Glossybox Switzerland September

After a very long announcement time (about 2-3 months) there is also a Glossybox available in Switzerland.

There was a special offer for just ordering one single box, so I was very tempted... and of course I ordered a box end of August.

Today - "only" 18 days later the box arrived.

And I'm slightly disappointed with the products. For CHF 21.- and for the very first box I would have expected something more special.

So what was inside?

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer
It's a very good one, although I prefer moisturizer with SPF. You can get that sample size in every Kiehl's store for free if you ask nicely.

Lancome Genifique
I'll test it definitely. I don't get a lot of sleep at the moment.

L'Oreal Paris Color Riche nail polish
nice color in teal, good for autumn. But psssst, Glossybox, L'Oreal is not a luxury brand ;-)


Maria Galland Gloss
The gloss is more a balm and feels very comfortable on the lips, but I don't like the color. It looks very bright red but on the lips it's only just slightly red... more rosy... nothing I would use for my daily look since I prefer either nude lips or statement lips. Nothing between.

Paul Mitchell Shampoo
Interesting. Smells good. I'll test it.

Conclusion
It's so nice when you get a monthly surprise box. I love the idea and the concept but I think the box in Switzerland is way too expensive. In other EU countries it's cheaper. In France it's only EUR 10.- / CHF 12.-!!!
I'm a real cosmetic freak and therefor I had somehow higher expectations. Instead of two face care products (moisturizer and serum) an eye shadow would have been great. Or any other make-up thing, but there are 4 care products and just only 1 decorative product (the nail polish). I often get care products at the counter of the brands in the mall. So that's nothing I would pay for it.
And the delivery time (18 days!) is way too long.
I don't think that I'll order a second box for this price. Only 1 pencil for idea and nice packaging.

Review: Eye Rock Tattoos and Tape

Do you know Eye Rock?
I'm a big fan of graphic eye make-up, so it was no wonder, that I gave it a try as I spotted them on asos.com.

It's instant perfect eye make-up, no smudging, perfectly balanced eyeliners on both eyes... too good to be true?

They look really perfect on the pics in the internet or on their homepage. But when they arrived I was a little disappointed.

Let's see why...

While the ones with the feather and the lace pattern are removable tattoos, the liners came out as tapes (as it says on the package, but I over read it somehow).

The tape is matte and a little bit like a fabric.

The printed black line is not high quality. It's more dark grey than black. You can see the white dots (not printed) through.

The tape itself is way to long even for the biggest eyes. So I had to cut it in two pieces.

And since the black wasn't well printed I went with some liquid eye liner over the tape...

... but then it didn't stick any more.

And it felt very heavy on my lid, I couldn't move my eye very well, so I took it off after a few seconds and painted my own line with an ordinary black liquid eye liner.

BETTER!
and more comfortable :-)

On the other day I tried the "spiky" tape, but it was even more uncomfortable. It was pulling and pricking... ouch.

I gave up.

Finally I tried the lace tattoos yesterday. It's easy to apply, just as you might know from the Bazooka-Tattoos: place the sheet on your skin, apply some water, wait and take it off.

The only "problem" for me was, that the stencil was huge. It's lace pattern on the upper lid and under the eye. Way too big and too bold for a "nice daytime look with something special".

So I cut it.

But the piece did not fit right. And it looked weird.

I thought about making really dark smokey eyes and combine it with the lace, but...

... it wouldn't  have make it better. It looked so misplaced.

Thought that.
Laughed loud.
And took it off.

(Actually you have to rub it off quite hard.)





Résumée:
The tape is very inspiring. You can do so much more than just an ordinary line. In theory it sounds promising, but in daily routine it does not work for me. I'll try the other lines, when there's a special occasion like Street Parade or maybe for a shooting, but it's nothing you want to wear a whole day. Although it says it lasts up to 16 hours, I wouldn't want that. So only one pencil for the idea.

The tattoos are more comfortable and there are very nice patterns. But for me they are too big and too loud. They could have been designed more delicate for a better subtle look. Or maybe more smaller pieces just for the corners...? Just similar to PaperSelf lashes? I think the ones with the feather pattern are the better choice than the lace. You can cut them easily in smaller pieces to decorate your eye. I will try this soon and of course I'll keep you posted. Only two pencils: one for the handling and one for the idea.

Review: Lime Crime Liquid Eyeliner

I've already did a review about the Lime Crime's Palette d'Antoinette.

