Golden Rose Nail Polishes

At the end of November I had the chance to take a peek at Golden Rose stand in person. It was overwhelming to see so many colors at once. Safe to say, I went a bit crazy. I blame the cheap prices. All of the nail polishes seem very interesting and I really like the formulas of most of these. They are also pretty long lasting, which surprised me a bit.

From left to right: Wow! 65, Color Expert 102, Matte 16, Rich Color 112 and Wow! 55.

Golden Rose Vision Lipstick in 123

I only got one lipstick, because it was so darn hard for me to choose the shades. They have a huge selection of shades and formulas. At the time my lips were kind of dry, so I avoided matte ones, but everyone's raving about them, so I might go back. This one is a bit more creamy and feels nourishing. The shade is very peachy neutral.

Makeup Factory Mat Lip Fluid in 61 Velvet Rosewood

The most amazingly matte and long lasting formula in my collection. Shade is universally appealing medium mauve and it's completely matte. I already used it in my Silver Metallic Eyes With Mauve Lips makeup look. I got it in a giveaway on Sanja's blog.

My Hoin Ni Face Masks

This was also part of the price by Sanja and I admired these face masks in Müller a long time ago. I'll admit that the simplistic design attracted me the most. I haven't tried this out yet, but am looking forward to.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Stockholm

I've been wanting to get this for so long. When I saw that Feelunique got NYX Cosmetics I was determined to get it and it was one of the best decisions ever. It's the most lightweight matte formula I've ever tried. I find it great for anyone who's lips tend to be on the dry side. This never dries out my lips and the shade is the most perfect peach brown ever.

Kiko Temptress Lip Set in 04 Passionately Red and Kiko Nail Lacquer in 507 Blush

Kiko is one of my favorite brands. Believe it or not, I've never been to an actual Kiko store. I usually ask other people to get the products for me. Sad...I wish they would just come to our country. They had some amazing holiday sets and I went and bought their Temptress Lip Set. Mostly, because the shape of lipsticks really reminded me of Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks. The formula is very cream and pigmented. The shade is very classic cool toned red, almost a bit too classic for my taste. Somehow, I feel it's too basic for me. Maybe I'll get used to it. The lip liner compliments the lipstick shade, although it's very hard, almost a bit too hard.

Blush is another favorite nail polish shade by Kiko. It's the perfect baby peach nude shade for me. Sometimes nudes just look too skin like and peaches seem to look too warm or salmon like, but this one is the most amazing shade ever. I guess you can tell, I'm in love with it.

Nivea Cream

In December Nivea sent me this super pretty snow ball or Christmas tree ornament. It had little fake snow inside with a white bow on top. In the snow there was a mini size of Nivea Original Cream. It was one of the cutest gifts ever. Unique and very pretty. Thumbs up for Nivea. I still have it on display on one of my shelves.

Paula's Choice Testers

I've been eyeing Paula's Choice products for a while. Especially their BHA lotions. Before buying any of their products, I ordered some of their testers and I tried them all.

Skin Recovery Enriched Calming Toner and Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner were both non impressive. I didn't find them nearly enough moisturizing and I didn't felt like any of them did much. Yes, none of them irritated my skin, but that was about all.

Skin Perfection 2% BHA Liquid was pretty strong in my opinion. I felt the tingling sensation and it almost felt a bit too harsh for my sensitive skin. 2% BHA Lotion and 1% BHA Lotion were both better. They are more like a white liquid cream version and non of them really irritated me much. I did however see the immediate breakouts after using these BHAs, which was kind of surprising. They say that you're skin starts to cleanse the dirt out of your pores a few days after using the BHAs, but I got little bumps and pimples the second day after I started using them. It was weird, because my skin is usually pretty clear and smooth, but now all the pimples came out at once. I'm not sure if I like it, because I'm not sure if it will really clear out my skin or just keep it bumpy all the time. I also don't like the smell of lotions, it's weird and artificial, but I would probably get used to it, if I bought it.

Silver Metallic Eye Brushes

After I got the Real Techniques inspired metallic face brushes from Ebay, I also decided to purchase another whole set. With it also came eye brushes. They did not impress me as much. The quality is still nice and the bristles are very soft and dense enough, but they are just a bit too big. Especially the biggest all over shade brush. It's way too big for my eyes. Crease brush I like and it fits in the crease or could be great for smoky looks. I also like the eyeliner brush, because it's very short, which means you get more precision with it.

