Korres magazine gift sets photos & swatches.

Marie Claire Greece's December 2010 issue comes with a gift set featuring two full size Korres products. There are three different kinds: a lip liner & lipstick, mascara & eye liner, or eye shadow & eye liner. I ended up grabbing two shadow & liner sets.

The packaging's nice, sturdy cardboard.

My first duo consists of Smooth Cedar Wood Pencil in 12 Green White (though the Greek name for it is Light Green :-/) and Sunflower & Evening Primrose Long-Wearing Eyeshadow in 66 Pink.

The eye shadow packaging reminds me of Laura Mercier shadows, and so does the shade actually, I'll post swatches below so you can see whether you agree.

I think they packaged these randomly 'cause while both shades are lovely, I think that one would have to be fairly creative with their make-up to wear these together.

The second set consists of Soft Eyeliner Pencil in 2S White and Shimmering Eyeshadow in 46S Olive Green.

I own a lot of eye make-up, but white liner's a staple for me. Looking forward to trying out my new white pencil ;D.

Finally, here are two swatch pics.

Daylight:

Flash:

The shadows are sheeny and slightly metallic; the liners are pastel, pigmented and very pretty :).

I hope the swatches have helped and/or are nice to look at XD. Thanks for reading :).

Swap with Thiamere (and look featuring the products) & swatches of all my Mary Kay products as requested.

*Disclaimer: New camera, still getting used to how it works, which places to photograph at, etc. so pictures may look a bit different from my usual lighting. Sorry about that, I'm sorting it out as we go ;).

So, Thiamere has finally received the stuff I sent her :D (you can see it here if you'd like), and now I can post up my stuff too :).

How did this swap come about? Well, she left me a comment here saying how much she loved my Victoria's Secret Mosaic Highlighter, and I (knowing what it feels like to have a product you really want unavailable in one's country) offered to send it to her :). But she was so nice and offered me some things from her collection that she didn't really use - and so we had a swap ^_^.

Here's what she's sent me :).

*A note ^_^.
*A metallic pouch :).
*Hair elastics for my sister (who was so happy to receive something sent to her & a bit surprised to be known around the blogosphere, lol).
*Rose paper soap :).
*Careline (I love this brand :D) pigments in Vanilla White and Moist Green. These are amazingly metallic when used wet, and still beautiful when dry :).
*An Elianto 3D Eyeshadow Cube in Gold Brown. Which isn't gold brown >:-). (I'll post a look below.)
*Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1.
*A mini Sally Hansen lip plumping gloss.
*Everyday Minerals eye shadow minis in Matinee and After Party.
*Wet & Wild Precious Metals lipstick in Gold Rush. I'm so happy to have this 'cause word has it that this is a dupe of MAC Blonde On Blonde ;). I don't own that, but I'd like to - though for now I have this ;D. Yay ^_^!
*NYX Lip Gloss With Mega Shine in Burgundy.
*NYX Fruit Lip Gloss in Strawberry.

I've worn most of these products already, and I love everything. Thank you Thiamere ^_^!!!

Here are the close-ups...

I made up a look featuring some of these products today. This is the first one - I'll do a look with the rest too ;).

(See what I mean about the camera? But I promise I'll get used to it and take nicer and clearer pictures very soon ^_^.)
My fringe was annoying me so I trimmed it myself >:-). Could've been a disaster but I think it turned out alright :-P.

Skin: The usual. Loose powder instead of pressed though (Physicians Formula). Not sure why - I think I want to finish this one up 'cause I don't really need both. But I may change my mind >:-D.
Oh, and I forgot to contour. If it shows, I really don't care, I don't consider myself attractive anyway :-P.

Eyes: I applied the Elianto eye shadow as a wash, with a large, wide brush. Then I used Moist Green pigment by Careline wet, on my outer eyelids. Made a bit of an outer V too, but nothing too dramatic. To brighten inner corners, I pressed on a bit of Vanilla White pigment there, with my little finger. I lined my lower eye line with Styli-Style Flat Pencil in Buenos Aires (a shimmery white), using the skinny side, and then used ArtDeco Kajal Liner in 20 (a dark leafy olive green) on my inner eye line. Curled lashes with mascara on both top and bottom finish off the eyes.

Cheeks: Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1.

Lips: Wet & Wild lipstick in Gold Rush.

