Sunday, September 30, 2012

Collective Haul (Benefit, Dior, Korres, Revlon, Garnier, L'oreal)



 These are some stuff I bought in the past 2 weeks from Sephora, drugstore and Ebay. I also did a small Essence haul yesterday but I will do a seperate post soon about them.





Benefit Go Tropicoral Lip & Cheek Kit
Since I found out in August that Benefit would come out with new Lip & Cheek Kits I knew I had to get the Tropicoral one! The set contains mini sizes of the ChaCha Tint, High Beam, Coralista blush and Coralista lipgloss. It was a great oppurtunity to try all 4 products with only 29 euros! Even though it's fall I can't stop thinking that this set will be great for summertime! The ChaCha Tint is a gorgeous tangerine colored stain, it makes my cheeks look very fresh, the High Beam gives a glow on my cheekbones like the one you see at runway models, and the Coralista lipgloss has a texture that it's not sticky at all, it reminds me of Mac Tendertones! I can't get enough of Coralista's blush smell, it smells like my childhood summers, so yummy I love it!



Garnier BB Cream for combination-oily skintypes
I have the original Garnier BB cream too but it broke me out, even though I loved the dewy effect it gave me. The new one is for oily skintypes and it's way different from the original one, it's very liquidy, it doesn't have any smell so it's good for those who are sensitive to smells, and it covers like a foundation, but it still feels very light. I'm not so sure if it breaks me out or not yet, I'll have to test it for quite some time to be certain.



L'oreal Volume Collagene 24H mascara
I read really good reviews about this mascara and I wanted to try it, I was waiting for a good promo to buy it because it costs 19 euros, in my opinion it's way too expensive for a drugstore mascara! These days they have a 5 euros off promo so I grabbed one. I haven't opened it yet to try it and tell you my first impression about it, but when I do I'll let you know.



Korres Nude Gift Set
 Korres recently released new make up sets, introducing some new products and shades. There are 5 new sets, a nude, a cherry red, a ruby red, a pink and a black one which contains their new Professional Volume Mascara, I got the nude one. The set contains a new shade of their cherry lipgloss in Sheer Beige #31, a new shade of nail polish in Nude #31, and a whole new product, the Professional Long Lasting Eyeliner in black,  from their new Black Volcanic Minerals line. The lipgloss is very very pretty, the perfect nude for my skintone, a shimmery peachy beige nude, great for warm skintones, very JLo like. The nail varnish is a light peachy beige nude with no shimmers, the shade is exactly like the color of my nails, it gives that glossy sleek look. I haven't try the eye pencil yet, but from the swatch on my hand I can tell it's very smooth. Ohh it comes with a small pencil sharpener also.



Christian Dior Rouge Dior Nude in #418 Ingenue
For the fall Dior released a new line of Rouge Dior lipsticks, the Rouge Dior Nude. I'm not sure which shades will be permanent and which limited edition, but from what I've read the Ingenue shade will be limited edition. The texture is superb! So smooth and buttery, I think as good as the YSL Pur Couture ones or maybe even better. Ingenue is a medium peachy beige shade with no shimmers. The only thing that I don't like is the taste, it tastes like crayons but it's not overpowering. 



Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait and Berry Smoothie
 Thanks to Ebay I can finally try the very famous Revlon Lip Butters. I got 2 shades, the #025 Peach Parfait and #050 Berry Smoothie. Peach Parfait is a medium peachy beige pink shade (if that makes any sense!) with silver glitters, yes glitters! That's the only thing I don't like about Peach Parfait, the glitters are gritty and I don't like that feeling on my mouth. Berry Smoothie on the other hand is glitter free, it has some shimmers though. The berry shade is amazing, so fall appropriate, it matches well with my warm skintone and it's very pigmented. Now about the famous buttery texture, yes they're very buttery, but they're no different from the Dior Addict lipsticks, almost identical I would say. So for those who can't get the Revlon Lip Butters on their hands, you can try the Dior Addict ones, I know they're more expensive, but hey it's Dior!




So have you try any of these products? What are your thoughts? Let me know!

Sophia
xoxo

Sunday, September 23, 2012

100 Follower Giveaway!

 I'm so excited because recently I've reached 100 followers, and I wanna thank every single one of you for reading and supporting my blog! So I think it was about time for my 1st blog giveaway!!!
 

The prize will be.......



........a Too Faced Color Drenched Lip Cream in Nude Beach!


