Of Mousse & Women: Nuxe 3 roses Micellaire Foam Cleanser

A couple of weeks ago I finished up my Kose Softymo Airy Whip

It was not my main cleanser, and I think I had it for about one and a half year. I alternated this cleanser between all the other varieties that I have: the balms, the oils, the cleansing waters etc.

I liked cleaning with this moussy stuff but it has the ability to make dry/dehydrated skin somewhat dryer.

However, I started to miss the feeling of cleaning with a fun foam and some days I really have oilier skin that needs more effective cleansing.

So I bought myself a new foam: The Nuxe 3 Roses Micellar Foam: First, because of the promise of Damascena Rose Petal Floral waterr; also and the fact it got a glowing review from two women with gorgeous skin on Rich/Succesful/Beautiful website Intothegloss (here).

It has a pump-dispensor that works when you pump it: it's not as automatic as the fluff that gets from the Kose Softymo, but this one distributes smaller portions that are just enough for the face.

Ingredients:

a mixture of naturals & some non-natural additives.But without Parabens!

Verdict after four uses:

• scent: 

the roses got me in the first place so I wonder how the fragance would be.  I would describe the rose as a masculine rose, somewhat a similar idea that Le Labo Rose 31 is often described (here). I like roses when they are most natural (as an essential oil) or slightly androgyn so this is ok with me. However, it surpised me a bit.

• Cleansing:

Not as soft when applying as the Kose Softymo and somewhat a dryer mousse (if I can call it like that). The afterfeeling is clean, but almost too clean. I have to follow up with a softening tonic, and a rather moisturizing cream to make up for that.

• Softening/Anti Ageing/Brightening/Deep Cleansing?

I have only used it four times to give out a thorough review. But as said earlier, I like the scent and the fact it is rather natural. Right now I do not mind following up with extra moisture, because most of my creams/lotions take care of that anyway.

Availability:
I bought mine at newfarma.be, for UK people it is also availabe at marks&Spencer, the US have it on skinstore.com and I also saw it on sasa.com.

Kind of funny to see how a French drugstore brand has gone international and mainstream these days (see availability)

mid weeklies

OMG, could I talk about anything else than the warm weather that was present in Northern Europe. No, I couldn't...

Animal Farm

I like these quirky & cute animal prints on pillows.

Foulard Flamingo

Foullard Ecureuil

Lapins (rabbits)

Aren't the trenched rabbit couple adorable?

They have those in cosmetic purses too

They're on a website I've ordered a pillow before (see here) and I was deliberating buying a scented pillow from them that I haven't done so far. Perhaps I could do that now they don't have those anymore but so many cute (unscented) others.

This cute French website has a sile going on until 5 june they have 30% off with code "MUM30", so 'hello my pillow' or 'bonjour mon coussin'. 

Finished & Repeated: Caudalie Beauty Elixir

I'm happy to show something that I liked so much that I bought myself another bottle:

I think I do not have to add too much to its hype, because this products has been discussed a lot lately on beautyguru-bloggers sites such as Lisa Eldrige and also among the beautiful-&-succesful on IntotheGloss.

I really like to see what succesful people are using in daily life, because they have busy schedules and will only settle for things that are the best and really work for them. If they are beautiful as well I consider it even more because they have busy schedules AND the products to keep the stress at bay: double effect.

Normally I am not too much into cult-products. Long time ago I went for the Embryolisse and it wasn't really working for me.

Short review anyway:
It differs from a water mist like Vichy, Evian or other by having aromatherapeutic oils added such as peppermint, bitter orange, rose & citrus. This makes it a refreshing spritz on the face after makeup or during the day. It is not a toner, which can have loads of aromatherapy too, but more of a morning booster that also makes your face slightly glowier.

Official Ingredient list:
Aqua (Water) Alcohol denat Glycerin* Rosa Damascena Flower Oil * Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) leaf Oil * Potassium Alum Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Water * Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Floweroil * Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil * Commiphora Myrrha Extract * Styrax Benzoin Resin Extract * Melissa Officinalis (Balm Mint) Leaf Oil * Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract * Citral Citronellol Farnesol Geraniol Limonen Linalool 

Italians don't Fake: Collistar: Face Magic Drops (self-tanner)

A while ago I found myself not too satisfied with my collection of selftanners. The ones I have do a good job on my body but I found it not giving me a lasting bronze on my face...

I knew I had to find something else for the face. I tested out a product in the drugstore: Collistar Gocce Magiche Viso Concentrato autoabbronzante effeto ultra-rapido, or in easier (for me) English Face Magic Drops Self-tanning concentrate ultra-rapid effect.

