Midsummer Newbies

Summer is still blooming around...perhaps it is more drying to skin than you anticipated. Or, when going city-tripping you can find your pores going congested like nothing else.

• For the occasional bout of dryness I gotten myself this cute Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin pill mask. I've been sheetmasking before K-beauty gotten mainstream and it's fun they have gotten easier available. 
• I've already gotten the Boscia Detoxing Black Cleanser in a sample size, and absolutely loved the warming effect on the skin. I love this liquid form of charcoal cleansing and I noticed it really helped getting to those pesky blackheads. Something not many products are effective off with my skin.

I also went on the bandwagon with Son & Park's Beauty water...

Ohh, I really love how the air in the water is looking in the bottle.

I had to decorate it with my Luxdivine (etsy) armband and the scarf is D&G summer collection.

I rediscovered cheeks with NARS Nars-issist Dual intensity blush palette.

 It is certainly a fantastic blending blush texture...I'm smitten. My cheeks glowwwww...

I have been upping up my foundation game with an oldie and a newbie:

• Mac Face & Body is and oldie but still high in the ranks of makeupartists. I've picked a darker colour for my body as I have some white spots that I need to even out.
• Nars Velvet Matte Skin tint is new on the market. I was not enterely sure as the colours tend to look a bit too yellow for my colouring, but they look velvety and real on (self-)tan skin. I still think the gap between Cusco and Annapurna is too large in colour dept.

One of the Sephora Beauty reward boxes contained Alterna. I love their Caviar Protein line but feel (and can see) that my hair might be healthy enough to alternate with moisture. So bring on the moisture with the CaviarAnti Ageing Replenishing Moisture line.

Ok, I say I'm team Alterna but I also have team Christophe Robin and I've been enjoying some other shampoos lately as well. But in the end Alterna would be my desert island brand!

Last but not least, nails. Since everybody and their grandma have been into nailart, gellnails everything etc, I have been neglecting my mani with a simple coat of strenghtener. Very sheer, kinda blah.

• I thought some Chanel could bring back my colour game: Turban looks bright enough for summer and classic enough for always.

• Another pretty one is the Damask Rose from & Other Stories. It looks so foiled on nails, incredible.

These have been some of my midsummer hauls. I'm already eyeing up some of the Autumn lines. Kose Addiction by Ayako has released these amazing new eyeshadows with names like Dancer in the Dark, Hazy Night, Volcano & Modern Nostalgia. The colours are as awesome to boot with their names and instagram is not holding too many secrets when recently renewed (just browse on the Japanese names). 

As for skincare, I think I will hold on on some new finds that I will review soon for it. I'm kinda behind my reviews: being stuck into the instagram picturing mode makes me kind of lazy on the writing front...It does make me attempt to make prettier photos : )

Captain Blankenship Mermaid Mane dry Shampoo: a festie-bestie, volumizer or shower-shy hairfriend

•*´¨`*•.¸¸. Power to the mermaids ¸¸.•*´¨`*•

Actually weird, as mermaid would have perennially wet and salted hair by the sea. But I'll spare you the mythical details and let's just think gorgeous, bouncy and lustrous hair.

I've been having a couple of dry-shampoos in the range of Bumble & Bumble, the delightful Klorane, Rene Furtherer and even a DIY blend of my own with arrowpowder and cacao. Still, this one has wowed me.

I normally am not the greatest fan of dry shampoos: they do help to extend the hair for a day of showering, but the effect is always a bit too matte or just an unglossy bit that seems to tangle a bit easier. 

how to use? Peanuts...

Also, I have been on a chemical-light diet for the hair...Haha, I haven't quit cold turkey as there are still some chemicals my hair needs every now and then: e.g. hairtoners etc. Once you started anything that goes beyond your natural hue of hair...

However, I'm trying to keep things more organic close to the scalp. And by trying this relatively newbie on the block I have found an excellent hair-mate.

