Hey everybody. Yes, it has been a very long time again. I've been just so extremely busy the last couple of weeks. So I'll make it up to you with a long haul post. Kiko was having their summer sale this month and I placed on order online. Everything arrived nice and safe, so I can finally show it all. I also picked up some things from H&M Beauty. Sit back, grab a snack and read! Little disclaimer: I'm not showing swatches in this blog because I will do separate reviews on the products.

Kiko Sale Haul: First Impressions & Swatches

When Kiko is having a sale, you need to go for it quickly because their stuff can sell out fast. I woke up at 8am to check the website the first day of the sales and a few hours later, a lot of their holiday collection items were already sold out. I'm so happy I was able to get my hands on these products. In this post, I'm showing you everything I got, show the swatches and share my first impressions. It'll be quite a long post so grab a snack, sit back and relax! 

Sephora 'It Palette' Review & Swatches

Hey everyone. A few weeks ago, I went to Lille and at Sephora, I bought the 'It Palette' (You can see the rest of the haul here). They had two types of these palettes: a nude one and a smokey one. My taste in eyeshadows gravitates more to the nudes and browns. These looked really beautiful so I decided to pick it up.

 

In this palette, you get everything to create the ideal eyelook. You get 12 eyeshadows (a mix of shimmers and mattes), of which two of them are powder eyeliners. The first color of the second row is supposed to be an eyeshadow base, but it's actually a matte white powder shade. There is also a double-ended brush and a brown eyeliner included.

Nail of the Day: Essie 'Lady like'

Ladies, I think I have found my new favorite nude nail polish. My favorite nude shade ever is 'Dulce the Leche' by OPI but this one is a strong competitor. I'm talking about Essie's Lady like. This color was part of the fall 2011 collection. Essie became available in Belgium in the winter of 2011, so I had just missed the chance to get it. It was always I color that I wanted to try. Last week, I was at Di and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Lady like is now part of the permanent collection. Project Pan or no Project Pan, I had to have this!

                                        Swatch; Lady like, 2 coats

Where do I begin to describe it? I think the name is perfect for this color, because it is a gorgeous, everyday, neutral, soft pink-taupe color, with a tiny hint of a soft light purple. It is so feminine and pretty. I'm so haopy I got my hands on this color because to me, it's perfect. This had great pigmentation, it looked opaque in two coats. What I also like about Essie nail polishes is that they dry quite quick. I think I am going to use this one A LOT during spring, summer, autumn, winter... just all year!

It looks a bit like OPI's Dulce de leche, but that one is more pink. I love them both.

Essie nail polishes are available at Di and Kruidvat for €10,99.

What is your favorite nude nail color?
xx
Astrid

Cherry Culture Haul: NYX and China Glaze + First Impressions!

Hi everyone, I posted my Project Pan update yesterday and told you about how I gave up my project for an hour, when I saw that Cherry Culture was having a '20% off everything in store' sale. I could not resist. I had just cleaned out my collection a bit and threw away some old makeup, so I figured I deserved a little reward to myself. 

I'll do seperate reviews on all the products once I used them a bit more, but I'll do first impressions now as well.

The first thing I bought were two lipglosses. I've heard a lot about these and I wanted to try them out for so long! I got 'Beige' (which is not beige at all, but it's a light pink) and 'Tea Rose'.

                              NYX Lipglosses in 'Beige' (lightest one) and 'Tea Rose'

                                       This is what the cap looks like, SO cute!

                                   Swatches: Beige and Tea Rose.

The glosses smelled nice and fruity. I like the smell. They have nice pigmentation and didn't feel sticky on my hands.

I also bought two eyeliners. These are the 'Slide On, Glide On,Stay On & Definitely A Turn On Waterproof Extreme Shine Eyepencil. (This eyelines is so good, the name had to be long!)' I love the description. Ever since I saw this on Amarixe's blog, I wanted to try them out! I got them in 'Golden Bronze' and 'Jewel'.

                            Eyepencils in 'Golden Bronze' and 'Jewel'

I decided not to buy the classic black or brown, I have enough black eyeliners. So I've chosen two more special colors and I'm so happy I did! I love these two and they felt so smooth when I swatched them on my hand.
  
Then I chose one blush, just one. After a lot of thinking, I decided to buy a light colored neutral blush called 'Mauve'

This blush looks very light, but when I swatched it on my hand, it appeared to be a bit darker on the skin. It seems like a perfect, natural shade.

I've heard a lot about the 'Champagne&Caviar' palette so I decided to try that out as well. I also bought another palette but that never got delivered (more about that later)

                                       I love the colors!

And of course, you can't do a NYX haul without the Jumbo Eye Pencils. I got one in one of the most popular shades, 'Iced Mocha'.

