Dream Matte Mousse Foundation

The Dream Matte Mousse foundation is my new (since a month or two) everyday beloved product, for a day time good to go, natural yet polished look. As the name states, it provides indeed matte finish, and being of a mousse consistency, it is totally lightweight on skin and it feels silk and soft to the touch.

However, the first version of this foundation was bought back in 2008 and I had a love-hate relationship with it for 6 months, when I finally gave up as it got hard as stone in the jar. I think Maybelline did a great upgrade in this new formula, because my first version was very patchy, clumpy and hard to blend.

The new formula (as I refer the one I bought in 2010) melts on your skin, blends effortlessly and at the end of application you can almost believe you are wearing nothing, unless you look in a magnifying mirror at 5cm (-+2 inches) distance.

The coverage really surprised me too, I noticed a considerably improvement and it covers most of my imperfections, and oh lord, they are many, such as blemishes, pigmentation, redness etc, and I can classify it as medium coverage. It also does a brilliant job disguising my large pores on my T-zone and I guess it would be a good product for filling the fine lines, but thank goodness, I don’t suffer of this problem YET, so I can only tell as an option. For the setting part, just use your powder as usual if you have combination/oily skin and for dry skin, I would totally skip this step as it has the matte properties already.

The only two points on the down side are: It doesn’t stay perfectly on face for more than 6h, so you need to reapply it to get the same coverage you had when you first applied. It can be a problem, if you are the type of person who hates to carry your foundation bottle with you, especially if it’s made of glass, like this product, but I don’t see a problem in it. And if you don’t mind your foundation becoming a bit sheer at the end of the day, you could totally eliminate this part.

The other point is that the product loses its airiness (micro air bubbles that makes the mousse consistency) very fast. I reckon it’s due to the air exposure, so make sure you tighten the lid after every use. I have mine for about 2 months, and I’m starting to see the fluffiness going away.


Nevertheless, great foundation for day time, it goes on smoothly and attends my needs without looking like a mask., check out my video if you want to see a demo of myself applying this foundation and see what it’s all about!

Have you tried this foundation yet? Or any other Maybelline one? X

Sleek Make Up Products

Some of you may know already some products from the brand Sleek Make Up, such as the Palettes, that come in many editions with super variety of eyeshadows are super pigmented and beautiful for a value price of 5 Pounds (in UK). I have many other Sleek products already, but this time I decided to try something new and as I no longer live in UK, I had the chance to try their website and do some beauty online shopping :)

In my order I got a Face Contour Kit in Medium with a Dual Ended Brush for Face for 12 euros, 4 mini foundation palettes and 2 foundation testers for 2 euros each, a Lip conditioner for 7 euros and I received a mini gloss as a complimentary gift. I think it’s very nice when companies give us little gifts or discounts/free shipping, so the costumer feels pampered and tends to return. Plus, the prices are great! Before going to the products, I must say: The packaging is really well done and you see that they really take care of your order and not just throw the items in a box. Every item is individually wrapped tightly in bubble plastic and the products sit on a pretty wrapping pink paper. Of course, in this picture, I had un-wrapped everything already.

I tried only the Face Contour Kit (Medium), tinted lip conditioner and the mini gloss and so far, I love them all. The contour and highlight powders do the job beautifully, the consistency are powder creamy and they blend very well, with lasting application and matches my tan skin tone perfectly. It is a perfect substitute for MAC Sculpt and Shape if you don't have access to it or it is a bit on the pricey side.

Face Contour Kit : Packing with instructions, product and swatch

The Lip conditioner is highly pigmented, beautiful dark plum shade (perfect for autumn/winter), and it makes my lips smooth in some minutes. I do need to re-apply it after 3h though, because I no longer feel the moisturising effect any more.

Lip Conditioner and Mini Keyring Gloss and swatches

The Brush that came with the Contour Kit is double ended and so soft, and applies the product very nicely; I can imagine this as a nice travel brush too, especially because it comes with a little pouch.

Dual Face Brush for Contouring and Highlight

And I didn’t try the foundations yet, but look at how neat they are in those palettes! They are perfect for a true skin tone / skin type matching at the comfort of your home, or if you prefer, you could also use them as cream highlights and contours, and as a concealer palette too if you don’t require extreme coverage.

