Skin Essentials set from Nutriganics line by The Body Shop

Before going on summer holidays I looked for a travel friendly format of products that would fit well in my travel bag. I picked up this Skin essentials kit from Nutriganics line by The Body Shop and I tested it during 3 weeks that I spent partially in Slovakia and in Italy. The set is for skin with first sign for aging (I passed that age already) which translated to me as something easy and simple, good for holidays. Some products were really that way; some surprised me in good, other in bad way. Let’s see what I think of them.

Price: 11€ in The Body Shop outlet store in Parndorf, Austria. It contains 50ml of Cleanser, 60 ml of toner, 15ml of each day and night cream, and a green case. The products lasted for 3 weeks and few days.

Scent: all products have herbal scent with hint of floral, not my favorite but doable. The products contain organic Babassu oil so that maybe be the aroma, I don’t know, I haven’t smelled this oil before.

FOAMING FACIAL WASH

This cleanser pumps out foam so it’s ready to use. It cleanses skin very well, takes off all makeup. I tried it to remove eye makeup as well and it stung my eyes little bit so I don’t recommend using it for this purpose. I’m usually afraid of cleansers since they dry my skin and it feels tight and uncomfortably. This cleanser doesn’t do that at all. It doesn’t dry my skin even though it really removes everything. I enjoy it very much (I have few uses left) and I’m actually considering purchasing a full size. This is for me, personally, the star of this kit.

REFRESHING TONER

I used the toner in a usual way, poured it on the cotton pad and wiped it over the face after cleansing it with foaming facial wash. While I was wiping the toner on my face I could see a sort of bubbly trace behind like the soap would leave (but less of bubbles). I was confused why the toner creates bubbles and looks like soap. I checked The Body Shop website and it doesn’t say that it should do this. I didn’t feel comfortable using it and since it wasn’t doing anything extra I left it behind after 3 weeks. This is for me the least favorite product from the kit and I would not purchase the full size.

SMOOTHING DAY AND NIGHT CREAM

Both creams had the same light creamy texture; they soaked easily in to the skin. I’m putting the reviews of both products in one because they perform the same way and most of the ingredients are the same, just in different order. There wasn’t much of a difference between these two which is actually disappointing. I was expecting from the night cream to have heavier texture and from the day cream to have a SPF. Fortunately, I was using them during the summer time, so the night cream moisturized my skin enough and I could layer heavy SPF over the day cream. I don’t think these creams would suit for dry skin, especially in winter they wouldn’t stand a chance with me.

Final verdict: I really like the cleanser, it is suitable for sensitive and dry skin as well, and I may purchase the full size. The rest of the kit didn’t impress me. I think it is really aimed at younger skin that doesn’t need much of the attention and that is more normal or slightly oily than dry.

One jacket – three outfits

When I was on vacation in Italy last August I didn’t want to do a lot of shopping rather enjoy the nature and old Italian towns. But I didn’t feel like sightseeing one afternoon so I went to Orio shopping center near Bergamo.

Usually I don’t go to Massimo Dutti as the prices are quite high but it was a period of sales so I dared to enter. And there it was, alone in the corner, last piece (literally last piece in one size – 38) of beautiful jacket in sand colour. I don’t wear 38 in jacket, usually I go for 40, just for the comfort but I tried it anyway and it fitted perfectly. I looked at the price tag and my eyes sparkled from joy. From 150€ down to 40€, I couldn’t leave it there. The quality is great, since I wore it, it is hard to go to cheap jackets, and they don’t feel comfortable anymore.

Anyway, the colour is unusual for me so I wanted to show you what I wore with it to work. I’m not the fashionista by any means so excuse me if the outfits seem to be too simple for your taste.

Special thank you goes to my lovely colleague, Alicja, who took these pictures.

Outfit n.1

Outfit n.1: 

Shirt: St. Oliver 

Trousers: Stradivarius (from this season) 

Belt: either Mango or H&M (there’s no brand name on it) 

Shoes: Luciano Barachini (sponsored by my mum, she didn’t want the shoes anymore so I took them) 

Ribbon: it was part of a blouse long time ago, you can buy it alone in some specialized shops

Outfit n.2

Outfit n.2: 

Blouse: Antea (I bought it during last year holidays in Mallorca) 

Trousers: Stradivarius (from this season) 

Belt: Carpesa (I don’t remember where I bought it, but it is pretty simple) 

Shoes: Nine West

Outfit n.3

Outfit n.3:

Shirt: Ralph Lauren

Jeans: Zara

Belt: either Mango or H&M (there’s no brand name on it)

Shoes: Mark & Spencer

Let me know what would you style it with; I’m open to new ideas.

