Witoxicity

Adorned Nails: KOH Urban Style

2012-01-29T14:48:00.000+01:00

We've finally arrived at the last Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Urban Style.

This is the only one of the six that isn't blue. Urban Style is a black jelly-crème filled with silver glitters. Two moderately thick coats would be all you need. Due to the glitters, the finish is of course raw and gritty.

I don't know why but I've been having a thing for French tips lately. I contemplated using silver on this but in the end decided to go for white.

I used the matte white of Herôme Ottawa and, just like before, freehanded it by painting it across the nail. The pristine matte white against the gritty black/silver makes a stark contrast.

It somehow makes me think of a sequin tuxedo.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

With all the six Vintage Jeans polishes worn (you can have a quick global view of them in the KOH Nail Polish Gallery), I can now say that the following three are my personal favourites:

1. KOH Grungy Touch
2. KOH Rock Chick
3. KOH Bohemian Chic

I'm done with the Vintage Jeans collection, so I can now get on with featuring KOH polishes from the permanent collection. Stay tuned!

Reminder: Giveaway featuring KOH Red and KOH Woodstock Green.

No7: Amazing Eyes Pencil Review

2012-01-27T21:43:00.001+01:00

I had a look at the customer reviews of these No7 Amazing Eyes Pencils on the Boots website and it appears that these pencils enjoy pretty good ratings. There were some negative reviews but there were many positive ones: 'favourite eye liner', 'stays on for hours', 'so long wearing', 'doesn't smudge'.

Well, I won't spout forth such words, I'm afraid.

These eyeliner pencils came in a holiday boxset that was issued by No7 in the run-up to Christmas. You've seen those three very pretty but disappointing eyeshadow palettes, Stay Perfect (Mini) Trio Eye Shadow Palettes - Cappuccino, Twilight and Beside The Sea.

The pencils that came in this boxset are smaller versions of those in the normal range. The regular ones retail for £7.75 / € 7.95 per piece and come complete with a smudger at the other end. I have here 05 Black and 10 Brown. One's a matt black and the other, a lovely taupey brown with very subtle shimmer.

Ingredients

So, here's what I think:

Once properly warmed up, they go on fairly creamy and the pigmentation is all right. They are quite easy to smudge out for a smokey look.

While they aren't faded by the end of the day, I can't say they are terribly durable. On my lids, they show early signs of creasing within two hours. When used to tightline, most of it is gone by midday. They aren't waterproof, so they do smudge if you have watery eyes or say, after a short walk in the rain.

The good thing about these pencils is that they are hypoallergenic, so ladies with sensitive eyes would probably find these agreeable.

Personally, I can't give the Amazing Eyes Pencils the thumbs up. To those ladies who love them, good for you! I don't think these pencils were made for my kind of eyelids. On a couple of occasions, I actually ended up with mildly racoon eyes by evening. Not a pretty sight.

More information:
My review of the No7 Stay Perfect Mini Trio Eye Shadow Palettes
Eye looks with the abovementioned No7 eye products
Boots Nederland website
Boots UK website

Adorned Nails: KOH Grungy Touch

2012-01-25T23:30:00.002+01:00

Hmm, I may be speaking too soon but this could be my favourite KOH Vintage Jeans polish.

I have to say, the swatch for this polish on the nail wheel that KOH passed me had a lighter shade compared to what I have on now. When applied, KOH Grungy Touch is actually a dark blue. The shade of blue is quite similar to that of KOH Casual Blue but compared side-by-side, Casual Blue has some hints of petrol blue.

Grungy Touch is a cool polish. It has those dense silver/blue microglitters and it dries matt!

I love the suede finish.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Casual Blue
Next and final Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Urban Style

Reminder: KOH Giveaway featuring KOH Red and KOH Woodstock Green.

Adorned Nails: Essence Applause, Applause

2012-01-23T23:13:00.002+01:00

I'm taking a short break from blue nail polishes. It's Chinese New Year today and of course, no Chinese New Year is complete without the auspicious colour red.

I've got just the perfect red to welcome the Year of the Dragon. I've deliberately kept this polish for this ocassion: Applause, Applause from the Essence Circus Circus collection. You might remember the pink crème/glitter duo (stick) called Essence Cotton Candy. Well, Applause, Applause is its red counterpart.

The red crème applied beautifully, almost like jelly. I did two coats.

And then, you have the glitter half. I didn't want to do the same thing as before (with Cotton Candy) - blanketing the entire crème with the glitter polish. I gave it red glitter French tips instead. I freehanded it by pulling the brush from one side of the nail to the other.

But I'm not done yet.

I need some gold on this to complete the look. I used this Chinese-like lattice design from the Chez Delaney plate T05 and stamped it at the crème/glitter border with a gold polish from the PUPA Crackle Nail Art Kit.

To everyone ushering in the Year of the Dragon, Happy Chinese New Year!

Essence: Nail And Hand Care Gloves

2012-01-22T23:29:00.001+01:00

I mentioned the other day in my post on the Le Couvent des Minimes Gardener's Hand Healer about sometimes wearing gloves after applying my hand cream.

Well, this is the pair of gloves that I've been using. It's a cheap and cheerful lilac-coloured pair from Essence that I bought about half a year ago. It's for bedtime use, so there's no need for anything fancy, right?

The gloves come in one size and are made of 97% cotton and 3% spandex. The gloves didn't look terribly promising when I first removed them from the packaging - notice the scrunched-up sections at the base of the fingers (my first thought: Essence knows how to make great nail polish potions and yet, they can't make a simple pair of gloves?!!).

Fortunately, when worn, the fit is okay for me. The thumbs are a bit too long but that's not a major issue. Some ladies may find the fit for the other fingers a bit short though.

They are machine-washable and after some months' use and washes, I'm definitedly seeing some fuzzing. These gloves retail for only €1.99 per pair. At such a budget-friendly price, I should perhaps get me a couple of backups, in case Essence decides to discontinue this item.

What Essence says about these gloves:
The cotton nail & hand care gloves are just the right thing when your hands need some time off. After applying essence hand and nail care products, simply pull them on and relax overnight. The gloves make the care effect even more intensive and your hands will look young and pampered again the next morning! Now rough, chapped hands are a thing of the past!

More information:
Essence Cosmetics website

Adorned Nails: KOH Casual Blue

2012-01-21T00:05:00.001+01:00

This is KOH Vintage Jeans polish number four.

I'll keep it short. You're looking at the usual two coats. KOH Casual Blue is a straightforward dark denim blue crème, with the same smooth, creamy formula as the other previously shown Vintage Jeans polishes.

No embellishment on this one. Let's leave it as it is.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Bohemian Chic
Next Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Grungy Touch

Reminder: KOH Giveaway featuring KOH Red and KOH Woodstock Green.

Le Couvent des Minimes: Gardener's Hand Healer Review

2012-01-19T22:30:00.001+01:00

20% Shea Butter & Seven Magical Plants.

Seriously, that's what it says on the packaging. I'm tempted to think that this is a wizard's concoction. For his gardener.

Well, if you've read an earlier post of mine, you might know that the wizard in this case is actually, umm, L'Occitane. Familiar packaging, no?

Le Couvent des Minimes the brand was created by L'Occitane in honour of the long tradition of care and healing using products and plants harvested from the land surrounding the convent/hospice. Today (for better marketing purposes, I suppose), the product range of Le Couvent des Minimes is divided into eleven categories, which they call 'recipes'. This particular hand cream shares the same name as the recipe - Gardener's Hand Healer.

According to Le Couvent des Minimes
This rich, emollient cream blends 20% of the finest grade shea butter with seven carefully selected beneficial botanicals. This intensive formula restores moisture to the skin and protects active, chapped and cracked hands like an invisible glove to leave them soft and smooth.

The Cream
Well, I think this is a good hand cream, if you're okay with the scent. The thick, white cream smells lemony verbena. The scent is less fresh and more aromatic than plain lemon and in fact, it's quite like lemongrass. I'm not a fan of its scent but that's a matter of personal taste. The scent is strong at first but it tones down after a while.

The cream sinks in in less than a minute, leaving the skin very slightly tacky but not greasy.

This rich, thick hand cream would work great for the outdoors (keep in mind the name of this product), especially now in winter. I have however been using this as my bedtime hand cream for the past few months (I don't do gardening - plants die on me, every time). My other hand cream, the Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Hand Cream, which used to be my night hand cream is now used in the daytime, along with others. Sometimes, if I remember, I would wear cotton gloves after application and in the morning, I would wake up with extra soft hands, still subtly scented with lemon verbena.

Ingredients
The convoluted list (please click to enlarge):

The quick list (from the box packaging):

• Shea butter - healing and protective
• Mimosa - restores moisture to the skin
• Verbena - revitalising
• Chamomile - soothing
• Marshmallow - calming
• Calendula - softening
• Lemon balm - softening
• Rosemary - protective

Final Words
Would I buy this cream again? I may, if it's on special offer. The thing is, just like with lipbalms, there are just so many more out there that I'd like to try! There is another hand product from this Gardener's Hand Healer range called Nail & Cuticle Fortifying Salve. Perhaps it's a product to keep in mind for the future.

In the Netherlands, Le Couvent des Minimes products are available at ICI Paris XL parfumerie stores. The Gardener's Hand Healer retails for €12.50 (75ml) but I bought mine at 30% off at ICI Paris. So, if you're interested, look out for the ocassional discounts on the Le Couvent des Minimes range there.

Further reading:
My first post on Le Couvent des Minimes, including the history/heritage of this convent in the Alpes de Haute-Provence and a review of the Le Couvent des Minimes Nutritive Lip Balm

Le Couvent des Minimes website

Adorned Nails: KOH Bohemian Chic

2012-01-18T16:38:00.001+01:00

More KOH! There'll be quite a few posts on KOH this week as I go through the KOH Vintage Jeans collection.

KOH Bohemian Chic is the third one to be featured. Just like the previous two, KOH Rock Chick and KOH Romantic Flair, this one's a crème as well. The formula is nice and creamy, and it went on smoothly. As usual, I did two coats.

Bohemian Chic is a slate blue, sometimes I think it looks more grey than blue.

I wanted to add some simple nail art to this. I took out KOH Matt which I haven't used for quite a while and applied a thick band on the nail tips (I just painted it in one or two sure strokes across the nail).

Initially, I thought of leaving it at that - thick, matt French tips - but I felt that it was missing something.

So, I chose this stamping design from the Chez Delaney plate B100 and stamped it in line with the border of the matt tips using the baby blue of Romantic Flair. Do note though that this baby blue is not meant as a stamping polish, so don't expect the stamped design to appear bright and vivid on the nails.

The final result is a somewhat subtle nail design on matt French tips. You know that I like subtlety.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Romantic Flair
Next Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Casual Blue

Don't forget to check out my ongoing KOH Giveaway featuring the classic, KOH Red, and the newbie, KOH Woodstock Green.

Adorned Nails: KOH Romantic Flair

2012-01-16T22:18:00.005+01:00

KOH Romantic Flair is the second polish from the new KOH Vintage Jeans collection.

It's an odd-one-out in the lineup of the six Vintage Jeans polishes. It's.....in one word......dainty. It's such a sweet baby blue créme, very innocent-looking compared to the other grungy five. KOH has certainly given it an appropriate name.

Just like KOH Rock Chick, Romantic Flair applied beautifully. You're looking at two coats.

I wanted to give the blue some texture and so, I stamped this design from an Essence Nail Art Stampy Design plate (I've mentioned this before - it's pointless telling you which plate it is because Essence calls all their rectangular plates either '01 have fun' or '02 style it up').

I stamped three or four times on each nail, firstly because the design isn't big enough to fill the whole nail, and secondly, to give it a rougher surface. The first layer was with the mildly matte white Herôme Ottawa and the second layer, with the same blue of Romantic Flair.

To preserve the rough surface, I deliberately did not use a top coat on this.

This polish was provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Rock Chick
Next Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Bohemian Chic

Teeez: Bold Eyeliner Pencils Review

2012-01-15T23:22:00.002+01:00

These have got to be the funkiest-looking eyeliner pencils I've ever had but I'm telling you, the Teeez Bold Eyeliner Pencils are much more than just visually pleasing.

I like these pencils. They go on nice, smooth and creamy. Best of all, they are smudgeproof and waterproof, which is ideal for inward-folding eyelids like mine.

These pencils are from Teeez's Boudoir Secrets collection and I have here three shades:

Top to bottom:
Sexy 12 - black
Outta Control 08 - violet
Rebel 09 - orange

Teeez says (excerpts):
Twelve seductive shades to accentuate your eyes. The Bold Eyeliner Pencil is waterproof! Creamy texture for smooth application and comfortable wear. Quick drying and long lasting due to the waterproof formulation, no caking or streaking. Fragrance free.....

I did a quick eye look using only these three eyeliner pencils and the Teeez Full & Flirty Volume Mascara that was released by the brand in a previous collection called Diva's Darkness. All four products were kindly provided by Teeez.

