November 2011 Empties

Hello Everyone,

I've had a decent month for empties, although most of these products are not that hard to use up.

1. L'Oreal Absolute Eye and Lip Make- up remover - It does its job, and I will probably buy it again (when there is a sale on it ;P).

2. Simple Radiance Brightening Eye Cream - Simple is my favorite skincare range, and I will always come back to it. I liked this cream, but as I always say I didn't really notice much difference in my skin. Maybe my skin is in good condition, and that's why I don't see any changes (yay for me). I do appreciate that it doesn't have any alcohol and scent free, especially after some other stuff I've tried.

3. Sally Hansen Vita-B Lip Moisturizer - I love this stuff! It moisturizes extremely well, and the packaging is so much cuter than the regular balm. I've bought several others from this line, and I will keep buying it.

4. Boots Tea Tree + Witch Hazel Exfoliating Face Scrub - Can I say I HATED the smell? But my husband liked it, so go figure. I think it's an ok scrub, but I will stay away because I can't stand the smell. To me it's just too nasty.

5. Radox Shower Smoothies Spirit Booster - it's pretty hard to get a shower stuff wrong, and this shower smoothie is no exception. It does smell good enough to drink (and the tube has a big warning not to drink it lol), it lathers well and it cleans well. I will buy it again in a heartbeat.

6. elf Complexion Perfection powder - it's very similar to Rimmel's powder, and I liked it. I'm not sure I will bother with buying it again (or ordering anything else from US elf's website), because it takes so LONG to get to me. I'm a patient person, but waiting almost 2 month kills the excitement even in me.

7. Batiste Dry Shampoo in Blush - oh Batiste, you are still my love. I don't know how many bottles of this stuff I've used up now, but this is my first one in this huge size. I love it and will buy it again and again!

8. Aussie Take the Heat Shampoo - it's my 2nd bottle of this shampoo, and I love it enough to buy again.

9. Clinique Clarifying Lotion for Combination Oily skin - this crap deserves its own photo (ok, I just forgot to include it , so had to run back and add to photos). I've bought it in a neat little gift set, figuring it's a good way to try some Clinique without spending a lot of money. I had high hopes for it... now I will never buy it again.

This is supposed to be a step 2 in Clinique's famous 3 Step System, which is "comfortable, non-drying exfoliator that helps create clear, glowing skin". I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to exfoliate, but even my skin felt noticeably drier and tighter. I'm convinced that it's main purpose is to completely get rid or ANY kind of oil on skin! I get that it's for combination oily skin, and guess supposed to control oiliness but I'm scared to even imaging how their stuff for an actual oily skin feels like! Also, as all Clinique stuff, this is 100% fragrance free. What they neglect to tell you, is that while it doesn't have any typical smells, it is full of alcohol! To the point that it REEKS of it. The smell of alcohol is overwhelming, and pretty nasty. Just because my skin is a trooper and nothing gets to it, doesn't mean I want to use cleansers full of alcohol on it. After using this, I appreciate Simple stuff just that much more.

10 & 11. No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara in 01 Black & 02 Brown/Black - I actually forgot I've finished these a while back, but they were hiding in one of my storage cups. I like these mascara, but I think for a drugstore they are a little on a pricey side. I will buy again with one of Boots No7 vouchers though.

12. Eyeko Graffiti Eyeliner Pen in Navy - oh the memories! This was one of my first felt tip eyeliners, and pretty much what started my love with them. Sadly this one completely dried up, and I found out about it while trying to use it. Although it is not surprising, because I've had it for almost a year. Sadly, Eyeko completely revamped its brand image and products, so I don't think these are available to buy anymore. While I'm sad a little, there are plenty of other felt tip eyeliners to try and I won't miss these much.

13. Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes Mascara - this was a mini size mascara in one of the Tarte gift sets, and I love it! I just bought a full size version of non-waterproof one.

14. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion - another sample size that came with one of the palettes I have. I have a striking suspicion that there are more primer left, but I can't be bothered with trying to cut the bottle open and depot. Plus, I don't have any appropriate containers, it's going to dry up fast, and I just bought a full size primer. Other than the bottle, this primer is great.