Sleek Cream to Powder Palettes and Skin Revive Foundation Testers

I did a little swatch and my colour is Bamboo 485 for the Creme to Powder Foundation (palette), and it is classified as Light. I’ve never been classified as light before (being a NC40 in MAC)!  Sleek products for skin bases are more oriented to darker and deeper skin tones, which are great, since it’s really difficult to find brands with such massive variety for deeper skin tones (olive tones, tans, light and dark Asian tones, and black – or afro descendants/americans, if you prefer).

Have you tried Sleek products yet? Do you like them? x

Favourites | August 2010

I love to know about other people's favourites because it gives me inspiration for the next shopping list, get to know products that I wouldn't know about or I thought it wasn't that good and lately, to know what products are on "the hype".

But everytime I plan to share with you which products I'm grabbing the most lately, I think "meh, this is ridiculous, who would like to know about it?"

Anyways, thoughts apart, I decided to do a video and let you know what is making top list this month on my vanity.

The products I mentioned are:

- Estee Lauder DayWear Plus Moisturiser with SPF 15 : it smells delicious cucumbers, absorbs really fast on skin, not too rich, perfect for mixed/oily skin types, and does moisturise and feel luxurious.

- Avene Thermal Spring Water Spray 150ml : Nice refreshing spray to start your skincare in the morning, especially if used before moisturiser, to give your skin a nice hydration boost. There is also a petit bottle for on the go, if you feel your skin is feeling tight or dull during the day, that's something you must have. I couldn't find it yet though.

- Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation in 048 SunBeige: Fabulous Foundation, melts on skin, gives flawless and poreless look with effortless application. Medium coverage with 6h to 8h lasting properties, no way you can cake it. Perfect for day time use and it gives indeed a matte finish.

- Lush Colour Supplement in Dark Yellow: Very nice concept, if you are just really lazy for a foundation routine or just want something very natural with a sheer coverage. The texture is gel like, so it goes very smooth on skin, feel in fine lines very well. Lush offers it in other shades as well, and I'm a NC 40 at MAC colours, and this shade just matches me fine.

- Maybelline Lash Stiletto Waterproof Mascara: Gives volume and length for a soft daytime look :)

- Alverde Baked Blush in 08 Berry: The MAC MSF Stereo Rose dupe. Although it says Berry in the name, it's more peach-pink with golden fine shimmer, really. It's just PRETTY! And costed around 3-4 euros.

- Maybelline MNY line: I was happy to find these products at my DM drugstore last month, and most of them ranges from 1 euro to 4 euros each. The average pigmentation and lasting properties are very good for the price given and the variety of shades and types are good :)

Check them out in my video!




What are your favourites?? x

Nail Polish Review: Catrice Clay-ton, My Hero

As I walked through the aisles of one of my local drugstores, Müller, I was caught by the Catrice's shelves. They were never really appealing to me until last week. My first thought was: Is that new? Or was I really blind?

Anyways, among the immense variety of nail polish shades the brand offers, I found this one: Clay-ton, my hero (230). Then, you will say: Yeah, one more mud shade in the market. But hold on! This is not your average Dupe for Chanel Particuliere. It’s a tiny bit lighter than many of the “greige” (grey+beige) tones I’ve seen and it has a settled fine golden shimmer running through it, which makes me think something like a perfect autumn day. It also reminds me something unique and expensive.

Natural light x With Flash

As I applied to my nails (I’m not a profi, and I don’t have amazing nails, bear with me), the first coat came a bit sheer, almost opaque, and a second coat came to even out my previous mistakes. The shade dries a bit darker than the colour you see in the bottle, but still very beautiful. However, I was expecting more golden shimmer at the end of application. It turns out VERY subtle in normal light conditions; nevertheless it gives “vibrancy” to the greige colour. The shimmer is only to be seen in direct sun light, as seen in the picture, and when it happens, I smile. I would even dare to say it look a bit “olive green greige”.

