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

REVIEW: the Balm Balms Away Eye Makeup Break-Up

Hello my Funky Readers,

My mom works at TJMaxx (US equivalent of TKMaxx) and she knows to be on lookout for interesting makeup for me (and hats, and scarves, and clothes, and pretty much everything and anything). The moment she mentioned that there was the Balm cosmetics for sale, I told her that I WANT IT and she set out to fight the crazy TJMaxx crowds in order to get me some.

One of the things that she sent me was this Balms Away Eye Makeup remover. I actually didn't know what's the heck it was when I first saw it, but I was still super excited about the tin container. I know, silly me.

What they say: 

Read the instructions on the back, there is no other info on the website either. 

What I say: 
It literally took me over 2 weeks to work up the courage to use this because it looked just like vaseline! And because I was afraid that it will get into my eyes. I'm funny like that about my eyes because I'm crazily afraid of anything getting into them.

So when I finally worked up the courage, I was pleasantly surprised that it actually works! It even works with the waterproof mascara (I tried it on Tarte Light, Camera, Splashes mascara), and I would even say it works better on mascara than other eye makeup removers I tried. Normally, I have a little bit of mascara left anyway, but Balms Away removes mascara like a champ.

I am not that impressed with the application method. It tells to apply a little to the closed eye and leave it for 30 seconds to work it's magic. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with these directions because I do the same with any other eye makeup remover, but unlike other eye makeup removers, this one stays on the eye! So I have to open my eyes even a little in order to get a cotton pad, and as I've mentioned before I'm afraid of getting anything into my eyes so I don't like opening my eyes with the coat of petroleum-jelly-substance-type-thing on them. Instead I do one eye at the time, which makes the eye makeup removing time double. And I hate makeup removing time to begin with, so making it double doesn't help with me liking a product.

I also don't really care for the mess it makes on my fingers, especially when I have lots of eye makeup on! Dirty fingers is another pet peeve of mine. Finally, it feels just a tad bit "dry" when I finally use cotton pads, but it could be because I'm used to using liquid eye makeup remover.

Of course the price is a big consideration too. For $20 you get 64g of product, but $20 is a lot of money (for me) to spend on the eye makeup remover! Thankfully it wasn't that much at TJMaxx, but who knows if it ever ends up there again?

Overall, it is a good product, just not for me. Because of my pet peeves I can't truly appreciate it's greatness, but if you're not afraid of dirty fingers and a little bit of product in your eyes, then try it! I think you will be impressed the same way I was.

~ Lyuba

REVIEW: Garnier Skin Naturals Fresh Essentials Eye-Makeup Remover

Hello Ladies,

Remember not long ago I told you I was in LOVE with Garnier's Fresh Essential Cleansing Milk & Toner? Well because I loved those two products so much, I also picked up Garnier Skin Naturals Fresh Essentials Eye-Makeup Remover because I figured that if I liked 2 products from the range, I would like the other one too. Right? Well, wrong.

What they say: 

Eye make-up remover
Removes all eye make-up, even waterproof, and leaves skin feeling pleasantly soothed while respecting the delicate eye contour area.

They don't have a lot of info up huh? But fear not, I've taken a photo of the back label for you!

What I say: 
As always I can't find it on Boots website, but I promise you it is in the store. And it wasn't even that expensive, I believe under £4, plus Garnier products are frequently on sale anyways. 

As I said, I had pretty high hopes for it but sadly (for this product), it disappointed me. I actually didn't even see that they promised to remove waterproof makeup too, which makes me even more disappointed. It doesn't remove waterproof mascara. It has trouble with even regular mascara! It does a decent job with removing everything else, except you will have to saturate the cotton pad pretty well otherwise you'll be stuck rubbing your eyes like crazy. And we all know rubbing your eyes is a no-no. But then if you saturate the pad pretty well, you'll be risking for eye makeup remover getting in your eyes.... and trust me when I say it stings. 

Overall I'm not happy with this eye makeup remover, and won't be buying it again. It is not quick, it is not easy, and I don't think it is gentle. I'd rather pay a little more and buy Bourjois Express Eye-makeup Remover, which actually works.  

What do you think? Have you tried it before? 

~ Lyuba 

June Empties

Hello my Funky Readers,

I don't have a lot of empties this month, so here are is my measly amount of empties.

