Harvesting for winter

My local Rossmann was having a 20% off on some body creams so I thought that seeing as winter is slowly but surely approaching, thought I should collect a few for the cold harsh winter ahead!

Where: Rossmann, DM and Douglas (all creams were 2.79€ each for 400ml)

Essence end of season sale

(L-R: 01 velvet rose, 02 smooth berry, 03 soft nude) 

Even though I plan to check out the Essence end of season sale early every year, I'm surprised at how fast they clear out at the shops. I was lucky enough to grab these three Stay Matt lip creams, but only just. By the time I checked out 3-4 DM's all the long lasting lipglosses were gone! I picked up these three:

01 Velvet Rose

Although it looks like a salmon pink in the bottle it turned out to be a cool toned pink, so this is a bit too barbie pink for me and one that I cannot wear alone. It does however look fresh and dewy with a warm toned, peachy lipgloss ontop.

02 Smooth Berry

This is rather brighter than I expected and I feel like it would be great for a winter lip when my skin is a bit paler, still a nice colour though.

03 Soft Nude

This nude suprisingly went well with my complexion but as it is a matt finish I usually either wear a lipbalm beforehand or over the top so that there is some shine to it.

In my experience, the things that gets cleared out are either strong favourites...or the clearly, really bad stuff, like a lime green eyeshadow. This year Essence cleared out half of their collection including the lipglosses and matt lip creams (which have been huge favourites) as well as the Get The Big Lashes volume and curl mascara which was great for my stubby lashes and holds the curl unbelievably. Replacing them are 10 shades of long lasting lipsticks which promises to be a creamy lipstick with more colour payoff than the normal lipsticks - the packaging is also a great improvement than the basic lipsticks, encased in round all black tubes with the band of the lipstick colour in the middle.

All ex-articles costs .95cents and usually lasts the whole month, or earlier until sold out.

Where: DM and Karstadt

Souvenirs from Italy: Kiko cosmetics

During the hot Italian summer days, shopping is not really a thing I like to do. To be trying on clothes while sweating bullets in your own is just not ideal but I did want to bring something back from Italy. Enter: Kiko...rather, I entered Kiko and oh boy was that an experience. Italian sales people are quite the opposite of German sales people. As opposed to the customers being grateful to be in the presence of the sales people and therefore avoiding helping customers, the Italians offer product suggestions without being pushy or making you feel guilty for not buying them - they are also quite opinionated. If you pick something out in which they think will not suit you or not the right size, they will tell you, and the reason behind it. This makes it harder to leave a shop without buying something! Kiko stores in Italy are crazy full - full of customers, full of products and full of energetic, friendly sales people as well as loud music.

I went while they had a 50% off summer sale, and while I could have bought more, the heat and going with the hubs prevented me from getting anymore than I needed - which I suppose is a good thing?

Description:

Moisturising sublime light effect day cream, instantly radiant face, spf10 Sophisticated brightening particles that blend with facial skin, evening the complexion to bring out its natural splendour.

The Skin Glow comes in a squeezable pump bottle which makes it easy to use and less messy upon application. It's a great moisturiser for under makeup because of the lightweight consistency and acts as a somewhat illuminising primer. I'm not sure that it evens out the complexion because it's so thin that it gets absorbed into the skin fairly quickly in which it vanishes and leaves some glittery particles behind which is where the "instantly radiant" effect comes in.

The glittery particles are rather fine so it will not leave the skin like a disco ball but as I have combination skin I tend to use this as a highlighter for my cheeks and bridge of my nose during the summer (well, while I was in Italy anyway) and all over my face as a primer during the colder days when my complexion is rather dull and combination/dry.

(L-R: 06 golden brown, 04 golden chocolate) 

I also got two of their Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows which are a bit too glittery for my liking but the lighter colour provides such a pale golden colour that the glitter seems to be not too noticeable once applied. After watching one of Mila Victoria's smokey eye tutorial video I was automatically drawn to the darker chocolate tone. This colour really do lasts long, longer than the lighter colours and doesn't smudge once applied.

