Latest purchases

I can finally show you pictures! Yay! And what's better than showing you what I bought lately?
It's not properly a haul, since not everything was bought on the same shopping trip, but still...

The Catrice nail polish is 04 Artful Red, from the Viennart LE. I'm gonna try it this evening, so be ready for a review! The silver one of this LE was also promising, but I only got the red for now.
The foundation is Pupa Made To Last in Ivory (lightest shade) and I got it with the special 10 euros coupon (so I paid 10 euros something that costed almost 20, a real bargain) and I am absolutely loving it, it feels wonderful, lighweight despite the very good coverage and it's really great. I'm not a foundation expert but I could post a review of it as well.
The brush is from H&M, and I am loving it, I use it to apply the Pupa foundation and it works perfectly.
The two Kiko products were the result of an afteroon with my boyfriend, the 30% discount coupon and a lot of patience and help from him xD I ended getting only two products, even if I initally had four of them in my hands. I have chosen the eyeliner in the colour 107, because it was (and is) an important element in my makeup routine and I used it so much that I finished one (I never finished a black eyeliner, for comparison). Whenever I don't know what to wear I choose it, maybe paired with a blue mascara as well. I think it compliments my eyes fairly well and it's really long lasting.
The eye pencil is from the Daring Game LE, I've been craving it since the first time I saw this LE, which was in august, so I waited quite a lot! The shade is 29, Irresistible teal. I can't wait to wear it, since I've been rediscovering the beauty of a dark eye makeup.
I don't have much makeup here yet, I plan on bringing more of it when I go back at my parents' next weekend. I am definitely in need of some brushes!
That's all for now!
Bought anything interesting recently?

Color Spotlight: Black

This month is an insane month in terms of stuff to do. So I haven't created any special nail art, which gives me an excuse to continue with the Color Spotlight series.
I don't have much to offer in terms of polishes. I usually use Pupa 209 as a standard black, and that's it. In terms of makeup, however...

I don't wear that much black, but I have a few essentials. The Kiko gel eyeliner was part of the Bad Girl LE, now they also have one in their standard line. At the beginning it was a bit hard to work with, too liquid, but after a month or so it has reached a much more gel-like consistency that makes it great to use.
It has a good lasting power and I tend to use it for my more graphic looks.
The Sehora black liquid eyeliner is a very good product, my other standard eyeliner. Works nicely, I have no complaints, I love the small tip brush that allows me to make thin and precise lines.
I don't use black eye pencils a lot, but those two (Pupa Multiplay and a Revlon one) deserve a spotlight. The Pupa one can be used as a kajal too, and while many pencils have a weird effect (meaning tears and pain and oh god I need to remove this) on my waterline, this works very nicely. I also own UD's Perversion black eye pencil. And it hurts, I can't use it on my waterline.
The other eyeliner pen is by Essence, the one I received with their new Princess mascara. I had a few doubts about it but it works well and is quite long lasting. I keep it in my travel beauty case for quick, nice looks when I don't want to use the Sephora one.
The black eyeshadow in UD's Naked Basics is my go-to black eyeshadow. I have nothing as pigmented, it's really, really awesome.

I am a firm believer that black lips are not for halloween only.
The black lipstick, Kiko 523, is a creme, which means it needs a pencil underneath to stay (and with such a bold color you've got to have flawless lips). And good look finding a lipsafe black pencil! I usually use the Revlon one, but I know it's not the best option. I've seen tutorials for black lips that were made using liquid eyeliner, meh, for some reason I can't bring myself to put black eyeliner on my lips... (maybe because you'd need a lot of it, while pencils are easier to work with).
The other product is by Topshop and is a Velvet Lips liquid matte lipstick in Black Velvet.
You probably have heard of Lime Crime's liquid matte lipsticks and how, in general, liquid matte lipsticks are a trend that is going to stay (also check Pretty Zombie Cosmetics lipsticks).
This one was a surprise gift from my boyfriend, and it's a great product. It has some micro sparkle if you look close to it, so if you don't want a 100% gothic look it may be your choice. Especially if you want to try something like LC's Velvetines but disagree with the company's shady past.
I've been wearing it quite a lot lately, usually paired with graphic blue eyeliner, and it looks very nice. Once it's dried, it stays on your lips forever. Definitely recommended
So, do you like black? Wear it a lot or not at all? Would you go for black lips on your average day?

