Mini Haul

Last weeek I ventured out to buy a hair dye and ended up spending over three hours at the mall because I had to touch everything. Twice. 

What came home with me, left to right (sort of):

• Remington Anywhere Curls 25mm barrel curling iron   17,99 €   (my first heat styling tool ever, extremely tiny, portable and practical)
• Dermacol Neon Hair Powder in Violet   3,79 €   (no idea if this works yet, but it better had because Dermacol is awesome)
• Catrice Waterproof Eyeliner Pen   3,49 €   (great formula, terrible applicator)
• S-he Stylezone Quick Eye Liner in 004 Violet   2,69 €   (does not work as a fancy coloured liner, looks like a realistic bruise though)
• Syoss Professional Performance hair dye in 3-3 Dark Violet   3,99 €   (my second repurchase, review coming up next!)
• Essence Eyeshadow Brush   1,39 €   (so.damn.CUTE.)
• Essence PureSkin Anti-Spot Toner & Powder   2,79 €    (fourth repurchase I think, a very cool product that actually contains dispersed mineral powder)

Wow that is one blurry picture. The heat and light intensity was absolutely insane on that day and my camera was not handling that well. 

An attempted closer shot of the brush, eyeliner pens and what the hair chalk itself looks like.


Have you tried any of these products? Have a lovely day!

Review: Makeup Revolution Amazing Lipstick in Depraved and Make It Right

So much for concise post titles.

I dug up some old pictures of the Makeup Revolution Amazing Lipsticks (left to right: Make Me Magnificent, Depraved and Make It Right) back from when I first got them. Since I reviewed Make Me Magnificent in my previous post, I thought I'd round my tiny collection (I usually just buy all they have in purple when trying a new product, can you tell :) ).

The comparison doesn't truly show the different finishes. Make Me Magnificent is a frost, Depraved is a pure creme and Make It Right has a nearly metallic quality.

Depraved is a blue-based medium purple creme. I LOVE how it was one of the first lipsticks (before every company came out with a liquid-to-matte range) that was like, hell yeah, have som lavender lipstick that also incidentally isn't totally shit.

I have to say wearing Depraved makes me slightly uncomfortable. I still wear it out because I love the idea of bam! in your face (literally) neon purple lips but I prefer it applied sheerly, mixed in with some lipbalm and paired with a silver or a neutral smokey eye.

Make It Right is a very dark metallic eggplant (extremely true to colour of eggplant the vegetable). It has a lot more blue in it than your average dark purple lipstick and glistens with an almost mirror-like, highly reflective finish, It doesn't photograph too well, but it looks even and opaque in person, from a distance at which other people normally would approach you. 

I should note that Make It Right is part of the Atomic Collection (together with Make Me Magnificent and three other vampy colours) while Depraved was released in the Scandalous Collection among other unusual brights.

I'd rate these two lipsticks 7/10. 

I am not fond of the Atomic Lipstick formula (it feels downright plastic and hard to control around the liplines) , but these are true purple lipsticks and this fact alone makes me extremely happy. The staying power is great as well, especially with Make It Right, which has survived a four hour walk in a snowstorm (long story short: the public transport system collapsed) completely untouched.

Which shade do you like better?

Review: Makeup Revolution Atomic Lipstick in Make Me Magnificent

On the rare occasion of wearing Make Me Magnificent I thought I might share my thoughts on it as well. I also have five other purple lipsticks coming in the mail (yeah) and I am hoping to trick myself into actually reviewing those as well by beginning right away. 

The Makeup Revolution Atomic Lipstick in Make Me Magnificent is a medium lilac with a frosty finish. 

The official swatches on the Makeup Revolution shop site were a bit deceiving (I honestly still have this issue even after they changed the swatch style on newer products and I always check out beauty blogs before ordering a product of theirs) and I was expecting a shimmery true purple. Well, for under two euros I wasn't particularly sorry to go wrong. 

In the photos I am wearing two or three swipes of Make Me Magnificent  over a medium berry lipliner. On its own it doesn't suit me at all, sheer lipsticks and glosses make me look feverish/post-vomit.

Overall I'd rate this lipstick 5/10.

Pros:

• good lasting power
• very affordable 
• a unique, pretty colour
• moisturising formula
• a transparent sample jar on the lid allows easy identification among multiple lipsticks
• doesn't bleed or feather out of lines
• comfortable to wear

Cons: 

• sheer pigmentation (not cute on its own)
• the bullet shape is incompatible with my lip shape (which is obviously a personal thing but the Atomic lipsticks have a very classic bullet with a single slanted surface that I cannot do my cupid's bow with no matter what)
• the taste gives me minor acid reflux
• the consistency is plain weird, like liquid plastic that floats above your skin (I only get this sensation upon initial application, you get used to it quickly)

Although the colour and finish were far from what I expected I warmed up to it, especially now in the summer, paired with a neutral grey smokey eye and dark blue clothing. It manages to be weird enough to compensate the grandma vibes.

How do you like Make Me Magnificent? 

Review: L'Oréal Paris Préférence Hair Dye in P28 Violet Pearl

Let's talk about my most essential cosmetic product today, shall we?