Well, if you were lured to this article by the title you'll guess I do not really associate the classic Italian woman (or man) with self-tanning. I somewhat have the images of some famous Italians in mind:  Anna Della Russo (if she had work done it has been done quite naturally and she's a fan of real tanning), Monica Belluci (so beautiful at 47: if she's done surgery it was a really subtle one) who seems to embrace a more paler colour, Donnatella Versace (obvious work done & I guess real tanning),

Bellucci wearing NO MAKEUP & looking absolutely amazing  for the Elle France April 2009

Della Russo (49): her face shows signs of tanning in her life

Donatella (57): obvious Plastic surgery but the neck is a giveaway for a tanning past (probably her tan too)

(Sorry for the large pictures but as beautybloggers we look beyond the fashionable clothes of these stylish Italians and most of us are concerned with premature ageing as well. I wanted to show you the effect of tanning (Donatella & Anna) compared to frequent sun- protection (Monica B))

I DO believe the younger generation of Italians believe in a high sunscreen and will probably self-tan too, but my image of the 'classic italian' is of true sun-admirers.

So, if an Italian product would fake a tan: it should be

1. Good and realistic looking
2. on the darker spectrum
3.  beautifying

And Collistar Face Magic Drops promise all 3!

Ingredients:

'Swatches'

1. Applicator with the liquid:

2. A drop of bronze Magic on a vampire-state inner arm: 

3. Just applied: Slightly dewy and already a believable bronze glow:

4. Spot after 4 hours: a warm bronze that is neither too dark, nor too light.

My experience: 

It stood the boyfriend test! Sometimes  I apply one of my XenTan's on my face, & I get the 'what have you done??? Did you put poo on your face?' remark.  Most girls like to look beautiful and most boyfriends know the girls do stuff to make them prettier, but, like many men,  they do not really wanted to be confronted to them. Ok, there are some men who would go with you and have a dual treatment in a beauty-parlor, but somehow that wouldn't really be my cup-of-tea either.

When I apply my Collistar Magic drops I do get an instant tan (as seen in the swatches) but it's a glowy kind of tan that almost looks like good makeup or, better, a real tan!

The fading is gradual and not blotchy at all: It fades after 3 days (and I scrub & clarisonic a lot so that's why my Xen Tan isn't really holding on to my face).
Most of all, it really feels like a beauty treatment combined with tanning because my face gets a lovely glow during and afterwards.
The scent with application is a floral one with a hint of coconut, almost perfumy, but it doesn't irritate my sensitive skin at all: It smells rather like a niche perfume.
When developing there was no 'biscuit' fake-tan scent, which, close to your sniffer, is quite good.

Conclusion:

Truely, when Italians fake they sure do not let you know about it! This stuff is really a magic bronzer and really wonderful for the face.

Mid Weeklies

Strawberry Fields:

Strawberry Fields By James Davids

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Strawberry Fields forever.

Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.
It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out.
It doesn't matter much to me.

-Beatles-

♥ I'd love to run around in a strawberry field, staining my clothes with the fresh strawberries and falling down on the strawberry-bedded grounds♥

the Shady Bunch: Burberry Earthy 07 vs Illamasqua Disobey

I do not have lots of shaders in my arsenal. This is because I am quite happy with what I have.

 I also feel that the idea of shading should be a colour as neutral as possible, so the possiblity of colour-tweaking for the best complexion of a specific goal isn't that spectacular as with blush or lipstick.

I have exactly two colours that I find specific shaders. I use a darker foundation or powder sometimes for the occasional shading that I do, but these are the shady bunch.

Swatches, thinly applied:

left: Burberry Earthy 07: Right: Illamasqua Disobey

A hugantic picture of my lovely arm to show you the slight difference of Burberry Earthy (left) & Ilamasqua Disobey(right).

Two major differences:

• colour: Burberry Earthy is a neutral to warm, brownish tint. Illamasqua Disobey is a brownish colour verging to the mauve spectrum, so slightly cooler
• glow: Illamasqua Earthy has a hint of glow in it, which makes it optional to use it as a really neutral blush as well. Illamasqua Disobey is quite matte. 

Conclusion:

Two trusty shaders that are slightly different in colour and glow but not too different that you would see major difference if I would apply one on each side. I reach for the Burberry the most because of the glow and the effortless texture for daily life.

To decide what works for you is something that differs for the occassion: I think Burberry works a bit better for real life and Illamasqua's matteness will look perfect on pictures. Also, Illamasqua is easier to apply slightly thicker, which will look better on some pictures too (my makeup always looks non-existant on pictures so I always layer up a bit more to actually have a 'natural' makeup-look)

 If you want to see a thicker application of Illamasqua Disobey, you could visit Karlasugar.