Now it's time to talk about Lime Crime's new eyeliner. They come in 6 bright beautiful colors:

from left to right:

Citreuse

Blue Milk

Quill

Orchidaceous

Lunar Sea

6th Element

Lazuli

pic via www.limecrimemakeup.com

pic via www.limecrimemakeup.com

I ordered three eyeliners: Orchidaceous, Lazuli and Quill.

The packaging has a nice design, but one brush arrived damaged: a few hairs were folded and were sticking out. After I cut them, another hair (see pic left) stuck out again. :(

The package of Quill, the black one, was overfilled and some already dried "ink" was running all over the bottle.

So that was not bad, I could clean it, but still I think it shouldn't happen. Made me a little bit disappointed.

But lets talk about the colors:

QUILL
A really strong and glossy black, I like it very much, although I have to say it's not that special. I already have some quite good black eyeliners.

So why did I order?
Because I was curios after reading Lime Crime's description "Shiny black liquid liner. Glossy black. The darkest black you've ever experienced!"

Ok, it's dark black and glossy. But still... I expected a little bit more shine.

LAZULI
is a bright royal blue, very opaque... love the color.

ORCHIDACEOUS
should be violet-purple, but mine comes out more magenta-pink-violet, which disappointed me again. It seems I have no luck with the whole Orchidaceous bottle. Or maybe the color reacts with the base, but that shouldn't be as well.

I would love to try the other colors. The yellow is very tempting, also the white. I can't imagine if it's really opaque. That's rare to find.

I think the price is with $ 13.99 a good deal.

So because of the changing color Orchidaceous, the slightly damaged brush and the dirty Quill-bottle only 3 from 5 pencils.

Review: Lime Crime Palette d'Antoinette

Lime Crime's Palette d'Antoinette is the second palette they brought out. Also like the first one, the China Doll Palette, the eyeshadows are bright and all matte beside the silver shadow.

The colors from left to right:
Royal Flush: a pastel baby-pink
Absinthe-Minded: a light fresh green
Macarooned: a peachy orange
Ribbonesque: a very opaque lilac
Mercurious: a silver - with shimmer

pic via lime crime

 

Because there are so many swatches from this palette on blogs to find, I decided to do the swatches on a black base. I used here MAC Paint Pot Blackground. 

And as you can see the colors are really opaque and work also on dark background. Although you have to go over a few times with more color than usual but it works really well.

The shadows are very soft, good to apply and to blend.

Here are some looks with the colors:

Royal Flush

Absinthe-Minded

Macarooned

Ribbonesque

Mercurious

Résumé:

I like all the colors, although I would wish for another highlighter than the silver one. A pastel shimmer like MAC Vanilla would have fit more into the palette. Although the silver is really nice and I guess the best silver I've seen so far, I'm not sure if I will use it often. For me it's too harsh or too 70s style... or maybe I just have to find the perfect color combination. I will let you know if I found one ;-)

The quality of the shadows is stunning good: very opaque, soft, good to apply and to blend. The package is a metal case and very robust. Often the packages made of plastic get damaged easily. I definitely would buy it again.

4.5 from 5 pencils

Review: YSL Vernis à Levres 9

As you know I'm obsessed with bright red (or pink) statement lipsticks. But the problems with those is that the most don't stay long on your lips. And those which are "kiss-resistant" make your lips dry and flaky.

So I was curious to test YSL new lip gloss that promises three things in one:
- the resistance from a lip stain
- the color opaqueness from a lip stick
- the shine from a gloss

and this combined with comfort and hydration for your lips.

True? Let's see...

Packaging: 
very nice, elegant, good size... nothing to complain. The applicator is heart-shaped so you can carefully apply the color without a lip brush.

Smell:
Fresh and sweet, reminds me of sour gum-worms. I like it, it has nothing chemical in it and isn't too importunate.

Texture:
A little bit more creamier than a gloss. Very shiny.

Durability & comfort:
Quite good, it feels like a gloss, it's light on your lips, it doesn't get flaky. The color is very strong and opaque. It doesn't dry your lips and is after hours still comfortable.

