My latest beauty picks. (preview)

Hello everyone! 

I know lately I've been giving the "go natural" speech too often, and this is a makeup blog, right? RIGHT! So I decided to do a sort of mash-up of the products that I really love, and some little trick that maybe you guys didn't know about. And ALL of my picks are bright and beautiful, so no "natural" look here! 

(Iphone and camera pictures are shown)

Hope you like it!

MY LIPSTICK PICKS...

(MAC Ruby Woo; Bourjois Fuchsia Cosmopolite; NARS Heat Wave)

1. NARS Heat Wave

This is a perfect orangey-red, and I truly recommend it to warm skinned girls like me!

I am very pale, and quite scared of reds and bright lipsticks, but I think this lipstick just looks AMAZING!

It has a summery feel to it, but you can wear it all year round! (The red tones do their magic!)

2. Bourjois Fuchsia Cosmopolite

This just smells of summer!

This lipstick is pure summer for me, it's a pinkish coral that looks so amazing on tanned skin, that I just can't even..! It may not look too good on my wintery flushed skin (first picture) but you can definitely see those bright pinky undertones.

Oh and, they made it a permanent color of their collection, so I'm really impressed with Bourjois lately, and with their lipstick improvements! I will definitely re-purchase when I run out (although I started it in August and I barely use it because I save it for special occasions!)

3. MAC Ruby Woo

Really wintery lipstick, although you can use it in summer too for a more SOPHISTICATED LOOK, but I'm not usually drawn to those kind of looks during the hot summer months. For winter though, it looks perfect, especially when my skin is at its palest!

MY EYE PICKS... 

(Having SO MANY eyeshadows made me wonder... should I use eyeliner?)

 (Bobbi Brown Gel eyeliner in Violet Ink)

 (Bobbi Brown Gel eyeliner in Ivy Shimmer Ink)

To achieve both of these looks I just dabbed the eyeliner directly from the pot with my fingers, and used a brush to wing it out a little bit and blend it. No extra product on the eyelid was required for this OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD beautiful smokey eye! 

(I used my L'Oreal Voluminous mascara on my top lashes!)

I admit sometimes these can be a little overwhelming for an everyday smokey look, but for a night out?  It's perfect! They are fuss-free, you should put on some eye primer though, just in case it creases on you, though. 

Even so, sometimes, we girls like to take time to do a nice eye, right?

What do you think about these products? Have you got your own lipstick picks? Have you got any tricks to make your eyes pop without having to lose too much time?

Love,

Maria.

L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black vs. L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Extra-Black (Double Review)

Hello ladies!

As promised, I am doing a MAC lipstick collection swatch and review post, but that will take me a little longer than I expected, and since I have been smothered in exams lately (I have one tomorrow, and one the day after that, JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS! What are they thinking, seriously?), I can only offer you a small but nonetheless practical review of a very talked-about mascara for the time being!

Let's talk about L'Oreal mascaras. I think the majority of us has tried one at least, and we can all agree they're not bad quality at all! I have actually only tried three... Telescopic mascara (it's quite raved about in the Internet, but I didn't like it too much), Voluminous Carbon Black mascara (one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES, will talk about it later on in this same post) and Volume Million Lashes (in Extra-Black, which I will review now).

Before reading more, take into account that I have just applied mascara on the upper lashes! 

Okay then, here we go!

This is my left eye with no mascara or makeup on, whatsoever. 

I have quite dark lashes, which are slightly lighter at the ends, and they're quite long by themselves. What I want is a mascara that will make them AMAZING, a little lengthier and more voluminous! 

VOLUMINOUS CARBON BLACK MASCARA 

This mascara was one of my first mascara discoveries, and it has remained this way since I was 15 years old. Actually, my original mascara tube was used up and I threw it away, and I started trying other mascaras with different results. My opinion? None could live up to Voluminous' high standards. Maybe DiorShow did some of it, and it is quite a good option, but.. hello? There's like a 20€ difference between both prices, since Voluminous retails for 10€ (approx., I think I found mine for 11€ or so), and DiorShow is nearly 30€ (approx. again, it's been to long since I bought it!).

Here are my lashes with ONE COAT of this mascara:

It looks absolutely amazing! Especially once you have an eyeliner on, because I admit there is a problem with this mascara, or with my application: I always always always mess up my top lid! Little streaks appear everywhere, but that's where liner works perfectly, or you can also use wipes to remove those. 

(Not really a pain in the ass, and once it's on, it stays put!)

Short little bristles, do your magic!

VOLUME MILLION LASHES (Extra-Black)

I have just bought this mascara (like a month ago or so), I admit, so I haven't been in the long-run with it really, since I am a fan of switching mascaras everyday and using what I have lying around as I am always in a rush!

But I wasn't quite impressed when I bought this mascara. I had heard so many great things about it! And so many are true, but people fail to talk about it's horrible smell, which you can still sniff for hours after application (and I am not a sensitive person in the whole smell department, I'll put up with whatever), and the AWFUL scratching the wand provokes! 

All in all, it's a great mascara, it does deliver a good volume and some decent lengthening, but those cons do make me think about using this some mornings, especially because when you have just woke up and are a half-zombie, you are not up to eye-scratching mascaras, if you know what I mean!

I think it gives lashes a spidery effect I am not quite liking, but I have to admit it does separate them beautifully, so you can see all your lashes! I guess it does do what its name promises: "a million lashes".

