Beauty ponders

First up: the fragrance. It has indeed a nice floral scent - I can understand why people are fond of it. Most dry shampoos smell awfull. It works just like a dry shampoo is supposed to work: spray onto your hair, massage and brush it out - finished and your hair looks freshly washed. The only problem for me is that this sprays a white mist and it's really necessary that I brush it out thouroughly, otherwise my hair turns out grey... If you're a brunette like me, personally I think you're better off with the coloured dark version. Nevertheless, this is still a good product and if your hair has a lighter shade or if you don't mind brushing - go for it!

After my Catrice topcoat, I was in desperate need for a new one and so I decided to go for the Seche Vite this time - 'cause I haven't tried this one yet! I also bought the Restore version, after reading all the horror-thickening stories... And as always I couldn't resist ordering a few polishes along with it...

Not too much, I've been quite a good girl. I ordered Essie "Lion Around" from one of the previous collections and OPI "Tickle-my-france" which I've been lemming for a long time! All polishes were bought from beautyzone on Ebay. So, you know what this means... there will be NOTD's coming!!

It's the 20 pony brush intented to be used for blush or face powder. First up you can see the handle is quite short in comparison to other brands such as MAC. But, honestly, this handle is just perfect. The longer the handle, the more I seem to grab it at the starting of the brush. Apart from being short, it's also a bit bigger than normal handles, again a plus because it works so easily.

The bristles have a roundish shape that is maintained easily, but I also use the brush guard for it just to be sure. The bristles look very soft and indeed, they are... I really hate all that brushes that appear to be soft and when used on your hand are soft but then, when you put them on your cheeks... horror! That's not the case with this baby, this is such a lovely soft brush, much softer than a MAC brush. It doesn't irritate my sensitive skin and because it's not that big it works very precise. It picks up the colour nicely and blends out like it should. A tiny downside to this brush is its price, which is around 50$ but -to me- it's totally worth it. I'm really trying to invest in some decent brushes because I do notice the difference in applying my make-up. This one is defintely on my recommend-list!

The goods: soft!!!!, short/easy handle, blends well, picks up colour nicely

The bads: price

Overall a great brush that I really commend. It will cost you some, but you get a decent luxurious brush in return that will last you a long time... Just try it and I think you'll love it!

Last week while browsing my regular news I ran into Pippa sporting a new handbag. I love handbags and am always on the lookout for a new one, but sadly enough I have an expensive taste... so I don't often buy a new one. I wasn't really expecting much from Pippa, but she surprised me - a lot!

The bag is from Modula and is in a colour called Shark, a nice grey one but it's also available in black and tan. The pricing is around 150£ which is do-able, it' s not over-the-top expensive like let's say Chanel :)


I'm contemplating getting it because I like it a lot but on the other hand a lot of people will be carrying it and I'm not big on being a sheep... Nevertheless I have to decide, as it's only available for pre-order at the moment and won't be remade afterwards. What do you think?

Finally 'Wonderland' from Catrice has arrived at my local store (talk about being late much) and I decided to have a look but in the end I came home with a few things I couldn't resist. Check the packaging, cute butterflies!!

I bought 2 polishes - I'm a fan of Catrices polishes and let's face it, a girl cannot have enough polishes-, there also was a 3rd reddish colour but I didn't like it that much. I got the Lavenderlicious (lilac) and Miracle in Heaven (blue holographic-something) - both priced at around 2,5euros. I always look at polishes first, don't know why. Then my eye caught 2 lovely powders: firstly the eye shadow highlighter in Fairy Dust (around 3euros) and secondly the highlighting powder in Fairy Dust (around 4 euros).

The highlighting powder contains 10g and is a peachy shimmer, but very subtle. I didn't have a highlighter like this, so I grabbed it as it was the last one left. Then the eyeshadow highlighter at 2g, at first it appears a bit darker and golden but when swatched it definitely suits as a highlighter, a very lovely colour that would suit anyone.

Have you already bought something from this collection?

