Face of the Day #07

This has probably got to be my favourite go-to look ever. I'm always one for experimenting with lots of different make-up looks, but this is the one I always feel drawn to when I just want to look like myself. A thin, winged flick at the top of the lash line looks made up, put together, but still natural. And when I feel like going out then all I have to do is slick on a nice lip stick and I'm ready to go.

FACE/BASE

I've been trying my hardest to like the Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in 115 Ivory, but after taking these pictures I have finally given up and went out to buy myself a new foundation. It's not the worst foundation in the world - the finish is quite nice, but it just has a tendency to slide around on the face. I used the Seventeen Stay Time Concealer under my eyes and dabbed it under the eye area with my finger tips. I set the whole lot with the Seventeen Stay Time Pressed Powder (Seventeen make some really rather fantastic base products). On the cheeks I used one of my all time favourite blushers - the MUA Blusher in 01. It's an absolute bargain at £1 and as you can see it's been through quite a bit, but I just keep coming back to it for a natural, luminous glow on the cheeks.

EYES

Obviously the MAC Paint Pot in Painterly had to come out again - I don't think I've used a different primer in about two years and as soon as I hit pan on this one I'm going to run to get another one straight away. I blended a bit of Tease from my Urban Decay Naked 2 Pallette into the outer corner and the crease with a big fluffy brush. I then used the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner to line very closely at the upper lash line, flicking it out at the outer corner and making sure to take it quite far into the inner corner of the eye as well. I really like the elongated cat eye effect you get from taking the liner quite far either way. To top it off, I used the L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagene Mascara on top lashes, and as the brush is quite bulky I switched to the Maybelline Great Lash Mascara for bottom lashes.

LIPS

I left my lips completely bare for this look with only a little hint of lip balm. As the rest of the look is so neutral, pretty much any shade of lipstick goes well, but I just didn't feel like any colour on my lips that particular day.

Review: L'Oreal Skin Perfection Nourishing Cleansing Wipes

Yes, I know. Face wipes are a bit of a naughty beauty purchase. We all know we shouldn't really be using them, but still most of us use them at least from time to time. The way I see it, they're the lesser of two evils: When I'm so tired that I really just want to collapse into bed, I can still just about manage to give my face a quick wipe, which is obviously much better than going to sleep in a full face of make-up.

My go to face wipes are by Simple, but recently I've been experimenting with a few different brands and as I've been getting good results from a lot of other Skin Perfection products I thought I'd give these a little shot.

The first thing I noticed was that these weren't quite as moist as my usual Simple wipes, but they were by no means dry and still did a good job of removing almost all of my make-up in one go. Where these perform better is that they're a lot more gentle and don't leave my skin feeling tight afterwards, but that does come at the cost of not being quite as thorough.

I'd probably recommend these more for people with sensitive skin and I might go back to them on days where my skin is feeling a bit dry.

These retail at £3.49 a pack, but are often on offer, so you should be able to get them a little cheaper!

Review: L'Oreal Skin Perfection Cleansing & Perfecting Milk

When I was younger (back in the olden days....) my number one method of cleansing would be gels, but these days I find them to be much too harsh and stripping on my skin, so I've turned to gentle milks and balms instead.

When it comes to gentleness, this one certainly fits the bill. It has a soft, almond like scent and even when I get it into my eyes it doesn't sting one bit. There's not the slightest bit of irritation and no feeling of tightness after rinsing it off.

While it's great on the gentleness, it's not the most hard-working of cleansers and I'd still be left with bits of foundation rubbing off on my towel whenever I'd use this milk on its own. I finished it as part of a double cleanse and it worked really well then, but it's not a product I'll be rushing out to repurchase any time soon.

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Cleansing & Perfecting Milk retails at £3.99.

