Essie After School Boy Blazer and Maybelline Colorama 103

Two navies for you today. Anyone who's not a nail polish enthusiast would most likely regard these two as dupes, however there are differences between them. 

Essie After School Boy Blazer is a dark, inky navy with a cream finish. It's superbly pigmented, though thicker than other Essies I own. One coat is enough for full opacity, however, I apply two on nails where the first coat is uneven.

Essie After School Boy Blazer :

Maybelline Colorama 103 is another navy, but one that is leaning slightly to purple and has a frosty finish. It's less vibrant than most navies I've seen due to a grey hue. The pigmentation is much weaker than Essie ASBB's. The first coat is sheer and it needs two or even three coats for full opacity.

Maybelline Colorama 103 :

Maybelline 103 is lighter than Essie, however, from far away, the two look very close. I also don't notice a difference in how long they last, but then all nail polishes last super long on me. I believe Essie's ASBB was a limited edition, but if you still find one, I'd highly recommend it as the formula and the colour are amazing. You might like Maybelline more if you're looking for something that doesn't look almost black.

Essie After School Boy Blazer and Maybelline Colorama 103 on the ring finger.

 Have a great day!

Catrice Ultimate Colour 260 It's a Matt World

It's a Matt World is one of the shades that is about to be discontinued, so I snatched it up at half price. Normally it takes me about a month before I review a product, but I decided to speed it up for this lipstick since it would be pointless posting about something you can't get any more. If you're interested in what else is going out, Moonchild has a post about it in here. These products currently have a huge discount, so grab what you want before they're gone. I posted the upcoming new products by Catrice for Spring/Summer 2014 in this post if you haven't seen them already.

It's a Matt World is a warm, but leaning more to a neutral red. It's not the most pigmented or bright shades as it needs a few layers to get the maximum intensity and compared to my other reds this is a more subtle red. The pigmentation instantly reminded me of essence's long lasting lipstick in 02 all you need it red, though It's a Matt world still packs more of a punch. The formula is a winner. This is one of the smoothest formulas I've tried, like it's packed with silicones and very reminiscent of the discontinued Revlon's mattes. This is such a pleasant lipstick to apply, it doesn't cling to patches and is not drying. It's not a matte finish rather more of a satin.

It fades evenly and looks really nice when it's half worn off. It lasted a decent amount of time on the lips, approximately 4 hours. Drinking wears it off a bit, but it survives through enough that you don't need to reapply it you're not fussy about such things.

It's a Matt World is a decent red that might not blow away those who love richly pigmented lip colours, however, it's a nice lipstick for those who want something more than a reddish lip stain or a balm, but aren't sure they want to venture into bright colours just yet. For 1.99€ that it costs now, I find it better that 02 all you need is red, so if you're interested go check it out.  

Have a great day!

Catrice Spring/Summer 2014 New Products

Available from February 2014.

Khol Kajal - a violet-blue and a mint shade. 2.29€.
Eyeliner Pen Waterproof- a rainbow blue and a pearly nude shade. 3.49€.
Longlasting Eye Pencil Waterproof. 3.59€.
Eyebrow Lifter. 3.49€.
Lash Couture False Lashes - strip and individual lashes. 4.29€
Glamour Doll Curl & Volume Mascara. 4.29€        
Ultimate Lash Multimizer Volume Mascara - black and ultra black. 4.49€.      
Eyebrow Pencil - a new dark blonde shade. 2.59€.

Absolute Eye Colour Mono - six new shades including a sun yellow, peach, pink, coppery brown, ice blue and royal blue. 2.89€.
Absolute Eye Colour Quattro - three new combinations. 4.69€.
Absolute Bright Eyeshadow Palette. 5.19€.

Prime And Fine Pore Refining And Anti-Shine Base (30ml). 4.49€.                                    
Prime And Fine Anti-Red Base (30ml). 4.49€.
Defining Blush - new shade called Rosewood Cheeks. 3.49€

Sun Glow Shimmering Bronzing Powder. 4.99€ 

Multi Colour Blush. 3.99€.                        
Prime And Fine Mattifying Powder Waterproof - one transparent shade with an included mirror. 4.99€.                                              

Ultimate Shine Lip Colour - three new natural shades – berry, nude and toffee. 3.99€.