I was in Sephora trying to decide what to get as a prize and I thought that one of these new super creamy Too Faced lipsticks would be great! Nude Beach is a great pink beige nude color with a hint of mauve, I think it will be perfect for the fall!




The winner will also receive a few Sephora mini bath goodies!


Giveaway Rules

-The only mandatory entry is to follow my blog through GFC

-This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY!

-You have to be 18 years old or older, or have your parents/guardians permission as I will need your address to send the prize

-The giveaway will end on October 14th.

-The winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond. If no response is received, the prize will be passed along to another entry.



How to enter

It’s very simple, just fill in the Rafflecopter form below!


*Just a note for the extra entries: I will check if you are following me on Twitter and if you've tweet about the giveaway. If you don't, the extra entries will be deleted.
So please be careful!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Good Luck everyone!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

La Roche Posay Hydraphase Intense Serum Review


For over a month I've been using this new hydrating serum from La Roche Posay and I wanted to share my review with you guys.




Packaging
It comes in a slim glass bottle with a pump, I just love how sleek it is, in my opinion it has better packaging than many high end serums I've seen. The only problem is that the glass bottle makes it heavy to carry it with me and it's not so travel friendly, but hey I can live with that.




Ingredients


The serum is a concentrated formula with highly performant hydrating ingredients:

-Hyaluronic Acid Fragments: to immediately infuse and retain water in the skin for optimal hydration
-Arginine + Serine: naturally present in the epidermis, they capture water so that the perfect NMF ( Natural Moisturizing Factor) balance is restored
-Highly concentration of La Roche Posay Thermal Spring Water, a natural anti-oxidant that is soothing and anti-irritating.


Also it's paraben-free, but I noticed that the third listed ingredient is alcohol, and that confuses me a little since it's a hydrating serum targeted for sensitive and dehydrated skintypes, but I haven't notice any irritations on my skin, but I don't know if that would be OK for super sensitive skins.



Texture
It has a clear gel texture, it's not too watery as most serums are, it's like a gel moisturizer. When I apply it on my face it melts in, it's not greasy at all, and it has a slight cooling sensation, propably because of the alcohol it contains. But because I'm oily, it can be a little greasy after 2 hours around my nose and chin area. 
You are supposed to apply it moring and/or evening under your skincare, but for my oily skintype that would be too much so I apply it on it's own, mostly at nightime. I started using it right after I came back from my vacation and my skin was a little dehydrated from the sun, I have to say it helped my skin a lot within only a few days.



Price
It contains 30ml of product and here in Greece it retails for 25 euros. You can find it in pharmacies.


 
Pros
-I don't why but I was never a serum person, maybe because I'm lazy and I just want to put a moisturizer and be done with it. But a hydrating serum for me it can do the job on it's own, because I have oily skin, I can just use a hydrating serum without using a seperate moisturizer after.  So that's a plus!

-After one month of use, it didn't cause me any break outs, and I'm very acne prone, so I think that says a lot!

-It's lightweight, and it can be used under make up.

-Even though I haven't tested it on more cold climate, I think it will be perfect for fall and winter time when my skin dehydrates the most.


 
Cons
-Even if the company claims that it absorbs fast into the skin, it leaves my face sticky for at least 5 to 10 minutes, so I would suggest first wait a few minutes before applying any foundation on.

-It contains alcohol, so for those who are super sensitive to alcohol, be careful.

-For some people the price may not be that cheap, and I agree, but it costs something between a lower end brand and a high end one.



Overall Rating: 8/10

Sophia
xoxo






* I would like to thank assetOgilvy who sent me the product on behalf of L'oreal Cosmetique Active.
* This review is my genuine honest opinion about the product.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Small Collective Haul (Too Faced, Sephora, Benefit, H&M, Vichy, etc.)





This is a small collective haul I did in the past few weeks. I had a coupon for 40% off at Sephora so I grabbed a few things, and also some stuff from the drugstore.
 



Too Faced Natural At Night Eyeshadow Palette
For quite some time now I really wanted to get more of the Too Faced eyeshadow palettes, I only have the Natural one and it's my HG for 2 years now, but most of their palettes have colors that I'm sure I'd never wear, like more cool toned shades, but when I saw this one I was 100% sure I will love it! It's full of warm and cozy shades such as warm browns, bronze, gold and khakies, perfect for the fall! For sure I'm going to do a full review in the future.

