Review: Elf High Definition Powder

I love translucent powders and always keep looking for cheaper alternatives to my favorites which are by Mac and Makeup Forever. So I thought 'why not try the Elf one?!' - couldn't possibly get cheaper than that, right?! I think it's $3 in the US, I ordered mine off the Swiss website so it was a tad bit more but still much cheaper than most that are available at the drugstore.

I did not really like the packaging to begin with since it was super bulky and I once made the mistake of not holding on to the clear insert that holds back the powder and so it came off and I had a bit of a powdery mess. So a few points deducted for that.

The powder itself is not great either. It does its job fairly okay but it is so not finely milled meaning that when you put the brush in it you have to tap off a lot to make it look somewhat natural. Now, using loose products already isn't a quick process since you have to be rather careful with it and if you also have to be careful not to use the larger bits of powder then that's just too much work for me. Especially since it still looks somewhat powdery afterwards.

So, I'm gonna say that I do not recommend the powder for the reasons stated above and am therefore only giving it 1/10 points since it can still work but not well.

Anybody have any recommendations for good cheap powders? loose or pressed?

Have a nice weekend everyone!

-Natalie

Nars Laguna Bronzer

I love using bronzer and think I can safely say that I would even choose bronzer over blush if I had to (not that I do). It just warms up my face, gives it life and dimension. This is really all I want from a bronzer.

I adore the Nars bronzer in the shade "Laguna" as much as everybody else. It does exactly what I want (see above) and has a great color as well. It's natural but I can also pack on more if I want more contouring. Yes, I use it for slight contouring as well. It's really that versatile. It's almost matte but has somewhat of a sheen or even slight shimmer if you look at it in the pan. I apply it with my Mac 134 brush for everyday use and very rarely with an angled brush to contour.

The only thing that kind of bothers me about it is that it is slightly powdery, meaning that a lot of product is wasted. It's not powdery on my face but in the pan you can see the mess your brush left behind. And especially once I hit pan, it gets rather tricky since there are chunks that just fall off and can hardly be used anymore.

I can ignore the powdery thing but what really makes my decision of repurchasing it is that there are so many other more affordable bronzers out there today so why would I spend $36 at Sephora if I can get the NYC bronzer in "Sunny" for $3 at the drugstore which performs equally as good!?

So, conclusion: 8/10 points -> one point deducted for powderiness (is that even a word?!) and one for the substitution factor.

What is your favorite bronzer? Any recommendations?

Happy sunday!

-Natalie

One more try..

So I have again been gone for a while as I've been busy with school mostly but life in general. I have been in the mood to use my blog again and post some things. Especially, since I've still been taking pictures of every product I finished up in the past months or even years by now. Therefore, my blog is going to be lots of product reviews and maybe also other reviews, more travel related posts and also other topics such as maybe TV show obsessions and other random things I like and maybe you reading this blog might enjoy as well :)

All right, so I hope y'all are doing great and if you have any questions, comments or requests just leave them below this post!

xxx
natalie

PS: the photo is from when I was in Philly last summer :) the magic gardens are such a cool place!

Review: Burt's Bees Hand Salve

I have had this thing for quite a long time and it's just always been in my nail drawer and I therefore never really used it so I put it in my night stand and well, long story short, I used it up yesterday.

I once bought a travel set from http://feelunique.com (I think it was this one: http://row.feelunique.com/p/Burts-Bees-Essential-Burts-Bees-Kit ) where this hand salve was included, so there is no individual prize for the small one, however it is sold in the regular size on the site for around $15.

I used the salve for my cuticles before going to bed especially after just having done my nails but also other nights.

The salve pretty much has the consistency you would imagine a salve to have so it's kind of an oily version of vaseline (the only comparison I could think of). I loved how it felt on my cuticles and the scent is also very nice.

I do however feel that something like this that will moisturize your cuticles can also be found in multiple other products. For example, I have a shea butter lip balm thingy on my table (in order to use it up) which I also sometimes use for my cuticles. And of course I also have regular cuticle oil which also does the same thing.

Conclusion: 9/10 points because of effectiveness and scent, however definitely not a unique product that couldn't be replicated by many others.