Smokey Eye drama kit eyeshadow palettes by Max Factor

I recently spotted new eyeshadow palettes by Max Factor and decided to test them. They looked like great choice of colours and that they would be wearable even during the day time, not only for the smokey look as the name suggests.

Price: 8,99€ in DM drugstore in Slovakia.

Colours: I bought 2 palettes, 01 Opulent nudes (brown quad with 2 matt colour, one shimmery colour – bronze and one matt with micro glitter – cream colour) and 04 Luxe Lilacs (purple quad with 2 matts, one shimmery – lilac colour and one iridescent – white colour).

Texture: the eyeshadows are extremely powdery. You have to tap off excess otherwise you will find, especially dark colours, quite annoying to clean out from the under eyes area.

Pigmentation: the purple quad is not pigmented enough for me, I was actually disappointed that I had to reapply colours few time to get the desired intensity. The brown quad is pigmented enough and easy to apply. Both quads blend well and the choice of colours makes it easy to create a look even when you aren’t a makeup lover.

Longevity: darker colours stayed on the eyes well just with the eyeshadow base. On the other hand, the light colours in both palettes wouldn’t last all day so I had to use cream eyeshadow underneath to ensure that they stayed on till evening.

Final verdict: with the price tag it has, I’m actually quite disappointed. The quality of the eyeshadows is not excellent and the amount of the product is not generous either. I had to use smaller brushes for their application otherwise I would also get the colour “next door” on them. You can get bigger palettes by Essence paying half of what you pay for these by Max Factor and they are at least the same quality if not better.

Face serums reviews – part 2

Let’s continue with other two face serums that I tried past few months. I wrote on Monday about the face serums with natural ingredients and that I expected more from them so let’s see if these two are any better.

Illuminating hydrating care by Corine de Farme

Even though it is not officially a serum I used it instead of serum under my light moisturizer with SPF 30 by Garnier Ambre solaire.

Price: 8,59€ for 50ml at DI drugstore in Belgium.

Scent: it had floral fresh scent that I actually really enjoyed it.

Texture: it had creamy texture with silicone touch to it which made it excellent base under the makeup. It evened out the skin instantly.

My experience: although I didn’t notice any major changes in my skin, it smoothed my skin and got it ready for the makeup application. It also smelled nice, applied and soaked into the skin quite well. It hydrated the skin for about 6-7 hours so I quite liked it. I have other serums to try but if I don’t find anything better for the similar price I may purchase it again.

Retinol Reface serum by Indeed Laboratories

Price: 19,99£ for 30ml in Boots (UK).

Scent: it didn’t have any scent.

Texture: light creamy texture. Easy to apply and it soaked into the skin without problem. The pump was little bit annoying since it would pump different amount of the product every time.

My experience: I was surprised how well the product worked. I used it together with AHA or BHA products, first I applied the acids to clean out the pores and to remove death layer of the skin for better serum penetration. I noticed that my skin got smoother, more even and just nicer. I really liked the serum and I’m totally hooked up on retinol products now. I recently bought Paula’s choice retinol serum as it’s supposed to be the strongest over the counter retinol product on the market. Let’s see if it’s forth 60€. If the result is the same as for this serum by Indeed Labs then I’ll repurchase this one again.

Face serums reviews – part 1

I tried 4 different face serums past 5 months and this is just a short review of what I thought of them. I bought first two at iherb.com and they contain more natural ingredients, other two that I’m going to talk about on Wednesday are not so natural.

CoQ10 Antioxidant serum by Now Foods Solutions

Price: 12,73$ for 30ml at iherb.com

Scent: it has quite an herbal and earthy scent that I wasn’t very fund of.

Texture: it had almost liquid texture, easy to blend and it soaks into the skin instantly.

My experience: I used up the whole bottle and while it did add little bit of moisture to my face I felt like it wasn’t strong enough to change my dry skin and make it look better. To me it was an average serum which I think would be more suitable for normal skin to oily skin.