Sometimes I feel stupid, writing such detailed descriptions. This isn't a magazine. But even if nobody else really reads them, they help me a lot when I want to wear an old look again ;). So they stay.

Products picture:

Eye close-up with eyes open:

Eye close-up with eyes closed:

(I quite hate this pic but I need to show the colours.)

Bonus pic:

I put up my hair but then took it down again. This was the only decent pic of me with my hair up. (And the other full-face pic was the only decent one with my hair down, so they're even XD.)

And here are the swatches of all my Mary Kay products to date. Somebody asked me for a look, but it'd take me ages to use all these colours in a look XD, so I made swatches :).

Two photographs, taken with different lighting, in order to give the truest impression I could manage ;).

From right to left: Single eye shadows in Raspberry Rush, Periwinkle, Fig and Seashell, and duos in Cotton Candy, Ivy Duet, Jade, Safari Sunset, Tutti Frutti and Twilight.

And the rest ;). From left to right: Lip Liner in Dusty Pink, blushers in Apricot Breeze, Burnished Bronze (I suppose that one's technically a bronzer, but I'll use it on my cheeks), Desert Bloom and Pink Meringue, and lipsticks in Pink Coral, Pink Daisy and Pink Melon.

The lipsticks are pinker in real life, but they just wouldn't photograph properly >:-@. I gave up, but I may use those in a look or three so you'd get to see them :).

Oh, and here are swatches of my Mary Kay Mini Mineral Eye Colour Quad.

Silky Caramel, Lemongrass, Amber Blaze and Denim Frost. Silky Caramel is a soft matte while the rest are shimmery and mildly metallic.

Is there anything else I should swatch? Let me know ;). Thanks for reading ^_^.

Avon lotion sample review & Swap Update & Essence Vs. Avon quad comparison.

*Explanation about sample reviews: I like to review the skincare samples I receive, so that I can remember what worked, what didn't, and what I'd like to acquire in the future. They may be helpful to others too ;). But obviously I can't review a product I've used once in the same manner as one I've been testing out for a while, therefore I mark sample reviews as just that ;).

*Avon Solutions Hydra-Radiance Moisturising Day Lotion SPF 15 sample mini review: I've never liked Avon skincare (with products from the Planet Spa line being the notable exception). But this was a sample, so why not test it out? It's light, and not as moisturising as I like my products to be, but with the current hot weather, light is good...The problem comes from the low SPF. SPF 15 is fine in countries with little sun - but these tend to be cold >:-). In cold climates, this won't be moisturising enough for most people. In hot climates (if there's a place that's hot and sunless that I've forgotten about, feel free to let me know), SPF 15 is not enough. I can only recommend this to teenagers in cold countries, and preferrably you should try out a sample before getting the actual thing. Not an impressive product, and I won't purchase ;).

Next comes yet another Swap Update :).

Swap 1 [Indonesia].

(I bought her two Korres Body Butters and added a decant of my Kings & Queens body lotion as an extra.)

Remember the Too Faced Peacock palette I got on my birthday :D? I finally managed to find the Unicorn one too :), and was even willing to buy new stuff to swap for it ;). So worth it. Too Faced palettes are glorious :-P.

I also got a Kate eye shadow in GN-1, two mini tubes of Clarins Extra-Comfort Cleansing Cream and one of Gentle Foaming Cleanser, a Clinique mini Superbalm Moisturising Gloss in Ginger, and Fancl powder tea sachets as extras :).

Here's a close-up of the Too Faced & Kate...

I'm thinking of wearing the blushes from both palettes as a flush/contour duo ;D. And the Kate shadows are beautiful :). They look like they'd suit my dark eyes...Will probably get more Japanese shadows in the future ;).

Swap 2 [Germany].

(For my Lip Smackers Party Pack, Mark Femme 4 quad, Mary Kay eye shadow in Storm, Prestige eye shadow in Indigo, Oriflame loose eye shadow in Midnight Star, NYX depotted eye shadow in Lakemoss Blue - well, the blue shade from the Lakemoss trio, and lots of extras :D.)

I swapped for the two Estee Lauder lip glosses (Pure Pops in Peppermint and Blueberry), IsaDora Colourmatic Eye Pen (microliner ;D) in Soft Black, and four mini perfume oils :). She also added candles and samples (an eye shadow sample & skincare - Nivea eye cream, Vichy Normaderm lotion and Bebe Young Care face cream & body lotion) as extras :D.

