Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover Review

You know those times when you're looking for something for ages and as soon as you find it it seems to pop up everywhere? This is one of those times. I was looking for a matte apricot blush and found it in this beautiful offering by Illamasqua. As soon as I bought it I seemed to spot them everywhere, but I guess that's just life.

Kennt Ihr auch diese Vorfälle, wo man ewig nach etwas sucht und sobald man es findet taucht es plötzlich überall auf? Darum geht es hier. Ich habe ein mattes, Apricot-farbenes Rouge gesucht und in diesem wunderschönen Produkt von Illamasqua gefunden. Sobald ich es gekauft hatte, sah ich plötzlich überall ähnliche Produkte, aber so ist manchmal das Leben.

A word on the packaging first: The blush is housed in a sturdy black plastic case with a transparent window which will make it easy to find the shade you're looking for if you're in a hurry. Some people may prefer a mirror in the lid, though for me that's not an issue. The pointy corners make for a unique design which certainly isn't going to get lost in your stash, though I found it often difficult to open and if you have weak finger nails like me, beware, as you may lose one or two in the process.

Erst einmal zur Verpackung: Das Rouge sitzt in einem stablien schwarzen Plastikgehäuse mit einem durchsichtigen Fenster, welches es ganz einfach macht, die richtige Farbe zu finden, sollte man es einmal eilig haben. Manche Leute bevorzugen einen Spiegel in der Verpackung, aber für mich spielt das keine Rolle. Die spitzen Ecken sorgen für ein individuelles Design, das in euren Sammlungen mit Sicherheit hervorsticht, doch leider fand ich es oft schwierig, das Gehäuse zu öffnen. Wenn ihr auch so dünne Fingernägel habt wie ich, dann seid vorsichtig, denn ihr könnet leicht einen oder zwei bei einem Öffnungsversuch verlieren.

The compact houses 4.5g of product which is generous and will last for a long time.

Innen drin befinden sich 4.5g vom Produkt. Für ein Rouge ist das großzügig und wird lange reichen.

The blush itself is a warm apricot which leans orange in some lights. The texture is buttery soft and very pigmented, so you'll need to use a light hand when applying this! On the skin it has a velvety finish and can be layered up without caking or settling into pores or lines.

Der Blusher selbst ist warm und aprikosig und hat bei mancher Beleuchtung einen Orange-Stich. Von der Konsistenz her ist er butterweich und sehr pigmentiert, muss also leichthändig aufgetragen werden! Auf der Haut liefert er ein samtiges Finish und kann ganz leicht aufgebaut werden, ohne dass Flecken entstehen oder dass etwas sich in Poren oder Fältchen einnistet.

This colour would look stunning with a tan or on naturally darker or warmer skin tones. Of course there's no reason paler skins couldn't wear this either, though I personally found that it really emphasised my freckles, so I'll be laying this off until I get a bit of a tan in the summer months!

Diese Farbe würde bezaubernd aussehen auf gebräunter oder von Natur aus dunkler Haut. Natürlich gibt es keinen Grund, warum auch hellere Hauttypen dieses Rouge nicht tragen könnten. Für mich persönlich hat sich herausgestellt, dass es meine Sommersprossen sehr stark betont hat, also lasse ich es lieber bis zu den Sommermonaten liegen!

Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover - swatched in natural light

Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover - swatched with flash

This blusher retails for £16.50 and for the formula and pigmentation I definitely recommend it. It's just a shame that after so much searching for this particular shade it ended up not suiting me after all!

Dieses Rouge kostet 19.73€ und für die Konsistenz und Pigmentation würde ich es auf jeden Fall weiterempfehlen. Schade nur, dass sich nach all dem Suchen nach dieser besonderen Farbe herausgestellt hat, dass sie mir überhaupt nicht steht!

Available online from Illamasqua.com here.

Important Changes to Beautiful Smudges

I feel like I'm constantly telling you about my personal life catching up and interfering with blogging, so I'm really sorry if you're tired of hearing about it already!

However, there's been some important changes in my life which are undoubtedly going to reflect on my blog as well. As a result of all those changes I have now moved back to Germany, which is where I grew up. It all happened very fast and none of it was planned, so I'll probably take some time to decide what I'm going to do with my life.