Enigma/Blue eye pencil by Neve Cosmetics

Look, guys, a post! I am still alive!
And today I want to show you Neve Cosmetics' new eye pencil in Enigma/Blue. Quite frankly I am in love with the idea of a sci-fi themed collection, and I sort of end up collecting matte blue eye colors, so hey, who was I not to give it a try. Especially since the good price, you know.
The color is a matte bright blue. I have a comparison image here:
From L to R: Sephora eye pencil in Azur Blue, Maybelline Master Drama Kohl in electric blue, Kiko eyeliner 107, and Neve Cosmetics Enigma.

The only one that is similar here is Sephora's eye pencil, but the color is less intense and slightly more indigo-ish, so they are not identical.
I have read many comments about this pencil (and the others of the set), and I don't agree with some of them. First, yes, they are soft. It's not a bad thing. UD eye pencils are soft too, and I haven't seen anybody criticize them.
Second, for this reason, they're impossible to work with and stain your eyelid. Duuude, no. With a good primer they last as a standard eye pencil (well, unless you rub your eyes), and I experienced minimal to no lid stain.
So, is it a good pencil? Yes, and I recommend it. At least try it for yourself if you can find a brick and mortar store that has NC.

Kiko Daring Game first impressions and swatches

It's not a change of season if I don't come up with a post about Kiko's latest LE. This autumn's theme is, according to Kiko, the exciting game of seduction. Or something like that.

Personally, I really dig the Casino Royale theme, and the packaging is really pretty. Can't say the same for the prices, 6,90 for the nail polishes is a bit too much.. polishes have always been the cheapest element of a LE, now there are eye pencils that cost less...
And it's not the only complaint I have for the nail polishes:

From L to R: 02 Irresistible Orchid, 01 Prestigious Taupe, 03 Suggestive Red, 04 Intuition Wine, 05 Exclusive Blue, 06 Slick Bluenoir.

Look at the colors, there is nothing groundbreaking there. The finish is probably a crelly, they're slick but not so much pigmented. Oh and there is nothing blue in 06, I've tried looking at it in various angles and to me it's just a plain black. Oh and yeah, surely, the packaging with the dice effect is nice but you have to remove it, it only covers the cap, it's not part of it. Sorry but for me this is a downside, it makes everything a bit less practical.

 From L to R: 24 Majestic Dove Grey, 29 Irresistible Teal, 20Mysterious Acai, 10 Bold Rosy Taupe, 22 Fine Jade, 11 Charming Champagne, 8 Sinuous Shell, 33 Likable Blackberry
 What I really liked were the Color-Up Long Lasting Eyeshadows (aka the big chubby eye pencils). I hope I got the identification of the colors right beacuse the numbers had faded on all the pencils and some colors are really similar. I also realized right now I am missing the swatches of 31 Tasteful Indigo, but I could swear it wasn't among the testers.
The quality seems very promising because once you wear them, they don't seem to smudge or fade, I've worn a couple of them on my hand yesterday and I had to wash them off at the endo of the day because they were still perfectly there. 29 Irresistible Teal is the most interesting color of the bunch for me (a shimmery teal with cold undertones? hell yeah). 11 Charming champagne seems like a bunch of glitter on a transparent base, 20 Mysterious Acai looks like a glittery nail polish turned eyeshadow and 33 Likable Blackberry is the only matte of the bunch. What a weird assortment of colors.. but they make me wish it were already autumn, sigh! I might be tempted to get the 29, but I will see and wait, for the moment.

You can also see something of the eye pencils: 02 Extraordinary Sapphire, 04 Gritty Ivy, 06 Powerful Burgundy and 13 Wily Bright Wood. 
02 and 13 are glittery, 4 is shimmery and 6 seems matte again. Pretty colors but nothing we haven't seen before.

What do you think of this LE? Tried anything?

Color Spotlight: White

Welcome to a new episode of the Color Spotlight series! I originally planned to do white and black together, but I have enough white products for a post on its own. Black will probably go with grey when it will be its turn.
There are my white polishes: Kiko Rock Top 615, if it were less sheer it would be awesome, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, my tipical white polish, China Glaze Texture There's Snow One Like You, potentially awesome but not long lasting enough, I need to experiment putting it on a different base, Shaka Sugary White, a very cute (a bit sheer) super shimmery white, and Kiko Cupcake 647, a white sand effect polish with red/green/blue micro particles.