Avon Planet Spa Amazonian Treasures Hydrating Face Mask

Avon had some really nice deals on their Planet Spa Masks and I got myself two new ones. Amazonian Treasures is a really nice berry scented gel like mask, which hydrates the skin. I like it so far.

Avon Planet Spa Herbal Stem Bath Deep Cleansing Clay Face Mask

Herbal Stem Bath mask is a basic clay based mask. This one smells very herbal of cedar and it reminds me of men fragrances. It really cleans the pores and smoothes the skin, so it's another winner in my book.

Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion Tester

I got this offered to me by Nadja. She had two testers and decided to send one to me, after I commented on her post about it. So nice of her. I've tried it about three times now and surprisingly, I really like it. It's very liquid creamy and sheer in pigmentation. It definitely won't cover up your imperfections or even out skin tone. The texture feels almost silicon like to me. It's very smooth and the eyeshadows stay in place all day long. No creasing all through the day. The fact is that in winter eyeshadows stay on me well anyways, so I might give this a try in the warmer days.

Be Creative Make Up Eyeshadow

Lovely Astrid sent me a gift. In the envelope I found this eyeshadow, which she said was a really nice brand of makeup that they have in Belgium. I actually googled it and found it in Austria as well, so I'm surprised we don't have it. The eyeshadow is a very nice neutral peach based shimmery shade. I love it. I've already used it a few times and the pigmentation is great. I especially like to use it with a damp brush to give me a really sparkly effect. Promising brand.

The Body Shop Frosted Plum Hand Cream

It's her favorite scent and I can see why. It smells sweet of plums and the scent is actually pretty unique. You don't see plum scents in skin care too often. The texture is very smooth and it absorbs very quickly. Perfect for some smelly hands on the go.

Yves Rocher Malaysian Coconut Silky Lotion

I got all of the products on the photo as a birthday gift from Sabina. She definitely knows me and I think she got a good look at my Wish List board on Pinterest. This lotion is summer holiday in a bottle. I already have the fragrance and the lotion seemed like a good step forward to my coconut obsession. I was just telling her how many body lotions I have, but there is always a place for coconut. I have to keep this for the summer, it just smells so amazing. The scent fills the whole room after I use it. It's averagely nourishing and would be a nice addition to making the fragrance a bit more long lasting and sickening everyone around you with the coconut smell.

L'Occitane Gentle Toner Enriched With Shea

I've already started using this and I can safely say I love it. The pump is so practical for applying it on the cotton pad and I think one pump is just enough for the whole face. The smell is very subtle and it feels nourishing on the skin. It's also good for sensitive skin, because I didn't experience any irritations with it. Definitely a nice toner.

Yankee Candle Black Coconut Candle

How did I miss this one?! I didn't know Yanke Candles had coconut or black coconut candle. The smell is very unique and exotic. I already burnt it that's how much I like it.

Hanky Tissues

I had to include these. How cute are they? I call them Hanky Panky. Hanky, which is probably because of the handkerchief.

Golden Rose Dream Lips Lipliner in 01

A very nice creamy peachy brown shade. I always find it hard to find peach based brown nude lip liner in our drugstores. Most of them are actually more pink or brown tones. The texture is creamy and not too soft and I like that if you wear it on its own, it gives you a nice warm nude matte lip. 

Face Paint The Story of Makeup by Lisa Eldridge

Lisa Eldridge is my favorite makeup artist. As soon as I saw that she wrote a book about the history of makeup, I knew I'll get it. I didn't have to, because my boyfriend got it for me for my birthday. He hears me talk about Lisa all the time and knows how much I like her, so the book was a no brainer for him. I've read a half of it already and I really like it. History is not one of my favorite topics (in fact I hated it in high school), but I love everything about makeup. The chapters are divided into themes instead of being chronological, which is brilliant. There are sayings of famous people in each chapter and lots of pictures. It's written in a very nice easy way and there are so many interesting facts in it. I'll review the book in a separate post, when I read it.

Avon Mesmerize Black

Avon sent me these two fragrances by them. Avon Mesmerize Black was on my wish list. One of my blog readers actually sent me hers, because she didn't like the scent and now Avon sent me one too. I guess this will be my most used fragrance this year. I really like this sent. It's woody and almost a bit exotic. It's more of a stronger night time version. It has notes of mandarin, yasmine and sandalwood. This is the fragrance for those who like woody stronger exotic scents.

Avon Mesmerize

Black is older version and Mesmerize is the new version in a blue bottle. It's one of the best sweet fruity scents. It has notes of white peach, pink peony and sandalwood. I adore it, because I love sweet scents. White peach is very strong and mixed with sandalwood it makes it sophisticate fruity sweet. If the black one is night version this one is sweet day version. This one is also very long lasting.

