HAUL: USA beauty

As I told you in my USA beauty wishlist post, my friend Maxime from laviedemaximee.blogspot.be went to New York last month, and the amazing darling she is, she brought me back LOTS of goodies. 

Stay tuned, people. It's gonna be amazeballs.

First she got me some MAC goodies that are way cheaper in the US (like the newer MAC eyeshadow palette) or are even unavailable in the Belgian MAC stores.

The newer MAC palette:

MAC eyeshadow in Omega: 

MAC eyeshadow in Soft Brown (unavailable in Belgium):

MAC eyeshadow in Expensive Pink:

All kinds of lip products! FOUR shades of the Maybelline Color Whispers (unavailable in Belgium), two of the L'Oréal Color Riche Extraordinaires (very expensive in Belgium) and one MAC lipstick in Coral Bliss (unavailable in Belgium):

Face products galore: The Maybelline Instant age rewind concealer, a back up of my Rimmel Stay Matte powder, and the Milani blush in Luminoso (unavailable in Belgian stores) and the NYC bronzer in Sunny (unavailable in Belgium).

And lastly, Maxime also brought me my favorite mascara: the Covergirl clump crusher, the Jordana Fabuliner (unavailable in Belgium) and the Origins GinZing eye cream.

A huge thanks to my girl Maxime!! You're truly an angel for picking up so many of my goodies!

xX Anine

MASCARA REVIEW: Maybelline Smokey eyes

So here's another mascara review! I tried out another one from Maybelline, this time the Colossal Volume Express Smoky eyes. 

Let's take a look at the wand first. It looks quite normal, and as if it would be perfect to build up lots of volume with. This could be ideal to finish up a smoky eye look.

Use: This mascara certainly gives volume and holds a curl, but it clumps together like nobodies business. I wouldn't recommend using more than two layers of this mascara because it just ends up being one big clumped together mess. It doesn't separate or lengthen at all. This also means it does pretty much nothing for my lashes. 

As for the smokey eye effect, it does create thick lashes, but if it just clumps it won't really compliment your look. I recommend using an other product if you'd like a mascara to compliment your smoky eye look.

Price: Around €15.

Conclusion: I'm not repurchasing. Let me know if this mascara does work for you?

What's your favorite mascara of the moment?

Xx Anine 

My go-to eyeliner look

Lately, I've totally been loving my daily eyeliner combination. The Rimmel Scandaleyes Kohl Kajal in Sparkling Black and Nude and the Maybelline Master precise liquid eyeliner are my favorite products for a light, but defined eyelook. 

I tend to line the tightline with the black Rimmel kohl liner. Afterwards I smudge some on the upper lash line and soften the look with the Real Techniques angled brush. Then I line the waterline with the peachy Rimmel kohl liner, for a wide-eyed effect which opens up the eye and gives the illusion of bigger eyes. 

For a more defined look, I finish off with the Maybelline liquid liner. 

What eyeliner look do you tend to create on a daily basis?

Xoxo Anine

Empties #3

Today I've got more empties to share with you! Keep on reading for some more mini-reviews of these products.

I used up another of the Maybelline Lumi Touch Concealer in the color 1. This concealer is just perfect for a light concealing effect. All my other concealers have been too creamy for my lighter foundation application I've been doing lately. This thing is my holy grail, I actually have to get myself to use up my other concealers for once since I can't stop using this one.

Hema nail polishes are by far the cheapest ones out there, and they really have been stepping up their game. I've been using their base and top coat for as long as I can remember (they're so darn cheap) and they do a good job too, I find. 

I've also been trying to use up some perfume samples. Here I have two Hermès Kelly Calèche perfume samples. Like, don't love. 

I love me some Rituals products, and their body scrubs are very nice and smell amazing, and they're affordable too. This Wai Wang exfoliating body scrub has tiny particles that don't scrub too harshly. Does the job just fine.

For some reason I had tons of these sample sachets of the Rituals Organic Bamboo and Ginger Face n°1 gentle facial cleanser. It lathered very nicely and left my face feeling very soft. I doubt if it cleansed very decently though.

I'm already almost at the end of my second tube of this Vichy Normaderm night cream. I used to like it when I was on my exchange program in England and my skin was drier, but lately I've been dreading using it. It separates when squeezing it out of the tube and leaves my skin oily in the morning. I think it might have been an old tube.

Last but not least I have this Biotherm claryfing lotion sample. It's not very much like a lotion, more like a micellaire water and it didn't do much for my skin.

What products have you been loving or disliking lately?

Xoxo,

Anine

Obsessed: Lipsticks

Okay, I can already hear you think it: "She's obsessed again. How can someone be obsessed about something else every single month?" Well, I often ask myself the same question. They're just phases of wanting stuff that I sometimes give in to and sometimes I don't. Let's just say... I gave in to this one. I gave in big time. A little disclaimer - of course I didn't buy all of these at the same time :)

It all began with the Maybelline Colorsensational Vivids. The one color that especially caught my eye, was the Shocking Coral one. It was all over the beauty blogs and damn, did I want this baby. All the lipsticks I bought are pretty neutral, except for one, so I thought, it wouldn't be harmful if I bought one bright lipstick, right? Right.