Made To Stay Smoothing Lip Polish- a lipstick, lip tint and lipgloss hybrid in six shades. 5.19€.

Ultimate Colour Lip Colour - five new shades including berries, a light pink, a fire red and hibiscus. 4.19€.

Infinite Shine Lip gloss - three new shades: a poppy red, pink and warm berry. 3.29€.

Crushed Crystals Nail Polish - Endless Nail Dimensions. 3D effects set new limits and are the ultimate trend. The new Crushed Crystals offer a brilliant and sandy finish. You have a huge choice of fashionable shades with high coverage ranging from taupe and rosé gold to classic red, pink and coral. The fine crystals cover your nails like diamond dust to create an incomparable structure as well as an exclusive and wearable nail design. Available in a total of six shades. 3.29€. You can see one of them here.

Ultimate Nail Lacquer - thirteen new colours. 2.79€.

I'm interested in how those Made To Stay Smoothing Lip Polish will look and in that berry lip liner. Anything caught your eye?

Have a great day!

Essie Turquoise & Caicos

As a fan of anything mint, turquoise and teal, Turquoise & Caicos was on my radar for a really long time, however, reports about bad formula always put me off from actually purchasing it. And you know what, the formula is miles away from being bad or uncooperative. I honestly don't get the bad feedback, there are far worse formulas.

Turquoise & Caicos is a muted greenish turquoise shade that has a subtle grey undertone, making it less bright than similar shades. Mint Candy Apple is very different - pale mint green pastel shade and might I add, for me a more difficult formula to work with (as most pastels, to be honest). 

It has a jelly finish and the first coat is very sheer, however, the second gets you enough opacity already, on certain nails I need to apply three coats in total, but this is really not such a big deal as some make it to be. It applies evenly with no streaks and with Seche Vite on top, it takes about a minute or two to dry.

Turquoise & Caicos and Mint Candy Apple:

Have a great day!

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation 010 Light Porcelain

Everyone who is as pale as me will know how hard it is to find really fair shades to match their Snow White complexion, especially in the drugstore range. 010 Light Porcelain is a very pleasant surprise as far as the shade goes, but in terms of texture and coverage, I think there is room for improvement. 

Texture: A typical liquid foundation that feels light and is runny. If I make a comparison with Bourjois Healthy Mix, which has a similar texture, Rimmel's feels greasier to me and takes a bit longer to blend, it lacks that smoothing effect that Bourjois' has. I finds it applies best with a sponge, however, then it's difficult to get much coverage.

Coverage: Honestly, according to reviews I expected a medium coverage, but this isn't it. It has light, maybe light to medium coverage. It only evens out the skin, but that's it. Also layering doesn't do much more covering. You can see on the pictures that there is very little difference between without and with the foundation. There is a bit of covering of the redness around the nose and circles, but not much. Also freckles still peak though.

Finish: It's shiny from the start and it needs a long time to set, leaving the skin sticky and tacky for ages (my major pet peeve). Once it sets, it leaves a satin finish, though it still has a bit of a glow. I always use a powder on top because I dislike feeling of tackiness and powder helps to it set faster. Without the powder, my T-zone gets shiny fast, something that doesn't happen often to me.

Colour: It is one of the lightest I found and similar to Dior's BB 001, so a pink toned very pale shade. It's a nice match for me, maybe a smidgen too pink, but blends in well in my skintone and doesn't look out of place. Interestingly, the matching concealer, Match Perfection 010 Ivory (the lightest in the bunch), is not just yellow toned, but also darker.

Scent: It has a pleasant fresh, cucumber-melon scent.

Packaging: I already shared my frustration in my New In post about how my bottle arrived without a pump. I replaced it with one from an empty L'Occitane Rice fluid (which works excellently), so I can't really comment on the packaging other than it's a glass bottle and I don't know how well the original pump works.

Price and availability: I got mine on Asos, luckily with a discount and paid 6.07 €. I believe Rimmel is widely available everywhere, except Slovenia (don't get me started), but you can also find it on Feel Unique, just not the lightest shade.