Overall, I love it, and I can see myself reaching for this nail varnish a lot during this fall season. I also think ladies (and guys, why not) with a more olive/ yellow undertone complexion will benefit 100% from this colour. I’m not sure if that would suit pink tone skin. The varnish itself dries in a decent amount of time (around 1-2 min one coat) and the formula is not so thick, so you can work really well with this product. The tips faded after 3 days and no chipping occurred before the 5th day, but I can't really tell about these properties, because I always use Seche Vita Top Coat, which makes it shinier and more resistant.

Look at those golden shimmers! (smile now)

What do you think of it? Are you fed up of these in-between colours or are you still rocking them this A/W?

X

Lil' haul.

So I went to Boots and as usual I picked up a few more items for my obsessive collection of makeup, nail polish, and all those girl's stuff. This was my purchase:


I got 3 nail polishes, 2 lipglosses and 1 gel eyeliner. As you can see, I was quite in a mood for purples and pinks, and actually I can many make matches with it. The nail polishes at the left side are from Bourjois, and the Deep Red one (I think it's number 8) has a wider brush, like many other brands have already adopted as a professional brush, and dries in 50 seconds, as written on the bottle. I tried today and the brush really helps the application, but it didn't dry in 50 secs, and I had to wait for 5 -10 min to wait to dry completely, still a good product. The mauve pink is called Beige Glamour 27, and has the old brush. I didn't have the change to try it yet.

The purple/blue-ish (in the camera is so blue, in real life not) is BMX Bandit 32 from Collection 2000. If haven't seen my nail polish video yet, you would know my passion for these nail polishes and purple is the colour I didn't have yet. I will let you know if it will look good or not.

Lipglosses are from Natural Collection and Rimmel, and I tried both, nothing to rave about, but still very good products for daily bases, and very pigmented. Now the gel eyeliner!!! It's also from Collection 2000 (I think nail polish and eyeliners are the only thing I like from this brand) and the colour is Shake it up! 11, a purple gel full of purple glitters, perfect for night out or a good twist in your look. I was so excited that I had to try it as soon as arrived home and that is the outcome.


And the swatch of lipglosses and eyeliner so you can have a better idea.


Talk to you soon
x x

Lime green eyes (filfhygorgeousmakeup contest)

This week I decided to take part in Natalya's contest on youtube (a.k.a. filthygorgeousmakeup, click on her username to check her channel out) and she asked us to recreate one of her looks. The decision was very difficult, but finally I chose "For pomidorek100". The look has no name and the video is just a slideshow, but I tried to reproduce it n my way with produts that I had around.

Natalya used MAC products to achieve the look (click here to see the original slideshow), but I got my 120 palette around and swatched some colours until get a closer shade to the pictures shown. My look is more on the matte side than Natalya's but I think It's still the same idea.



To start it I used primer (Urban Decay Primer Potion) and cream beige base (Gosh cream eyeshow in stick "Love that Beige!") to hold the eyeshadow better, then I applied the green and yellow colours, as presented in the video, in "degrade". (Colours from 120 palette, indicated in the picture)

The look presents a "cut crease" - very sharp line transition between colours - and this time I tried to come with a bit of a technique I learnt from other youtube channel - BeautyARTStudio - that consists of using a creamy eyeliner to drawn shapes and smudge it rather than do it with liquid eyeliner or eyeshadow. On the top of the it I used brown and black (from 120 palette, check picture above) to deepen it and set the eyeliner.

To highlight browbone and inner corner I used a light gold mixed with white, making the eyes look brighter and bigger. Also white eyeliner (Rimmel Kohl white eyeliner) on waterline was used. To finish the look I applied my liquid black eyeliner (Revlon Colorstay Liq. Eyeliner in Blackest Black) on my upper lashline and 2 coats of mascara (Maybelline Express Volume in Turbo Black)

For face I used my liquid foundation (MAC Studio Fix Fuid SPF 15 in NW25) and concealer (MAC Studio Finish in SPF35 in NW30), setting with a transparent pressed powder (Rimmel Stay Matte in Transparent) and blush (MAC Powder Blush in Sincere). For lips I used a light coraly pink lipstick (BarryM in 147) and I topped with Rimmel Vinyl Bronze Lipgloss in 199 Sunset.