Here, I used the eyeliner pencils as both eyeshadows and eyeliners. The eyeliners do dry quite quickly once applied, so I did have to work very quickly to smudge out the colours with my fingers.

The main purpose of this eye look was really to give an idea of how longlasting the eyeliners are. The photo on the right was taken about five hours later and as you can see, the colours haven't budged. The most critical section is the inner one-third of my eyes as that's the area most susceptible to creasing. Well, I certainly can't complain here (the eyeliners actually lasted longer than five hours on me).

Truth be told, these eyeliners are coming close to dethroning my absolute favourite range of eyeliner pencils - GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liners. These by Teeez are a tad kinder on the wallet too. Retail price: €4.79 (Net wt. 1.5g).

The other items already featured from the Teeez Boudoir Secrets collection:
Teeez Gutsy 05 nail polish
Teeez French Kiss Lip Gelée

More information:
Teeez website

Adorned Nails: KOH Rock Chick

2012-01-11T22:48:00.004+01:00

You've had a sneak peek of the KOH Vintage Jeans collection last month. The polishes have just arrived and so, here's the first one to be swatched: the intense cobalt blue, KOH Rock Chick.

Rock Chick is a crème polish and definitely an extrovert. I think it's the perkiest and the most eye-catching shade out of the six Vintage Jeans polishes. This one applied very well and you're looking at the usual two coats. Price: €14.95 (10ml).

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

According to the press release, the KOH Vintage Jeans collection would be out sometime this month. You will probably see these first in the KOH Experience Shops in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, and sometime later in parfumerie stores here in the Netherlands.

The other five polishes in this collection:
KOH Vintage Jeans

Next Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Romantic Flair

No7: Eye Looks With Stay Perfect Eye Shadow Trio Palettes

2012-01-10T23:28:00.000+01:00

Perhaps you still remember these pretty mini eyeshadow trio palettes by No7 that I bought last month. The palettes are called (L-R) Cappuccino, Twilight and Beside The Sea.

Following my review, I now have here one eye look using each of these palettes. As mentioned earlier, the general quality of these palettes isn't that great - the pigmentation could be better. The state of the eyeshadows in my palettes now isn't as pristine as in these photos here. I've been almost scraping at the eyeshadows (especially with Twilight and Beside The Sea) to get as much colour out of them as possible, and I know I've gotten waaaay past the imprint.

No7 Stay Perfect Eye Shadow Trio Palette - Cappuccino

Products used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
No7 Stay Perfect Eye Shadow Trio Palette - Cappuccino
No7 Amazing Eye Pencil - Brown
No7 Amazing Eye Pencil - Black
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara - Waterproof Extra Black

No7 Stay Perfect Eye Shadow Trio Palette - Twilight

Products used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
No7 Stay Perfect Eye Shadow Trio Palette - Twilight
No7 Amazing Eye Pencil - Black
Etos Max Volume Mascara - Black

No7 Stay Perfect Eye Shadow Trio Palette - Beside The Sea

Products used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
No7 Stay Perfect Eye Shadow Trio Palette - Beside The Sea
No7 Amazing Eye Pencil - Black
Essence Holographics.com Liquid Eyeliner - Blue Ray
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara - Waterproof Extra Black

More information:
My detailed review and swatches of these No7 Stay Perfect Mini Eye Shadow Trio Palettes
Boots Nederland website
Boots UK website

Adorned Nails: Douglas Fireworks

2012-01-09T23:23:00.002+01:00

Douglas Fireworks 15. Could this be a dupe for Chanel Peridot?

The German parfumerie chain, Douglas, launched its own collection of nail polishes recently, calling the range Douglas Absolute Nails. I believe Douglas launched these much earlier in its home country, as ladies in Germany would have spotted.

I came across the collection in one of the Douglas stores here in the Netherlands just last week. The sales assistant mentioned that they were new arrivals, just after the New Year. The main collection consists of twelve polishes and several seem to mirror some of Chanel's range of nail polishes. There were another three polishes on display, separate from the main display, and I wonder if these three may be limited editions. This Douglas Fireworks was one of the three.

Douglas Fireworks is an antique gold / green duochrome, with the antique gold a lot more prominent than the green. You'll see also flashes of aqua in the bottle. I applied two coats here and as is expected of metallic polishes, the finish looks streaky.

The Douglas Absolute Nails polishes have a fairly broad brush (that's good!) and the bottles also come complete with double caps. Each retails for €4.95 (11ml) which is about one-quarter the price of Chanel's (13ml).

So, if you have access to a Douglas store, I'd suggest that you go check the range out soon. Real soon.

To view the range:
Douglas Nederland website

Teeez: French Kiss Lip Gelée

2012-01-07T23:08:00.001+01:00

Oh, such a fancy name! Lip jelly.

Well, it's really a lipgloss. The Teeez French Kiss Lip Gelée has the texture of a lipgloss, it has the stickiness of a lipgloss and it has the glossy shine of, yes, a lipgloss. It keeps the lips moisturised too and it lasts just about as long on the lips as any lipgloss does.

The ornate print on the cap (it's not a sticker) probably looks familiar. Remember that nail polish bottle of Teeez Gutsy 05? These three lipglosses which Teeez kindly provided me back in December belong to the same collection: Boudoir Secrets.

Teeez says:
This ultimate glossy texture gives your lips a sensual shine, in a variaty of ten shades with or without pearl pigments.

Featured here are:

L-R:
Macaron 03 - pale coral beige with subtle shimmer
Juicy Plum 08 - pale mauve without shimmer
Red Romance 07 - coral red with shimmer

Macaron is too pale a shade for me, so this would be better used layered on a dark-coloured lipstick. I have here the swatch for it.

L: Macaron; R: Juicy Plum

Juicy Plum is very close to my natural lip colour, so this too would be something I would use layered on a dark lipstick or if I want a nude lip look to go with smokey eyes.

With Juicy Plum

Red Romance is obviously my preference out of the three.

It gives the lips a hint of glossy coral red.

With Red Romance

Retail price: €5.99. The Boudoir Secrets collection has been available in selected parfumerie stores in the Netherlands for about two months already. I remember seeing these in one store back in November.

More information:
Teeez Cosmetics website

Adorned Nails: Sportsgirl Galaxy

2012-01-04T21:33:00.000+01:00

If you are like me and you love dark nail colours, then I think you would know how I feel about this polish: instant love! Sure, it lacks the pretty, whimsical flakies that we so love, but its busy, dizzy (mainly) golden shimmers floating in burgundy-black polish more than make up for it.

This is a polish from Australian brand Sportsgirl which my dear friend, Danielle, sent me in a swap we did ages ago. Another polish that she got me - Sportsgirl Purple Rain - is also a beauty.

Sportsgirl Nail It Galaxy applied like a dream and I have two coats on here.

I love the slim, cylindrical 3.5" tall bottle. It's different! Unfortunately, the Sportsgirl Nail It nail polish collection and the bottle design look different now, according to the Sportsgirl website.

Catrice: Hidden World Eyeshadow Soufflé Review

2012-01-02T23:33:00.000+01:00

Hidden World is the latest 'Limited Edition' collection by Catrice. It isn't a very colourful collection, plainly staying within the white, off-white, champagne, pink and brown colour range. I think it's an elegant collection, nevertheless.

As if I haven't got enough eyeshadows already, I swooped up all three of the Hidden World Eyeshadow Soufflés last week:

Wood You Follow Me? - brown with subtle shimmer
Yes, I Wood! - champagne with shimmer
Rosy&Cosy - pink with gold shimmer

Wood You Follow Me?

Yes, I Wood!

Rosy&Cosy

Each retails for €3.49 (0.17oz / 4.9g). For that budget-friendly price, I feel absolutely no buyer's remorse. No need to.

Ingredients:
Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Mica, Phenyl Trimethicone, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Hexyl Laurate, C30-45 Alkyl Dimethicone, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Stearyl Dimethicone, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Propylene Carbonate, Tin Oxide, Propylparaben
May contain: CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)

Texture
Catrice calls these light, airy and soft. True, true and true. I really couldn't describe them any other way. Dip your finger in the soufflé and it dents immediately.

Application
I've tried applying the soufflés with my fingers and with a sponge-tip applicator. Both work but I have a preference for fingertips. I find it easier to fade out the edges.

Durability
Not bad at all! The durability of these eyeshadow soufflés does remind me somewhat of the Made To Stay Longlasting Eyeshadow. The soufflés

• (once dried) do not smudge easily - when rubbed on, the shimmer particles get displaced but the colour stays.
• are water-resistant, but not fully waterproof.
• are fairly crease-resistant.

Here's an eye look done with all three shades. The products that I used were:

Catrice Hidden World Eyeshadow Soufflé - Wood You Follow Me?
Catrice Hidden World Eyeshadow Soufflé - Yes, I Wood!
Catrice Hidden World Eyeshadow Soufflé - Rosy&Cosy
Majolica Majorca Perfect Automatic Liner - RD605 Red Garnet
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Black Ink
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara - Waterproof Extra Black

The look:

• champagne on the inner corner, pink on main part of lid and brown on the outer corner and crease
• brown smudged on lower lash line, champagne on inner half
• line upper lash line with the Majolica Majorca liquid eyeliner
• tightline with Black Ink
• two coats of mascara

More information:
Catrice Hidden World

My reviews of:
Majolica Majorca Perfect Automatic Liner
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner
Catrice Made To Stay Long Lasting Eyeshadow

New Year Greetings

2012-01-01T02:00:00.000+01:00

2011 has faded away. Thank you very much for all your support this past year. It certainly hasn't gone unnoticed.

The time has come to welcome a brand new year. New chapter, new plans, new discoveries. I'd love it if you could continue accompanying me on my journey here on Witoxicity.

Here's to a fantastic New Year 2012, everyone! I wish you all nothing but the best for the coming year.

P.S. Yes, yes, you're looking at eyeshadow pigments here. I couldn't resist!

Adorned Nails: Glam Silver French Tips

2011-12-29T22:50:00.000+01:00

When it comes to blue nail polishes, there are four that I've come across so far that are swoon-worthy:

Sephora Blue Sapphire P07 (blue jelly with glitters)
Teeez Cool (blue holo)
KOH Blue Universe (blue with flakies)
TheFaceShop Face It BL602 (blue/purple duochrome)

Shown here is Sephora Blue Sapphire P07 glammed up with silver French tips. I think this would be a cool nail look for a New Year's Eve party. Best of all, it's so easy: just apply a couple of coats of the blue jelly and then apply a thin strip of silver at the tips.

For this, I prefer to free-hand it. A tip painter with a fine brush would be handy (just paint across the nail). If you haven't got that, you could use any silver polish with a conventional brush and do a few strokes in the direction of the nail tips. Here, I've used the silver Essence Multiglitter Tip Painter.

Seal your handiwork with a top coat and you're done!

More photos: Bathed In Light

KOH: Body Skin Sensation Review

2011-12-27T21:28:00.000+01:00

I like the techie design of this canister. I can easily imagine someone in a lab coat and with cryoprotective gloves and a full-face shield gently removing a mini cryovial from this 8.5" tall liquid nitrogen storage vessel.

Okay, that's not what it is.

You already know it's a beauty product: KOH Body Skin Sensation. I've heard it being referred to as a body mist at the KOH Experience Shop and so I thought it was something you would just spritz on your body and you're done. KOH had kindly passed me a sample of Body Skin Sensation a while back to try out and I have to say, even though you do spritz it, the liquid doesn't exactly disperse in fine droplets, like body mists do. Instead, it is a bit like pumping out some lightweight low-viscous body lotion. You would get a runny blob out and you would spread that on your skin.

Then, you would notice two things:

• the scent
It has the swwwweet heavy fragrance that is typical across the KOH Body Sensations range of products. The KOH Body Sensations line features extracts of the cherry blossom and this product is no exception. I like the scent - it's floral candy sweet, very feminine and sensual - and it stays on for several hours. The scent turns mildly powdery over time and its ever-present floral sweetness gradually becomes a low unobtrusive hum.

• the texture
After rubbing/applying it on the skin, you will notice how smooth the skin feels, like you have put on a thin layer of invisible glove. The silky smooth effect that it leaves on the skin is very similar to the effect that one gets after applying the KOH Sensational Silk Experience, a handcare product that has anti-ageing properties. I don't have this latter product but I have tried it before during a promotion at the KOH Experience Shop.

I had a look at the list of ingredients found at the bottom of this KOH Body Skin Sensation bottle and it says that it has silk powder:

Cyclopentasiloxane, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, 100% silk powder, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, Isopropyl Myristate, Prunus Avium Extract, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Limonene, Eugenol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Hydroxysohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Alpha-isomethylionone

I've been using it mainly on my hands/arms and my neck. I know it smells and feels nice but try to resist getting overzealous with application. Applying too much can leave a thin, faintly conspicuous, white, powdery layer on the skin. It could be the silk powder. So, go easy on the application. A thin layer would do.

