My Thoughts Corner

I’m an organizing freak and I loooove a good declutter … Every now and then I go around the house downsizing all categories and my makeup drawers ain’t any exception.  Though, in this process, there are some bits I find myself torn if I should keep or not; afraid that one day I might need them but in reality, if there is no added value then there is no point keeping it… To give an end to my misery, I usually give my maybe pile a last try and settle on which ones are worth holding on to and those to be tossed/given away. 

E.L.F Beautifully Bare Foundation Serum | I have listed this one back in 2016 in my “Disappointing Products”, yet I kept it to give it a proper go as a “tinted primer” and I haven’t. I certainly couldn’t wear it on its own as I love a good coverage, but this time, I went on with my concealer on top of my flaws and to my surprise this little bottle wowed me; it’s insanely lightweight and it makes my skin look so radiant and even. With an SPF 25, this foundation would make a great choice for summer days and the no makeup looks. For the time being, this bottle is going nowhere and will definitely retain it. 

Makeup Revolution Fortune Favours The Brave Palette | Regular readers would know by now that I’m a huge fan of Makeup Revolution as it stands and when I spotted this palette I had to have it. It is certainly a different palette than the MR’s typical ones in terms of design, shadow size pan and versatility. Though I do like the great finish/color diversity, the pigmentation of some shades didn’t do a whole lot for me making them quite hard to work with. I have been trying this one on and off but, despite all the hype it was around it, I couldn’t make myself love it as much as the Iconic Pro 1, Pro 2 or the recently reviewed Neutrals Vs New-trals palette. Therefore, I’m passing this along to someone who could make a better use out of it.

Catrice High Glow Mineral Highlighting Powder | It is the only baked highlighter I own. I was very excited to have it but not so much after I tried it. It is a silvery champagne shade that’s supposed to provide a glamorous glow, but that was too obvious on my skin tone. The texture as well is quiet dry for my liking and has a lot of kick off leaving a chaos of stubborn glitter on my face. Unfortunately, this is a pass. 

Too Faced Rock N Roll Palette | I first got this palette for the packaging. I loved the color theme of the eyeshadows but never thought that’s what I would go for one day. And I did. And I loved it! To make the whole story short it’s a “glam meets pretty”. However, two things not to forget with this palette; wet your brush for an intense metallic/foiled effect and DO YOUR EYES FIRST. The shadows easily last for a good 8-9 hours. This is another one that’s for now going nowhere. It is a KEEP. 

Maybelline Colossal Go Extreme! Leather Black Volume Mascara | It is usually difficult for me to fall in love with a mascara and once I do I stick to it. Maybelline makes some of my favorite ones and when I got my hand on the Colossal Go Extreme I assumed it’s at the same level of quality. But No. I normally look for volume and length, as I’m blessed with none, and this one claims to offer extra volume and that’s not at all what I got… I’m also not a big of the wand shape as I like it to get to the tiniest of my lashes which is not the case here. I couldn’t see any added value. Currently, I have few other mascaras that I love way more than this one. 

At last, I’m keeping 2 products out of 5. It surely makes me feel good despite that’s not a huge number looking at my entire makeup collection. This is it for today. Stay tuned as there is more to come!

It’s been quite a while since my last “Disappointing Products’ blog post. And since lot of you (including myself) seem to enjoy this kind of posts, here I come with a new list of products that let ME down. This isn’t to slander the brand in any of the ways, I simply I didn’t get along with these products, which could be a star product for you.

Let me start with the Clinique EvenBetter Dark Spot Corrector for which I really had high hopes. To be frank, I have had experiences with Clinique products and I was nothing but impressed. This, clinically proven serum, is comparable to a leading prescription in fading the dark spot and acne scars. It is made of a more stable form of Vitamin C for brightening effects along with mulberry extract and other exfoliating agents for better product penetration. I have used up 2 or 3 bottles of it already and let me tell you this is so bloody expensive! Nevertheless, I haven’t seen any improvement in my pigmentation or in my acne scars. I’ve got to say that it’s just an average skin lightening product despite its great ingredients.

I don’t use a lot of Max Factor products, though one of my favorite primer is the Face Finity All Day Primer, reviewed here, and that was one good reason to make me curious and try the MaxFactor all-day flawless 3-in-1 foundation. It’s has a matte finish, which I’m all right with, but it tends every single time to make my skin look extremely parched and the foundation clogs each one of my pores and sits in my dry areas. Another con on this foundation is the formula that’s very difficult to spread which made this product a total no go for me.