I had to give the Bebe Young Care to my sister because she adores the brand and we can't get it here, lol.

Unfortunately we both hadn't realised that the glosses were the Not For Individual Sale ones (thus not full-sized), but she offered to send me a swap evener (so kind of her - I'm sure many swappers would just tell me it was my fault), and today I got this :D.

Yeah, I asked for a mini Pikachu XD. Also the Essence Quattro eye shadow in Sixties Reloaded and Clinique trio (containing Sunburst & Rum Spice - I have Sunburst but it's part of a similar mini quad and I could always use more of those colours ;D :-P). And she still sent me extras: a mask, Vichy moisturiser sample, tea and sweets ^_^. I haven't had Campinos in years XD. Everything looks wonderful :). I'll probably swap with her again ;).

The Essence quad kept reminding me of something though :-/...
I went through my collection & discovered this.

They look similar, but they aren't really (as you will see). For one thing, all four Essence shades work >:-D. (Which is way ironic considering that the Essence quad is much cheaper...)

I swatched the Essence quad to prove that they're actually quite different :-P. (You can see swatches & a review of the Avon quad here.)

[Don't mind my ghostly hand, I'm still figuring out how to work that phone camera, and I wanted the truest-to-life swatches possible for obvious reasons ;). Feel free to request an accurate pic of my hand colour if you need one >:-).]

The colours may be alike, but the Avon ones are matte. The Essence ones are gorgeously shimmery, they remind me of Japanese shadows :). I definitely recommend Sixties Reloaded to all my EU readers ;).

I still have more swaps to post up XD...

Thanks for reading :).

Blind Swap lot and look & Clinique Plum Seduction swatches as requested.

Thanks so much Nikki for being my first Blind Swap ^_^!!!!!

Well, it wasn't completely blind for her, since she knew that I was sending her a Korres Body Butter - I offered to, 'cause it's hard to get in her country and easy in mine ;D. But I sent her lots of other stuff from Europe too :-P :).

It was completely blind for me though. I had no idea what I'd be getting...Which can be a bit scary, but I trusted Nikki to pick good stuff for me :).

When I got the envelope, everything was all wrapped up in pink tissue paper, how cute ^_^. Of course I didn't photograph it, I was too eager to unpack it all :-P XD.

Her note :). So sweet & nice of her to add one ^_^.

I'm not sure what this is. But it's cute XD.

Edit: It's a bag holder ;).

Skincare: Paul & Joe Light Cleansing Milk and Moisture Lotion mini bottles. (Well, they're not that mini - 25 ml each ;D, lovely ^_^.) They're beautiful :). Can't wait to use them ^_^!

Make-up :D!!!

Careline eye shadow duo in Poison Ivy, IN2IT eye shadow duo in Sphinx, Embodyment Organic Essentials Cherry Lip Balm, and Nichido blush in Sunkissed.

She remembered (from a comment I left on this gorgeous look of hers) that I was looking for an orange ;D :'D! Now I can try to recreate the look ;)...

Here's a close-up of Poison Ivy :). The built in brushes are a bit hard to manoeuvre if doing anything but a simple lid colour, but the pigments are amazing ^_^!

And masks ;). Four of them :D. These are the face-shaped tissue kind - I've never tried similar ones before, so I'm definitely looking forward to it :).

Collagen...

Coenzyme Q10...

Pearl...

And potato XD.

All in all, my first Blind Swap was a wonderful experience. Thank you Nikki :). I hope everything I sent you makes you happy too ^_^.

Of course, I had to do a look with all my new make-up ^_^. Here it is :D.

I look kind of grumpy because I was annoyed at my face being extremely unphotogenic (as usual). And I was tired.

Eyes:

By the way, the Pucci Guerlain mascara brush is terrible. I finally gave up & replaced it with my Clinique mini tube brush that I'd kept. (Thankfully it fits the tube tightly ^_^.) And the mascara isn't anything special either to be honest :-/. But I got it in the Pucci eye set & for the Pucci eye set (not for the mascara as such), so I don't really care XD.

The colours are so beautiful :). I think my next look will be light on the eyes though, I want to do something soft ;D. I've done quite a few intense eye looks for the blog so far & I need a break ;).

[Funny pic of me, starring my wonky mouth & unclassifiable expression :-P.]

Here are swatches of my Clinique Plum Seduction quad for Kim :).

