A Scented Collection

Hi!

I’m not a person that’s affected by scents much – I like certain things (Rose, Ylang Ylang, Sandalwood, Cinnamon as well as that fresh marine scent that I can only describe as “blue”) and I don’t like others (lavender, chamomile). I usually don’t discriminate based on scents… But there are of course a few exceptions. These products have swayed my opinion because of their scent! In some cases for the better, but often for the worst…

1. Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry – I loved the concept of dry shampoo the first time I heard of it (Tressemé foams – awful product) and when every influencer out there mentioned Batiste as a great brand of dry shampoo, I had to try. I started with the brunette version because I thought it would be easier not to have to deal with white powder in my extremely deeply brunette hair, and it was fabulous. I would have continued like that for ages except my local Clicks ran out of brunette and I had to pick another one. I chose the cherry scent, and now I have difficulty going back to brunette! It’s just so amazing! It reminds me of a desert and the scent lingers in my hair. Especially when I use it the morning and then bun up my hair – pulling it down at the end of the day and being enveloped in a cloud of cherry pie is more than enough to help me recover from whatever stressed me out that day.

2. Morocconoil Intense Hydrating Mask – hair masks are something that I find essential to attempt to manage my extremely uncooperative hair. This one by Morrocanoil is actually really great – it detangles and strengthens quite significantly. Two things keep me from buying a full size – it must be used at every wash, and the smell! Argan oil is listed as the third ingredient in here – after water and alcohol – and the scent is definitely there. They’ve also added some parfum to it and the combination is just awful. It doesn’t linger in my hair (thankfully) but hanging around in the shower for 7 minutes in a cloud of it is just not worth it.

3. theBalm Meet Matte Hughes Liquid Lipstick in Chivalrous – I bought this at 70% off, and I have absolutely no idea why I chose this shade. It is super pink and blue toned – not ideal for medium skin with properly yellow undertones! But the smell of mint chocolate ice cream that reminds me of being 10 and walking home from school is just irresistible. So I use a deep purple lip pencil to help deepen the shade and keep it.

4. Estée Lauder Pure Colour Lipstick in Black Wine – this is so super old I should probably just throw it out, but I also took it to Paris because the shade for me just screams Parisian winter, and now it has sentimental value. It’s a gorgeous colour, but the sweet floral perfume-y smell is disgusting, lingers, and gives me a headache. So I keep it, and swatch it, and try it on, and use it once before hating it and trying to throw it out. It’s just a part of my life now.

5. Tarte Pro Glow To Go – this palette smells of chocolate. I know that there are ranges specifically marketed to do so, but this is not one of them and came as a complete surprise to me! The highlighters are beautiful, I don’t have a lot of experience with bronzing or contour powders to really evaluate this one (besides that it’s a nice shade for me) but I love this palette because of the smell.

6. Monu Skin Warming Ginger Bath and Body Oil – the top notes in here are definitely ginger and spice and all things nice, but as soon as I poured this into my bath the overwhelming oudor of Lemongrass took over my entire bathroom and I hated it. It took days and scented candles to get it out. Totally ruined the experience for me, because I love body oils and I love hot baths and this felt like it would be a perfect combo, but alas.

7. Omirovicza Balancing Moisturizer – this is the product that inspired this post. It’s damn expensive, and the ingredients don’t seem to justify the price. It’s a nice cream, but I wouldn’t have even considered spending money on it except that it smells of a spa resort and water park I went to on vacation many times as a child, and every time I use I’m transported back to some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Scent is truly powerful, and in this instance, it truly overwhelms reason.

Do you have products you would buy – or never buy – for the scent alone? Let me know!

October Heroes

These posts are really favorites posts,and maybe I should call them that. But honestly, I have favorite makeup that doesn’t change based on the month. 

Digressions aside, this month was not the best. I’ve been a bit down in general, probably because of work (FYI – the best part about being a doctor is that you can blame literally ANYTHING on the job. Sick? Caught it at work. Tired? Too many calls. Sad? Too many dying patients. Don’t want to attend your cousin’s party? Oh, damn, call that day. You get the picture). 

Nevertheless, I still have a few things that made me a little happy.

Number 1 on that list is baths. I recieved a bath bomb in my Pretty Little Things box, and seeing as how I am not a trendy person, I had never used one before. I really wanted to use it, so I did. 

It was so much fun! I think I used it wrong, in that I put it in while the water was still filling up and climbed in after the fizzing had stopped. I think I was supposed to experience the fizzing in the water? Please let me know. 

Anyway, the one I received was grapefruit scented and full of glitter. It was heavenly, and because I enjoyed it so much, I decided to have another bath after my 24 hour call. I used the Radox bath gel for the second one and it was just perfect. The hot water is so relaxing and paired with a face mask – divine.

The next item gets a special mention, but I only used it once. It’s my Tarte Pro Glow To Go, specifically the shade gleam. I used this highlighter when I was giving a speech at my old high and I had taken my Smashbox Blush Palette along. The highlight in there is not gleam enough for a function, and this just rocked. I’ve been having some texture issues on my cheekbones as well, and this just gleamed without drawing any attention to that. So stunning. 

Urban Decay just makes me happy. This is their Shadowbox, and although I’m reluctant to promise a review, I really want to do one. It’s an all shimmer palette, which I personally have no problems with. The colours are so pigmented and they’re so easy to use! They blend wonderfully, but my favourite part of the palette is the shade selection. I find it so inspiring! I used all the shades in various combinations and the eye looks were all special and beautiful. 

