New In | Clarins skincare & make up

As you can see, I have really turned somewhat skincare obsessed. This is partially due to my skin getting more sensitive and prone to dryness.

I had been eyeing Clarins skincare products for a while and during my travels, I came across this amazing deal where you spent a certain amount and were able to buy a Clarins beauty box containing a whole lot of products at a fraction of the value.

Since I had been wanting to try several of the products, this indeed was the perfect opportunity to justify a little splurge.

I purchased the Gentle Foaming Cleanser and the Lotus Face Treatment Oil. The rest of the products were in the beautiful black cosmetics box/bag. 

I am very excited about the Gentle Foaming Cleanser, since most cleansers have been too drying on my combination skin. This one is specifically tailored for dry skin and contains Shea Butter.

Another product I am very eager to start using is the Lotus Face Treatment Oil. This oil has had quite a bit of a buzz around it and several beauty bloggers seem to love it.

The Beauty Flash Balm (as well as the rest of the products) came with the beauty box and had been on my wishlist for ages and now I finally have the opportunity to try it. Will it make my skin look glowing? We shall see.

Gentle Foaming Cleanser, One-Step Facial Cleanser

Lotus Face Treatment Oil, Beauty Flash Balm

Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch

Eye Quartet Mineral Palette 05 violet

HydraQuench Cream, Multi-Active Night

Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector 01, Gloss Papaya 08

Joli Rouge 733 fig

Intense Black Mascara, Instant Light Brush-On Perfector 01

Overall, I am very happy with the products I got and they will probably last me a good while.

Which of these Clarins products have you tried? Which ones are you curious about?

Love, 
Maya

Initial Review | Mac Pro Sculpting Cream in Coffee Walnut

MAC recently came out with the Pro Sculpting Creams, that are meant to be used for shaping and sculpting. I wasn't really on the hunt for a contour shade, but after reading and hearing about them I just had to check them out in person. Coffee Walnut in particular has been getting quite a bit of attention in the beauty community.

Coffee Walnut  may very well be the perfect contour shade. It's a mid-tone brown that slightly leans olive. Compared to swatches of Chanel's Bronze Universal below, you can see that it is more ashy and has no orange to it. When blended out though, it looks like a very natural shadow. There's quite a lot of pigment to the product, but it can also be sheered out.

The formula seems quite solid, but is very soft to the touch. It applies smoothly and dries down to a powder finish. After almost 10 hours, the swatch from this morning has hardly faded.

The shade and consistency of the product make it versatile enough to be used from light to dark skin tones. Coffee Walnut will most likely look most flattering and natural on warmer skin tones ranging from an NC25 - NC42.Cooler skin tones may be able to pull it off, however it would be advisable to first try it in store.


The product comes in 6 shades. You get 5 grams of product for 20 USD/23.50 EUR/17.50 GBP.

 

 

MAC Coffee Walnut & Chanel Bronze Universal

Top: Chanel Bronze Universal; Bottom MAC Coffee Walnut

Have you checked out any of the Sculpting Creams? What are your thought?

Love,

Maya

New In | Boots haul

Before travelling to Dublin I had made myself a little Boots list with all the products that I wanted to check out. There's quite some stuff that I can't buy in store here, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to buy these products while in Dublin.

I got two Vaseline Lip Therapies, one with cocoa butter and one with rose & almond oil. I had heard about these so much and used to see them all the time while living in London, but never got around trying them. 

One of the purchases I was most excited about where the Real Techniques brushes. I checked out all the ones in stock, but decided to go for the stippling brush only for now.

I also picked up a Lasting Perfection concealer by Collection and Peach Melba by Natural Collection. Unfortunately the Boots I went to only had the lightest shade for the concealer. 

 

As far as skincare, I was only really interested in trying the Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm by Boots Botanics. I had heard great things about the original formula and have never tried a cleansing balm before. I really like the idea of using a balm and love using oils on my face as a treatment or to remove make-up.

I also picked up my two favourite hair products! The Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor is one of my favourite deep conditioners of all time! Unfortunately I only realize now that it has parabens in it. So this was the last time that I bought it. 

I find dry shampoos to be essential to my hair care & regimen, especially once uni starts again. The Batiste Dry Shampoos are definetely the best I have tried. So I just had to get another back up. I decided to go for the coconut & exotic tropical scent.

 

Have you tried any of the products? Do you have any product recommendations?

Love, 

Maya