Beauty ponders

Last week an expected package came in & when I opened it the wrapped gifts saluted me... It's always fun to open something that's wrapped - even though you know what's inside :) I can be such a little girl when it comes to something like this.
Anyway, it was my strawberrynet order (I talked about it 2 weeks ago, with the makeup discount they were offering) and I didn't ask for gift wrapping but they did it anyway - maybe because I'm such a good customer of theirs? Possible!
And now inside the gift wrapping: MAC blush Dainty (at first glance I'm in love with this colour, wow!), MAC blush Gentle (this looks more mauvy than expected), Laura Mercier brightening powder, Laura Mercier illuminating moisturizer.

You know, lately I've been buying a lot of blushes - I'm in a blush-fase I guess. Do you also have these kind of fases?

You may have noticed that this last couple of days it has been quite calm on my blog, calmer than usual... I'm actually cleaning out my clossets and setting stuff aside for a blogsale as I have a bit too much. Pictures will be taken in the weekend and hopefully it will be online soon :). Be sure to check again!

Louis Widmer has a lovely colour packaging: white & pink - two of my favourite ones. Apart from that the packaging is quite simple and honestly a bit oldfashioned, but what matters is what's inside after all. Remember me talking about my deodorant threesome last week? It came in & that wasn't all I ordered you know...
Yes, I got the deodorants and here they are. I'm thinking of using the creme first as it's already quite cold in Belgium, whereby I mean 16degrees. And I bought 2 little extras: one being an intensive serum which is one of their most expensive products and also a non-alcohol non-perfume tonic which wasn't expensive as I'm still looking for the best pricequality refreshing non-irritating toner. I'm quite eager to try them as I'm not familiar with this brand's skincare.
Have you already tried products from Louis Widmer and what are you favourites?

La Roche-Posay is another one of those French pharmacie brands that I'm in love with. They have a wide range of skincare products and I enjoy using them from time to time - they make great products for sensitive skin. Today I'm going to talk about my favourite cleanser which has reached an HG-status over the last few months...
This cleanser is available in 2 sizes: 200ml and 400ml, both are priced between 10-16euros. I bought the 400ml because of the pricequantity ánd you get a pump on top of it - which makes it so much easier to get the right amount of product. I've been using it for half a year now and will probably get 1 or 2 months more usage out of it, so it definitely goes a long way. The packaging is really simple: white & basic, as all LRP products.
The pump dispenser works easily, I usually take 2 pumps to cleanse my face. You can use a cotton ball or a washing cloth with this cleanser, depends on your likings. I use my hands to spread the cleanser and afterwards I use a washing cloth to remove the last traces. I don't like a cotton ball for this purpose as it always leaves a greasy layer. This product is fragrance-free, which I'm a fan of, you don't need perfume on your face. It's also perfect for sensitive skin, it never irritated mine or gave it a tingling feeling - even when spending all day outdoors - big plus!

Then it's also great for dry skin: after cleansing my skin doesn't feel tight, it just feels normal. This is a problem I often have with other cleansers, my skin practically begs for hydration... The product is really creamy and rich, it spreads easily and almost 'sinks' into your skin. Afterwards my skin feels soft and clean. This cleanser is good at removing make-up, but if you are wearing a lot I would advice using a seperate make-up remover prior to cleansing. For me, it cleanses my skin enough and doesn't clogg my pores - but on the other hand I rarily have clogged pores and break-outs. If you do, I would test this cleanser first as it is quite rich in texture.
The goods: ingredients (no fragrance), rich & creamy, cleanses well (can remove make-up), doesn't leave skin feeling tight, doesn't irritate at all, good pricequantity, pumppackaging

The bads: probably only suited for skin not prone to break-outs/clogged pores

Summing it up: yes, I love this cleanser and it suites my skin type perfectly. I still have a few new cleansers awaiting reviews, but this one will be repurchased without a doubt. Highly recommended product for sensitive skin types not prone to clogging.