My white makeup products! (not including white eyeshadows that are part of other palettes)
Manic Panic Goth White is a multi-purpose white cream, it can be used mixed with foundation, as concealer, as highlighter if you're really pale (on me it works nicely) and, my favorite use, as an eyeshadow base. I purchased it online after having used my other Manic Panic products long enough to be enthusiastic about them.
The Kryolan white eyeliner doesn't mess around, it would probably survive the apocalypse, along with cockroaches and Nokia 3310 phones. Super long lasting and awesome, I don't want to use it as a base because I don't want to waste it (and because it would probablu glue my eyelid still), but as an eyeliner it's pretty amazing.
I also added my Neve Cosmetics Ivory eye pencil, I don't use it that often but when I do, the effect is really nice, my E.L.F. matte white eyeshadow (it's always useful to have a matte white eyeshadow) and my Shaka white lipstick, that also happens to be a great base for lip pigments.

Tell me people, do you like white? Do you use it often? I think it's a wonderful, underrated color.

Christmas beauty-related gifts

Hello! Are you enjoying the holidays? I hope so!
I wanted to show you three beauty products I received this year, who are also my first UD products, not counting the nail polishes.
Do they really need an introduction?

The Naked Basics was on my wishlist for many reasons: it's small, travel friendly and contains beautiful nude matte shades. Small nude palettes are very popular now, but they aren't matte...
I've tried it on Christmas day, and it's just great. The colors are very pigmented (Faint is my new fave brown) and Walk of Shame is a "my lid but better".  I know Venus is a frost/subtle shimmery color, but It's perfect for highlighting needs, so I'm not gonna complain. I can't wait to learn many combinations and makeups with this.

The UD 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencils are my  new favourite pencils ever. Unsurprising, I know.
Once, I was at Sephora and tried some of them. I fell in love with Uzi, a wonderful gunmetal (with a very appropriate name too). They're soft and allow me to do precise, smooth lines as eyeliner. Uzi might seem too glittery, but it's just metallic and it's a perfect day shade. It has cold undertones and it's just fantastic.
The other one is Invasion, a dark forest green, matte and with cold/blue undertones. It's hard to express how I feel finally owning it, not only because I've desired it for months, but because of the story behind it.
Once I was looking at some online swatches of the UD pencils (I think it was on Sparkage's blog) and was struck by certain color combinations and their names. The matte grey of Desperation, the blue-green of Invasion, the weapon-like grey of Uzi... I fell in love with the color scheme, and started writing a story based on it (inspired by the names too). I haven't finished it yet, but the placeholder title for it is Invasion...
(I plan on connecting that shade to one of my character's outfit).
I feel as if simply staring at it and owning it will help me writing my story.

I hope this doesn't sound too weird... for now, happy holidays! And don't forget to tell me f you received some beauty products for Christmas..

Kiko Digital Emotion first swatches

When I saw the preview of the Kiko holiday collection I had a "wow this is keeps getting more and more 80s!" moment. I went to patrol a Kiko store today, not hoping to find it already but since it was there, well, it was swatching time!

I swatched the polishes and the pencils, who seemed fairly interesting. Sorry for the low quality of the photo, it was taken with a cell phone instead of the regular camera. And yes, I took it in the Kiko store so to preserve the pencil swatches intact.

All of these need at least  2 coats for full opacity.
437 Intuitive Pink is made of small pink and holo glitter in a clear base.The effect is very much holo-ish.
438 Fascinating Burgundy is made of small round purple and silver glitter in a purple base.
439 Cyber Red is red and dark red microglitter in a red base. I had quite high expectations for this but it wasn't as awesome as I would have wanted.
440 Electron Blue is small blue/light blue/navy (and it seems, gold) glitter in a blue base. It looks like a city landscape at night. The glitter are very much shinier than 438 and 439.
441 Illusion Green is one of my personal fave: so unique! Green, gold and light blue microglitter. Some glitters have a rectangular shape. The whole effect is almost a holo!
442 Techno Black is quite different from the others: very small holo glitter in a dark base with what looks a lot like a sand finish. Or it's meant to be black glitter, but the effect is quite sand-like.

After many indecisions I bought the blue one. I was afraid the green one was too "Christmas Tree"-like, but perhaps I'll purchaes it at sales. Reviews of Electron Blue will be here soon!