Vitamin C renewal Vitality serum by Avalon Organics

Price: 19,63$ for 30ml at iherb.com

Scent: it had mixture of orange and cocoa scent which was quite pleasant, it reminded me of Christmas.

Texture: light cream texture, again easy to apply, soaks relatively quickly into the skin.

My experience: I mainly bought it to reduce one sunspot that I have on my right cheek. I gave it a good month and the spot didn’t get lighter. However I noticed that my skin colour looked more unified and that the discoloration, where the pimples were, was gone quite quickly. I think it brightened my skin and it could work even better if the packaging wouldn’t be transparent. When you have a Vitamin C product you have to make sure that it doesn’t come in contact with light before use. Vitamin C is very “photophobic” so I definitely think that this product had even bigger potential. Anyway I think it was good serum and I would repurchase it if I see it on sale.

Naked Smoky palette by Urban Decay

I finally received my 20% off coupon from French Sephora and I immediately jumped from the joy. New Naked Smoky by Urban Decay has been released only recently and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m a big fan of Naked palettes, I collect them and love to use them. Let’s see if this one is as good as previous ones.

Price: 49,95€ with 20% off 39,96€.

Texture: all eyeshadows are smooth and blend easily. Most of them are very pigmented, only Radar is little bit less pigmented but it works well to deepen lighter colours so I’m ok with it. The only eyeshadow that the Urban decay could have done better is Armor the eyeshadow with glitter in it. It looks nice on the eyes but the glitter falls off on the face.

Colours: even though it’s called smoky palette, it is very easy to create just everyday look. It has lot of light colours and surprisingly lot of colours with matt finish. It is very versatile and I found myself using it all week without reaching for any extra colour and still creating totally different look. My most favorite colour is High, it is highly pigmented shimmery nude colour that makes your eyes look almost wet.

Longevity: without good primer I noticed that the eyeshadows creased at the end of the day, so I recommend using something underneath them.

Final verdict: definitely worth buying it, especially when you can get it on sale. The sturdy packaging and the brush have good quality and I see myself traveling with it a lot.

Urbaniced lip cream by Essence

When I saw this lip cream on the shelves I immediately thought of Lip tarts by OCC. While these are expensive they are very nice liquid lipsticks. I was very curious to see how these new lip creams by Essence perform and if they are really comparable to OCC.

Price: 2,75€ for lip cream by Essence in German DM drugstore. Lip tarts by OCC cost 18$ in US Sephora (currently on sale for 9$).

Lip tart by OCC (left) and Lip cream by Essence (right)

Scent: lip cream by Essence has nice cocoa scent while the scent of lip tart by OCC reminds me of a paint aroma.

Colours: I’ve seen 2 colours of Essence lip creams, I bought 01 Go for a stroll (bright matt pink). Lip tarts by OCC are sold in several finishes, mine is in matt and this finish is sold in 41 shades.

Pigmentation: I got disappointed very much here. While you need a tiny bit of lip tart by OCC (half a size of brush head that comes with it) you need at least 3 times more of Essence lip cream to get colour everywhere on the lips.

Texture and application: lip cream by Essence has thicker creamy consistency while the lip tart by OCC is liquid. While the texture of Essence lip cream reminds me of dimethicone and is quite smooth on the lips, it forms patches and I had hard time to achieve uniform colour. The OCC tarts while being liquid apply smoothly and evenly on the lips and form one uniform light layer of colour.

Lip tart in colour Hush by OCC (left) and Lip cream in colour 01 Go for stroll by Essence (right)

Longevity: lip tarts by OCC last for 4-5 hours on me, if I don’t eat. Lip cream by Essence stays the same time but it sticks to all dry patches on the lips, soaks into the lines and it doesn’t look good already after half an hour after the application.

Final verdict: apart from the packaging there’s nothing common between the lip cream by Essence and lip tart by OCC. In fact, the lip cream by Essence is so bad that it is going to trash.

Longlasting eye pencils by Essence

Let’s continue with Essence cosmetics today and actually on Friday as well. I bought few products and as you probably read on Monday, I quite liked the new eyeshadow palettes, so let’s see what else is good or not.

Price: 1,55€ in Austrian DM drugstore (how do they make money with that price??).

Longlasting eye pencils by Essence

Colours: I bought 20 Lucky lead which is darker gray (not my favorite, it looks like washed out black) and 02 Hot chocolate which is warm medium brown (makes green eyes look even greener I love it!). On the website they have 8 colours, I’ve seen in the drugstores only 2 that I bought. The pencils are very pigmented and the colours are consistent.

