Revolutionary Discovery #1: Bobby Pins

Did you ever wonder why you don't manage to do all those nice hair styles other people do? Probably (like me) you blamed your thin/thick/frizzy/curly/straight/you-name-it hair.

Guess what! It might be the way you use bobby pins. Yes, those small hair grips that have one wavy side and one flat side. Well, for as long as I exist I was convinced that you put the wavy side up and the flat side down upon inserting it into the hair. I guess I was wrong... :/ Apparently, the wavy side should grip the hair close to the scalp and hold it better.

I stumbled upon this information 2 days ago - tested the hypothesis 2 hours ago and the "correct" application actually seems to work better holding my hair in place as opposed to what I always did. The funniest thing is that everyone I know does it the wrong way.

So let me know if you also did this mistake, let me know if the "correct" way works better for you and spread the word - this kind of life-changing information is definitely worth spreading! :)

~Anelei

When Essence met Catrice

Hi everyone! Weekend is almost over and as usual Sunday evening is time for another post. :) In this post I will present the products I bought recently. I have to say I am really happy with Catrice brand in general and since I've heard one YouTuber (LetzMakeup)  mentioning some of their products I decided to give it a go.

The products I will mention here I bought in DM:

• Catrice Camouflage Concealer in 010 Ivory - 3.49 €
• Catrice Eye Brow Set in 010 - 3.99 €
• Catrice Prime And Fine Eyeshadow Base - 5.49 €
• Catrice All Matt Plus – Shine Control Powder in 010 Transparent - 3.49 €
• Catrice Liquid Metal Eyeshadow in 070 Gold Leaf Me - 3.99 € 
• Essence Colour&Go Nail Polish in 147 Miss Universe - 1.55 €
• Essence Colour&Go Nail Polish in 128 Let's Get Lost - 1.55 €

I have to say Catrice Prime And Fine Eyeshadow Base really improved my eye shadow application - I notice it refining my under eye skin as well as my lid skin (it sort of blurs the shadows and the pigmentation) on its own. Once I put the concealer and the eye shadow, they glide smoothly and stay put much longer than without the primer. The second thing I was very happy about was the Catrice Camouflage Concealer. I was really surprised how well it conceals. The texture is creamy, but it sort of sets once applied. Since it is very opaque and thick, I like to apply it underneath my foundation and blend everything together to achieve the flawless look.

With the Catrice All Matt Plus – Shine Control Powder I already knew I was happy since I previously had a similar product from Catrice (I think actually only packaging changed). Sometimes (if you put too much) you might look cakey, but if you are careful with application it really mattifies the skin. If you have a particularly smooth and overall nice skin, you can also apply it as a powder foundation. As my skin is not even close to the perfect skin, I like to use it on top of my foundation. It holds up solid 3 hours before I need to blot the oily excess (and I tend to get very oily during the day). 

The third product I was thrilled with was Catrice Eye Brow Set. Wow, this one is definitely my favorite - it totally changed my eyebrow routine. I was using a combination of very dry black mascara and a brown eyebrow pencil to do my eyebrows for years now and recently I started playing with the eye shadows on my brows. The problem was that all the eye shadows I own have a reddish tint, and therefore my eyebrows didn't look natural. That's why I decided to try with this inexpensive set and it blew my mind. I used to spend 15-20 min on my eyebrows (I have very light and sparse eyebrows) and now I am managing to finish my whole "work" make up in 15 min. I use the small angled brush from a kit - sometimes wet (if I am going out) and usually dry (on everyday basis) and I apply darker shade on the 2/3 of my eyebrows (outer part) and lighter shade on the inner 1/3. The shadows are easily blendable and they stay on my brows the whole day (~12 hours before I remove my make up), including work and gym time. The only thing I find useless from this kit is a small set of tweezers, but that really depends on you.

The last Catrice product I recently purchased is Catrice Liquid Metal Eyeshadow in 070 Gold Leaf Me. It is a beautiful golden/green shimmery color appropriate for parties and going out. I have to say I used it only once, since I keep on reaching for my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette all the time. I think it is a nice quality shadow, pigmented and it has a creamy texture - reminds me of some Sleek shadows.

This brings me to the Essence part of the post - even though I have over 50 nail polishes I just couldn't resist buying some more. :) So here we go again, I got two Essence Colour&Go nail polishes in 147 Miss Universe and in 128 Let's Get Lost. There is not much to say about Essence nail polishes as I really like them. They are very cheap and in my opinion very good quality. In general, I believe that if you invest in a good, quick drying top coat and a good quality base coat, any nail polish will be good. However, Essence nail polishes are opaque and have a really good brush which makes application much simpler. This makes the brand stand out for me and I honestly have to say I find these nail polishes better than many of the expensive ones. 

On the last photo you can see how it looks like when I apply one coat of 128 Let's Get Lost and one coat of 147 Miss Universe on top of that.

Hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you share my opinion and if you have any other Catrice and Essence products worth mentioning!

~Anelei

Valentine's Day: Spice It Up

A quick one - Valentine's Day is approaching and although I believe every day should be a Valentine's Day if you are spending it with a loved one, I wanted to suggest some of the "red" colored products to spice things up a bit. Personally I would pick soft pink tones over reds for a romantic day date but for a night date I'd always go for spicy red hues.

I have to confess, I have too many red nail polishes, but one of my favorite red varnish is definitely Essie Lacquered Up 678. This is indeed a true red color, the texture is creamy and overall the varnish is of a very good quality, as well as the other Essie nail polishes. 

Here you can see how it looks like with 2 layers and a top coat applied. I have to say it lasted the whole week and since it is a very classy and classic color, it goes very well with whatever style you're into. I think it would be perfect for a romantic dinner paired with a subtle pin-up look (black eyeliner, red lip) - just to spice things up a bit! ;)

For a lipstick, I would choose NYX Extra Creamy Round Lipstick in Eros because it is goes very well with Essie Lacquered Up. One extra benefit is that this shade can be toned down, so that you don't need to do touch-ups all the time. On the photo below you can see that it can look quite "natural", depending on how you use it. If you apply it with a light touch it will still be red, but not as strong as the true color of the lipstick. The texture is creamy, the color is very close to true red, but has a slight orange tint. It is not superb in terms of lasting, but it will also not move too much. Again, for a night out with your loved one, I would not go for a strong and bold red lip, but rather something toned down, as you might expect some cuddling, hugging and kissing... :) 

Hope you find this post interesting and useful! Let me know in a comment!
~Anelei