July 2011 Empties

Hello my Funky Readers,

I can't believe it's time for another empties post! I get so ridiculously excited when I finish something, especially if it's a makeup item. I have two items right now where I've hit the pot, and I can't wait to finish those too although it will be a good several month before I do. :( But anyways, here are the stuff that I've finished in July!

1. St.Ives Energizing Citrus Moisturizing Body Wash - this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've used it, and every time I think that it smells so much better in the bottle than when used on the body. Will I ever learn?

2. Garnier Fresh Essential Cleansing Milk & Toner - you can read my review here. I love those and already started on backups.

3. Garnier Fresh Essential Eye Makeup Remover - it sucks. You can read why here.

4. Batiste Original Dry Shampoo - That's the one that came with June's GlossyBox. I love Batiste, and will buy this over and over again.
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5. Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser SPF10 - you can read my full review here, but just to sum it up: I love it, but wish for higher SPF.

6. Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent -  it's great and I'm on my 2nd one right now. I see myself buying it again.

7. The Body Shop Peppermint Intensive Foot Rescue - I got one of these for my mom when I went to visit last year, and she swears by it. I on the other hand think it only works as preventative. Which it is, according to the package. So it works very well for me in winter, but the second I start wearing sandals again my feet turn into dry nightmare no matter how much I soak and scrub them. I am not sure if I will buy it again because I'm not loving the scent much, and I've only bought it because it worked so well for my mom.

What did you finish this month? :)

~ 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 

Garnier UltraLift Challenge Result

Hello Lovely Readers,

As you might remember, I signed up to take part in Garnier UltraLift Challenge. Well today is exactly 14 days since I started, and here are the results. 

Click to enlarge

Now, as I've said before I am one of those people who just doesn't believe the wrinkle reducing claims, but to give Garnier credit they did say "Of course, we can't do the impossible and achieve a permanent lift. But it has been proven that UltraLift does reduce the appearance of wrinkles. So that should give you a lift!" To me that just sounds like saying hey, if you don't see any results, it's not our fault. We didn't promise you the impossible, in fact we even warned you that we can't do the impossible.


Can you see the difference? At first I thought there was a very tiny difference, but that could have been my imagination while staring at myself in the mirror. But seeing the photos side by side, I really don't think there was any change. Or if it was, it is so tiny that I can't tell. The concealer still settles into my lines, and that's all that matters to me because it means the lines are still there!

Oh, and do have to say that for these 14 days I stopped using any facial moisturizers and eye creams (horrible I know) so that nothing could possibly intervene with UltraLift, and so Garnier couldn't say oh but your other stuff must have naturalized the goodness that is UltraLift.

Of course, you could also argue that 14 days is not enough time to see the result and there was SOMETHING happening there, because I felt a tingling sensation everywhere I applied the cream. I think lip plumping products have the same tingling, but I never really used one to know for sure. So if lips could be plumped up, why can't skin be? What do you think, should I give it a go and get the full size product and try? 

~ Lyuba

I'm Taking Part in Garnier UltraLift Challenge

Hello Funky Readers,

Not long ago I saw a post on one of the blogs I follow about Garnier UltraLift Challenge and I've figured I'd give it a go. I have to admit that I AM one of those people who doesn't believe in wrinkle reducing claims, but at the same time I'm not opposed to trying new stuff. Who knows, maybe I would be proven wrong right?

So all you have to do is go to that website, fill out your details and then wait for your samples to come in. Then use UltraLift for 14 days straight instead of your usual anti-wrinkle cream, and once you've finished go back to that website and tell them the results. Simple right?

As you can see, I signed up and got my free samples :) (There is also a page for US, but I don't see any way to get the samples on there... maybe because I'm in UK and it's not showing? )

You get a nice little box full of sample packets plus a coupon if you decide to buy UltraLift at the end. You also get the Wrinkle Rater, but I didn't bother with it and you'll see why shortly.

Here are my Day 1 photos. As you can see, I don't have that many wrinkles. You are also probably wondering why do I want to use this product, and the answer is because I'm hoping it will reduce the appearance of those annoying under-my-lower-lid lines! I hate them and they drive me crazy because EVERY SINGLE concealer I use settles into those lines! GRRR!!!