Texture and application: the pencils have creamy texture, creamer than eyeliners by Catrice. They slide on eyes without problems so really easy application. You have some time to blend before they set.

20 Lucky lead (left) and 02 Hot chocolate (right) eye pencils by Essence

Longevity: once they set, they stay on the lid all day even through the work out. I also used them for waterline; there they stayed only for 4 hours so I prefer to use them on upper lid as regular eyeliner.

My verdict: easy to use and very longlasting, that look good on my eyes (especially hot chocolate colour). They are retractable so good for travel and for the price, you can’t beat it. I’m going to look at other colours for sure!

“All about Roses” and “All about nudes” palettes by Essence

I’ve recently seen 5 new palettes by Essence in German drugstore, I swatched them and could not leave them behind. They felt so nice that I had to take with me 2 of them.

Price: 3,95€ in German DM drugstore.

Colours: each palette contains 8 colours. “All about nudes” is a palette with earthy tones (5 matt colours, 2 shimmery colours and 1 matt with micro glitter). “All about roses” is a palette with pinks, mauves and purples (3 matt colours, 5 shimmery colours). They have medium pigmentation, buildable to certain extend.

All about roses eyeshadow palette by Essence

Texture: the eyeshadows are buttery smooth, they blend like a dream. When dipping a brush into them, they have little bit of fallout so tap your brush to remove the excess before applying them onto the eyelids.

Longevity: with just a regular eyeshadow primer they last well except the light colours. Those either fade out completely or crease in the inner part of the eye. If you apply cream eyeshadow underneath them (for example cream eyeshadow pencil by Rimmel, Milani, Bourjois, Astor…), they last all day without creasing or fading.

All about Nudes eyeshadow palette by Essence

Final verdict: east to apply with just enough pigmentation, these palettes are ideal for everyday use, suitable also for beginners. I don’t mind using cream bases underneath the eyeshadows as they look nice. The quality/price ratio is unbeatable so I absolutely recommend trying them.

Weekly self-tanner by Xen-Tan

I tried 3 self-tanners during this summer (2 for body and 1 for face) and this is a review of one of them.

Price: 24,73€ from allbeauty.com ( I bought 2 bottles for 22£ last year when on sale).

What it says on the bottle: quick-drying, with instant colour, olive undertone, vanilla scent and streak-free.

Scent and instant colour: I agree with the scent, the product smells like vanilla during its application. Once the self-tanner starts developing, it has classic self-tanner scent. It has colour indicator as well and that gives you instant colour and helps you to see where you put the self-tanner. It is always very useful to see where you have to blend more to achieve even tan.

Colour: I bought Medium/dark intensity. It gives nice tan with hint of red so your skin looks like freshly suntanned. You get a week-like tan already after 2 applications.

Weekly self-tanner by Xen-Tan

Application: it is easy to apply. It has mousse texture and I used gloves and mitt to apply it. I didn’t get any streaks so I absolutely agree with the claim that it gives non streak tan. It is little bit sticky and takes longer than expected to dry. Plus if you sweat in the sleep or just don’t let it dry completely before putting on clothes, it will stain your pajama and bed sheets.

Longevity: after 2 applications the tan lasted on me 8-10 days, after that it started to fade away in patches. It was hard to remove, so for few days it didn’t look the best (if I didn’t add new self-tan). You can get 10 applications from 1 bottle, so one bottle will last you about 5 weeks.

Final verdict: it is expensive, fades in patches and stains the sheets. It is quite a pity since it lasts long time and looks really nice. I will use up second bottle but won’t repurchase it. Mousse by Saint Tropez wins over it any time.

Blush and glow collection by N.7

I’m always trying cream face products, especially from a drugstore. It is hard to find good one and at the same time I’m thinking why? They are great not only for dry skin to create glow but also for oilier skin girls to use them as a base for powder products for better makeup longevity.

Price: 15£ in Boots drugstore in UK. It was really good value considering that 1 product alone costs 9,95£.

“Pop & glow” blush: it is bright pink (colour “Rose blossom”). It is hard to blend as it moves around and leaves patches behind. If you leave it unblended (so bright pink) it is too bright for my light skin tone, but it may suit darker skin tone in unblended state better. It dries into matt powder finish and doesn’t stay sticky at all. On me it lasts no more than 4 hours.

