Mini-American Haul (Thank you Marion! )

My very dear friend Marion went to Boston 2 weeks ago to visit her boyfriend and before going she nicely asked if I needed something and ... of course I did!!!
It was such a great occasion to get American stuff that we can't find in Europe. Here is what she brought back for me :)

NYC Bronzer in Sunny:

This bronzer is raved so much on Youtube and on blogs. It is very unexpensive and said to be perfect for light skin so I thought that it would be a good one to start with bronzers. I had never worn bronzer before and it wasn't something I was into but for the price I thought I could try. I'm not sure what I think about it. I find it too light for my skin I actually don't even see it when I apply it but since the light in my bathroom in really crappy I always think "well maybe it actually does something it is just that I can't see it myself". I think it must warm up my skin but one shade darker wouldn't be too much. So I use it but now that I'm getting into bronzers I'm looking for some other cheap alternatives that would show a little more on my skin. I have my eye on the Terra by L'Oreal (said to be a good dupe for the Too faced bronzer), The Face Form palette by Sleek in light, Baked Bronzers by ELF, Coloricon Bronzers by Wet n' Wild, etc ... I have none of them yet but I will probable purchase soon the Wet n' wild ones and the Sleek palette. To sum it up, nice product, perfect for fair skin but maybe too light for light to medium skin.

Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach kiss:

Loving it!!! This thing is great! It is basically a tinted lipbalm. This one tastes/smells like peach (really nice!) and is a peachy shade slightly shimmery. I love what it does to my lips, it is very moisturising, smooth and the color is very natural but still gives me a "my lips but better" look. When my lips look a little too dry to put regular lipstick on or when I just don't know what color to wear or don't wanna wear anything I pick this one up and I love it :) I really really really wanted the Cherry me shade (a sheer red) but she did'nt find it anywhere it was out of stock everywhere she checked ... :( Too bad it must be gorgeous.

Real Techniques Brushes:
Before she went to Boston we had ordered together some Real Techniques brushes that her boyfriend received for us and gave to her when she came. I personnally ordered the poweder brush, the blush brush and the stippling brush.

The powder brush:

Very happy with this one. It is big and smooth and applies the powder really well, very lightly. i don't think however that this one would be good for someone who wants to get coverage with the power, maybe if you tap it in but still not sure.

Blush brush:

Another good brush. I feel like you can't go overboard with this one. It diffuses the color very nicely and prevents any extra. Really like this one, especially with my obssession for blush :p

Stippling brush:

Not really sure why I got this one. I tried it to apply the Urban decay Naked beauty balm but it didn't work very well it goes on much smoother when I apply with my hands. So actually I don't have anything to use this brush with, but I have heard that it is a great one to apply cream blushes so when I will get a cream blush I'll give it a try for sure.


Here was the haul, I also wanted NYX blush in Pinched and a Hard Candy highlighter in Tiki but she didn't find them. I'm still very pleased with what she actually found and thank her again!!!

Empties!

For several months now I really try to use up what I buy before buy something else even if I don't like the products and when I finally finish one it is like a little victory for me but I guess it is a little same for most of us girls :p

Here some products I have gone through lately:

Clinique take the day off make up remover:

I've loved this make up remover. It is a two-way make up remover, which means that it has an oily part and a watery one which you mix together before using by shaking the bottle. The oily component dissolves the make up and prevents irritations. I have super sensitive eyes and this make up remover worked perfectly for me. The only reason why I won't repurchase it is the price, 23euros for a quite small bottle (it lasted me 3 and half months, I think most of my make up remover last this long). But great product especially if you have sensitive eyes like I do.

The Body Shop Almond hand cream:

A product I didn't really like at the beginning. I didn't like the smell and I bought it to use it as a cuticle cream and it didn't work very well for that purpose. However, when I started using it as a regular hand cream then I understood that this was a Holy Grail product! The texture is silky and it is very moisturizing. It leaves my skin soft, "flexible" for a long time. The only thing is that it can be a little long to penetrate but I actually put it when I take the train in the morning to go to work so I don't need to touch or do anything special with my hands at least for a few minutes so it is really ok. I'm still not a huge fan of the smell but I got used to it and this product works so well for my dry hands that I'm ready to go beyond this issue :) I just repurchased it!

