! Yummy!

piha sparkle on top of black liner & on it's own

pink delice on my lips

By the way, I want to start posting pictures, that you can click on to enlarge as soon as I have figured out how to do that! :)

update

I just wanted to apologize quickly for not posting for so long. So far, this month has been a terrific beauty-month and I got soooooo many lovely things (it's my birthday month), plus I won some products (yay!). As soon as everything has arrived I will post pictures and reviews, although I might get a little lost in all the nice things! :)

Discovery of the day: handmade organic exfoliating soaps by savon du midi (2.30 euro each)

(smells are engraved on the soap; in french ;))

honey-almond -> yummy, I want!

images by anandam-shop.de

essie & O.P.I. haul

My nailpolish order from ebay.com arrived today so here's some pictures and a quick review.

left to right: O.P.I. Elephantastic Pink, Essie Cruise Control, Essie Anniversary Gala, Essie Carousel Coral, Essie Shelter Island

thumb: Essie Shelter Island, index finger: Essie Cruise Control, middle finger: Essie Anniversary Gala, ring finger: Essie Carousel Coral, pinky: O.P.I. Elephantastic Pink

The disappointment is definitely Essie's Anniversary Gala. It's so sheer, you can barely see any pink. It's basically just shimmer for your nails. The other ones are all good, the O.P.I. has the best coverage though. I would also call this my favorite together with Carousel Coral and Shelter Island. Cruise Control is a little to plastic-barbie-ish-looking, but it's a nice polish still.
So I guess I have enough bright summery nailpolishes so far. Now I'll go for the more serious items like NARS blushes and stuff! :)

orange fizz swatches

Here is the promised picture of orange fizz, this is just one coat. I'm still thinking about painting another one on top of it...

I ordered some Essie and OPI nailpolishes, I will write about them as soon as they arrive!

chanel orange fizz

Today I was in a true shopping mood but this is only beauty item I got. I got shoes, tops and a new haircut!
As for summer polish, I was kinda after Dior's "bubble gum" but after swatching it I decided it was too bright for me. But it's basically sold out around here!
So I saw this last bottle of orange fizz at the store and I decided it was the better colour of the season for me than the Dior. Swatches will be up tomorrow!

NARS eyeshadow haul

Hey everyone, I know it's been a while but I will catch up with some things now, so here is my little nars haul & swatches:

NARS Alhambra duo (shimmery pink & golden champagne)

Nars Faith (peach with gold)

Nars Abyssinia (pearl with slight shimmer)

left to right: Alhambra pink, Alhambra gold, Faith, Abyssinia

Tweezerman folding lashcomb

I love every single one of the eyeshadows, they are such perfect bright yet wearable and subtile colours for summer. The quality and pigmentation are great, I mean they're nars...
The lash comb is pretty good too, but the bristles are really pointed(!!!!), as you can see. So you have to be careful and concentrated when working with it. It's actually to be used after applying mascara, then it will seperate and de-clump your lashes.

I definitely want to get some more nars products, especially the laguna bronzer and albatross highlighter.

I will soon post a haul of nice skincare products from a really cool, upcoming brand, so check back later today!

hair & skin

First of all: I know my blog is really boring at the moment and I will tell you why. First, I am really busy right now because my finals are coming up and I have to study a lot.

I will now tell you about my skin and haircare routine and later this week I want to show you my NARS collection.

Also I will tell you some experience with snowberry cosmetics.

Ok, I'll start with hair. I switch shampoos from time to time, because I heard that your hair gets used to it. In my opinion that's a really cool result of research because I love trying new things! :)
For me it's important that shampoo doens't contain any silicone or aggressive tensides. Apart from that, it has to be moisturizing because I have really dry hair and I get split-ends very easily. I like the lavera almond milk shampoo, even if it's not that moisurizing, but it smells amazing.
Today I got the regenerating shampoo by annemarie börlind, but I haven's tried it yet. I think it's the one in the middle. I would like to try the conditioner too.

I love the Brilliant Care Conditionere by Sante, which is my HG. It's really good. I use it every day or every other day.
After conditioning I apply Phyto 9 or the "baume defrisenteur" by Phyto, if I plan to straighten my hair. I'm a huge fan of Phyto leave-in products!

Now for skincare. First of all: I have combination skin with larger pores on my cheeks and during the day my face tends to become shiny. I used the products by Dr. Hauschka for about the past year. I liked the wash cream and the face tonic for oily skin, but I couln't really find a good moisturizer, which would avoid my skin from getting shiny.

So I thought it's about time to try something new. I discovered this brand called mádara in a local organic store and I loved the design. The products seemed really light and they had a foam cleanser. A FOAM CLEANSER!!! If you're into organic cosmetics, you will know that's a really rare thing to find. Anyways, I had to buy it of course, but haven't tried yet.

I got a 10% off coupon when I checked out and if I like the cleanser, I might get the whole combination skincare set, which contains the foam cleanser, a toner and a mattifiying gel.

