Lemon, Yogurt and...

Hi I hope everyone had a good week. We actually had a three-day week in Italy, which meant I had to work double the amount to get things done for the week!

Anyway, after a stressful day, one of my favourite things to do is a do-it-yourself mask. Besides the yogurt-papaya-honey one, I also like to use fresh lemon (we even get lemons from the Amalfi Coast here) and whole yogurt.
Wow, Amalfi Coast lemons are so big, bigger than the yogurt cup! :-) I've been doing this kind of all-natural masks for a few months and my freckles seemed to have lightened up a bit, even in this spring/summer season.

Here's what you can do: squeeze a teaspoon full of lemon juice into a little bowl and add a heaping soupspoonful of whole yogurt and mix. You need quite a lot of yogurt just so the mixture won't drip :-) You will feel a slightly stingy sensation, hang in there for 10 mins and rinse with cool water. Done!

After this treatment, your skin probably won't need a moisturizer for a couple of hours, thanks to the yogurt which is very nourishing. The next morning, you will wake up with plump and butter-soft skin!


This one below is for Jess, particuarly. Because when I thought, "Hmm, does Austria have any skincare brands?" I drew a blank, but lo and behold, two unopened products are sitting in my vanity. It's Susanne Kaufmann, an all-natural, laboratory brand.

I have yet to try these out, but the ingredients look really promising and this seems like a very serious brand of skincare.

Yesterday I had nothing better to do (love my Saturdays!) so I picked up a couple of curious items:

Another nail polish by NOUBA. This one has randomly-sized orange and lime green glitter in a clear coat. The colour and glitters are pretty subtle so I like it. Full-on colours like green and blue really turn me off because they look so ghastly!

Has anyone tried Make Up For Ever's lipglosses? How do you like them?

I personally am not a fan of lipglosses because I don't like the feeling of having something sticky on my lips. BUT this one by Kiko Make Up Milano caught my attention.

The matte black packaging imitates M.A.C., but the clear gloss has a pretty purple and pink iridescence to it. So I'm willing to give it a try.

Looks pretty promising here!

Kiko Make Up Milano is another local brand here. Things are dirt cheap, which means the quality is probably crap also! The colour range is decent, but the eyeshadows and blushes don't even stay put when I just swatched it on the back of my hand.

In any case, this 4-euro gloss is purely something to play with. And I won't even feel guilty if I end up throwing it away, lol...

Sunday Morning Post

I realised I haven't done a proper post lately so here's one for you :-)

I will be in Seattle August 7 - August 27. Any beauty bloggers that I can meet up for a coffee?? I'm so looking forward to this trip because I only get to see my family there once a year. I also love the cool summers in Seattle.

Thank you Jess and Nic Nic for the blogger award! How nice it is to be awarded twice!

So I have a few things to show you this time.

First off is Guerlain's limited edition "Le Rouge G" lipstick with mirrored case. The brand was so generous to send me three.

#20 Gina is a blue-undertoned red with subtle golden shimmer. Mum will like this!

The beautiful packaging is designed by the Parisian jeweller Lorenz Baumer. The mirror pops open as you take out the lipstick, and it snaps back in thanks to a magnetic closure.

#60 Gabrielle below is a creamy coral pink. I forgot to mention that this lipstick has a brand new formula for better texture and colour payoff. I haven't actually tried it yet, but will let you know.
#1 Guerlinade is just my type of colour - a pinkish beige. No shimmers here which is another plus for me.

When closed, the tube looks like a spaceship, lol.

With all due respect, Shiseido Perfect Rouge is still perfect because it's very moisturising and the colour is luscious. Dior Addict High Shine really pales in comparison. It just feels so chemical on my lips, but that's just me.

On a less exciting note, the weather is getting warmer (yuck!) and I got an oil-control primer from Jane Iredale. I noticed my pores are getting bigger, lol, so I'm not happy about that.

Jane Iredale has very modest packaging which I don't mind because this brand offers makeup with very low toxicity, something I'm very concerned about.

The compact screws open with a sponge and the product is a white solid cream.

Pretty friendly ingredients here :-) Also, notice the little symbol of the opened lid on the bottom that says "12M". This means it expires 12 months after opening. Look out for this symbol on your makeup! I will text drive this product next week and let you know.

This is a long post, lol.