It's very nice :). I swapped for it even though it's mostly purple XD. But these colours are very beautiful so I don't mind that at all ^_^.

Well...Thanks for reading ^_^! I've got a really huge swap to present next...Can't wait ;D.

My Make-Up Collection Part 2: Hello Kitty Eye.

Which is what I call my Hello Kitty case I keep eye products in ;). I have two: one for eye shadows and one for lip stuff, I'll be presenting that one next ;).

Isn't it lovely ^_^?

View from the top:

View from the back, when opened:

View from the front, when opened ;D...

It's full of stuff. I have way too many eye shadows. Here's proof...

Note: The pics for this post have been taken weeks ago, so I've swapped some stuff off (about time, lol) and got some new things, which you can find under 'New Acquisitions' ;).

Singles :).

Clinique eye shadows in Platinum, Desert Sun, South Beach and Stormcloud, ArtDeco eye shadows in 71, 74, 85, 95, 243, 274, 318, 390 and 557, Laura Mercier eye shadows in Princess and Mint Snow, Tigi Cyberoptics eye shadow in Lime, Essence Multi Dimension eye shadow in Key West, Bourjois Little Round Pot eye shadow in Noir Emeraude, Wet & Wild cream eye shadow in Envy, and Oriflame Aqua Vibes shadow sticks in Hawaii, Fiji, Bora Bora, Cuba and Borneo.

Closed to show the packaging:

Duos :D.

Estee Lauder duos in Neptune and Jupiter (both swapped off), Oriflame duos in Nice Girl and Naughty Girl, Clinique duo in Like Mink, Oriflame Visions Soul Mates duos in Bonnie & Clyde, Tarzan & Jane, Romeo & Juliet, Homer & Marge, Barbie & Ken, Lois & Clark, Mickey & Minnie, Adam & Eve, Anthony & Cleopatra and Cinderella & Prince Charming, Avon duos in Orchid Delight (swapped), Angel Cake (swapped), Spirit, Starlight (swapped), Daring Doll and Porcelain Doll, and Oriflame duos in Golden Forest and Urban Twilight.

Closed to show the packaging:

Trios ;D.

Oriflame Daydream Eyeshadow Stripes trios in Sweet Love and Sweet Dreams, Wet & Wild Mega Eyes trio in Amazon Greens, Almay trios for Blue Eyes and Hazel Eyes, Clinique trio containing Sugar Sugar and Strawberry Fudge, and Oriflame Visions Eye Trios in Pool Party, Green With Envy, Fashionably Fawn and Purple Haze.

Closed to show the packaging:

Quads ^_^.

MAC Fafi Eyes 2, Oriflame Giordani Gold Colour Quartet For Eyes in Nocturne, Clinique quad containing Almost Peach, Sunburst and Copper Canyon, MAC Hello Kitty Lucky Tom, MAC Hello Kitty Too Dolly, and Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow quad in Copper Crayon.

Closed to show the packaging:

Fivers [?] and larger eye shadow palettes, and glitters.

IsaDora Eye Shadow Palette in Milennium Star, Lancome Pop Cherub palette in A L'Ombre Des Regards, Oriflame glitters in Nice Girl and Naughty Girl, cheap red glitter (very little left), Visee Glam Hunt Eyes palette in G-5, and Estee Lauder Deluxe Pure Colour Eye Shadow Palette: the shades are Tea Biscuit, Ivory Box, Pale Moon, Mocha Cup, Rose Confetti, Camouflage, Cinnamon, Taupe, Berry Ice and Smokey.

Closed to show the packaging:

Pigments and other loose eye shadows ;).

MAC Pigments in Bell-Bottom Blue (very generous sample ^_^), Mutiny, Milk and Deep Blue Green, Oriflame depotted roll-on shadows in Pink Reflecting Gold, White Frost, Bronze and Teal (I made these names up :-P, can't remember the original ones), Oriflame Giordani Gold Eye Silk in Azure, Opal, Fiesta and Gala, and Oriflame Silver Shimmer Eye Powder in Midnight Star, Shooting Star and Starlight.

If you want swatches or reviews of anything, ask ;). Next: Part 3, Hello Kitty Lip ;D :).

Thanks for reading ^_^!

P.S. My next post will be a contest entry, promise :-P - and I've got the pics for my Blooming Spring swatches blog :D, so expect that soon ;).