The packaging is very simple and yet somewhat elegant. I bought the 50ml one, it's available in larger sizes as well but if it's just you using it, this one will already last you a long time. You have to press the top to open it, it's only a tiny hole which is easier for distrubuting the product. The product has a thick siliconebased structure and has a wonderfull scent, a bit sweet and fruity - I love the scent! I use about 2 drops for my entire hair - the back of the product recommends 5 to 10 drops but that's too much and will make your hair look greasy. I put the drops on my fingers, then rub my fingers/hands so the product is lightly spreaded, then I first go through the roots of my hair and afterwards through my entire hair. It's not a good idea to start spreading the product at the top of your hair, because it's quite greasy. Afterwards my hair looks shiny, healthy and the frizz is mostly gone. In the next hours the product lingers on and will continue to protect your hair from frizzing. I haven't noticed this product working on my split ends, but then again I don't use this daily. I only use this when I think my hair needs a boost or when it looks frizzy.

The goods: scent, lasts a long time as you only need a tiny amount, hair becomes shiny, stops frizzing, price (online)

The bads: can be too greasy when you use too much, haven't noticed it working on split ends

Overall I consider this to be a very good product and I enjoy using it a lot - it's definitely one of the better serums out there. The price is somewhat inbetween, you can buy it at salons but also online - I bought mine at strawberrynet for 15$. I've been using it for more than a year. If you have dry and frizzy hair that needs a boost, look into this one, you won't regret it.

A few months ago I did a review on Dandelion from Benefit. I was pretty excited about it and recommended it, now after a few more months of usage I can safely say this has become one of my alltime favourite blushes - I always seem to grab it, even though I have other blushes that I like. It has such a subtle effect. Anyway due to a lot of use I've hit the pan... And this is something because it's my first product ever to hit pan which I wanted to share with you. I'm not big on powder items, I'm more of creamy person if I have the choice.

How about you? Have you recently hit pan on something?

This week my Avon stuff came in and as always I ordered a few lovely items, on a discount....

I ordered 2 mascaras: Supermagnify which I've used the last months and really like + Superenchant, their newly released one. Then 3 polishes ltr: Perfectly Flesh, Viva Pink, Rose Quartz - all great for summer. On the right a brow pencil in Slate and lastly underneath a clear lipgloss with SPF15.

As always, also some body care but Avons body care can be tricky: some things are pure love while others are pure hate - just check my reviews if you're in doubt of ordering something. I now ordered the new scent of Bubble bath called Almond Blossom. And then 2 foot items: the white jar being a shea souffle and the grey jar are pedi-peel pads. Now that I'm talking about it, I haven't done a review on foot stuff - mental note to do that in the future!!

Recent purchases from you, do share!!!

The brush guard comes in 4 different shapes: xtra small (eyeliner), small (eyeshadow - home site claims this fits a blush brush but don't believe it), medium (blush/foundation), large (powder/kabuki). You can buy a variety pack containing all of these guards or you can choose which ones you use more often in a simple pack. Each pack costs 5,5$ and international shipping comes at 3$. I've purchased 4 packs: 1 variety, 1 small, 1 medium and 1 large - I now have a total of 23 of these guards as in each pack the number is different. When I wash most of my brushes all these guards are being used. You can always switch days washing your brushes and buy only the variety pack, that's also an option, but at such a low price I decided to go for quantity. Mostly because I'm lazy and when I'm busy washing my brushes I like to have them all done at once...

A while ago I talked about Rosebuds strawberry lip balm and told you I wasn't too impressed by it. Today I'm going to talk about their original salve, which I've been using for quite some time.... I originally bought it because Rosebud is simply everywhere and most people adore it. I can be such a sheep sometimes *laughter*, I always want to try it for myself to see whether I share the crowds opinion or not!


First up is the tin, I love their retro packaging/colour/font. I'm not the biggest fan of jars because of hygiene but it's ok, although I prefer a stick or tube. You can see that my tin has already been heavily used because of the white cracks on the side. I often put it in my purse, with this as a result. When opening the tin, you immediately smell the roses - the scent is quite strong. The product itself looks very greasy, this is mostly depending on the temperature. Be careful when it's very hot, because you'll wind up with way too much product on your fingers. You only need a tiny amount to put on your lips to leave a nice transparant film. The product has no particular taste. Sadly enough I found it not very moisturizing on my lips, it leaves a film but it doesn't hydrate them so if I have chapped lips this product doesn't help me. You can also use this product on dry/irritated skin. I have used it on dry skin and it works indeed moisturizing but personally I found it a bit too greasy for this purpose, I prefer using a cream on my skin. Nevertheless if you only have this on hands, it's good to know you can use it. I've had my tin for more than a year now and I think I'm about 2/3 far in it, it definitely lasts a long time.

