Thrift Shop findings #2

Or should I say, finding. I finally got something I really like from my favourite thrift shop. I got a pair of Levi's (they were some basic black jeans, so I didn't take a picture) and this cute turtleneck blouse. It's brand new, still with the tags on. It's from Kmart (yeah, I know, they sell cheap stuff in the US, but we don't have them here) and it was part of a limited Holiday Edition. The pattern is glittery golden snowflakes. I have a thing for snowflakes, and that's way I'm so excited about this blouse. I know it's nothing spectacular and it's not a brand piece of clothing, but I just liked the pattern very much. I got this blouse for 10 lei (2 euros) and considering it's new, never worn, I thing it does qualify for my thrift shop findings.

Close up on the snowflake pattern

Avon True Color Eyeshadow Quad review

Official description:

Reveal your most alluring eyes with NEW True Color Eyeshadow. Our quads are numbered so getting those fabulous eye looks are as easy as 1,2,3...4!

With True Color Technology:
The rich color you see in the compact is the same color you get on your eyes.
Rich, vibrant color with crease-proof wear
Color saturated shades designed for every skin tone
Numbered shades for our easiest expert eye looks ever!

Exquisite stay-true coordinated shades make every eye-look effortless.

Packaging: The eyeshadows come in a sturdy plastic case and they have a double ended sponge applicator. The packaging changed, because mine are older eyeshadows bought from an online outlet.5.6 gr (0.20 oz)

Texture: These are different from the duos, because those have a nice satin finish, while these are pretty chalky and powdery. I hope they changed the formula too when they changed the packaging, because boy, do these suck!

After rubbing and rubbing and rubbing, here are some decent swatches of the colors

What it does: My quad is in the shade Iced Dreams, and I have a white pearl shade, a lilac one, a blue pastel and a purple. I had another quad in smoky shades a few years back and I remembered I didn't like that one either but we Romanians live under the false impression the cosmetics we get here are not that good because they're made in Poland, so I thought if I get this quad made in the US, I'm gonna see the difference. Well, let me tell you these are the same. I tried to swatch these, but it was already night time and the lightning wasn't good, but those eyeshadows are just not pigmented anyway. I applied them over my usual primer and let me tell you they came across as simple highlighting colors, and I used the most pigmented two of them. So, for me, this quad isn't worth it at all and I don't want to try another even if I get it for free. This is the second one I own and the lack of pigmentation and the chalkiness are obvious.
Price: 9 lei (2 euros) on cosmetiq.ro
Re-buy or pass: Definitely not. I'm done with the Avon quads.

Avon True Color Eyeshadow Duo review

Official description:

Our new True Color Eyeshadow Duo features exquisite stay-true coordinated shades to make every eye-look effortless. Formulated with New True-Color Technology, the rich color you see in the compact is the same color you get on your eyes. You'll see rich, vibrant color in a single sweep. Best of all, these color-saturated shades are designed for every skin tone. Crease-proof wear.

Packaging: The eyeshadows come in a nice, sturdy plastic case and they also have a sponge applicator (I don't use those). I got mine without the box because I bought them from an online outlet.2.8 gr. (10 OZ).

Texture: The texture is soft,silky and they are easy to apply. 

What it does: I have the Bronze Patina duo ( a shade that's not available anymore because these eyeshadows are older) and I have the colors Rose Gold and Chestnut. I used them with my trusty e.l.f. primer and they didn't crease for about 8 hours. That's usually how much I wear make-up on a daily basis. The color seem sheer and washed out on their own, but with a primer they do pop. I like the silky texture, there's no fall out and they blend easily. My only complaint is with the colors. I bought this duo online and unfortunately, the pictures were not that clear, so I went more for the description. The Chestnut shade looks gorgeous swatched,but there's something that doesn't fit with my skin tone or maybe with my eye color, but this color makes me look tired all the time. That's a shame, because I liked the shade very much. That's a negative thing for me with this duo, but it's my own fault because I chose the shades. Otherwise, these are eyeshadows I would recommend to someone who's gonna use them for subtle looks, like going to work or casual meetings. Nothing fancy, nothing wow, but decent quality eyeshadows.
Price: 6 lei (1.5 euros) on cosmetiq.ro
Re-buy or pass: I would buy another duo, but at this price, not what they usually go for. 