Teal-y Marc

Something non-makeup-y today.

I bought this summery bracelet from Marc By Marc Jacobs to match my teal nailpolish :D. It reminds me a bit of children's bracelets and actually has the same rubbery texture as my O'Clock watch in turquoise.

The O'Clock watches are a lot of fun too because you can alternate the wristband. Perhaps a good thing because I think the teal and turquoise are a bit too close in colour but not really, so perhaps I could clash with pink or so...

Mid Weeklies

When elements of nature makes the smallest things spin around.....

BeautyDIY Green Tea Brightening Eye Roll

I was really looking forward reviewing the BeautyDIY Green Tea Brightening eyeroll I've been finding quite effective , weren't it the fact that sasa.com doesn't sell it anymore.

I will still write something about it: it is sold at those blogger-website based sites and I expect to have some readers in Taiwan so I'll give it a short review. 

It has been quite effective in the morning for rolling away the worst of puffiness. Some mornings are not that gorgeous in waking up when you had a smidge of eyemakeup that you missed cleaning the night before, or sometimes your eyes get puffy without an obvious reason.

Working the entire face with the Clarisonic while cleansing gives the whole face a circulation boost which benefits the eyes as well. However, for the specific area and semi-massage the metallic roller-ball of the BeautyDIY is quite effective.

Main ingredients according this person:
green tea, seaweed extract, cucumber extract, soy extract and other natural plant ingredients, fresh beauty fluid (<- yeh, somewhat vague, right?)

The liquid inside is cooling but not too hindering cooling. You will feel it for approximately 25 minutes. Sometimes I apply a creamy eyecream over it, because the tonic-like liquid is not moisturizing.

Verdict:

• the roller-applicator is handy in giving a lymph-draining massage (for Dummies)
• the liquid is tonic-like and feels cooling for 25 minutes, and helps in depuffing the area
• as for the Brightening on long term: not sure, but I feel the area is a bit lighter too
• it's not moisturizing: for moisturizing you need to layer a cream/serum eyecream over it
• it used to be easily to get: but sasa.com removed it from it's site. Some blogger-sellers have it but I won't give links before I'm sure if they deliver.
• I prefer it over the popular Garnier eyeroll (tinted): I feel the green tea and other ingredients give a better effect in depuffing

Conclusion:

I really like it and it's effective enough to roll away the biggest puffiness.

Mid Weeklies

It's a cat's life....

Something old, something new, something finished...

Reading about the new upsurge of Asian skincare & makeup on the market makes me a bit nostalgic about my beginning days of the blog. Ok, it also has a bit of "been there, already tried that/have the product" when I read the articles about the 'newest' essences, fibre mascaras, etc. But let's not be snobby and look at an old favourite that is one of my first ventures on the Asian cosmetic market!

1. Something Old: The Majolica Majorca Automatic Eyeliner pen in BL 777.

Ofcourse, I found the recommendation of this gem on makeupalley by one of the first Europe girl in the field Fleckenschnitte (from Lotuspalace blog)! You can see her review over here!

 

I know there is some rule to chuck away your makeup after a couple of years but I haven't been using it a lot lately and I wanted to try out how good the texture would still hold. It's a close up so don't be fooled but it's still reasonable! Ok, we are used to more advanced textures these days but I still loooooove the multidimention-ness of the colour.

2. Something new: Tom Ford Lipstick in 17 Violet Fatale

 
I have been reading various reviews and noticed that it's not the most perfect texture for it's price. I still ordered it from Belgian niche-shop Parfuma because I was simply smitten by the beautiful pink/purple colour.

And yes, I managed to open its packaging! It is even featured on the non-chosen banner as you can see partly over here:

It's a bit dryer than some lipsticks but I adore the colour.

3. Something finished: Vichy Solucion Micellaire

 This was the last bit left, which I already used up.

Similar to the likes of cleansing waters such as Bioderma & NARS I found this one to be really effective and refreshing. My only dislike was a bit of a chemical smell after using it. Something easily removed by another tone. It doesn't remove sturdy eyemakeup that well, but most people reading this blog know what Asian mascaras can be like.

Battle of the Banners

I really want a new banner because I've reached my 500 posts.
I just want to ask my readers which one would be better/cuter/etc?

1. Simple & whimsical

2. Or luxe & referring to makeup/scarves/etc?

Please, feel free to comment and give your opinion ♥

Mid Weeklies

"Here comes the sun (...) It's all right"

-the Beatles-

It's not that the sun wasn't there or there were lots of clouds but the temperature was rather lukewarm.

Now it actually feels like spring...