Liiv Botanicals products review.

This review will probably seem outdated. (I bought these products back in 2010 and have had them for months, and the Liiv line has since been discontinued in several countries.) However, I'm still posting this because this is, after all, a personal blog and I can write about anything I want. Who knows, this might still be useful.

*Liiv Botanicals Face Cream Cleanser

I know that you can tell that I love this product just by the state of it XD. I do :).

This cream cleanser is creamy and gentle but cleanses well, while being effective at removing face make-up. After using it, my skin looked clean, refreshed and soft, and there was a pore minimising effect too.

The one thing that bothered me about it was the smell. All Liiv products have a cucumber scent, but this one combines that with something yogurt-like. It's not strong enough to be repulsive, and if you don't mind dairy products this won't bother you at all, but that's the one detail that disqualifies this product from being perfect in my eyes.

Still, if you love products like Clinique's Comforting Cream Cleanser, but wouldn't mind trying a cheaper and/or more natural alternative, you'll probably like this :).

Recommended: Yes ^_^.

*Liiv Botanicals Revitalising Face Mask

Note that the packaging instructs one to apply a generous amount, but from personal experience I have concluded that (on me, anyway) with most gel masks, a little goes a long way.

After using this product, my skin looks like I've applied a matte tinted moisturiser. (I know that's a bit of an oxymoron, but it's the best description I can come up with.) It's smooth and fairly matte but there's a bit of a brightening effect too.

Recommended: Try it if your skin likes gel masks ;).

*Liiv Botanicals Vital Day Cream SPF 20

This is really light so it goes well under make-up.

SPF 20 is not really enough though :(. SPF 30 would be much better. Still, I do wear actual sunscreen on sunny days, and this is an effective product for cloudier times ;).

Note: Don't use this on irritated or freshly scrubbed skin as it may be too harsh.

Recommended: If the climate in your area allows you to use this often, then yes. Obviously, if you live in a place with very cold or constantly sunny weather, you'd probably need a heavier or higher SPF product respectively.

*Liiv Botanicals Vital Night Moisturiser

Check this out:

My first thought was, "This looks just like shampoo that's gone bad :-/." Upon closer inspection, I was really put off by the pink glowy particles in this...

(They're even more in your face in real life. The flash washed the colours out.)

Why use shimmer in a product clearly designated for nighttime use? That's when the skin rests & regenerates, after all. The only reason I can think of is to fool people into thinking they have glowing, healthier skin when they actually don't. So to be honest, I was worried about using this, but I had paid for it and the other products were effective. I started using this & hoped for the best.

Well - at least I was right,
This product irritates my skin, gives me spots and dries my face out. I made sure that this reaction was caused by this product by undoing any other changes in my routine except this, and I can safely claim that for me, this was terrible.

Recommended: Hell no.

*Liiv Botanicals Vitalising Eye Cream SPF 15

This has an eye shadow base-like formula, so it's lovely under eye make-up. On the other hand, if you prefer thicker eye creams, you may be put off as this is very light. The packaging is nice & practical, and it makes the eye area look smoother. But most importantly...
It has SPF :D. This is an effective & affordable eye product that has SPF. If you haven't found your staple eye cream, try this one out.

Recommended: Yes, this is brilliant :).

Thanks for reading :).

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 :).

Watercolour eyes look.

Once again, apologies for the lighting. I really must plan these posts better so I don't end up shooting by electric light, but at this point in time, I blog when I can.

This look was me trying out an idea I'd had for a while. I think it turned out nice :). I call it a watercolour-ish look 'cause that's what the shadows' effect reminds me of.

Skin: Finishing off my almost empty bottle of Tesco foundation. I might decide to swap for a second bottle, that stuff is so pale. For that alone, it deserves to be loved. I powdered with Bourjois Vanille as usual ;).

Eyes: Wet & Wild Envy cream eye shadow as a base, then I used a mini blush brush to sweep on NYC MarblEyes eye shadow in Aquamarine, keeping the application uneven. This is key to this look. That way the ratio of green vs. blue varies throughout & that was the effect I was going for. I lined my upper lashline with black gel liner, my lower waterline with white liner, and applied mascara on (curled) top and bottom lashes.

Cheeks: Bourjois Miel Dore to contour & The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Rose to highlight.

Lips: Labello Pearl & Shine topped with Revlon Super Lustrous gloss in Pink Afterglow.

Products:

(Foundation not pictured 'cause there's so little of it left that I'm storing the bottle upside down XD.)

Eyes close-up (open)...Excuse the hair ;).

The idea for the eyes was actually two ideas that'd been swirling in my head: one, I was frequently using Tiger's Eye (my other NYC MarblEyes shadow) but had not tried Aquamarine & two, I was curious about using a cream base of a complementary but different colour than my main eye shadow (as opposed to a similar colour).

Combining them produced this :).

Eyes close-up (closed).

More pics follow...

