Four Favorite Things in May – FMSphotoaday Day 31

Hello my Beauties,

happy friday and happy end of may to all of you. I can’t believe that it’s actually almost june (and hopefully summer) and also that our may challenge is now over. 
I’m very proud of everyone, who managed to get through this May Photo a Day Challenge (but also the Blogging Every Day in May) and really sticking to it  – which would include myself as well. The encouraging words on Twitter & email definitely helped!

So today is Day 31 and the topic is: “Four things“.
31. Four things: Choose four things and take a photo. They can be anything.

As a reader of a beauty & lifestyle blog you might already know, that by the end of a month we usually like to talk about the most used beauty products and why we loved them so much.
So in the best tradition – here are my Four May Favorites.
Let me start by saying, that besides the Naked palette and my NYX high-definition eye shadow base, these were definitely the four most-reached products of May.
So what are they exactly and why did i enjoy using them so much?

1) NYC Color Wheel Mosaic Face Powder in 725A Rose Glow is a light weight products, that can be used as powder or blush. It gives an incredibly nice rose glow on your cheeks and since i’m so fair-skinned, i can even use it for contouring my face, which makes the product really multifunctional.

The powder consists of  4 different colors, from light to dark. Some are matt and others are bit shimmery.
Of course the packaging is a little of a down point here, since it’s not really pretty or sturdy and will probably not survive a fall on a hard ground.
But on the other hand in doesn’t cost the world – around $4.99 and it also comes in other shades, like Bronze Glow, Translucent Highlighter Glow, Pink Glow. So there’s something for everybody.

2) Lip balm Papaya by Greenland is a natural lip balm with cocoa butter, jojoba oil and shea butter.
Greenland is a dutch brand, that exists since 1990 and uses only raw materials for their bath and skin care products. 
The papaya lip balm (3,9 g – 4,95 €) doesn’t have any paraffin and mineral oils in it, that for it doesn’t dehydrate your lips, which would make you want to apply even more and more balm every time ( that’s the addictive effect ). The packaging has a quite cool metal look to it, which makes it stand out from the usual lip balms in my eyes.

I find the scent to be fruity & balmy. I wouldn’t really say it smells like a real papaya though, but it’s still a nice smell and doesn’t irritate my sensitive nose (especially when it comes to lipsticks & balms).
What i prefer to do is to apply the balm right in the beginning of putting on my makeup and by the moment i use lipstick, my lips had enough time to get some hydration and my lips look a lot smoother. 

3) Volume Effect Faux Cils Luxury Volume Mascara in 4 Fascinating Violet is one of my all time favorites, when it comes to mascara, especially the colored ones. This is probably my third YSL purple mascara.
I love the traditional brush and the length of it (not too big & not too small). I also like how my rather dark lashes get that nice purple look, without being too bright and totally out there. Makes any daily look a class of it’s own. By getting a second layer on, you can even create that “B A M” – effect.

It separates the lashes nicely, doesn’t smudge and gives great volume. And what i especially like, is the fact that i don’t see any “fall outs” in the evening, after wearing the mascara all day. (Don’t we all hate that?!)
Of course it’s one of those luxury products, where every girl has to decide if $30.00 for a YSL mascara is a good investment or not.
I stand by my treat for a few years now and didn’t regret it yet.

4) Wisteria by Crabtree & Evelyn is a nice Floral fragrance, that has been on the market since 2003. (30ml – $25.00)
The fragrance features wisteria, lily, violet, gardenia, ylang-ylang, mandarin orange, pear and white musk. To me it’s a fresh and floral, spring & summer scent, that comes across even a little powdery. It appears to be clean & innocent if that makes sense.
Love the wisteria & violet accents in the fragrance.

I prefer using eau de toilette instead of the actual perfume, since i like scents to be light and not lasting for over 3-4 hours. But i guess that is just my personal preference.
You might have noticed i  like Crabtree & Evelyn a lot ( i talked about this scent before HERE ), as there is always something slightly distinctive and sophisticated about their scents and skin care products. 

These are my monthly beauty favorites. What have you been using mostly during may? Tell me about it by leaving a comment or a link to your blog posts!

Until next time – stay beautiful!

ps: If anyone like to participate in the Jule Photo a Day Challenge – HERE is where you find the needed information.

ps2: Just got the notification, that i’ve been featured in a {Feature Friday} post! How unexpected was that!! 
If you like to find out more what has been said “About the Blog & Blogger” –  click HERE.

MAY PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE – Day 2

Hello my Beauties,

today is officially day 2 of the photo challenge. I hope at least a few of my readers decided to participate as well. Some of the day’s are going to be easy, some others will require a bit more thinking. 