 

Oriflame Master Curl Mascara review

Official description:

The wait is over! Curl, bend and coil lashes like never before. Curl Protect Technology’s smooth formulation helps to keep lashes curled for up to 14 hours while the super-arched brush catches and stretches every lash for the flirtiest, curviest lashes ever.

Packaging: Comes in a pink tube containing 8 ml.

Texture: The texture is fine, not too thick and not too liquid.
What it does: I usually like Oriflame mascaras and this one is no exception. The wand has a curved shape, which helps me get all those little lashes in the corner of my eye. Now, as for the curling effect, I'm sorry to say it didn't do anything special. I must say though, this mascara is great for volume and definition and it goes nice on the lashes because it doesn't have a thick formula. Nevertheless, the curling effect promoted by the company just didn't show up on me.
Price: 15 lei (4 euros)
Re-buy or pass: I would repurchase this mascara again, depending if it's on sale or not.

Oriflame Sparkle in Paris Eye Pencil review

Official description:

Add some sparkle to your night, with these 3 shimmering shades. Glistening metallic eye pencils add a bit of excitement, creating an all-out dramatic look that will surely turn heads. Easily sharpened and glides on effortlessly.

Packaging: The pencil comes without a box or anything else, but I do like the design of this collection in general.1 gr.
Texture: Creamy, but not too much, shimmery.

What it does: When it comes to this collection, the lip gloss was not what I was hoping for, but the pencil. To die for. I'm in love. I bought the shade Purple Shimmer because I thought it's something suitable for fall. The color is exactly was I was expecting, a deep purple with shimmer. I used this pencil also in the waterline and it didn't budge for 7 hours while I was at work, and after that I removed my make-up, so I don't know how long it actually lasts. The formula is great and the shade is gorgeous.
Price: 10 lei (2 euros)
Re-buy or pass: I would buy this pencil again if it were on sale,but in exactly the same shade. The others are a black one and a silver one and I have enough blacks already.

Oriflame Sparkle in Paris Lip Gloss review

Official description:

Luscious shine wherever you go, with 3 new limited edition Power Shine Lip Gloss shades. Metashine pearl technology, delivers a sparkling and ultra-gloss finish with luxurious shine. Unique applicator designed for easy, precise application.

Packaging: The gloss comes in a tube with the golden logo of the Sparkle in Paris collection (launched for the 2012 Holiday season). There are 5 ml in the tube.
Texture: Non-sticky formula, with tiny shimmery particles in it. It also has a sweet, pleasant scent.

What it does: I wanted this entire make-up collection last year, but I never got around to buy it and then I quit being an Oriflame consultant for more than half of this year, but there's something that always drags me to them. So, when I saw lip glosses and the eye pencils on sale, I immediately bought one of each. The lip gloss is in the shade Frosty Purple, and I expected some color showing up on my lips. Well, it doesn't. In the tube it has a gorgeous mauve color, but on my lips it's just a clear lip gloss with some shimmer. I like the formula and I will use this gloss, but sadly, the catalogue pictures were misleading once again.
Price: 15 lei (4 euros)
Re-buy or pass: This gloss was almost 4 euros on sale, so I think for that money I should get a more pigmented products. Too bad for the packaging design, because I won't be buying another one.

Oriflame Neo Chic Lipstick

Official description:

Moisturising creamy formula to hydrate lips and bring a flawless finish. Limited edition bright pink shades without shimmer.

Packaging: The packaging is very cute, with the pink and the lace details on the box and also on the tube. The tube contains 4 gr, although I thought at first the lipstick is kind of small.