1. Simple Kind to Skin Vital Vitamin Night Cream - full review here, for all you noisy bunch, but I can tell you that although I absolutely love it I won't be repurchasing it.... because I found something better! Also by Simple. I think I'll do a full review on it in the next couple of weeks or so.

2. bareMinerals Well-Cared For Brush Conditioning Shampoo - I don't really know what to say about it. It cleans, it cleans my brushes well, but at £8 for tiny 120ml it's a little too expensive for me, as I use a good amount to clean my brushes. I'll just stick with baby shampoo from now on, if it's gentle enough for a baby butt it is sure gentle enough for any brushes in my opinion.

3. Bourjois Express Eye Makeup Remover - you can read all about how much I love it here. I will be buying again, once I go through some other stuff I got. And definitely will be stocking up on it before I live UK.

4. Botanics Purifying Face Scrub for Normal/Oily Skin - it was too gentle for me, to the point of not even feeling like it was doing anything so I won't be buying it again. But I think for those of you with sensitive skin, it might be good.

Let me know what you finished this month, I love reading posts like that.

~ Lyuba

Review: Bourjois Express Eye Makeup Remover

Hello Ladies,

For years I've been using Almay's Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover Pads but after starting this blog I decided to give a chance to an actual liquid eye makeup removers. I didn't want to try them before because I'm very weird about my eyes and what I put next to them (it took me literally 20 minutes to work up enough courage to put my first contact in lol) so I was afraid that liquid eye makeup removers will somehow irritate my eyes. Don't ask how that logic makes sense, since I use the moisturizing formula (meaning it's not oil free) for Almay's makeup remover pads.

Since starting this blog tried Simple Kind to Eyes Eye-Makeup Remover and Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover but as you read in my most recent empties post, I wasn't that impressed with them. After reading about Bourjois Express Eye Makeup Remover on several blogs I follow I decided to give it a try and I LOVE it!

Here is what they say: 
BOURJOIS’ EXPRESS EYE MAKE-UP REMOVER removes all types of eye make-up, whether heavily pigmented or waterproof, with a single wipe!

Its fresh, non-greasy, two-phase formula gently cleans with the first wipe of the cotton pad.

- 1st phase: oils concentrated with cleansing agents to remove all make-up effortlessly, even waterproof!
- 2nd phase: the water phase leaves the skin feeling fresh, without any unpleasant greasy sensations
Tested under ophthalmological control, this formula protects the lashes, the delicate skin of the eyelids and the fragile rim around the eye.

Here is what I say: 
First the packaging is really cute. It is a bottle, but it's such a cute bottle!  And I like that the liquid is blue, which really has nothing to do with anything other than it's being blue.

I don't wear waterproof makeup much so waterproof makeup properties mean nothing to me other than hopefully helping remove makeup better. I do wear Collection 2000 Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liners which are known for staining the eyelids quite heavily. I guess that makes them waterproof, so then I do wear waterproof makeup pretty often? This eye makeup remover removed 95% of the eyeliner and that's when I knew I had to write a review!

Bourjois claims that this eye makeup remover will remove all types of eye makeup with the first swipe. I would say it's a little far fetched. I can't get my eye makeup removed with just one swipe no matter how long I keep the moistened eye pad on my eyes before. I have to do several swipes in order to get all makeup removed, but I guess it's not a big deal if it accomplishes the task at the end?

I love how non-oily it is, even if the dark blue liquid contains oil. My eyes don't get 'cloudy' like with Almay's pads. I am a little annoyed that I have to shake the bottle like crazy before each use though, and I feel like the top blue liquid will be gone way before the clear liquid. But I won't know until I finish the bottle right?

As I said, Bourjois Eye Makeup remover removed 95% of Collection 2000 Extreme Wear Felt Liners, leaving only a faint purple tint (that's why it got a 95% instead of 100%). With the other eye makeup removers that I tried, I still had a very prominent eyeliner line left. That is pretty impressive considering how much trouble people been having with removing these eyeliners. I think it will work just as great on other waterproof makeup. 

Overall I'm very impressed with this eye makeup remover. It removes my makeup, doesn't irritate my eyes and doesn't leave them feeling oily and 'cloudy'. The price is pretty good too, at £4.99 it makes it a bargain in UK (not some much for me lol because of the exchange rate), especially if it's on offer like it is right now at Boots. Boots is having 3 for 2 sale going on right now, and I'm thinking of stocking up on this eye makeup remover.

What do you think about Bourjois Express Eye Makeup Remover? Have you tried it yet?