I haven't got the product blurb for Body Skin Sensation - my sample came in a black velvet KOH drawstring bag - and I don't see this product on the KOH website either. As far as I know, it is not available in KOH's external retail points (eg: parfumerie stores). You will find Body Skin Sensation in the KOH Experience Shops in Amsterdam and Eindhoven. The price in October was €69.95 (200ml) but it would be best to check for the latest offer/price if you happen to drop by any of the KOH shops.

I've been using it for two months and I can't say at this point that it's a moisturising product. It's probably not meant to be one anyway. The emphasis is really on the fragrance and the silky smooth effect on the skin. Perhaps in the long run, it will have an anti-ageing effect on the skin due to the presence of silk powder in the formula.

To find out more about silk in beauty products: Usual Unusual Ingredients - Silk

Christmas Wishes

2011-12-25T13:48:00.010+01:00

Prettige Kerstdagen!

Have a Blessed Christmas, everyone! Eat plenty and be merry!

Adorned Nails: Teeez Gutsy 05

2011-12-25T00:56:00.001+01:00

This is what I'm wearing on my nails this Christmas. It is far from a typical Christmas look but that's fine. I'd been wanting to give sponging/gradation another shot anyway (the only time I had ever tried this was more than a year ago).

This is Gutsy (05), a fairly new polish from Teeez. It's a nude peach with subtle shimmer. With its thick formula, it was possible to get by with one thick coat. On a couple of nails, I have one coat on, on others two.

Dutch brand Teeez launched a new collection last month called Boudoir Secrets, which included a range of lipglosses, eyeliners, mascaras and, of course, nail polishes. Teeez kindly sent out samples of these to some Dutch ladies recently, including myself, so this is the first of the items to be featured.

As you can see, the nail polish bottle looks different from before (surely you remember the awesome holos - Outta Control, Smooth and Cool).

Anyway, these are the items I used for this gradation mani:

L-R:
Teeez Gutsy 05
HEMA High Shine Nailpolish 08 (brown shimmer)
Essence Grand-Plié in Black (black with red glitters)
Etude House gradation sponge

The ornate design you see on the cap is really a sticker. I think it would have been nicer if the print were incorporated into the cap though.

Retail price: €4.90

More information
Teeez Cosmetics website

Adorned Nails: Essence Cotton Candy

2011-12-21T14:48:00.003+01:00

The crazy Essence trend edition mill keeps churning!

Most of the items from the Essence Circus Circus trend edition were gone by the time I got to the store(s) but I managed to get my hands on two of the nail polish duos. The shades that I prefer were, unfortunately, already sold out. If the circus did come to your town, I hope you had better luck.

Nail polish duos aren't new but they are new to me. The product design is similar to what you would have seen before in lipglosses and mascaras. Here, you get two different nail polishes in one 'stick'. With this duo, the premise is that you can apply the individual polishes or you can combine the two however you want via, say, layering. Well, in reality, you can do the same with whatever polishes you already possess - the sky's the limit - but what Essence has done is just making it convenient (to carry around). It's a cute thing to have.

This is Essence Cotton Candy. For the base layer, I applied one coat of the bright girly pink crème polish. I could have left it at that but oiii, of course, I wouldn't neglect the other bling-bling half!

The other half is just pink/fuchsia glitters in pinky clear polish. Layering this on the pink crème polish will give you instant party glam fuchsia nails. It's a gaudy, eye-catching combination befitting the circus and is perfect for the Party Barbie in you.

As is usual of Essence, these nail polish duos are reasonably priced: €2.79 for 2x4ml.

More information:
Circus Circus on the Essence Cosmetics website

Aleppo Soap - Syria

2011-12-19T22:43:00.002+01:00

The first thing that comes to mind when one sees this is most probably the word "crude". It looks unfinished, imperfect and unelegant, not at all like those cookiecutter-perfect factory-made products in eyecatching, stylish packaging that we've all grown accustomed to today.

I suppose if I told you that I bought this bar (block?) of soap from an old lady at a roadside stall somewhere in Syria, you'd believe me. I mean, come on, take a look at the rudimentary packaging that it came in:

The truth is, I bought this here in the Netherlands in a store that sells mainly cooking utensils and homeware. As usual, I was simply curious when I saw these chunks of soap. All that I had to go on with was the stamp on the soap - some Arabic words, "Laurel Olive Oil", 3, R and 1937 - and a very short description on a card where the soaps were displayed (all I remember now is the word 'Aleppo').

At home, I did some checking and found out that this soap was highly likely made by a family-run business called Fadel Fadel Sons in Syria. I came to this conclusion based on a comparison of the stamp on my block of soap with some images found online.

I found some basic information on Fadel Fadel Sons (established in 1937) on Alibaba.com, the Chinese business-to-business trade website. Fadel Fadel Sons calls this soap Aleppo Ghar Soap (Ghar - traditional Aleppo soap) and it appears that these days, they sell their soaps in much nicer-looking packaging - hey, printed boxes! I bought mine almost two years ago, so I don't know, perhaps they didn't put them in proper boxes then. The thought that my piece of soap may be a fake did cross my mind but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Here's what Fadel Fadel Sons says about their Aleppo Ghar Soap (excerpts):

• not produced by engineers or “fashion designers” in a uniform shape like most other commercially available soaps.
• made from pure virgin olive oil and pure (bay) laurel leaf oil.
• mild enough for everyday use.
• is made of 100% natural ingredients offering the highest level of responsible hygienic care, nourishment and protection for the skin.
• totally biodegradable.
• does not contain any animal fat, coloring materials, added perfume, acid, antioxidant, chemical or synthetic derivative.

It's a good thing that Fadel Fadel Sons also included the soap's list of ingredients on the trade website.

Ingredients:
Virgin olive oil, pure laurel leaf oil, soda (extracted from sea salt), water

I had wondered what the R on the stamp stood for and it turns out that it's actually ®, registered trademark sign. The company emphasises the following:

There are several factories in Aleppo that produce soaps containing palm oil, animal fats and artificial coloring. The registered trademark "Fadel Fadel Sons" guarantees its soap is made exclusively from olive oil, laurel leaf oil, and soda (extracted from sea salt).

I had read that these Aleppo soaps won't dry your skin out. On hindsight, I must have had unrealistic expectations as I thought I could kiss my body moisturisers goodbye. I experimented with that for three weeks and totally stayed away from body lotions etc. Unfortunately, it was in the colder, drier months and my skin became way too dry. I decided that I didn't like the soap and promptly put it away.

Well, about two months ago, I took the piece of soap out to use again but this time, I retained my usual routine of applying body moisturiser after a shower. I had better results this time. They say that it can be used on the face too but I haven't tried that.

Here are my observations:

• If you're used to gripping flat bars of soap, lathering yourself with this chunk of soap would take some getting used to.
• It smells raw, green, earthy and.....funny.
• It lathers well enough.
• The skin does feel squeaky clean afterwards.
• Unless you live in a hot and humid country, I'd recommend still using a body moisturiser after your shower.
• Due to the time given for the soaps to dry and mature - almost a year - before they are packaged for sale, the outer part of the soap is golden brown and the inside, green (which is the original colour).

I paid around €6 for my block of soap. I believe it was a 200g block. I'm still on the fence about this Aleppo soap but I will say that my interest has been piqued. I think Fadel Fadel Sons makes several versions of this soap by varying the ratio between the olive oil and laurel leaf oil ingredients. The higher the proportion of laurel leaf oil, the higher the price. I have absolutely no idea what the ratio for my block of soap is. Perhaps the number 3 refers to which version of soap it is.

If you're looking for "pretty" (pretty in appearance and in smell), then the Aleppo soap won't be for you.

Personally, I'd like to try more Aleppo soaps in the future (it makes a nice change from the usual shower creams/gels). The store where I bought this one from no longer stocks this, so I'll have to find other sources.

Some interesting bits:
• Aleppo is a city in Syria.
• Aleppo soaps have been used for many, many centuries. It is said to be the first hard soap ever created.
• Other names: laurel soap, ghar soap, savon d'Alep
• Place the soap in the cupboad/wardrobe to deter moths

Have a read on how Aleppo soaps are made.

Adorned Nails: Stage Extreme

2011-12-18T00:18:00.000+01:00

I wrote about Stage Cosmetics back in May when I featured one of its eyeshadow palettes. I was on holiday last year and along with the eyeshadow palette, I also bought this bottle of nail polish. Of all the polishes on display in the store, I thought this was the only one which stood out. The rest seemed, well, ordinary.

Indoors

This bottle of Stage nail polish has been christened Extreme. I just checked the brand's website and it appears that all the polishes have been given single-worded names, adjectives eg: Delicate, Luscious, Fascinating, Majestic, Innocent.....you get the idea. So, really, compared to the rest, this polish I've got would be considered pretty "off the charts".

I've got two coats on here and I really like the formula. The polish applied very well.

I would describe Extreme as a very dark brown crème dense with fine brassy golden shimmer. I have to say, Extreme bears some resemblance to Catrice Welcome To The Jungle. It's almost a dupe. Extreme glows green-brassy-gold and while Welcome To The Jungle has a similar colour, its shimmers are somewhat subdued compared to those of Extreme. Essence Gold Old Buffy could also be Extreme's cousin but the former looks more rugged with bigger specks of shimmer/micro glitters.

If I recall correctly, I paid the equivalent of about €9 for this 11ml bottle of polish. You probably would have noticed - the bottle has a double-cap, like Chanel polishes.

More information:
My posts on Brand: Stage
Stage Cosmetics website

No7: Stay Perfect Mini Trio Eye Shadow Palettes Review

2011-12-15T23:38:00.002+01:00

Here in the Netherlands, the drugstores that we frequently visit are Kruidvat and Etos (the former, especially, is ubiquitous!). For those in the UK, that's quite like your Boots and Superdrug stores.

Over here, Boots stores are quite a novelty. I mentioned Boots early last year in my Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands: Drugstores post. To cut a long story short, Boots had been in the Netherlands before in the 1990s, then left us and returned in early 2009. When I wrote that abovementioned post, there were only five Boots stores here. Almost two years later, they've grown to about 20 stores throughout the country.

The Boots store that I've been to is a fairly small one, a cosy neighbourhood pharmacy/drugstore. The range isn't huge but it has got No7 and Botanics products. I walked into the store a few weeks back and I saw some really pretty makeup palettes from No7. They are from the Christmas collection and ladies in the UK would surely have seen these in the local Boots stores.

I bought this set: No7 Mini Eye Palettes.

Aren't the eyeshadow palettes pretty? They are laminated cardboard palettes with covers that swivel open. They are small, measuring only 4.5cm x 8.5cm.

This giftset is made up of smaller versions of products that are in No7's existing range. It consists of:

• No7 Stay Perfect™ Eye Shadow Trio Palettes (Cappuccino, Twilight, Beside the Sea)
• No7 Intense Volume Mascara Black
• No7 Amazing Eye Pencil Black
• No7 Amazing Eye Pencil Brown

I had never tried No7 products before, even back in the old days when I had easy access to Boots. I'm shamelessly saying that, this time around, I was plainly sold on the cute packaging.

I've decided to split this feature into several posts. I will also write about the eye pencils but I doubt I will do a post on the mascara anytime soon. I won't start using this new mascara until I've finished my existing ones (must be disciplined!).

Mini Trio Eye Shadow Palettes
Here, we'll take a look at the three cute trio eyeshadow palettes. These three colour combinations - Cappuccino, Twilight and Beside The Sea - are mini versions of the No7 Stay Perfect Trio Eye Shadow Palettes that are in the main collection (housed in round/oblong black palettes). The applicators that come in these mini palettes are tiny. The sponge isn't too bad but the handle is ridiculously short, 2cm (in order to fit inside the palette).

Swatches with eyeshadow primer

Columns, L-R:
Cappuccino
The browns: skintone beige (mine), taupey brown, golden brown (all with fine shimmers)

Twilight
The black&whites: white, silvery grey, matte black

Beside The Sea
The blues: grey-ish white, light aqua, medium blue (all with fine shimmers)

These eyeshadows are hypoallergenic.

Ingredients

Quality
In general, the eyeshadows do crumble a bit and their pigmentation is so-so (it's nowhere near excellent). You definitely need a good eyeshadow base for them. It took a while to get past the imprint (for a while, all I was getting were disappointing ashy, chalky shades). Of these three palettes, I think Cappuccino performed the best. The darkest shade, golden brown is gorgeous and the most pigmented. In the blue set, Beside The Sea, the pigmentation of the middle shade could be improved on.

The black&white palette, Twilight, was the worst performer. The white is fine but the silvery grey is half-dead and the black is weak. When I see black, I'd like a black black, please.

So, bottomline, I find the quality of these eyeshadows just average (to below average for Twilight). Cappuccino, though, is a good one.