Texture: Very creamy and sheer, with a nice scent. It reminds me of roses, but not the nauseous kind. The scent doesn't linger.

What it does: I got this lipstick in the shade Strong Fuchsia and I was expecting a truly vibrating color. What I got is a rather sheer lipstick, and it looks more like lip tint on me. It's very moisturising and I like the lack of shimmer, but I would have liked more color payoff. As far as I'm concerned the catalogue pics are not accurate and neither the description.

Price: 18 lei (4 euros)
Re-buy or pass: I got this lipstick on sale and I think it's overpriced. The products just doesn't rise to the expectations and they are much better lipsticks out there, sometimes even cheaper. What can I say? The packaging fooled me a little bit.

Fall news from e.l.f.

I must say, I'm a fan of e.l.f. cosmetics because they are so affordable (well, here in Romania not really because they're imported and such), but they also have great quality, in my opinion. One of the things I like are the look books. The design is very cute because they do look like books, but I also like the eyeshadows. I have only two palettes from e.l.f, both from the spring collection and I like the look book better than the 32 piece eyeshadow palette.The eyeshadows have so nice reflexions and they are very versatile.
Now, the Disney Villains Collection is not new for e.l.f, but we never got them here, so pretty please e.l.f. Romania, bring the fall look books. I found a couple of pictures and the description of the products, so here you go:

Each E.L.F. Cosmetics Villain Look Book features 1 eyelid primer, 6 eyeshadows, 1 brightening eyeliner, 1 liquid liner, 1 mascara, 1 lip color and 1 eyeshadow brush.

Cruella De Vil

It’s a beautiful thing, darling… this exquisite neutral palette that even the wretched heiress herself would love. The day-to-night eyeshadow shades include:
Day

• Fur
• Puppy Love
• Manic Love

Night

• Cruelty
• Puppy Love
• Fur

Evil Queen

Mirror, Mirror on the wall… the royally divine shades found in this palette will ensure a look that is the fairest of them all.
The day-to-night eyeshadow shades include:
Day

• Huntsman
• Jealousy
• Majesty

Night

• Witch
• Vanity
• Dark Magic

Maleficent

Cast your shadowy spell… using the smoky-toned shades in this striking palette to create the most spellbinding looks in all the land. The day-to-night eyeshadow shades include:
Day

• Flora
• Fauna
• Spell

Night

• Deep Sleep
• Thorns
• Raven Black

Ursula

My Dear, I Look Devine…and so can you with this bewitching palette of bold and bright hues. The day-to-night eyeshadow shades include:
Day

• Coral
• Sea Witch
• Shell

Night

• Kiss the Girl
• Triton
• Bewitched

They're also releasing a 12 piece nail polish set which features 4 polish trios with the following shades:

Cruella De Vil

• Nude
• Smokin Hot
• Smoky Brown

Evil Queen

• Pot of Gold
• Cranberry
• Thunderstorm

Maleficent

• Bubble Gum Pink
• Mod Mauve
• Gina Girl

Ursula

• Coral Dream
• Mint Cream
• Sea Escape

 

 

Oriflame Silk Beauty For Smooth Skin Hair Removal Wax Strips for Face review

Official description:

Moisturizing Depilatory strips, small to remove facial hair. Soothing wipes with Hair Minimising Complex, clean residual traces. For best results, the hair should have a length of 2-3 mm.

Packaging: Box containing 20 wax strips and 4 soothing wipes.