                                   Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in 'Iced Mocha'

To me, this was more brown and bronzy than I expected. I thought it would be more of a taupe. But I still love the color and the pigmentation was, again, amazing.

And last but not least: the nail polishes. I wanted to try China Glaze for years now. And when I saw they still had the Hunger Games collection, I was so happy!

I also bought four of the NYX Advanced Salon Formula Nail polishes. The color selection was nuts, they have so many colors! It was really hard to chose.

From left to right: CG Harvest Moon, CG Fast Track, CG Stone Cold, CG Hook and Line, NYX Hunter Green, NYX Pastel Pistachio, NYX Blue Supreme, NYX Precious Gems.

Yes, I bought a lot. But I wanted to only buy things that I don't have yet in my collection, like the China Glaze polishes and the NYX eyeliners. I'm glad with my purchase and am excited to review and use everything. 

What did I think about Cherry Culture? 
My order was processed and delivered in about two weeks, I think that's long but not terrible at all. It had to come from overseas, so I can't expect to have my order delivered in five days. 

A big downside were the shipping prices. They count by weight, I think, so the shipping was nog inexpensive. I'm glad I had 20% off my purchase, so it made up for the shipping prices.

There is one big problem. I had also ordered another eyeshadow palette from the new 'Fall in love in Paris' line for spring 2013. But I never found it in my package and the package was well closed, so it didn't got stolen or something. They never warned me about the item being out of stock, so I think they just forgot it. My package also did not include a list of products, so I can't figure out what must have gone wrong. 

I sent an e-mail to the Customer Service and they answered within the hour that they will check everything. I hope I will still get my palette.

This has been a very long blogpost. I hope you liked it :)

Have you ever bought something from Cherry Culture?
Do you like NYX/China Glaze?
xx, 
Astrid

Sephora Nail Art Patches Review

Hi everyone! Today I'm doing a review on a nail product: the Nail Art Patches of Sephora. These came out after Sally Hanssen released her Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. 

What are these?
These are some sort of stickers with a cool design (or just one color) made out of REAL nailpolish that you can just stick on your nails. I tried regular stickers with designs on my nails and they peeled of after 3 minutes. But these on stay on perfectly, so far! 

You just chose the right size for your nails, peel off the nailpolish and stick it well on your nail, starting from your nail bed to the end of your nail. These are very long, so you just file the remaining away. And there it is, a trendy, longlasting design on your nails within minutes!
When you are tired of the design, you can just remove it with nailpolish remover :)

These cost €9 per pack. Yes, that's not cheap but I think this is so cool for a special occasion or an event or something. I'm going out this weekend and this naildesign is just perfect! Also, they last a really long time. I'll keep you guys posted on how long they last ;)

Update: I put this pacthes on friday and today, wednesday, they are stil looking good! They have worn off a bit on the edges, but a regular nail polish wouldn't last as long!

What do you have on your nails right now? 

xx,

Astrid

L'Oréal Color Infallible Eyeshadow in 'Hourglass Beige'

Hi everyone! Today I want to show you guys an eyeshadow that I bought in France, in the beginning of July. I was walking around on a market and I saw a stand that sold Maybelline and L'Oréal for really low prices. Now, I know you have to be careful with these kind of things, because the make up they sell can be fake. BUT I thought the packaging looked identical to the ones you can find in the store, so I decided to try it out. I bought this eyeshadow for €4 and I was happy because L'Oréal can be really expensive in Belgium.

I think the packaging looks really good. It's not small, but not too big so you can throw this eyeshadow in your makeup bag and take it with you! :)

The eyeshadow is actually a pigment, but with this little black presser, you can press the pigment so it won't spill all over the place. I think it's genius that they did this, because working with pigments can be a bit tricky. You have the pigmentation of a pigment in the form of an eyeshadow: awesome!

I really like this color, it's a neutral beige color, with a metallic sheen to it. It's reat for an everyday eyelook, but it gives your eyes a little pop and makes them come alive!

                                      Swatch: Hourglass Beige

The eyeshadow feels soft and goes on smoothly. This is a great eyeshadow! I happy with this one, they're really worth checking out! In Belgium, you can find L'Oréal at Kruidvat, Di, Ici Paris XL, ... and they cost €9,99!

What do you prefer, loose eyeshadows or pressed ones?

Have you tried this line of eyeshadows?

xx,

Astrid

They are finally here: Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadow 24hr Review

Yes yes yes, ladies! These are finally available in Europe! I was on a visit in Sluis, Zeeland this weekend and I found these eyeshadow in Etos! I could not believe my eyes! I snatched them off the shelf and couldn't stop staring at them :D

I bought two colors, 'On and on bronze', a bronzy color and 'Permanent taupe', a dark taupe. In the states, these are knows as 'bad to the bronze' and 'tough as taupe'. I don't know why they changed the names in Europe but I liked the other name better.