Scratchy little synthetic bristles, I hate you!

CONCLUSION

I think it's quite obvious, but I am a great fan of the Voluminous Carbon Black mascara to say otherwise,

but I do promise I tried both, and I have used them quite a lot! There's just things you love, and things you don't, but I do think Volume Million Lashes is a good mascara, but the smell is way too much for me! 

(P.S.: the Voluminous Carbon Black has a makeup-esque smell, for all of you who where wondering, and once it dries it doesn't smell at all!).

(P.P.S.: I will do a DiorShow mascara review shortly! Another thing in my "to do" list.)

Please comment below and tell me what you think about these two mascaras,

and do suggest new mascaras I should try!

Maria.

My NARS collection

Hello ladies!

I have been loving NARS products since I discovered them some years ago. I own the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation (in Montblanc) which is my favorite foundation ever, a couple of Velvet Matte Lip pencils (you can see swatches in previous entries), a lipstick (in Funny Face), a lip lacquer (in Baby Doll), a blush (in Orgasm, of course, it's an essential!), a nail polish (in Purple Rain) and some eyeshadow duos.

EYESHADOW DUOS

NARS eyeshadows are quite varied and there is an amazing range of colors available. You can buy them in singles or in duos. Since the price of duos and singles isn't very different, I have bought some duos instead of singles (although I have some written on my Christmas list for Santa). 

I have only one cream eyeshadow duo, which is Burn It Blue, and I don't like cream eyeshadow very much because it tends to crease, but the colors are just AMAZING, and in my local store they had run out of the eyeshadow duo called Persepolis (which has similar intense turquoise and blue colors).

My favorite of all three would be Jolie Poupee, because it has a matte light lavender color and a shimmery beautiful purple, and both of them work really well and look beautiful. I think these pictures don't do justice to how pretty this duo is, but the close-up might give you a better idea.

My less favorite (although I don't dislike it) is Demon Lover, because it's a toned down color, which, if you look at the picture just below, looks like a muted version of Jolie Poupee. In this case, the purplish color is matte and the bluish gray is shimmery. This duo works very well for everyday looks and darker smokey eyes if combined with black eyeshadows or darker versions of blue and purple.

 (Burn It Blue, Jolie Poupee, Demon Lover)

(Burn It Blue; cream eyeshadow duo)

 (Jolie Poupee)

(Demon Lover)

BLUSH

I am afraid I'm not quite a person who loves having different blushes, because since I found my perfect color, Orgasm, I haven't needed any other color just yet. Orgasm is a beautiful pink coral with some fine shimmer which doesn't show up but looks amazing under every light.

(Orgasm)

You can see the goldish shimmer under the light, but it disappears once applied on the cheeks.

LIPSTICK

I love love love lipsticks, but I have quite a collection so I only buy a new one when I think its color is too attractive not to have. NARS lipsticks are quite expensive (the same as eyeshadows, etc.) so I only own one lipstick, but it has soon become one of my favorites, due to the fact that the color is so BEAUTIFUL. I can't wear it on a daily basis, but I do use it when I go out with my friends or when I want to look especially nice.

(Funny Face)

It's a bright fuchsia, but I think these pictures don't do justice to how beautiful it really looks.

LIP LACQUER

As you already know, I love lip products, but in this case, I raved about this product for some time. The problem is, it didn't look as good on me as I would've liked but the finish is beautiful and I think any other person might've loved it for more than I did. My problem is the color is too light for my pigmented lips.

 (Baby Doll)

Ok, looks at THIS! It looks so beautiful. I am definitely going to try it again, 

because I just feel bad not giving it another chance!

NAIL POLISH

I am a downright nail polish junkie. I know, my family knows, my friends know. And that's okay. But I am a cheap nail polish junkie. I mean, I don't like to spend too much on nail polish, even if my collection is outrageously large. I haven't got any China Glaze, or Essie, etc. products because they're not sold in Spain. But most of my collection is Kiko Milano, and I have them in every color, every finish, etc. (I LOVE THEM) and they are quite cheap.

So, when I bought my NARS nail polish, I just did it because it was the most amazing color I had ever seen and I HAD to have it. Since my favorite color is purple, and I had no purple nail polishes, I think it was just fair that it was way more expensive than the rest of my nail polishes. You do pay for quality at NARS, that's what I always tell my mother when she says I buy too many expensive NARS products.

(Purple Rain)

The flash picture didn't pick up the pinkish undertones and shimmer of the purple nail polish. 

Isn't it just BEAUTIFUL?

P.S. I'm wearing Kiko Milano's black nail polish on my nails.

(Last but not least)

FOUNDATION (SHEER GLOW)

(Montblanc)

I had never found my perfect match, because I have quite a pale skin but I have yellow undertones, and many brands haven't got a wide range of colors in the foundation department. When I tried out this foundation, I just jumped with excitement! It's my perfect color match and it looks amazing on my skin! 

The only problem I have with this foundation is that my skin is combination, so some hours after applying it, my T-zone starts getting greasy and the foundation starts moving around, with the result of having rubbed off after 4 or 5 hours after application.

CONCLUSION

I will not review the Nars V.M. Lip pencils because I have already done this in a previous post. About NARS, oh.. what to say? I am in love with all of their products. This Christmas, my wishlist will be full of single eyeshadows from this brand (for my Christmas list, check out my next post) and some duos I haven't been able to get before. 

NARS love to you all,

Maria.