This blog is going to stay. I love it way too much to just stop writing, but be aware that I will from now on be blogging in two languages: German and English. Furthermore, I will only be reviewing products that are available over here! That means no amazing drugstore brands like Sleek, Collection (2000) or MUA, but in return there are other new brands that I get to explore, some of which were impossible to get in the UK!

You may have noticed that my display name has changed. "Chrissy" was a nickname derived from my middle name, which I no longer feel comfortable using, so I'll be going with my first name, "Ewa" (pronounced like "Eva") instead. I'm still the same person, mind you!

I just wanted to thank you for reading, thank you for putting up with all my personal interruptions and I hope you keep enjoying this little piece of the internet!

Soap & Glory Pulp Friction Review

I love a good scrub and though I've been faithful to the lemon scrub by the Body Shop for a while, that one has one major problem and that's the packaging. For normal use the tub is completely fine, but try and take it travelling and the oily contents will get everywhere. I was tempted to try S&G's much raved about Breakfast Scrub, but that one also comes in a pot with a screw top and I just didn't trust it.
Hence, my new choice, Soap & Glory's Pulp Friction!

I love it when a brand makes an effort with fun product naming - nothing wrong with packaging that makes you a little bit happy inside every time you look at it!
As already mentioned, this comes in a squeezy tube and I can happily report that there was absolutely no spillage in my suitcase when I took this along with me. You get 250ml of product which will last a fairly long amount of time and is quite generous in my opinion.

I must say the ingredients advertised at the front of the tube did make me raise my eyebrows quite a bit. Orange waterjuice and vitaminballs, anyone? And what on earth is Lemonade Tree Liquid? Is there such a thing as a lemonade tree???
Anyway, the scent of this is to die for. Think fruity, zesty citrus fruit, but in no way reminiscent of cleaning liquids as some other citrus scented products are. The smell is strong enough to give a pleasurable experience while scrubbing away under the shower, but it doesn't stay on the skin - which is actually a bit of a shame, in my opinion!

The instructions say you should apply this on damp skin, which will cause some of the product to foam up. Now, I don't really see the point in this. It has a lovely, gritty texture which does a great job of sloughing away dead skin, but the foaming actually counteracts this a little bit.
What tends to happen is that I put a blob on, say, my leg, scrub away happily for a few seconds, but by the time I get to my knee it's foamed up and become slippy, losing some of its grit. As a result I end up using quite a lot of product to get the same scrubbing sensation all over my body.

Swatched dry

Swatched wet and spread out

It's not an oily product (it does contain some oil, but only a little bit), it won't leave any residue on your skin after rinsing off. I know that's a big plus point for most, but I actually like a bit of oiliness from my exfoliator. It's not a major put off though, as I guess that's where body moisturiser/butter/oil comes into play anyway.

Would I repurchase this? As it stands, no. It's a great exfoliator that really does its job, but the foaming annoys me a little bit. However, I will use up my tube very happily and if you're after a good, hard-working body scrub this might just be what you need in your life. I wouldn't recommend it for sensitive types, as it really is very abrasive.

Pulp Friction is available from Boots and online for £8.00.

Catch up post - I'm back! :D

At the end of my last post I explained that I'd be away for a while which then turned into two months. I really missed blogging, so I'm super excited that I can get back into it. There's a huge list of things I've got planned to review and show you, but for now let's just keep it nice and simple with a picture heavy catch up post. :)

New Haircut

Bigos being tired

Pumba and Mr Walrus (Yes, I'm still a child at heart!)

After surgery - Ouch!

Easter treats!

Entertainment

Sunset outside

New trainers

March Glossybox waiting for me when I got back

Just before I left I found out that I'd won 2 blog giveaways, which I was completely over the moon about! Here's me, little miss boo-hoo-I-never-win-anything being the winner of 2 in the space of a week! Unfortunately I've had to wait all this time to get my hands on my prizes and this is long, long overdue, but I just wanted to say thank you to the two lovely ladies who sent these goodies my way!

First up, an OPI nail polish in Teenage Dream (sooo exciting!) an Essence shimmer powder in 01 Prettylicious, an Essence lipstick in 53 All About Cupcake and a lovely note from Rachel over at A Pretty Obsession.

I also received a Revlon Lip Butter in 015 Tutti Frutti from Beauty Geek UK. She was actually amazing enough to send me this before the official launch date in the UK, but I've had to wait all this time to use it! (Annoying or what???)