I'm glad to tell you that the Caudalie body lotion worked just fine and I finished one bottle. Since I'm always on the hunt for better, healthier skincare products, I got Sanoflore Almond Milk body lotion this time.

Again, very modest packaging here, but who cares when you know inside it's full of organic goodness. Sanoflore, a French brand, only cultivates organically-grown plants and uses its extracts as ingredients.

Oops, since it has no paraben, this product will expire 9 months after opening, which is fine if you use this after every shower. The 200ml bottle is about 15-18 euro.

I used this yesterday and gave this a thumbs-up. The runny texture is so nice. It absorbs much faster than Caudalie. The scent of the almond and orange essential oil is strong, but it disappears after 10 mins. My skin really loves this stuff! Hurray on finding yet another skin-friendly product.

A Little Pick-me-up

*shout-out to Anna: do you live in Como? Should we meet up?*

It's Sunday and I finally have time to do a proper post. I've been reading all your posts, but simply haven't had the energy to do my own. How do you find the time to post so many photos and videos?! :-)

So first off, here's the cake I had in the beginning of the month. I love a good cake! This one is called the mimosa, eaten on March 8, Women's Day.

I got a lot of good stuff while I was away this past week or so. Here's Acqua di Parma Colonia bath and shower gel. This is very gentle on the skin. I was thinking the other day, "If this disappeared from the face of the earth, I might as well stop bathing." lol...

I'm pretty excited about these two items here: Shiseido Perfect Rouge and Shiseido Cream Eyeliner.

Do I need another lipstick? Probably not, but seeing how beautiful the colour looked on Jamilla, I had to get one. After my mauve craze this past winter, I'm ready to go back to pink. So I picked PK 307.
Given how unhappy I was with M.A.C. Fluidline, I picked up another cream liner. I thought I'd give Shiseido a try. It was twice the price, but a travel-size brush was included. I chose 02, a solid brown. I really hope this will work out.
Last weekend, the local makeup brand Madina had a clearance so a friend and I went to check it out. I picked up four eye shadows. Three are right here. Madina makes beautiful iridescent colours that are very unique. Matte colours are not so great.
The fourth eye shadow colour is the white one here, which I'm using as a cheek highlighter. It looks white, but once applied, it has a little gold iridescence. The rest of the eye colours in this palette are also used as my blushes. The last item of my haul is their natural bronzer. The palette is very big, bigger than my palm. I've never had a bronzer before, but these colours should work on fair skin too.

Spring Time (edited)

May I say THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Yumeko for sending me the jewelled palette that she is giving away.

It's so cool to get good news like this on a Sunday afternoon.

Hope everyone's ready for the weekend. By the way, my sale is still on-going. If you prefer to swap instead, just let me know.

This past week it rained so much everybody got so depressed! I had to cheer myself up somehow and got a few new things. I will try these out first and do some looks later.

I've been looking for a simple glitter nail polish for some time now. And fortunately last weekend a friend spotted it for me while we were browsing in a department store.

This one's from Nouba. Very pretty with multi-coloured, small glitter.

So I got also Dior 2 Couleurs Palette in 365 "Nude Look". I believe it's part of a new collection.

Dior Addict High Shine in 220 "Beige New Look", and KenzoKi Face Recharger.
Oh right, and a Dior eye pencil too. The packaging was tacky, but it came with a sharpener.

So the palette has a muddy matte brown and an iridescent light pink. I haven't tried these yet, but the colours look pretty versatile.

There were too many shades to choose from! But I really like this #220 shade. It's actually a lot lighter than what it looks like here. It's a sheer, very shiny peachy beige.

Throw in the Towel

Oh yea, it's Thursday tomorrow. I'm so sick of this week I want it to be over. Sorry for this negativity...

On a brighter note, I got a haircut after work today to cheer myself up. It felt good to see my hair glow afterwards. I usually get a cut every 3, 4 months, and have quite a few inches trimmed off every time. My hairdresser knows exactly what I want! I'd just go in, sit down and he does the magic.

Today, I used the new La Roche-Posay sunscreen as a base, and Giorgio Armani compact powder. I really liked the result. The makeup stayed fresh all day without getting too oily. The coverage was light but it looked sophisticated. Yay!

Note to self: this sunscreen has to be applied 15-20 minutes before makeup because it takes time to absorb.