Face of the Day #05

I used to hardly ever wear lipstick, especially any loud, bright shades. They're just such high maintenance and not only do I end up with lipstick marks everywhere, the constant reapplication needed to keep bright lipstick looking good is just too much of a faff. However, my recent purchase of the bright orange L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire has changed everything (at least for now). I've never had so many compliments on my make-up as when I wear this lipstick. So I thought, sod it, if I have to deal with orange marks on my straws and more frequent trips to the bathroom to reapply, that's just a sacrifice I'm going to have to make. To balance out the bright lips I've kept it a bit more plain on the eyes with another new purchase, the much hyped up Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Paint in Rich Russet.

FACE/BASE

As you can see by the severely squished tube of Laura Mercier oil-free Tinted Moisturizer, there really wasn't much left when I did this look and by the time I'm typing up this post, it's sadly served its purpose and there's not another drop that I can squeeze out. For concealer I stuck with my trusted Seventeen phwoarr Paint - I don't think I'll ever buy any other concealer again (yes, that's a big, big statement right there). For cheeks I stippled on some Bourjois Cream Blush in 03 Rose Tendre - for a drugstore formula, this blush is pretty much unbeatable, even though the packaging does get a bit manky with time and almost all the writing wore off on mine already. For setting, I stuck with another old faithful, the Rimmel Stay Matte powder, dusted just along the T-Zone.

EYES

As my lips were pretty bright with this look, I kept the eye make-up a bit more simple with a slick of the Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Paint in Rich Russet. I just applied it straight to the lids with the wand, then waited for it to dry for a few seconds and eventually just smudged out the edges with my finger. You can use a brush for that if you want, but I find that fingers work just as well, if not better, as they don't absorb any product. While the Shadow Paint sets, I topped up my brows a little with my recent re-discovery, the Benefit Brow Zings in Medium. To top it all off, I applied one coat of the Bourjois Elastic Mascara on top and bottom lashes. I really love this mascara, but sadly it's starting to run a little low now, so it's going to be time to move on to a different one, soon.

LIPS

On to the star of the show, the L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire by Color Riche in Tangerine Sonate. The main reason I don't mind faffing about with topping up my lip colour all the time is because this gloss/balm/lipstick hybrid does it all in one go for you. One slick and you've got colour and shine right on your lips - no need for two or three different products. At the same time it somehow manages not to be sticky at all, so no awkward hair in mouth situations there.

Monthly Favourites: April 2014

1) Simple Kind To Skin+ Illuminating Radiance Cream

I've literally just published a full review on this moisturiser here, so I don't want to go into too much detail, as I'd only be repeating myself. To sum things up, this is a great moisturiser which is light but nourishing and works great under make-up for the day time. It is rather on the shimmery side, but underneath foundation it gives the skin a gorgeous bit of lift and radiance.

2) L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire by Color Riche in Tangerine Sonate

I bought this less than a week ago, so it's a bit of a bold move to put it on my list of favourites already, but this lipstick/gloss/tint/balm hybrid is simply amazing. It's got the pigmentation of a lipstick and the shine of a gloss, but it's not at all sticky or tacky and feels light like a balm on the lips. The orange shade is surprisingly flattering and I've already had a lot of compliments while wearing it. It seems like this is a cult product for a very good reason.

3) Bourjois Elastic Mascara

I didn't have very high hopes for this mascara originally and to be honest I'm not even sure why I bought it anymore - but no matter, I'm glad I did! This does everything I look for in a mascara. It separates the lashes, it lengthens and the plastic wand makes sure that even the tiny little corner lashes get a nice even coating. It's not the greatest at giving volume, but I don't really care about that. What I'm looking for are long, fluttery lashes and that's exactly what I get from this mascara. It's not quite as good as my all-time favourite "They're Real!" mascara by Benefit, but it comes pretty darn close at a fraction of the price!

4) Benefit Browzings in Medium

You can probably see in the picture above that the packaging of this brow kit is pretty battered. In fact, it's the first brow product I've ever purchased, but at the time it was just too bold for me and got relegated in favour of the Suqqu eyebrow pencil and the HD Brows kit. I dug it out a few weeks ago just to mix things up a little and I've been really loving it again. I guess I kind of got used to filling in my brows and making them a bit bolder, so the high pigmentation is now a bonus rather than something that puts me off. The powder in this kit has slightly red undertones which I find work well in balancing out my yellow skin tone which can look a bit flat with ashy brow products.

