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.

Yves Saint Laurent Manifesto 

I got this as a mini tester once and fell in love. I also had Refan version of this and it was great. But since I love collecting perfume bottles, I would love to have original. 

Fragrantica describes it as vanilla, balsamic and woody. Base notes of this fragrance are tonka bean, vanilla, sandalwood and cedar. In the middle are jasmine sambac and lily of the valley. On top are green notes, black currant and bergamot.

Base notes are right up my alley, but everything on the top is not typical for me. It's one of those vanilla powdery scents. I find it very sophisticated and refined. It's also not very strong, rather subtle.

Guerlain L'Instant Magic

This is one of those perfumes that you smell in the store, realize you don't have enough money for it and it goes on your wish list as the first thing you'll buy when you get a real job. It will happen, one day. 

It's powdery, floral and woody scent. Again it has one of my favorite bases: white musk, cedar, vanilla, almond, sandalwood and iris. In the middle are rose, freesia, violet, carnation and mimosa. On the top you'll find lemon, bergamot and anise. 

I can't describe it in any other way as a very sophisticated sweet powdery scent. It just gets better with time and it's like a luxury body cream. 

Avon Mesmerize Black

I love this one because of the packaging. I'm not gonna deny it. But when I tried it, I also really liked the smell of it.

It's a woody, white floral and balsamic scent. The base is made of Australian sandalwood, in the middle is jasmine and on top it's mandarin orange. Avon is rather shy with describing all their notes, so you'll just have to do with my description.

I have tester of it. At first is smells very fruity mandarin like and later becomes more stronger deeper, because of the sandalwood. I really like fruity and deep sandalwood combination. Black packaging with gold writing looks so elegant. 

They actually have another version coming out in the near future - Avon Mesmerize Blue, which has notes of white peach, pink peony and sandalwood. I have a feeling this one might just as good, but maybe a bit more floral. 

Avon Far Away Gold

My mom got this for her and  let's just say I might be stealing hers every now and than. Far Away is the line that attracts me. Their Far Away Exotic was one of my ultimate favorite scents. Whenever I wore this I always got compliments and the staying power was just insane. Unfortunately they've discontinued it. Darn it!

This one is described as vanilla, sweet and yellow flower scent. In it you'll find notes like coconut, amber, ylang-ylang, vanilla, jasmine, orange and peach. 

It's one of those classic vanilla sweet scents with a tad of elegance. A bit punchy in a way. I almost think it suits my mom better, because it's more "grown up".

Britney Spears Fantasy Intimated Edition 

Britney Spears Fantasy collection is again one of those scents that I'll probably like most of them. I already own Fantasy, Midnight Fantasy and Hidden Fantasy. 

It's described as musky, vanilla and sweet. Ahhh my favorite words. The base is benzoin, white musk, heliotrope and vanilla. In the middle are brown sugar, ozonic notes, genet, jasmine and lily of the valley. The top notes are violet leaf, Italian lemon and litchi.

I haven't actually tried it in person, so I have no idea how it smells. But brown sugar, vanilla and musk? I think this will be another sweet gourmet scent and I can bet that I would love it. I still haven't seen it in Slovenian stores, although you can find it online. 

Beyonce Heat Kissed

Another collection that I already love two scents from. I love the original Heat and Midnight Heat. Beyonce did some other versions in between that didn't really sparke my interest. The latest one is Heat Kissed and I fell in love with it in the store.

It's a tropical, fruity and vanilla scent. The base is made of vanilla, patchouli and sandalwood. In the middle is Morrocan rose, jasmine sambac and orchid. On top is mango, litchi and pitahaya. 

It's a very vanilla floral sweet scent. I sprayed it on in the store and it got really vanilla sandalwood like through the day. One of those stronger sweet scents. 

Aquolina Gold Sugar

Mateja got me hooked on their Pink Sugar version, but I think it might even be too sweet for my liking. I was browsing through Pinterest and found Gold Sugar version and I want it really bad.

I want it, because it's described as sweet, milky and citrus. The base consists of whipped cream, Australian sandalwood and musk. In the middle is orange blossom, coconut and creme brulee. On top is orange, mandarin orange and neroli.

Again one of the fragrances, I haven't tried in person. Whipped cream, musk, sandalwood, coconut and creme brulee?! Are you kidding me.. I want to eat it and bathe in it. This must be again one of those super sweet gourmet scents and I love anything that smells of good sweet desserts. Sold! 

The Body Shop Coconut

Clearly I don't need another coconut scent, since I have Yves Rocher Malaysian Coconut, but this still got on my wish list. You can never have too much coconut, right?!

It's coconut, tropical and sweet scent. The only ingredient that Fragrantica knows of is coconut, so I assume is very similar to Yves Rocher version.

I also haven't tried this in person, but it was just stuck on my wish list, so I included it here. I wouldn't mind having one more coconut scent. Not at all. 

If you want to order the perfumes online, I recommend you to check out Fragrance Direct, Feelunique, All Beauty and Look Fantastic, 

For Slovenian readers you can buy these perfumes at Spletična and Salma.