What I like is how you can dose it: want a tad of sprinkles or want a big heap of powder. Also, it is handluggage friendly and perfectly to-be- decanted in smaller proportions. 

I need volume more in my life than ever. Reason: my hair has been a tad thinner since I tried another shot in hairextensions (I took them out in a jiffy...another story, boohoo, a sad one). Trying this dry shampoo on 3rd day hair made me realize I could get my old volume again. Normally, I prefer my hair after washing it, but this time I actually longed for the 3rd day, Mermaid boosted hairdo!

 So what's inside?

Easy peasy, nothing obtrusive. Although I am not exactly a fan of how the Rose Geranium and Palmarosa ended up smelling like, it is absolutely a soft blend and ends of neutral (to my nose) within a couple of minutes after application.

The powder is thin but not too powdery. I'm delighted to see that my darker roots don't get that dreaded 'dandruf' glow or that greyish overcast but stay their natural shade. As for the blonder hairs: it gives fantastic volume without too much tangles. Ack, my blond tangles easy anyway but this does not really aggravate it.

For Europeans, I found mine of a clip-in hairextension site Dirtylooks (here), I know, I never learn ;) but I've bought in to colour them up with pastel and fun colours like purple, turquoise etc. They have some other cute Indie brands in their beauty-department.

As for the question of whether one is too old for festivals, meet @baddiewinkle (instagram):

So true...

•*´¨`*•.¸¸. Now sprinkle on your mermaid dust and have a fab summer ¸¸.•*´¨`*•

Start of Summer present: Monica Vinader Fiji

Happy summer, or to the ones on the Southern part of the globe, happy winter.

As it's finally summer over here, I treaded myself the elegant way to friendship-braceleticity: a Monica Vinader Fiji in Gold with plum thread.

 I got this one based on the colour combination: normally I prefer rose gold but the purple looks really nice with the yellow gold.

Plum stands for prosperity, according to Vinader's site. I'm not the super-materialistic type so I consider prosperity to be more than just more cash or business success. Eg: prosperity in friendships, love and life in general.

Ps: I bot a Bobbi Brown powder in Antigua that day too: I still love my makeup too and the rose undertone of the bronzer is actually more flattering on me than a straight brownish colour.

So, how have you been celebrating the beginning of summer?

Codage Summertime Serum: recap

I'm all about mysteries...and cosmetics: combine this and we have a fascination for trying out French skincare. It's just that one of the mysteries is that most French women stay quite beautiful even they claim to have more hedonistic lifestyles. With their pharmacies full with cosmetic beautifyers you will think that the products must be doing something right.

As for the mystery of Codage Summertime, it plays a bit of smoke-and-mirrors of what is actually in there. It's a bit like that other mysterious Esthederm brand that Lisa Elderidge is so fan of. She likes their sunblocks but they don't state nowhere what the actual factor of protection is or whether they have PA++ or not. I actually tried their No Sun sunblock, and it's not that good because I returned from the beach with some 'lovely' new pigment spots. When that happens my interest in a brand is soon over: it might be mysterious but it has to do something that claims it will do.

sorry about the grubby label: I took it on travels, etc

I disgress, Codage has been a brand not often reviewed and Summertime was so new when I bought it I just had to research it for my own curiosity, vanity and for the blog ofcourse!

Their claims:

better view on their website

I totally agree upon these elements more necessary towards summer skincare. The only thing I am quite puzzled about is the Chemistry part.

The only chemistry I wondered about during Chemistry lessons was whether I had chemistry with my oh-so-unattainable-beautiful-bad-boy in another class. but I actually have no idea if these numerics have any real value. I think the actual percentage of people who use this product and actually know it the numerics (are they called like that, see? too much dreaming) are real or fake. But they look "scientific" and that is often enough.

