Eye Shadow -Chanel - Chanel Les 4 Ombres Eye Shadow Quad Lagons (29)
vespertilia 5/31/2013 5:22:00 PM
Blue eyeshadow is not for the faint-hearted and more often than not leaves you looking "painted" and a bit Fifties, but this one has won me over. I'd been pining over the gorgeous colour combination for ages until my mum gave it to me as a present, at which point I realised I might not have much use for blue eyeshadow. After contemplating the mouth of this gift horse for a while, I used it once and was disappointed with it. Chalky, little pigment and colours unlike the pan was my verdict. 5 months later, I decided I couldn't leave a Chanel quad to gather dust, I'd either use it or give it away. When I put it on "one last time", it turned out to be a much better product than I remembered. I think the colours, because they are quite unusual, take some work and precision to place effectively. I definitely recommend using a proper primer and good brushes. It's not for beginners, to be sure, and probably also not for those with some wrinkles or hooded eyelids as it might look a bit "painted". I now like to combine all of the shades to create a subtle, cool-toned smokey eye that complements my blue eyes very well and doesn't even really look like I'm wearing blue eyeshadow. - The top left shade is a crisp, icy blue-white. Does very well in the inner corner of the eye or as a cool-toned highlighter. - The top right shade is a soft dusty blue leaning into cornflower or periwinkle. Its finish is matte and it takes some piling on to show up, imho. Not a shade to use on its own, as it just looks a bit dull. - The bottom left shade is an intense dark cobalt blue. Excellent for the outer V if you're to the dramatic side or as a liner if you're more subtle. - The bottom right shade is kind of a slightly darker and "more blue" version of the top left (very light) shade. It's sky blue where the top left one is glacier blue. A good all-over-lid colour. As usual, the dark shades are more pigmented than the light ones, the very darkest one is excellent though. It is also the only one that has noticeable glitter (but still subtle), if that's what you mind. I'm not going to comment on how gorgeous the packaging is - Just because Chanel is expensive and makes you feel like a million bucks doesn't mean it gets away with crappy products. Thankfully, this one is okay, but I won't repurchase myself because it's not quite worth it considering how often I wear these shades.
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Palettes -Sleek - Storm Palette
vespertilia 4/28/2013 4:07:00 PM
I don't think this is a bad product, I'm just a bit underwhelmed. This was recommended by my favourite YouTube makeup guru as the ideal alternative to UD Naked, but that only led me to the conclusion that Naked must be pretty "meh" too, then. I was surprised that it's really quite small, each eyeshadow is only about 2cm (UK: like a 1p coin) in diameter and the whole palette is probably 15cm long. I don't have a problem with that, just be aware that you don't get TONS of product. The dark shadows are indeed very pigmented, but I don't think they blend very well and they fade quickly with wear. I haven't tried with primer yet though. All but two shades are (very!) glittery, so stay away if that's not your thing. I think this is a good buy for beginners or for experimenting, especially for the price, as I wouldn't have bought for example a dark green shadow on its own, but now I quite like it.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Chanel - Le Vernis LE-- Quartz
vespertilia 4/28/2013 8:53:00 AM
Quartz is literally a hidden gem to me. In the bottle it looks pretty lame, grey/beige with shimmer, really? Definitely nothing next to its more boisterous siblings Peridot and Graphite. However, once on the nail, I think Quartz unfolds a subtle, gorgeous colour palette of gold, silver, pink, and fawn. It's not really metallic, more like a mother-of-pearl sheen. I actually prefer wearing just one coat of Quartz. I'm not sure if it's my natural pinkish nails shining through but it gives it more of a champagne-y, rosy glow. More coats IMHO make the colour cooler, more silvery and beige, which doesn't go as well with my skin colour. Being more of an understated-but-elegant colour, Quartz is very wearable both for work and occasions. I think that Quartz goes on much less streaky (even creamy!) and holds up well compared to some other Chanel nail polishes, but maybe that's because it's harder to see on a light colour like this. I put that I wouldn't repurchase because it's a colour that's nice to have and wear, but not a HG and not something I need/want to wear all the time. If you don't already have that kind of colour, give it a try.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Burt's Bees - Beeswax Lip Balm
vespertilia 2/28/2013 12:22:00 PM
In short: It's terrible. Some of my friends swear on this, so I tried it, although I would normally never pay £3.65 for a lip balm. It goes on waxy, you almost have to scrape it against your lips. No moisturising effect at all, even after several applications. Lips dry out again quickly. The peppermint oil component tingles uncomfortably much (I think even Carmex is fine) and stings my eyes so much they keep watering for several minutes afterwards. I keep thinking about how I could have bought three tins of Vaseline instead. Thumbs down.
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Deodorants -Helena Rubinstein - Nudit deodorant
vespertilia 6/4/2012 6:12:00 AM
Coming in at a price of €16.50 for 50mL, I would never have bought this deodorant myself, but my mother has been a fan for a long time and treated me. I am now a faithful convert. Nudit is an appropriate name. It has a pleasant, barely-there scent which just smells clean and fresh. The texture is smooth and non-sticky. Sometimes it causes minimal white stains, but nothing that doesn't wash out or is embarrassingly obvious. As a deodorant, it does the job. It claims to last 48 hours, but I apply it every day anyway and have never found it lacking (that said, I don't live in particularly hot environments). The packaging is very sleek and unobtrusive. Something that I don't mind just leaving on my bathroom counter, unlike some other ridiculously designed deodorants. Although it seems strange to pay five times the price of a drugstore deodorant, I think that the quality is high enough for me to repurchase with my own money once it runs out.
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Treatments -Aveda - Damage Remedy Restructuring Treatment
vespertilia 5/11/2012 7:53:00 AM
This didn't do anything for me, which surprised me since I am a diligent user of Aveda's Damage Remedy Leave-in Conditioner. My hairdresser practically bullied me into buying this, meaning maybe I should find a new hairdresser... Good thing I only got the small tube, because this is going to sit on the shelf for a long time. It lives up to neither the price tag nor Aveda's self-proclaimed high standards of nature-purity-science-art or whatever. When I massaged it in, it instantly made my hair feel waxy and weighed down, a feeling that didn't go away once I rinsed it out - not nice. Once dried, my hair was minimally less frizzy, but that's about it. It still had a waxy, coarse feel to it, as if every single hair was coated in something. Overall, it gave an unpleasant texture that kept me wishing all day that I hadn't used the so-called "treatment". Unlike other reviewers, however, I do like the smell of Aveda products, which I find very unobtrusive. Maybe I'm using it wrong or need to keep trying until I see results, but the way things look, I'll stick to the Daily Hair Repair which leaves my hair feeling supple, shiny and light.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No