Price
This giftset is priced at €17.95. Just like in Boots in the UK, Boots Netherlands is now also holding a 3 for 2 Christmas offer on giftsets. I got two other products from Botanics to take advantage of this offer.

I don't know if this specific set is available in the Boots physical stores in the UK. I see a similar set on its website. It has the Classic Matte, Good Earth, Beside The Sea mini trio eyeshadow palettes, the same two eye pencils and the No7 Extreme Length Mascara. It's called the No7 Smoky Eye Trio. Price: £16.00.

For Dutch ladies, there is now a Boots online shop. There are a few other palettes available - with different combinations of products including lipglosses and nail polishes.

More information:
Boots Nederland website
Boots UK website

KOH: Vintage Jeans Collection - Sneak Peek

2011-12-13T22:33:00.000+01:00

This is a sneak peek of what KOH will be releasing early next year - The Vintage Jeans Collection. There isn't any press release on this yet (not as far as I know) but let's all have a look at the polishes.

I've been granted permission to take photos of the bottles and KOH was kind enough to pass me a nail wheel pre-painted with these six polishes. I haven't got the bottles myself to show you these bluesy, grungy polishes on my nails, so you'd have to make do with swatches on the nail wheel.

Note: This KOH Vintage Jeans Collection is not to be confused with the KOH Jeans Collection which were in stores middle of this year. The Jeans Collection was put together to shine the spotlight on some of the blue KOH polishes in the permanent collection. The KOH Vintage Jeans Collection is made up of newly created polishes.

The six Vintage Jeans polishes are:

L-R
KOH Rock Chick
KOH Romantic Flair
KOH Bohemian Chic
KOH Casual Blue
KOH Grungy Touch
KOH Urban Style

L-R: Rock Chick, Romantic Flair, Bohemian Chic

With flash photography

L-R: Casual Blue, Grungy Touch, Urban Style

With flash photography

Daylight photography - Top: Urban Style; Bottom: Grungy Touch

I believe they have been trialling KOH Rock Chick in the last couple of months in the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam (and probably in Eindhoven too). I remember being shown this shade there in October but at that time, it was still a nameless polish. Check out the third and the fifth photo in my post, KOH Experience Shop: New Look, and see if you can spot that cobalt blue amongst the existing KOH polishes on that Wall of Joyful Colours.

The release date of the KOH Vintage Jeans Collection is still unknown.

Winners of Essence Vampire's Love Nail Polishes

2011-12-13T20:33:00.011+01:00

As always, big thanks to all who took the time to participate in the Vampire's Love giveaway and for making the effort to find the answer to my question. I'm glad that most of you got it right. There were only three pages of Brand: Essence to go through to find the answer, which was, Object of Desire. Some of you also included the full product name (Multi Dimension 3 in 1 with XXXL shine) and that was fine.

So, here are the winners, based on random numbers given to me by my mother on the phone:

Main Prize
consisting of Gold Old Buffy, Into The Dark, Hunt Me If You Can, True Love

rachlovespenguins

2 x Consolation Prize
of my favourite, Gold Old Buffy

-Diana-
Nóra

Congratulations to all the winners! Emails will be sent out to each of you very soon. Please respond within 72 hours and if I don't hear from a particular person in this time, I will have to pick another winner.

Note:
• Every care will be taken in sending out the prizes but I will not be held responsible in the event that any of the packages goes missing in transit or arrives damaged.
• These nail polishes are brand new and were my own purchases.

Keep your chin up if you didn't win this time. Please remember that I do these giveaways to share the fun and the love, so do take this in that spirit. Anyway, I seriously have many more giveaways planned for all of you. I'm far from done!

If you missed them, here are my posts featuring the five Vampire's Love polishes upclose:

Essence Gold Old Buffy

Essence Hunt Me If You Can

Essence The Dawn Is Broken

Essence Into The Dark

Essence True Love

Adorned Nails: Essence True Love

2011-12-11T21:39:00.000+01:00

Ah, finally, the last Vampire's Love polish!

This is my second favourite one of the lot. In my opinion, Gold Old Buffy wins hands down, but okay, some of you might disagree. Everyone has different tastes.

I think this one has the best of both worlds. Essence True Love is a plummy purplundy (try saying that multiple times).....a bit more purple than burgundy. These colours are my two favourite nail polish shades. Perfect for the cold, dreary months!

With its shimmers/micro glitters, it reminds me a lot of Arcancil Crazy Plum that I showed last year. This one applied better in thick coats (as in, don't drain the brush too much). I have two coats on here.

Love. True Love. Vampire's Love.

Win this polish in my ongoing giveaway. Just a few more hours to go!

The other four Essence Vampire's Love polishes featured:
Gold Old Buffy
Hunt Me If You Can
The Dawn Is Broken
Into The Dark

ELLIS FAAS: Winter Set 2011 - A Closer Look

2011-12-10T23:49:00.000+01:00

ELLIS FAAS seems to love putting together different pen combinations, packaging them into sets of three for each season and offering them at a lower price than what you'd normally pay for the individual pens. It's definitely a good deal for current users looking to replace their used-up pens. I'd recommend it too to those who are just starting out with ELLIS FAAS BUT you'd have to like the combination(s) presented.

This time around, the ELLIS FAAS Winter Set 2011 consists of the following:

L-R:
Milky Eyes E209
Creamy Eyes E103
Milky Lips L201
This set was kindly provided by ELLIS FAAS.

Milky Eyes E209

E209 is a light skin-coloured eyeshadow with yellow/golden tones and very, very subtle shimmer (it's not noticeable in the photos here). Applied on my eyes, the Milky Eyes E209 almost disappears from sight. The shade is very close to my skin tone but fortunately, you can still see the swatch on my arm.

L-R: E209, E103, L201

Creamy Eyes E103
E103 is a matte black eyeshadow. ELLIS FAAS says to use it to create an easy smoky eye and/or to be used as a black liner. I've mentioned this before, but I think it's worth saying it again. For eyelining, while I do use the ELLIS FAAS Eyeliner E501, I actually prefer using the E103 to the Eyeliner. That's mainly because the E103 eyeshadow is cast-iron lasting (smudge-proof, waterproof) while the E501 eyeliner is not waterproof.

Milky Lips L201

It's a lightweight blood-red liquid lip colour. Full details can be found in my feature on the Milky Lips L201.

ELLIS FAAS: Eye Look XV

I did a simple eye look with these two eyeshadows. I've use the E209 on the inner half of my eyes and the E103 on the outer half for a smokey look. I used my fingers to apply and fade out these two eyeshadows. With an angled eyeliner brush, I lined the eyes with the black E103. The look is completed with two coats of the black ELLIS FAAS Mascara E401.

The Winter Set 2011 retails for €60 / £55 / USD85. That's a savings of €17 / £13 / USD22 compared to the total price of the individual pens.

ELLIS FAAS website

My reviews of the ELLIS FAAS:
Milky Eyes
Creamy Eyes
Eyeliner
Milky Lips

ELLIS FAAS: Milky Lips L201 Review

2011-12-09T16:19:00.001+01:00

Light application

Milky Lips L201 is one of the Ellis Red lip colours from ELLIS FAAS.

In case you're not familiar with this, Ellis Red is the name given to the brand's signature red - a no-nonsense blood red - which is available in three finishes: Creamy Lips L101 (thick, opaque), Milky Lips L201 (lighter in texture, translucent) and Glazed Lips L301 (similar to lipgloss).

This Milky Lips L201 is actually my first Ellis Red. I'll cut to the chase. I seriously love it and I have good reason for saying this. The pigmentation of this liquid lipcolour is fantastic and the sexy shade of red with a sheen is gorgeous but not overwhelming. As can be seen in the two lip photos in this post, the colour intensity is buildable.

If you're one who thinks that Creamy Lips L101 may be too much to handle, too ra ra red and in your face, then I think this Milky Lips L201 would be a good way to get acquainted with Ellis Red. You could alternatively try the glossier Glazed Lips L301.

There are other good points too (these basically apply across the board). The Milky Lips:

• is easy to apply - I've always applied it directly with the pen's brush applicator
• feels light on the lips
• is very, very moisturising - needs no lipbalm base, lips stay moisturised
• fades, shall I say, gracefully
• is paraben-free

Ingredients:
Hydrogenated Polydecene, Isododecane, Hydrogenated Styrene/Isoprene Copolymer, Dicalcium Phosphate, Hdi/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Polyethylene, Propylene Carbonate, Octyldodecanol, Candelilla Cera, Prunus Domestica Seed Extract, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Silica, Tribehenin, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Sorbitan Isostearate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide. +/- May Contain: Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491/77492/77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), Red 7, CI 15850 (Red 6/Red 7 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake), CI 45380 (Red 22 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake)

Here is my full review of the Milky Lips (with the L203).

The Milky Lips retails for €25 / £22 / USD35 per piece.

Heavy application

For a better deal, ELLIS FAAS has come up with the Winter Set 2011 which includes the Milky Lips L201. ELLIS FAAS has provided me with this set and we'll take a look at it next.

Further reading:
My posts on Brand: ELLIS FAAS
What ELLIS FAAS says about the Ellis Red

Adorned Nails: Essence Into The Dark

2011-12-07T23:39:00.001+01:00

I know, I know. It's Vampire's Love overkill this week. Bear with me. I'm almost done. This is the second last one.

Essence Into The Dark is a dark denim blue with silver micro glitters. It looks darker on the nails than in the bottle and that's probably due to the silver micro glitters floating more conspicuously in the bottle.

I've got the usual two coats on here.

Of course, a dark blue polish calls for some silver stamping! They always go well together. I used this design from the Chez Delaney plate B101 and the silver Essence Nail Art Stampy Polish which I bought months back but have never used.

This polish is featured in my ongoing giveaway. Try your luck!

The other three Essence Vampire's Love polishes featured:
Gold Old Buffy
Hunt Me If You Can
The Dawn Is Broken

Adorned Nails: Essence The Dawn Is Broken

2011-12-06T23:38:00.000+01:00

I didn't want to get this polish initially - give me a dark shade anytime. However, curiosity got the better of me and so, here I am with The Dawn Is Broken, one of the five polishes belonging to the Essence Vampire's Love collection.

This polish bears some resemblance to KOH Playful. The Dawn Is Broken is a light grey crème with some spunk. At first, I thought it had just specks of silver micro glitters which also looked black sometimes, depending on how they caught the light. If you look closely though, they are actually specks of both silver and black.

It's not usually the case with such polishes, but The Dawn Is Broken feels a bit rough and gritty to the touch (you might notice the rough surface in the second photo). Application was a bit streaky but it was nothing too annoying. You're looking at three coats.

The first two Vampire's Love polishes shown:
Essence Gold Old Buffy
Essence Hunt Me If You Can

Essence: Vampire's Love Palette Eye Look II

2011-12-06T12:48:00.003+01:00

The Essence Vampire's Love Eyeshadow Palette was a really good buy. For less than €4, you get a good selection of shades that are perfect for creating smokey eyes and, pigmentation-wise, the shadows certainly don't disappoint.

So, here's another smokey eye look, this time using a different combination of shades from the palette. I used the following products:

L-R:
Etos Eyeshadow Underbase (eyeshadow primer)
Essence Vampire's Love - Love At First Bite Eyeshadow Palette
Bourjois Liner Clubbing - Bronze Dance Floor
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Metallic Brass
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Black Ink
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara - Waterproof Extra Black

The eyeshadow shades used are indicated with dots on the palette: silver on entire lid, slate blue just above lash line, khaki green-brass in outer corner and crease, pale pink in inner corner and above khaki green-brass.

Eyelining for top lid: Bronze Dance Floor along lash line and Black Ink for tightlining.
Eyelining for lower lid: smudged-out Metallic Brass along almost the whole lash line and khaki green/brass eyeshadow over it.

Here, I'm wearing the The Dawn Is Broken nail polish which also belongs to the Vampire's Love collection. Close-ups of this polish will be coming up in the next post.

For swatches and more details on this eyeshadow palette (including the first smokey eye look), please see my review of the Vampire's Love Eyeshadow Palette.

Adorned Nails: KOH Woodstock Green

2011-12-04T20:08:00.001+01:00

KOH Woodstock Green is a fairly new addition to the KOH family. I believe it came out just before the brand released its KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 collection. In the KOH online shop, Woodstock Green is labelled as a limited edition (but then again, I also see KOH Jewel labelled as limited edition there, and KOH Jewel is one that's been around for more than a year and a half).

When I first saw Woodstock Green, my initial thought was that it looked like KOH Meditate from last year's winter collection called Zen. I got the bottle out to compare and in this second photo, I have Meditate on my pinky.

Top bottle: KOH Woodstock Green; Bottom bottle: KOH Meditate

Both are crème polishes. As you can see, Woodstock Green and Meditate are not that close, really. Woodstock Green is a dark spring green with some grey tones. Meditate is a tad lighter with more yellow tones.