The actual ingredients:

 The bottle:

I have been using it somewhat regularly and sometimes not so continiously for a month:

• silicony feel to it: somewhat similar as the Korean or other Asian nightime masks
• easy to dose droplet: press out as much or as little as you'd like
• as the slippery feel stays on for more than 10 minutes, I used it as a nighttime product
• So their claim "01 moisture without oiliness"? is somewhat true: it doesn't look too oily on the skin and somewhat false: it feels oily and if you use it in the morning it might interfere with your makeup
• I like it for warmer days: oils are normally my way to go but when warmer I need something not-a-real-oil but slippery enough to get some moisture in
• Whitening/brightening: not sure because I use it with plenty other brighteners, eg vitamine C serum.
• "02 Sooth the skin from agressions?": Somewhat! the slightly silicony feel in the beginning is somewhat calming but I think that the Nude Advanced Cellular Renewal Serum does a better job at penetrating into the dermis (=skin- hey, I did pay some attention at Chemistry!) and providing the skin with soothers/anti-agers/brighteners than this serum.
• "03 protect from heath & pollution": I changed my routine to use it merely for nighttime, so I cannot really reflect on this part as the daily protector. 
• "04 Increase tanning and protect from the sun". Somewhat an oxymoron: but I understand some people like to get a real tan but a gradual one that doesn't really harm or damages their skincells a lot. I never tried it without sunblock and I wouldn't test it either because of my proneness to freckles & pigment spots. I think the slightly slippery feel has some protection factor in itself and the sunrays will take more time to penetrate into the skin.
• Minimizing pores (not a claim, but relevant for the review)? No, not really.
• Softer skin? Yes, it makes the skin feel soft the next morning
• Minimizing wrinkles? Somewhat. But they don't claim to be an anti-aging product. Thus,
• I think this product is more suitable for age-group 18-32! It protects against the fact summer & summer behaviour can wreck havock on skin and younger people can prevent or correct their sun-tastic times.

Conclusion:
I like this product, only more as a "supporting actress" instead of the "main player",  because my skin needs something more at the mature age of *-censored-by-author-*. It's on the cheaper side of skincare and I think it can be a welcome addition to people aged 18-32 as an easy way to keep their dermis young. I think I won't repurchase, but I might repurchase it as well. I'm fickle with these things.

Availability:
Colette.fr has it for € 45 but on the Codage website they have a sampling program, so you can try out this or the other products as well for less €.

Weekly Photo Challenge Yumeko: the Summer favourites

I will join one of Yumeko's photo-challenges for the first time and tell about some specific summer-favourites of mine. Read about the original challenge on Yumeko's blog here:

1. First Base:- Base Makeup

1. Green People Sun Lotion SPF25 Medium (Edelweiss Extract) This 82% organic, *just* SPF 25 is blocking the sunrays quite well and it's whitening Edelweis Extract actually does something more. 2. Kiss Me Sunkiller Whitening Water SPF 50+. If I really want protection and keep my face light/N20-ish; I reach for Japanese sunblocks, period! 3. NARS Tinted foundation in St. Moritz (review). I almost HG-ed my new Koh Ren Doh 123 but this is a darker tint which makes up for the fact my sunblocks worked too well keeping me paler. 4. Kanebo Freshel BB MoistLife (review). City-protection! The easy route being quite protected & covered and having anti-ageing/other benefits. 5. Lotree Rosa Davurica Powder Pact 25 (review) My fave summer-powder on the road. 6. Giorgio Armani High Precision Retouch. Cover enough & handy enough for diminishing post seasalt-water redness.

2. Second Base -Point Makeup
2.a. The Cheeky chatters...

1. Shu Uemura Pulse. In summer I often reach for a colour that DrivellerKate would call a "platonic colour" because it's so innocent.  Corals are perfect for creating that "standard sweet-girl look" that I make extra generic with a (faux) tan and faux-or-real smile. And my darling platonic blush. ofcourse.
2. NARS with that name that shouldn't be mentioned... I told my friend I wouldn't pay for anything called that so I got it by trading for another blush. For it's unromantic/technical connotations with either the film or activity it's a beautiful platonic pinky-peach done right like NARS can. 
3. Bobbi Brown Pale Pink: I have no idea what's so pale about this pink because it's medium toned pink but I like it's cooler hue a lot.
4. Giorgio Armani bronzer in 01: There is absolutely no orangy colour in it which makes it better for neutral to cooler skintones: it applies sheer and suits lighter complexions.
5. DeliPlus Color Colerete Multicolor:These are quite cheap & handy from the Spanish supermarkets and I picked it up during my travels.