                                          Left: On and on bronze
                                          Right: Permanent taupe

The packaging of these reminds me of the M.A.C. Paintpots, with the glass container and the black lid. 

On to the swatches! I really like these colors, I think they could be great as a base color, but also as a color all over the lid! This is great for when you don't have a lot of time in the morning, you just put on of these on and you're ready to go!

                                  Swatches: On and on bronze, Permanent taupe

But now: THE question. Do these really last all day, or even 24hr? 

I decided to try it out! I used Permanent taupe as a base for my make up today. No primer, just this eyeshadow!

                                Permanent Taupe, blended out at 8AM

                        My eye makeup today, using the UD Naked palette, at 8AM (8u)

                             After a day of work, at 6PM (18u)

So the answer is no, they don't last all day :( After 10 hours, this is what it looks like on my eyes! I can have really oily eyelids, mostly in the summer, and I really need an eye primer under my eyeshadows, especially cream eyeshadows. I'm kind of disappointed because these could have been great and I heard such amazing things about them!

Do I like this product? Yes, I do. I LOVE the colors and I will use these a lot. But, I'll have to use an eyeshadow primer with it! 

These are €9,99 in Etos in Holland but I got a reduction of €5! I think they're also available in Belgium now! So go, get yourself some! :D

Do you like the Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadows?

xx, Astrid

Urban Decay Lip Love in 'Failbait'

Another product I bought when I was in France, was the Urban Decay Lip Love Honey infused lip therapy lipgloss. That's a long name! This products was on sale for -70%! I only payed 4,80 euros for this, which is insanely cheap for a Urban Decay product. I got the color 'failbait', which is a sheer coral color. I thought this would be perfect for summer!

I like the description on the box:

It's true love... Our honey-infused lip therapy feels cushiony, shines like crazy and moisturizes lips with essential fatty acids, moisturizers and antioxidants. This stuff is way too serious to feel soooooo good. With it's hint of tint and luscious honey scent, you'll want to keep one in your bag, one at your desk and one at your lov-ah's.

                                                   Swatch: Failbait

The gloss smells great, just like honey! It does not feel sticky at all, which I love as well. But I had expected just a bit more color. The gloss shows up clear on my lips, too bad because I really liked the coral color :( I'm happy that I got this gloss on a discount, because I don't think I would ever buy this full price (16 euros).

Do you like Urban Decay products? What's your favorite?
xx Astrid

Springfield Cosmetics First Impressions!

Hi everyone!

Today, I went shopping with my friends in Brussels and when we entered Springfield, I noticed that they now carry a cosmetic line, called 'Springfield Cosmetics'. They sell blushes, eye shadows, nail polishes, lipsticks and so much more! Reason for me to pick up some products and tell you guys what I think about them! 

I picked up a lipstick, a lipgloss, an eyeshadow and a kohl eyeliner. Overall, I think the light pink packaging is really cute and girly. Now, on to the products and swatches! I'll start of with the lip products, the first thing I bought is the lipstick 'Rosa', an everyday pink color.
 

 

                                                  Swatch: Rosa

This lipstick is quite pigmented and looks like a perfect every day lip color. It kinda looks like a 'my lips but better' color to me and I can't wait to wear this!

I picked up one lipgloss in the color 'Madera'.

                                                  Swatch: Madera

This lipgloss is very pigmented and just glided very smoothly on my hand. It feels very soft, not really sticky! You can wear this color alone, or pair it with the lipstick 'Rosa', they're really similar.

Now, the eye products! I bought one eyeshadow in 'Brown'. This is a gorgeous taupy brown color, perfect for all over the lid.

To show you guys how big the eyeshadows are, I compared it with a MAC eyeshadow (in the color 'Wedge'). As you can see, the springfield eyeshadows are huge!

                                                    Swatch: Brown

I like the color and consistency of this eyeshadow. It felt really soft and went on smoothly. I had to build up the swatch a little bit, but overall the eyeshadow is nicely pigmented.

And finally, we have the kohl pencil in 'Black'. 

                                                  Swatch: Black

The kohl pencil also went on really smoothly and creamy. It looks like a great pencil to line your upper lashline with.You could use this on you waterline, because it is so creamy.

I'm so happy with these products! They're all nicely pigmented AND they are not really that expensive at all! Eveything costed €4,99, but they had a little sale going on where 3 products costed €9,99! Springfield did a great job creating this line and I can't wait to try out some more of their stuff.

You can also find their cosmetics on their website: http://eu.spf.com/

Do you like to shop at Springfield? Have you already tried their makeup products?
xx, Astrid