I would call Woodstock Green a much duller, unobtrusive dark green. It's a wearable green, for sure. It has a thick-ish formula and is opaque in one coat. I have two coats on here.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

GOSH: Long Lasting Lip Marker Review

2011-12-04T00:33:00.003+01:00

Funny product, this.

Right, I know there are many lip marker products on the market these days but this Long Lasting Lip Marker by GOSH is my first one. And probably my last one.

I don't get this one. I've had this for some months, used it a few times, didn't like it and put it into cold storage. I thought I'd give it another go, have been using it a few weeks and gaaah, I still don't like it!

To those ladies who can work well with lip markers, good for you. I probably have whacked lips.

This GOSH Long Lasting Lip Marker:

• is weird
OK, this is just the inherent nature of such a product. It's literally a marker pen. I never thought I would be using that on my lips one day! It even makes a slight rustling sound quite like when you write with a marker pen on paper. The pen tip, by the way, feels cool on the lips.

• is difficult to apply
On the pen, GOSH says to use on clean and dry lips. No kidding. This marker pen won't draw well on wet/moist lips and on lips prepped with lipbalm. In my case, even if my lips are dry, the marker doesn't draw properly sometimes. The colour won't take. I end up having to draw over and over and over and over again to get the colour to transfer. Shaking the pen helps somewhat to get the liquid inside to flow to the tip.

• is not longlasting
Sure, the colour sinks into the lips leaving a nice stain (it's pigmented but don't expect full-on colour). It doesn't stay intact for very long on me though, about two hours. It doesn't transfer too much from drinking but most of it does go if I eat.

• does not fade evenly
To make matters worse, it fades unevenly leaving an awful outline on the lips, especially when used alone. Really awful.

• is not moisturising
As mentioned above, the colour sinks into the lips, into every line on the lips. There is some hydration but I can feel my lips shrivelling a bit within an hour. To counter that, I would use either a lipbalm or a lip gloss over it. If a lipbalm is used, try to apply it with your finger. Otherwise, be prepared for stains on your lipbalm stick.

I can say one good thing about this lip marker though. It smells/tastes sweet. It has the sweetener, sorbitol.

Ingredients

The shade that I have is 003 Berry, a lovely fuchsia red (OK, that's the second good thing). I've seen two other shades in the stores, Chocolate and Red. I'm aware that there is a fourth one called Pink.

Without lipbalm

Strangely, there is no information on this product on the GOSH website. So, I got this from the website of Superdrug:

Now it is possible to make an even more precise application of lip colour. The pen-like tip gives complete control over the application.

The lips will stay hydrated and refreshed and the colour will last for hours.

Yeah, right! I'm sorry but this is going to the waste of money bin. You get 2.5g / 0.1 oz of product but it's a waste of €7.49!

Adorned Nails: Catrice London

2011-11-30T23:00:00.001+01:00

Eeek! This is new territory for me - yellow nail polish. To be honest, I bought this purely out of curiosity.

The Catrice London nail polish belongs to the Catrice Big City Life Collection. As mentioned before, four cities were represented in this collection: Sydney, Berlin, London and New York. For each city, there is an eyeshadow palette and a nail polish.

You've seen the eyeshadow palette from The Berlin Collection which, in my opinion, had the best combination of eyeshadow shades out of the four palettes. I didn't think the one from The London Collection was that great and that, I believe, is also the general consensus. Stocks of the eyeshadow palette from The London Collection didn't move as swiftly as the others.

The London nail polish is simply a pale yellow with fine shimmers. You would no doubt have noticed the various famous landmarks depicted on the bottle.

Just for fun, I added a barcode-like stamping design. I used a old brown KONAD stamping polish and KONAD plate M44 which has stamping designs for french tips. I decided to stamp it on the cuticle side of the nails.

Further reading:
My review of Catrice The Berlin Collection Eyeshadow Palette
Catrice Big City Life Collection

Yes To Carrots: Lip Butters Review

2011-11-29T17:03:00.002+01:00

I'm obsessed with lipbalms (and you thought it was nail polishes that I was obsessed with, eh?).

The long and the short of it is that I had been addicted to Vaseline since my teens (and let's just say that I'm not a young chick anymore). I didn't switch to natural lipbalms until just under three years ago.

The lovely Jellynat sent me these many months back when she read that I was on a quest for the perfect lipbalm. The Yes To Carrots Lip Butters are her favourite and she thought I would like it too (this was when Yes To Carrots lip products weren't easily available in stores over here). The thing is, she was supposed to send me only the Mint variant to try but bless her, she decided to send me all three that came in a promo pack. In our little swap, I sent her errr....nail polishes in return.

It has taken me a long time to write this review simply because I wanted to go through all three variants first before penning my thoughts on them. On top of that, I had also been interspersing these Lip Butters with lipbalms from other brands, some already purchased before I received these Yes To Carrots ones. Now, now, I'm a good girl and I do finish every lipbalm that I have, right to the stump (except for the one that caused an allergic reaction!), and these Yes To Carrots Lip Butters are no exceptions.

Great Stuff
I can definitely understand why Jellynat loves these Lip Butters. They are made of mostly certified organic ingredients. They go on so smooth and creamy and in my experience, they can repair troubled chapped lips. They are extremely moisturising (one wouldn't expect otherwise!) and they keep the lips soft and protected for hours and hours. I love these!

Flavours
I've tried these three variants/flavours: Berry, Melon and Mint. They all have the same basic list of ingredients with minor differences for the different flavours. The Melon one really smells like honeydew (melon), the Berry variant like strawberry and you've guessed it, the Mint one smells minty and leaves a cool, fresh, tingling sensation on the lips (which lasts no more than fifteen minutes). My favourite of the three is Melon. The scent is spot-on.

By the way, Yes To Carrots has two other Lip Butter flavours - Carrot and Citrus.

According to Yes To Carrots (excerpts)
Yes To Carrots USDA Organic Lip Butters conditions, invigorates, and revitalizes your lips, moisturizing to keep them the smoothest and softest they can be.

• All natural ingredients
• No animal testing
• Paraben, petroleum & phthalate free

Ingredients

Final Words
I can recommend you many good lipbalms but I think you should try the Yes To Carrots Lip Butter if you've been looking for a great lipbalm. In my eyes, it is the perfect lipbalm.

However, for now, I love exploring the big, wondrous world of natural lipbalms too much to stop at Yes To Carrots. I will definitely go back to Yes To Carrots every now and then though - must try out the Carrot and Citrus ones next.

On the Yes To Carrots website, the Lip Butters go for USD12.99 for a set of 5. Unlike before, the Yes To Carrots Lip Butters are now easily available here in the Netherlands in stores like De Tuinen, Sephora and Etos. They're usually priced at €3.99 each (4.25g / 0.15 oz). I've also seen them with a €4.99 pricetag (not in the abovementioned stores) and if you see that too, please be wise and walk away.

Further reading:
My Lip Treatment Series featuring natural lipbalms I've tried in the past
Yes To Carrots website

Win: Essence Vampire's Love Nail Polishes

2011-11-27T17:23:00.007+01:00

This giveaway is closed. Thank you.
To view all the Essence Vampire's Love polishes, please click on the links given below.

I found these in several stores these past week and a half. I would have loved to include a Vampire's Love Eyeshadow Palette in the main prize but unfortunately, there were none to be found. Zilch!

Anyway, let's give these Vampire's Love nail polishes a good home. Correction - a few good homes. This is how I'm splitting up the lot.

Main Prize
The Main Prize winner gets four Vampire's Love polishes:

L-R
Gold Old Buffy
Into The Dark
Hunt Me If You Can
True Love

Gold Old Buffy is my favourite of the lot. If you've followed my writings long enough, you would know that my giveaways are always done in the spirit of sharing the love (or fun), so I'm very happy to have found a couple more bottles of this gorgeous polish in the stores to give to you.

2 x Consolation Prize

Each consolation prize winner gets one bottle of:
Gold Old Buffy

Here is the giveaway info in quick bites:

1. Open worldwide.

2. Open to all who follow Witoxicity's writings.
Followers on Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin' receive one extra point.

- Google Friend Connect (one extra point)
- Bloglovin' (one extra point)
- RSS feeds
- Regular visitors

3. Fill in the form below (now removed).

4. Answer one simple question:

What is the name of the first Essence nail polish I ever featured here on Witoxicity.com?
Hint: I have featured it twice - once without stamping and a second time with stamping. Use either the top navigation bar or the side bar to find the answer.

5. Optional: Feature this giveaway on your blog with the first photo above - three extra points.

6. Optional: Tweet about this giveaway - one extra point.
For your convenience, you might want to copy this:
Win Essence Vampire's Love nail polishes @Witoxicity http://goo.gl/u13Km

7. Submit your entry by latest 11.59pm (Central European Time) on Sunday, 11th December 2011.

8. The winners will be picked randomly from the list of participants (and their corresponding extra entries) who answer the question correctly.

Good luck, everyone!

Update
To view the five Vampire's Love polishes upclose, here are the links:

Essence Gold Old Buffy

Essence Hunt Me If You Can

Essence The Dawn Is Broken

Essence Into The Dark

Essence True Love

Adorned Nails: Essence Hunt Me If You Can

2011-11-26T22:23:00.000+01:00

This is the second polish I'm wearing from the very popular Essence Vampire's Love collection.

Hmmm, what can I say about Hunt Me If You Can?

It's a black polish with fine silver flakies and micro glitters. It's a view of the galaxy in black and white. Some of you may like it, some of you may not. Personally, it's a nice polish but I think it lacks the wow factor. It's a duller version of the super awesome Essence Gold Old Buffy but of course, we all have different tastes.

I have two coats on. This ring finger has only one coat. I recommend two. It has a thick formula and in my case, it didn't apply as well as Gold Old Buffy did. No, no, I'm not complaining! How can I? If you're new to Essence and if you missed my Gold Old Buffy post, this 10ml bottle of polish cost all of €1.79.

Further reading:
The antique-looking Essence Gold Old Buffy
Essence website

Catrice: The Berlin Collection Palette Eye Look II

2011-11-25T21:33:00.005+01:00

Here's another eye look using Catrice's The Berlin Collection Palette from the Big City Life limited edition release. I used these three shades: am Alex, Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie.

The other products used in this look are:

Etos Eyeshadow Underbase (eyeshadow primer)
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara - Waterproof Extra Black

The eyeshadows used are indicated with dots in the photo. For eyelining, I used the black mini eyeliner pencil that came in this palette.

Here's a quick reminder of what the eyeshadows are:

am Alex - dark brown, matte
Berlin Wall - dusty rose/copper, shimmer
Checkpoint Charlie - yellow beige, shimmer

Swatches of these eyeshadows can be found in my review of The Berlin Collection.

The look:

• Dark brown (am Alex) on lid fold and in outer corner
• Dusty rose/copper (Berlin Wall) above dark brown
• Beige (Checkpoint Charlie) above dusty rose/copper and in inner corner
• Line and tightline with the black mini eyeliner pencil
• One coat of mascara

I've left the bottom lid bare except for some mascara.

Further reading:

My review of Catrice The Berlin Collection Palette (includes the first eye look)

Catrice website

Esse Organic Skincare: Clay Mask Review

2011-11-24T17:51:00.001+01:00

Till about half a year ago, the only clay mask that I ever had in my beauty shelf was the cult favourite, St. Ives Mineral Clay Firming Mask. It's my very, very old friend (I'm so not kidding!) and so, I will use it as a point of reference here.

This Esse Clay Mask is a new friend but I'm not saying that I've abandoned my old one - I still visit it now and then. This is the last of the products that Esse Netherlands sent me back in June and since receiving it, I've been using it averagely once in 10-14 days. Esse recommends using it weekly.

According to Esse
This purifying and nourishing clay mask will not leave the skin feeling dry.

Kaolin and Bentonite clays gently draw out impurities and heavy metal toxins associated with environmental and dietary pollution. Olive leaf extract improves elasticity and hydrates tired skin.

• 100% of the total ingredients are from Natural Origin
• 75.5% of the total ingredients are from Organic Farming

Price: €24.70 for 50ml (housed in an amber glass jar)

Ingredients
Water, Rooibos Leaf Extract*, Glycerin*, Kaolin, Coconut Oil*, Bentonite, Shea Fruit Oil*, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Olive Fruit Oil, Olive Fruit Oil Unsaponifiables, Olive Leaf Extract, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Tocopherol, Lavender Oil*, Ylang Ylang Flower Oil*, Citric Acid, Cape Chamomile Leaf Oil, Spearmint Leaf Oil*

* from organic farming

My Thoughts
Scent
Let's just say the smell has more character than that of the clay mask from St. Ives. It smells faintly raw and earthy but for the most part, the clay mask smells strangely nice. It's sweet, it's minty and almost medicinal in a pleasant way.

Colour and Texture
The clay mask has a lovely colour, a fashionable shade, if I may say so. It's not your average grey, it's not light blue. It's a light taupe. I know this is of no consequence but it does make a refreshing change for me after years and years of baby blue.