2B-Let the eyes & lips have it!

1& 2. Teals, aquas & turquoises....bring them on...let my eyes reflect all tropical oceans. (Lunasol reviewed).3. The unbulgable Mascaras! (review) Kiss Me Heroine Make Curl Impact & Frame is the Superqueen of staying put... The Dejavu Tiny Sniper gives that cute Twiggy underlash look for sultry-hot nights. 4. Kiko! Lots of their waterproof eyecrayons. 5 Gold! Eyes need Paul & Joe eyegloss in 01 and for lips I have a French Lipgloss from Gloss Frisson that adds warmth. 6. My slightly battered case of Guerlain Rouge Automatique in Chamade 164. 

Base 3: Sunshielding Accessories:

Hats, Topshop sunglasses & scarfs...All there!

Base 4: the un-pong-ers

Perfume-wise, I have been loving the Annick Goutale Nimfeo Mio for a couple of summers and this year's new love is L'Été En Douce.

5. Base 5: The Rest:

 1.Xen Tan Self Tan Extra Dark. My fave self tan for face is the Collistar one, but for the body I use this. 2. Shower stuff...I live on mini's and showers with warmer weather. 3. Getting Footsy: Foot-healing balms such as Alexandro Pedix is for making up to my feet when I'd put them in unsuitable shoes. The Chanel Mimosa '11 is for a fun summer pedi. 4. Organic post-beach care: Wearing a high-duty Japanese sunscreen needs a good cleansing balm to get everything off, otherwise it's pimple time: Suti is quite good at it. Pukka's firming Face oil  is so lovely for treating post-beach skin.5. Rohto eyedrops:  Rohto is quite good in taking some seasalt-water redness out. Also nice when flying a lot.

Also a special mention to all my hairstuff I reviewed over here...

I would be fantastic if everyone tries to join this challenge and tell us what your summer-musthaves are! RougeDeluxe has joined as well. So comment on Yumeko's Bittenbefore blog over here and get writing, photographing and publishing!

Summerisms

Welcome in mid-summer...

Summer is season that either appeals to you, or not. And even if you totally adore summer season, as I do, there are some things that are to be considered in order to enjoy it fully (and keep the negative sides of summer away from you).

First, the bugs, and I am not talking about pesky men, can be quite irritating when enjoying your summer drink. Browsing etsy I found this natural-based spray with the cutest themes from the lovingly named heartbroken mosquito shop. I skipped the ubercute sounding 'unicorn safe mosquito detergent' and went straight for the 'repel guys who are players' mosquito spray...

Ha ha, it is supposed to work in both ways: repelling both the pesky player guys and the mosquitos!

Honestly, I am not the most delicious food source for either mosquitos and players. But there have been some irritating bugs bugging me in my life.

I do not want to generalise either players nor mosquitos, although the mosquitos are a bit easier to pin down. Biting mosquitos are females, and players can be both male and female.

Only women get different names: when the female player has a kind of mystery surrounding her (or nobody knows anything about her) she is often branded femme fatale. The less kind word for the woman with a large capacity of man-magnetism (and the ability to act in a similar way the male players do) is branded 'sl*t' or something similarly unflattering sounding and meaning.

The male players...mmm, it depends on the level of game they like to stick...Some can indeed be pesky when they suspect you might not be into them...but some will go for a different target...just like mosquitos.