Review: L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT Range

These two products are some of the line-up from the new L'Oreal #TXT range for Studio Line, which aims to give hair a textured look with plenty of grip - a slightly edgy, messy look which is exactly what I usually go for with my hair style. As it turns out, one of the above was a total hit with me, while the other is one I'll be giving a miss. Can you guess which is which?

Let's start with the Wave Creating Spray. According to instructions you're meant to generously spray this onto damp hair, then blow dry until your hair is half dry, put it up into two or more buns, blow dry it a bit further and finish drying it by scrunching it upwards.

My hair is actually naturally wavy and I usually straighten it right after washing and then just let it naturally curl and wave as it pleases the day after. A curling spray is therefore not something I would usually look for, but nevertheless I thought I would give this a whirl.

I followed the instructions carefully with the only difference being that I put my hair into three top knots rather than two - one in the back and one either side of my head, as I felt that that would give my waves some better structure.

Sadly, what I ended up with was nothing like the girl in the picture's hair. It was more like three big sticky dreadlocks. I wouldn't say my hair was any wavier than usual, it was just messy - and not in a good way. I wonder if it's because my hair is naturally quite thick and wavy? I do find that my hair is particularly picky when it comes to styling products, but then I've read other reviews and they paint a similar picture to what's happened with my hair.

Moving on to the second one of the bunch: The Volume Supersizing Spray. Now, here's a different story altogether. For a start, a bit of volume is something I'm always happy about. I have to use a lot of heavy deep conditioners and hair masks to keep my bleached hair strong and shiny, but they can often weigh it down and make it look a bit flat.

You use this by spraying it directly onto the roots and then giving them a bit of a rub with your fingers for instant lift. You can then smooth over any rough and rebellious bits afterwards. Make sure to keep a good distance from your head with the spray, though, or otherwise your hair will feel wet and greasy (obviously what I did on first application). But aside from that, this stuff really works and it works well! Here's some cheesy before and after pictures:

Before: With freshly straightened hair. Grumpy faaaaace!

After: Va-Va-Voom to my roots!

There's your proof. The finish is a bit messy, but in a "messy on purpose" way and I can easily see myself repurchasing this spray once it's run out.

There's two more products in the #TXT line-up, which I don't have, as they're aimed more towards short hair: the Dishevelling Dry Putty and the Grooming Soft Clay.
Meanwhile, you can find the Wave Creating Spray for £3.79 here and the Volume Supersizing Spray for the same price here (or in any drugstore or big supermarket).

Have you tried anything out of the Studio Line #TXT range? What did you think?

Review: L'Oreal Superliner Blackbuster

I used to be a kohl / pencil eye liner girl through and through. I used to choose heavily lined inner rims smudged out to the lid any day over a neat line on the top of my lid. But then something happened and I slowly turned. Now no make-up look is complete without a neatly lined lash line - my eyes just don't look like my eyes anymore without. My preferred type of eye liner is still gel liner, as liquid liner can just be so fiddly and hard to get straight.
That's why I got so excited when I saw this. I can draw with felt tip pens, so surely I can manage to draw a line on my lid with a big fat pen?

The packaging of this pen is something that instantly drew me towards it. I just love the gold lettering on the matte black packaging; it's both sleek and chic. Now, as much as I was hoping that the fat nib of this pen would make it easier to get a nice straight line, it turns out it just doesn't. Unfortunately, it's just way too bulky and keeps getting stuck on my eye lashes, making it very tricky to get an even line.

Pigmentation is another area where I felt very let down by this product. With a name like "Blackbuster" I was expecting the deepest, inkiest black imaginable. In reality it was more of a watery grey that even several layers couldn't get to my desired level of blackness.
On the plus side once it was on the lid there was no budging throughout the day. The liner didn't transfer onto my lid one bit, but was still relatively easy to remove in the evening.

