Review: H&M Silk Smooth Foundation

I was recently travelling for a while, and at one point, my luggage got lost, so I had to buy new things to get by for a few days, until I got my luggage back.

One of the things I had to buy was a foundation. I didn't want to spend too much on beauty products at this stage, since I knew I would be getting my regular makeup bag back very shortly, so I just went in to the closest H&M, and got some of their stuff, among them this H&M Silk Smooth Foundation:

This is the second time I try any beauty products from H&M (someone gave me a rather horrible H&M lipgloss several years ago, so that was the first try) and I have to say I am rather pleasantly surprised. The foundation looks great on, and your skin feels great too, after you apply it.

The only downside is that it doesn't seem to be available in very many shades (at least they were not sold in the store I bought mine in, if they are), but I was lucky enough to find a shade that suited me anyway.

So yes, if you ever find yourself in a pinch, do try H&M's beauty products! They are both cheap and good, believe it or not!

On my beauty wish list right now

Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum, I've tried it before and absolutely loved it. It's a great product!

One of Boots no 7 eye creams. I haven't tried them yet, but I have a feeling they are as great as the serum, so I really want to!

Crabtree & Evelyn Lily perfume. Another product I haven't tried yet, but I have been dying to for a long time already!

A real, professional makeup case.

Finding beauty products and make up cheaper: A guide to Ebay

While I love beauty products and make up, I find that many products, especially from the better known brands, can often be quite expensive. This is why I have come up with several ways to find these products for cheaper. I buy things online, in online stores like Strawberrynet, I buy stuff in tax free stores on airports when I travel, but most of all; I try to find the products I like on Ebay.

I am a huge fan of Ebay otherwise too, and I buy everything from clothes, shoes and books there, but I have found that Ebay is especially convenient when you want to buy small things, such as beauty products, because the shipping costs are really low, and often even free, no matter where you live in the world.

Another great thing is that you can find pretty much anything on Ebay, so no matter if you like luxury brands like Chanel or Dior, or more unknown brands, you will be able to find everything you could ever want here.

There are some things you should keep in mind however, when you shop on Ebay, especially if you buy cosmetics and beauty products, in order to really get good deals and not end up with bad products, so here are some tips I have learned along the way while shopping on Ebay, regarding this:

Always check the size

This is something that can be rather tricky, because a lot of products that may seem cheap on Ebay, are actually not. Instead, you are getting a very small version of the product, and not the full size. This can even be the case even if the picture in the auction in question is of a full size product, it could still say somewhere in the description that it is actually a travel size or trial size. So always make sure you understand what size you are getting, so you don’t end up paying too much for a really small product!

If you want to compare the prizes on Ebay to the prices for the same product in your local store or in an online store, also make sure you compare the prices for the same size, since most products are available in several different sizes.

Check if the product has an expiration date

As you are probably already aware of, a lot of beauty products and cosmetics have expiration dates. You do not want to buy old products or products that are about to expire very soon, since you might not have time to use them before the expiration date, and products that are too old, could easily give you allergies or a rash or something. So always read the description to find information about expiration dates, and if no information is available, send a message to the seller to ask about it. Better safe than sorry!

Look out for fakes

Not a very common problem when it comes to cosmetics, but there are plenty of fakes out there when it comes to fragrances, so if you are thinking of buying any fragrances at all, keep this in mind.

Check the seller’s feedback

This is the best way to make sure you are dealing with a reputable seller. I personally only buy from sellers who have over 99 % positive feedback from previous customers, and I also prefer sellers who have previously sold the exact product I am interested in or at least other products from the same brand. Most sellers on Ebay are okay, but sadly, there are some crooks out there too. So its always best to check these things carefully to be on the safe side!

(the pic is from In Style)

Review: Pupa Professionals Smoothing Foundation Primer

I've never been a person who uses tons of different products at the same time, so using primers is actually something that is rather new to me.
But one of my friends was raving so much about the Pupa Professionals Smoothing Foundation Primer that I decided to give it a try, making it the first ever foundation primer I ever tried.