The side has the next description liste:
*Ladies are you sick of going to a BBQ, outdoor concert, camping etc. & getting hit on by guys, who are players & nagging mosquitoes just won't leave you alone either. Then this is the vegan, all natural repellent for you!! It's time to take charge!! It really works amazingly well (see ingredients below)!!!

This repellent has an extra essential oil in it for an extra kick booty, supergirl power move...Ahh, the power of 'Wintergreen Essential Oil.' So with the power of over 10 essential oils, all known to repel mosquitoes naturally...we must break their hearts & tell them to move on (in a very kind, earth friendly way of course).

To the ingredients:

Does it work? Ha ha ha, I cannot really point out about the players when I was wearing this, because some come in sneaky disguises of sweet-or-standard-looking-boys/men-who-are- supposingly-genuinely-interested in you (they come in different forms)...I did find the DJ looking at me at some point at a summer Fête, and DJ are often quite player-like. But he could not smell me because it was at some distance so I cannot really tell ;P

Mosquitos often go for other people too, but if I am alone in a mosquito crowded area they sometimes settle with me. With this spray, they even went away and searched for someone else.

The scent is still quite lemon-like, like those drugstore anti-mosquito repellants. It has an earthy note added to it. It would not be a scent I would like to sport for going out, or such, but it has that earthy vibe around it.

And when you have been sucessfully fighting the mosquitos and players, you still have to take care of not making yourself look like a lobster, or harming your preciously build skincells with those damaging UV sunrays.

I went for Japanese skincare to tone down those rays. That is somewhat random and somewhat decisively picked out by me. Sunblocks have improved tremendously over the last years, so the often hyped about French La Roche Posay has been having some fierce competition of other brands from other countries.

What I love about the Japanese sunblocks I have tried is that they feel really light on the skin, and do not make you look like a greased up person with sunblock --> they often are targeted for people with combination to oily skin, and often tone down the oilies.

I like to multitarget, and I like browsing Sasa and filling up my cart until I have reached the amount to receive free shipping. With these considerations I bought a sunscreen suited for both face and body: Mentholatum Sunplay Water & Sports SPF 130 PA++

It has gotten superb reviews on SASA, and I really wanted to know if it was worth the hype. Plus, I really like to be active when going to the beach, and the formula targeted for active people going into the water and doing sports was something right up my alley (instead of lying pretty on a towel, which is also something that is good, but personally I prefer to be more active).

I have tried it a few times, and it is really lightweight and effective against tanning. The formula is realy thin and liquidy, so watch out that you do not squeeze out too much when applying.
The colour is white, which is not too bad, because the whiteness will dissapear after application (around half a minute).

I also like the cute litte tiger on the bottle:

After a day with sunscreen on your skin, I suggest removing the sunblock from your skin, in order to let the pores breathe again. Well, pores can still breathe with the sunblock, but just like makeup, it is always better to remove it from your face and/or body.

For my face I use one of my favourite cleansing oils, for example Kanebo Naive Olive Oil.

For my body I use the least favourite cleansing oil in my collection. That is right, the least favourite (sorry Etude House Cleansing Dream, but you just stay too oily on my skin and I need to rewash my skin after applying this).

I am still too frugal to throw away this cleansing oil, and it works to get the sunblock of my body. I do not mind the slightly oily feeling that lingers on my body afterwards, but with my face I would mind, so it still has a function for me.

Keep it cool this summer (or warm if you like the warmth), keep an eye on those mosquitos and/or players, and be protective to your skincells!

summerproof eyes

My hauls of last week were really rewarding in the field of making my eyes summerproof. I know, I know...it has hardly been spring...but the rising temperatures make my blood sizzle for summer fun...

One of the products I was dying to try out was the Paul & Joe Eye gloss. Actually, I was hesitating between Jill Stuart Eye jelly or Paul & Joe, but prefered P & J based on more flattering swatches (without too much glitter, my eyes do not want to resemble a discoball in summer) and the more convenient method of application ( a wand instead of dipping my fingers-aka unhygienic- into a jelly jar).

