Showing posts with label benefit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefit. Show all posts

Spring Beauty


BASE
Spring is time for lighter bases and this one definitely fits the bill. It has a light to medium coverage, in fact in that respect it's very similar to Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, however, the finish is more satin-matte than dewy which will appeal to those whose skin gets a bit shiny during the day. This is my ultimate product for when I'm in a hurry as it takes seconds to apply and blend in with fingers.

Out of all my foundations, BBs and CC creams this has the best finish ever. Again it's similar to Healthy Mix Serum in terms of coverage, but with a more satin finish. This literally looks like skin. It just melts in invisibly and it doesn't settle into lines or pores. To me this is the perfect base, but the lightest shade is too dark for a Snow White like me, so I really wish Bourjois made another lighter shade of this.

This has been my favourite foundation since its release. It looks incredibly natural and fresh on the skin due to the dewy finish and it's particularly nice for dehydrated skin with dry patches because it's one of the rare foundations that doesn't look odd on such skins. This is a staple in my collection.


 EYES
I love a neutral, defined look in any season, but I think that such a look fits into spring especially well. This is the palette that started my matte neutral-taupe eye look obsession and it made me fall in love with eyeshadows. The shades in it are perfect for an everyday defined eye, but the colours can also be worn in a smokier combination. The quality is fantastic and these are some of the best matte eyeshadows around. 

Basics 2 offers a bit more variety when it comes to medium toned shades and it also contains more cool toned shades. If you find the first version too light for your skin tone, this should work at lot better. The quality is again superb as at the original, so another pack of nicely pigmented and smooth eyeshadows.

 I've raved a lot about this budget friendly palette and I still love it. It's like someone put both Naked Basics palettes together and took only the good shades in it. The quality is really good for the price and all the colours are actually matte.


CHEEKS
BENEFIT Coralista
Coral is the obvious choice for spring cheeks and Coralista is my favourite because it's gorgeous coral shade with an illuminating shimmer/glow. This is the type of shade that makes you look so fresh.

The most classic warm pink shade that brightens the face by giving a cute flush to the cheeks, but without any shimmer. The quality of these blushes in amazing, especially considering the price. 


This is one of those great super perky peaches for pale skins. I prefer this to pink blushes when I want to look healthily flushed, plus the velvet cream texture looks very natural on the skin.

Pop of Pink is a bright warm pink-coral and can be used quite sheer or build up for intensity. The liquid-mousse texture gives the cheeks that lovely natural "of course I'm not faking that flush" finish, especially when paired with a light base. 


LIPS




Nude-ist is a beautiful muted rose shade on me with a nice matte finish and it's one of those fantastic natural shades that give me a bit of colour and definition to lips. 

These are such a fancy replacement for a lip balm due to their comfortable, creamy formula and the divine peachy scent. Rose Melody is a natural-pink my-lip-but-better-shade with a nice glossy finish that is great for any easy everyday look.



This is one of my never-fails default lip colours for most occasions because it manages to brighten up my pale skin tone, but isn't too flashy or too in your face. It's a medium pink-coral or peachy-pink and I really appreciate that there is more pink in it because corals mostly look unflattering orange on me.

The brightest choice in my selection, Sweet Tart is a bright, warm Barbie pink that is very pigmented, which is a pleasant surprise for such a balmy product. 


 Cotton Candy is a warm pink that is similar to MAC's Please Me, so it's a great everyday colour, when you want something neutral, but not completely nude (on condition you have a pale skin tone). The formula is really creamy and yet it manages to cling on longer that for example Essence's pencils, so it's a nice replacement for a lipstick.

This is currently my favourite lip colour as it's one of the nicest light peachy-pinks ever. It's a good pencil that is somewhere between being creamy and hard, so it defines well, but the formula is a drier one, however, the colour makes it all worth it.

NAILS

The rather dully named nail colour, 01 is a a nude with a rose-violet-taupe tone, which is close to my skin tone, but those cool hues keep it from looking like mannequin fingers. The formula is so smooth and surprising easy to apply for an opaque nude nail polish, but what impressed me more is how shiny is the finish.

This is that one fantastic transition shade that can easily be worn from autumn though winter into spring because it's such a nice mix of styles. It's a mix of autumn-winter taupe and spring pastel lilac shades, so it looks very modern on the nails. 

ESSIE Nail Lacquer
Mint Candy Apple
The quintessential mint green nail polish that is closer to pastel blue than green. The formula makes you work for it, but there are plenty of better performing dupes anyway and you can't really have a spring without such a shade at least once on the nails.


I got this hoping it be the perfect nude nail polish, but it turned out to be so much more. It's a pastel light pink-peach shade, so it's somewhat nude but with a cute twist.  

The name completely fits this brightened coral-pink shade as it really is cute.The formula of this shade is unbeatable because the application is so smooth and even.

The greener and a bit more muted sibling of Mint Candy Apple, but with a much better performing formula.


FRAGRANCE
Katy Perry Royal Revolution
A sweet, yet fresh scent which still has that depth that also makes it a nice choice for a night out. It reminds me of a very nice smelling shampoo and I love such scents in the spring.

LA RIVE Moon
This is one of those clean, but classy scents that work no matter the occasion or season. It's basically a cheap knock-off of Hugo Boss Nuit Pour Femme and works just as well. It starts with a nice peachy burst, but it quickly settles into a nice expensive fabric softener scent.

