Shenanigans and whatnot

Hey everyone!

I felt like posting something absolutely random today, so here here!

First off, the one thing I definately didn't like these days, was the hatred in the beauty community here in Greece. There are actual Greek haters! I didn't think hating in that level would exist here too, I've seen a lot of incidents and bad comments in videos and blogs, but they were all in US or UK. It's really sad to see nasty comments for really no reason. Not cool people, not cool.

Another thing I wanted to mention, is a recent Greek TV show episode that very wrongly addressed some Greek beauty youtubers. I didn't catch it, because I never watch tv, but there was a chat on Twitter about it and I certainly wasn't pleased with what I heard. Yes, it was for fun, but the comments made there, were only supposed to make a fool out of the girls and for me they were totally childish! Ahhh, Greek TV... The thing is, I've seen the whole beauty community grow and blossom and at first, I was really angry for them being mocked that way. I also heard that some girls stopped filming videos for that reason and others made their videos private. This is wrong in so many ways!

On a happier note, I saw today that I reached 440 followers here.Woot woot! Also, I'm planning to do another giveaway when my birthday one's ended. I don't know what the prize will be, so feel free to make some suggestions!

I'm also doing a no-buy-April/May thingy, mostly because I have to save money for a huge trip I'm planning. I can't control myself completely, but I can say I haven't splurged these days. I may have a slight tendency to purchase nail polish, but other than that, everything is going great!

The weather is getting better and better, I can feel it's spring at last! My inner self is dancing samba because my skin has behaved so well all this time. No more dryness and flakes, thank god! I've been exercising a lot lately as well, I have so much spare time and I thought the best way to spend it was in the gym. Are you interested in a healthy regime post? Yay or nay?

Oh, and before I forget. I got a rather amusing message about how I don't post any photos of myself here. I'm not overweight as was stated, on the contrary I'm skinny, and I think my level of attractiveness is about average, I guess? I don't really like taking photos of myself, I'm not such a camera person and I don't enjoy camera-whorring. The second reason is, I don't have many presentable ones! I am supremely random when I pose for personal photos, but I found a semi-decent photo of me that was taken about a month or so ago. Here it is!

What's new with you? Feel free to comment whatever you like!

♥

Beauty Elixir

Hey everyone!


Some girls had questions about Beauty Elixir I mentioned on my last post, so I decided to do a full review on it.
I hold this product very dearly om my skincare stash and I really think it's a class on it's own!

The packaging
It comes in a translucent glass spray bottle with a silver plastic cap. I really like the glass exterior, but it's not that travel friendly. It comes in 30 ml and 100 ml sizes. I haven't ever used the 30 ml one. I guess it's a purse size, but mine can't hold on any more, so I haven't bought it!

The actual product
You can smell the scent once you open the cap. The main ingredients are: extracts of grape, essential oil of rosemary, orange blossom and rose extracts, benzoin, myrrh, essential oils of organic balm mint and mint. I can really smell the grapes and the distinct kick of mint. I don't have a professional nose for scents after all! The thing I can say for sure is that it's really refreshing and moisturizing. It minimises the pores, helps with dehydrated skin and has even helped with some pimples I have that time of the month.


How I use it
Now, this can be used in different occassions. You have to shake it first and then spray it on your face, you can see some oils floating on the surface and these have to be incorporated. I use it after I've applied moisturiser, as a final boost on my daily skin care. You can also use it after you've finished all your make up, to give an extra radiance and glow. In that way, it's like Fix+ by MAC, but I consider this is better. There is a similar water/lotion spray by The Body Shop, with a huge difference in price that does the same as Fix+ and Beauty Elixir in terms of a finishing makeup product. I can't say I would choose anything else than Beauty Elixir, simply because I like using it for its skincare properties. And of course, you can use it whenever you like, just for a burst of hydration!
I store it in the fridge in the summer, Athens is boiling hot then! As this is completely organic and natural, I can't let it outside.


This is my fourth bottle and each one has lasted me a long time. It retails for €36 on feelunique. In France it's a lot cheaper, but any local pharmacies didn't sell Caudalie products, so I order it online. Today though, the lovely Sophia from Carousel Coral told me she had seen it in several ones in the past here in Athens and sent me this link. As you can see, you can find it less than the feelunique price in Greece, so ask your local pharmacy if they have any Caudalie products.


I can see why it has maintained such popularity, it's a must have and a staple for me!

Have you tried Beauty Elixir?

♥

My dry skin: Everyday routine

Hey everyone!

This winter treated me really badly. My skin went totally nuts because of the cold. I had been using products that are very gentle to my skin, but the past months I noticed they didn't provide me the moisture I needed. My skin went flaky and was really dehydrated so, I decided to change some of the products I used.

A little parenthesis here, for a great makeup remover I should mention. I really like Bioderma Sensibio (or Crealine) for removing my makeup, especially my eye makeup. Most of you probably know it, it's a makeup artists' favourite and many beauty bloggers rave about it. What more can I say that hasn't already been said about it? I love it too and I've been using it almost exclusively for six months or so. I don't really like makeup wipes and oils, they are greasy and always leave a residue. I also use Sanoflore's Botanical cleansing milk, but I find the Bioderma one comes more in handy. There's a micelar water I also really like by Vichy, but I think Bioderma's is slightly better, because it's more lightweight.