The goods: packaging, no fragrance, thick creamy texture, hydrating, non-irritating, reduces redness, versatile (moisturizer/mask), price

The bads: can be a bit sticky, only available online

I love this product, it's a must-have for dry skin and has really helped getting my skin through winter. I'm already on my second tube and will continue to buy this over and over. There are so many good points to this mask that the bads are hardly worth mentioning, if your skin needs hydration - try this and you won't be disappointed. Great quality for a great price...

You all may have seen/read that blogger had some problems the last few days and today I suddenly noticed that yesterdays post had gone into oblivion so here it is again...

It's time for another haul, it's been quite a while *because London doesn't count* and meanwhile I've received some lovely parcels, with even better stuff inside it... Curious?


My first order was from fragrancedirect, from which I've ordered a few times in the past (for instance my Britney Spears - Fantasy) and have been really pleased with them. Fast affordable shipping and perfumes all have a nice price -they also offer some other brands for makeup/skin&hair care, worth checking out- the shop is UK based so there aren't any taxes on your items. I ordered Jennifer Aniston's perfume (her debut) because I read some good things about it/it had a good pricing/it's exclusively available in the UK. It's described as a fresh light scent and I absolutely love it!!

Before checking out I was browsing around and saw that they also offer Carmex so I threw in 2 different ones. I've heard a lot about it but haven't tried it myself and because I love lip balms I couldn't let them pass...

Lookfantastic is an online shopping site from which I've ordered several times and has such a variety on brands, but most of all they carry Becca... And they regularly have a discount and free shipping, all things to my liking. The only downside is their shipping which can take 2-3weeks, but that's not what this post is about.


Each year they organise their beauty awards where they want their readers/shoppers to vote for the best products (choosing from 5 of their jury selected products), you do need a login but that's easily done. Off course, there's a chance to win something, products worth over 800£. I'm sure any beauty addict would like to win this. And it's as they say: you can't win unless you try so I've already voted...

Quite some time ago I already talked about Bubble Bath and expressed my love for it. As I stated before, Avon regularly releases new scents of this line that are often available for a limited time (about 6months or so). One of their latest releases is called "Vanilla Peach" and I couldn't resist writing about it, it smells like heaven...

I love vanilla and I love peach, combine them and my love doubles... At first the peach is most noticeable and afterwards the vanilla lingers on. This is my favourite scent amongst the line at this moment and I really hope they put it in their regular range, please don't keep this limited!!

Yes, my boyfriend went to London for his hobby and -sadly- I couldn't accompany him but I did manage to give him a shopping list and as he is such a sweetheart, he did what I asked - curious?

I asked him to drop by Selfridges for some Suqqu products (and samples!) and a little something from Urban Decay. Suqqu packaging is gorgeous, I love the black mat boxes and I also got 2 very generous samples of a soap (left bottom) and a foundation fix (black box right), the other ones were a bit smaller.

Now onto the things I purchased... I wanted the Suqqu cheek brush so badly (mainly due to Lisa Eldridge raving about it - when buying a product she recommends I know I will love it, past experiences told me this *Becca shimmering skin perfector says hello*). I knew the brush had a hefty price tag 85£ (my boyfriend was like what the hell, how much does this tiny thing cost - along with his friends) and that's why I was contemplating on getting it or not. In the end I gave in because of various reasons that made sense to me at the time and I am so glad I did!!! This is the softest brush ever, my Shu Uemura brush feels like straw in comparison and that one is even softer than a MAC brush... I hope the same thing goes for application :)

Then I also bought the Suqqu eyelash curler at a more reasonable price. I have a Shu Uemura curler and I like it but it doesn't reach all my lashes, especially in the corners. When I did a bit of research I found that this Suqqu one deals with the corners perfectly and I had to try it for myself. I also got 2 refills along with it for a total of 14£.