Finally, we have Esteé Lauder Pure Colour Envy Liquid Lipstick in the shade Fragile Ego. I bought this on sale and am so impressed with the Lipstick! I wore it on a night call, and my lips were so comfortable. It was non drying and faded gently without looking weird. I may go and see if they have any other shades… I’m not a liquid lipstick fan, but this one is special. 

A Piece of Tarte

Tarte is a brand that confuses me a bit. As far as popularity goes, some of their products – especially the Amazonian Clay range – seem to have cult status. But they also feature regularly in the anti-haul category. 

Of course, Shape Tape is a product the praises of which have not yet been sung too loudly (I say this dreaming of the day I can get matched and be a proud owner of a tube). But it seems like everything else is hit or miss.

I decided to order some things off their website during a particularly busy call pre diploma when I was stressed and sad and had colleagues convince me it was okay. That I had 20% off helped too.

I ordered products that I wanted for the product rather than the brand. A mistake? I don’t know. If you make good makeup surely you should have a good collection of “core” products in addition to your hits?

The website was fairly easy to navigate and enter details – except for my email address that confirmed I was a member. Hence, no loyalty points. Mildly disappointing but still not bad. 

I was impressed with the tracking feature for my parcel, and looked forward to having it arrive as an exam surprise at the latest (they promised 10-15 business days). It was great fun to wake up each morning and see where my little stash of makeup was.

Then, silence.

There was no further tracking on my parcel. It was at the shipping facility in Germany, and then nothing. I had placed an order from Amazon that arrived pre the expected date, but my Tarte products were still…somewhere.

They arrived a month after I placed the order, just when I was ready to call to complain. I was shocked to have to pay an extra delivery fee on top of what I already paid. I don’t know if it’s fair to blame Tarte for their couriers’ flaws, but the price should be the price. 

The box arrived in a shocking state. There was clear water damage and for cosmetics looked to have been treated worse for wear. 

The box. The Pro Glow box there because I don’t want my address on the internet 🙂

At least the internal packaging was secureand the makeup well wrapped. Nothing was broken or damaged. And then – Joy. All the products had high quality packaging that looked stunning. Everything felt and looked great.

The Pro Glow To Go palette contains two highlighters and a contour/bronzing powder in tones I thought were flattering for most skin tones. I have been looking for such a palette to learn some contouring with, and this was a relatively inexpensive but high end options.

My WordPress skills don’t extend to rotating images…

The highlighters were just wow. So sparkly and seemed lit from within, but glittery. I don’t mind glitter, but using them was difficult. While difficult to swatch, my brush picked up tons of product that got layered on. The contour powder had the same problem and also appeared quite dark on my face.

Chisel, Burst, Gleam (Top to Bottom)

I used them with Esteé Lauder Double Wear Light as a base. I didn’t set the foundation on my cheeks, and perhaps that influenced the blendability if the products. I was so concerned with how stripy I looked, and tried to use some loose powder to blend out more with little success. The addition of blush changed the game totally – I looked contoured! Not great contouring or even  particularly good contouring, but passable! I attribute this 100% to the product, because I have no skills there whatsoever. So far, so great!

Next, I used the coloured clay brow gel. I’ve been doing my brows with Loréal’s brow kit which is great, but time consuming, and I wanted and alternative. Of course, when I placed the order, I didn’t realize that I could get an Essence version for a tenth of the price, but hey. 

This stuff cannot be swatched properly, which I think is a good thing for a brow gel

I love this stuff. Have not yet used it for work, but it has a 12 hour promise on the box and it’s so easy and wonderful! The miniature mascara brush is just perfect! 

After buying the Lakmé Absolute Shine Line I really believed I would never need another eyeliner. After buying an angled eyeliner brush from Smashbox, I believed life was made. The only problem was getting the liquid out of the tube.

So I bought some Rimmel Scandaleyes Gel Eyeliner. That was better, but all it did was make me want Bobbi Brown’s version. 

While I browsed, I saw the interesting packaging of clay paint liner. I was annoyed by the fact that it came with an angled eyeliner brush and was just a bit more expensive than the brush I bought (It was a Smashbox brush, but still). So I added it to my basket.

#Love

When I opened it and squeezed some product out, I was instantly skeptical. A little bit of bubbly oil came out with a tiny smudge of dry pigment. Bad signs if it seperates immediately on opening. 

When I opened it the second time with the intention of using it though, the product seemed to have mixed itself. The brush was beautifully tapered and coated easily. I applied the midpart of my line and actually gushed out loud to an empty room. This is holy grail eyeliner. It went on smooth and easy. I could fix any mistakes so easily with some micellar water. In fact, I erased and redrew a wing with complete ease. 

It doesn’t have the shiny finish of Lakmé, but it does have an ease of use and beautiful brush that mean I want it in every colour it comes in. 

I’ve had experience with mascara primer before; honestly I find it drying, disappointing and generally frustrating. But longevity demands I give the stuff another try, and at this stage, I was 3/3. So on we go.

I used it and by the time I was ready to put on my mascara, I remembered why I hated it. The white lashes just suck. The crispyness is awful. And my lashes are weighed down. Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara didn’t seem to have anything special going on either; I prefer my Maybelline. Overall, average.

I’m not sure about the entire experience with Tarte. The products are great (mostly) and I would like more, but since they’re available on Amazon and loyalty points are not really forthcoming… I don’t think it’s worth ordering from them directly. It’s sad, but that’s where I stand.