Sunny Days

Here I am finally. It's been an eventful week. Besides working almost 10 hours every day at the office, I've been spending more time with friends. During weekends, I'm determined to enjoy my free time.

So last time I mentioned the Giorgio Armani Lip Wax. Here it is in shade #1.

On the lips, it's a completely matte colour that takes away the pink tone of my natural colour. I wear it over chapstick.

To my surprise, there are only six shades available. The darkest one (a deep red) was sold out, and I got the last one of the #1 shade in the store.

I did get a couple more things yesterday: a Phyto shampoo called phytopanama+ and La Roche-Posay Anthelios W with SPF 40 with PPD 19, UVA ultra protection.

I used the Phyto shampoo just now. It's for frequent use for normal to oily hair, which sounds like just the thing for me. My hair feels clean, weightless and happy :-)

This is the first time I purchase a La Roche-Posay sunscreen. It's been very sunny in Milan, and I am freaking out my Shu Uemura UV Base (SPA 17, PA++) might not be enough. I do wear big sunglasses, but a little more help doesn't hurt.

This Anthelios product comes out from the tube like a cream, but spreads on like a gel. It contains photo-stable Mexoryl SX and Mexoryl XL.

It's waterproof, sweatproof, fragrance-free and preservatives-free!

A little seems to go a long way. I squeezed out a couple of drops and it feels enough. It's not as lightweight as the Shu Uemura foam, and I do need to give it time to get absorbed before applying makeup.

Both the sunscreen (17€) and the shampoo (11€) were on sale at the pharmacy so with just 23€ I got two excellent products. What more can I ask for? :-)

So this is a long overdue photo of the Lunasol palette that birkinbagbeauty sent me in January. Love it.

(Look how nerdy I am with the jade disk pendant. Old-school!)

The palette's EX04 Soft Silver Lighting. Here it is, with my second attempt of getting the shot right for the lip wax.

Ketchup (edited)

Oh, I have so much catching up to do with my blog read :-P You guys post so often I am having a hard time staying up-to-date!

I just got the Giorgio Armani lip wax last weekend, and am loving it. Photos next time.

It's a matte lip colour that comes in a mini compact with a mirror inside. I picked the 01 shade, which is an earthy, warm beige. The colour stays on well, but since it is matte, it's rather dry. Your lips have to be moisturised before applying the lip wax.

I just apply it with my finger, because the compact doesn't come with a little brush. Too bad, but I believe the texture of the colour is kind of intended to be applied with your finger.

For someone like me who doesn't like lipglosses, this is a god-send. But if you're a lipstick freak, you will not like this at all...

Poudre? Oui!

Vichy has come out with its very first mineral loose powder foundation, Aera Teint. Today I checked it out.

The major ingredients are zinc, copper, kaolin, magnesium, and listed under "may contain" are silicon, mica and bismuth oxychoride. The foundation is available in only four shades. 25€.

The pot contains 5 grams of product, and it comes with a kabuki brush. It is a bit stiff though. The lighting was not great so I could not see the coverage very well, but the foundation felt imperceptible. I might just give this a try when the weather gets hot and humid.

Another novelty that's coming up is Lancome's Tropiques Minerale collection.

With 90% of natural ingredients, Lancome claims to be offering a brand new generation of bronzer. The above is the Poudre Libre de Soleil Minérale Lissante. It has a perlized finish for a more luminous look. 43€.

There is also the compact bronzer with SPF10, featuring a nomad design.

You can use this with the kabuki brush. 36€.

Apparently, the mineral makeup trend is just starting in Italy!

Sound Foundation

I am back! I got what I thought was food poisoning last Sunday, until I realised that there were people getting sick the same way I did - a stomach virus. It's just that mine was severe. Thanks for all your messages!

Meanwhile, my consolation was a free Jane Iredale Liquid Minerals in the mail, thanks to a distributor in Pavia. "Natural" turned out to be an almost perfect match so here it is.

It has hyaluronic acid, Q10 enzyme, vitamin C, chamomile extract, sweet almond seed extract, aloe extract, etc. The only drawback is there's no SPF, but my Shu Uemura UV Base has that.

It comes in a 30ml (1 fl. oz) pump. $46 on janeiredaledirect.com, but the markup is much higher in Italy.

Just to show you the colour match without concealer, without contouring or anything.

The first few pumps are not the colour, just the aloe vera gel that you can use on your hands or discard.