A quick word of thanks to Superdrug for plastering their horrible stickers everywhere and turning half of my make-up stash into a sticky mess.
Overall I had quite high expectations for this product, which unfortunately haven't been met at all. While the lasting power was good, the difficult application and poor pigmentation unfortunately meant that this has been banished to the back of my make-up drawer.

I've seen quite a lot of people rave about L'Oreal's original Superliner, so maybe I'll give that one a go next?

Monthly Favourites: September 2013

1) L'Oreal SkinPerfection Serum and Moisturiser

I'm writing this post on yet another make-up free day - granted I'm not working today, but I've been out and about without feeling the slightest bit self-conscious about not wearing any foundation or bb cream. You can find my full review of these products here, so I won't be waffling on too long about these, but there's something about them that my skin just really loves. They hydrate without being sticky or greasy and just leave my skin in nice, peachy condition. I've actually got quite a bit of other skincare to try, but I'm scared of putting these away just in case my skin stops looking the way it does at the moment.

2) Percy and Reed Finishing Polish

I got this as a freebie with a magazine months ago and it's just been sitting in my drawer for ages. Now that I've started using it, however, I just can't get enough of this stuff! My hair is really dry and quite coarse, so after blow-drying and even after straightening I still get quite a bit of frizz and random strands of hair that just stick up. This stuff is perfect for smoothing my hair into a glossy mane where products like oil or wax would be too heavy. And a little goes a long way, so this tube is going to last me forever!

3) Nip+Fab Dry Leg Fix

When I received this in my last Love Me Beauty box I mentioned that I had quite a problem with stupidly dry skin just on my legs and nowhere else on the body - up to a point where the skin got itchy and flaky and I couldn't stop scratching it! I was a tad sceptical at first, but this stuff has really worked miracles on my legs. They're now back to being smooth and flake and bump free. As odd as it seems to have a special cream just for your legs, my regular oils and moisturisers have completely failed in that area, while this has given me some much needed relief.

4) Maybelline Baby Lips in Pink Punch

After these were sold out in practically every drugstore I ever went to, I finally managed to jump on the Baby Lips bandwagon! This is an absolute joy to apply, it's such a buttery soft balm that instantly softens the lips and this shade in particular leaves a gorgeous hint of pink on the lips that looks incredibly flattering. I can now see how these can get pretty addictive!

Review: L'Oreal SkinPerfection Range

Believe it or not, but it's actually pretty difficult to find skincare for skin which just like mine is sort of "meh, alright, I suppose". At 24, I still believe that I'm too young to delve into anti-ageing skincare, but I also don't have any major concerns like acne or hypersensitivity. My skin isn't bad, but I wouldn't mind my complexion being a bit more even, my pores a bit smaller and my T-Zone a bit less oily.

With their SkinPerfection range, L'Oreal as a big brand have now finally, finally recognised that there's probably quite a lot of women just like me: 20-somethings who don't expect their beauty products to perform any miracles, just give us a bit of a boost. And we're not prepared to pay a fortune for it either.

I have two products from this range to talk about today, the Correcting Day Moisturiser and the Serum.

Admittedly, they had me a little bit with the packaging. It's pink, bright pink (-and that's why they call me Captain Obvious). And I don't know why, but there's something about beauty products packaged in cardboard boxes that makes me very happy.

The daily moisturiser is housed in a glass container with a metallic lid. Though it's quite heavy, so not ideal for transportation, it looks quite pretty on my desk. My one gripe is the clear sticker with the "SkinPerfection" writing on it, as it looks quite tacky and it would be much better to have the writing on the actual glass itself. But I suppose I'm nitpicking here.

Some time ago I would have been complaining about the pot being a little unhygienic, but to be honest that doesn't bother me anymore. Just make sure you've got clean hands before you rub them all over your face and you should be fine! To my utter delight it turns out that the cream inside is also pink!

The texture of this is absolutely spot-on for my skin. It glides on easily and absorbs quickly leaving my skin nice and moisturised all over, with absolutely no stickiness. I can apply make-up on top pretty much straight away and it won't slip about or leave any of those weird rolly bits.
The one downside of this one is that it doesn't have any SPF, so you'd have to apply that separately.