The 'odd look' pic. I don't know what I was thinking...I mean that literally, not metaphorically. I kinda like this one - if I didn't, it wouldn't be here.

And yes, I love sweaters.

Me smiling :D. Taking a decent picture of me smiling is much harder than one of me serious, but people tend to like them so I try.

I wanted to put this one first & name the post "He says he reckons I'm a watercolour stain...", but then I thought that most people wouldn't recognise the quote and those that did could be annoyed by me using it for a make-up look, so this little musing ended up here. Oh, and the quote's from a Tori Amos song.

Another lovely & always relevant quote from the same song is, "Nothing's gonna stop me from floating." - I hope it'll always be true.

Thanks for reading :). And thanks to my new followers for following ^_^.

Mixed post: Some old swaps, some sample reviews & a nail polish pic or two.

Here's a confession: I like writing sample reviews 'cause they don't require as much effort as complete ones ;).

*Tresemme Moisture Rich Conditioner sample review: The 8 ml sample was not enough for my long & thick hair. Maybe that's why the product didn't make an impression. Pretty average. Using the sample didn't make me want to try it.

*Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser sample review: This has tiny scrub-like particles in it, so I wouldn't recommend it (and didn't use it) as a daily face wash. When used once to twice a week, it left my skin clean and smooth without drying it out. It also made my pores invisible. I'm quite pleased with this product.

Next, a very very late Swap Update...

Since these swaps were completed back in late 2009, I can no longer remember what I'd sent out in exchange - but I doubt that anyone really cares, so I'll just skip listing that.

Swap 1 [The USA].

Pictured: Revlon Sugar Sugar Lip Topping in Lemon Drop, Pop Glitter Stix pencil in Coco, Eyeko Eye Cake in Pretty Eyes, and (probably my favourite from this lot) Mark Flip For It Fall Colour Kit in New York.



And guess what? The Mark Flip palette was an extra :D. Swapping truly makes me feel better about humanity, the people one comes across are so kind. I really should get into it again.


Swap 2 [The USA - the swapper I got my Wild & Crazy bright yellow shadow from].



Lots of Glamour Doll Eyes sample baggies (I won't list them all just now, but feel free to request if you're interested) and two eye shadow minis (Secretive and Slumber Party), two Still Glamorus eye shadows in Chic and Crybaby, NYX lipsticks in Rea and Sparkling Bronze, Elf's Candy Shop gloss tin in Coconut Craze, Mary Kay Satin Lips Lip Balm, a sample pot of LUSH Dream Cream, and a bracelet :).

I can't remember what the white thing over the Elf gloss is XD. But I'm fairly sure it's a Jane mineral face product that I got for & gave my sister ;). She also got the Elf gloss and NYX Sparkling Bronze lipstick.


Swap 3 [Scotland, the lovely lady I got my Sleek Safari palette from].



Actual swap: NYX eye shadows in Apricot Moose and Root Beer, and NYX Concealer In A Jar in Fair. Expected extra: Clinique Blended Face Powder in 20 Invisible Blend. (That's the glowing circle next to the L'Occitane sample.)

Unexpected extras: The aforementioned sample of L'Occitane Creme Tres Precieuse, a lovely Hello Kitty tin ^_^ (gave the mints to my sister ;D), mint tea, and a Space NK catalogue :D.


This swapper is brilliant with extras - she really picks them out to suit you ^_^.

Swap 4 [The USA].



Lime Crime !!!


Pompadour & Vixen. Vixen's Limited Edition. I'm so pleased about snagging these.



There'll be another Swap Update post coming up in the future, and that'd be all - until I arrange some new swaps ;).

Finishing off this somewhat erratic post with better pics of Serial Blogger.

I'm pretty sure it's discontinued :(, but I love mine and the pictures I'd posted before didn't really do it justice, and I'm wearing it now so I thought I'd retake.


And here's a close-up with flash...



Wearing two coats there.
It's even more gorgeous in real life when each bit of glitter reflects a different colour :D...

Plus, discontinued or not, I plan to eventually photograph every nail colour that I own ;).

Thanks for reading :).

Busy days subtle look.

This is the sort of look to wear when you're late for work or an errand and have no time (or maybe can't focus enough) to do a full face, but skipping make-up altogether would be inappropriate.


It's a very easy & quick look that looks done but pretty.

I'm not even going to break it down into eyes/lips/face for this; I'll just go with bullet points ;).

*When you're in a hurry, you've got two quick & simple options for face coverage: a cream-to-powder foundation or tinted moisturiser. I went for the former.
*Next, under-eye concealer. Lack of sleep usually shows and that should be avoided.
*For the eyes, a shade similar to your natural lid colour (usually a bit darker than the rest of your face) but with a sheeny effect will do nicely. The sheen should be a natural looking colour. The specific colour family will depend on one's skin tone, but out of pink, peach, beige, gold or bronze, one or more will work. Sweep it onto the whole eyelid with a large brush (I actually used one of those mini cheek brushes that palettes come with).
*If you have good lashes, just curl them ;D. If you need your mascara, go ahead and apply some.
*If you're really knackered, you may want to skip contouring because when sloppily done, it looks worse than a bare face does. But if you feel up to it and your face just doesn't look right without it, then yes, you should contour.
*Cheek colour's easy enough: a natural flush shade of cream or gel blush applied to the apples.
*A soft and slightly glossy shade of lipstick that's close enough to your natural lip colour to be applied straight from the tube finishes this look.