The pencils (Double Glam Eyeliner) are, from L to R: 100 Light Gold and Ebony, 105 Steel and Black,  103 Turquoise and Electric Blue, 104 Misty Green and Blue Teal.
100 was a pleasant surprise, since the ebony part is actually matte. Out of all of these, 104 was my favourite, dark green and teal? Wow! I didn't get any of those, but they're all very pretty.

P.s. My arm is covered in glitter due to the silver drops. Man, they're extremely glitter packed!

More Dark Heroine swatches

I have more Dark Heroine swatches for you! This time, I have all the Twinkle Eye Pencils right on my arm... and more.

 I kept the photo in an evening, natural light.

Twinkle Eye Pencils in Elastic Teal, Bewitched Periwinkle, Hypnotic Starry Black, Inspiring Golden Brown, Flexuous Burgundy, Desired Gold.

Elastic Teal is still my fave, but brown and burgundy are quite great too, the first one with gold microglitter and the second one with purple microglitter. It'a bit darker than an average burgundy, looks more like a cold brown. The black/gunmetal one is far too glittery for my taste, same for the blue one. The gold/champagne one is almost invisible on my skin, otherwise it would be cool. It seems it has white/silver microglitter.

Smoky Look Eyeshadow in Persuasive Sailor Blue and Harmonic Wine.

The blue one is nothing exceptional but the wine/burgundy one is really pretty.

Latex Like Lipstick in Plastic Red.

As its fellow, it's very promising.  Good texture and effect, it reminds me of Ruby Woo.


And that's all for now, folks!

P.s. Kiko produced new foundations as well and one of them, marked as Ivory, is exactly my skin color, this is a very heartwarming moment *_*

Kiko Dark Heroine first impressions and swatches

Dark Heroine has arrived. I don't have photos of the display, but you can find plenty of them online.

So, let's start with the swatches. I tried all the nail polishes and some other things. There were some surprises, definitely!

Laser Nail Lacquer in: Venom Teal, Strong Chocolate, Fluent Red, Psychedelic Blue, Sensual Candy, Gothic Purple.

Gothic Purple is very similar to Essence's Chic Reloaded, the others aren't anything special, except for Venom Teal, the other duochrome that goes from teal to violet/blue. Fluent Red and Psychedelic blue are very pigmented and could probably be one coaters.

Twinkle Eye Pencil in Elastic Teal (above the polishes).

I wasn't very impressed by those eye pencils on the website, but they're much better irl. The one I tried is of a beautiful teal with small blue glitter, and I have completely fallen in love with it. The glitters aren't exaggerate, and I bet they have a great effect once worn.

Smoky Look Eyeshadow in Heroic Brown and Inspiration Blue.

They're both pretty great, but I expected the blue one to be, well, lighter and brighter.
I made a comparison with the Sephora pencil in Azur Blue I own, and they're almost identical:

As you can guess, the Sephora one is the one on the right. I don't think I'll buy this eyeshadow right now, maybe when it goes on sale, since there's more product than the Sephora pencil, also considering the prices.

I also tried three lipstick. They're a bit smudgy now because of my watch...

Latex Like Lipstick in Pulpy Plum, Iconic Magenta (on the left), Glare Fuchsia (under Pulpy Plum).

As I was expecting, Pulpy Plum is gorgeous and I am probably going to buy it. Applying it was nice, and for once the name is well merited, it kinda feels like latex/plastic in a good way. Guaranteed to give you the perfect android lips!

I have no swatches of the eyeshadow palettes because the one I liked, the number 2, was a bit disappointing. TOO. MUCH. GLITTER. Maybe when it goes on sale... but certainly not now. The blushes seemed nice, and the highlighters have good pigmentation too.

Summary: Right now I'm interested in the teal eye pencil, the plum lipstick and the teal nail polish. They would look great together.

Make Up Moments: My latest...

Just when I wanted to do another post about make up, I found this lovely post and decided it would have been fun, so, here it is!

 But first... the rule says to open the post with the image of an owl. So here's your owl!

 01) Latest foundation (bought or received)?

Essence 2 in 1 make up powder.  I bought it months ago and it has become my summer essential: it's my color, it has a nice coverage and it's cheap!

02) Latest compact powder?

Essence Mineral Compact Powder. I found it in a OVS store just once, then I never found them again in other stores that keep Essence products. It's supposed to be a new product... 

03) Latest concealer?