On to the serum: Have you noticed that it's also pink? It comes in a snazzy little pump, once again in a glass container, so not the most travel-friendly, but it looks nice on the bathroom shelf. And it's pink.

I found this serum to be surprisingly thick - it actually feels a lot more like a light moisturiser than a serum. It's got quite a silicone-y feel on the skin, so that might not be for everyone, but it sinks in nice and quick, so that you can apply moisturiser straight on top without having to faff about waiting for it to dry. It's actually got lots of little bits of shimmer when it comes out of the pump, but once you rub it into your skin the shimmer completely disappears.

I always find it a bit tricky to review skin care items, especially if I'm trying lots of new products at the same time, as I am now. It's just difficult to pinpoint what exactly is causing my skin to behave in a certain way. What I can tell you, however, is that while using this combo my skin is in utterly amazing condition. For some reason it just seems a lot smoother and more even than normal, like permanently wearing foundation - and that's despite the stresses of bringing up two little puppies! I actually went out for lunch without any make-up on today, would you believe it??

Once again I can't say for sure what's causing my skin to be the way it is right now - it could be one of these products, it could be both, it could be a combination of everything, or maybe something I wouldn't have expected at all. Nevertheless, these two just feel completely right for my skin and are an absolute pleasure to use.

Sample Summary #10

I've had the pleasure to sample lots of pretty awesome products lately, which unfortunately also means that my beauty wish list has expanded by about thirty feet. Oh well. You ready for it?

1) L'Oreal EverRiche Shampoo

Full size: £5.99

I had a feeling that my hair might like this shampoo and I wasn't wrong at all. My hair was always pretty dry, but ever since it's been bleached it needs a lot of intensive care and moisture. A lot of shampoos won't make a difference in the state of my hair - it's something I remedy with conditioners, oils and intensive masques - but this one genuinely made my hair a lot smoother and more manageable without weighing it down at all. And it's only about £6 per bottle, while there's usually some sort of 3 for 2 deal on at Boots or Superdrug, so it's definitely going to be something I plan on purchasing soon!

2) Lancome Teint Miracle Foundation

Full size: £27.50

The shade of my sample above is 03 and I knew before even squeezing anything out of the tube, that it wouldn't match my colouring one bit - and I was right. It looked disasterously orange on me, so I waited till I had a day off to try this one on. And it's such a shame that the colour is so far off, as the texture of this foundation is absolutely lovely. It's very runny out of the tube, but dries to a perfect matte finish on the skin, lasts all day and feels lightweight throughout. Unfortunately I gave this one more go trying to match it to my skin with some lighter powder, but eventually had to give up and just bin the sample.

3) Kerastase Elixir Ultime Masque

Full size: £23.95

I was going to treat myself to a pot of this a while ago, but eventually decided to go for a more budget friendly alternative and spend my money on... erhm... can't remember. Seems like that might have been a bad decision, because this stuff is AMAZING. Seriously. Best hair masque I've ever used in my life. My hair was soft, swishy, smooth but still voluminous - I'm running out of adjectives to describe this stuff, but it's just awesome and I've decided I need it in my life.

4) Dermalogica Ultracalming Relief Masque

Full size: £39.10

Next stop on the rave train! Dermalogica have never let me down in all fairness and I've loved every single product I've ever tried. This sachet couldn't have come at a better time - I've been battling a nasty cold for what seems like forever now and the area around my nose and my mouth is red raw from excessive tissue use. This applied smoothly, didn't sting even on the sore areas and soothed and calmed my skin instantly. Admittedly, the price tag on this is very steep, so if I ever did purchase the full size, it would be more of a special occasion treat rather than an everyday skincare staple.

5) Kerastase Homme Capital Force Shampoo

Full size: £12.24

Not much I can say on this one, really. I'm not a man, so I gave this sample to my boyfriend and his comments were as enlightening as "Well, it washed my hair". Thanks. This is aimed at densifying hair with everyday use, so there isn't really much to observe after just one use. Other than that it got my boyfriend's hair clean.