Born Pretty Store Lipsticks, Lip Liner and False Eyelashes

I chose a few of Born Pretty Store products for review purposes. The lipsticks are all matte and in fact pretty impressive. I already swatched and tried a few of these. The brown one is very similar to MAC Velvet Teddy in texture and color. I also like the other two shades. Lip crayon seem average to me. I haven't tried the lip liner or false eyelashes yet. The eyelashes seem very soft and well made.

Avon True Colour Perfectly Matte Lipsticks

Avon surprised me with the whole range of their new matte lipsticks. Needles to say I was jumping up and down, when I opened the package. Also, if I try to buy another lipstick, someone please hit me in the head. The range has a huge variety of shades from nudes, trendy browns, lots of pink versionas, reds and even two darker red plumy shades. I actually couldn't wait and swatched them all today and I can say the formula is amazing. Not as matte as with liquid matte products, but definitely matte. It still gives of a very velvet feel and sheen. The formulas differ depending on the shade, but most of them are amazingly pigmented. In don't find them drying, but I'll report on that in a full review after I've tested them more.

Huge thanks to Avon!

Avon Ultra Glimmerstick Lip Liner

Avon also sent me their Glimmerstick lip liners, which look really nice. I like the very thin tip and no sharpening needed. The shades are pretty basic, which means a nice addition to all of your lipsticks for that perfectly lined lip.

Nivea rich nourishing body milk has a unique creamy texture. Water is emulsified in the oil and it contains intensive hydrating substance of almond oil. The oil nourishes skin for 24 hours. This combination should strengthen skin's barrier. After using this milk, the skin is nourished, silky soft and smooth. It also has a nice soothing smell.

The price for 250 ml is around 4.38€ and for 500 ml is around 6.20€. 

The packaging is reminiscent of their original universal cream in a metal pot. It's dark blue plastic and it has a simplistic white design. I like plastic pop up top, which is very secure.

The top is cut diagonally, because you can put it upside down. Genius! We've all had that problem, when your product is on its last legs and you're trying to get out the last bit. What do you do? You turn it upside down and try to find some support to prevent the bottle from falling down. Well Nivea saved us all. No more wasting of product. I will be surprised if other brands don't copy that (maybe they're just fools).

The milk has liquid looking, yet quit thick white consistency. It doesn't move on the skin on its own. You have to work it in. It feels very slippery. It's like you've mixed oil and heavy cream together. Application is very smooth and it glides on. I love this texture. I like thicker products in general. That being said, it's still easy to move, if you massage it in. 

The more you work it in the skin the more it starts to soak, but it still leaves behind very shiny layer. I find that initial texture soaks into the skin after 20 minutes on my skin. After that the skin is still a bit shiny, but not greasy. 

After I use this my skin feels very hydrated and soft. I think it really does a good job of hydrating dry skin. Mine is dry, not super dry where I would have flakes, so I can't speak for that. 

The scent brings me back to my childhood. I think most of my Slovenian readers would agree that Nivea original cream was one of the first products that they used. I can still remember it from my childhood. It's such a unique soft, almost a bit sleepy soothing scent. I love it. 

Good news for all of your with sensitive skin, which mine is as well, I didn't find the scent or ingredients to irritate my skin in any way. That's rare with my skin. I can apply anything on my legs, but when I go further up a lot of products irritate me. Especially heavily scented. This one was good and caused no irritations, so another point for that.

With the package I also got these super cute fluffy white sleep socks. The size is universal and definitely too big for my child like feet, but I think they're made more for someone with average size of 38. Because they are super soft I can make it work for my petite feet as well. I like to wear fuzzy socks in the evening when I'm in my pajama and my feet get cold.  

They have a nice white lace trim around the top and cute white bow at the top center. They're made out of 99% polyester and 1% elastane and are very fluffy and soft. You can buy them at Drogerie Markt, but I'm not sure what the price is.

I don't get very excited about body milks and lotions, because to be fair, I don't find them super innovative or differing from each other. When colder days come, I like to apply body moisturizers at least 4 times a week. Especially after the shower. I love this Nivea Body Milk, because it's the perfect blend of thick cream and oil. I like the greasy feeling on the skin and the smell, which I find soothing. It definitely nourishes and hydrates my dry skin and I also really like the fact that it doesn't irritate my sensitive skin. Highly recommend this one, especially to anyone who has problems with dry skin and who loves original Nivea cream smell.