Paul & Joe it became, and I have not been dissapointed yet! I picked colour 1, a goldish glow that would look brilliantly alone or paired over another colour to punch it up. I ordered it at gooddealer.com. Gooddealer included two precious p&j samples as well...so lovely. I have been testing the light cream foundation in 30 and it is so glowy...now I know why Fuzkitty is raving about this stuff...uhohhh, more lemmings.

The packaging and the tube is so pretty and feminine, without going overboard on pinkness and fluffiness. I love Paul & Joe's peachy packaging and the gold writing is so gorgeous. The next picture is a closeup of the eye jelly in the tube...

Swatches: it delivers a glowy, champagne gold colour which can be sheered out to a shimmery hint of gold on the eyelids....

More importantly, is it splashproof/sweatproof/funproof? I have been splashing water over my eyes and eyelids....and it stayed on wonderfully. I also layered it over a taupe creamshadow, and it gave a lucid dimension to it...it also warmed up the taupe, so it would be wonderful for warming up cooler shadows for girls who prefer their eyeshadows to be more warm.

My second haul came from fyrinnae.com, a etailer company that specialises on wickedly fun-coloured mineral eyeshadows. I bought their Inks liquid eyeliner in the past, in colour intoxicating, and I love this stuff for an easy eye with a twinkle of fun.

I was craving more taupes, so I purchased the two taupe eyeliners available: Tinsel Taupe and Flattery Gets You Everywhere. As they have free shipping with a purchase over $20 (INTERNATIONALLY) I picked up a small lip lustre in Lace Gloves as well. The twinkly eyeshadow in the top of the picture was a freebie...I want to mix that with clear nailpolish to make a darkly glittery polish...ha ha.

Althought they are gorgeous, they are quite similar. I probably would not have purchased both if I knew that before. (picture in sunlight). The Flattery is a bit darker and has a greener hint compared to Tinsel Taupe.

The best thing about Fyrinnae's colours are their multi-dimensional quality in colour, so I will overwhelm you with swatches. Eeeek, my hands look so crocodile-ish right now...I need to use my Kose Happy Bathday soon!

I prefer Flattery Gets You Everywhere over Tinsel Taupe. Tinsel looks more silvery in specific light, whereas Flattery is more greenish. I still consider them to be quite similar. I love their names, btw...I wish that Flattery indeed got me everywhere...sight...

Ok, this is an eye post today, but I wanted to show you the other Fyrinnae swatches as well. The Lip Lustre feels more velvety than balmy, but it looks quite flattering in a velvety manner. Sometimes I am not feeling the glossy lip-look and a velvet product is more appropriate. The colour is a creamy coral with pink microshimmer, and looks summery on the lips.

I love this Taupetastic colour for waterproof eyes as well, but I will not tease the international crowd, as it is only available in meee leeetle country...

Another fantastic product is K-palette eyeliner! Somehow I could not find my own picture, but I have it in my collection as well. It stays put for a long time and is not too difficult to remove. I bought mine on jpmon.com a while ago, but it is available on amazon as well.

However, I think that the numerous gel eyeliners that are available these days, ranging from Mac to madminerals.org, will have a water-resistant quality as well. Just try some and find out which will suit you the most.

I will not discuss waterproof mascara's yet, as there are trillions of products out there. And, I have not found my HG waterproof mascara yet, although I am really interested in testing out the Clarins Fix Mascara, that is supposed to make ANY mascara waterproof. Oh, it was Jojoba who raved about it (here), check out her review.

Oh, I should have bought that yesterday...I was in the cosmetic shop where they still had the 20% discount, but my impatient boyfriend did not like my cosmetic browsing so much....LOL! He always chases me with cotton balls and paper towels to make me wipe away all my swatches...Somehow he thinks I already have enough makeup (who me?...you don't agree, do you? Dear Readers?)

Anyway, get your eyes ready for summer, and keep it fun, because a smokey eye should not be caused by the kind of 'activity' the girls practice in the next picture....