Let me know what you think about this look and I talk to you soon
x x

Random Skincare Products

Together with my everyday, some other products were added to list to boost my look. They were tested for a couple of weeks already and I’m generally happy about their efficiency.

First let’s start with my non-everyday but religious “3x a week” scrub: St. Ives Apricot Scrub for Blemish Fighting. I don’t know if I mentioned in my last post, but I did in my last video (check it out here) that I have Oily/Acne Prone Skin, I think you could guess from my everyday routine. Ok, back to St. Ives! It’s a really dense scrub – as soon as you squeeze it from the tube, it comes creamy and full of fines beads, revealing a fresh scent, not necessarily Apricot, but something in this meaning. I use every other day and when I can’t use in this way, I try to keep it at least 3 times a week. By scrubbing your face and neck you get rid of dead cells that may deposit on your pores and allows the skin surface to regenerate in a better way from any spot or dry patch area. St. Ives has 2% salicylic acid in its formula, which is a plus and does its job perfectly. If you are acne prone but has sensitive skin, they developed a range of different scrubs for your specific skin type, so it’s worth a visit to their website, just click here.

Next are masks. I love any Clay mask, and it works great for my skin as it’s known that clay helps to absorb oiliness from skin in depth. Right now I’m using a clay mask with cucumber smoothie from Boots, and I tend to use it twice a week. After 10 minutes with mask on (it says 3 minute maks, but I leave for 10 min :D), you wash with warm water and feels your skin SOOO SOFT! And oil-free. When I need to prepare myself for a special event I use MUDD clay mask, which I think it’s a bit better than the one with cucumber. If you are interested in knowing how it actually works, click here, but summarising the point of view, clay masks are good for any type of skin, specially oily, and helps the cleanse of pores for a healthier skin, and tighten pores and cell hydration for a better looking ;) all good stuff.

Another mask really like it’s the honey and strawberry mask. I usually smash 2-3 strawberries in 3-4 tablespoons of honey and apply onto my face for 15-20 minutes. Honey has an antibacterial property that helps acne fighting and any other inflammation you may have for any reason. The strawberry also has antiseptic property and its acids help for a more even skin, not to mention the tons of vitamins that can surely make your skin look healthier. Wash with fresh water and your face will look and smell wonderfully.

The final one: the homemade microdermabrasion I will give a special post, due to the length of instructions and the mystery behind it, plus some comparisons with similar professional treatments.

Talk to you soon

x x

My Skincare Routine

Since I have a terrible skin BUT I try my best to get it better, many people have asked me for advice. I'm not an specialist, esthetician neither dermatologist, and I would always tell you to go first to a proper doctor to get a correct diagnostic, but here is what I found good for my skin and you may find interesting to give to some of the products a try or discuss with your doctor.

First of all, I have a specific routine for morning, at wake-up time, and a different one in the evening, a bed-time routine. In the morning I wash my face with "the normal soap" - it means a same type of soap you would use for showering - and usually is Dove.


Right now I'm using Dove Body Wash Triple Moisturising Beauty Care (what a long name!), and it's a creamy soap, with the well-known dove soap scent, which I enjoy very much. So far I didn't notice any problems for using this on my face, but if you just can't get along with an ordinary soap, I would recommend for those with oily-skin the awesome Ducray Keracnyl Foaming Cleaning Gel. It's a soap free formulation and it digs all dirt and oil out of pores, leaving a smooth and fresh feeling. Costing around 10 euros, it's an excellent product for a reasonable price.


Moving on from Cleansing to Tonifying: I use the Lancome Tonique Pure Focus line and it's a matifying purifying (all that good stuff) toner for oily skin, with a biphasic formula: the liquid phase purifies and tighten the pores, the powdery phase matifies and leaves an even complexion (according to the bottle label).



Next I'm using a new product, and so far I'm in love with it. It's the Bio-Oil and it claims it can help against scars, strecht marks, uneven skin tone, agying skin and dehydrated skin. I've been using for 2 weeks and I seriously can see some improvement already. I apply with a cotton pad all over my face and massage until it sinks in my skin. It feels very greasy when applying but within some minutes, the skin totally absorves it.