15. Benefit PosieTint - (seriously, I keep forgetting stuff! This is the 4rd time I'm editing this post LOL. Well, this is the last staggler, I promise) this is a 4ml size that came with one of the magazines during summer,  and I quite like the size because it means I can actually get though it! I like the natural rosy flush PosieTint gives me, and you can see it pretty often in my FOTD. I'm glad I got to try it, but I won't be buying the full size because I don't love it THAT much to spend the amount of money it costs.

Have you used any of the stuff I listed?

~ Lyuba

the Balm Shady Lady Vol 3 Look #1

Hello Ladies,

I got bored with my last 7 Days Palette project using Sleek's PPQ Me, Myself, and Eye palette. The thing is, although I only posted 5 looks, I've probably done twice as many and half of them didn't get documented. So although I "formally" didn't finish the project, in reality I've far exceeded the number of days. :) Plus I most likely will come back to it again and finish up, but for right now I want to play with my other palettes.

Couple of month ago my mom sent me the Balm Shady Lady Vol 3 palette, but it sat neglected in my makeup stash until couple of weeks ago. I just couldn't bring myself to touch it because I have so many other stuff to play with, but after I finally tried these eyeshadows, I am so happy that I did! I absolutely love them! :)

Of course I gravitated straight to my favorite shades, the copper-red one and a taupe one. Seriously, I think I have a problem with liking red so much! :)

I've decided to break all that red a little and added the shimmery turquoise at the bottom lash for some pop of color and contrast. I quite like the way it came out.

This is my first palette by the Balm, and I'm HOOKED! I want more! The palette I have my eyes on now is Nude'tude Feeling Naughty :) :) I might treat myself for Christmas, or birthday, or wedding anniversary because all these celebrations are coming up in the next month.

Have you tried any of the Balm palettes? Let me know in comments, I would love to hear what you have to say about their products.

~ Lyuba

REVIEW: GOSH Long Lasting Eye Liner Pens

Hello Everyone,

I've had GOSH Long Lasting Eye Liner Pens for at least 6 month now, and been using them regularly. I have three of them, Black, Turquoise, and Brown, and I can tell you that I'm extremely impressed with these little liners. If I had to pick, these would be my favorite ones and the ones I use the most out of all the eyeliners I have.

What they say: 

It dries very quickly and will not fade or smudge. The super skinny tip makes the application very easy. The ingredient combination of this product provides an intense shine an extreme long-lasting-wear. GOSH Long Lasting Eye Liner is now available in 8 fantastic colours.

The optimal drying time allows the product for blending.

What I say: 
Each of these costs £5.99 at Superdrug, but they are frequently on sale 3 for 2, and you get 1.8ml (0.1fl oz) of product. I wouldn't say the tip is super skinny, but it's small and flexible enough to draw a fine line, or a fuller line. This tip offers a pretty good control, so even if you're not great at using eyeliner, you should not have much trouble with these. You can see the tip in the photos below. 

002 Turquoise - is a nice blue-green, but I wouldn't call it turquoise if I didn't know the name. To me, turquoise is brighter than this shade, but even if I'm picky about the name, I still love it. See more photos here.

003 Brown - this is my favorite shade from the bunch. I love how it is sparkly but at the same time without any glitter. The shade works very well with my eyes, making the eye color pop. It is also the most opaque of the three. See more photos here. 

006 Black  - I have plenty of plain black eyeliners, but I picked this one up because it was an unusual black. It is black with fine gold shimmer, which you can see very well in the swatch above. Unfortunately it is the most runny of the three, so I have to paint over the line 2 or 3 times in order to get it as opaque as I like it. It is also my least favorite. More photos here. 

These eyeliners apply great and stay on for good 10-12 hours on me without smudging. They do take a little bit to dry, so I have to be careful about opening my eyes too wide or they will transfer to the top lid. But once they dry, they stay put. I haven't tried blending any of them, but I would imagine that it is possible since they take some time to dry. 


One minor gripe I have with these is that during makeup removal, they collect into these little black/brown/turquoise balls that get all over the place and sometimes into my eyes. Sometimes I feel like I can just pull the eyeliner off the same way I pull off fake eyelashes. But really, whatever happens during makeup removing process should stay there right? 