My sister gave me this Kiko concealer. I'm not exactly enthusiastic, the packaging is a pain in the neck, usually a lot of product comes out, far more than I'd need it. I'm still faithful to my E.L.F. concealer.

04) Latest bronzer?

I don't use any, nor I intend to.

05) Latest blush?

Here things get complicated: I recently bought the single eyeshadow Watermelon by Neve Cosmetics that can be used also as blush, lipstick, everything. The latest blushes of the family were Lolita and Creamy, always by Neve. A bit too glittery but with some powder over it they're fine and long lasting. Did I already mentioned how much I love Neve products?

06) Latest highlighter?

Catrice multicolor highlighter "Vanilla Love" of the Candy Shock LE. It would probably look better on warmer, darker skintones. On me it's barely visible. The upside of this: it's a perfect everyday product, as promised on the website it gives a subtle glow. Probably I'm the only one who can see that glow, but I don't really care, hah.

07) Latest lipgloss?

 Essence marble mania lipgloss in Mix'n Mauve. There was an old LE called Marble Mania so I was afraid that the product I had found was just really old, but apparently it's not: Essence is launching those new lipglosses, and they can be found in the english Essence website. I love this lipgloss a lot: nicely pigmented, not sticky at all, and even when it fades a bit it leaves a nice stain covering the whole lips ( a regular stain, not like those products that leave those weird signs on lips). The final effect is that your lips look is if that shade was their natural color, and I really like it.

08) Latest lipstick?

Deborah lipstick in 13, months ago. I don't use lipsticks in the summer that much so I haven't used it in a while, but it's nice, a classic color. And it was on sale, how could I resist it?

09) Latest pencil?
Eye pencil: Sephora nano eye pencil in azur blue. Super pigmented and long lasting: it's so long lasting that if I wear it at 8 am, leave the house to have an exam at the uni and come back at 7 pm, it's still there. Surely, the primer helps, but it's a really good product.
Lip pencil: Neve Cosmetics lip pastels. The contouring lip pencil seems something you'd never use but trust me, when you have it you appreciate it. The other one is a nice salmon shade.

10) Latest eyeshadow?

The aforementioned Watermelon by Neve Cosmetics. I love using it as eyeliner mostly, it has a nice cyberpunk effect.
 
11) Latest eyeliner?

 Essence I love punk jumbo eyeliner pen. I usually go for pencils, but I decided to try this so maybe I could learn how to apply eyeliner nicely and not just use the pencils to intensify the eye make up. It would be a much greater product if it were more pigmented... I mean, you can apply it, wait until it dries and apply it once again to intensify the color, but since it's meant as an eyeliner for dummies, that way you kinda miss the point.

12) Latest mascara? 

Bought: NYC Sky Rise mascara. For being a cheap product, the quality is definitely good, it really has a beautiful effect on lashes.
Received: Deborah Mascara full color in 02 costa smeralda sea. The color is actually a bit greener irl.
What can I do, I love colored mascaras...

13) Latest eyebrow product?

 I actually don't used anything... I tried but I don't like the effect.

14) Latest primer?

 Essence I Love Stage eye primer. It's really good and effective, especially if you have oily eyelids.

15) Latest face care product?

 Garnier Crème Bienfaisante for normal/combinated skin.Works nicely and feels fresh on the skin, i like the formula. I also tried the "sorbet" cream for oily skins and found it... oily O_O I don't know, this kind of stuff depends a lot on your skin type I guess.

16) Latest body care product?

 Helan Rosa-Rosae silky moisturizing cream. Eeeh, I love this one. I was given a sample, tried it and fell in love with it. It really gives your skin a pleasant silky effect and the subtle rose smell lasts for a couple of days...

17) Latest hair care product?

I only use standard shampoos and such, no particular care products... I don't really need anything special, I have really short hair, no split ends, etc.

18) Latest accessory (brushes, false lashes...)?

 The Sephora empty eyeshadow palette, when it still costed 50 cents. I'm really glad I bought it.

19) Latest nail polish?

 Coming soon on this blog, Deborah 45 Green Fluo. Can't wait to try it!

20) Latest perfume?

I don't used perfume, I only have a old Lush solid perfume. It's supposed to be expired but it still smells deliciously. I am awfully tempted by Shaka solid perfumes, however.


 Whoa, I exceeded the blogspot tags limit. I tagged the products but not all brands.