Products I've Used Up // September

This month I am trying something new. Usually I do one of these posts every month but this time I collected all of my used up products for two months and put all all of them together into one longer post. It turned out to be a really long post so I am not sure whether I will do this again.

Yankee Candle Tart Spiced Orange: This is a wonderful scent for autumn and winter. The name says it all: it makes your whole room smell like spicy orange. If you want to try Yankee Candle but you cannot afford their big candles try their tarts! You do not have a whole tart at once. I just break of a corner of the tart to melt and that is definitely enough for me.

Garnier 2-in-1 Eye-Make-Up Remover waterproof: This is a product I use up and repurchase all the time. It has been part of my everyday routine for forever and I am almost through my next bottle of this.

tetsept A Portion of Love Champagne-berry & Currant Bath Salt: As soon as the temperatures started to drop over the last week I got excited about baths again. First of all I love the packaging and the scent combination is lovely. When you pour this into your bath water the scent is sadly not very strong - but the color is give to the water is wonderful. It turns your bath water deep purple and with the white and silver swirls it makes the bath water look like a magic potion. It keeps my skin from drying out but it does not moisturize it either. To me this is fine but not amazing.

Isana Shower Gel & alverde Shower Gel: Out of these two shower gels I liked the alverde one better. The Isana shower gel had a stronger scent (that I really liked) but I did not like the consistency as much. The alverde shower gel is thicker and I think it moisturizes my skin better. Over all I still liked both of them and I would repurchase either one.

alverde Shower Sorbet Rhubarb & Orange: This was a really nice shower gel. It moisturizes well and the scent is lovely. It usually takes a while for me to repurchase a shower gel because I like to try new scents and there are sadly not a lot of different scents available.

Balea Shaving Gel Pink Grapefruit: I can only recommend Balea shower gels. They are inexpensive, smell wonderful, work well with my sensitive skin and the packaging is gorgeous.

Nivea Repair & Care Conditioner: I wrote a whole separate review about this conditioner you can check out here: click.

Guhl Conditioner: I loved this conditioner. It makes my hair really soft, smooth and easy to brush through. I already repurchased this and I think I will try out a lot more Guhl ahir producsts in teh future. I have used Guhl products before but for some reason I just forgot about the brand and now I am so excited about it again.

Garnier Fructies  Oil Repair 3 Hair Mask: Best hair mask ever. It has an amazing effect on my hair. It does everything I want a hair mask to do and I have repurchased this numerous times and it was part of my favorite products of 2015.

wellaflex Hair Spray Volume: Considering how long it took me (and my boyfriend) to use up hairspray before I was quite surprised at how quickly we used up this bottle - even though it is only a travel size. I liked it and repurchased the exact same one already.

alverde Creme-Oil-Lotion Jasmine & Sesame: I am not a big fan of body lotion but for a lack of  body butter selection in the drugstores I decided to try this one. It is moisturizing and it does its job but after I used this up the first thing I used was a body butter - and I remembered why I am team body butter again. This body lotion does not moisturize as well and it does not sink in as quickly as I want it to. If you are a fan of body lotions you might like this but I myself will not repurchase this.

Gillette Venus Spa Breeze Blades: I have repurchased these blades for years now. They work well, last a long time and the scent is amazing. What I do not like is the prize. I have tried cheaper blades before but they never work with my sensitive skin and they go blunt really quickly. So spending less money on something that simply does not work isn't worth it in the end. That is why I keep repurchasing these but the prize makes me hesitate every time.

What products did you use up this month?

Benefit the POREfessional // Review

You have no idea for how long I have been wanting to buy this. When I saw that they had a special offer of sample size benefit products at Karstadt I was so excited to see the benefit the POREfessional was part of it.

I have used pore-minimizing products before. They were both from the drugstore and I have written reviews about them before. I liked the L'oréal Skin Perfection but the Balea Teint Perfection was simply a waste of money. After those two I decided to bite the bullet and buy the (very much overpriced) original pore-minimizing product: the POREfessinal. I have only heard a few people say that they do not like this primer but they all disliked the same thing about it: the silicon-y feeling it leaves on your skin. I do not mind that feeling at all. I also do not apply these pore-minimizer all over my fave. I only wear it on my cheeks where I do not have any dry sports it could cling to. I also do not wear foundation over it so I do not know how it would work with that.

before 

after

One thing I was worried about when I first swatched the product in the store was that this is a tinted primer. I am as pale as it gets and the primer has a rather dark color that would definitely not fit my skin tone but when I blend this on my cheeks there is no color to the product what so ever. It does make your pores a lot less visible and gives a smooth finish to the skin. I tried to catch the effect in these pictures but it is hard to see on camera.