If you're ever wondering about the notes in your perfume, go to Fragrantica. Their base has every possible scent with description and notes. You can also search for perfumes that have notes that you like. I do this a lot. That's why my wish list is never ending. What are some of perfumes on your wish list? I would love to know, what is you type :).

Starting with Kiko, I knew I had to get some of their nail polishes. I only have one nail polish from Kiko and that one impressed me so much that I wanted some more. I got this very bright yellow Quick Dry nail polish in the shade 853. It actually has a lime green shine to it. It's very bright, perfect for spring and summer. I also got one of their regular nail polish line in the shade 322, which is a really nice light milky brown shade. I also really wanted to get their 3 in 1 Mat top coat. I haven't tried it yet, so I can't report on it.

Kiko Quick Dry Nail Lacquer 853 Pearly Light Yellow, 3.90€

Kiko Nail Lacquer 322 Caffe Latte, 1.00€

Kiko 3 in 1 Mat Fortifying Fast Dry Base Coat, Top Coat, 4.90€

I think all of us got at least one shade of their Long Lasting Stick 8 Hour No-transfer Eyeshadow. I got the shades 06 and 21. 06 is taupe bronze brown, it's actually very similar Maybelline Color Tattoo in 35 On and On Bronze. 21 is an interesting shade. It's a mixture of peach and pink. It looks very bright on the eyes. I won't go too much into detail, because reviews of these products will be in another post soon.

Kiko Long Lasting Stick 8 Hour No-transfer Eyeshadow 06 Golden Brown, 6.90€

Kiko Long Lasting Stick 8 Hour No-transfer Eyeshadow 21 Passion Fruit, 6.90€

Mateja was so nice to actually send me some huge testers of some of the products that she has and I've mentioned in the past that I would like to try. You gotta give it to her, she did not hold back when pouring these products for me. Seriously over-sized testers! :) 

I've only tried this Dove Purely Pampering Oil with Shea Butter and Vanilla once on my hand. It smells so lovely fruity sweet. The oil gives a beautiful subtle shine to the skin. I don't find it very greasy, but my skin is very dry these days. I think this will be amazing for summer. The shimmer in it is so small, that I don't even detect it on my skin. It just gives a really pretty sheen. 

I've already tried The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil a few times and I love it. The smell is so nice and comforting. The oils works great, removes all of my makeup and makes my skin feel very soft and nourished. I really like it and will sure get it, when I have the chance. 

Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover Camouflage Makeup for Face and Body, it's a good coverage foundation. I know Mateja uses this as a concealer and I tried it for that too. It works great. It is a very good coverage and the shade seems to match my skin tone really good. It's especially nice for under the eyes, since it is so light. I only used it on my face once and I loved it. Would need to try it more, to report on it.

She also included MAC Vanilla pigment, which surprised me. I always thought it has an obvious pink shine to it, but it's actually very light white golden shade, that has a pink and gold shine to it. It's just such an amazing mixture of shades. It's now on my wishlist.

Aquolina Pink Sugar perfume is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! This was the first thing I noticed when I opened the package. It didn't spill or anything, but the smell was somehow present in there. It's such a sweet vanilla caramel scent, that will make you wanna eat it. I've decided, I definitely need to get this one. It's just so sweet and so good.

I've had the old version of Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation and since I used it up, I decided I need to get the new one. Lately, my skin has been very dry and this foundation is the only one that looks really good on me and also moisturizes it. I have to say, I think the new formulation is darker. Don't know why, but it just seems way too dark. I haven't notice any other differences, but then again, I haven't been using it for a long time.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation 51 Light Vanilla, 14.99€

As I've mentioned before, I finally decided to splurge on Depend Gellack nail polish system and I admit, my heart felt a little uneasy spending that much money for a starter kit, but it is worth it. I also had a coupon for 30% off, so it was a bit cheaper. Starter kit includes their before and after cleanser, base coat and top coat. It also has UV light, which helps to dry the nail polish faster and some nail file and those cuticle wooden remover. I think it's worth for the UV light if nothing else, because I dry my other nail polishes underneath it and it really helps to make nail polish dry faster. I'll have to use it more, to decide if it also prolongs the wear of nail polish.

Depend Gellack Starter Kit, 46.99€

I only bought one shade of nail polish and that was black. It's my most versatile shade and I decided I'll just paint something on black to make it more interesting. I'm sure I'll expend my color range in the future. I wanted to add some other brands of nail polish, which I can buy on Ebay for a very cheap price.

Gellack Depend 039 Black as Night, 6.99€

And since I was at it, I also got their Remover Oil, because I already made my nails with this kit once and I did have a bit of trouble getting the nail polish off. It left my nail surface a bit uneven, which is not what I want in the future. 

Depend Gellack Remover Oil, 2.99€

My coworker has this system and she landed it to me once, so that I could try it before I bought it. My nails stayed nice for about a week. I think the wear time might get longer with more uses. I love changing up the nail polish colors and all that, but sometimes I just don't have time to reapply the nail polish. This will come in handy for when I want my nails to stay pretty for a longer time. Think summer vacation, long working weeks and such.