The Clarisonic Mia

Intro-statement: A lot of text, I know, but it just needs some explanation.. :-)

I was lucky enough to persuade Santa to get me the Clarisonic Mia and so it was there under the christmas tree waiting to be used.

For the ones who don't know what this is: The Clarisonic is a brush that cleanses your face with sonic technology! This sonic technology cleans your face up to 7 times better than manual cleansing and that in a gentle way. It also minimises your pores and lets your skin absorb the products you use afterwards way much better. The producers also say it reduces fine lines and wrinkles. Nevertheless, I can't say if this is true, cause fortunately this isn't quite a problem yet.

What I can say is, that it makes pores smaller and your face smoother and I do have the impression that my skin is really able to absorb my cream now, like it drinks it. *g*For fairness sake I have to admit that my skin is fairly flawless. I never really had troubles with pimples or big pores (thank god), but it is unbelievably sensitive, as one can see from my Volcanic Ash Exfoliator post.

I don't wanna complain. Not at all. Still, it bothered me that I couldn't pamper my face, because as always I go for perfection and it just felt like ignoring my skin. This Clarisonic is gentle enough for me to use it, so everyone can use it! But now to some pictures and a how to use guide.

Oh, one thing before starting the picture marathon: The Clarisonic comes in 3 sizes, the "mia" is the "baby" of the Clarisonics. It has only one speed setting, but other than that it does exactly the same, also the brush heads are the same size as the other ones! I have the Mia, cause I only need one speed, that's enough for me and it's the cheapest.

Here is a comparison chart from the US website:


I know I know it is super expensive, but I really think it is worth it. This isn't something that gets bad after some months and the brush heads are replaceable, you will have it for forever. It's like an electrical toothbrush for your face and your face is a very important part of you.

But now, finally, I show you my baby.

That's the packaging it came in. I took this picture the night I got it. :-)


And now a closer look:


No, those bite marks aren't standard.. They are this little monsters fault:


And he doesn't even feel guilty.. How this happened? The Clarisonic is waterproof, which is super cool and so you can take it with you in the shower and use it there. That's what I did and I didn't lay it back, because I wanted to use it again the next day and during the night Kronos, that's his name, decided to take the Clarisonic and my cleanser out of the shower and try how they taste... A proof for the quality - it still works without any problems and is chargeable.. I'm really happy my set had two brush heads in it..

Well, so now you know why and so let's act like those marks aren't there. I try to do that every day as much as I can..


That's the other side and you can see how "small" and handy it is. :-)


Close up of the brush head.


My set, it's from Sephora, contained two brush heads (the second one (now Kronoses) is only in the pic for you), a little bag and the charger. This is how it is charged:


It's magnetic and supereasy to use. The charger works everywhere, nevertheless, you have to attach it to your local power outlet.


I'n my case (America to Austria) it looks like that:

:-)

And just for you: a fake picture of usage lol


It does its sonic thing exactly for one minute and then it stops. You move it around your face in circular motions. So you wet your face, put your cleanser of choice on the brush or your face and then start. It's superfast and makes such a difference.

One thing though: you can't get it here. It is available in the US and they just started selling it in the UK, but they don't have the "mia" yet. I took the slightly detour: I transferred the 149$ to a lovely friend of mine who lives in America and she bought it for me and sent it to me and I gave it to Santa to give it back to me on christmas.. *g*

Long story short: It is pricy and kinda hard to get. Still, I think it is worth it. It truly can improve your skin and make a difference. Hope you enjoyed the post. I know it was long, but I wanted to do it right for you guys. :-)

Love,
Guinevere

Essence Moonlight Collection

Essence cosmetics is a german drugstore brand with pretty amazing stuff. The have a permanent product line and every month limited editions as well.

I became a true Essence fan with every new product I bought and when I saw the "Moonlight Collection" which is obviously inspired by The Twilight Saga which I'm absolutely addicted to, I just had to buy the whole collection.

I payed for the whole collection (14 items) about 28€ which is nothing when you're used to MAC prices.. In general their stuff rarely costs more than 2€ pro product which is truly great!!!

So here it is:


Beautiful isn't it?! I love it. So as you can see there are 3 polishes, 3 eyeshadows, 1 face shimmer powder, 1 gorgeous brush, 2 lipglosses, 2 liquid liners and a glitter set.

I thought you might like some swatches, so here they are:

Let's start with the nail polishes:


They provide a nice coverage after two coats and last well. :-)

Let's move on to the eyeshadows. As you can see they have an adorable pattern. I really have troubles using them, I don't wanna destroy the nice trees...