Yesterday whilst browsing some online shops - part of daily routine just to see what's in stock - I noticed Strawberrynet was having another discount, haircare this time. They are offering an additional 10% off your order, so if you need something - now is the time to buy it. I've ordered several times from them and it's a trustworthy site.
Myself, I'm going to skip this time -yes you're reading this perfectly clear and I'm not having a heart attack or anything- I still have a few things in stock that haven't been used yet and well quite frankly, I could do more than half a year with what I have now...

I hope you buy something nice :)

Remember my review on Louis Widmer deo spray and how I absolutely loved it? So when they hit you with a bargain of 20% off, guess what happens?
Yes, you buy multiple version of it *shame*. So I got the Spray again -as I loved it- and also bought the Deo Creme & Dry Stick since it's getting winter and my dry skin starts to prevail again... It's the best excuse ever! And I didn't go overboard you know, I let the Roll-on be - good girl.

Now, I'm just hoping I like them as much as I do the spray!

And so the Sigma saga continues with another one of their shading brushes, actually the last one, these brushes definitely fall into the "I-like"-category. I've talked about the large and the short one, both to my likings and this one is no exception to that rule.
It contains natural bristles, like the other shading brushes and is very soft and dense. It's easy in usage, I mostly use it for crease and outer corner application but it also works nice to use for highlighters on the browbone (although I prefer a short shader for this job). It's a round angled brush -a bit fluffy- and to me a perfect size: not too big and not too small. However if you have small eyes this one may be to big to use for your corner/crease. I've been using it for half a year or so and the bristles hold up nicely. Here's the comparison:

I can't really say much than the fact that I like this brush and enjoy using it on a daily basis. These shader brushes are the better eye brushes of Sigma and I recommend them, their other eye brushes don't have the same density and softness in my opinion - it's best to leave them be. But off course there are likewise brushes from other brands that are of the same quality as these shader brushes!

Yesterday whilst browsing online and lurking/lemming the new Becca Fall/Winter Collection - I love the 'Lost Weekend' palette, I need it - I ran into a lovely new blog where on its turn I ran into a new luxurious online shop that I hadn't heard about before...
It's called DollyLeo and can be found here, feauting luxurious brands such as Becca, Nude, SUQQU (!) and so on. They ship international, but have different shipping rates. Sadly a few of the items I want are out of stock, so checking in regularly is needed. If you make an account you also get a 10% discount code for your next purchase - definitely recommendable!

You may have noticed that this week a lot of posts are about shopping and hauling, obviously there's a reason for. I'm going through quite a difficult time at the moment and shopping brings me joy, even though it's only for a few moments... It's better to have a moment of joy than a moment of pain!

Strawberrynet is having a makeup discount of 10% untill the 13th Sept (no code required, automatically calculated at checkout), this 10% is on top of your regular member discount so basically it can go up to 20%. There were a few items I've been eyeing for some time & I couldn't wait to place my order, sadly, a few items were already out of stock...
What I ordered: 2 MAC blushes, above Dainty & below Gentle. Then 2 Laura Mercier products: Illuminating tinted moisturizer in Bare Radiance (I love her regular moisturizer, but have also heard great things about this one) & her Secret Brightening Powder. Alltogether with discount this costed me 72 euros, not bad!!

Happy shopping - in case you do!

This week my recent Avon order came in and I'm warning you - it's a polish overload this time - but with a 1+2 free sale I could not resist at all...

A few of these such as Violetta & Sateen turned out a lot darker than I expected and are more suited for fall/winter instead of the end of summer I had in mind...
And a few little extras such as their Pink lip liner and 2 of their new released lipsticks Colordisiac in 'Satin sheets' and 'Colour me Coral' - this last one appears to be very reddish.

Hope you enjoyed my recent purchases, I'm guessing my polish collection is big enough by now...