I LOVE this lipstick so much. It feels creamy and it's so nicely pigmented. It's pretty bright (colorsensational vivids, duh!) and it stays on for quite a long time because it stains the lips quite a bit. It has a very lipstick-y smell, but it doesn't bother me. It could be bothering if you are sensitive to strong scents. This color is perfect for summer.



Phase two of the obsession: The Wet n Wild matte lipsticks, featured on FleurdeForce's vlog channel in the color Cherry Picking. After checking out the colors I decided Cherry Picking wouldn't look good on me at all and instead I opted for Rosebud and Just peachy, two amazingly pretty colors. 

 This first color, Just peachy, is the perfect nude. It's the first nude color that I've loved, since I'm more of a pink lip-girl.

Rosebud is a dusty rose color. This is more a lipstick for fall/autumn.

Both the matte lipsticks are quite drying, but they do stay on quite long. Because the packaging is kind of cheap, I almost broke one of the tubes, but I was able to fix it.

Knowing that I've never been able to try Milani and that I'd heard these lipsticks were amazing, I threw in a Color statement lipstick in Plumrose. It was just so pretty! I saw Emily Noel do a very positive review about them on her blog and damn, was I sold!

 

Plumrose is the perfect darker fall/autumn color. It's perfect for the vampy lip trend, only it's not that out there as most of these vampy lip colors. It applies creamy on the lips, but isn't a very long lasting color.


Then, last but not least, there's the Revlon Lustre lipstick in Coral Berry my sister-in-law bought me in the States. 

This lipstick is creamy and very nice on the lips. It doesn't stay on very long though. I do love the color, it's (as the name kind of implies) a Coral/orange color. 



Here are some swatches: 

From left to right: Wet n Wild Rosebud, Wet n Wild Just Peachy, Milani Plumrose, Revlon Coral Berry and Maybelline Vivid Shocking Coral.

From left to right: Wet n Wild Rosebud, Wet n Wild Just Peachy, Milani Plumrose, Revlon Coral Berry and Maybelline Vivid Shocking Coral.

FIVE new lipsticks. My lipstick collection has suddenly doubled in colors! But I spent so little money in comparison to European prices, that it's not a very bad thing for my bank account.

Would you like to see a review of one of these lipsticks?
xoxo
Anine

Mascara review: Maybelline the Falsies

Here's another mascara review for you today! This mascara, the Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express, is probably my favorite mascara ever. Read on if you'd like to know why!

One of the main reasons why I love this mascara, is that it's so amazingly volumizing! Also, it doesn't clump, it holds a nice curl (even though I have pretty curly lashes anyway) and lengthens. It stays on all day and easy to take off at night. So in other words, this mascara does everything I want a mascara to do. Also, it's a drugstore one, which is always nice for our wallets. Am I not right, ladies and gents?

The mascara wand is just perfect to give me a nice curl! I believe it retails for €13.99 in Belgium. After I finish up my other mascaras, I will be repurchasing this one!

What mascara are you currently using?
Xoxo,
Anine

Empties #1

It was about time for a first empties post! Empties are the products you use up. Since you've used them all up, you know quite well if you like them, if they work like they're supposed to and if you'd repurchase them.

I've collected these empty items in the last months:

  

Let's start off simple. The first item I used up is this base coat from the Dutch drugstore Hema. It's cheap and it worked just fine. Since I've never used anything besides this, it's not relevant to compare this.

I also ran out of my MAC Oil control lotion, that I use as my daily moisturizer. I started using this about a year ago and it definately helps to control the oil in my skin. I always thought I had oily skin, but since I started using the MAC Oil control lotion, I know that actually I have a combination skin since only my T-zone gets oily. This is probably my second bottle of it, and I've already used a fair amount of my repurchased one. It's still going strong!

 This Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express Mascara has been gone for a while and I've had several tubes of it. It's the best mascara I've used so far, but I won't be repurchasing it for a while, since I'm testing out a lot of new ones. I do think I will eventually go back to this one.

My Vichy Normaderm exfoliating gel has gone too *snif snif*... I loved it, it left my skin pretty much spotless (which is extremely rare for me). I have a lot of samples and exfoliators I need to try out, but after that, I will definately be repurchasing this.

The Vichy solution micellaire is from the same Normaderm line as the exfoliator. I liked this, but tried out the Bioderma one afterwards and simply liked that better. I still have a second bottle of this have to use up though. 

So naturally, here is the small Bioderma Sensible H²0 Solution Micellaire bottle. I tried it out and loved it. On my trip to Paris I will be stocking up! This is the one for sensitive skin and it worked perfectly, but I know that there's also one for oily skin in this line. However, from the online reviews it seems to be less effective. Have you tried both? What do you think I should try?