6) Melvita Rose Body Milk

Full size: £16

After so much excitement to finally sample something from Melvita, this body milk was a bit of a let down. The smell was very pleasant - rosy, but not too strong or obvious. The texture, however, was a bit too runny and thin for me, providing my skin with almost no moisture. Then again, it's no secret that I'm no fan of runny body lotions or milks, so maybe if you prefer something lighter on the skin than a heavy duty body butter, then this is for you.

7) S5 Purity Serum

Full size: £44

I was a tad worried originally that this might be a little too harsh for my skin, as I don't really suffer from any breakouts, just a bit of oiliness around my T-Zone. Turns out that my fears were unfounded and this has seriously transformed my skin. I'm trialling quite a lot of new skincare at the moment, so it's a bit tricky to be able to put my finger at which product is doing exactly what, but I'm pretty sure this has helped immensely in getting my skin to the state it's at right now. Ever since I started using this serum I've not had a single blackhead and the oiliness on my T-Zone has gone down significantly - all without irritating the more delicate skin on my cheeks. 

Review: L'Oreal Superliner Brow Artist

The Brow Artist is the latest add on to L'Oreal's Superliner family. A double-ended pen with an eyebrow pencil on one end, a setting wax on the other and a little brush integrated in one of the lids, it aims to be your all-in-one brow kit in just one slim, easy to transport pencil.

The shade I was sent is the one for brunettes, which goes well with my natural brow colour, but produces a fairly stark contrast to my bleached hair (though that's not necessarily a bad thing, even if I'm never going to pull it off quite the way Cara D does).
My first thought was that this pencil is a genius idea. During the last year and a half my eyebrow products have shot up from, well, nothing at all, to an array of pencils, powders and setting waxes/gels. My face just doesn't seem right anymore if I don't fill in and groom my brows, but taking all that lot with me on holiday? No, thanks.

In practice it didn't work quite as well as expected. The waxy end just doesn't give enough hold for my liking and it tends to rub off the colour I've filled in before that. It also wears off very, very quickly, which means I need to sharpen it every other day.
The pencil end, however, works like an absolute dream. It's incredibly pigmented, which means that you only need a gentle swipe to leave a mark. That makes it very easy to get a natural result from lots of light, feathery strokes.

I swatched both ends in the picture above, but you can't really see the wax at all. It's not glossy or shimmery in any way and a little bit creamy. The pencil end I barely touched my skin with and you can see that the colour pay off is pretty awesome.

My overall verdict on this one would be: Pencil end yay, waxy end nay. I suppose I'd be happy to use the wax in a pinch, or if you're just after a really natural grooming wax you may get on with it better than I did. For the pencil end alone, however, I'm happy to add this one to my ever growing brow collection.

Sample Summary #2

I've been inundated with sachets and perfume samples lately, so I've had to split the sachet reviews into two in order to prevent boring you to death. I also won't be doing any perfume reviews as
1) Perfume is something so incredibly personal you couldn't possibly choose one just from reading a review and
2) I'm really useless at describing scents.
So instead, off we go with the sachets!

Ich wurde in letzter Zeit mit Probesachets und Parfumproben überladen, also habe ich die Sachet-Reviews in zwei Teile geteilt, um euch nicht zu Tode zu langweilen. Die Parfums werde ich nicht benoten, da
1) Parfum etwas furchtbar persönliches ist und man könnte nie einen Duft anhand einer Review wählen und
2) Ich bin eine Katastrophe was das Beschreiben von Gerüchen angeht.
Stattdessen legen wir also mit den Tütchen los! 


1) Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Refreshing Gel Cream With Grape (£4.99 / €4.49 for 400ml)

I didn't think I'd ever say this, as I rarely ever steer away from my beloved Body Shop Body Butters, but I actually quite liked this! The gel-cream really felt quite lightweight on my skin, sank in quickly, but left a nice hit of moisture. There's no way I could use this just once every 7 days, as my skin would resemble that of a dinosaur, but I think it might be a nice alternative to a thicker cream should there be another heat wave. It's great for summer, but I don't think it would be moisturising enough for the colder months. The grape scent is also extremely pleasant - very refreshing, but not overly sweet.

Als eingeschweißter Body Butter Fan hätte ich nie gedacht, dass ich so etwas mal sagen würde, aber diese Creme hat mir ganz gut gefallen! Die Geltextur fühlt sich auf der Haut sehr leicht an, zieht schnell ein, doch hinterlässt einen angenehmen Feuchtigkeitsschub. Ich könnte sie nie im Leben nur einmal die Woche benutzen, da meine Haut dann der eines Dinosauriers gleichen würde, aber sie wäre eine tolle Alternative zu einer reichhaltigeren Creme, wenn uns wieder eine Hitzewelle trifft. Super für den Sommer, doch in den kälteren Monaten wäre die Creme wahrscheinlich nicht feuchtigkeitsspendend genug. Der Traubenduft ist auch äußerst angenehm - sehr erfrischend, aber nicht zu süß.

2) Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream in Light (£9.99 / €8.99 for 50ml)

This was one of the first "Western" BB Creams on the market and I've heard lots of good things about it - and now I know why! Even though the sample was in the shade "light" it would have been a tad too dark for me in winter, but now it matches my skin tone (about NC20 - yeah, that's tanned for me) perfectly! It blended like a dream and though the coverage wasn't particularly heavy it did a fantastic job of evening out my skin tone.

Dies war eine der ersten "westlichen" BB Creams auf dem Markt und ich hatte schon viel Gutes über sie gehört - und jetzt weiß ich auch warum! Obwohl die Probe in der Farbe "light" war, wäre sie im Winter etwas zu dunkel für mich gewesen, doch jetzt passt sie perfekt zu meinem Hautton (etwa NC20 - ja, für meine Verhältnisse ist das gebräunt)! Sie ließ sich wie ein Traum verblenden und obschon die Deckkraft nicht besonders stark war, glättete sie meinen Teint hervorragend.

Garnier BB cream in light, hand swatch

It lasted through a whole work day without causing any odd patches or oxidation. I can't say much about any skin benefits, as the sachet only provided enough for one application, but I think this one's a keeper and I will purchase the full size soon!

Sie hielt den ganzen Arbeitstag durch ohne komische Flecken zu hinterlassen oder zu oxidieren. Zum Thema hautpflegende Eigenschaften kann ich nicht viel sagen, da in dem Tütchen nur genug war für eine Anwendung, aber ich denke eine Anschaffung der vollen Größe steht mir bald bevor!


3) L'Oréal Elvive Nutri Gloss Crystal Sparkling Shampoo (£2.69 / €3.99 for 250ml)

First off: Yeah, this sparkles. And I did panic a little bit upon squeezing this out of the sachet and realising that it's full of little glitter particles, but I needn't have worried, as they didn't transfer onto my hair. The second thing I noticed was the smell: Incredibly sweet and girly, like stumbling into a pink fluffy candy shop full of glitter sweets - it was a bit off-putting for me actually, but I'm sure there are people out there who will like it. It lathered up very nicely and my hair was most definitely clean after using this, though I saw no improvement in texture or hair quality. Overall a nice, solid product, but I probably won't repurchase as the scent was just too sickly for me.

Zuallererst: Ja, dieses Shampoo glitzert. Und ich habe schon etwas Panik bekommen, als ich es aus dem Sachet quetschte und merkte, dass es voller Schimmerpartikel ist, aber ich hätte mich nicht sorgen müssen, denn im Haar waren sie hinterher nicht sichtbar. Das nächste, was mir auffiel, war der Geruch: Unglaublich süß und mädchenhaft, als wäre ich in einen pinken, flauschigen Süßwarenladen gefallen, voller Glitzerbonbons. Für mich war es etwas abschreckend, doch ich denke, dass es genug Leute gibt, denen so etwas gefällt. Es schäumte sehr gut und mein Haar war nach der Anwendung definitv sauber, doch ich sah keine Verbesserung in der Haartextur oder -qualität. Alles in allem ein nettes Produkt, doch ich werde es mir aufgrund des Geruchs eher nicht nachkaufen.