(Moisturising Effect lipstick in "92 Light ")

Lastly I picked up a nude lipstick, I think it was part of their spring collection leftovers as it was only 1.90€ but as my obsession with finding the perfect nude lipstick lately is not slowing down any time soon, I automatically picked this up before even swatching it.

Long Lasting Stick eyeshadows: 4.90€

Empties 4

Emeron Kuning Langsat Lulur Mandi 250ml (body scrub)
Vivelle Papaya & Olive Lulur Mandi 250gr (body scrub)
Sun Sense daily face spf 30+ tinted sunscreen 75gr
Schlecker Melkfett Sensitiv 250ml
Biotherm age delaying hand and nail treatment 100ml
Molton Brown Ultra Light Bai Ji Hydrator 100ml

I'm convinced that Indonesia (and maybe other south east asian countries too?) make the best body scrubs because they are the most best way of getting the soot and debris from the streets off your body effectively when you are living in Indonesia. The two I've managed to finish work slightly differently to each other, the Vivelle Papaya & Olive scrub works as a wet scrub while you shower and the Emeron Kuning Langsat scrub is used on a dry body. I would repurchase both but I like the dry scrub slightly better than the wet and use this only on weekends when I have a bit of time on my hands.

I was given the Biotherm age delaying hand and nail treatment as a present and I've thoroughly enjoyed this hand cream - and for the price, it better be enjoyable! It's a rather thick cream so you are going to have to work it into the skin a bit more than other hand creams but it leaves your hands quite silky, best of all it is also water resistant. I love the rosy smell and it's rather addictive to use although I have found that the more I use it, the drier my hands get but I can't be sure if it's just like that in general or if it has something to do with using this particular product. I would repurchase this again but given the price tag (€9.95 for 100ml) I think I can probably get something cheaper.

I wanted to really like the Sun Sense Daily Face tinted sunscreen and the Molton Brown Ultra Light moisturiser so so much but just didn't. The sunscreen had everything I wanted; invisible tint finish, matt formula, oil-free cream base, and when swatched, it comes out with a slight pearly finish, almost like an illuminator but as soon as I put it on, it just balls badly on my face. It didn't matter whether I had put a heavy moisturiser, serum, make up base or nothing underneath it, it just balls like crazy. The Molton Brown Ultra Light Bai Ji Hydrator is directed towards men with dry skin but I think it would work better on oily skin because it absorbs rather quickly into my skin (and I have combination skin). It was intended for the hubs actually but he didn't like it at all except for the smell, and I would have to agree, it smells heavenly....just not such a good moisturiser for the directed user (dry skin). The Schlecker Melkfett was such a mistake purchase, I bought this when I first came to Germany and needed something to combat my dry skin, thought the thick consistency of putting pure fat on my skin would help but this was like putting vaseline all over your body, and it would not absorb into my body at all (if any). It is also perfume free which they should reconsider because it smelt like petrol (ok I didn't really mind the smell so much because I like the smell of petrol, but in a moisturiser?)

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado

I've always had some reservations about Kiehl's products and as much as I love their fuss-free packaging, I end up being somewhat undecided about their products - this Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment is no exception. I was looking for a new eye cream and found myself at the Kiehl's counter at Karstadt one day, and before you know it a Kiehl's salesperson had sucked me into getting this. As I told him that I was looking for an eye cream, I presumed that what I bought was an eye cream, and in my excitement at purchasing a Kiehl's product, I neglected to read the fine print - and as you can see on the tub, the print is indeed rather fine.

So I first started using this as an eye cream, day and night but found it too rich to use twice a day. I did like the fact that when I used it in the mornings the area around my eyes were seemingly brighter but it left it looking a little greasy so I switched to using it only at nights. Only then I read the fine print - more importantly, the directions and it worked significantly. This was alot better to use at night because even though it was still greasy looking on my eyes, I wasn't going anywhere so it was fine. I also used it along the orbital bone as opposed to above it and the next morning my eyes certainly looked hydrated, it did not however made my eyes look brighter than when I wore it in the mornings but it was still hydrating.

