08 November 2010

Autumn Beauty Essentials



The falling leaves, the pumpkins, the smell of chestnuts... all of them indicators of the coming autumn, but your skin also feels the change of the season.
You need to change your daily hydrating cream, and your likes for make-up too. So my every day make-up routine has become:




FACE:


Foundation:
I like to use Mineral Matte Mousse Foundation from Bourjois in 83 sable fondu.
It feels extra comfortable during all day.
The best point for me is that it has a nice powder finish that doesn't require any application of loose powder, therefore it saves time, and having a time-saver early in the morning, means I can add those few minutes to my sleep instead of my make-up.
Also, I am not a pro-matt foundation because I have always found matt foundations to leave the face all cracky and "dry", of course, for people with oily skin it must feel nice, but for me, I am a normal to combination skin type, feeling the skin dry is very unpleasant. However this mouse foundation feels extreamly soft on the skin, and I never get that cracky finish.
Another good point is the blending, it comes with a brush (the foundation came with the brush, now you have to buy it separately)... This small brush works miracles, you put the tip of the brush in the foundation pot, touching gently the mousse, then applying it in small circles to the face obtaining a very natural finish.
I would say it has a medium coverage, it covers redness and pimples, but again it depends on how much you want it to cover, I always go for the natural finish, and I aply a small amount well blended with the brush.


Blusher:
Love the shade Pink Cachemire from the Italian brand Deborah.
It has a powdery finish that combines very well with the foundation, the warm rosy pink is perfect to warm up the slowly-getting-colder autumn days.




EYES:


Eyeshadow:
Sfumato Eyes Shadow in S17 from Une.
If I feel like wearing eyeshadow, I use this product. First of all I have to say that the Une brand has shades that combine very well with all skin tones, the shade I use is a matt earthy grey, very nice to do a slight smoky effect. It looks very dark but it is a soft powder that when applied the colour adds up, so you can make it either subtle or dramatic, as you wish. I am loving more and more this brand.


Mascara:
Volumizer Mascara from Bourjois in 01 Noir maximizer.
I tried this mascara a month a go when it just came out, and I love it. It is perfect for me, because it can either be subtle with step 1 or very dramatic with step 2. Many times I don't wear eyeshadow, but I always, always, always wear mascara. During the day I find step 1 enough for going off to work. At night, step 2 creates a really dramatic effect. A not-so-good point in step 2 is that I always end up combing my lashes to seperate them, because I normally put 2 or 3 coats of mascara on my upper lashes, and the formula clumps them up. But since I mostly use it as a daytime mascara, I don't have to many chances to complain.




LIPS:


Gloss:
Effet 3D Max from Bourjois in 62 Rose gold.
Juicy shinny lips, brightens up the face. This gloss feels very comfortable, it has great shine. I absoloutly love, love, love these glosses, because they don't feel heavy on the lips at all but have all the shine and plumping visual effect a gloss should have and hydrates my lips. This pink with golden shimmers combines perfectly with the blush.


Here you have a natural make-up look for these autumn days

29 August 2010

Let's talk about Bourjois Mascaras!


So, I'm a Bourjois addict, yes I admit it, and admiting it is the first step, but in my defense I have to say I was young... and they had very attractive packaging... and affordable prices!

The first make-up item I have used was probably a brown mascara, and it was brown because my mother didn't let me wear black at the time, I was pretty young, you see, and mummy didn't want her little girl looking tarty.

Funny enough mascara still remains as the essential make-up item for me. I can not live without it, it absolutley transforms a plain sheet of white paper (let it be my face in the mornings) into a spark of life. That and a good blusher and I don't need anything else!

The Bourjois brand has always been pioneer with formulas, brushes, design and colour. I still remember buying their "Coup de Théâtre!" and being amazed by how long my eyelashes were and thinking I couldn't look any better!

So having said all this, I'm going to do a recap on the Bourjois Mascaras I've owned up until now:

1. Coup de Théâtre!
2. Coup de Théâtre! 2 in 1
3. Yes To Volume No To Clumps
4. Pum Up The Volume
5. Talons Aiguilles
6. Maxi Frange
7. Easy Waterproof
8. Volume Clubbing Ultra black
9. Liner Effect Waterproof
10. 1001 Lashes
11. Volume Glamour
12. Volume Glamour Waterproof
13. Volume Glamour Ultra Black
14. Volume Glamour Ultra Care
15. Volume Glamour Ultra Curl
16. Elastic Mascara

After making this list I feel a little ashamed... I didn't know I had wasted so much money on mascaras alone, and all from the same brand! Oh well, its my only vice! The fact is there is not one Bourjois mascara that I don't know about or have tried on! Some of them, already discontinued, but I still have 8 of them in use (all at different stages of gankiness).

Let me write down the ones I definetly wouldn't recommend first:

-Maxi Frange: It has been the only mascara I have thrown away after using it twice, and I literally mean twice, the first time I tried it I didn't like it but I gave it a second chance and still didn't like it, so that was it. The voluminising formula was more of a thickening formula that clumped up my eyelashes making a total mess.
-Pump Up The Volume: I didn't like the brush because it clumped up my lashes.  Overall, I didn't find it did anything special and my eyes looked nicer without mascara... so that was an indicator of disaster!
-Easy Waterproof: It wasn't that easy to remove with a normal make-up remover, but the main issue was the formula, it chipped after a couple of hours and I had mascara flakes all over the face.

I think these 3 are discontinued, mind me saying I will not miss them.

For the rest I have a good deal of things to say about them, so, I will do a review on them later on with all their good and not-so-good points!