I love Essence brand and I love how affordable their products are however I hate the feeling of sticky glossy lipstick on my lips and that’s exactly what you get with the Essence LiquidLipsticks. The formula is certainly not of a liquid lipstick but more of a tick gloss that’s quite difficult to apply which results to a patchy finish.

Another lip products that I will include in this post is the Sleek Power Plump Lip Pencils. In fairness to these products, the color and pigmentation are stunning, the application is also just like a dream. However, these pencils are designed with a light tingle to plump up the lips which was quite interesting when I first read it but once the tingling started, the intensity unbearable. It was supposed to end after a minute or so but it was present for almost an hour which was very uncomfortable for me to the level I felt my lips literally burning.

This is it for today. Stay tuned and until next time :)

Lightweight is a main norm for me to pick a foundation and that goes hand in hand along with the medium to full coverage that it offers. In 2016 I’ve been enjoying few of them so let’s get started.

My latest purchase is the Urban Decay Naked SkinWeightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup that I love since I got it. It’s such a nice foundation that feels like nothing, just like the name states, and gives a great coverage without being heavy or cakey. It also enables the skin to seem more radiant thanks to its light reflecting pigments and blurs all imperfections.

The Maybelline Instant Age Rewind The Eraser TreatmentMakeup is another foundation of choice of mine. It makes my skin look radiant and healthy and provides a medium coverage with a lovely satin finish.

The next foundation I will talk about is my first on its category and I’m so addicted to it; the Mac Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation in shades NC20 and NC35. This product is one of those smart ones as it reacts as a foundation and setting powder. The coverage offered is medium to full and feels like skin with a great staying power. For a fact, it’s my top foundation of the moment along with the Urban Decay.

Time for setting all that foundation and for that purpose I’ve been liking few. I will start with the banana powder in elfcontour palette which I use to set my concealer and brighten my under eye.  The powder itself is very soft, pigmented and blends easily.

Loose powders are not my thing just because it tends to be messy however I still own some and The NYX Mineral Matte Finishing Powder is my favorite. I was attracted by how soft and finely milled the powder is. It gives such a natural silky finish and I also appreciate how comfortable it feels once on.

My latest acquisition is the Urban Decay De-SlickMattifying Powder. Let’s first take a moment to appreciate the stunning packaging of this beauty. It’s a great pressed powder that adds radiance and glow to the skin without providing a natural and flawless finish.  

This is my current trust-y bunch of base products but I certainly have a longer wish list that I want to try.

Thank you for reading!!! 

I’m finally back after not showing up for a whole month. September was a busy one but mainly exciting especially that I’ve been in Paris and enjoyed the wonderful city, weather, family and friends and that the comeback very hard but…. C’est la vie!

Whilst in Paris, I obviously did some shopping however I didn’t go crazy as I focused on things I can’t get (or get easily) here in Dubai despite the fact that I was quite restrained as the price of the French pharmacy are extremely cheap across abroad.

I’ve decided to divide this post into two parts to give me more time to chat about all products. I’ve got to say that I haven’t tried any of these except for 2 or 3 items, however I’ll take you through each product and specify what made it interesting to me.

The first beauty shop that was on my way was KIKO which is known for their good quality products at an affordable price. I start off with the In The Shade Eyeshadow And Kajal (€5) in 01 and 05 and are from the limited edition collection for 2016. These are double ended pencils with an intense color payoff and extreme hold. I always loved the idea of eye shadow pencils especially when travelling or when I am short on time in the mornings. The colors are beautiful and perfect for everyday wear with a soft and creamy texture.

Next up is another limited edition product; the Strobe & Sculpt Cream Contour Palette (€14.90) in 02 medium to dark. I’m not into cream contouring as much as powder which made my collection in that category narrow and that’s what made me go for this one. This is one of those I haven’t tried yet however when swatched; the colors are subtle and the texture is creamy.

My last purchase from Kiko is their pencil lip gloss (€3.90) in 10, which is a nude dark rose shade; nothing surprising here. It is very comfortable and easy to apply. In fact, I wish I picked other shades but unfortunately there weren’t many left in the store I was in.