The feel and texture isn't that different from the one from St. Ives - smooth, thick, heavy paste.

Application
Esse says: Apply a generous layer to the face and décolleté. Be careful not to incorporate water into the jar. Allow to set in for 5-10 minutes. Gently wipe away with a wrung out warm face towel. Rinse with warm water.

I don't apply a very thick layer (thinner than in the photo below). I apply it on slightly damp skin and leave it on for 15-20 minutes. There is a cool sensation upon application but that doesn't last long.

This Esse Clay Mask dries slowly and it does not dry to a crust like the one from St. Ives. On the contrary. It feels like soap lather that has been left to dry on the skin. The skin feels only marginally tight. It's nothing like the tight feeling that you get when the St. Ives mask dries.

Efficacy
With all the natural oils in the formula, it does leave the skin a bit oily after the mask is rinsed off (but not as oily as with the Esse Cocoa Exfoliator). After towelling off, the skin feels just right - clean, plump and moisturised. However, I don't see it as a mask that will remove blackheads and reduce pore size. I haven't noticed any difference in those aspects but to be fair, Esse never made such promises in the product blurb. It deep-cleanses the skin. As Esse says, it's a detoxifying and nourishing clay mask.

Final Words
I like this Esse Clay Mask but in a different way from how I like the St. Ives Mineral Clay Firming Mask. These two are different creatures. The one from St. Ives is like a straight-talking friend, one who will tell it like it is. The clay mask from Esse is like a caring and nurturing friend, one who is always looking out for you.

Well, I'm keeping both friends.

More information:
Esse has a second type of mask in its range, the Esse Cream Mask (right), which happens to be the first ever Esse product I tried last year. The Cream Mask is meant for mature, dehydrated skin (it's seriously hydrating, great for skin SOS situations too) while the Clay Mask detoxifies and is suitable for all skin types.

To read more about this South African brand (practices, ethos, etc), please check my previous posts on Brand: Esse Organic Skincare

Esse Organic Skincare website
Esse Netherlands

KOH Red

2011-11-23T09:00:00.002+01:00

Time flies! It's been a long time since that first feature on KOH Red.

We're taking another look at it this time around for three reasons:

1. Bigger pictures.
2. The KOH Holiday Spirits collection includes KOH Red.
3. The lipstick and nail polish set called KOH Red Seduction.

The KOH Red nail polish is a straightforward classic red that you can never ever go wrong with. Although it's nothing fancy (no shimmer, no glitter, no flakies), it's one of those shades that can make a heck of a lot of difference to any look with just a quick lick of paint.

Here, I've used my own bottle of Red that I got during a promotion that KOH had two years ago in my first ever visit to the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam. It's a jelly-crème and the polish from this old bottle still went on very smoothly, even after all this time. I didn't need to use a thinner either.

This is a polish that would be opaque in one coat but I would advise doing two to get a richer effect.

KOH Red Seduction

You should know by now that KOH loves box/giftsets and KOH Red Seduction is precisely that. This boxset has been in stores for many months, so this isn't a new release. The Red Seduction boxset is provided by KOH.

The boxset consists of two main items - KOH Red Lipstick and KOH Red nail polish - and a sleek black retractable lip brush.

I'm sure the black nail polish bottle with a KOH charm and an orchid flower on top haven't escaped your notice. It's really the standard KOH nail polish bottle, only opaque black and with embellishment. KOH had also issued these limited edition bottles for its Calcium Nail Whitener. The unusual bottle is a pretty thing for sure but I see it as purely ornamental. Of course, you can polish your nails with it but you do need to remove the KOH charm first and the orchid does get in the way when you hold the bottle cap during polishing. Well, in any case, it's a great adornment for your vanity table.

The colours for the lipstick and the nail polish are similar (obviously!) but when swatched and worn on the lips, the KOH Red lipstick reveals some blue tones. The lipstick is very pigmented. I do need to use a lipbalm as a base though.

List of ingredients for the lipstick (please click to enlarge):

The KOH Red Seduction boxset retails for €24.95 but if you happen to be in the neighbourhood, there may be special deals to be had in the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam and also the one in Eindhoven (there are never newsletters on such special offers). This item is currently still available in the KOH online shop.

The Other Holiday Spirits Polishes
Limited Edition:
KOH Romantic Silver
KOH Loving Bronze
KOH Dreamy Gold

From the permanent collection:
KOH Red Wine
KOH Brilliant Red

Adorned Nails: Essence Gold Old Buffy

2011-11-20T18:05:00.002+01:00

If you thought Catrice Welcome To The Jungle from the limited edition Papagena collection was cool, then you might find this one from Essence a hundred times more awesome.

This is Gold Old Buffy from Essence's latest and very popular trend edition, Vampire's Love. You've seen the Vampire's Love Eyeshadow Palette. Gold Old Buffy probably has some association with the khaki green-brass eyeshadow in that palette. Price: only €1.79 (10ml).

Note: With the exception of the second one, all photos were shot in strong sunshine.

Gold Old Buffy applied superbly and I have two coats on here. The polish is a black or black-brown jelly filled to the brim with brassy gold micro-glitters and small, curious, irregular-shaped brassy gold flakies. It's like a manifestation of my all-time favourite eyeliner pencil, GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Metallic Brass, in a nail polish, only meaner and grittier (in appearance).

It's a polish that befits a gargoyle (if it wore nail polish) and I absolutely love it!

Update
The other Essence Vampire's Love polishes now featured:
Hunt Me If You Can
The Dawn Is Broken
Into The Dark

More information:
Essence website

ELLIS FAAS: Ellis Clips - A Closer Look

2011-11-19T01:00:00.001+01:00

I placed an order for these Ellis Clips through the ELLIS FAAS online shop the day I saw the press release. I was terribly curious to see the real thing as this was the promo photo for the Clips:

Image belongs to ELLIS FAAS

I can't find the right words to describe this photo: genius, arty, weird, alien? All the above?

Anyway, I ended up having to wait ten days for the Clips to arrive at my door and I assure you, I don't live halfway across the world from the ELLIS FAAS base. It turned out that ELLIS FAAS didn't have enough stock of these Clips. Hmmm, have you ladies been ordering them left, right, centre?

According to ELLIS FAAS (excerpts):
......Ellis Faas has taken a new step in solving makeup portability: the ELLIS CLIPS.

The ELLIS CLIPS can connect any amount of our signature pens - from two to as many as you like. The concept is brilliant in its simplicity: just connect the clips to each other and slide in the pens.

You can roll them up and take out just the pen you want to use without disconnecting the chain.

So, here they are! I bought eight of these and I have to admit, when I first got hold of the Clips, I was a tad disappointed. I had expected something heavier and sturdier, and perhaps made of metal. The old brass colour of the Clips sure got me fooled.

In reality, the Clips are made of plastic. After playing around with them for a week, I can better appreciate why they went for plastic:

• lightweight - portability is key
• flexible - as you will see in the images below, attaching the Clips would be a problem if they were rigid
• scratchproof - the chances of the ELLIS FAAS pens getting scratched by the Clips would be slim

The design and the workings of the Clips are really simple. It's just a matter of attaching the latch of one Clip to the groove of another.

It doesn't seem to matter which side of the Clip you slide the ELLIS FAAS pens in but you do need to slide in the pens nose first and slide out nose last.

Attaching and detaching the Clips are to be done minus the pens. It won't work with the pens already in the Clips. The Clips, where the grooves are, lose their flexibility due to the presence of the pens.

Once attached, you can have the pens lie flat.

The Clips can also pivot with some resistance, which means that you can roll the pens up or create a silly missile-launcher stand as a way to display the pens on your vanity table. Have the product number facing you and you will be able to find the desired pen in no time.

I jest.

Seriously, it's best to roll the pens up.

It's not a must-have but it's interesting to have. It's handy for keeping the pens organised when I'm travelling with them (but I'm not saying that I will always take all eight pens with me). I usually have to rummage in my makeup bag for the right pen. Now, I can just grab the whole neat roll and easily find the pen I want. An alternative would be to use errr, a rubberband?

The Ellis Clips are priced at €2.00 / £2.00 / USD2.00.

If you prefer a cleaner, structured look for storing your ELLIS FAAS pens and if you also use the Ellis Skin Veil Foundation (which is in a fatter pen), then try the ELLIS Holder.

More information:
My posts on Brand: ELLIS FAAS
ELLIS FAAS website

Essence: Vampire's Love Eyeshadow Palette Review

2011-11-17T21:06:00.003+01:00

Gosh, this collection was pretty hard to track down! By the time I had time to go shopping, many of Vampire's Love items were already sold out in several Kruidvat stores here.

For the benefit of those who do not know, Vampire's Love is the latest trend edition released by Essence (sister brand of Catrice). The brand is totally cashing in on the vampire mania......ummm, what is the name of that movie and that other TV series again?

I managed to get two bottles of polishes in the third Kruidvat store I went into, and in the fifth store, the Vampire's Love eyeshadow palette and two more bottles of polishes. I promise, I'm not a maniac. These stores just happened to be on my way.

I figured, since I like the Catrice Big City Life - The Berlin Collection Palette so much, I might as well give this Vampire's Love eyeshadow palette a go too. I mean, they are sister brands and the palettes probably come from the same manufacturer in Poland - both palettes have 'Made in Poland' stated on the back.

This eyeshadow palette is actually called Love At First Bite. It comes in a simple black square casing with a practical mirror inside. The eyeshadow pans are tiny though, each measuring about 1.75cm x 1.75cm. It won't be easy if you want to pick up the eyeshadow with the finger.

The applicator that came with the palette.....ahh, what can I say? I can't even call it decent, like I did for the one that came in the Catrice The Berlin Collection palette. This Essence applicator is of crap quality. The brush is like a paint brush for your wall and the sponge-tip applicator died on me after all of three minutes - the sponge completely dislodged itself from the holder.

I'll overlook all that because the eyeshadows are pretty good! I like the colour choices in this palette and they've got great pigmentation. They're not crumbly and there wasn't much fallout. Five have a shimmery sheen and the darkest one has glitter.

These swatches are with an eyeshadow primer.

Top row, L-R:
khaki green-brass
slate blue
pale aubergine

Bottom row, L-R:
black-grey with silver/teal glitters
silver
pale pink

I did a simple eye look with principally the black-grey and the pale aubergine eyeshadows.

I used:

Etos Eyeshadow Underbase (eyeshadow primer)
Essence Vampire's Love - Love At First Bite Eyeshadow Palette
Essence Liquid Eyeliner - Black
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Black Ink
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara - Waterproof Extra Black

The eyeshadows used are indicated with dots. It's a straightforward look with the black-grey in the lid fold and the pale aubergine above the black-grey. The eyeshadows denoted by smaller dots were used for accents or blending purposes: silver in the inner corners and pale pink above the crease.

Ignore the inferior applicator. This eyeshadow palette is pretty good stuff for only €3.79. The nail polish shades in the Vampire's Love collection mirror the eyeshadow colours to a certain extent and they will be featured here soon.

More information:
Essence website

Adorned Nails: KOH Brilliant Red

2011-11-15T17:29:00.003+01:00

KOH Brilliant Red is a bright, perky, tomato red. When I first saw it, it kind of reminded me of KOH Love Passionately from the recent KOH Balance collection.

So, out came three bottles for a side-by-side comparison: KOH Red, KOH Brilliant Red and KOH Love Passionately. I figured I might as well include KOH Red as this polish will be featured here soon as well.

Top to bottom:

KOH Red - a classic, no nonsense red, darker than the other two
KOH Brilliant Red - an upbeat red, leaning towards an orangey red
KOH Love Passionately - a coral red, lighter and more pink than Brilliant Red

Application was absolutely trouble-free as Brilliant Red is a jelly. I love the super glossy finish! I applied two coats but you might want to do more (or use an opaque base polish) if visible nail lines bother you.

KOH Brilliant Red is not a new release. As mentioned before, KOH has included three of its red polishes from its permanent range, including Brilliant Red, in its Holiday Spirits collection.

The three that are new in the Holiday Spirits collection are:

KOH Romantic Silver
KOH Loving Bronze
KOH Dreamy Gold

Brilliant Red was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Red Wine
Next Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Red

MuLondon: Organic Foaming Face Cleansers

2011-11-14T23:59:00.004+01:00

MuLondon's facial cleansers are here!

You all remember Boris and his MuLondon natural organic moisturisers, don't you?

Of course, you do.

I mentioned last year that Boris was working on expanding his MuLondon range with products like cleansers, massage oils and a facial scrub. I've been eagerly awaiting the launch this past year and a half and finally, in September, Boris gave us a sneak peek of his Organic Foaming Face Cleansers via his monthly newsletter. These are cleansers that he himself has been using for a couple of years.

Well, the cleansers have now joined the official lineup and have been available on the MuLondon website since October. Congratulations, Boris! I'm so pleased that MuLondon is expanding and also to see MuLondon getting more and more mentions on beauty blogs. The brand totally deserves all this publicity.