Texture: The wax is pink and it has a very pleasant scent.
What it does: I bought this kit because I wanted to get rid of my upper lip hair. It's not much and it's not dark, but it bothered me when I wore make-up. Now, the important thing about waxing your upper lip is to have in  mind two things: if you have very sensitive skin, it's possible to irritate the area and second, don't do this if you have an important event coming up if you do it for the first time because you don't know how the skin will react. And always do this in the evening, so the redness has time ti disappear until morning.
The strips are coming glued together in a pair. I used two, one for half of the upper lip. I got rid of all the fine hair, but I did apply the strips 2 or 3 times until everything was gone. I'm not gonna lie, it hurt like hell, but those soothing wipes are the sh...!My skin was still red, but the pain was gone. After that, I let the oils sink into the skin and I didn't use anything else on that area. in the morning, the redness was gone and all I have is a smooth upper lip, something I didn't have since high school. So, I don't know about the regular waxing strips, but this one for the face are great. I still have 8, enough for 4 uses and if I do this only after 3 or 4 weeks, that means another 4 months of using this kit. I didn't use the strips for eyebrows because I'm afraid I'll wax an entire eyebrow and luckily I don't have hair in other places on my face. The wipes are only 4, but I recommend using baby oil to remove the wax residues. If you don't have baby oil, you can use olive oil. And if not, don't try waxing without having the wipes, the baby oil or the olive oil at hand, because wax doesn't come off with anything else(unless you would like to use other oils like coconut, macadamia or whatever you prefer).
Price: 16 lei (4 euros)
Re-buy or pass: I'm going to always have this in my bathroom cabinet and whenever they're on sale, I'll repurchase them.

Nivea Pure&Natural Olive&Lemon Lip Balm review

Official description:

You want your lips become soft with natural ingredients? Innovative formula of Nivea lip balm pure & natural is inspired by nature and contains natural olive oil and lemon extract.
The result: soft lips with a healthy so that you look and feel beautiful in a natural way.
Provides lasting protection for dry lips
100% free of preservatives
With natural ingredients: organic shea butter, jojoba oil and certified.

Packaging: Tube containing 4.8 gr.

Texture: Green lip balm with a citrusy scent.

What it does: I got this lip balm as part of a gift set I received for my birthday along with the face cream. I was glad to see the scent is still pleasant. As a lip balm, it does the trick, it's not tinted (because it would be weird to have green lips, right?). I always liked Nivea lip balms and I use them all the time. I'm frustrated because I couldn't find the famous lip butters from Nivea, but maybe they will show up in my town too.
Price: I don't know for sure, but a Nivea lip balm goes usually for 10 lei (2 euros).
Re-buy or pass: I'm sure there's always gonna be a place for one of this lip balms in my purse.

Clear Women Volume Maxx Shampoo review

Official description:

CLEAR helps you regain your natural shine and volume MAXX VOLUME CLEAR and enjoy such beautiful hair without compromise: zero dandruff  and more volume from the first wash . Moreover, benefiting from complex Nutrium 10 with CLEAR shampoos enjoying unique formula that penetrates deeply beneficial nutrients, feeding and caring for your scalp.

Packaging: Plastic bottle containing 250 ml.
Texture: The shampoo is pink and has a very pleasant, subtle scent.
What it does: I got only a travel size bottle of this shampoo as a gift from a magazine I bought and I got 4 uses out of it, so I think I formed my opinion. I'm crazy about trying new hair products and I liked this one because Clear has always been one of my favourites. My hair looks great, it has plenty of volume (I have thin hair) and it did help me with my dandruff. All in all, it's something I would highly recommend to anyone with greasy and thin hair. I still wash my hair every couple of days, because that's how I personally like it, but I could wait 3 days if I wanted to. 
Price: 16 - 17 lei (4 euros)
Re-buy or pass: I didn't buy a whole bottle of this shampoo just because I have another one in testing, a more natural one, but I would buy this shampoo in the future.
 

Nivea Pure&Natural Day Cream for Normal&Combination Skin review

Official description:

NIVEA FACE CARE Pure & Natural Moisturising Day Cream for beautiful looking skin. Gives naturally soft, smooth skin , provides intensive 24h moisture and freshness and enriches skin’s natural healthy glow.

Packaging: Glass jar containing 50 ml.

Texture: Light cream, has a white color and a subtle herbal scent.