To me this is the best pore-minimizer I have ever used and I definitely understand the hype. What I have a problem with is the prize. I got a tiny tube of product and I payed 11.95 Euro for it. I guess I will see how long this will last me (because I do not use a lot of product) and then I will maybe repurchase it - or put it on my Christmas wish list - or try out something new.

What is your favorite pore-minimizer?

Nail of the Day // My Little Kimono

essence Nail Polish Limited Edition Cherry Blossom 02 My Little Kimono 

This nail polish is no longer available but since I talked about it in last Sunday's Favorite Top 10 Autumn Nail Polishes I wanted to post a picture of what it actually looked like on the nails. You can find colors like this by many other brands and to me light grey is a great alternative to all the darker shades of nail polishes that I like to wear in the autumn time. With every new season people like to talk about buying new products to 'get ready' to change up their look for the upcoming season but before you go out and buy new things maybe you should take a look at those products you already have. At least that is what I am trying to do. That also involves posting about old products from my collection that are no longer available in stores but hopefully it make you want to shop your own stash.

What is your favorite 'old' nail polish that you also like to wear this season?

Favorite Top 10 Autumn Nail Polishes // Septemder

After talking about my Top 10 Favorite Lip Products for Autumn on Friday I want to talk about nail polishes next. This top 10 was hard to narrow down because my collection consists mostly of deep dark colors that I love even more in the colder seasons. Again their is no significant order to this list and there are a lot of nail polishes included that are no longer available. This is not a shopping guide but hopefully makes you want to look through your own collection and rediscover old loves before going out and buying new ones you might not even need (as much as you can need nail polish^^).

OPI Nail Lacquer What Wizzardry is This?: OPI nail polishes can be very expensive, so when they do their mini collections I would highly recommend you check those out. This is a limited edition color that is no longer available but there are similar shades out there. The special thing about this one in specific is the texture of the polish when it drys which is rather unique.

Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer 60 Out of the Dark: This is a rather special color especially considering it is a regularly available nail polish from Catrice's regular line of nail polishes. It is a cool toned, purple-brown nail polish with fine shimmer that paints on wonderfully.

Maybelline Super Stay Forever Strong Gel Nail Color Rouge Couture 287 Midnight Red: This is by far my most used nail polish of all time. I love the whole Super Stay Forever Strong Gel Nail Color range and I have yet to try one that I did not like. It is a long lasting, easy to apply polish in a beautiful deep, dark red that is perfect for any season.

Rival de Loop High Gloss Nail Colour 52: One of my first posts ever on this blog was about this nail polish. The quality is of course awful but it does make me a little bit nostalgic. This is a really simple rose color that you can find in almost every brand's regular nail polish range but I love classics like this. Light pinks make me think of spring and summer but this slightly darker version makes it more appropriate for the autumn and winter time.

essence Nail Polish Limited Edition Cherry Blossom 02 My Little Kimono: I have not worn this nail polish in forever! - I even forgot I had this. Now I am even more excited to try it again.

Manhattan Bonnie Strange 006: This is a beautiful shimmery nail polish with a little twist to it. The base color is actually pruple not red but because the color is so dark you can hardly see it. The shimmer particals are gold and red which is very autumnal or festive.

alessandro Nail Polish Russian Roulette: I have had this nail polish in my collection for ages and I am not even sure alessandro is a brand that is still around? I do not think I have ever tried any other product by them. This is an interesting nail polish because the base color is cool toned, light brown while the shimmer itself is a rather warm toned gold shimmer.

Astor Perfect Stay Gel Shine Nail Polish 502/503 Crème Brulée: This must be one of my favorite new beauty discoveries of the year and I am pretty much sure it will be included in my favorite products of 2016 post at the end of the year.