Very seldom do I write posts along the lines of 'Look At What I Got In The Mail!'. It's like telling you what I had for dinner tonight. Let's face it. Nobody cares.

Today's post would be one of the few exceptions. I received these two cleansers from Boris end of last week. He has kindly sent me a 150ml bottle of his MuLondon Organic Rose Foaming Face Wash and a 50ml bottle of the Organic Lavender Foaming Face Wash to try. There is a third variant in the cleanser range, Organic Fragrance-free Foaming Face Wash (image below). All are 100% natural and plant-based.

Image courtesy of MuLondon

About The Cleansers
This is what Boris says of his cleansers (excerpts):
......contain a unique combination of certified organic ingredients, herbal extracts and essential oils that heal, balance and repair all types of skin, even the most sensitive.

MuLondon foaming cleansers are based on pure, certified organic castile soap. They contain NO detergents like SLS, no parabens, alcohol or mineral oils and are, as always, cruelty-free and vegan.

These cleansers are also free from palm oil and this is something that Boris would never compromise on. The subject of oil palm cultivation is a controversial one due to its impact on the environment and on wildlife. Boris told me emphatically that he does not want to support that and that he had worked hard to find an ethical and palm-oil free source for the ingredients.

The MuLondon cleansers are available in two sizes:

150ml for £12 (£15 for the Organic Rose variant)
50ml for £5 (£7 for the Organic Rose variant)

They come in recyclable HDPE plastic bottles that are free from phthalates, bisphenol-A and PVC.

Why These Variants
I was curious as to why he chose a lavender and a rose variant for his cleansers. I already knew he is a huge fan of Lavender Essential Oil (he's been using it daily for the past 16 years) but I posed him the question anyway. This is what he told me:

I love Lavender and Rose, and what they do for the skin. Also, they complement my existing range of moisturisers perfectly, and are tolerated well by people with very sensitive skin, and even those with severe allergies and are safe to use on children and babies.

He created the fragrance-free variant for those whose skin are extremely sensitive to essential oils.

Boris, by the way, isn't ruling out expanding this range of cleansers in the future.

MuLondon Toiletry Bag

In the parcel, there was also a lovely MuLondon toiletry bag. Talk about branding! Look at the gorgeous flower prints. There is indeed beauty in simplicity.

Of course, I had to ask Boris about this toiletry bag. So, this is a heads-up to all MuLondon fans and those who have not tried MuLondon products yet but are curious. Boris plans to hold a competition on MuLondon in January and participants will have the chance to win "a toiletry bag and other MuLondon goodies, in addition to my skincare products".

Coupon Code
One last bit to share with you. This came in MuLondon's latest newsletter sent out just yesterday. For this holiday season, Boris is offering Free Worldwide Shipping on orders of 2 MuLondon products or more. Orders must be placed before 15th December. Coupon code: HO-HO-HO-11. Once entered, click "Apply coupon", go down to "Get Shipping cost", choose "Free Shipping" and update total.

I'll be using these cleansers in the coming months and when I'm ready, I will write a post or two on them.

Further reading:
My posts on MuLondon's range of natural organic moisturisers and why I support this brand wholeheartedly:
Brand: MuLondon
More details on the Organic Foaming Face Cleansers: MuLondon website

Catrice: Bring Me Terra Copper

2011-11-13T03:03:00.001+01:00

This is a double feature as both the lipgloss and the nail polish have the same name. Catrice Bring Me Terra Copper the lipgloss and Catrice Bring Me Terra Copper the nail polish belong to the Bohemia collection.

Despite the two sharing the same name, their shades are actually quite different. The lipgloss is an intense coppery/orangey red shade while the nail polish is a rust orange. It is richer and more burnt than its cousin, Rusty But Sexy, a polish from Catrice's permanent lineup (it came out under the Modern Muse Collection which later turned out not to be a limited edition after all).

You're looking at two coats of Bring Me Terra Copper and just like the other three Bohemia polishes, application was a breeze with the broad brush.

I actually have Rusty But Sexy on my pinky in the photos above but really, you can't easily tell the difference between Bring Me Terra Copper and Rusty But Sexy unless you look closely. This is how they look with the bottles side-by-side:

L: Rusty But Sexy; R: Bring Me Terra Copper

I really like Bring Me Terra Copper the lipgloss. The colour is so rich and it is dense with flecks of coral-gold shimmer. On my lips, it looks more orange than coral red. The orange colour does settle into every line and wrinkle on the lips but I can ignore that due to the high shine. Applied, it gives the lips are healthy, transparent, juicy orange gloss.

For good measure, here's one last photo to show how the two of them look together.

2 x Bring Me Terra Copper

I take my hat off to you, Catrice. I think the Bohemia Collection has been very well put together!

If you missed them, here are the other three Bohemia polishes:

Red: Catrice Looking Sunkissed
Brown: Catrice Yes, You Tan
Blue: Catrice Be Indiglow

My review of the Catrice Colour Show Lip Gloss (which is similar to this Bring Me Terra Copper lipgloss)

Winner of KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 Nail Polishes

2011-11-12T23:52:00.000+01:00

I'd like to first thank all who took the time to take part in this KOH Balance giveaway. It's been fun reading what you've written about your favourite of the six Balance polishes.

I'm aware that all you want to know now is who won (in which case, please scroll right down). I'd like to quickly share with you how the polishes did in the popularity poll. The dark broody green, Play Daily, got the highest percentage of votes. Here's how the polishes fared:

KOH Play Daily 25%

KOH Rest Fully 18%

KOH Love Passionately 18%

KOH Laugh Limitless 15%

KOH Breathe Deeply 14%

KOH Eat Purely 10%

Anyway, I sincerely hope the winner will give the Balance polishes a very nice, cosy home. The winner picked randomly is:

Lavender

Congratulations! I will be sending you an email very soon. Please respond within 72 hours and if I don't hear from you in this time, I will have to pick another winner.

Note:
• Every care will be taken in sending out the prize package but neither I nor KOH Cosmetics will be held responsible in the event that the package goes missing in transit or arrives damaged.
• These polishes are brand new and were kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

I know I'm leaving the rest of you disappointed but there is more to come later. Stay tuned!

Adorned Nails: KOH Red Wine

2011-11-11T21:03:00.003+01:00

Aaiiii, will UB40 please get out of my head?!

This holiday season, KOH is shining the spotlight on three of its existing red polishes by featuring them in its newly launched Holiday Spirits collection and KOH Red Wine just happens to be one of them. So, no, Red Red Wine isn't a new polish. It's been sitting pretty in the permanent collection for quite a while.

For those who missed them, the three that are new in this collection have been featured already:

KOH Romantic Silver
KOH Loving Bronze
KOH Dreamy Gold

I haven't got much to say about KOH Red Wine, really. It's a jelly-creme, which means application is smooth and super-easy. It's a slightly blue-toned red, dark without looking too vampy.

I have two coats on but on the index finger here, I have only one thick coat.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Dreamy Gold
Next Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Brilliant Red

Don't forget to try your luck at winning the whole set of 6 polishes in the KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 Giveaway. It ends in a few hours!

Adorned Nails: Catrice Be Indiglow

2011-11-11T00:11:00.002+01:00

If Catrice Looking Sunkissed was a red satin ribbon, then Be Indiglow would be its blue counterpart.

As you would have noticed from the paisley print on the bottle cap, Be Indiglow belongs to Catrice's Bohemia Collection. Simple dark blue, two coats and a dream to apply. Only €2.49.

Further reading:
Catrice Looking Sunkissed
Catrice Yes, You Tan
Catrice Bohemia Collection

KOH: KOH Collection L Box

2011-11-10T16:16:00.002+01:00

I'll be brutally honest here. I remember dropping by the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam late last year and feeling a bit disappointed when I saw several versions of these KOH Collection boxes, all beautifully presented.

If I recall correctly, there were three versions/sizes available - XL, L and M - and they were offered at very advantageous prices. Basically, you pay a far lower price for the collection box than what you'd fork out in total if you separately bought the individual nail care items.

Throughout the year prior to the launch of these collection boxes, I had been building up from scratch my little arsenal of nail care products. I had purchased some of these KOH items individually, paying full retail price for each of them. So, of course, I was disappointed. Why hadn't KOH launched these collection boxes earlier? I would have saved a lot of money!

I left the shop without getting any of the collection boxes, tempting as they were. I still had some of the individual items at home and it didn't make sense to get a collection box just because it was a ~~good~~ fantastic deal.

Fast forward one year and here I am writing about the KOH Collection L Box that KOH passed to me a few weeks ago to feature here. Ironic.

I've been told that the L Box was a bestseller last year and so, KOH has decided to re-release this collection box for the holiday/gift-giving season this time around.

The KOH Collection L Box consists of the following items (and since I was doing some checking anyway, I've included here the retail price of the individual items).

L-R:
Medium Glass File - €17.95 (this price includes an embroidered purse case)
Nourishing Cuticle Brush 2gr - €19.95
Essential Hand Nourisher 50ml - €19.50
Calcium Nail Whitener 10ml - €21.50
Essential Nail Serum 10ml - €24.50
Nail White Pencil - price unknown

The total retail value of the individual items: over €100.

The price of this L Box: €49.95.

Plus, you walk away with a lovely box which you can use later to keep just about anything.

I myself had previously spent €9.95 on a Crystal Nail Fail To Go (albeit smaller in size - 9cm - than the one in the box), €19.95 on a Nourishing Cuticle Brush and €24.50 on a bottle of Essential Nail Serum (and much more on other KOH nail care products not found in this collection box). It probably sounds lame with me now saying that the collection box is a good deal considering that I didn't buy it, but I'm sure you can do the math here.

Here's a quick look at the six items in the KOH Collection L Box and what KOH says about them (in italics). Where possible, I include a few notes about them.

KOH Medium Glass File
.....has a fine yet effective structure and files any nail type smoothly and perfect into shape. The file is very hygienic in use and (is) durable.

• a lightweight glass file
• approx. 13.5cm long
• easy to clean (a KOH manicure assistant told me a long time ago that it can also be washed in the dishwasher)
• be careful not to drop it on the floor, it might break

KOH Nourishing Cuticle Brush
.....has a soothing en nourishing effect on the cuticles. The effective composition activates the healing process of torn cuticles and painful sores.

• a click dispenser pen
• easy application with the brush
• has inter alia shea butter, sesame oil and aloe vera
• the oils have a subtle raw, green smell

KOH Essential Hand Nourisher
This soft and light hand cream has a spectacular protective, firming and nourishing effect on the skin of your hands. This will promote the natural protection, sooth the inflamed skin and prevent chapping of the skin.

• thick off-white cream
• smells like the KOH Body Sensations line of products, i.e. very sweet, floral
• has SPF 15 (according to the box)
• convenient to throw around in the handbag

KOH Calcium Nail Whitener
.....intensifies the natural colour of the nails, creating white nail tips and a healthy pink glow of the nail bed. This polish creates a subtle and elegant effect of a French manicure in just one step.

• haven't had the chance to try this - I've been consistently wearing nail polish this past month

KOH Essential Nail Serum
This complex serum is specially developed to repair weak and damaged nails. The blend of essential oils penetrates deep into the nails and restores the natural balance of the nail.

• comes in a dropper bottle
• high-viscous liquid
• smells green and nutty
• about three drops is enough for all nails
• the serum is to be massaged into the nails and cuticles

KOH Nail White Pencil
For an intense French manicure effect by means of emphasising the nail tips even more.

• dampen the pencil before colouring the underside of the nail tips
• nail tips appear brighter/whiter
• effect is temporary
• the pencil cover also functions as a nail cleaning tool

So, if you're new to KOH and would like to try some of their nail and hand care products, this collection box would be ideal. I wish they had this when I first started out. A lovely box like this would make a nice gift too, but that's stating the obvious.

The KOH Collection L Box has been available at the two KOH Experience Shops in Amsterdam and Eindhoven for a couple of weeks and should by now also be available in other KOH retail points.

At the moment, I see only the XL box in the KOH online shop. The KOH Collection XL Box, is priced at €99.95 and contains a few hand and nail care products plus four bottles of KOH nail polishes of your choice.

More information:
KOH Cosmetics website

Catrice: Big City Life - The Berlin Collection Review

2011-11-09T13:33:00.003+01:00

The Berlin Collection - that's the name given to this makeup palette which consists of six powder eyeshadows, two blushers, a mini black eyeliner pencil and a dual-ended applicator (sponge-tip and brush). Retail price: just €6.99.

Catrice released the limited edition Big City Life collection a couple of weeks ago. Under this collection, there are four makeup palettes and four nail polishes dedicated to four cities - Sydney, Berlin, London and New York. I was a good girl and bought only this one palette and its accompanying nail polish - Berlin - and one other bottle of polish - London. It looks like Big City Life has been a hit here because when I went back to the store a week later, there were very few items left (hopefully, they've refilled the rack).