The heaviest fragrance out of the three, but still lighter than all those vanilla-cupcake based scents like Fantasy. Fame is a lovely blend of apricot, honey and flower notes, while the depth is created by the smokiness of the incense note.


Have a great day!
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Tropical

I have a great weakness for tropical scents. My heart trembles when I see a new product with words like passion fruit or mango on them. Anything that smells like a fruity cocktail is right up my alley. Strangely enough no one around me loves tropical scents as much as I do (or at all) and I've received a lot of eye-rolling when I dragged something new home from the drugstore. I have a lot of tropical scented products and I put them all in this post to share with fellow exotic scents enthusiasts. I'll focus on the scents rather than reviewing products because I've already done that for most products.
Tigi Bed Head Masterpiece - I've been using this hairspray for many years and if you're familiar with Tigi products, they rarely disappoint with their scents. This one smells like pineapple and the (old) Dumb Blonde line had a similar scent.

Batiste Tropical dry shampoo - It smells like sweet coconut, but it's quite a faint scent. Review here.

Balea Hawaii deospray (2012/13 LE)  - A candy papaya and frangipani scent. Balea recently released two new tropical inspired deodorants, Brazil Mango and Cocos & Nectarine (more here), obviously, I'd love to have both.

Victoria's Secret Love Spell body spray - A tropical fruit mix. The scent is described as cherry blossom and peach, but to me it smells very tropical, sweet but still fresh. I already compared it to the discontinued blue Bibita (a fizzy drink), but US based reviewers compare it to Hawaiian Punch. Review here.

Garnier Fructis Fruity Passion shampoo - this has my favourite passion fruit scent in any product. It's the perfect mix of sweetness and fruityness. More here.

Balea Brazil Mango shower gel (2013 LE) - smells like tropical candy. I'll be very specific - the white Haribo gummy bear in the gold packaging (I always eat those first, I believe it's pineapple flavour). Balea has a great tropical inspired LE that is available right now in DM's. I wrote a bit about it here.

Balea Hawaii Pineapple shower gel (2013 LE) - smells exactly like Pina Colada, so a mix of pineapple and coconut.

Victoria's Secret Love Spell body butter - The same tropical scent as in body spray. Review here.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration hair mask - A heavenly tropical paradise scent. It's a fruity, coconuty candy scent that lasts for a really long time on the hair. Review here.

Benefit Coralista - The prettiest blush ever and one of the rare ones that actually lasts on the skin. It has a tropical scent that I can't define, but I really like it. It not as intense as it was from the beginning though. More pictures here.


Yves Rocher Noix de coco - A straight up coconut scent. It's very affordable, not too sweet or artficial smelling and has great staying power. More here

Yves Rocher mango passion fruit edt (2012/13 LE) - It was last year's LE, but I read somewhere it will also be available this year. It's a simple refreshing mango scent. More here.

I can't do a proper post on tropical scents without including yearly Escada's LEs. They are the definition of tropical, cocktail, summery scents! There have been so many over the years and in the spirit of a true fan girl, I can boast with a nice, albeit small collection of them. Most are mini 4 ml travel bottles that I got on eBay and I own a 30 ml size of Taj Sunset and 50 ml bottle of Marine Groove. Their only weakness is the weak staying power. The notes (in italic) are copied from Fragrantica, check the reviews there if you want to learn more.
  • Taj Sunset (2011 LE) - A warm, sweet and sunny mango fragrance. It's the most long-lasting and sweetest of the Escada's.  Top notes are Alphonso mango, nectarine and blood orange. The heart features aquatic flowers with raspberry and pomarosa or Malay apple. The base consists of coconut, sandalwood and musk.
  • Marine Groove (2009 LE) - a musky passion fruit scent. Notes: passionfruit, peony, jasmine and musk
  • Rockin' Rio (2005 & 2011 LE) - One of my favourites. A warm, sugary tropical mix. Top notes: pineapple, fresh and sweet mandarin and passionate papaya. The heart is wrapped with juicy peach and sugar candy. The base is dominated by gourmet, warm coconut milk, sandalwood and musk.
  • Pacific Paradise (2006 LE) - a more fresh fruity mix, a bit similar to YR mango passion fruit. Notes include banana, apple, coconut, lime, sugar, sandalwood, amber, and musk.
  • Sunset Heat (2007 LE) A mango-melon scent. It's my least favourite because of the melon. The top notes create an exotic cocktail: lemon, papaya with pineapple mousse, mango sorbet and refreshing water melon accords. Sandalwood, coconut and hibiscus with its powdery floral notes end the composition.
  • Moon Sparkle (2007 LE) A sweet-sour berry scent that is similar to Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy. It opens with notes of strawberry, black currant, citruses and red fruits. Middle notes reveal sweet pea, freesia, jasmine and rose, and this fragrant floral bouquet is followed by raspberry, musk, sandalwood and amber in the base.
  • Ocean Lounge (2008 LE) - A sweet strawberry jam scent. Top notes: litchi, plum, pear nectar accord and strawberry meringe accord; middle notes are violet petal sorbet aromas, mimose blossom and jasmine; base notes are amber, sheer vanilla and teak wood.
Do you have any favourite tropical scented products? Have a great day!
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