This primer is available in a clear version, a green version and a purple version. The clear one is suitable for all skin types, while the green one will combat any redness in the skin and the purple one will correct any yellow tones you might have.

I got the clear version myself, and found that it worked really nicely, much better than I had thought in fact. It does smooth out any bumps or wrinkles or lines you might have, making your skin appear really smooth and flawless.

You use the primer before adding foundation, of course, but I found that you can use the foundation even very shortly after having applied the primer, so there is no need to wait a long time in between, which I think is great. You also just need to apply very little of this product, so even though it might seem a bit pricey for "an unnecessary product" (it did to me!), you will be using it much longer than you think, so it is still worth your while, I think. No-one will be able to tell that you are using a primer either, which makes the product even better!

I am pretty sure I will be getting the Pupa Professionals Smoothing Foundation Primer again, if no-one recommends a different foundation primer before that. I am totally loving it!

About Pupa: Pupa is an Italian company that makes products for your face (including make up and skin care), body as well as fragrances and bath products. The products are available in over 70 different countries.
This happened to be the first Pupa product I tried as well, and I have to say that this brand managed to impress me immediately! I will definitely be getting some more Pupa stuff in the future!

Review: Clarins Hydra Quench Cream

I have combination skin, which means I can have both very oily patches and very dry ones. While finding the right products for the oily parts of the skin has been no easy task, it has been equally hard to find a good product for the dry patches, since the skin can also dry out even more when you use products for oily skin on combination skin.

At the moment, I am trying Clarins cream Clarins Hydra Quench Cream for the dry patches, and it is working wonderfully. The cream really is very good, and hydrates the skin fast, since it is so effective. So you do not need to use it for a long time to see results, and the product also lasts for a very long time, since just using a small amount of it is enough.

This product is actually for dry or very dry skin, but you can use it on your dry patches when you have combination skin as well. I imagine it works even better for those who actually have dry skin, though, since this who the product is originally made for.

This cream is however not suitable for wearing under make up, if you ask me, since it will only make your skin look oily and shiny. Instead, I recommend you to use it right before you go to bed and leave it on during the night for best results.

Besides Clarins Hydra Quench Cream, I am quite a big fan of Clarins other products as well, so I am not really surprised that Clarins has managed to create such a nice product...

One of my favorite lip glosses

I'm a huge fan of MAC and their products, and in particular of their lip glosses. Even though they are not cheap, they last for a really long time (even if I use lip gloss almost every day!) and give you just the right look. Natural, not too shiny and glossy and they don't have a bad taste either, like some lip glosses.
Their only down side is, I guess that your hair can sometimes get stuck in the lip gloss quite easily, if you have long hair like me and it is windy outside, but then again, that is the case with most lip glosses, so it's not really a very uncommon disadvantage.

Currently, one of my favorite lip glosses is the MAC Cremesheen Glass in the shade Boy Bait, a lovely light, but still natural looking shade that I tend to wear during the day when going for a low maintenance and fun look.

I can highly recommend both the MAC Cremesheen Glass in general and this shade in particular, even though you will be able to find the MAC Cremesheen Glass in tons of other shades as well, if Boy Bait is not quite to your liking.

L'Oreal Glam Shine

I recently got a new lipgloss, called the L'Oreal Glam Shine, for the simple reason that I've started liking different colors on my lips than what I used to wear. You see, I wouldn't mind if my lips looked like they had some product on them, before, and I would often wear lip products that were even a shade or two lighter than my natural lip color, but these days, I want everything to look as natural as possible.

And while the Glam Shine I got is a shade called Purple Obsession, it actually does look rather much like my natural color on.

Of course, it has some more sparkle than your lips do naturally, so the look is not completely natural, but I have to say it comes pretty close. It's great for a natural look at night, when you want to look like yourself, just a bit more fancy!

