SKINCARE: Honey miracle mask

Did someone say honey? Yes, biological honey has been my savior lately. As you might remember, my skin has been acting up for months. If once again tens (!) of breakouts would get settled on my face, I'd apply a layer of honey as a mask and wait around 30 minutes (the longer the better, really). 

The benefits for my skin would already show the morning after. Dark scarring would be lighter, small zits would be healed and painful impurities would disappear. Go get yourself some biological honey because it's a hell of a lifesaver!

Warning: it can get very messy, and you really don't want honey e-very-where. I'd recommend wearing a towel around your shoulders to protect your clothes.

xX
Anine

REVIEW: Konjac face sponge

Am I overreacting when I say this thing might be a Holy Grail skincare product for me? Maybe even better than the Clarisonic? I have your attention now, don't I? Let's get into this review.

I don't actually know if it is better than the Clarisonic or not, but the Konjac face sponge nevertheless works amazingly for me. I ordered it months ago, loved it and then lost it - yes, LOST it - somewhere. Since I reordered it I realized this was the first time I éver had found a product irreplaceable. 

But what is this weird sponge? Konjac skin cleansing sponges are:

- Eco friendly

- Vegan

- Cruelty free

- pH balanced

- 100% biodegradable

- 100% coloring free

- 100% natural 

These wonderful sponges are immensely popular in Korea and Japan, where the Konjac plant grows. This plant is a popular ingredient in health remedies. It is supposed to balance the acidity of your skin's impurities and oils. 

Konjac also produces body sponges and even sponges for babies! For cleansing the face they have different kinds of sponges:

- The original Konjac sponge

- Konjac sponge with Bamboo Charcoal for oily and acne-prone skin

- Konjac sponge with French red clay for dry and sensitive skin

- Konjac sponge with French green clay for normal to oily skin

- Konjac sponge with French pink clay for tired and devitalized skin

As you can tell I own the one with French green clay for normal to oily skin. I might try the Bamboo Charcoal one next time!

Use: The company claims it can perfectly cleanse of your makeup without additional cleansing products, but I still use it twice a day, WITH a cleanser. I run the sponge under lukewarm water, press most of the water out and then apply my cleansing product on the flat side. Then I make circular motions all over my face and neck with it. 

Then I rinse it again and make sure all the soap in the sponge is gone. As Konjac suggests, I then squeeze all the water out and let it dry in another room than the bathroom so it can dry properly. 

Konjac advises to repurchase your sponge after three months. I kept the first sponge for six months and it still looked perfect. After purchasing a new one, I did notice that it was way thicker than my last, apparently worn sponge.

Price: £7.99 on the Konjac webshop + shipping costs, I paid £1.5 to ship it from the UK to Belgium. A steal!

Conclusion: This is really a breakthrough in my skincare routine. I have been noticing clearer skin, smaller pores and less impurities. This sponge is a keeper!


Have you ever tried the Konjac sponges?

Xoxo Anine

REVIEW: Lush Mask of Magnaminty face mask

I can't believe I still haven't done a review about this product. These photos are actually taken months ago and I'm pretty much running out of it, but still wanted to share my thoughts on the Lush Mask of Magnaminty face mask.

Ready for a rave review? Here we go.

Use:
It is described as a cleanser, but I find it too harsh to use it on a daily basis. Instead I use it once to twice a week (usually in the bath tub) to deep cleanse the face. First I apply it on clean, slightly damp skin and let it dry and sink in the skin for ten to fifteen minutes. The clay then dries, and afterwards I'll massage it further with wet fingers, so the mask will get wet again. I then rinse with lukewarm water.

Ingredients and claims:

Natural clays, to get rid of all the dirt in your pores.

Honey and marigold flower to heal the skin.

Azuki beans to get rid of dead skin cells.

"This peppermint mask will fight unpure, acne-prone skin."

Exactly what I need!

Quality:

I love the pepperminty feel this product gives my skin. If you use a lot of clay masks, you know what I mean when I talk about this great sensation of a mud/clay mask that dries out your skin and gets rid of all the gunk and dirt. Even after using this for months and months, this product still feels amazing every time I apply it.

Price: 

€8.60 for 125 grams

Conclusion: 

Repurchasing. It's that easy. 

Xx Anine

REVIEW: Essence All about matt fixing powder

Hey lovelies, today I will be reviewing the Essence All about Matt fixing compact powder. I noticed a lot of Dutch bloggers talking about this product so I had to try it out for myself!!

Quality:
Surprisingly, for the price and though it is from drugstore brand Essence, it is very nice. I have to admit that I wasn't really an Essence fan, but this powder really got me converted! It doesn't add any coverage, but I like to set my face with it in the morning above my colored powder to avoid extra shine in the T-zone. I do have to be careful with it, since my mom noticed it when I used it (too) generously and she added drily: "I think something's wrong with your makeup honey, you look so white." So girls, use this product sparingly!