The Body Shop body butter in Pink Grapefruit:

Love this stuff! My brother offered me one year ago a box with some Body Shop products all with the scent of grapefruit (one of my favorite!) and this miniature was in it. It lasted me between 5 and 6 months which is a lot. I love the thick texture of this and of course the gorgeous smell! It is very moisturizing and even if some people complain that it doesn't penetrate the skin quickly it doesn't disturb be. I would maybe not use it in the morning if I am in a hurry but I tend to shower in the evening before going to bed so it is not a problem. I would like to buy the Peach one or the Raspberry one but I have another body butter to finish first (Lemon Meringue Body butter by Sephora) so I will have to wait a little more, but great stuff!

Garnier Nordic Essential 24h moisturizing day cream for normal to combination skin:

Sorry I don't why the picture wouldn't appear the good way ...

This a probably another holy grail product. This cream, which is actually more of a gelée than a cream, worked very well for me. My skin is in between combination and dry, the T zone is a little oily thoughout the day but I also have some dry patches like around my mouths and on my temples. It was moisturizing enough for the dry patches but didn't make my skin oily at all. It was refreshing and I felt like my skin looked more glowy when I used it. Unfortunately I didn't repurchased it because I wanted to try something else (Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit oil-free moisturiser, review coming!) but as soon as the new one is finished I will pick it up again because i can't find any bad thing to say about this cream, really the best for me! Moreover it is really unexpensive, only 49kr here in Sweden, at H&M.

Garnier Nordic Essentials Cleansing gel mousse for normal to combination skin:

As the cream was working so well for my skin i decided to try the face wash. Well, it didn't work ... It made my skin drier and tight. I didn't like this one at all but wanted to finish it anyway. I won't buy this one again.

Baptiste Dry Shampoo for Medium and Brunette:

A last empty I forgot to include in the picture. I love this stuff!!! It makes the hair look less oily, it is much easier to use than any other dry shampoo since it is more or less the same color as your hair and it smells really good. I have some other Baptiste shampoo I have to use up but this one will be the one I will pick up again. It also exists for dark brunette and blond.

Mini French haul!

I went back to my parents in Lyon last week for Easter holidays. As everytime I go there I did a little of shopping with a friend. I suprisingly didn't buy as much as I thought I would but I'm really happy with what I got.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm SPF20

The first thing is a kind of BB cream. I was looking for something very light just to unify my skin and the only thing I found reached my expectations until now was the Esthée Lauder Daywear cream but I only had a sample of it and didn't like the quite thick texture. The woman at Sephora tried this one on me, she did only half of my face first and I immediately fell in love with the effect. My skin looked dewy, very naturally velvety, loved it! I picked it up and I'm very happy with the result but I need quite a lot of it to cover the face (No, I don't have a huge face :p) so I feel ike it is going to get empty pretty quickly and it was 33euros so ... If you know a BB cream or anything else which would have the same effect please let me know :)

Kiko Eyebrow Designer and Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original

Two things I actually repurchased. The best eyeshadow primer and a great kind of clear mascara to fix my eyebrows which tend to do whatever they want :p only 3euros!

Kiko lip products

I picked up these two lipsticks for only 2,99euros. They are very creamy, sheer but very buildable and they smell amazing, like MAC lipsticks but stronger. I took a bright corally pink and a peachy shade. Love them!

904 and 906

I also took a pencil lip gloss, just a lipstick in a pencil shape, like every brand makes at the moment. I took a very natural shade. It is creamy and pigmented but you have to sharpen it unlike the usual ones from other brands like Revlon or Clinique, and I think this is such a waste. I might decide to "depot" this one.

Top pale pink color

Right color

Kiko nail polish

I wanted this kind of color for a while and I just found this bright turquoise shade perfect. It wil be great for summer!

Here were my few picks ;)

MUA Intense kisses lip gloss in Sealed with a kiss

I'm not a gloss person, I find them not very convenient, the hair sticks into it, they don't last long and make me think about teenager kind of make up, not very "serious". 
But when I saw this one in a MissBeautyBudget video it looked very nice. A friend of mine was at this very moment in London so I asked her to pick it up for me and I'm happy I did.

