Taking a little break...

... since am going on a little trip. Actually - already am on a little trip.
Have to comment on the Boots I visited - bloody difficult to find things, they are all grouped  by function rather then brand - can't find the Botanics moisturizer auntie wanted me to bring :S (ginger &smth). And Anu, the Toni&Guy Brunette shampoo seems to be either totally out of stock or they do not make it anymore, already 2 stores showed no sign of them. :S

Lumene Natural Code lipstick in Sweet Pink

I bought this in January! And then lost it... it was hiding in an old bag until now. So here is my long lost buddy swatched: 

Consistency is nice and creamy as expected, coverage is somewhat less - this is more a lip balm then a lipstick. Recently there have been signals, that these are no longer obtainable in larger department stores. Seems Lumene might discontinue them. What a shame.

This time the label came off well and lipstick itself looks nice too. I bought a lighter one because it seemed to me Mauve Rose makes my upper lip seem even narrower then it actually is - darker lipsticks have this annoying effect.

Head huulepulgad, päris hea meel oli, kui see ikkagi vanast käekotist välja ilmus :). Igapäevavärvina parem kui Mauve Rose.

The Conservatorie pressed mineral foundations in action

Before (this is how my skin looks without makeup):

After:

Fairly Light

After:

Fair

After:

Ivory

After:

Porcelain

Nude - cant remember which pics are of Nude (the darkest one that has a difficult consistence - too well pressed), I'll do them later. But I remember that Nude was the one with the best staying power. I think it's hard structure (less oil) helps it to stay put on my face. But it will definitely be too dark for winter because even now it has a pretty strong contrast with my face.
And here's Nude:

skin's gone quite bad recently...

Üldiselt vihkan ma tervet nägu näitavate piltide  postitamist aga eesmärk pühendab abinõu - kellelgil võib neid nahaswatche endale puudrit valides vägagi vaja minna. Rohkem on need pildid siiski mu enda jaoks.  Hetkel on Porcelain liiga hele - Fairly Light ja Nude meeldivad mulle enim - samas on talvel Porcelain just see, mida vaja - kaelaga pole erilist toonivahet juba praegu näha. Fair on kindlalt liiga roosa ning Ivory tundub kollasemat sorti olevat.

The Conservatorie shimmer eyeshadow trio in Mocha Splash

Am using The Conservatorie's pic as well because mine does not look so good (one small edge remained intact). I specifically asked The Conservatorie not to send a flawless product because I do not need the packaging to be flawless in order to review the content. I quite liked the shade I got when all 3 were mixed together.

The Conservatorie has other surprises for us who have not visited for a while: now they also have pressed eyeshadows and I picked Mocha Splash for reviewing. The trio has one light color and two darker brown ones,  to me the two browns seem quite similar: one has a stronger silvery sheen and the other's a bit darker. It looks a bit different on Conservatorie's homepage.  

sry, lousy swatches - blame the light

Ingredients are skin friendly, product is pressed using coconut oil:

Mica, Zinc Stearate, Boron Nitride, Hydrated Silica, Caprylic Capric Triglycerides, Allantoin. May Contain ( /-): Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide, Ultramarines, Manganese Violet, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Carmine, Chromium Oxide Greens and Tin Oxide.

Colors are wearable and perfect for someone who likes sparkle and sheen but cannot leave the house all guns blazing: brown is a nice safe color. The middle one is a bit too pinkish yellow to be worn as a highlighter (better for someone with darker skin, I'd look weird) but it's very good when one's blending the crease color upwards. The staying power is excellent (keep in mind, this is a glittery product) and pigmentation leaves nothing to be wished for. The shadows are very soft and adhere well, one should be careful when dipping the brush into the pan - it's really very very soft.

 I believe the foundation used here is The Conservatorie's pressed mineral foundation in Porcelain.

Personally I'd recommend these but since the shimmer shadows seem a bit fragile, I'd also recommend to treat them with great care. Shimmery and glitter shadows are a pain to press - if anyone knows this it's me: put too much oil and you got oily gunk, put too little and the shadow will crumble at a fleajump.