Packaging:
Obviously from one of the cheapest brands at the drugstore you can't expect high-end beautiful packaging. But this one just does the job nicely. Plus, I don't really feel like powders need amazing packaging anyway.

Price:
I almost can't believe it myself: I paid €2,99 for this powder. How is that possible??? I'm usually a believer that more expensive products grant more quality but in this case, Essence clearly proved me wrong.

Conclusion: 

For the amazing price, EVERY ONE should have this powder in her stash. Do apply it carefully and not too generously. Perfect for combination to oily skin.

Have you already tried out a lot of Essence products?

Xoxo,

Anine

Winter favorites: skincare

Baby, it's cold outside! Western Europe is covered underneath a blanket of snow, so what better time to choose some winter favorites?

My skin has never been so dry as now. This might come as a surprise, since my skin has always been very oily. Because of my stay in the UK, my eye skin even got so dry, that it got itchy and it was impossible for me to wear any eyeshadow (what a nightmare!). I returned to Belgium last week and my skin luckily has already recovered a bit from its dryness. Because of this weird skin issues I tried some new skincare products and ended up liking them very much:

The Vichy Normaderm Line: 

Vichy Normaderm Scrubgel

Vichy Micellaire Purifying Lotion 

Vichy Normaderm Night

These three products work so good for me! The scrub is perfect for my skin, not too drying, but rough enough for my oily T-zone. I use it every other day. I use the toner every morning and night and it feels so fresh and calming for my skin and it takes of any make-up that is still left on my skin. Then there's the night cream, which is the biggest surprise to me. Over the last six years I've tried night cream over and over again, and no night cream was good for me. They usually were too oily and I woke up with skin so oily that I reflected the sun like a mirror! The Vichy night cream dries in about two minutes after application and becomes very matte-feeling and soft. I certainly have seen an improvement on my skin. I have less blemishes and they also heal quicker. I'm a big fan of this skincare line!

It's MAC time!

MAC is one of these stores where you could live in. Where you can stay forever, without worrying what's going on in the outside world. Unfortunately you have to leave sometime, usually with that weird feeling of "Damn. I did spend quite a lot of money. *check wallet* Okay, way too much money." You just get swapped away so easily with that feeling that you really NEED that eyeshadow, or you really need that lipstick. So without further ado, I will show you my guilty pleasures I purchased last week, and I am loving them!

1. The MAC Oil Control Lotion:

I've got a very oily skin and I hate it. I have to reapply my make-up all the time and because my skin has turned all shiny, it usually looks really cakey. I saw some reviews of this product on youtube and decided to try it. From the first time you apply this product, you notice that it starts working. I use it as a moisturizer/daycream and especially apply it on the T-zone (usually the most oily zone on the face). My skin has been dryer since I started using it. Due to the exams I haven't been using it regularly, so I'll have to check if it works even better when I use it daily. All in all, LOVING and recommending this.

2. The MAC All that glitters! eyeshadow

and

3. The MAC 15x empty palette

My first MAC eyeshadow ever. I bought a 15x empty palette so that I can save up for the different eyeshadows. I decided to get All That Glitters! since everybody (like literally everybody) on Youtube recommended it as a first MAC eyeshadow. At the beginning I was a bit disappointed, because the color is exactly the same as my skin tone so basically, all I see when I apply it, are small glitters. But after applying other colors as crease and highlight color, it really pops and is nice, glamorous, yet subtle enough to wear daily. I usually apply it with Oh My Darling as a highlight color and Sorcery as a crease color (both from the MAC Devil May Dare mini-palette, that I'm reviewing some other time). What especially blew my mind, was that there wasn't any excess powder. I'm used to tapping it off and usually loads of product fall off. With MAC, that doesn't seem to be the case and I'm very happy with that. The colors of the eyeshadow stay on long, but I should get a primer or paint pot to apply before the eyeshadow, because it tends to blend a lot during the day. When I get home from school in the evenings, all has blended away and I am only able to see one color anymore. But remember: I have hooded eyes so that might totally be not the case when you use the product.

3. The MAC Studio Fix Powder in C4

I've been using this product for years as my everyday foundation/powder. Because that's basically what it is, a powder that seems to melt in a foundation when you apply it softly on your face. I apply it with the MAC 134 brush. This kind of foundation works good on oily skin in comparison with liquid foundation, which tends to get very cakey on oily skin. I wouldn't know what to do without this product, I bring it everywhere with me! 

So, this was my MAC haul + review, I hope you liked it! I will be reviewing the MAC Devil May Dare mini-palette in the future and I'm going to the MAC store this week (again! Hey don't judge me, I hàve to go to buy a gift card for my mom's birthday!). I'll probably get a primer or a paint pot, don't quite know yet. I'll keep you guys posted!

Greets and kisses,

xX