H&M lipstick in Dare To Kiss
This was an impulse buy when I was at H&M, they had just release a bunch of new make up stuff, including 3 lipsticks, 2 of them were red and plum and the one I got was the only nude. They didn't have a tester for it but from the packaging swatch I thought it would be a peachy nude but I was mistaken, it's a pinkish nude. I don't normally do pinkish nudes because they look horrible one me, I prefer peachy or brownish nudes, but I love its buttery texture and it costed me only 4 euros. On it's own it looks horrible on me but with a pink lipgloss on top it looks really good! Also it's a great dupe for Mac's Hue.

Benefit Hello Flawless SPF15 Custom Powder
You see me mentioned this powder foundation a lot in the past 3 months, so I'm not going to say a lot about this product. It's been my HG foundation the whole summer and because I hit pan in the first one I got in June, and since I had the 40% off coupon I had to get a new one. It's the perfect foundation for my lazy make up days! The shade that I use is the "Me Vain?" Champagne.

Vichy Purete Thermale 3 in 1 Micellar Lotion
This one has been my HG face make up removal for years. I've tried other micellar lotions/waters in the past such as Bioderma, Shiseido, Garnier, Sephora etc, but this one beats them all! It's suitable for sensiitve skintypes, perfect for my oily skin also, doesn't break me out, and it has a mild rose scent. The Bioderma Sensibio which is also for sensitive skintypes and it's from a pharmacy brand, caused me a horrible dermatitis, made my skin very itchy and I had a burning sensation on my skin for days.

Sephora Coconut Smoothing Scrub
I don't usually use body scrubs, because I'm super lazy, but in the past I really enjoyed Body Shop's Coconut Scrub, but it's very expensive and super creamy ( which I don't like), and since I rarely use one, I went for a cheaper one but with a coconut smell. This one from Sephora it's not creamy, it's more suitable for skins like mine which are not dry. I really like the soft coconut smell it has, it's not overpowering like the Body Shop's, it makes me wanna try more body stuff from their Coconut line.

Maybelline Colorama in #262 Pink Boom
These Colorama nail polishes are the newest ones from Maybelline. When I was in the drugstore I saw a huge display with them, and they have a whole bunch of shades. I really like its thin texture and the packaging too. I picked up this shade because I don't have lots of pinks, but they also have really pretty vampy ones, can't wait to buy some of those for the fall!

Essence nail polish in Sending You Kisses
For some weird reason when I see a 2 euro polish in such a cute shade I have to have it, that's what happened with this one from Essence. It's from the Ready to Boarding collection, they also had a light pastel yellow one and a tangerine one, but this raspberry color is more fall appropriate. But what I don't like is the gloopy texture, I might need to put some thinner in it.



Have you try any of these products? Let me know!

Sophia
xoxo

Sunday, September 2, 2012

July/August Favorites.

 
I wasn't able to do my July favorites post within August because I was away on vacation the first 10 days of the month, so I decided to do a combined post with my July and August faves, and as you can see they are a lot, but they're my faves pretty much for the whole summer!


  


Hair 

L'oreal Professionnel Play Ball Beach Fizz
 The perfect hair product for beach waves!! I've tried Bumble & Bumble's Salt spray in the past but it doesn't compare with this one from L'oreal at all, it was horrible, it made my hair super sticky and it didn't enhance my waves at all! The L'oreal Play Ball Beach Fizz creates that super thin beach type of curls, not scrunchy at all, the only problem is that it makes my hair a little frizzy, and here is when the next product comes to help!

Sunsilk Sensational Curls Leave In Cream
This product is for sure godsend for girls like me, with natural wavy and curly hair! OMG I couldn't believe how a 2.5 euros hair product could do such an amazing job at curl enhancing and managing the frizziness! And it works really well with the L'oreal's Salt spray, creating beach type of waves! There are no words for this product, you have to try it!




Skincare

Korres Sunscreen Face Cream Yoghurt SPF50 for Sensitive Skin
This face sunscreen is the only one of all the sunscreens I've tried this summer that hasn't break me out, and I've tried a lot! And it's weird that it didn't because it's not formulated specifically for oily or acne prone skins, but hey since it works that's fine with me! I love the smell of the yoghurt, it's hydrating without being greasy, I use it as my morning moisturizer, there's no need to use a seperate one. It can be a little oily when the weather it's super hot and humid but it doesn't bother me too much, I always blot. For us here in Greece and for every country that is quite sunny and hot, this is a great sunscreen to wear all year round.