And lastly, an Urban Decay eyeshadow pencil in the colour Sin. I love this colour, it suits a lot of neutral looks and that's always to my likings. At first glance it reminds me a lot of NYX Jumbo Pencils, but this pencil is much softer/smoother and not as greasy as NYX. At 14£ it's not cheap but it looks like a very versatile product.

A bit of a talkative haul, but you know me, I love rambling on and on... :) I am so happy with my new-found-babies!!

You've probably already heard about them, but pillow mists/sprays are taking their own place in the beauty world. A lot of brands have been releasing their own version of it. Basically you just spray it onto you pillow before going to bed and the scent is supposed to relax/calm you even more... A good night sleep is very important for your body and skin.

A couple of months ago I went to a Mylène meeting and yes, indeed, they also offer a pillow spray *surprise surprise. It's from their welness line and I liked the scent at first sniff, so I snatched a spray for around 5euros and I've been using it for quite some time now.

Packaging is simple and effective, to my likings. There's an extra dop on it, which is convenient. The spray contains 50ml, making it easy to travel with. I've been using it for several months and am about halfway through it, I don't spray it everyday - only when I'm in the mood for it. The scent is special: herbal with a strong -male- undertone to it at first, but after a few minutes only the herbal scent is left. It's indeed very relaxing.

I enjoy using a pillow spray and will continue to use this one up as I like it but I'm not wowed by it. There are other pillow sprays out there that smell even better in my opinion - which ones, I'll talk about later. The male touch on this one is a tad too much for me. If you're a fan of stronger, herbal, male scents this may be the perfect pillow spray for you. And if you happen to run into a Mylène meeting, have a snif on this one... it's a special scent and maybe one to your likings!

Catrices packaging is for polishes the same as before, simple but lovely. The brush also has the same size and is easy to manage - it's bigger than an Essie-brush and smaller than an OPI-brush if you're wondering. Applying goes easily and the product is very smooth, but it's like a bubblemagnet... I've used it on several polishes and noticed that when the polish was more watery (instead of creamy) after applying the topcoat a lot of air bubbles showed up which I do not like. I tried applying immediately and tried waiting, didn't help... However, if used on a creamy polish it gets a smooth surface? Onto the drying time: after about half an hour your nails are -with 2 coats- already quite dry but try to avoid sharp things. Then it takes forever to get them thouroughly dry, for example: when I put polish on at 8pm and go to bed at 10pm I have bed sheets imprinted on my nails, it's a shame. And lastly, the lasting time: the positive thing about it, I can easily wear my nail polish for a week as with other top coats. After 2 days there is some slight tipwearing, as always but no chips

The goods: price, lasting time, works well with creamy polishes

The bads: often air bubbles, long thouroughly drying time

Overall, I'm disappointed in this topcoat. Off course I didn't expect to find a dupe for INM or Seche, but regarding their regular polishes I expected better quality from their top coat. I'm sure it will be better when you wear just one coat of polish, but honestly, almost everyone wears at least 2 coats. This is a missed shot from Catrice and I wouldn't recommend it...

ShiKai is an American brand which I've never heard of before and isn't easy to get. I bought it on iHerb for 14$, lovely price - a lot of their products are available on this website. Some of the things that inspired me to try this brand is that it's organic and focuses on dry skin, and apart from that their pricing is very reasonable. The packaging is simple and effective. I prefer using tubes and pumps, ShiKai lives up to this with all their packaging.

The texture of the product isn't really a cream, more like a lotion. It has a very light fresh scent, which your nose will hardly be aware of. It sinks in fast and leaves my skin moisturized. I started using it in fall and noticed that in winter I needed more product to get the same moisturized result. For me, this moisturizer is more suited to use in spring and summer when my skin needs less moisture. This eye cream works great on sensitive skin, it never irritated mine and that speaks on its own. I only used this eye cream in the evening and was able to use it for 6 months or so, the 15ml goes a long way...

The goods: organic, non-irritating, sinks in fast, hardly no scent, price

The bads: isn't as rich as it claims

Overall I'm intrigued by Shikai and enjoyed using this product. This is a good basic mild eye moisturizer perfectly suited for those with normal to dry skin. Recommended cream, I will repurchase this in the future to use in spring&summer. I'm keen on trying more products from this brand.