Here is a better pic of it as well (the one above was taken by me)

(pic from L'Oreal)

My latest buys: New organic products from Laline

One of my favorite brands, when it comes to the cheaper price range, is definitely Laline. They make wonderful products, with great scents and in really pretty packages, in France and in Israel, and whenever I pass by one of their stores, I find it really hard not to buy something.
So when I had to go into a Laline store for a wedding present for a beauty freak, it was kind of a given that I would be getting something for myself as well.

And that I did!

Not a lot of stuff, but still.
What I ended up getting was a Lily of the valley-scented soap (Laline's soaps are amazing, if you only buy one thing there, I highly recommend that it is a soap. I tend to go for the lemon and the Lily of the valley scented soaps myself, but there are plenty of others to choose from as well) and two products from Laline's new, organic range.

This is their new organic Facial serum, that I wanted to try because I have previously tried their regular serum, which is just wonderful. It is enriched with both vitamin E and Macadamia Oil, and a whole 99.6 % of all the ingredients are completely natural, which I think is just great.

After having tried the Laline Facial serum at home though, I have to say that I was a bit dissapointed. Their regular facial serum smells like cucumber and leaves your face feeling really fresh, but this new serum is an oil, which mostly leaves you skin feeling... well, oily.
Some people with very dry skin might appreciate that sensation, but personally, I don't strive for oily skin, so I wish I had gotten the regular Facial serum instead.

The new Laline eye cream, also organic, was a much better buy, however. It consists of a lot of goodies, such as vitamin E as well, beeswax, Dead Sea minerals and shea butter, and you are supposed to apply it every morning and evening. I have done just that twice by now, and the eye cream is wonderful. It's easy to apply, it sinks in to your skin really fast and it does work wonders on that tricky area around the eyes.

So I can really recommend the Laline organic eye cream, but if you are looking for facial serums, I would keep looking, or try the cucumber one instead.

If you are not familiar with Laline, their stores can be found in:
San Fransisco
Tokyo
St. Thomas USVI
and Basel, Switzerland, besides in Israel.

A typical Laline store looks something like this:

(pic from Laline's website)

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Review: Liberte by Cacharel

Like I already mentioned on my other blog, my latest perfume has been one that is rather uncharacteristic for me, yet something that makes sense as well. You see, I recently got Cacharel's Liberte, which is a bit out of the ordinary for me, because I rarely buy completely "new" scents, I tend to stick to old favorites instead. But I recently decided that I need to start trying new scents as well, because how else am I ever going to find new gems?

So that's why I decided to go for this one. I wanted something new, and quite different from my other scents, who tend to be very light, while Liberte is a bit heavier and stronger.
It's made up of both citrus fruits, patchouli, warm spices, vanilla and much more, so I think it is a very typical summer scent, and also a scent that works best in the evenings.
But like most Cacharel scents (I absolutely love Cacharel's Eden! And Lou Lou and several others are quite nice as well), Cacharel's Liberte is really a very nice, classic and not overly trendy scent that I can see a lot of women falling in love with. So if citrus, vanilla and warm spices appeal to you, you might want to give this one a try!

(the pic was taken by me, please do not use it without my permission)

Before we get started

Let me tell you a little bit about me, what kind of beauty products I like generally, and what is important to me.

I am:
Slightly over 30 years old.
Married.
Someone who lives in a warm, humid climate.
Someone who does not have a lot of time, so I like products that do not require a lot of time.
A fanatic when it comes to skin care.

I think:
Natural and organic beauty products are awesome, so I look for them all the time.
Everything looks better when it's applied on great skin, so we should all care for our skin properly before looking at anything else.
Makeup can be fun, but should never be a chore.
Makeup for special occasions is even more fun.
The best products are not always the most expensive ones, but sometimes you do get what you pay for.
The right perfume and scent can make a huge difference.
Sometimes you need to feel girly and glamorous, and beauty products can help us do just that.

Some of my favorite brands are:
L'Occitane
MAC
Clarins
Dior
Chanel
Neutrogena
Lancome (especially their mascaras)
Lumene (a brand made for Scandinavian skin)
But I still have tons of other brands to try, and I also use products from tons of other brands as well on a regular basis.

(pic from Face Fitness Center)