To finish my morning routine, and fight my acne prone side, I use Tea Tree Blemish Gel, from Thursday Plantation. It's a translucid gel that contains Tea Tree Oil, a natural antisepthic, and helps to prevent acne. I always wanted to try tea tree products because they are natural (means, almost no chemical synthetising) and I'm always concerned about the number of products I layer onto my face. And I'm happy that it helps indeed my skin, but I heard and read that it may no work for many people, being as useful as nothing.
Bedtime: time for cleansing and treating again! I start using baby wipes fragance free, and pretty much I don't have any specific brand to recommend, but I'm using the purple pack from Boots (UK drugstore). Fragance free is important for me as I noticed my skin gets dry and strange at touch when using fragranced wipes. Next is my makeup remover from Nivea, the Nivea Visage Gentle Waterproof Eye Make Up Remover, and it removes makeup very well :D. Apply with a cotton pad and I apply everywhere, not just the eye.


After the cleansing process, I use the Lancome Gel Pure Pocus. It's a deep purifying cleanser especially formulated for oily skin, with micro-beads that gently eliminates all impurities and (even!) removes make-up, so IT IS A MUST HAVE FOR ME. It leaves the sensation of professional cleansing and really takes everything away, as I use the toner next and I don't get any trace of anything on the cotton pad.

As I said, then I use the Lancome toner and apply the Bio-Oil again (they recommend twice daily for a minimum of 3 months, and that's what I'm doing!). while the Bio-Oil is being absorbed by my skin I apply my night cream, the RoC Retin-Ox Night Intensive Anti-Wrinkle cream, and it is fantastic product. With Retinol in the formula, it replenishes your skin during the night, giving it a better texture, smaller pores and attenuated wrinkles. If you don't have wrinkles yet, and are around 25, it can be a good option for prevention too, and it is designed for all skin types!

And finally the last step - the eternal acne fighting - I use my ultimate must have forever :D PANOXYL Aquagel 10. This is a gel in aqueous formula, with 10% of Benzoyl Peroxide and it helps to fight the acne bacteria, preventing the future spot to come to surface and get inflamated and/or flights the formed acne directly by applying and massaging on the affected area. PanOxyl has different strengths, so depends on your "acne-level" (usually diagnosed by a doctor) you would use either 2,5%, or 5%, or 10% (maximum) like me. I used to apply everyday, morning and night when I had uncontrolled acne, but now I only use on my eventual spots at night.



I can't really tell what is the key ingredient of my routine, and I can't say that "this" is the one that saved me, I think the (lucky) combination of all products brought me the happy result I have now. It is still far from being perfect, but comparing to pictures from past and observing my decreasing in full coverage make-up, I assume that I must me doing something good for my facial skin :D

Here is a quick video about this post


Hope you enjoyed this long post!
x x

Avant Premiere

Ola pessoas aí fora no mundo virtual real, meu nome é Thais e resolvi escrever sobre coisas na minha cabeca pra desocupar memória.

Primeiro, tenho que explicar que é difícil de escrevre com acentos e cedilhas no meu laptop, uma vez que ele não é programado com as teclinhas, então eu tenho que ficar adivinhando... E eu já me acostumei a digitar sem acentos... mas é claro que eu ainda lembro como usar acentos ortograficamente (essa palavra foi difícil de sair hein!!)

Ultimamente tenho vivido um momento Glamurosa, como diria Ana Paula, amiga minha, com muita curiosidade sobre moda, maquiagem (essa palavra em português soa algo tãaaaaao fútil... makeup parece mais profissional, não me pergunte porquê, talvez seja esse americanismo que vivemos hoje em dia, qualquer coisa em outra língua parece mais importante ou melhor do que nosso bom e velho portu-tupiniquim) enfiiiiimm....

Entao, o momento fashion. Não, não estou virando perua, apenas acho que estou conhecendo um lado de mim que eu não sabia que esteva aqui. entederam? (olha, foi um suplício por essa interrogação aí...) Aqui pretendo por minhas novas descobertas e experiências em makeup, design, qualquer coisa que eu ache significante (um pouco vasto não?). E assuntos genéricos numa maneira genérica. é. é isso.

Espero que vocês curtam (seja lá o que isso siginificar..) e que venham os próximos.

xoxo
T.