Overall, I love these and would recommend them to anyone looking to try some fun liquid eyeliner shades. Have you tried any of these? 


~ Lyuba

Is it silly to be THAT excited about a product?

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday my friend and I braved the crazy madness that is Christmas season shopping on Saturday in Norwich and went there to check out the new Benefit counter opening at Debenhams. Before we even made it to Debenhams though, we hit up every Starbucks, Boots and Superdrug on the way and I've FINALLY stumbled upon the FashionistaA range. I wanted to check it out ever since I've read about it, but of course my local Superdrug did not carry the range.

I kid you not, I spent at least 30 minutes swatching, and swatching, and swatching some more, just to pick up those 4 perfect shades, but I just couldn't decide on any eyeshadows. As a result, I walked away empty handed. After my friend and I went to eat, and while munching on some Nandos I got the bright idea of making a busher palette! After lunch, off I went back to Superdrug to pick out my perfect blusher palette. This time I've only spent about 5 minutes there, but only because I had 2 shades picked already :)

L to R: Butterscotch, Flush, Cinnamon and Crimson.

I'm so excited about this palette it is borderline ridiculous. I'm wearing the Butterscotch (lightest shade) right now and it is extremely pigmented, and looks pretty natural on my light skin. I'm a little afraid to try the other shades now :) I will do an in depth review later, after I get a chance to play around with every shade.

Have you tried any of FashionistA blusher shades?

~ Lyuba

REVIEW: L'Oreal Absolute Eye and Lip Make-up Remover

Hello my Funky Readers,

As you all know, I wear a LOT of eye makeup, and as a result I need an eye makeup remover that works very well to remove everything I pile up on top of my poor eyelids. Also, as a result, I keep trying out all these eye makeup removers, and so today I have yet another one to review: L'Oreal Absolute Eye and Lip Make-up Remover.

What they say: 

L'Oreal Absolute Eye and Lip Make-up Remover has a cooling, refreshing texture to remove the most stubborn traces of long lasting eye and lip cosmetics. The formula effectively removes waterproof mascara and long lasting lipsticks and rinses off instantly to leave skin soft and thoroughly cleansed.

L'Oreal Absolute Eye and Lip Make-up Remover is a concentrated blue astringent designed to purify skin with a comfortable fresh sensation without leaving any sticky residue.

· Blue, astringent make up remover for long lasting eye and lip cosmetics
· Cooling, refreshing texture
· Soft, supple and perfectly cleansed skin

How to Use

Dispense L’Oreal De-maq Absolute Eye and Lip Make-up Remover onto a cotton wool pad and gently weep across eyes and lips to remove traces of make up, repeat if necessary.

What I say: 
I actually did not realize that the size of the bottle was 125ml, and kept thinking that it's only 100ml for some reason. For £4.99 you get 125ml of the product, but frequently it is on sale at either Boots or Superdrug. I got mine at Boots when they had some sale a while back, either 2 for £4 (great deal), or 2 for £5 (also good deal). As you can imagine, I got two of them and the bottle in the picture is my 2nd bottle. At the time of this review, both of them got used up and went to the eye makeup remover heaven. 


It works. It works just as well as the Bourjois Express Eye-Makeup Remover, and now had joined the ranks of my favorites. Although, Bourjois one gives a better deal for the same price (you get 200ml of product) and so if I had to pay a full price, I would choose Bourjois. Because I love a good bargain. Thankfully, both of those are on sale quite frequently, so you can pick and choose the better deal like I do ;P 


It is gentle on my eyes, does not sting or irritate them when I open my eyes during the makeup removing process, and I didn't even realize I did it until I got one eye makeup remover that DOES sting! I don't think it's that oily either, but as a general rule I like a little bit of oiliness left on my eyelids, because it makes the skin around my eyes so soft. But if any of you are extra sensitive to oil, try removing your eye makeup first, and only then removing the rest. You will wipe away all the oiliness from around your eyes while removing the rest of your makeup :) 

It removes even waterproof mascara, and has no problem with the tons of eyeshadow that I wear. I have to admit that I don't know how well it removes any of the lip products because I've never tried to do it. But let's be honest, how many times do we actually NEED the lip products removed? Most of the time they are gone on their own and we have to re-apply, re-apply, and re-apply. I treat this as eye makeup remover only, and I would recommend it to anyone as and eye makeup remover.

