Dry Skin

Anti-Aging Serum, Sun Protection and Beautiful Skin in One – CC+ Your Skin But Better Cream by IT Cosmetics. Review and Swatches.

I am sure you’ve already heard about the so-called “hybrids” that have flooded the beauty market lately. Hybrids, in this particular case, meaning a product that combines two different products and therefore two different benefits (like a makeup products with skincare benefits). I guess it all started with one of Asia’s biggest imports in the beauty department – the legendary BB Creams “Blemish Balms/Blemish Creams/Beauty Creams”. Soon to be followed by CC Creams (“Color Correcting”) and DD Creams (“Daily Defense/Dynamic Do-Alls”). I can’t wait until the industry starts to market ZZ Creams, so we finally have the alphabet covered…

It all sounded too good to be true: From evening out your skin tone and giving you sheer coverage and a natural finish, they were supposed to be hydrating and protecting, offering many more add-ons, i.e. pore minimizing and anti-aging properties etc.

But it would soon show, that the quality of BB Creams sold in Western European and North American markets, didn’t quite live up to the expectations. They weren’t quite the allrounders they were marketed as. In my personal opinion, the old generation of BB Creams perform no better than simple tinted moisturizers. Some of them especially not worth the money considering their claims.

Read more and see pictures

My precious. Cocoa Delights – Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. Review and Swatches.

I am very delighted to present to you: The Chocolate Bar Palette by Too Faced. My favorite eyeshadow palette so far. This palette was another birthday gift I received (along with Urban Decay’s Naked 3 Palette). I had to be very patient since I’ve been eyeing it for such a long time already.

What made me want to have it, were both the excellent reviews and the colors or, the variety of colors, so to speak. The chocolate bar packaging and the fact, that these eyeshadows contain anti-oxidant cocoa and therefore smell like chocolate, are both nice gimmicks but nothing I really cared for.

What makes this my favorite, is the quality of the product itself (nice pigmentation, variety of wearable yet different enough(!) colors and very little fallout, while still having a pleasant texture you can easily work with – without over blending it!). Love, love, love it.

Let’s take a look at the swatches!

A spectrum of rose gold shades – The Naked 3 Palette by Urban Decay. Review and Swatches.

The rose gold fad hit the makeup world a few years ago. From packaging to colors, many companies have marketed their products according to this trend. I too, love rose gold jewelry and packaging and I was especially delighted when I heard about Urban Decay bringing out a rose gold addition to their famous Naked Palettes.

Personally, I don’t own any of the other two Naked Palettes. The main reason being the Naked 3 Palette. I just love those golden rosy hues and until now, I honestly didn’t feel the urge to buy either the Naked 1 (which is too bronzy for my taste) or Naked 2 Palette (the colors are beautiful but nothing special). Nevertheless, both palettes I think are a fantastic deal for the amount of product you get and the colors are undoubtedly beautiful. Although I am a big fan of the so-called “naked” look concept, until now, it just didn’t strike my fancy enough to spend $54.

Naked 3 however, I had to have! So, I’ve been patient and waited months and months until it was my birthday in late April, when I finally got it as a gift. Along with my beloved Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette (shade description and swatches here).

Let’s take a look at the swatches!