I'd also like to recommend The Conservatorie's loose micas in the Mocha family - my personal favorite is Super Brilliant Mocha Mica. A sample for 1,35 $ you cannot go wrong. I have not had the time to go through my samples to see which micas the colors in these trios resemble the most but I'll add that information when I have a bit more time for dabbling. :)

If you have the cash and prefer your pigments pressed, get the pressed version - for more price-conscious people I'd warmly recommend the loose pigments. Trust me, they are nice. :)

LisaLise's Giveaway - pure body butter

Yesterday I had a nice surprise - a parcel in my mailbox. Those who follow LisaLise's blog already know that she has a giveaway spree going on: the last one was just the other week and since she had 8 sample sets to give away, the chances of winning were pretty good :). 

I actually feel bad for not promoting this giveaway more, the product sure deserves this. This time it was a set of Bare Basic Body Butters: both based on pure cocoa butter (that's why it's texture reminded me of white chocolate!), one with thistle oil and the other with hazelnut oil. LisaLise asked all the winners to agree to give feedback on the product afterwards so there will be another post after I have had the pleasure of using both of these.

My first impression - I started with thistle oil one - is that the butter absolutely melts in the skin - it disappears so quickly I can dress myself almost immediately afterwards. There is no recognizable scent and feel is great. My shins literally drunk it up. Although my face at first seemed to drink it up too, it has now (in an hour or so) become greasy again - I am a living oil refinery.  And it looks just like white chocolate!

And another thing - I absolutely loved the rose-water so LisaLise (so kind of her!) agreed to make a trade with me and I got this herbal hydrosol as well - this is custom made and based on organic melissa hydrosol, organic aloe vera glycerine, cucumber extract - and added a little bit of benzyl alcochol as a preservative.

This does not smell as flowery as the Pure Rose Hydrating Skin mist, it's distinctly more masculine and mossy, one could even say a "medicinal" scent. At the same time I have to say that rose mist's scent is  much stronger - the herbal one will be much easier to use in public places. Many younger people seem to think rose-scent too overwhelming and a bit too "grandma". ;)

As I sprayed my face I believe I tasted aloe - it was a familiar slightly bitter taste (gran used to make me eat aloe with honey when I was having another of my throat infections so am familiar with that). It should be excellent remedy against all the sunburns I am bound to get. I think I'll write more about it after my trip. :) I have high expectations.

There was also a juniper hydrosol sample in the parcel - instructions say it's great after a long day on my feet so this will also be accompanying me pretty soon :). I just hope the airport officials wont confiscate them -  they might think me a bit weird travelling with so many bottles full of suspicious liquids.

Olin jälle LisaLise loosis õnnelik võitja - seekord postkastis kaks orgaanilist kehavõid - ja esimene mulje on väga hea. Iseenesest on mul veidi piinlik, et ma seda giveawayd rohkem ei promonud - aga kuulge, kes tahab oma võiduvõimalusi ise ja tahtlikult vähendada? Seekord oli 14 osalejat ja 8 võitjat! Kui selle lahke blogipidaja tooteid ise proovida soovitakse, küll siis ka follow-nupp ta blogis üles leitakse, mõtlesin mina. Iseenesest oli võitjate seas veel kaks eesti blogijat, nendegi kommentaare oleks põnev lugeda (Triin ja Kerli).

Toode on põhimõtteliselt puhas klopitud kakaovõi, millesse on parema pehmuse saavutamiseks lisatud kas siis ohakaõli või sarapuupähkliõli -  LisaLise eesmärk oli saada inimesed neid tooteid testima, otsustamaks, kumb versioon rohkem meeldib. Ma ei tuvastabnud kummalgi mingit erilist lõhna. Kehavõi ise näeb välja kui valge šokolaad - kaunikesti isuäratav.

Lisaks oli Lise nii armas, et pakkus välja vahetuse - minu kraam tema ürdihüdrosooli vastu - kuidas sain keelduda :)


PS! I definitely prefer the thistle oil version! Hazelnut oil has a cookie-smell when it warms up on my skin while Thistle has no recognizable  scent.