Swatchwise the colour pay off is decent, it could be better, but it's sublte and nice, that's fine, even more considering the cheap price and the fact that not everyone loves such intense colours. You can also see a swatch of the shimmer powder and here is the product photo:


A very useable, pretty colour.

I am extraordinarily happy with the brush, Essence doesn't have brushes in their permanent line and the brush is soooo soft and it cost about 2,45€! I almost thought about buying another one.

And I mean look at it, isn't it sweet with the pink bristles!

The lipglosses are a bit a different story, they look very nice and cute, but especially the pink one has no colour at all. Nevertheless, they feel nice on the lips and aren't sticky at all.


The liners also have a very decent pay off, but with a bit extra effort, the result is good as well. And again, one just has to keep the price in mind.


Last, but not least the glitter trio. They are so lovely and the colours look exactly like they look in the packaging so I did no swatches, knowing that it would be a bit pointless.


So I hope you enjoyed the pictures. If Essence is sold near you, you definetely should check them out. The products are great and the price is really unbeatable. For all my american readers, I'm afraid it is only sold in Europe, but I hope you still could enjoy this post.

Love,
Guinevere

OPI nail polish - brush size

Hey everyone,

I thought I do a little post about OPI. I only have two Opi nail polishes, for now, and one of those two is "Mod About You" and it is a very pretty rose, so I wanted to show you this colour.

Nice isn't it? But that's not the only reason I wanted to talk about OPI. Opi polishes have an exclusive brush - the ProWide Brush.


But I was afraid that only showing you this brush wouldn't be much of a reference, so I made a little polish brush comparison with brands I think all of you know. :-)


Pretty wide the OPI one, isn't it? First I wasn't superexcited about it, used as I was to the normal sized brushes, but after several attempts it definitely grew on me.

So for the ones, who are hesitant, don't be afraid, the brush is actually really nice!

A little side note: I always have to smile a little bit when I read or hear OPI, in my mother tongue, german, Opi means grandpa. :-) Would be interesting to know how the founders of OPI came up with the name...

Love,
Guinevere

MAC stores around the globe

Just a quick post of some MAC stores I've been. I have been in more of course, but I forgot to make photos *gg* Nevertheless, I thought - why not share the one's I have with you.

My favorite store in Vienna


Florida Pro Store - loved it!!!!!

Paris Pro Store :-)
Hope you like them, would be cool to see some pics you have taken. :-)

Love,
Guinevere

The legendary Volcanic Ash Exfoliator by MAC

Every beauty and make up nerd out there knows of what product I'm talking right now, for the not so overly familiar make up guys out there a short explanation:

The Volcanic Ash Exfoliator is a peeling that has to/can be used once week for exfoliating your skin, which means getting the old, dead skin cells off your face and clean it deeply.

As you can see it is deeply black, I overexposed it a bit to make the sugar crystals more viewable, these are the ones that take care of the peeling part. After massaging the peeling cream one minute or so into your skin, the crystals will dissolve into a cream mixed with the ash and it is supposed to moisture the skin and give the last polish. So much for the theory.

There's a huge hype about this product, which I only understand to a certain degree. It only comes out with a limited edition anytime during the year and you have to be really quick to get one. At least in Austria and America it is that way, when I recently visited Paris I've learnt that those people obviously have more important things to do than buying a MAC peeling and that after half a month still plenty of them were in stock.

I bought one when it came out here, part of me wanted to know how it is when continually applied over several months and I already got a tester from a friend of mine and I kinda liked it. The smell is quite unique, at the beginning it smelled like sweet dirt, but after a view times one gets used to that and likes it.

Because my honey and I moved to a new appartment I had not much time for my Make Up and beauty products and yesterday I dug it out from one of my beauty bags and used it. It was a nice feeling, but then I came out the shower and felt that my face got hotter and hotter and I looked in the mirror....

I planned to show you guys my face for the first time when it was perfectly done, flawless make up and all that crap, but I looked so funny/scary that I just had to take pictures and I wanna share them with you, so here they are.


Quite red isn't it? I even have to add that the artificial light doesn't do them justice at all, it was definetely worse! I have very sensitive skin and that was what came out after one short usage. I don't really blame the exfoliator, the redid the formula and maybe this changed my reaction to it. I probably just have to use half a bean size and not a whole bean size in the future, but this can happen when you use products that are too harsh for you. I think it looks quite funny, it didn't hurt really, it was more a burning feeling, my skin screaming for moisture and that was what I did. :-)


I used a creme that was pretty popular in the 70's in Germany and Austria called Creme 21.
I like it way more than the Nivea Creme, it has a similar consistency, but it smells orangy and fruity. I'm a fruit girl.