Doesn't it look pretty? I am very excited to try!

shopping today

So I went to a big drugstore today and I tried, swatched and liked these things:

CK ultimate eyeliner in cocoa sheen (warm brown), which is pretty much my haircolor

image by sephora.com

Artdeco eyeshadow in 233 (not sure anymore), this reminded me of mac's all that glitters


image by artdeco.de

Sans Soucis eyeshadow base, looked really good and very nice texture but I so want to try the UDPP

image by sanssoucis.de

Dior Addict High Shine Lipstick in Champagne blush, which is the lightest pink. Very pretty, a little sparkly though

image by geschenidee.ch

And guess what? I didn't buy any of these. Although I maybe would have bought the liner if I knew it contained a brush. I got some skincare products and one brush, I will update on that later.

But I didn't get any make up at all. I think I will order certain things online soon, so stay tuned!

summertime - getting ready!

It's getting warmer and warmer and as every year summer comes faster than expected. I mean I haven't been working out 3 times a week and I haven't quit eating fast food yet. But there ist always something you can do, right? Here's my little getting-ready-for-summer body care routine, enjoy!

In the shower I use this anti cellulite peeling by weleda (German brand) which smells amazing. My whole bathroom smells like it after. It's yummy. You can also use it as a regular exfoliator if you want, I use it mainly for my backside. :)

Then I take the anti cellulite oil, also by weleda and slightly rub it on with such a massage brush, these are really good.

In summer we all want to have smooth and flawless legs and feet. I always exfoliate them (especially my legs before shaving of waxing) with such an exfoliating luffa pad, I'm not very into these gloves where you have to pull your whole hand into it. You can get these for little money in pretty much every drugstore.

After that I put on some lotion or if your skin is irritated I recommend such a thermal water spray as the one by evian. It's so cooling and refreshing! For my feet I use a foot cream, I love this one by Dr. Hauschka, it's a little luxury for your feet. The evian spray is available in drugstores, the Hauschka cream in department and organic stores.

My last have-to-have for spring and summer are bright nailpolishes. You can wear yellow, bright pink or whatever you're in the mood for without feeling silly. I feel like in winter these colors look so out of place. Every spring I get some bright pretty colors.

Happy Easter everyone!

march favourites

I always wanted to do such a tag, so here it is.

1. Diorskin nude foundation: Because it looks natural, it keeps your balanced and it lasts forever. The first foundation that I really wear.

2. NARS eyeshadow in Night Clubbing: This will turn every day look into a night look. If you're looking for a sexy black, this is the thing to go for. Don't even need to talk about the pigmentation.

3. Lanôme Laque Liner: Because it's shiny! Do I need to say more? :)

4. Benefit erase paste in medium: This actually deserves to be an all-time favourite because I use it every day on my undereye circles. I love this stuff.

5. NARS ligloss in striptease: Because it's gorgeous. It makes the juciest nude lips ever without looking like concealer.

If you want to do this too, feel tagged! :)

lancôme & essence - haul & review

What I purchased today:

-lancôme laque liner (yes, I got it) (25 euros, I actually got it for 15)
-essence jelly baby nail polish in bubblegum (LE) (1.25 euros)
-essence arctic lights eyeshadow & highlighter duo in ray of lilac (LE) (2.45 euros)

The nail polish is in a really pretty candy color, I love it. But it was so cheap, so I was in doubt. But I have to say I was surprised. It has a kind of jelly formula, which applies very easily and evenly. But after one coat I was a little disappointed, it didn't cover at all and the colour looked poor. I decided to go for a second coat, which I usually don't like to do. I mess up everything with a second coat. But this is really idiot-proof. The second coat glides on so smoothly and it's a huge difference! The result are super glossy and juicy candy-nails.

The eyeshadow seams to be a little disappointing, the pigmentation is bad, what I expected it to be, but the consistency is really weird. It crumbles and doesn't apply properly. I guess I'll give it another try anyways.

The laque liner seems to be pretty much what I have been looking for. It has a thin tip, which I like because I always make a thin line. Also it is glossy and it stays on forever. So this is my new favourite eyeliner I guess. Yay!

I tried to take pictures but it is too dark outside so I'll post them tomorrow.

So here you go:

handcream comparison

Since I am running out if my l'occitane shea butter handcream, I got this one by lavera (German organic brand) today. I figured they are quite similar: Both are the same amount (30ml; travel size), both are based on shea butter and both contain almond. So why not compare them?

