Beauty ponders

Not too long ago I did a look with my new quad from Avon called Cocoa Dreams. I bought this quad as all the colours appeared great neutrals to me and would make a nice addition to my quad stash. This quad was newly released from the beginning of 2011, let's see if it was worth purchasing...

The packaging is very sleek and reminds me most of Chanel as I stated before: the black box, the circle eyeshadows... it's a lot alike. The paper box is very simple and shows you how to use each colour - check the picture at the top right. The black box looks very shiny and indeed it is, fingerprint alert - it's impossible to keep this box looking neat from the outside - even the lightest touch becomes visible... The inside has the same shiny structure. The pans are big enough for me and are solid, they don't come loose.

There are 2 lighter and 2 darker colours in this quad. Starting from the left top we have a purpleish colour, a nude colour, a golden khaki colour and a brown colour. All the eyeshadows have a satin finish and therefor show a mild shimmer. The lighter colours aren't that pigmented but manageable, the golden colour is of good pigment and the brown one is very pigmented. All of them apply and blend easily. With a good eyeshadow base they last a regular working day, as most eyeshadows do. This quad is normally priced at 12euros but can often be found in promotion at 5-6euros, which I got it for.

 The goods: price, lovely neutral colours, 2 of the colours are good pigmented, apply & blend easily, sleek packaging

 The bads: packaging stains easily, 2 of the colours aren't that pigmented

This quad is colourwise totally my cup of tea and it's of an ok quality. I enjoy using it & will probably purchase more of these quads in the future when I see one to my likings. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that because this quad offers pigmented colours their others will do as well, I surely hope it! Have you tried any Avon quads and what were your thoughts on it?

About every year Avon releases a limited collection of summer / winter polishes. Last summer there were two available: Vintage Blue which I did a NOTD on here (actually it doesn't do it justice, it's such a lovely polish, I'll do another NOTD of it soon) and Luxe Lavender. But this summer they offer 4 shades: Vintage Blue (below) & Luxe Lavender (middle) from the previous collection, the 2 new shades are Vanilla Shake (above) & Pastel Pink (2nd).

Since I already have two of them - and may I add I'm happy with them, easy in usage & good coverage - I won't repurchase those, it's 12ml and with a decent polish stash you don't finish one that soon. But I will definitely order the 2 new colours, I'm mostly curious about the soft yellow shade.

If you love pastel colours look into these ones by Avon, I highly recommend them!

Most of the time I try to cleanse my skin as thouroughly as possible. But sometimes I can be just lazy or so tired out that I can't bring myself to do that little effort. For these moments I'm a fan of a one-step cleanser as it provides a very quick cleanse with a cotton pad. Using this on a daily basis however isn't recommendable as it doesn't cleanse as well as a cream cleanser for instance and would lead to clogged pores. Clarins is a brand that I always find somewhat appealing and since I've heard some good things about this cleanser, why not try it?

With Peach Essential Water Normal or Dry Skin

The packaging is simple but sleek: see-through with the typical red Clarins lettering. The top has the "C" engraved and can easily be removed. The product contains 200ml and is priced around 18euros - available in several stores as well as online.

When opening and removing the top you immediately smell the peachy fragrance, an enjoyable scent but at the same time very strong - note: the water has a peachy colour as well. Fragrance as an ingredient is placed in the middle of the list, so normally it shouldn't be that strongly present. It states it removes light make-up and that's absolutely true, it can deal with a tinted moisturizer and a blush but it cannot deal with mascara, eye makeup, foundation etc. Therefore I first use my Bioderma to remove my make-up - if I'm wearing any- and then I follow with a cotton pad of this one for the actual cleanse. It removes impurties and dirt without a problem - if your cotton pad is very dirty afterwards soak another one and do it again. After cleansing my skin feels soft and clean, but it often also left it dry. The product didn't irritate my skin, but I can imagine it will do others due to the heavy fragrance.

The goods: packaging, lovely scent, one-step cleansing works fine, can remove light makeup

The bads: too heavily fragranced (irritation), can leave skin dry, cannot remove heavy makeup

Overall, this is an OK product but it hasn't left an impression on me and I doubt it will do on you. I enjoy the cleansing properties of it, but I dislike the amount of fragrance it brings along. Fragrance isn't good for your skin and a dry feeling after usage is never a good sign. I will continue to use this untill I run out but I won't repurchase it.

Photoshopping & misleading commercials, it's something that we face everyday but aren't always fully aware of. Every add and every photo has had something done. So they always look perfect with perfect skin, perfect lips, perfect brows, perfect bodies - you don't catch them with a pimple, dry spot or anything...

Great Brittain decided that Lancôme had pushed it one edge too far in their "Teint Miracle" commercial. Julia Robberts has been airbrushed too much making her appearance misleading to the crowd. And as they can't prove how much has been done to this add - they banned it.

Personally I'm a big supporter of this. Off course by looking at the add you just know it has been photoshopped, she does have a few wrinkles which is only normal for her age. I don't like to twist the truth, if you have a good product - the results will be visible in the campaign without too much aide of photoshop.

What are your thoughts on it?

An HG - or otherwise Holy Grail - refers to a product that you would buy over and over again because you simply adore it. Now, because I love reading about others' HG's I decided to list mine as well, divided into categories.


Now, mind you, my list is far from complete and has more empty fields than filled ones. But this just leaves more room for me to buy more products?

Check the page above or here. If you already have some HG's, do share them as I'm curious!