I also finished this L'Oréal Elnett Satin Hair spray for extra volume. I love it and have been using it for a long time. It doesn't make my hair crunchy, it gives it that extra *Ooomph* that my hair needs in the morning. Will be repurchasing this.

And last but not least, I've used up this Urban Decay Naked skin foundation in color 3.0 a few months ago. I liked the light to medium coverage and easy application very much, but was disappointed by the staying power. This shouldn't be the case when you buy a more high-end foundation. I am very interested to see if the Revlon Nearly Naked (which is supposed to be the drugstore dupe) stays on longer? They don't seem to be selling it in Belgium, though. But I won't be repurchasing the Naked Skin foundation.

Have you used any of these products? Which ones did you like and dislike?

Xoxo,
Anine

WISHLIST: What if I would do a beauty swap?

My Youtube addiction often makes me want stuff I really don't need. Lipsticks, foundations, hair products, ... Every month I freak out about a different product. This month it were the Maybelline Colorsensational Vivid Lipsticks. The one problem: The new Maybelline lipsticks aren't available in Belgium (and probably never will be) and except for eBay, there's no way to order them online and get them shipped to my home.

I wanted to beg my sister-in-law to buy it for me while she was in Chicago. But since I kinda already gave her an entire list of stuff she could bring me "if she wanted to", I didn't feel it was a decent thing to do if I asked her to go out again and buy me more stuff. (She bought me 3 items I've wanted for SO LONG so THANK YOU Iris!)

I wandered around hundreds of beauty webshops, but the ones that carried Maybelline didn't ship to Belgium. I became more and more desperate. Then all of a sudden, I thought to myself: "Why don't I have a friend that lives in the US who can do a beauty swap with me?" and I started imagining this List of Perfection in my head of beauty items that I would want to get from the US or UK, especially the ones that aren't available in Belgium.

I wanted to share this list, just because I think a lot of people from smaller countries will absolutely agree with me: All make-up brands and lines should be available everywhere! Sit back, relax and enjoy this heavenly view of my must-have US and UK products that I can't get in Belgium!

UNITED STATES

Wet n Wild Mega Last Matte lip color in 965 Cherry Picking

Youtuber and blogger FleurdeForce wore this lipstick shade in her New York City vlog and it looked stunning on her. Since she kind of has the same skin and hair color as me, I thought it might suit me too. I can get Wet n Wild through European webshops, but never these lipsticks. Wet n Wild would probably be thé brand I'd stock up on if I'd go to the US.

Maybelline 24h color tattoo in Inked In Pink

This cream eyeshadow has become wildly popular in the online beauty world. It's very hard for me to get my hands on it, and with shipping costs, it's about four times the price... I'm still deciding if it's worth it.


Bath & Body Works candles

There's nothing quite like the Bath & Body Works candles. Everybody acts like these candles came falling down from heaven and even though I have never ever been able to smell one, I somehow got convinced that I NEED these candles.


UNITED KINGDOM

You would think that I would've picked everything up that I wanted during my six-month stay in Southampton, England a few months ago, but sadly you couldn't be more wrong. I loved the wide array of make-up brands and boy, do I miss it! But I've somehow always failed to find or pick up most of the UK beauty must-haves.

Sleek Face Contour kit

I searched dozens of Superdrugs, but sadly, it was never in stock... *cry*

Barry M

How. Could I've been. So stupid. Not to pick up any Barry M nail polishes?! Wait, I actually bought one and I love it to death. But instead of realizing that I had to stock up, I stocked up on Essie polishes. Essie is available in Belgium since a few months, so it would've been a lot smarter to pick up the Barry M's instead.

These are the first products that come to mind. There's probably a lot more... Do you have products you desperately want but aren't available in your country?

xoxo
Anine

Mascara review: Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara 'Look Feline'

Mascara is one of those underestimated must-haves. Just a little bit of mascara and POOF you're ready to go do some grocery shopping. Supporting beautiful smoky eyes? Mascara will pull together your look. The only thing you probably ALWAYS use when wearing make-up, is mascara.

There's loads of brands out there, high end and drugstore. I personally don't like spending money on mascara since there are some very excellent ones at the drugstore. Sadly, the Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara 'Look Feline' is not one of those - for me at least. 

 This mascara is nice and black, but clumps easily on my lashes and doesn't give them any volume. It does create that feline effect. But since I barely have any lashes, I want to let all my lashes pop, and not just the outside ones. I don't think there's anything wrong with the formula, but I really don't like the curvy brush. It doesn't give volume to my lashes at all.

I wouldn't repurchase this and have a hard time using it up. I've tried using it on top of other volumizing mascaras but sadly, it only makes my lashes clumpy.


Have you tried this mascara? Can you make it work for your lashes? Let me know!

xoxo
Anine