Was having an unphotogenic day...That's why I look so annoyed.
I'd probably look worse without make-up though.

The pic below is kind of odd but it shows how lovely the shadow & lipstick are, so up it goes ;).


(Lovely make-up :D. Wish I could claim the same about my face...)

And this is me so desperate to get a satisfactory snapshot that I used an umbrella.


Everyone has their own bunch of favourite I'm-in-a-hurry products. I used:

*Pola 1/f whitening foundation in P32 Pink Beige
*NYX Concealer In A Jar in Fair (to hide my dark circles)
*Tigi Fixx-It Stick in Light (on blemishes)
*Bourjois powder in Miel Dore (to contour)
*NYC MarblEyes eye shadow in Tiger's Eye (I love this - if you come across any, get it)
*Tarte Cheek Stain in Flush (Note: if you can, get minis - these are huge)
*Estee Lauder Crystal Lipstick in Crystal Baby
*Various brushes & my lash curler :)


I may end up reviewing the Pola foundation cake. I don't use it daily so I wouldn't know whether it has long-term whitening effects, but it does make my face look fair, as you can tell from the pictures ^_^.

I didn't mention brows 'cause I didn't do anything to mine for this look other than comb them.
Also, you could probably add liner to the waterline (I'd go with white), but I forgot it >:-).


Sorry if this was badly written - I hope that I'll get better as I blog more frequently. Got another look planned for the weekend, and I do have a few old swaps I want to post, if only for the record.
Thanks for reading :).

Impromptu look.

This was quite random; I pretty much made it up while working on it.



Skin: Revlon ColourStay Mineral Mousse foundation in Fair/Light. It's quite matte so I didn't use powder. For cheek contouring & highlighting, I used Bourjois powder in Miel Dore and Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder in Vanille. No cheek colour - I wanted a pale, clean look.

Eyes: Bold and slightly sparkly lashes with a nude lid and just a bit of liner.

I started by covering the whole lid with a pale, satin eye shadow (Mary Kay Ivory Petal from my Floral Fantasy palette). Then I curled my lashes and applied mascara (Lancome Definicils). With it still slightly wet, I pressed some Everyday Minerals loose shadow in Mystic Night onto my lashes, following that with some glitter. I defined the outer lower lashline with the darkest shade from my L.A. Colours eye shadow set in Wine & Roses & lined the lower waterline with my Oriflame Visions glitter pencil in Silver Snow.

Pre-lip make-up pic:



For the lips, I used Wet & Wild lipstick in Black Cherry, but I wanted a fruit juice effect rather than a very defined & proper looking lip, so I applied colour with a lip brush I'd softened with some lip balm, starting from the inside and pulling the colour outwards. I didn't use liner.



[I'll try to take pictures during the day so the lighting's better. Electric light causes a blue tint when using flash & an orange one when not.]



Some you-can-tell-I-haven't-done-this-much-lately eye close-ups...



Annoyingly enough, the lash glitter doesn't quite show up in the photos :-/...



Stuff I've used for this look...



So, here goes another comeback look. And hopefully I mean it this time...

I don't know how regularly I'll be able to blog, but I don't plan to abandon this completely, so I will be posting in the future. Thanks for reading :).

Some nail pictures.

I admit that I'm posting this as an alternative to nothing at all. At this point I'm literally too busy to focus on writing here :'(, and trust me, I'd love to blog more frequently and will as soon as it's viable. And that's a promise ;).

These were taken back in 2009 when I left the blogosphere for a fair period of time...But since I never intended to quit, I took blog-related pictures anyway ;D.

NYC Big Money:

Very foil looking. A nice shade for pale complexions. But not the easiest formula to work with. Still, in my opinion the colour makes it worth it. And hey, it's a very cheap one so fair enough :-P.

Also, that nail length isn't for me. I kept scratching my face by accident when applying anything to it XD. I've gone back to short, cute & practical ^_^.

MAC Girls Will Be Girls:

Limited Edition, from Fafi. My only MAC polish & it, like NYC, is also kinda too fluid and hard to work with. But I love the unique colour. Will probably re-photograph this one to get a truer representation.

Oriflame Visions Serial Blogger:

Love the name. Love the fact that it makes a great glittery top coat for anything I care to throw it over. Its texture is like rough sugar because of the glitter bits (lol).

That's it for tonight. Thanks for reading :). Will do my best to write and comment more.

P.S. Thank you all SO much for the birthday comments :). Sending wishes of cake to all who requested it XD ^_^.