When I was searching for new products, I watched a video by Kandee Johnson and her everyday routine. She's been using a Burt's Bees scrub every single day for a decade. I like her skin and I love Burt's Bees, so I ordered it.

The Burt's Bees Citrus facial scrub comes in a glass jar. It's a brown, really thick scrub. I like the scent, to me it's cinnamon, I can't really smell the citrus!

I take a really small amount from the jar, add 1-2 drops of water and this becomes a nice paste. I use this every night, after I've removed all my makeup (when I wake up, I only rinse my face with water).


Before I moisturise, I use the SOS Thirst Quenching serum by Caudalie. It's a nice serum, great for that extra oomph of hydration you need when the weather is cold. I absolutely love this product, but I think in the summer, my skin won't need it that much.

I love La Roche Posay for moisturising my skin. I've used their products for most of my adult life, but this winter my beloved Hydraphase Intense Legere didn't satisfy my skin so much. However, for the last 2 weeks, I started using it again. It's spring time and it's not cold anymore!

Up until 2 weeks ago, I used Vichy's Aqualia Thermal. It was harcore. Really hydrating, amazing scent and no flaky skin at all. Now, that it's warmer though, I feel that it clogs my pores. But suberb moisturizer! Well done Vichy, well done.

Beauty Elixir is a little guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, it's ultra pricey and I don't really need it, but seriously I love it and I can't live without it. I use it after I've moisturized, 2-3 spritzes do the job. I rarely use it to set my makeup, but it works wonders for my skin. It's not a product I started using in winter, I bought in 2009 for the first time on a trip to Paris. I watched many videos on youtube recently that mentioned it, and also heard that's a Victoria Beckham favourite. Who knew?

I don't use any eye cream. I know, you'll say I must use one, but it's a pain in the bum. Also, I haven't found a decent one that moisturizes well and vanishes my dark circles. I've used vitamin E a few nights of the week on my eye area for some years now. I use the standard ones that come in gel capsules, they are really cheap and you can find them in any pharmacy or chemist's.

What is your everyday skincare routine? Do you have any favourite products?

♥ 

Beating Chanel?

Hey everyone!

I am a sucker for perfumes. I use them constantly and I like to smell good all the time! I also have a thing for Lancome perfumes, as you probably have noticed, but through my years of exploring the wonderful world of incredibly smelling potions, I have tried A LOT of brands and have a few likes and dislikes.

I tried Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle about 4-5 years ago, when a friend at university was raving about it, so I did purchase a bottle just to try out. I liked it and I used it all up, but it wasn't totally me, so I didn't buy it again. Chanel is quite expensive as well, as most high end brands naturally. That factor, made it a bigger no-no.

So, last year, I bumped up to a research about a comparison of Coco Mademoiselle to a then newly released perfume by Madame Glamour, which is a Lidl brand (!!!), called Suddenly. This research showed that women didn't notice any major difference in smell and 91% of them preferred Suddenly to Coco Mademoiselle. They had a ginormous difference in price as well. I didn't even know Lidl produced perfumes!

I guess I forgot all about it then, but a few weeks ago, I read a review about that perfume again. My inner beauty junkie made a mental note that exact moment. I hadn't been in a Lidl store for more than 5 years, but today I had some shopping to do in an area that there's one, so I went in and bought Suddenly.

I have to say here, that I am kind of a snob when perfumes are regarded. I have never bought a low end brand perfume or go to some perfume store and make a dupe of an expensive one. This was a total one-off and a big step for me.

So, what about Suddenly?

Let's start with the price. This cost me 5€ only. Where I'm coming from, this price is mind blowing for a bottle of perfume. I thought I was buying gum or chips.


The packaging. Pretty simple. The glass bottle has an uninteresting shape and the lid is white and plastic which looks pretty cheap in my opinion, but other than that, the packaging as a whole isn't half bad! I know when they were making this, they were not thinking to spend a pile of money for the packaging. After all, it's a cheap perfume.


The smell. Now this took me completely by surprise. The scent is very similar, if not identical, to Coco Mademoiselle's. I can describe it as a combination of vanilla and flowers, just in case you haven't tried the Chanel one. Also, I find Suddenly is not as rich and overwhelming as Coco Mademoiselle, but I think this is a good thing, at least for me. After 6 hours of wearing it though, I can still smell it on my clothes and my wrists.


My mom became my guinea pig for the day, I told her to try it out as well. She's a perfume junkie like me, if not even worse (as it goes, it runs in the family). She had worn Coco Mademoiselle for 2 years, and told me she didn't notice any difference and liked both equally.


So, Suddenly takes the thumbs up from me! I will wear it, probably finish off the bottle and even buy a new one.


Speaking of perfume dupes, I saw Elena from http://elenasfinds.blogspot.com/ did a post a week ago on them, you can find it here. I think I'm going to try some of them as well, now that my perfume-dupe cherry is popped!

Do you know any good perfume dupes?

♥