4) L'Oréal Nude Magique BB Cream in Light (£9.99 / €9.99 for 30ml)

  
Granted, I'd been warned about this one as I've read several reviews on it, so I knew what to expect. First of all you should know this: It's not a BB Cream. It's actually a repackaged and rebranded product from L'Oréal's Studio Secrets line, just because they wanted a piece of the BB craze.
It's a greyish cream with little grains inside that's supposed to adapt to your skin colour upon application - which it doesn't. It simply becomes darker and more orange the more you rub it into your skin.

Zugegeben, ich war zum Thema dieser Creme vorgewarnt, da ich schon mehrere Reviews im Vorfeld gelesen hatte. Als erstes, solltet ihr Folgendes wissen: Sie ist keine BB Cream. Stattdessen handelt es sich um ein umverpacktes Produkt aus der L'Oréal Studio Secrets Reihe, da die Firma unbedingt ein Stück vom BB Kuchen wollte.
Die Creme ist gräulich mit lauter kleinen Perlen und soll sich angeblich beim Auftragen an den Hautton anpassen - das tut sie aber nicht. Sie wird einfach nur immer dunkler und oranger je mehr man sie in die Haut einmassiert. 

L'Oréal Nude Magique BB Cream in light - unblended on left, blended on right

So, me being all clever from reading other people's reviews, decided not to rub it in, but to pat it onto my face to avoid the orange-ness. And it worked! I eyed it up in the mirror all day long, but it didn't get any darker throughout the day either. The covarage was kind of mediocre, but I was scared of slapping any more of this on in order to preserve the colour. I think you can make this work for you, but I'd still give it a miss, as there are other products that are much easier to work with.

Da ich aber von den Reviews anderer Leute ganz schlau war, beschloss ich, sie nicht einzureiben, sondern eher in die Haut einzuklopfen, um ein oranges Desaster zu vermeiden. Und es funktionierte! Den ganzen Tag über habe ich meine Haut misstrauisch im Spiegel beobachtet, doch sie wurde im laufe des Tages nicht dunkler. Die Deckkraft war eher mittelmäßig, doch ich hatte Angst, mehr aufzutragen, damit die von mir hergestellte Farbe nicht kaputtgeht. Ich denke, dass man mit diesem Produkt arbeiten kann, aber ich würde es trotzdem im Regal liegen lassen, da es viele andere Produkte gibt, die in der Anwendung einfacher sind.

5) Florena Straffende Tagespflege - Firming Day Cream (€9.49 for 50ml)

I'd never heard of this brand before I got the sample, but as it turns out, it's a German natural skincare brand and this particular product seems to be on offer at every drugstore going at the moment. It's difficult to form an opinion on skincare from just a little sachet, but I did notice that this cream is a bit too much on the heavy side for my liking. On their website the brand does say that they recommend it for women aged 40-50, so when I got a second sample of this I just passed it on to my mum for further inspection.

Ich hatte noch nie von dieser Firma gehört, ehe ich nicht das Pröbchen bekam, doch es stellt sich heraus, dass es eine deutsche Naturkosmetikfirma ist - ist mir irgendwie bislang nie aufgefallen. Momentan ist diese Creme wirklich in jedem Drogeriemarkt im Angebot. Es ist schon etwas schwierig, sich ein Bild von einer Hautpflege zu machen, wenn man nur so ein kleines Tütchen zur Verfügung hat, doch es stellte sich heraus, dass sie für mich einfach viel zu reichhaltig ist. Auf der Webseite erklärt die Firma, dass die Creme für Frauen im Alter von 40-50 geeignet ist, also habe ich ein zweites Pröbchen hiervon einfach meiner Mutter zum Ausprobieren gegeben.