Hello again everyone! Another Blog post today about the Essie No Chips Ahead Top Coat. I got this in September, at the Brussels airport. It came for free with an exclusive airport set of three bestselling Essie polishes (Mademoiselle, Chinchilly and All Lacquered up).

Where do I begin? First of all, I don't think the little brush is that practical. Most of the Essie nail polishes have these thick brushes, that make it easy to paint your nails. This one has a very thin one and I don't like that at all. The formulation is very runny and takes a long time to dry, something I do not have patience for.  
And than we have the fact that I don't think it actually does something on my nails. As most of you, I do not like chipped nail polishes and this did not help with that. I'm glad it came for free in that nail polish set because I don't think I will ever repurchase this. I will use it up but only because of my project pan ;)

I'm not sure how much this Top coat costs, but I think it's around €10,99. I think that's a lot of money for a top coat that doens't really work that well, in my opinion.

Have you used this top coat? What did you think of it? 
Or do you have another (better) one?
Let me know ;)
xx, 
Astrid

Yves Rocher Correction Shine and Fill Base Coat Review

Hey everyone! Today I wanted to talk to you guys about the Yves Rocher Correction Shine and Fill Base Coat. I bought this about three months ago, when I realised that I actually never really used a basecoat that much and I wanted to get one that would also fill in the ridges of my nails.

 
I won't say this is a fantastic base coat, but it does the job. I'm using it to protect my nails against discoloration, because I like to use darker nail colours in the winter.
It dries quickly and leaves a matte finish on the nails. It doesn't fill in the ridges on my nails that well, but I don't mind. I'll use this up but then I'll start looking for a better base coat :)

You can get this base coat in the Yves Rocher stores for €6,95 but if you get the Yves Rocher News Letters in your mail (the cards that they send every few months with coupons and free gifts with purchase), you can easily get this with 50% off, like I did.

What base coat do you use?
xx, 
Astrid

Lush Season Tweetings Gift Box

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful time! I wanted to show you guys one of my Christmas presents today, that my big brother got me. It's the Lush Seasons Tweetings Gift box. The Lush giftboxes are great to give someone who doesn't really know the brand, but you can also give them to the big Lush fans!

This box contains the Snowcake soap (a creamy almond scented confection), The Twilight shower gel (with lavender scent), the Ro's Argan body conditioner (a rose-scented shower lotion) and the Tiny Hands solid hand lotion (a softening, smoothing hand cream in a bar). 

The Ro's Argan Body Conditioner smells like heaven! The other products smell amazing too. I can't wait to try these out and use them.

All of these products are handmade and cruelty free!

You can purchase all the products of gift sets at www.lush.com.

Have you ever tried Lush products?
xx, 
Astrid

Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad in 'Nude Elements' Swatches

Hey everyone, today I'm showing you one of my favorite eyeshadow quads: the Revlon Colorstay 12 hour eyeshadow quad in 'Nude Elements'. I like this quad because the colours in it are a little different than the other nude quads that are out there on the market.

You get 4 nude colours in this quad. A white with a satin finish, a beautiful champagne-peach colour, a purple-brown and a gunmetal grey. I really like this quad because it's great for everyday use.

The eyeshadows are all really smooth and they apply gorgeous on the eyelids. My favorite colour is the peach-champagne one because it's great for when you are in a hurry in the morning but you would like to have something on your eyes.

You can find this Revlon quad at INNO and some Planet Parfum stores for €11,95.

Do you like Revlon products? What's your favorite?
xx, 
Astrid

Challenge: I stop buying makeup and beauty products?

Hey everyone! After a lot of thinking, I decided to challenge myself in something that will be one of the most difficult things ever: I will stop buying makeup for six months. During those six months, I will try and use up as many beauty products that I own, so I can make room in my collection. We can look at this as a 'project pan', but usually people decide how much products they use up, I will try to use up as much as I can.

Why am I doing this challenge? 
When I looked at my collection, I realise that I have too much products that I don't use. But I still keep buying more, so a lot of products just never get used. Now I'm a sucker for cheaper brands like Catrice, Essence, 2BE, and others. But enough is enough. Spending money on cheaper products is also spending money! I want to save money and be able to reduce my makeup collection.

Everyone seems to have different rules for their 'Project Pans', so here are mine:
1.) To add a product to my finished "Pan" list, I have to use up the entire thing, not just hit pan. I have to be removing it from my collection..
2.) I have to be removing the product from my collection and not repurchasing it, like mascara or eyeliners I have enough of those that need to be used up). Now for some products, I will have to replace them, like my deodorants, makeup remover,... But no new makeup or beauty products like creams, scrubs,... I have too many!
3.) When I see a limited edition products that I really really really want, I will allow myself to buy it. BUT only when I know I'll use it a lot and when I know I will regret it when I don't buy it. But this is an exception, so the product has to be amazing and worth buying! Also, I will have to keep the product in its box until I'm done with this project. Then it will be like a little reward for finishing the six months!
4) I can buy beauty products for someone else, when it's their birthday ofcourse ;)

Will I still be doing reviews? Ofcourse! I will do reviews on things that I already have (which is more than enough) and I will show you each month what I've used up (with a litlle review about each product) :)

This will be hard and I will blog about the proces but I'm determined to finish this. We start today, on November 25th and the challenge will end on June 1st!

Wish me luck!

Have you ever done something like this?
Was it hard?
xx, 
Astrid