La Roche Posay Hydraphase Intense Serum
A new La Roche Posay product that it was sent to me by the company, I will do a full review for this product in the near future. I'm using it for half of the month of August as my night time moisturizer by itself, and it does a very good job on it's own, since I'm oily and it's summer I didn't need to use any other moisturizer on top of it, and the good news is that  it hasn't broke me out! It has a gel texture, that makes it super light and it feels very refreshing on my face!

Apivita Moisturizing After Sun Cream-Gel
I did a whole review about this product here. It was my HG body product when I was in vacation, it saved me when I got a light sunburnt on my shoulders. It has a light and very refreshing texture and I absolutely love the fig smell!




Make Up

Benefit Hello Flawless Custom Powder Cover Up SPF15
The only foundation I've been wearing the whole summer, it was also in my June favorites post, and I've already hit pan! It covers like a liquid foundation, and the best thing about it is that it's so easy to use, I just put a little concealer and then I apply this powder with a flat top kabuki brush and that's it, no more steps! I absolutely love it, especially for summertime when you find that a liquid foundation is too heavy to use!

Korres Monoi Oil Bronzing Powder in 02 Sunglow Warm
This is my second favorite bronzer, after Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess Soft Matte, because it's super smooth and it's peachy toned, which is very flattering on warm skintones. It's not completely matte, it has golden microshimmes in but they do not show up on my face at all, that's why I consider it to be a matte bronzer. A very good bronzer for anyone that is between NC20 and NC30.

Benefit Dallas
I have it since June but I start using it in August. It can be used as a bronzer or as a blush, I like using it as a blush, and combined with the Korres Monoi Oil bronzer it creates that super peachy bronzey look on my face! It's not very noticable as a blush right now because I'm a little darker, but it blends really well with the bronzer. I'm sure in the winter when I'm paler it will be more noticable.

Artdeco Blusher in #05
I used this blush whenever I wanted a more peachy look on my face instead of a just bronzey one. I have lots of peachy blushes but I quite enjoyed this one within August! For 8 euros I can say it's an amazing peachy blush, and it's very hard to find a pigmented peachy blush under 10 euros here! I love its texture as much as I love Mac's, I will try more Artdeco blushes in the future for sure!

Seventeen Silky Shadow in #300 Exotic Brown
This is a unique shade of eyeshadow, I still haven't manage to find a similar shade, not even at Mac, and it's super cheap, it costs only 8 or 9 euros! It's an amazing olive-brown eyeshadow, more brown than olive, with golden shimmers, a shade that compliments brown and hazel eyes. It's also super soft and blendable. I like using it on the outer half and on the crease. If you can find it, go and grab one, it's amazing!




Maybelline Mega Plush Volum' Express Mascara
I rarely mention mascaras in my monthly favorites posts because with most of the ones I try I'm never satisfied with them, L'oreal's Lash Architect 4D was an exception, I really loved that mascara. And this one from Maybelline, it's propably the best of all the Maybelline mascara's I've used. It has a unique super soft mousse formula, and it doesn't feel heavy at all, in fact there have been times where I forgot I was wearing mascara at all! It's been opened for a whole month and it's still super smooth, most mascaras are not like that. It's not super volumizing but it gives some volume, and it seperates lshes really well. In my opinion the best everyday mascara!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Cherish
The first lip product that I really enjoyed using this month, was one of the new Revlon's Just Bitten lip stains. It stains the lips for hours, and it's super pigmented, I have to be careful when I'm applying it, I only use a little. Cherish is a cool toned medium pink, kind of a barbie pink I would say, but it looked so fresh on my lips It's a great pop of color for the summer. 

Dior Addict Lipstick in 343 Miss Dior
I've mentioned this lipstick in a previous monthly favorites post, I enjoy using it every summer. The texture is like butter, it's perfect for those who like me have dry and chapped lips even at summertime! The shade is a beige toned peach with silver and gold shimmers.

Essence I'm Sailing lipstick
The last lippie I enjoyed using a lot this past 2 months, is a limited edition one from a collection that Essence released last year. It's a true tangerine peach shade. I really like the fact that it's super glossy and it has no shimmers at all, my favorite type of lipstick! If you like to see swatches I've done a review for this lipstick and the Dior one here .

Erre Due Neon Fluo Nail Lacquer in 03
A nail varnish that I enjoyed using at my vacation, was this new one from Erre Due. It's a gorgeous neon pink, with some hints of purple. On the back it says to use it on artificial nails though, I'm not sure if they mean that you can use it on both or only in artificial nails. I have to find out.




What were your favorites for July and August? Have you try any of the products that I mentioned? 
Let me know!

Sophia
xoxo