 One packet is enough to apply to my eye area (liberally, to extra make sure it will work ) as well as my face & neck.

Are you taking part in this challenge? 

~ Lyuba

New Favorites: Garnier Fresh Essential Cleansing Milk & Toner

Hello Ladies,

Since I ran out of my faithful Simple facial toner not to long ago, I was on the search for a new one. And since I was pretty unhappy with Simple Kind to Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion, I was on the search for a new makeup remover too. And I found both in Garnier Skin Naturals Fresh Essentials Invigorating Toner and Complete Cleansing Milk. (That's a mouthful for sure)

What they say:

Garnier Fresh Essentials Grape Water Complete Cleansing Milk contains cleansing micro-oils and fruit extract to freshen skin while gently cleansing.

Garnier Fresh Essentials Grape Water Complete Cleansing Milk removes make-up and lets the skin breathe easily. It removes even long-lasting face and eye make-up in just one step. Garnier Fresh Essentials Grape Water Complete Cleansing Milk is enriched with cleansing micro-oils and fruit extract, It leaves your skin feeling cleansed and refreshed, with make-up and impurities removed. The light formula leaves no greasy feel.

Apply Garnier Fresh Essentials Grape Water Complete Cleansing Milk all over the face, massage gently to dissolve make-up and then remove using cotton wool pads, starting with the eyes and lips.

Garnier Fresh Essentials

An irresistible partner for normal to combination skin.

Invigorating toner, vitamin enriched
Alcohol-free and enriched with grape extract, water and pro-vitamin B5, the formula removes any remaining impurities that can cause and uneven complexion, whilst preparing skin for your moisturizer.

What I say: 
I promise you, I am not crazy and you CAN buy both of these from Boots... however I can't find them on their website so I can't link them :(  Could it be that these used to be called Clean & Fresh and Garnier just renamed them? Either way, I got these from Boots in Cambridge and they were on sale at the time for 2 for £4. That said, I don't remember how much they cost individually... I remember thinking that it was on par with Simple toners, so around £3 or so. 

 Lets just say I love these. My main problem with Simple Purifying Cleansing Lotion was that it wasn't liquid enough, and it was a major pain in the behind to use. Try smoothing something on your face when that something is almost solid and you'll know what I mean. It also left my skin feeling pretty sticky at the end, not a good result for a product that supposes to cleanse right? I don't have this problem with Garnier Complete Cleansing Milk. It is liquidy enough to glide on my skin, and once I wipe it off with cotton pads my skin feels nice, smooth and most importantly clean. No sticky feeling here! 


Then I follow up with the toner to get the last bits of makeup off. Actually, this toner and Simple's toner are pretty much the same in my eyes with one major (or minor) difference. The scent. I know that for some people not having any smell is very important because they either don't like it, or get irritated by the smell but for me it is of no concern. I love Simple range because I like to think of it as a more affordable alternative to Clinique, but at the same time there is one thing that I slightly don't like in both of these ranges.... no scent. Silly right? So I love Simple for what they do, and for what they don't add to their products but sometimes I just get an urge to put something on my face with a slight scent to it. 


And I've always liked the scent of Garnier products. And I simply love the scent of Garnier Fresh Essential Toner and Cleansing Milk! I'm not good with describing scents, but to me it smells fresh and not imposing, softly lingering in the background and adding to the experience. I love it! I'm sorry to say Simple, but Garnier toner wins for me.... especially since both of you are around the same price. 

According to Garnier you can use the Cleansing Milk to remove eye makeup too, but I haven't tried it and I probably will not. I have a thing about putting anything like cream near my eyes, meaning I don't want it near them. So I can't comment on how well it removes the eye makeup, but I can say that it removes facial makeup as a charm.  


I would recommend this to anyone with normal or combination skin like mine. It is a great value, and you get 200ml of product in each bottle. It does exactly what it promises to do on the bottle, and it won't make you go broke. :) I can only hope that these products are sold in USA for when I get back.


Let me know if you decide to try Garnier Fresh Essential range , or if you already tried these! 


~ Lyuba


P.S. Please check out my giveaway (ends on June 15th) and my first ever blog sale!