This is the state of my mane on hair-colouring day, dark brown with some reddish undertones-

 The roots are appalling, all of this in 28 days. My hair grew even quicker than usual this month.

I feel I should state a few facts about my hair type and history: I've been using permanent dye for four years now, occassionally attempting a change but always sticking with purples and pinks. My hair is very thick, comes down to about under my shoulderblades, naturally straight and medium blond (don't be fooled by the white roots). It grows very fast, is IMPOSSIBLE to brush and oily in type. 

It also doesn't seem to take dye in very well, more than once I followed the instructions on the hair dye package only to find that an hour later my hair was the same exact colour with no change whatsoever.

Thus to those of you who struggle with annoyingly healthy hair (yes this is a thing) I am hoping to suggest a dye that I could not survive withou.

 L'Oréal Paris Préférence in P28 Violet Pearl. I originally started using the shade Mystic Black, which has to my utmost horror been discontinued.

 The box promises some very vivid colour results, which the product fails to deliver. This is the reason for the high incidence of negative reviews out there; personally I would sell my soul to have true purple hair, but I am pretty pleased with what it does for me anyway.

 The package contains, besides the obvious tubes of colouring cream and developer, a big-ass conditioner and a pair of BLACK gloves. You got me there, L'Oréal. 

 And this is my hair part four days after I dyed it (I don't shampoo when rinsing out dye, so this after the first wash). I sense some roots already..? WTF, Mother Nature.

And the lengths of my hair in direct sunlight. In dimmer lights they look basically black.

Overall I highly recommend this product with about 9/10 satisfaction.

Pros: 

• an extremely unique shade among permanent dyes
• great lasting power (other dyes I've tried turned ginger on me within 20 days)
• leaves hair feeling very lush and soft
• washes out to a pleasant shade
• the enclosed conditioner is fantastic  and lasts me for a full month (also SLS-free)
• doesn't fry hair even if left on for a long time*

Cons:

• the most expensive drugstore box dye, retails for around 9 euros
• nothing will ever replace Mystic Black in my heart**
• the colour result differs significantly from the prictures on the box even on very light hair
• probably not cruelty-free

* I do this because my hair is so resistant. After about an hour the reaction is quantitatively completed and no further effects or damage to your hair occur. Do NOT prolong recommended exposure times when lightening your hair.

**Mystic Black was more of a true black with blue-based purple sheen, lasted longer and turned to a very dark brown after a month.



What is your favourite hair dye?

How to Wear Colour: A Pop of Blue on the Waterline

Before discovering waterproof liquid liner the main focus of my makeup used to be colourful eyeshadow. A terrifying concept for many, surely :)

I still like to incorporate colour in my looks but some just don't work in a monochrome smokey eye situations.

Blue lower lash liner is quite a common feature in the myriads of makeup tutorials floating around the internet but something I've never done before.

I've recently bought an unreasonable number of eyeliner pencils and to justify that purchase I decided to give it a go today.

I tightlined my upper lashline with a black kohl pencil and did a basic three-shade silver-and-black smokey eye. Then I lined my waterline with Catrice Kohl Kajal in 190 Cleopetrol and pressed some Makeup Revolution eyeshadow in Ash from the Give them Nightmares Palette, finishing off with Dermacol Precise Black Black Sensation liner pen and some mascara.

To keep the petrol blues from looking too non-human I used my contour powder (a caramel brown) as a transition shade (adds warmth) and a very blue-toned grey shadows (unifies undertones).

How do you feel about blue eyemakeup, is it a no-no or a staple for you?
Have a lovely week!

AnimeShow 2015 Day Two Outfit & Makeup

On Saturday my dopamine levels took a major plunge and, well, I spend more time getting ready than actually present at the con. Nevertheless my efforts have been documented :)

The phone camera couldn't handle the stripes, sorry about the picture.

 I wore a New Yorker skater dress, an off-brand 'Beetlejuice' jacket, a neck corset and lace gloves purchased online (probably resold eBay items) and grey tights with velour skulls which to my great disappointment ripped majorly and had to go to a better place.

I wear green eyeshadow and brown lips with all-black or b/w outfits a lot for some reason. 

Spiderweb eyeliner thingie? Check. Because I can.

How do you cope on super bad days?

AnimeShow 2015 Day One Outfit & Makeup

I am attending a con this weekend! I know extremely little about anime but there are fantasy&sci-fi sections as well, which are more my thing, and obviously all the wonderful attendees in their spectacular costumes.

Today I wore black on black: a thrifted ruffled shirt, a thrifted H&M waistcoat, a brocade patterned circle skirt I got for Christmas and some fancy tights. 

I wish I had some more extravagant winter shoes but my regular heeled boots will have to do.

I did my makeup using the Makeup Revolution Salvation Eyeshadow Palette in Give them Nightmares (since the day it arrived in the mail I haven't touched another palette, it has virtually every colour/finish combination I need and is essential to my m akeup routine, though I do wish it had one or two very light shimmers) and my lipstick is a combination of MUR Depraved in the bullet formula on top of the lip lacquer (sadly the liquid lipstick is too drying to wear on its own for extended periods of time).

Closeup eyeshadow pictures were simply not happening today, sorry about that.

Have a lovely weekend! xo

What is your most versatile beauty product?