I applied a lot, really really much, as the pictures show, to give my skin as much as she probably would need. I use this medthod everytime I feel my skin needs a real moisture kick. That's my go-to cream, you can order it online via:

http://www.creme21.com/online-shop/website/home.html or buy it at "Müller" - a drugstore in Vienna.

I hope you enjoyed the post, weren't to disgusted of my face and stay tuned for the upcoming posts.

Love,
Guinevere

Red Nail Polish Layering

What an fancy headline I know.. But, honestly, how else should I call it? *g*

I played a bit with my polishes and layered Eyeko's Saucy Red Polish with Gosh's Rainbow. That was the order:

A base coat, not a special one, just one that claims to help the nails growing. :-) Then two coats of the Saucy Red and after that dried a little bit one coat of Rainbow. When it comes to holographic or glittery polishes I very much prefer using drying drops instead of a top coat. Top coats can falsify sometimes or even dilute the colour.

And this was the result:

I really liked it. It sparkeled wonderfully in the sun and gave the red a much more special touch.
Please be kind - I know my nails and culticles are far from perfect, but I have to work with what I have and well it's about the polish anyway.

Hope you enjoyed.

Love,
Guinevere

Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil

Hello lovely readers,

This is a post I wanted to do for ages, but actually never found the time, so here it is.

The Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil.

This is without a doubt the best make up remover you will ever find! It really is, really, I can't even say how awesome it is.


That's how they look like. They have several formulas, designed for different skin types. They are available in 150ml and 450ml, it starts with 32$ for the small one and goes up to 72$ for the big one. I know, I know - that's a lot for a make up remover, but it's so worth it and it lasts forever as well, cause you need such tiny amounts.

I was on the hunt for a good make up remover for soooo long and this is the make up remover heaven, it doesn't get any better.

At the moment they have special editions as well, which are the normal cleansing oils in super cool packaging. Here you can see them:


I have this one:
It's the one designed for dry skin. They all have a subtle, nice smell. You can go to their homepage: http://www.shuuemura-usa.com and read the different descriptions for each skin type, if you're too lazy for that or still unsure you can write me and I'll help you with finding the right one.

And that is how you use it:

It's soo simple and quick. Your skin feels moistured at the end and even the most waterproof mascara goes away with gentle pressure. I once tried using make up remover wipes again for traveling and it felt like ripping my lashes and skin off...

Forget everything else you've ever used, also the MAC cleanse off oil. I tried it and it's not even remotely as awesome.

Well, and here is the small, but quite annoying catch: it's not everywhere available... If you're living in America, you're as always lucky and here is a list of the countries where you can get it as well:


If you don't live in one of those, which I don't as well, you should grab one on your next holiday or beg some distant relatives to send you one. I bought mine when I was in Scotland.

So I hope you all enjoyed this post and think about it, cause trust me, you won't regret it.

Love,
Guinevere

By the way, I took these pics from their official homepage, no infringement intended!

Eyeko polishmania

It might be obvious by now that I loooove nail polishes and when I saw the new polishes Eyeko is selling I couldn't resist. Especially when they offered the set with all of them for 10 pounds.

There are 5 new shades, I made a picture without and one with flash. The colour is more accurate on the first photo, but in the one with the flash you see more of the goregousness of Cosmic and Indigo polish.
Cosmic polish, Indigo polish, Purple polish, Lilac polish and Nude polish.

And here swatches:

How gorgeous are they?!!!

They are all very pretty and Cosmic and Indigo Polish are quite unique. I definitely would recommend them. 3 usual shades and two special shades for 10 pounds with free shipping worldwide is quite a deal. :-)

Hope you liked them!

Love,
Guinevere

H&M haul

It feels like ages since my last post, but I just moved to a new place and there simply was no time for posting. But I'm back with a little haul. :-)

I bought some sheets and towels from H&M and I came across this sweet Hello Kitty collection for just a few euros each, so I decided - what the hell - buy them.

They sold two colours and I bought them both, here some pictures:

A very intensive black and a nice dark purple. I was surprised by how pretty they are. They apply nice and evenly. And with two coats the colour was pretty opaque. So thumbs up for these polishes! :-)

I also bought the two eyeshadow trios they offered:

I thought they were very pretty and again H&M didn't disappoint me. With a good eyeshadow base the stay put the whole day. The colour pay off is a bit decent, but that's okay. Makes them more wearable. :-)

One thing though - the fall out while working with a brush is much. I took a picture.
So you really have to tap off any extra from your brush!

Other than that I'm very happy with my purchase and especially for that price.

If you want swatches let me know in the comments. I hadn't time to take some, I made the pictures in our old apartment and I just found time to unpack my Make Up in the new one.

So if you think about buying them, do it. :-)


Love,
Guinevere