“Instant radiance” highlighter: it is light shimmery champagne colour that gives soft highlight. It blends quite nicely, not like the blush, so it is also suitable for beginners. I quite like it, I use it when wearing a no makeup look. I use it together with BB cream and the skin looks nice and glowy. As with the blush it doesn’t last longer than 4 hours.

“Instant radiance” bronzing highlighter: it has warm shimmery bronze colour. It blends easily, doesn’t feel sticky and stays on my skin up to 4 -5 hours. It creates beautiful bronzy, sun kissed look on the face, similar to J-Lo effect. It is my favorite from the trio, I used it a lot this past summer to create glowy bronzy look.

Final verdict: I’m getting rid of blush, I’m going to use up champagne highlighter but I wouldn’t repurchase it. On the other hand, I really like bronzing highlighter and I may repurchase it once I use it up completely.

Creme Puff blush by Max Factor – more colours

I’ve already done a post about Crème puff blush by Max Factor and I really liked that one I reviewed. It is comparable to Ambient lighting products by Hourglass and I couldn’t resist buying more colours. They costs normally 12€ but you can buy them for 8,45€ in German DM drugstore so of course I bought other 3 colours. I hope the Max Factor will come out with bronzers and highlighters with this formula as well.

Top row: 25 Alluring Rose and 15 Seductive pink, bottom row; 10 Nude mauve and 30 Gorgeous berries

from left to right: 10 Nude mauve, 25 Alluring rose, 15 Seductive pink and 30 Gorgeous berries

Have you tried these blushes? Let me know!

New in drugstore: in-shower makeup remover by Nivea

I can’t even explain how excited I am! I’ve been using Paula’s choice makeup remover for at least 5 years and till now there was nothing similar on the market that would cost less than Paula’s product. The main strength of the cleanser is that you can use it on the face and eyes comfortably in the shower. Finally, the day has come that I saw the advertisement for new Nivea product and I’m happy as one can be when finding a treasure….

In-shower makeup remover by Nivea vs Cleanser by Paula's Choice

Price: 3,95€ for 150ml in German DM drugstore (Paula’s choice costs 29,90€ for 473ml which would be 9,48€ for 150ml plus shipping of 6,95€).

Consistency and scent: it has creamy consistency, white colour and no scent.

Application: in the shower, preferably with dry hands, take a small size of the cleanser and start with circular motions on the eyes to remove mascara and eye makeup, then massage the rest on the face as well. Simply rinse it all off and voila, the face and eyes are clean.

In-shower makeup remover by Nivea

The main reason I like using this kind of products is that during the application you don’t tag on your delicate skin on and around eyes, the cream glides and removes makeup without tearing up the skin.

Effectiveness: apart from waterproof mascara (or regular Rocket mascara by Maybelline) it removes everything and leaves the skin and eyes makeup free. It doesn’t dry my skin and doesn’t sting my eyes (unless you really try to remove that rocket mascara). In case of stubborn mascara it leaves behind probably 5% of it (it is the same for Paula’s choice cleanser).

My verdict: it is as good as Paula’s choice cleanser, it is cheaper and easier to get. I’m sold!

Master sculpt by Maybelline

Contouring and the highlighting has been quite a craze over last 2 years and lot of high end brands came out with their contouring products. On the other hand it’s been very hard to find a contouring and highlighting product in drugstores. There is not much to choose from at all and you can rarely find something good. Maybelline came out recently with contouring-sculpting powder so I was very excited to try it out.

Master sculpt by Maybelline

Price: 13,49€ in DI drugstore in Belgium.

Colours: I bought Contouring palette n.1 Light/medium. The contouring colour is light neutral brown. It is so light that I cannot imagine using it for medium skin tone by any means. Even when you build it up it is not very intense. Highlighting colour is off white with pearl finish shade with some small glitter here and there. The colour would be visible also on medium skin tone (with intensive application).

Consistency and application: contouring colour is quite smooth and blendable so it is easy to apply. Since it is not intensively pigmented you have less chance to make a mistake. Therefore I think it is very good contouring product for beginners. Highlighting colour is little bit chalky but usable, just tap off excess product before application. It won’t give you an excessive shine but I think it is a good option if you don’t like strong highlighting or if you are a beginner.