When D&G released their Anthology collection this one called "L'Impératrice" was my instant favourite amongst them all - fruity & fresh = perfect. But since I already had quite enough perfume I postponed the purchase untill there was a decent discount and I could pick it up for 40euros. I bought it about a year ago and as you can see my bottle has already been used frequently - I'm about halfway through it... Curious to my thoughts?
The packaging is very sleek & simple, I like it that way. I bought the 100ml bottle so it's quite big & also heavy. I like the thicker glass and the heavy bottom, it gives it a bit of a masculin touch - even though the perfume itself is pinkcoloured. All bottles from the Anthology line look this way, it's a good unisex bottle that will please most people.

When spraying it I mostly smell the kiwi & the pepper in the top notes - which smell very feminine and soft. Moving onto the middle notes I mostly smell the watermelon, which is -again- very refreshing. As far as base notes go I can only detect the citrus in it. Overall, all the notes are to my likings and I mostly enjoy the middle note of watermelon which is the perfect combination of fruity and fresh. One thing that I dislike about this fragrance is it's lasting time. It's an eau de toilette so after a few hours it's completely gone. I always take it with me in a travel spray to freshen up at noon. I really wish they would make an eau de perfume of the Anthology line!
To sum it up: yes, I love this perfume and will definitely repurchase this! It's one of my favourite summer scents and I totally recommend it if you enjoy sweet, fruity, fresh perfumes...
Which is your favourite amongst the Anthology range of D&G?

Last week I bought the cutest little thing... Knowing me it's neutral and a gorgeous beige, have a look shall we?
I love the label on it saying "attitude included" and next to it you can see a little monkey, which should be ringing some kind of bells - as it's from Kipling!
It's a little beige bag to wear cross-shoulder and the best part of it was that it was on double discount, I got it for 50% off. The leather is soft and smooth and the colour is divine, it was instant love!

This is my first Kipling "leather" bag and I hope it can live up to my expectations, do you own any?

A lot of people don't use toners / sprays after their cleansing routine, but I consider it to be a must. Its main goal is to take of what's left of the cleanser but I find it also very refreshing and if at the same time it has some good ingredients - it's definitely a win-win situation. This spray by MD Formulations contains a lot of antioxidants and looked very promising. You get 250ml (which is a lot, I hate those little 100ml bottles) and I bought it on Strawberrynet for 29$ which isn't a bad price at all - but when looking at other webshops it's a lot more expensive...
The packaging is sleek, simple and modern. The spray has a dop to cover it and sprays a good amount. You can use the spray directly onto your face or on a cotton pad - personally I've used both methods, but I prefer a cotton pad, it just gives me the feeling that my skin is more cleansed and refreshed.

The spray has no scent (no fragrance in it) and is indeed refreshing. It soothes my skin but I don't notice any hydration - it isn't rich enough for that. This spray is mostly intented for oily-combination-normal skin, for the dry types this may work well in summer but isn't rich enough for winter. It works quite soothing on my skin and doesn't leave a dry feeling afterwards. I use about 3 sprays with every use, cotton pad or not. Most of the time the product didn't irritate my skin. Only when I have been out all day I notice a tingling feeling when using this spray, so if you're very sensitive I would skip this.
The goods: 250ml bottle, sleek packaging, good ingredients, refreshing, doesn't leave skin dry

The bads: not suitable for sensitive & really dry skins, hydration is overclaimed

Overall I enjoy using this product, it's good value for the money spent on it and I may buy it again in the future to use during the summer. I like the ingredients most of it: antioxidants and NO fragrance. But, however, this isn't suitable for sensitive skins which is a shame - otherwise it would surely have been a Product Praise!

With the start of the new school year a lot of online shops offer sales and I'd like to share these with you!

First up is Feelunique, having a large sale on various brands such as Caudalie, Clarins, Joico, Jurlique, Kerastase, Shu Uemura and much more...

Second up is Paula's Choice who's offering a 10% off your order this month. I've already tried a lot of products by her and some of them have become my favourites. I will surely be placing an order, I need some stock!