Friday Favourites: Lush 9 to 5 Cleanser

Edit: Way to fail, blogger. I posted this yesterday morning. *facepalm*
 
Good morning, pretties!

First of all, I realize that it's Monday and this post should have been up a while ago, but I was busy the past few days and simply didn't manage to take pictures and put something up. I can't guarantee this won't happen again; my mind is all over the place at the best of times.

This week's (well, last week's, but anyway.) Friday Favourite is Lush's 9 to 5, a liquid face cleanser.

 

 I have been using this cleanser every time I've worn makeup for the past month or so and I absolutely love it. I have been looking for the perfect liquid cleanser for a while now and this might just be it. It thoroughly removes foundation, concealer, powder, blush, lipstick and even non-waterproof eye makeup (though I prefer to use a separate eye makeup remover) and leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturized. This is amazing when you come home from an exhausting day or a night out and just feel completely drained and you have that oily, gross sensation on your face from wearing makeup for too long and sweating and stuff; it instantly makes your skin feel refreshed and baby soft. This smells very strongly of orchid, which I love and, in opinion, the scent makes you relax even more. Almost like aroma therapy. (If you want a neutral smelling cleanser, this is so not for you.)

According to the Lush website this is made with almond oil, dove orchid and everlasting flower absolute and has a cleansing, anti-bacterial and soothing effect on the skin. I can honestly say that I agree with all of those.

How I use this: What I do is squeeze a decent amount onto my fingers and apply it to my face; I like to rub it into my skin a bit, because I feel this helps work the makeup off and intensifies the moisturizing effect. Then I just use a cotton pad to wipe it off and I'm done. I don't usually apply moisturizer afterwards - only if my skin feels extremely dry and irritated - and unless you have very dry skin you probably won't have to use moisturizer either.

I have the 95g bottle, but there is also a larger size which I will definitely get when I run out. I think this is a first for me - liking a skincare product enough to repurchase. Usually I'm never quite happy and end up picking up a new product every time I run out. Perhaps it's because my skin is extremely sensitive and basically needs a different treatment every other day. We'll see how long this cleanser works for me, but right now it's perfect for my skin. :)

Do you guys have a cleanser that you keep repurchasing? Or any product for that matter? Or do you just keep picking up something different every time?

Swatches & Review: OPI The One That Got Away

Hello ladies!

Today I have OPI The One That Got Away from the Katy Perry collection for you. I know, I'm way late in  posting swatches of that collection, but, and I think I mentioned this on Twitter a while back, the Katy Perry collection only became available a few weeks ago here in Austria. It does tend to take collections (especially from US companies) a bit longer to get here (Essie Spring collection, I'm still waiting for you.), but this surprised even me. Thankfully I could get my hands on all the polishes I wanted in the end (the only one I didn't get was the yucky pale pink glitter. Seen it look pretty on others, but on me these kinds of colours look gross.). I'm not sure if I'll end up swatching the others as well, since all of you have probably seen them tons of times by now. Not to mention I have a bunch of other polishes to swatch and post that I think are way more exciting than a months old collection. We'll see.

Anyway, on to the pictures!

The One That Got Away is a gorgeous raspberry colour with loads of crazy sparkly microglitter (Do you see all those awesome colours the glitter flashes in?!). I feel like this looks more muted in these pictures than it actually is. It's dark, but definitely not muted in person. The glitter in this is really dense and applies evenly on the nail.  This is two coats, no base or top coat. As you can see, this dries very smooth and super shiny on its own so top coat isn't necessary. One thing I would say is that the formula on this is thinner than on the other polishes from this collection, but it still glides on effortlessly.

I know, not a very exciting post, but the weather still isn't cooperating so I'm digging through older swatches and posting them. Sorry guys. :|

Happy Wednesday!

Swatches & Review: MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick Full Speed

Hello darlings!

I haven't been feeling all that great these past few days, hence the lack of posts. I haven't been able to take many pictures lately, partly due to lack of sunlight and partly because I simply wasn't feeling up to it. However, I did swatch a lipstick I bought just last week.

This is from MAC's Sheen Supreme line and it's in the colour Full Speed. This is slightly brighter and more orange-toned in real life.

I have to say, I wasn't planning on buying this lipstick. I've been eyeing the Sheen Supreme lipsticks ever since they came out, but kept telling myself that I don't need one, because a) I'm not really into the whole glossy-shiny-juicy lips and b) the only colour that really intrigued me was the red and I have way too many red lipsticks as it is. (I suspect this is me making up for my general dislike of red polishes.) Ironically, when I first saw the display of them, Full Speed was the first colour I picked up to swatch on the back of my hand.

Anywho. Now that spring is here and summer is within reach I started craving corals. (I think OPI Cajun Shrimp is a must for me this summer.) I recently bought a couple of coral-y polishes and blushes, but no lip products. I do admit, Full Speed seemed more orange to me in the store than it did when I put it on, but it's still absolutely gorgeous. I like the slick, glossy texture and am really impressed by the colour intensity; despite the glossy finish, it's not overly sheer. However, wear time is, unsurprisingly, extremely short on this.

It's a loud, bold colour that will probably make people stare at your mouth, especially if your skin is as fair as mine (for reference, on most days I'm slightly lighter than NW15.). I wore this the other day with minimal makeup and messy beachwaves and it looked amazing. This makes for a beautiful pop of colour with an otherwise neutral face, but would also look stunning with a light smokey eye, I think.

One thing I would say, though, is that these don't apply as precisely as other MAC lipsticks. They are broader and can thus be a little hard to control. I have rather full lips, so it's not a problem for me, but if you have smaller lips you might want to be careful with these. Not a major concern, but still something to consider before buying, I think.