After a few pumps, a mix of colour and clear gel comes out. The trick is to work the product with your finger first. Then, apply with a foundation brush.

A word of caution: it does smell like aloe vera, but it disappears.

I've been using this for a week and it feels amazing: fresh, weightless. It feels so good knowing I'm doing something nice for my skin!

One day I had it on from 8am until 10pm, and the colour stayed true all the way. I could really, really feel the difference from regular foundations.

I've ordered a mascara and concealer so we'll see.

The truth is I've never been a big fan of liquid foundations. I've only used it for a few years in my life. In the very beginning, I used Lancome Teint Idole for a year, then I switched to Shu Uemura compact foundations for a few years, before switching to loose powder completely.

Before there was Teint Idole "Ultra", it was simply "Teint Idole".

Try this on Poladroid :-P

Bite Your Lips

Thanks to everyone for your messages! I had my first meal today in two days. Thank god for miso soup and cucumber rolls!

Lancome is coming out with a collection called "Bitten Lips". Far from being bitten-red, it's a series of beautiful beige variations. Sorry for the small images, but that's all I have for now.

The Bitten Lips Gloss range
Here's the tube by itself

I don't like lipglosses so I think I will be leaning towards the Colour Fever lipstick range.

Very simple packaging

This is the Laque Fever range

Expected to be in stores by March in Europe...

Sick... (cont'd)

Thank you for the get-well messages you girls left me! Before I pass out in bed again, let me show you what I've got lately:

Birkinbagbeauty sent me:

Elisha Coy Alway Nuddy BB Cream (so I can finally understand what all the hype around BB Cream is about!)

Jadilla J Dear Shine Base (another Korean brand)

Etude House Crystal Pack Peeling

Lotree Triple Balance Make Up Base and Liquid Foundation

Shu Uemura Luminizer, and (phew!)

Nixie blush in Confidence

A big thank you to Birkinbagbeauty!

In the lower left-hand corner of the photo is a brand called sjal (pronounced "shaal" in Swedish). Turns out the Italian PR works right upstairs from my office, and she dropped by last week to give me some samples. She included a handy little brush too!

I will tell you more about sjal next time. It's sold on eluxury.com

I will be in Geneva for work Wednesday and Thursday so I'm afraid I will have to catch up with your posts this weekend.

Let's Swap!

I'd like to let go of quite a few things in my vanity. What better way to do it than swapping them with you? :-D This is only offered to the approx. 20 beauty bloggers that I regularly communicate with.

It's hard to part with my babies (lol), but I've never/hardly ever used these things.

Swap 1: La Roche-Posay Unifiance "Optic Smoothness" foundation, Shade #21 (light beige).

I've used a few pumps of this. I realised I simply am too lazy to use liquid foundation every morning.
The packaging is a pump so the product is absolutely hygienic.

This is great if you're just curious about La Roche-Posay's makeup line.

Swap 2: Guerlain "Parure Aqua" foundation, Shade 03 "Beige Naturel". I swatched this once on the back of my hand, and realised the colour was too dark for me. Opened cosmetics cannot be returned in Italy.

Swap 3: Make Up For Ever blue glitter. This was one of their very first products when the brand was founded. This is a full jar.

Swap 4: L'oréal H.I.P. lipglosses in Giddy 636, Astounding 724.

I swatched a tiny bit of these on the back of my hand, and realised they were going to be too sticky for me. These are full tubes.

Swap 5: Biotherm "Biosource" 30-ml (1 fl.oz.) clarifying lotion, 20-ml (0.67 fl.oz.) clarifying cleansing gel. These come with their own pouch!

This was a present, but I simply don't use Biotherm anymore.

Swap 6: Acqua di Parma body lotion in "Mirto di Panarea", unopened.

I believe you don't even find this scent outside Italy?! It's a refreshing, unisex aroma.

I'm happy with my Caudalie lotion so I'm letting this one go.

Specifics of the swap:

• Comment with your email address, saying which swap number you're interested in, and what you'd like to swap in return.


• I'm open-minded about what you might have to offer: makeup, skincare, etc. I love natural stuff, but am also curious about Japanese products.

• The above products are not sample-sized so any samples will not be accepted.
  
• For hygiene reasons (lol), only unopened or once- or twice-swatched products can be swapped. If you have a product that's a tube or pump, please let me know its condition.
  
• If you simply want to buy these product off me, please let me know too.