It a nice foundation, but I expected more coverage. The shade is great, however, if you're not a budget and are looking for a similar shade, I prefer Dior's BB in 001, as I find it looks better on the skin and the coverage is similar. I don't like how tacky it feels and that it needs so long to set, but not everyone is bothered by such things. I wouldn't recommend this for oily skin, since even my combination skin gets an oily T-zone fast without a powder. All in all, if you're looking for a really pale shade in the drugstore, then go for it, but if I rate it from 1 to 5, I give it a 3.5 .

The Match Perfection concealer, however, is absolutely excellent and one of my favourite ever concealers.

Have a great day!

Essie Really Red

When I was standing in front of the Essie counter with my 50% off coupon, already holding the After School Boy Blazer and Turquoise & Caicos in my hands, I spent an eternity deciding on the third polish. I knew I wanted a red because I never owned a proper red nail polish, but I never realised Essie has so many reds to choose from. And all look so close! So I went for the one with the most obvious name, Really Red, since it sounded just like what I wanted. It is a medium bright true red - a classic and elegant colour.
This is another great formula by Essie, just like Cute as a Button. I can get away with one coat, though on some nails I add one more if there wasn't enough polish on the brush the first time. I also like the size of their brushes, as they are just the right width for my nails.

Depend 036 (a bright orange toned tomato red), Essie Really Red and Essence 113 Do You Speak Love? (burgundy):

Have a great day!

L'Oréal Skin Perfection Serum

This product was on my radar for a long time before I bought it and I read nothing but great reviews about it. Naturally, I expected a lot from it, but I must say I was sorely disappointed. The serums contains LR 2412 (sodium tetrahydrojasmonate), an ingredient it shares with Lancome Visionnaire and Vichy Idealia Life Serum, which is supposed to harnesses jasmine's ability to self-regenerate. Personally, I don't buy the marketing ploys and I rather put my trust into the honest reviews of the beauty blogger community. The serum promises to correct and improve visible skin quality by tackling problems such as large pores, red marks and uneven texture, however, in my experience it just doesn't deliver.

Texture: I actually like the texture of this serum. It's a light silky lotion that isn't runny and feels light on the skin. It sinks in fast and the skin is dry to the touch due to the high content of silicones, so the finish it leaves is akin to using a very light primer. Due to that I find it's a nice base for make up. The serum has a golden and pink pearl in it, which looks nice, but doesn't show up on the skin. It's hydrating enough on its own for combination skin and personally I don't feel like I need an additional moisturiser, though I do apply it. One thing that does bother me is that when I want to apply a moisturiser on top, I have to do it before it dries, otherwise the serum layer starts to flake.

Performance: Honestly, I saw no positive long term results whatsoever. In fact, my skin looked a lot worse than usual. I don't consider my skin's condition as being bad, but the longer I was using this the worse it got. It didn't happen overnight, but with everyday use my skin gradually got less smooth, my forehead became very bumpy and there were even some spots in places where I don't usually get them. I stopped using it for a few weeks and during that period I tried to fix my skin, which I did with L'Occitane products and my skin looked ok again. I still decided to give this another go, but again it gradually started to get worse, so I just stopped using it.

Scent: The scent is quite fresh and green. It reminds me a bit of satsuma or orange peels.

Packaging: Yes, the packaging is pretty. I'm not a massive fan of pink, but the pink ombre effect looks very cool. The glass bottle with a pump feels well made and looks great on a vanity. The pump works great as well.

Price and availability: I got mine for 15.99 € in Müller.

I just was not impressed by this serum. Though the texture is nice, it is just not working for me and it only makes my skin worse. The high alcohol content doesn't help the case either. My research also led me to a discovery that Lancome's Visionnaire and Vichy's Idealia Life Serum not only look similar, but also have similar ingredients (Vichy's doesn't have alcohol, though. So it's the best out of the three). I had a much better experience with the L'Occitane Sublime Essence Skin Perfector that I was trying during the "break period". 

My fellow Slovene Bloger Sanja (Sparkle with Laughter), however, had the completely opposite experience (her review is here), so I guess I'm one of those whose skin just doesn't like this. 

Have a great day!