The last product for this first round of the haul is the Maybelline Instant Anti-Age L’Effaceur Fond De Teint which I believe is the Instant Age Rewind Eraser Treatment Makeup. I couldn’t resist picking up this foundation, hoping that it will be as good as the age rewind concealer which happens to be one of my holy grail concealers. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

So that sums up my first round of Paris Beauty Haul. I’ll be posting my second part in tomorrow’s post so stay tuned for that.

My first post about the products that didn’t live up to their expectations was quite a hit, which I didn’t expect to be honest with you, and today I’m coming with a new list of beauty items that in a way or another let me down. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with these products/brand but they simply failed to deliver the way I would like them to do.

To start I will be talking about the e.l.f foundation serum. When I first tried it I was almost sure that they got me the wrong product. The foundation itself is too liquid-y that made me read again the packaging just to make sure that this is a foundation because it’s first one that too runny that I personally try. I’m not blessed with a perfect clear skin and that makes me always ran after something to cover my imperfections while this one was not in that frame, it’s very light that it feels like nothing, which is not bad but not for me… And now that I’m typing this post, I’m thinking that maybe I should give it a last try as a foundation base or in better words as a tinted primer. .. I should try and let you know.

I am a fan of contouring, I love how it shapes and embellishes the face features but using the L’Oreal Infallible Sculpt Contouring Palette was a total fail. I’m not gonna go in much details for this one but if you want to know any further you can stop by my full review here.

There is nothing I hate in mascaras more than a heavy clumpy one and the Bourjois Push Up Volume Glamour in Fabulous Brown was just this. The wand is pretty big and picks up hell of product that I can’t even see the wand’s bristles and it sits on the lashes. I’ve tried many times and of course I did remove the excess of product but it’s simply not working for me. I’m afraid.

Another mascara that I don’t rate high, is the e.l.f Beautifully Bare Defining Mascara in Buff Black, which I think is discontinued as I can’t find it anymore in their website. The packaging is awesome and being a fan of e.l.f products I assumed I will enjoy this one but unfortunately I didn’t. I like products that are pretty much practical while the e.l.f mascara is a mono task item; it separates the lashes pretty well but don’t expect anything more than that. The formula is a wet one which is annoying as not only there is no volume or length but I could feel my lashes sticking together throughout the day and no no no … It’s a big Hit here.  

Next on my list is the Catrice Multi Matt Blush in 010 Love, Rosie. It is for a fact, the first Catrice product to disappoint me due to its too powdery texture which makes it very hard to blend and looks chalky despite its lovely color combo.

Finally the Corine de Farme Purity Micellar Water that I’m not a fan of. For having 97% natural ingredients I was expecting lots. To start, it didn’t remove my makeup in an efficient way and when reaching for the eyes area it stings badly and worst of all, after finishing my face was all sticky and didn’t feel at all like water. It was too heavy and the smell is overpowering for a sensitive skin dedicated product.

This was my experience and opinions of these products and once more what doesn’t impress me might be your holy grail. Thanks a lot for dropping by!

It is in fact a creamy, hydrating and lightweight foundation that blends smoothly. I would agree that it provides a medium coverage and could be build able to cover those nasty areas. Thankfully I only have tiny dark spots however I personally hate applying too many layers, in my opinion it just makes it feel heavy and cakey. Once on, the foundation wasn’t too oily or dry looking, it has, as it exactly claims, that semi-matte finish which I’m sure it’s the VisiBright magic. 

I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of the packaging, as you may know, I prefer the pump kinda thing. But looking at its price, I can’t expect any other option. From the bright side, the wear time is impressive. Still I don’t think it would last all day as it states, especially for those having issues with oiliness. Being not from that category, I could get a 5 to 6 hours of good wear in a temperature of 45 degrees, and I’m sure if I didn’t take it off it would have last for another 1 or 2 hours. 

Just the way I like my primers, the coverall one is beautifully formulated. It’s a creamy gel  with a great scent that sinks easily into the skin leaving it hydrated, supple and flawless. It dispenses white and turns clear after blending. As I’m describing this primer, my favourite one, the Max Factor Face Finity All Day Primer, which I reviewed here, comes into my mind.

Apparently it helps “refine pores, fill fine lines, brighten complexion and even skin tone”. It is indeed doing a great job reducing the appearance of the visible pores on my cheeks and it also managed to make my skin look perfect and very smooth.