What it does: This is the third face cream I use at the same time with my other two from TIS and I must say I don't know if it's because of the formula or because I use different face creams, but my skin has never looked better.I think it's because my skin seems to get used to products relatively fast and they don't work anymore, so now I'm applying the face cream I feel like in the morning or in the evening.
This particular face cream is different form the normal face creams from Nivea. I always found them to be too greasy, even if they were meant for combination or oily skin. This one makes my skin look glowing without being shiny. I think the fact that it contains so many natural ingredients, 0 parabens, 0 mineral oils, 0 silicone and 0 coloring agents makes it that good. Also, the bio argan oil and the bio aloe vera extract may play a big part in this. It's the first Nivea face cream I actually enjoy using and I give them a big thumbs up for this range.
Price: I don't know for sure because I got it as a gift, but I saw it online at the price of 22 lei ( 5 euro)
Re-buy or pass: I would definitely repurchase this face cream.

Cien cosmetics - a short review

After the reviews for Today cosmetics,I'm gonna write about 3 products from another supermarket brand , Cien. Cien cosmetics are available in Lidl supermarkets. Lidl is my favourite discount store, mostly for the food, the cleaning products and for the body care cosmetics. They are made in Germany and when you're on a budget I find a decent shower gel doesn't have to cost 5 euros.
Cien Shower Gel with orange oil

There are only 3 or 4 different shower gels and 2 or 3 shower creams from the Cien line. I like them because the scent is very pleasant and not that typical chemical scent I get from other cheap shower gels. This one is my favourite because I like orange scent. It lathers quite well, but the only think is you do need to apply a body lotion because it can be a little bit drying. The shower gel retails for 3 lei (not even 1 euro).
Liquid Soap Milk&Silk

I don't know if this is actually Cien liquid soap because there's no brand on the package. Go figure. This is a refill because I don't buy new soaps in dispenser only at a couple of months after they get dirty. Why should I pay extra for a piece of plastic? The soap comes in two scents: green apple and this one. The green apple one didn't really do it for me, but this one smells like clean sheets. I don't know how to explain it better. It's like a regular liquid soap.Again, if you have dry skin or other special needs, then this one doesn't suit you. This was 3 lei (less than 1 euro) for 1 l of product.
Cien Nail Polish Remover

This is acetone free, but it's not scented, so it still strong smelling when I use it. It gets the job done and I like the pumping device because I can get the amount of product I need out of the bottle. The nail polish remover was 5 or 6 lei (1.5 euros), but it's quite a large bottle, so it has lasted me for about half a year (I don't do my nails on regular basis).
Next, I think I'm going to try some generic beauty products from Kaufland. So far, I like Cien more than Today cosmetics.

Bourjois Glamour Lovely Perfume review

Note: I only used a sample size of this perfume, but I think it's enough to make an opinion about it.

Official description:

Glamour Lovely – ode to pink, ode to queen rose! The fragrance is constructed as floral-fruity, modern and playful. Its composition accentuates Turkish rose refreshed with juicy green fruit and surrounded with delicate sambac jasmine. Velvety musk in the base contributes to sensuality.
Notes: Turkish rose, crisp apple, sambac jasmine, white musk.

Packaging: I don't own the perfume, but the bottle looks very cute, with the pink and the little bow.
Texture:-
What it does: I liked this perfume very much because it's delicate, feminine and not overpowering and it would be very nice for daily use. Because it's supposed to be a perfume for the romantic woman in you, it's not something flirty or sexy. I can sense the fruity notes, but it's still not too sweet because the floral notes balance everything out. Sadly, I must say it's not long-lasting. After 3 hours or so I couldn't smell it anymore. And that's a shame because I love perfumes and I have the strange habit of smelling my wrist from time to time, just to be sure the scent is still there. Yes, it's weird, I know.
Price: 80 lei (18 euros)
Re-buy or pass: Well, I wouldn't be repurchasing this perfume because I only had a sample. I must say I think the price is a bit high considering it's not that long- lasting. I mean, I had Avon perfumes that were stronger than this. But, because for there's always a but, I liked it very much so I would buy it just to satisfy my desire for actually having an entire bottle of this.