I only use this product every few days or so (like a treatment) as it can leave the areas around my eyes a little too greasy when used regularly (I use it at nights only). I think that this is the ideal eye cream if you have really dry areas or have small patches of eczema around the eyes like the Hubs otherwise I'm still on the hunt for my holy grail eye cream.

Ingredients: Aqua/Water, Butyrospermum Parkii/Shea Butter, Butylene Glycol, Tridecyl Stearate, Isodecyl Salicylate, PEG-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Persea Gratissima/Avocado Oil, Isocetyl Stearoyl Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Dipentaerythrityl Hexacaprylate/Hexacaprate, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Magnesium Sulfate, Phenoxyethanol, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Sodium PCA, Ozokerite, Metylparaben, Tocopheryl Acetate, Disodium EDTA, Isopropyl Palmitate, Copper PCA, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Propylparaben, Zea Mays/Corn Oil, CI 75130/Beta-Carotene 

Where: Karstadt or Douglas (€25 for 14g)

Catrice Defining Blush in Think Pink

I was interested in how these Catrice blushes fared in comparison to other drugstore brands. I must confess, I partially bought it because of the packaging more so than the quality of the product itself which is why it took me a while to buy one of these blushes. I thought I should at least wait until Catrice did a shade that actually went with my complexion.

Upon swatching I found it to be a little on the powdery side but because it is so pigmented (which was a slight concern because as you can see, it's a relatively bright pink) but it blends rather easily and is really no fuss at all. The colour, although quite pink in the pan, is slightly on the warm side, which (apart from peaches and apricots being the season's colours for make up in Germany at the moment) is relatively hard to find at drugstores here. 

This blush suits my warm skintone but I think it would suit other skintones as well because even though it leans to a warmer shade of pink, it's not a completely coral colour so it will not look so overly warm on cooler skintones. This particular shade is also matt, a rare find in drugstore brands so it looks natural and on the high-end side. The blush also contains vitamins C and E which is probably not going to do much for the first layer of the skin but still a nice addition to any make up I suppose. I'm also a big fan of the compactness and minimalist look of these blushes - but I'm always a sucker for these kinds of packaging!

Where: DM, Rossmann and Karstadt (€3.45 for 5g)

Rival de Loop Young lipsticks

(Rival de Loop Young in 25 choc mousse) 

Rival de Loop Young is the Rossmann equivalent to Essence that can be found in DM in that it is targeted specifically towards the younger teens. As this is the case, it means that their make-up can be quite sheer and at times not as pigmented. The good thing about it is that their lipsticks, although quite sheer, tend to be on the moisturising side and may contain things such as jojoba oil etc etc. I can't really say that they are comparable to the Revlon lipbutters, but although they look like your typical lipstick, they feel more like a lip balm with colour.

I decided to try out a few as my mother discovered these the last time she was in Germany and had really loved it. The lipsticks themselves are lovely to wear and hydrate my lips at the same time. The packaging however, is on the cheap side I must say, as you can see with the lid, it is cased in a very thin white plastic tube that cracks easily so it's not really travel friendly.

Other than that, they are really great inexpensive lipsticks if you were wanting some neutral shades without glitter (I find alot of the neutral hydrating lipsticks have some sort of glitter to them which I don't like). If I ever leave Germany, I would definitely stock up on these - particularly with these three colours.

(L-R: 30 trés chic, 15 nude breeze, 25 choc mousse) 

The labels are not really true to colour - although the lipsticks come out sheer, they are not as pale as the labels. Trés chic is a lovely raspberry pink on the lips, the kind of colour you get when you've been eating a strawberry icypole. Nude breeze, although seemingly brown in the tube, is a sheer pinky nude on the lips. Choc mousse is a more peachy nude...so not really as the name suggests. These lipsticks really do need to be swatched before buying because as you can see, the names are misleading and although the lipsticks may look too bright or dark in the tube, they do come out sheer.

Where: Rossmann (€1.65 for 4.8gr)