Let’s see what we are up to today:
2. Morning ritual: What’s something you do most mornings. Shoot and share it.

I have to say, most of my mornings look similar. And it doesn’t even matter at what time i wake up. Even if it’s at 6:30 am, i’m still going to find a few minutes to continue with my morning rituals. Don’t we all?!
First of all, i need to wash my face to fully get my eye open. Usually i will need a gentle face wash or scrub, like the Garnier Pure Active Fruit Energy with Pomegranate, Grapefruit and Vitamin C extracts, also enriched with Salicylic Acid to deeply cleanse skin & tackle blemishes. For my quite sensitive skin, it’s one of the best scrubs i ever tried. 

I’m that kind of girl, that needs to brush her teeth before she starts drinking or eating anything. I find it much more hygienic and besides i was brought up that way. 

Coffee is definitely on my to-do list every morning. Without it something is always missing. One of my most favorite blends is the one by Jacobs Krönung. “Krönung” actually means “coronation” or “crowning” in german.   
The blend of beans has a smooth texture and a rich aroma. I read, it is available in more than 20 countries, so if you see Jacobs Krönung in your area, just give it a try. 

And last but not least, what kind of beauty blogger would i be, if i wouldn’t check all your comments & emails right away in the morning. To me, it’s a wonderful way to start my day, finding out that my posts have been read by you, my Beauties.
I always try to response on the very same day and find the additional information about a brand or product you were asking about. 
So don’t ever hesitate to come to me with your questions or even improvement ideas. 

That’s it for today’s post. Don’t forget to use #FMSphotoaday on Twitter to share your post with others.
Until next time – stay beautiful.

Marvelous March Favorites

Hello my Beauties,

happy Easter to all of you. Hope you’re enjoying your family time.

It’s the end of march and that means, it’s time for my Marvelous March Favorites.

These are the products i was reaching the most for during march, which doesn’t mean i neglected my February Favorites.
Still loving & using them too.

1) Victoria’s Secret  – Bombshell.
A beautiful fragrance, that as far as i know came out in the fall of 2010 and has been a big hit ever since. It’s a really devine scent, not overpowering like some other fragrances, but definitely one that stays on for some time.
According to Victoria’s Secret official homepage, Bombshell has a glamorous blend of purple passion fruit, Shangri-la yellow peony and vanilla orchid.
I’m not really sure which part i like the best, but it’s probably the purple passion fruit. Doesn’t it sound sexy?!

I got only the mini version of the perfume, but i know i will get the full size, ones i’m finished with it.
And maybe even the Bombshell Body Mist. I guess it would go very well in combination… from day time to night time.
Has anyone tried the body mist? Or do you prefer the actual perfume?

2) Tarte LipSurgence Natural Lip Luster in Glisten.
Available in tartecosmetics.com / sephora.com
Price: $24.00
According to Tarte Cosmetics: As a follow up to tarte’s best-selling LipSurgence™ lip tints, these shimmering lip lusters give  lips a high dose of color and shine in an easy twist-up stick.
Thanks to my lovely friend Irene, who lives in the States, i was able to try this particular product and was impressed with how moist my lips felt.

Glisten is a light peach & shimmery lip tint, that you simply use as a chubby stick. You don’t even need to sharpen it, you just twist it up when you need more, so that makes this product so convenient on the go.

It contains great natural ingredients, like vitamins C, peppermint and soybean oils. The peppermint oil in it made my lips tingle a little, but had no plumping effect (which i don’t like anyway) and it didn’t irritate my sensitive lips and skin.

Of course it should be mentioned, that this lip tint, as all Tarte products, are paraben, phthalate, sodium lauryl sulfate, and cruelty-free.
It’s definitely not a cheap item to have in your purse, but as we know most organic cosmetics lines always cost more, than usual.
I guess if you care about what kind of ingredients you are putting on your face, you wont mind spending a bit more for a quality product.
Have you used any Tarte Cosmetics before?

3) Wet ‘n’ Wild Comfort Zone Eyeshadow Palette.
Available in Drugstore.com
Price: $4.99
It’s a great earth-toned palette that contains eight eyeshadows with simply amazing color payoff. The texture is smooth and the color are very blendable. I don’t see fall outs throughout the day, the colors are staying in place.
I know when it first came to the stores, it was sold out almost on the first day. Not only because the colors are great dupes for higher end shadows, like MAC Ricepaper, MAC Smut,  Urban Decay Lounge,  Milani Melange…

I’m using the lighter colors for my every day look, mostly the eyelid & crease colors from the left row. (Can you tell by the little gap?)
What’s your favorite Wet ‘n’ Wild palette? 