I will buy it again provided it's on sale ;P .

Have you tried this eye makeup remover?

~ Lyuba

Channeling My Inner Flapper #1

Hello Everyone,

I've decided to start a new series and call it Channeling My Inner Flapper seeing as how I'm always trying to recreate the look.

This time I've used all the matte shades in the Naked Palette, as well as my current favorite L'Oreal Project Runway Charming Cockatoo's Pout lipstick.

I think it turned out much better this time. I've used the darkest shade only on the crease, trying to create that effect I always see on vintage 1920s photographs. I'm still messing with my eyebrows, trying to figure out the best shape. After attending BINTM Live show (and getting suckered into buying some ridiculously expensive brow powder from a company I've never heard of), I started playing around with the brow stencils. I thought this one was ok, but I actually found a better one just yesterday. Let me tell you, trying to stencil my eyebrows while not seeing all that well, is not fun LOL.

And of course, here is a picture of my pout :) It's SAAAAAAXXXYY! :p

Do you have a look you're always trying to re-create? Let me know in the comments! :)

~ Lyuba

P.S. Please don't forget to enter my giveaway!

CLOSED Happy 1 Year Blogging to FunkyMakeupJunkie Giveaway

Giveaway is now Closed! 

Hello my Funky Readers!

I can't believe that it's been a year since I first decided to start beauty blogging! Actually my anniversary was on the 17th, but I didn't have such  a great day on Thursday, so I didn't post anything. Now that I feel better, I can truly appreciate how far I've come in one year. I also can't really believe that my very first post is one of my most popular ones :)

Thank you all for reading my blog! 

To celebrate my blog birthday, I'm holding a giveaway full of some of my favorite goodies!

The Prizes: 

- Incoco & Rebel Nails nail wraps.
- Sleek Sunset palette - my absolute favorite from the permanent range.
- L'Oreal's LE Project Runway Charming Cockatoo's Pout -  I loved this lipstick so much that I've bought another one to pass on the greatness! :) You can see it in action here.
- MUA Lipstics in Shades 6 & 13. 
- 17 Vintage Love Metallic Nudes. 
- Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Conquer. 
- Japonesque Touch Up Tube - 5 travel brushes in a super cute fuchsia tube, I carry them everywhere with me! 
- Ed Hardy Love & Luck Body Lotion. 

Rules: 

- Open to public GFC followers. 
- All current followers (who followed me before 11/19/2011) will get a +1 entry. 
- Twitter followers will get +1 entry (@Lyubachan)
- Open worldwide. 
- Giveaway will close on December 11, 2011. 
- To enter please fill out the form below. 


Thank you again for supporting my blog!


~ Lyuba


*All prizes are bought by me except Nail Wraps and Illamasqua pigment, which were sent to me in the monthly beauty boxes*

It's All About the Lips FOTD

Hello Everyone, 


I've been obsessing over this lipstick for the past few weeks now and I don't think I ever obsessed over a lipstick that much! So when I got my haircut yesterday, I just knew that today I had to wear this lipstick! I present to you L'Oreal's LE Project Runway Charming Cockatoo's Pout! (I love the name)

  

It looks pretty scary in the tube, it really does, but the second I saw it, I knew I HAD to have it! Because normally I wouldn't go for shades like this, and I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. Plus, I'm always on the mission to find THAT perfect flapper lipstick. 

I love the way this lipstick looks one me, just that perfect berry shade. I am simply in love :) I also love my haircut, which is essentially similar to the one I usually get, except this time I got enough courage to explain what the heck I REALLY wanted and make sure I got it! The hairdresser called it a statement hairstyle :) 

Now if only I could figure out the damn flapper eye makeup! I *think* I know the theory, but it never looks "just right" when I apply it. Maybe I'm setting the bar too high, since all the photos I saw are black and white and pretty not-clear... and it's not like I could go back in time and see for myself. I wish there were some good instruction books on flapper makeup. 

So what do you think about this lipstick? Yay or nay for you? 


On another note, my blog will be 1 year old tomorrow!! I really can't believe it's been a year already! 


~ Lyuba