Yves Saint Laurent Eyeliner Effet Faux Cils in 3 Noir Bronze/ Bronze Black

Greek/ Ελληνικά

I find that the Christmas holidays are the perfect time to try something a bit shinier, a bit more glamorous than usual. For me that is the Yves Saint Laurent Eyeliner Effet Faux Cils eye liner in 3 Noir Bronze/ Bronze Black. It drew my attention cause I love old gold type of colours and I am glad I got it.

It’s been quite a few years now that I’ve been using exclusively Korean and Japanese eye liners, not only cause of their superb quality, but also because they don’t trigger any of my allergies. There’s only so many times one can try and fail to find an eye liner and mascara in the western market that doesn't trigger any allergies before it all feels like throwing money down the drain.

That’s when I noticed that on the packaging of the YSL eye liner were the magic words: Made in Korea. I have since noticed that the glass jar is exactly the same as my much loved Shu Uemura one(the lids are different of course), they contain the same amount of product(2.8gr) and they are very alike in texture. Given that both brands belong to the same parent company, L’Oreal, chances are they are made in the same factory. It was worth a try!

What’s it like though? It’s a black gel-cream eye liner saturated with bronze shimmer, thus making it look olive green in the jar. If you smudge it out a bit, then the black base becomes more apparent. It is super smooth, it glides on the skin easily, the colour is very opaque so you need only a couple of swipes to get it to look perfect and I’ve worn in for over 10 hours(sans a primer) without experiencing any transfer, smudging, crumbling or anything unpleasant. It almost feels like I have nothing on. On the eye it looks more black than in the jar and the bronze shimmer makes it look so elegant and delightful.

I’ve worn it lots during the holidays and I find it very reliable. It’s a very welcome shimmering addition to my eye liner collection, since most of my other eyeliners are Shu Uemura and their range is all matts. I think I might get the Jade Black next. Emerald green eyeliners are my weak spot!

ΧΧΧ

Elysse

Pink Ruby with gradient stamping to rid me of my cold

Greek/ Ελληνικά

I have many posts waiting in my drafts, but I decided to post this one today since I finished it a little while ago. I really needed a little pick-me-up cause I've had the most annoying cold for the past few days.

The base colour is from a Bulgarian company. I've noticed there are a lot of cosmetics around coming from Bulgaria lately, most of them are pretty inexpensive, too. This could be a fledling trend, who knows. Anyway, Brooklin - 9* is a beautiful metallic pink ruby colour that applied beautifully and was opaque in 2 layers.

On top of it I did a gradient stamp with Her Rose Adagio and Fated Prince by A-England* using the Drikk DRK-B plate. This was a little bit more challenging than the gradient stamping I had done before since so far I had only done a gradient using similar colours and tones.

the bottles are so similar

My mani-cure (I am really not well, I am making terrible puns!) is not bringing my voice back, but at least I can stare at my pretty bejewelled nails now. On to some soup and a few episodes of 'Bob's Burgers'.
xxx
Elysse

*All the links in this post are non-affiliated links.

Apivita Lip Care in Pink Rose, Pomegranate and Blackcurrant

Ελληνικά/Greek

Ιn the past I have written about how much I love the Apivita lip balms. I’ve loved them for well over 20 years now and this time I have the old packaging to show you as well. The first one I bought was the cocoa butter one and as soon as pre-teen me could muster the courage, I got the rose one. It was my first lip product with colour and I can still remember how excited I was, applying too much so that I could carefully blot it like I had seen my mother do with her lipstick.

90s packaging

The number of lip balm bullets I have used up is impossible to count, they are a true staple product for me. This time I’ve selected the three lip balms that leave some colour on, the pink rose, the pomegranate and the blackcurrant. All three are very hydrating, but what I appreciate more is that my lips don’t feel hydrated only when I have them on, they are in a great condition hours after I’ve applied the lip care and the more consistently I use them, the better they look.

According to the website all three are made with olive oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, castor oil and jojoba esters. They also contain vitamins E, C & F, avocado oil and calendula. They are created with  96-99% organic ingredients and are cruelty free. They are also free of silicone, parabens, propylene glycol and mineral oils. You can check the list of ingredients here: pink rose, pomegranate and blackcurrant.*

What are the differences between the three of them though? I would say they are different in terms of how much colour they leave on and how matte or shiny they are.

The blackcurrant lip care is the most pigmented one. It leaves the lips looking a bit deeper than their natural colour, a deeper rose colour and it is also the shiniest of the lot. It’s perfect for those days when it’s so cold that your lips loose all colour. I had also suggested it to a friend of mine whose lips had become really dry and colourless as a side effect of chemotherapy and she liked it a lot.

The pomegranate, though it looks almost colourless on my hand, has a brightening effect on my natural lip colour. It is more on the matte side giving the lips a very natural texture and it smells amazing. The website mentions a “red fruit scent” which I would have guessed would be more of a “forest fruits” scent, but (luckily for me) is more of an unripe pomegranate, sweet and zingy. A unique and pleasant scent.

The pink rose lip care is the least pigmented, leaving behind a pale pink colour. My lips are naturally pigmented so I only wear this when I want to tone down their colour a tiny bit. It is the most matte of all, so perfect for the summer months where every other lip balm seems to melt. It smells of rose and geranium, a bit like a turkish delight.

Their price is 4.95€ for 4.4gr of product.

Last but not least, it’s only a few hours till my giveaway ends and one of the prizes is an Apivita lip balm so those of you who want to try it, don’t forget to take part!

xxx

Elysse

*All the links are non-affiliated.

Christmas Blog Giveaway! (closed)

Greek/Ελληνικά

It’s time! I promised you a giveaway and here it is! It’s the first time I host a giveaway or use rafflecopter so I hope I did everything right! The giveaway is open worldwide, please read the Terms & Conditions!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be getting 8 polishes and a lip balm of a total value of about 60€. All of them were bought by me.In detail they are:

Six Korres Nail Colours in 01 Cream White (for all your snowy needs), 36 Light Peach, 38 Bright Mint, 74 Violet, 79 Metallic Purple, 97Steel Grey. You will find a review on some of these colours here and here. I tried to get 2 lights, 2 mediums and 2 darks to keep everyone happy.

Flormar in 392 Holographic Silver (the one I write about here) and GL06 a chunky green glitter with holographic stars in a clear base, it doesn’t get more Christmas-y than this polish!

And last but not least, the Apivita lip care in Pomegranate. I will be posting about these amazing products within the next few days, I just didn’t want to delay the giveaway. The short story is I love them. I picked ‘Pomegranate’ because pomegranates have been a good luck symbol in Greece since ancient times and it’s actually traditional to break a pomegranate at the entrance of the house on new year’s day. It’s a “Happy New Year” wish in lip balm form!

Good luck everybody!
xxx
Elysse