~ Lyuba

January and February Empties

Hello Ladies,

I'm sorry for the long absence. I could say that my recent beauty blogging drama kept me away, but  that's not true. It's more like I'm going through my every-few-month low right now, and I should be ok in a week or two. I mean, I haven't wore makeup AT ALL in over a week! Got ID'ed at Waitrose though, so maybe I should go makeup less more often huh?

So to get myself back on track I'm posting something nice and easy and what doesn't require too much of thinking, otherwise known as finished products post. I got myself a new storage thing for the bathroom so now I can keep track of all the empty bottles much easier, and now they just seem to pile up so fast!

Mittens is investigating the new smell

1. DeadSeaSource De-Tox Seaweed Salt Scrub
Love this stuff. Can I say that again? LOVE THIS STUFF!! Sadly I can't use it when my husband is around cuz the weirdo hates the smell. I really don't get why, he was right there with me when I bought it and approved the smell, but when I actually used it he said it makes him gag. *sad face* So I can only use it when he is gone. Next time he goes away for few month I'll be buying another one. I love it because not only it scrubs very well, but afterward it leaves my skin feeling very moisturized and soft. I think it's because of the oil that's in there, and because of that I usually tap the moisture off with the towel instead of rubbing. I love the smell too, regardless of what my husband says lol.

Mittens is at it again :)

2. VICHY Purete Thermale One Step Cleanser
Boots is having their 3 for 2 sale again and I'm having a hard time resisting buying more of this and other thermal water stuff. Sadly, being unemployed I gotta watch how I spend, plus I also have other cleansers that I need to use first. But fear not, once I ran out I will go out and buy more of this because it love it. It removes the makeup very well and leaves my skin feeling very clean and fresh.

3. Simple Kind to Eyes Eye-Makeup Remover
I am on a quest to find the perfect (for me) eye makeup remover and I bought the sample size to try. I'm not that impressed. It removed my eye makeup, but I think it could be better so I'm still on lookout for something else.  Even after holding cotton pads to my eyes for over a minute, I still had traces (a lot) of eye makeup and I don't even wear anything waterproof.

4. Batiste Dry Shampoo in Tropical and Boho
I regret not buying more of those when Superdrug had their sale, because these are lifesavers for me! I will be buying and buying them, although I don't particularly care for the ones above because of their smell. I like Blush the most so I'll just stick with it from now on.  

5. Aussie Take the Heat Leave-in Spray
Another product that I will be buying over and over again. It smells great and doesn't weight my hair down and protects it from heat. Perfect in my book :)

6. Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover
After reading raving reviews about this eye makeup remover I decided to give it a try. To me it's OK, it's about the same as Simple Eye Makeup Remover except this works a little better. Still I will be looking for a better one, but if I'm in a pinch I can always come back to this.

7. fcuk Body Polish
Am I the only one that starts giggling when first glancing at the brand name? I bought this on offer along with Ted Baker Sugar Scrub a while back, but just now got to use it up. And I used the whole thing up in one time, but guess that's not that surprising. Entire thing is only 50ml and it supposed to cover my whole body. So I gave myself a nice 'polish' and pamper. I didn't notice too much of a difference, maybe because it is too fine and I like a good scrub. I might buy it again.

8. Ted Baker Invigorating Sugar Scrub
I used this as a facial scrub, although I suppose it is not. But it didn't say not to use it on face, only said not to get it in my eyes. I love the subtle smell and the texture. It gave me a great scrub and didn't irritate my face (but things rarely irritate my face to be fair). I will definitely buying it again, but I really wish it came in a bigger size. No matter how many Boots I check all I see is this travel size tube.

9. Simple Regeneration Age Resisting Eye Cream
I guess it worked because I didn't notice much difference in my eye area but I'm not sure what the "age resisting" part supposed to do. I think my under eye area was moisturized, but that's about it. I won't be purchasing this again since I'm trying other eye creams from Simple right now.

10. AHAVA Mineral Foot Cream
Ever since my cousin brought me AHAVA's hand cream from Israel I've been in love with everything AHAVA. I had this travel size tube for over 2 years but it was lost in my kimono room and only recently found. I love everything about this, the smell, how it sinks into my skin without feeling oily and how soft it makes my feet feel. Too bad it's on the expensive (for me) side, but given a chance I will buy more.

So what stuff did you recently finish? Leave a link to your blog in the comment, or just tell me. I would love to read about it :)

~ Lyuba