Astor Quick & Shine Nail Polish 502 Hot Chocolate Season: Next time you are in the drugstore take a look at this nail polish. It is a gorgeous color and a really special finish - it almost looks like liquid metal. The quality of Astor nail polishes is wonderful and I have yet to try one that I do not like. They also have an amazing color selection and there are more than a few that I have my eye on right now.

Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer Limited Edition Match Point C03 Rockby: I do not like this packaging but the nail polish color is really pretty. Autumn is the perfect time of the year to bring back the berry tones into your beauty routine and this is a wonderful everyday berry shade.

What is are your favorite autumn nail polishes?

Favorite Top 10 Autumn Lip Products // September

Autumn is just around the corner and what gets you more excited for the colder months than changing up your beauty look. Sure there are other things that I love about autumn but in September when autumn hasn't quite arrived yet and it's still a little too warm for scarfs and boots make-up is an easy way to get in the right mood.

Today I want to talk about the lip products I am most excited to bring back into my routine. Of course you can wear any color any time of the year but these products are what I associate with autumn which is why I wear them most around this time of the year. These are my top 10 but there is no particular order to this. Another thing I wanted to talk about is that I did include quite a few limited edition products in here that are no longer available. The products that you should still be able to buy I would definitely recommend you checking them out but this post is also simply about shopping your own collection and rediscovering old favorites.

Astor Soft Sensation Lipcolor Butter Matte 027 Elegant Nude: This is a gerorgeous nude shade that still has a lot of color to it. I did a whole review of this in May where you can check out swatches and everything like that: click. The color of the lip butter is the exact same as the packaing and the finish is - as promissed - perfectly mat. The only downside to this product is that it is a little bit drying and your lips need to be in good shape for it to look good.

Tanya Burr Cosmetics Lip Gloss Berry Picking: There is a review with swatches and everything like that coming up soon. I have only had this for a little over a week now but I can already tell you I love the color. What I do not like is the applicator but I can overlook that because the color is so pretty.

Catrice Soft Lip Colour Limited Edition FALLosophy C02 Rustic Rose & C01 Fabulous Fox-ia: This is another limited Edition by Catrice I absolutely loved. I got three lipsticks from ths collection but since I am trying to narrow this down to my top 10 I had to choose. These two colors are very different but at the same time they really go together. The packaging is simply wonderful and probably would have bought something form this collection just because of the beautiful design but I actually love these lip stick colors too.

Fleur de Force Lip Gloss 020 Written in the Stars & 050 Starry Starry Night: Fleur might have designed the most photogenic lip gloss packaging of all time. They just look amazing in pictures. The colors of the product itself are gorgeous too. Written in the Stars almost reminds me of a glossy version of the Astor Soft Sensation Lipcolor Butter Matte 027 Elegant Nude. Again there is an in depth review of these coming up on my blog soon but I can already say that wearing the three I got in my last haul already makes me want to get the other four shades from her collection.

essence Lip Stick 04 On the Catwalk!: I really like this color. essence does really pretty everyday lip stick shades even though I am not the biggest fan of their color selection. For the money you pay you get a good quality lip stick and this the most 'autumn' shade of theirs I have in my collection.

Catrice Velvet Lip Colour Check & Tweed C03 Brit Chick: Maybe this is my most worn lip stick of all time - which is sad because it was limited edition and I have never found a color that is regularly available that looks like this. The name describes this shade perfectly to me. I loved the whole Check & Tweed Limited Edition by Catrice and I really hope that this years fall and winter collections are as great as this again. This is the most perfect cool toned, brownish, dark nude I have ever seen and you can check out what it looks like on the lips here: click.

Catrice Lip Colour Limited Edition Metallure C03 Alluring Red: Again, I am a sucker for packaging. This lip stick is no longer available since it was part of a limited edition collection but I honestly only got this because I wanted another basic red lipstick and this one had gorgeous rosegold packaging. You can find colors like this everywhere but just because it is basic does not mean it is not special. I always love wearing a classic red lip and you can see what this one looks like n the lips right here: click.

Kosmetik Kosmo Lip Gloss Karamell: I am not even sure this online shop is still up. I got this lip gloss on sale a while ago and I definitely have to wear the write eye-make-up to make this work but when I do it look really wonderful. It is a deep brown color that still has enough red in it to work with my skin tone.

What are your favorite autumn lip products?
Come back on Sunday for my Top 10 Autumn Nail Polishes!