Thank you to both for the fantastic prizes!

Blogging business is hereby resuming to usual and I'll be back tomorrow with some more beauty related content. I hope you enjoyed this little catch up post in the mean time!

Lee Stafford Treatment for Hair That Never Grows Past a Certain Length Review and Blog Update

How ironic that I'm posting about this just a day after having a major portion of my hair chopped off at the hair dresser's. There's also a bit of a personal blurb affecting this blog which I've stuck at the end of this post in case you're interested in reading that.

The name is quite a mouthful - it's never a good sign if it doesn't even fit into the title bar on Blogger! When it comes to the packaging I love the hot pink design, as it stands out nicely among my mostly white shower goodies, but I absolutely hate the mixed upper and lower case writing. I feel it's childish and cheap, but of course the packaging is sturdy enough, so it won't crack if you accidentally drop it in the bath. The lid is a screwtop type of lid, so it's safe to throw into your suitcase and take it on holiday with you.

I was stood in Boots for a while, torn between this and the same brand's Argan oil mask, but seeing as I'd already heard a few good things about this hair treatment this one popped into my basket. It also helped that at £7.99 it cost almost half as much as the other one. For that price you get a decent 200ml tub which will last a fair while. It's slightly more expensive than the likes of Herbal Essences and Pantene, but I'd still place it at the lower end of the price spectrum.

The product inside the tub is of what I would call your typical hair mask consistency. It's fairly thick, creamy and rich. Sticky enough to stick to your hair, but you still need to be careful not to grab a huge amount or the majority will end up down the plug. I expected the scent to match the pink packaging and be something incredibly sweet and sickly, but as a matter of fact it has a quite herbal scent which is not particularly noticable once it's on your hair.

The instructions state that you should use an egg sized amount on your hair every time after shampooing, then leave it on for 5 minutes, rinse off and use conditioner as usual. You're supposed to do this every time you wash your hair until its condition improves and then continue using it just once a week.
Obviously I didn't do that. I found that an egg sized amount of product was way too much, even when my hair was longer, as I mainly used it on my tips and only used a tiny amount on my roots, because I didn't want to make my hair all flat and limp. I also only used it once a week from the start.

Now, about my hair... I tried growing it, but the ideal of a long, thick, luscious mane never came true for me. As soon as my hair gets to "that certain length", it loses all its life and becomes flat and dry. Any products that combat dryness make it even flatter, whereas any products that combat flatness make it even drier. A lose/lose situation.

This treatment seemed to make a difference from the very first time I used it. My hair felt nice and moisturised and though it wasn't as silky smooth as some other treatments make it feel it didn't weigh my hair down either. It seems to provide that perfect middle ground between rich enough to make a difference and grease-inducing.

I feel I need to point out that this treatment does include silicones, but unlike some other drugstore hair masks I tried it didn't seem to cause silicone build up on my hair, despite the fact that I've now used the majority of the tub. Unlike those other masks it also doesn't give you that initial high shine that wears off after a day. Instead my hair literally feels a bit thicker and the results last a few days.

What it didn't do was make my hair grow longer. My tips were simply beyond repair, so I got them cut to just about shoulder-length. I actually have high hopes for this product and I feel that if used regularly it could help hair to stay healthy for longer and as a matter of fact grow past that certain length.



In other news:
Unfortunately this will be the last post for a while from me. I know they've been a bit sparse lately, but that's because I had a small backlog of posts which I wanted to spread out as much as I could. Well, this is the last one I've had as a backup.

You may have heard me moan about an arm injury before, which I've been having trouble with since last summer. It turns out it's a lot worse than anybody thought and the only way I'll ever be able to use my right wrist properly again is to have some major surgery, which I can't get on the NHS. I'm currently in Germany to have it done privately, but even here the first doctor I went to refused to do it and just told me to learn to live without my right arm.
I'm now going to go see someone else and if they go ahead with the operation I'll be off the radar for a couple of weeks. If they don't then I'll probably be back to full time blogging in about two weeks, though I'll obviously be pretty upset.

I hope you can stick with me through these depressing times and I promise I'll be back as soon as this is all over.

Edit: I've now found out I'll be here till mid-April, so towards the end of next month normal blogging shall resume with a few new categories thrown in for good measure!