It is a very natural pinky shade, very pigmented and not sticky. It smells good, a light vanilla smell but really not overwhelming, actually if you don't put your nose into it you won't even notice.

I love the shade, the texture, the smell but also the price, only 2£! I decided to try to get more of them, a pink corally shade called Quick kiss which I will soon order on their website together with some other lip products I have heard good things about. Keep you aware ;)

Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo and Conditioner

I bought those two when I went to London with my boyfriend end of January. They were on a deal, both for 6,99£ at Superdrug so I thought "Why not?".
My hair is naturally curled/waved but it is quite fine and when I straighten it it looses the little volume the curls gives to it. So i'm always on a hunt for a shampoo which would make my hair more voluminous. 

The smell isn't what I prefer but it is not terrible either, let's say that it is bearable. 
The shampoo makes my hair a little "dry" and squeaky in the shower and when I add the conditioner everything becomes very smooth and I feel like it moisturizes the hair but without making is heavy or oily.

What is interesting of course is the result after my hair is dry. Well, I like the result! My hair feels ... I don't know ... different? It isvery smooth, dense and the volume is there and it lasts pretty long. Moreover, this kind of shampoo tend to dry out my scalp what is a really annoying side effect but with this conditioner my scalp is very fine and I don't have any problem.

I really like these shampoo and conditioner and would repurchase it but unfortunately they are very expensive here in Sweden and don't think I want to spend so much in shampoo especially when I know that they are so cheap abroad so maybe not worth so much money. But seriously, a really good surprise for a random purchase :)

My palettes

Palettes, palettes, palettes... My new obssession (among others :p). I find them so handy and they are often a good deal compared to single eyeshadows.

I am going to show my little precious pieces, starting with the greatest one: The Naked palette

This one is the first one I bought and is the one which somehow started my love for palettes. I already dedicated a whole post to this palette so I am not going to say much but this one is of course my favorite one, I love most of the colours, actually all of them even if I use some more than others, Buck being my ultimate favorite. Virgin great highlighting colour, Naked perfect base colour, Smog amazing on its own, Half baked perfect golden color so beautyful on hazel eyes. This palette is also a very deal you get 12 great quality for 43euros, around 3euros the eyeshadow that's extremely cheap. And I can promise you that you will fully enjoy it and won't regret your purchase.

The second palette I got is the Sleek palette in Oh So Special. 

I chose this palette for the pink shades it offers. I think I will get a lot of looks out of this for spring and summer but actually the colour I'm using almost everyday at the moment is the cream shade which I use as a base with Buck from the Naked palette in the crease, very pretty for everyday. The Sleek eyeshadows are very good quality, a little powdery maybe but it doesn't disturb me as long as they are pigmented and the are. 10pounds for a palette liki this, another good deal :)

Next one, MUA Undress me too palette:

This one is a desappointment. It is very popular for being an exact dupe of the Naked 2 palette. Since I already have the Naked 1 and that even if I like some of the colours in the Naked 2 I don't think it is worth it for me to buy it but when such a perfect dupe is available for 4pounds, there are no more reasons for me not to get it. So I bought it after having checked a little around and seen that everyone loved it and that it was good quality. Unfortunately I desagree with most of the reviews. The pigmentation is quite bad, when you swatch it on the hand it looks good but on the lid it is very sheer and patchy. The shadows are hard to apply homogenously and look very powdery on even with a primer. Too bad because some colours are cool but maybe it is no need to try to imitate the Nakeds because they are simply too good :p

Finally, the Wet n Wild "Knock on wood" palette:

These small palettes are very popular and very cheap. Wet N Wild's eyeshadows are said to be very good quality and very pigmented and well, they actually are. The packaging is not very classy or good looking but the product in it is still very good. I like very much the top and the bottom colours.

Here were my palettes, I'm planning on creating my own with my mono eyeshadows that I would depot but this will be another post :)
Hope you enjoyed and that it was helpful ;)