I know, I started out blogging about polish, but my polish obsession is much more recent than my love for makeup. I will probably not post about makeup as much, simply because I loathe taking pictures of the products, but you can expect more to come. (Perhaps I really should get a youtube channel for the makeup reviews. What do you guys think?)

I hope you guys enjoyed this and that it was helpful. Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more makeup swatches/posts in the future!

Friday Favourites: Essie Up's

Hello lovelies!

As you can see in the title of this post, I'll be posting one of my favourite products every Friday. These will include current flings and long-time lovers alike. :)

Today I have for you one of my favourite red polishes: Essie Up's.

This is three coats of Up's and a coat of Seche Vite on top (on the third-ish day of wear, hence the scratches and semi-dull surface....I'm not really making the best case for this polish here, am I?). Excuse the not-so-great pic; took this really quickly on my way out. (Also, yes, my skin is actually that pale.)

As you can see, Up's is a rich, blue-toned red jelly. I'm not much of a red person, to be honest, and the reds I do like are usually shimmers or glitters, but every once in a while I'll crave a rich red polish. This is one of the very few reds I have and the only one I wear regularly. (Jellies own my soul, even when they're a pain to apply.)

I love to wear this with Illamasqua lipstick in Box. Makes for a pretty awesome retro, diva/pin-up-esque makeup!

Happy Friday, everyone!

NOTD: Catrice Sold Out Forever - Swatches & Review

Hello lovelies!

The weather hasn't really allowed me to take pictures lately, so here's one that I took a while ago and forgot to post: Catrice Sold Out Forever.

(Whyyyy do these types of colours never photograph properly?!) Sold Out Forever is a minty, spring-y kind of pastel green creme with shimmer. The shimmer doesn't really show up here, but it's very visible in person. The colour is hard to describe since it's somewhere between the many mint greens and the few spring greens in my collection. I don't have anything quite like this. Especially with the shimmer. So pretty!

This needed three coats for opacity and was on the thin side, but application was smooth and easy. All in all, a very nice polish!

I'll be driving to Germany tomorrow to haul some products (p2 polishes, here I come!!!) so you may expect some goodies to be up soon. Here's to hoping the sun comes out and lets me take some pictures! *crosses fingers*

NOTD: Essence Mystic Mermaid over Anny Wicked

Happy Monday, lovelies!

Today I have a very simple but very pretty mani for you: Essence Special Effect Topper in Mystic Mermaid over Anny Wicked. The pics were taken after a couple of days of wear, so do excuse the slight tipwear.

This is two coats of Wicked, a coat of Seche Vite, a coat of Mystic Mermaid and another coat of Seche Vite.

Wicked is a greyed out, muted, minty kind of aqua. To me it's a slightly bluer version of Models Own Grace Green, which, as you all probably know, I adore. I'll swatch Wicked separately for you soon.

Mystic Mermaid wouldn't photograph properly, but it's silver microglitter (is it microglitter? It's very tiny and dries fairly smooth at any rate.) and slightly larger light blue glitter suspended in a clear base. The glitter in this is very dense and applies smooth and even. In the sun this is crazy sparkly and the blue glitter flashes pink at certain angles. So pretty! Got lots of compliments for this.

Also, I am incredibly impressed with how long this stayed chip-free. Those pictures were taken on the third day of wear (one of which was spent cooking and scrubbing pans!) and even so there's barely any tipwear. Usually I get chips within a few hours. Really pleased with this!

Swatches & Review: Essence Blossoms Etc Collection

Hello pretties!

I hope you all had a good weekend! Mine was somewhat exhausting, but fortunately I picked up these new Essence polishes from their spring Blossoms etc  collection and had something to look forward to. There's a total of five polishes in the collection, but I only got these four.

A Hint Of Mint is a pale spring green with subtle green shimmer. I know, the shimmer barely shows up in the pictures, but it is visible in person. I found this one's name a little misleading, since I wouldn't describe this as a minty colour at all. Maybe that's just me, though.This is two coats. Formula was nice and application smooth. This does tend to highlight every ridge and flaw of my nails so I'll probably end up doing three coats when I wear this. Very pretty, though.

I Like is a nice, pale turquoise with silvery blue shimmer. It's slightly less bright than it looks here. Again, two coats, nice formula and application. (Do ignore my index finger; managed to scrape nearly everything off as I was trying to take a pic. And ignore the weird way I'm holding the bottle. And how wonky my fingers/nails look. First and last time I attempted taking a pic with my left hand.)

My Yellow Fellow is a very pretty pastel yellow with pale gold shimmer. This did need three coats for opacity and not to get it smooth and even, for a change. The formula on this was a bit thin, bordering on watery, and thus rather sheer, but it builds up nicely and I didn't have any trouble with application.

Forget Me Not is a pale cornflower blue with blue shimmer. I do think this is my favourite in the collection. This is two coats and, as My Yellow Fellow, the formula on this one was a bit runny and thin, but didn't give me any trouble.

As I said, there's a fifth colour in the collection that I wasn't interested in.

On the whole I'm really pleased with these. I haven't worn them yet, but I can't wait to! The formula was a bit inconsistent, but easy to manage and nice. One thing I did notice is that the brushes on these seem to be longer and slightly broader (though nowhere near, say, OPI) than on regular Essence polishes. Personally, I think this made application easier and smoother.

Two things that I don't find that great: the bottles are tall and thin and rather easy to knock over and though the shimmer isn't all that prominent on the nails (though definitely there!) it does stick to my nails after I've removed the polish.

In conclusion: I really like these. I like the colours and I like that they all have a bit of shimmer in them, which makes them stand out in the midst of all those pastel cremes. I also like the formula and brushes. If you like these kinds of colours I would definitely recommend picking them up!