Beauty Haul // September

This might as well be the most exciting haul on my blog so far. I have been waiting to get all of these products for soooo long and now they finally arrived in the mail. It makes me feel like it is already Christmas. I do not own a lot of high end make-up products and I try to select what to get very carefully so I do not waste my money on something I am not going to use. When it comes to the following products I have been planning to buy them for (and this is no exaggeration) years which is why I am just so much more excited for them.

Benefit the POREfessional: This is one of those all-time-classic beauty products to me. I have read reviews about this products for a while now and while I have read about a few saying it was over-hyped the vast majority really liked it. The benefit the POREfessional is an expensive product especially when you don''t even know if you are going to like it. That is why when I saw they sold sample sizes at Karstadt I had to get one of them to finally try it out.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette: My (amazing) boyfriend got this for me as a gift and I am so overly excited about it. My best friend has this palette and I have used it a few times when I got ready at her place. There really is a difference between Urban Decay (or MAC) eyeshadows and regular drugstore eyeshadows. Drugstore products can be fine and you definitely do not need high end eyeshadows but they are better and if the price difference is worth it to you, you should definitely give them a try.

Fleur de Force Eyeshadow Quad 020 Lunar Rose: I am obssesed with Feur de Force. She is by far my favorite youtuber and I love all of her videos. Her style when it comes to make-up, hair, fashion and decor is very distinct and I find it so inspiring. So of course I have been wanting to try her make-up line for over a year now since it came out. Now I finally can.

Fleur de Force Lip Gloss 030 Starlight, 050 Starry Starry Night & 020 Written in the Stars: The color selection in this line is wonderful. Since I could not justify buying all of them I only ordered my three favorites.

Tanya Burr Lip Gloss Berry Picking: On the website this gloss did not even look like a color I would enjoy but I saw Tanya Burr wear this shade in one of her videos and I just loved they way it looked on her. I do not think I ever heard anything bad about Tanya Buss Cosmetics so I am looking forward to giving this a try.

Sorry for saying 'excited' a lot ;)

Favorites // August

It's a little late for August Favorites but I still wanted to talk about my favorite products and things rediscovering right now. This time it is basically all skincare products which is really interesting to me in the summer time because I do not really wear make-up in the heat, so I go 'back to the basics' most of the days.

Nivea Creme: This is one of those products I have never heard anybody say something bad about. Everyone seems to like it. When I got a cold last week and my nose was as red as a tomato this is what helped cam my skin down again. You obviously should no apply this on wounds but on dry or rough patches it works really well.

alverde Teint Perfection Beauty Serum: I did not realize for how long I have already been using this product in my everyday routine. I got this moisturizer in April and I cannot believe I have not talked about it since. My skin has been changing over the last few months and its getting less dry and more balanced lately. I am very happy about these changes but it also meant I had to change up a few things I used to use on my skin. This serum is the only moisturizer I used on my face in the last month and I love it. Until it absorbs into my skin it just feels wet which I do not like but that feeling only lasts a few minutes and then it really does make your skin look really healthy and good.

alverde Apricot & Calendula Face Scrub: I don't think I have ever talked about this product since I got it. I have been using it off and on for months now and I just like it more and more. I do not use a face scrub everyday - I just use it when I feel like my skin needs it. To me this face scrub is the perfect mix of actually having an effect and not being to harsh. A lot of face scrubs are too drying and too aggressive for my skin or they have no effect at all. If you have sensitive or dry skin but you still want a scrub to help with getting rid of dry patches or clearing out your skin you should definitely give this a try. 

Nivea Sun Anti-Age Moisturizer SPF 50: I just typed up a review about this product that I will link here: click. The fact that I am including this in my favorites should already tell you that I am really happy with this moisturizer.

Pretty Little Liars: Don't worry - there will be no spoilers. I just wanted to include this show in this month post because lately I have been getting back into it. I almost forgot how much I used to love it. Pretty Little Liars is one of those shows that is really good when you just enjoy it and blend out all the things that don't really make sense or how dramatic it can be sometimes. Yes, people do not dress like that in real life and yes, A might not have been able to pull all these terrible things off in reality - but it is still an amazing show! (And I love the fashion!). It is definitely addicting - so be warned.

What are your August Favorites?