Longevity: it doesn’t last as long as some high end products, I noticed that both shades faded away after 4 hours.

Final verdict: if you are a beginner and quite pale, plus on the budget, definitely try this product. If you already have some contouring and highlighting products it is not worth buying. In any case, I’m pleased to see that the drugstore brands are coming out with the contouring palettes.

Project 20 pan vol.3 and summer empties

Summer is almost over, at least here in Brussels. I travelled little bit and I’m surprised that I still used up many things. Most of them are from previous Project 20 Pans so I’m happy that they are out. Here’s what I used up:

1. Brow gel by Anastasia
2. Eyeshadow pencil in colour Champagne Toast by Milani
3. Eye pencil in colour Bronze by Bourjois
4. BB cream Sublimist by L’Oreal
5. Eyeliner pen in colour Brown by Miss Sporty
6. Eyeliner pen in colour Black by Miss Sporty
7. Lipstick n.02 by Dermacol
8. Lipgloss n.020 by Catrice
9. Another eyeshadow n.554 by ARTDECO
10. Eyeshadow n.?? by ARTDECO (the number wore off, it was shimmery light yellow)
11. Powder foundation ” New skin” n.03 by Deborah
12. Mascara “Sexy pulp” by Yves Rocher
13. Mascara “Outrageous volume” by Sephora

Since we have 4 months till end of the year I decided to challenge myself and choose more full products for my new project pan, not to mention that I also added 5 more as for that extra month. So here is what I’m planning to use up till 31.12:

1. Miracle air de teint foundation in colour n.01 by Lancome – 1/2 size
2. Liquid foundation in colour FLW2Y by Makeup Atelier – 1/2 size
3. Restructuring foundation in colour Beige noisette by Peggy Sage – 1/2 size
4. Radiant skin lotion (primer) by Elizabeth Arden – 2/3 size
5. Perfect primer by Yves Rocher – 1/2 size
6. The Porefessional by Benefit – 1/4 size
7. Lipstick in colour “Feed the senses” by MAC – full size
8. Lasting colour stick eyeshadow n. 03 Rose Quartz by WYCON – full size
9. Eyebrow highlighting pen by KIKO – full size
10. Lip liner in colour Pale Pink by NYX – full size
11. Smoothing and brightening concealer n.02 Clair light by Sephora – difficult to tell
12. Liquid concealer in colour FLWA1Y by Makeup atelier – 1/2 size
13. Fit me concealer n. 10 by Maybelline – 1/2 size
14. Instant light natural lip perfector lip gloss n. 04 by Clarins – 1/2 size
15. Soleil tan de chanel cream bronzer by Chanel – 1/2 size
16. Acqua brow Waterproof eyebrow corrector by Makeup forever – 1/2 size
17. Eyeshadow n.520 by ARTDECO – 1/2 size
18. Make-up fixer (priming spray) by Peggy Sage – full size
19. Khol liner Master drama in colour Deep purple by Maybelline – full size
20. Rice powder in colour Natural by Palladio – full size
21. BB cream SPF 30 by Garnier – 1/2 size
22. BB cream in colour Light by Smashbox – full size
23. Apocalips lip lacquer in colour Nova by Rimmel – full size
24. Blush in colour Dandelion by Benefit – deluxe sample
25. Super liner Perfect slim by L’Oreal – full size

As you can see it will be a major challenge considering that I have some new makeup that I’m currently testing. Most of these items need to be finished by the end of this year due to their approaching expiration date. Well, we’ll see how I do, fingers crossed!

Gel manicure by Essence

Let’s continue with Essence today. I wasn’t very happy about the Sally Hansen gel manicure; you can read in my previous post why, so let’s see if this one is any better.

Price: base coat and top coat cost 2,69€ each, the colour nail polish 1,69€.

Colours: I bought 10 True love which is darker wine colour almost identical to nail polish n. 870 from Color Riche line by L‘Oreal.

Texture and application: the brush on base coat and top coat is thinner than on the colour nail polish, still all three nail polishes are easy to apply. The colour nail polish is well pigmented so you can sometime get away even with one layer, two layers are pretty looking. The layers dry quickly so you can do your manicure within 20 minutes or less.

Look on the nails: the nail polish is shiny and looks really like gel manicure.