There's quite a price difference between them. The l'occitane one was 12 or 14 sFr., I'm not sure. But pretty expensive for such a small size. The one by lavera was only 2.50 sFr..
The packaging of the l'occitane one with it's retro look is a little nicer, I think, while tha lavera looks really neutral and clean. One important fact to me is the cab. The l'occitane cream has a small black cab that you have to screw on on the tiny top. So you really have to concentrate. I have dropped this cab so many times on the bus/train and it pissed me off. These are travel size products, they're supposed to be practical, right? The lavera cream has a large click-on cab that is attached. Huge plus.
Now to what you're actually buying, the INCI. They're both pretty thick creams, packed with shea butter. Perfect for the never ending winter. The lavera is certified organic, so it's free of paraffin, parabens and other chemicals. The l'occitane contains a lot of natural ingridients as well, but also paraffin and stuff.
The smell of the l'occitane ist pretty popular, it smells really 'creamy', if you know what I mean... The lavera has a fruity scent, you can smell the almond and the essential oils. In the end it's a
matter of taste.

Here's my summary: (sorry it turned out so small and blurry)

I think I will be repurchasing the one by lavera, simply because they're really similiar but this one is so much cheaper. Hope you enjoyed the little review.

Dianne Brill Lip Lingerie

I really have been wanting a light, peachy lipstick. I watched Fafinettex3's MAC haul and she got a MAC lipstick in "Shy Girl". That was kinda the colour I wanted and I looked around a bit at different brands who else has something like this. Finally I found some beautyful lipstick colours (and the cutest packagings & sexiest names) at Dianne Brill. Here's what I picked up:

Dianne Brill Lip Lingerie lipstick in "Thigh-High Nylons"

image by diannebrill.com

Ain't the packaging cute?

Here it looks darker than it actually is:

Here it looks sparkling but it doesn't contain any shimmer at all. It's just glossy.

The lady in the store told me, that these are not gonna dry out your lips and they're supposed to be really long-lasting. So we'll see. I am really happy with the colour and the consistency of it though.

I apologize for the poor photos but my camera is not here and these are made with my phone.

What do you think about Dianne Brill products?

A little update: I still love this lipstick, I think it's a great product. But it is pretty perfumed and if that bothers you, this might not be for you. I have to say that this might be a reason for me, not to buy any dianne brill lipsticks anymore, if I can find the kind of what I want without a strong scent.

It doesn't smell bad, I just taste and smell it when I wear it and I don't like that so much.

The smell reminds me of the old generation of lipsticks, those ones that I used to steal from my mom when I was little, before the whole non-perfumed wave started.

haul full of bargains

Here's a little haul of the things that I purchased in the past week. Everything together cost about 6 euros. Pretty cool, huh?

update

Hi everyone and sorry for neglecting my blog in the past week. I have been really busy with school. Here's what I wanted to tell you: I am so in love with my new NARS eyeshadows, they're all gorgeaous. The lip lacquer ist not really what I expected it to be, but still it is a nice colour for nude lips. Here's some photos.

From left to right: Night Clubbing, Tibet, Ashes to Ashes, Ondine, Cairo

lip lacquer in Chelsea Girls:

discovered

I don't own anything from lancôme I think. I actually had the hypnôse mascara before, it was ok, but not too exciting.
But doesn't this look promising?
Right now I'm using a cheap drugstore eyeliner by p2 which I got about 6 months ago to practice. I might be ready for something new, because the one I'm using is mat and I would like something more shiny. This one by lancôme is supposed to be high shine. Yay!
It's available in black and in a sparkling white highlighter color, which you're supposed to use as a topcoat. That means you have to buy both and layer them, you know. ;)

I will check it out and let you know.

image by lancome.de

another beautyfool day

Today I jumped into my local drugstore (dm) to pick up a few things for my mom. To make it clear, I didn't have the intention to buy anything for me. But there it was. The anticipated esprit cosmetics rack. I knew it was coming up but since it hasn't been there the past weeks I didn't have it in mind.
Some stuff seems too expensive for what it is but I really wanted a foundation brush and this one is supposed to be quite good and the polishes are really small but they have such pretty colors. They have dups of a lot of Chanel polishes like blue satin, rouge noir, lilac sky... (I bought this one for my cousin)
I'm really excited to try out Pastel Sparkle, I really dislike regular pastels. You know, those which were on in the 90's... But this one has gold sparkles! LOVE!

I also have plans what else to buy. There's an eye shadow brush for about 6 euro (wasn't available yet) and I kinda set an eye on a 'Natural Care Brush on Powder'. It's a (mineral?) powder with a brush on top of it, I know it's not very innovative but I decided that I need this in my purse. It's perfect for a long day at school. Plus it's ecocert and organic cosmetics make my heart melt.

Here's what I picked up:

Smoothie Rose polish & foundation brush

Pastel Sparkle & Smoothie Rose polishes

Smoothie Rose on my nails (it's a pearlized lilac-pink color, the photo doesn't show how pretty it is!)

foundation brush: 9.99 euro
small nail polish: 2.99 euro


If you want to know more about Esprit Cosmetics or see all the products & some reviews, check out paddy's blog http://www.innenundaussen.blogspot.com/. You'll also find a lot of information about German drugstore products.