4) Moroccanoil Hand Cream.
Available in moroccanoil.com
Price: $18.00 for 2.5oz / 75ml
According to the official site: This highly concentrated yet weightless cream instantly absorbs into dry hands.
Antioxidant rich argan oil along with cocoa, shea and avocado butters repairs and protect.
Your hands will be left soft, supple and softly fragranced.

While MoroccanOil has made a big name with the hair oil, their hand cream isn’ts that popular on blogs and over on youtube channels. I was lucky enough to get my hands on this product and felt in love immedeatelly. It was hard not to.
The hand cream smells fresh, instantly moisturizes my skin and definitely leaves my hands soft for hours. It doesnt feel sticky at all, but you can tell it’s highly hydrating. 

When it comes to the effect, i would compair it to the Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream, which is another favorite of mine since 2012. 
If you want to invest in a really good solid hand cream, this would be a really good choice. 
What Moroccanoil products do you love the most?
That’s all for my march favorites.
Have you tried any of these babies before? Or did you get an idea for your next shopping trip?
Let me know what your monthly favorites are and if you did a blog post, share your link. 

Until next time – stay beautiful!

 

♥ Four Fabulous February Favorites ♥

Hello my Beauties,

how was your weekend? 

This time i’m going to share with you my Four Fabulous February Favorites! Remember my beauty survey i was doing a few posts back? Many of you wanted me to do a monthly favorites post, so there you have it. 
There is usually no rule on how many items you should feature in a favorites post, so i decided to pick only those, i really used almost every day over the month of february. 

1) Biodroga Institute Power Moist Mask – intensive Moisture 
Back in January i already did a review on this super weapon. After wearing foundation and another kind of decorative cosmetics on my face all day long, it feels like mini vacation for my skin, when i apply the mask after washing my face.
The next morning my skin looks moisturized and fresh. Definitely my must-have item.

2) NYX HD high definition eye shadow base – one of the best eye shadow primers that i’ve used. Not as amazing as the Urban Decay primer potion, if you ask me, but a really good drugstore primer.
(Even if in Germany the only places you can get NYX products are at high-end stores, for at least double the price. But oh well!)
I have quite oily eyelids, and without putting on a decent primer, my eyeshadow doesn’t stay in place much more that for 2 hours.
In the mornings I usually put it on at 8:00 am and before taking off my makeup at 8 pm, my eyeshadow still looks nicely.
When i first started using an eye primer i immediately knew, a new fabulous era has begun. What a huge difference, especially for those who tend to have a “hooded lid”, right?!
Over all it’s really affordable (even more for those of you in the US), blends easily and doesn’t smudge, brings out the true color intensity and makes it last all day.

3) MAC  Technakohl in Plank
The color reminds me somehow of milk chocolate! I would say, it’s really flattering for girls with brownish hair.
You get a very natural look with this liner. It doesn’t smudge and it’s not very dark to really wear it just as defining eye liner.
I usually pick it, if i’m doing a natural daily look for work. It brings out the shape of my eyes, but doesn’t stand out too much, which is exactly i’m going for in those cases.
It wears for about six or seven hours quite well, before I notice some fading. Anyway, it’s a great copper color with shimmer in it and a nice item for the makeup bag in my purse.

4) Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy Touch fragrance mist
Tempting. Sensual. Go beyond desire. Italian iris, gilded apricot and amber wood. 

Very Sexy Touch notes per Victoria’s Secret’s website:
Top notes: Juicy red pear, honeysuckle, gilded apricot, fresh citrus
Middle notes: Vanilla orchid blossom, blooming magnolia, white peony, Italian iris
Dry-down notes: Vanilla bean, creamy coconut, clean vetiver, amber wood, musk

Victoria’s Secret launched this one in february 2012 and gave a new flacon design to the well-known 2002 edition – fragrance Very Sexy.
I really like how it smells on my skin, and makes me almost want to embrace myself.
To me, this is one of those want-to-get-upclose scents, which also isn’t overpowering and doesn’t stay on for over 4 hours, which is exactly the reason why i got the mist and not the actual perfume. And even if this scent reminds me of summer, it was my daily pick in february. On the other hand a nice summer reminder is not a bad reason to wear this scent either! 😉
                                     (Click on the pic to enlarge!)

That’s all for my monthly favorites. What do you think? Have you used some of these products before and is so, how did you like them? Anything similar that made it into your monthly favorites list?
Please share your secrets with me.

And until next time – stay beautiful!