Longevity: it doesn’t last longer than my favourite regular drugstore nail polishes (nail polishes by Flormar and Color Riche by L’Oreal) and that is 3 days. I was disappointed by the longevity, on the other hand the nail polish finish and shine is beautiful, it dries quickly so I’m going to use it as I would my regular nail polish.

Miracle gel manicure by Sally Hansen

I noticed that some drugstore brands came up with gel-like manicure products promising finish and longevity of real gel manicure without using an UV lamp. Of course I was curious to see how they perform. I tried duo of products by Sally Hansen and trio by Essence. Let’s start with SH first, about the Essence one next time.

Price: individual nail polish costs 7,99€, the duo with top coat polish 13,99€.

Colours: I bought 310 Shock wave which is medium Barbie pink and 240 B girl which is light turquoise. The colours are not bright as the Sally Hansen says on the packaging they have rather pastel feel.

Texture and application: both nail polishes have wide brush so the application is easy. The texture is not the best, first 1-2 layers have streaks so sometime you have to put even the third coat. That means longer drying time. It can take up to an hour to get the nail polishes to apply and dry.

Look on the nails: the nail polishes are not extremely shiny which is disappointing since they are supposed to mimic gel manicure. Moreover from closer look you can still see streaks here and there, especially if you have uneven nails like me.

Longevity: Sally Hansen promises up to 14 days of bright colour and shine. Well as mentioned in previous part, it is not super shiny and the nail polish started to chip after 5-7 days. While it doesn’t stay on my nails for 14 days, 5-7 is still a lot for me, so I don’t have problem with longevity. On the other hand the nail polishes look quite bad so I don’t want to have them on my nails for that long.

Battle of primers – part 4

Even though these primers don’t share the same texture they share the skin type they are suitable for – dry skin. Let’s see what the differences are.
Side note: all primers were applied under Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection which I reviewed previously.

PRIMED PORELESS BY TOO FACED

Price: I got mine in a kit, similar to what French Sephora has now (“Beauty expert darlings set” for 15€). Regular price for 30ml is 30€.

Texture and application: it has similar texture and colour to the Porefessional by Benefit (thin silicone based gel) but blends a lot better that the Benefit primer. You can actually use a brush for the foundation application, not just a sponge. It blurs bigger pores quite well although not as much as primers with thicker consistency.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 4 hours, and then the skin got little bit oily. I didn’t see any breaking down of foundation or exaggeration of dry patches, the foundation only faded away from my T-zone (after 7 hours).

PORE REFINING SOLUTIONS BY CLINIQUE

Price: 15ml for 26€ which makes it almost the most expensive primer (only Hourglass beats it).

Texture and application: it has similar texture and colour to the Porefessional by Benefit and Primed Poreless by Too Faced. It doesn’t blend into the skin as nicely as primer by Too faced but still better than primer by Benefit (I recommend using a sponge for foundation application). It slightly covers bigger pores and acne scars but not to the extent of thicker consistency primers.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 5 hours, after that slightly oily for another 3 hours. The foundation didn’t break down but faded away around the T-zone. This primer is my personal favourite although I’m not very happy with price.

SMOOTHING PRIMER BY SEPHORA

Price: 15ml for 10,95€ but it is very often on sale.

Texture and application: it has medium thick gel-like consistency (silicone based as all the primers) that blends ok into the skin so you can use brush or sponge for the foundation application. It doesn’t hide acne scars or bigger pores the best but it smoothes skin beautifully.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 5 hours, shiny for another 3 hours before the foundation started to fade away. I noticed that the skin looked glowy like in the photo shoot where they use Vaseline to attain that wet look. I actually like that look as my skin looked quite healthy.

MINERAL VEIL PRIMER BY HOURGLASS

Price: 9ml costs 18$ (available only in US or UK).

Texture and application: it has thin creamy consistency that blends well into the skin. You can use brush or sponge for foundation application. It is not comparable to primers by Rimmel, Revlon or Max Factor that I reviewed in part 3 since it blends very easily and doesn’t require working in section. Side note: it has SPF 15 so at least little bit of sun protection.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 7-8 hours, the foundation faded away only around T-zone later during the testing day. I didn’t see any dry patches to stand out so that is why I think it is suitable for dry skin. However I’ve seen lot of Youtubers to mention that it is suitable only for oily skin so if you have dry skin like me buy a smaller size to test it before buying the full size.

Related posts:

Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection review
Battle of primers – part 1
Battle of primers – part 2
Battle of primers – part 3