So here's the test:

Pic on the left: fresh applied

After lunch: Soup and sandwich
I thought that the sandwich would kill the lip stick,
so I was really surprised that so much color was left!

re-applied and after 3 hours
I had in between some water from a bottle

After 6 hours
(some cookies and some water from a bottle)

Résumé:
It's obviously not kiss-resistant, a gloss-product like this can never be. But it stays on your lips or let's say, it keeps enough color on your lips to keep them real red looking and not "washed away". Of course if you drink form a glass, bite in a sandwich or kiss your love you will see red marks on the glass, the sandwich or other lips ;-) It's still like a gloss.
But what really surprised me was, that when you remove it, there will be no leftovers from the color on your lips. Whereas a lip stain always dyes your lips and is hart to remove. I hate that when you wake up on the next morning and still your lips are red or pink from yesterday.
The texture is very comfortable and keep your lips soft and moist. Even after a few hours the lips has no dry feeling and you don't have to re-apply in between.
One plus point: the packaging has a shiny golden cap. You can use it as a mirror to re-apply the product or check if your lips are still fine.
I wouldn't wear it if I go out with my love because you can't kiss but I would wear it for a dinner or during the day. Just apply it very light at the beginning (before dinner) and re-apply it stronger after dinner. So you can avoid red marks on wine glasses or red marks on your table napkin.

I really like it and I'm already thinking of other colors... like the dark plum N° 01 for next winter. I can absolutely find nothing to complain about this product, so it's 5 from 5 pencils!

Review: Essie Nourish Me

As promised more than 2 weeks ago when I got my new base nail polish, here's the review for Essie Nourish Me.

I had to fight with very dry nails the last few months that's why I bought it. Especially the nails of the forefinger was weak and was breaking in layers.

Price: about EUR 9.- so it's still cheaper than OPI and a little goes a long way. With 13.5 ml you can use it for a year or so.

It's an intense hydration base coat with vitamin A, C and E and 10 natural oils that should nourish and care your nails.

It dries very fast and smells not intense.

But the best: it really works. My nails are stronger, no breaking in the last 14 days! I wasn't expecting such a fast improvement.

And also the nail polish above stays better. I did my manicure last week and now I have to do it again just because the color grows out, not because of splitting nails or shivered color.

The only thing, I don't understand is why they had to use a small brush. I already mentioned it, when I bought it (see here). All the colors have a wide brush which is so much more convenient. So this is one pencil less.

But still 4 of 5 pencils!

USLU Airlines Review

I weaseled around the brand USLU airlines for or a long time. I often read and heard about their nail polishes in blogs or magazines, but as I found out that they have also airbrush make-up, they got me! Ready for take-off and order!

The luxury brand was founded by Türkish make-up artist Ferie Uslu and German entrepreneurial master mind Jan Mihm in 2003.

Each color - from nail polish to lip stick - is named after the shortcut of an airport.

Since it's only available at Colette Paris, Departementstore Quatier 206 Berlin, Apropos Cologne Milan and Stefano Saccani Parma I had to order via their online-shop, which I usually don't like.

It's always giving me this unnecessary adrenalin-kick: will the color be like on my screen? will the products arrive in one piece? How is the texture? Smell? ...?

The handling was super-easy. It arrived inert a few days and the package was double-safe as you can see on the pic: soft outer package, sealed plastic-package and additional covering box.

I also got a lovely handwritten postcard saying "Greetings from Berlin".

Here is what I ordered:

• Nail polish Palmsprings PSP
• Lip stick Czestochowa CZW
• Liquid Make-up for airbrush Mandalgebi MXW

PSP was created to celebrate Colette's 15th anniversary. It's a transparent nail polish with subtle holographic thin glitter in it. It's perfumed and smells like fig. Reminds me more of an holiday in Greece, but I've never been to Palm Springs.

Here I wear it over OPIs Did You 'ear About Van Gogh? from the Holland Collection.

Next I like to try it over my naked nail and over some black or dark-blue polish to receive more effects from the glitter, like a starry night.

CZW is a lovely tomato red.

It's not perfumed and has a tiny creamy smell. It's very comfortable to wear (Vitamin E) and does not dry your lips out.

It also stays quite good in place, although it's not a kiss-proofed formula.

The pigmentation is gentle, so you can apply it more sheer (one time) and very bold (3-4 times)... as you like it.

left: one time applied, right: 3 times applied

 I'm already a big fan of the airbrush foundation, but I will do a review on all airbrush make-up's I have soon for a better overview.

Summery:
Ordering and handling was easy and delivery was very fast. The package for protection is very good and charming with the postcard! The colors are exactly as on my screen. And there's also a good written description of the colors. Although I was worried about the liquid make-up, it fits perfectly. The price is similar to MAC products, but the design of the packing is way more nicer. Love it!
5 from 5!!!!

Pic of the foundation via http://www.usluairlines.com