I'll be focusing on the eye products in this palette. I'm leaving the blushers untouched, just like I do with general makeup palettes anyway.

The four different City palettes have mainly neutral eyeshadow shades. I chose Berlin in the end because it had a very nice slate grey and two different takes on taupe. All but one have shimmer. The eyeshadows scored very well pigmentation-wise.

Here are the swatches for the eye pencil and the six eyeshadows. I used the Etos Eyeshadow Underbase to prime the skin. This photo was taken with flash to emphasise the shimmer finish.

Black eyeliner pencil
Tiergarten - grey taupe, shimmer
Brandenburger Tor - slate grey, shimmer

am Alex - dark brown, matte
Berlin Wall - dusty rose/copper, shimmer
Ku'damm - lilac taupe, shimmer
Checkpoint Charlie - yellow beige, shimmer

The mini black eyeliner pencil is all right although it did take a while for it to warm up. It's not as creamy as say, GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liners, and it's not waterproof. The quality is decent enough.

The dual-ended applicator in Berlin is standard issue.

Eye Look With Taupe And Slate Grey

Here's an eye look done entirely with budget-priced products:

Etos Eyeshadow Underbase (eyeshadow primer)
Etos Max Volume Mascara (not the best mascara around, but since I've bought it, I might as well use it)
Catrice Big City Life - The Berlin Collection palette (the eyeshadows used are indicated with dots)

Here's what I did:

Upper lid
• Grey taupe (Tiergarten) on whole lid
• Slate grey (Brandenburger Tor) on outer corner
• Lilac taupe (Ku'damm) lightly above slate grey
• Yellow beige (Checkpoint Charlie) on inner corner
• Black eyeliner pencil on lash line, wing it, then tightline
• Slate grey (Brandenburger Tor) over the black eyelining

Lower lid
• Black eyeliner pencil on entire lash line, mirrored wing
• Slate grey (Brandenburger Tor) over the black eyelining for a smokey finish

Applied two coats of mascara.

That slate grey, Brandenburger Tor, is my favourite shade out of the six eyeshadows. I might do another eye look with this palette later, if time permits.

I think this palette is a good buy, despite my leaving out the blushers. I actually paid less than €6.99 for this as Kruidvat was coincidentally having a special offer on makeup products at that time. Obviously, many Dutch ladies took advantage of this good deal.

For those who have access to Catrice, I recommend getting your hands on one of these palettes, if you haven't already. Magic words: Limited Edition!

More information:
Catrice Big City Life Collection

Adorned Nails: KOH Dreamy Gold

2011-11-07T23:45:00.003+01:00

Here's KOH Dreamy Gold, the third of the new polishes from the KOH Holiday Spirits collection.

I've got on two coats here. Dreamy Gold is something of a cross between a dark champagne and a golden medium taupe. Just like the previous one, Loving Bronze, this one is filled with golden micro glitters. These micro glitters look more like chartreuse gold and it could be due to the influence of the champagne-taupe base they are floating in. In Loving Bronze, they look more yellow gold.

I've taken photos of this polish in different lighting conditions. At times, it looks dark champagne, sometimes golden and at other times golden medium taupe, depending on how the light hits it.

Dreamy Gold gets my vote and so does Loving Bronze.

This polish was provided by KOH Cosmetics.

The next three Holiday Spirits polishes, which are all red, are not new releases.

Previous Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Loving Bronze
Next Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Red Wine

Rituals: No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange Eau de Parfum

2011-11-07T15:48:00.003+01:00

This little bottle of perfume came in a set of three, all cute and mini. Rituals Cosmetics released two perfume giftsets last month - a Perfume Collection for Women and a Perfume Collection for Men - each consisting of a selection of three 10ml bottles of Rituals' perfumes.

The Perfume Collection For Women contains

• No. 4 Violet + White Lily
• No. 7 White Patchouli + Cedar Wood
• No. 9 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange

The Perfume Collection For Men contains

• No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli
• No. 14 Fresh Cypress + Tangerine
• No. 21 Sandalwood + Patchouli

Each box retails for €24.90.

I'll be doing little features on each of the perfumes in the women's boxset which I bought last month. I'll start off with No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange (bottle on the right in the box).

When Rituals launched its range of perfumes last year, they said in its press release that this perfume No. 09 was inspired by soul songstress, Joss Stone. It seems that the founder of Rituals, Raymond Cloosterman, met the singer backstage after her concert and she mentioned that she loves mixing orange essential oil with vanilla to create her own unique perfume. So, there! I like Joss Stone's style but I don't care much for name-dropping and celebrity-related/-inspired/-created scents. I just thought you should know how the idea of this perfume came about.

This is what the creator of No. 09, Jean-Michel Zenhausern, a Geneva-based perfumer, says:

Imagine a warm, starry night in magnificent Marrakech...where sparkling facets of the Orange tree contrast with the sensuality of precious Vanilla Drops.

An oriental, fruity, sensual fragrance.

No. 09 starts off with a citrus explosion: orange, fresh, loud but not tart. The vanilla creeps in a couple of minutes later to tone down the perkiness of the orange. The citrus accent recedes further and further into the background as the roundness and heaviness of the vanilla takes full control. Somewhere in there, there is also a hint of what I think is cardamom. No. 09 dries down to an extremely powdery vanilla.

I like the opening - the scent is happy and pretty, like a gleeful fresh-faced girl - but unfortunately, it goes downhill from there. That happy girl becomes a squat middle-aged lady with too much rouge on her cheeks.

She's smiling though.

No. 09 is not quite my cup of tea.

The Rituals No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange EDP is also available in full-size 50ml bottles (Price: €39.90 - the full-size bottles have the same rustic wooden caps) and in travel-size 20ml sprays (Price: €14.90).

Further reading:
Rituals No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea Eau de Parfum
Rituals No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli Eau de Parfum
Details on their Luxury Holder and Eau de Parfum Travel Spray

Adorned Nails: KOH Loving Bronze

2011-11-06T01:13:00.002+01:00

This is polish number two from the KOH Holiday Spirits collection. It's a limited edition, I've been told.

While Romantic Silver was an obvious silver, KOH Loving Bronze is not your conventional bronze. It's a pale peach-pink, more peach than pink. As you can see, it's mighty dense with golden yellow micro glitters. The polish was pretty much opaque in two coats. I did three to get in more of the golden yellowness in the peach-pink.

The brushes that come with these polishes are narrow. Sometimes I have problems with narrow brushes, sometimes I don't (also applies to other brands). Application was a bit streaky with this one. Broader brushes are better, I find.

As far as the shade is concerned, I think Loving Bronze is sweet and soothing to look at. I like its sunny quietness.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Romantic Silver
Next Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Dreamy Gold

Face: Fallen Leaves

2011-11-05T18:08:00.005+01:00

This is the look I wore in the Fallen Leaves post. It's, as usual, a very easy look.

Note: The links given in this post would direct you to my previous reviews/features (including swatches) of those products.

I used the following four products for the eyes:

Eyes
Catrice Made to Stay Long Lasting Eyeshadow - Lord Of The Blings(metallic beige)
Catrice Made to Stay Long Lasting Eyeshadow - Metall Of Honor (metallic khaki brown/brass)
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Black Ink
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara - Waterproof Extra Black

With a narrow flat brush, I applied the two Catrice cream eyeshadows - brass on the entire lid fold and metallic beige on the inner quarter. I deliberately didn't fade out the edges. I then lined and tightlined with GOSH Black Ink and applied two coats of mascara. The bottom lash line was left bare except for a bit of mascara.

These two eye photos were in fact taken indoors and about three hours after application. The Catrice cream eyeshadows looked pretty much as good as when freshly applied. No eyeshadow primer was used.

For the rest of the face, I used:

Face
(products not shown)
Jane Iredale Disappear Concealer - Medium Light
Jane Iredale PurePressed Mineral Foundation - Warm Sienna

Cheeks
Josie Maran Argan Color Stick - Petal Pink

Lips
ELLIS FAAS Creamy Lips - L105

I didn't take a close-up face shot of this look. This face photo was taken from a photo shot from a distance, which explains for the absence of lines, wrinkles, scars, warts and all. Eeek!

To view the full outfit, check out my Fallen Leaves post.

Adorned Nails: KOH Romantic Silver

2011-11-04T20:43:00.001+01:00

Say hello to KOH Romantic Silver, the first of the three new releases under the KOH Holiday Spirits collection. As I mentioned the other day, there are another three that make up KOH Holiday Spirits but they are from the permanent collection.

Romantic Silver is a straight-up flashy silver that is much more than high shimmer. Now that I've worn it on the nails, I can see that it has characteristics of a metallic foil. It is dense with silver micro glitters which sometimes give a glint of teal. These first three photos were taken in strong sunshine.

Indoors and away from the sunshine (images below), Romantic Silver takes on a sooty silver look and if you look really closely, also a little twinkle of teal.

Application was all right and I have two coats on here.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next Holiday Spirits polish: KOH Loving Bronze

Adorned Nails: Catrice Yes, You Tan

2011-11-03T22:35:00.001+01:00

Here's another Catrice polish (while I work on the first colour from the KOH Holiday Spirits Collection).

Of the four polishes that Catrice released under Bohemia, Yes, You Tan looks the most subdued, in my opinion. This is how it looks away from strong sunshine.

As you can see, it doesn't scream for attention but that doesn't mean it's not pretty. I do find it quite charming.

Catrice Yes, You Tan looks like tanned leather. Sometimes, I see it as chocolate milk with a rich golden glow, dense with gold shimmer. Again, application was trouble-free and you're looking at two coats.

The gorgeous red one from the Bohemia collection:
Catrice Looking Sunkissed

KOH: Holiday Spirits Collection

2011-11-02T20:08:00.003+01:00

Never mind that the KOH Balance Collection is still in stores. KOH is already launching another new collection! KOH Holiday Spirits is obviously meant for the coming Christmas season.

There are six polishes in this collection but don't be fooled. Only three of them are new releases. These three are pale-ish shades with high shimmer.

L-R:
KOH Romantic Silver
KOH Loving Bronze
KOH Dreamy Gold

The rest are really three reds that have been around for some time. They've been plucked out from KOH's main (permanent) collection. These are crèmes:

L-R:
KOH Red Wine
KOH Brilliant Red
KOH Red

In the Netherlands, the Holiday Spirits collection should be making its appearance in stores end of this week or early next week. Price: €14.95 per bottle.

We will take a closer look at each of these polishes very soon. The very classic KOH Red has been featured here before - a very long time ago - but I think it deserves another appearance with bigger photos.

Updated 23 Nov 2011
All the polishes have now been shown. The links given above will direct you to close-up photos of the individual polishes.

In the meantime, be sure to try your luck in the ongoing KOH giveaway - KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 Collection. The winner walks away with the entire set!

ELLIS FAAS: Creamy Lips L105

2011-10-31T22:22:00.021+01:00

In its newsletter sent out last week, ELLIS FAAS has shone the spotlight on its Creamy Lips L105. ELLIS FAAS calls it a reddish-brown but to me, it looks copper/coral brown.

I had already been planning a couple of autumn-related posts using the Creamy Lips L105 that I received from ELLIS FAAS a few weeks ago, so this newsletter certainly came at a good time.

I wrote a whole review on the Creamy Lips almost two years ago (one of the first items I purchased from the ELLIS FAAS line - L106) and my opinion about it remains the same. This liquid lip colour offers high coverage, is pigment-rich, very moisturising, melds with the lips, fairly longlasting and leaves a sheen on the lips.

I still like to call it moisturising velvet. Seen here is L105 applied thickly. You can of course dab on lightly for just a hint of colour.

The Creamy Lips range retail for €25 / £22 / USD35 each.

In the newsletter, there was also a discount code. Use SNOWL105 for a 10% discount on your whole order (which includes the Creamy Lips L105).

More information:
ELLIS FAAS website

Adorned Nails: Catrice Looking Sunkissed

2011-10-30T18:08:00.001+01:00

Be still my fluttering heart.

Calling this red polish gorgeous would be such an understatement (and it's not even a flakie polish!). Looking Sunkissed by Catrice is a metallic polish with depth and character. It glows from within. Away from the sun, it looks like red satin ribbon.

I have to say that it's even more awesome a red than Teeez Femme Fatale, for example, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are other similar reds by other brands.

I have two coats on. The formula was perfect and application with its broad brush was excellent.

You would no doubt have noticed the pretty paisley print on the bottle cap. Ummm, can this bottle of polish get any prettier?!

Looking Sunkissed was released some weeks ago by Catrice under the Limited Edition (gotta ~~love~~ hate that phrase - we all know it's a psychological trick, right?) Bohemia collection. I'm far from being done with this collection and Catrice has already released yet another collection called Big City Life and yes, it's limited edition. Catrice, you've got to slow down with your releases. It's driving us nuts!

I actually swooped up all four polishes from this collection (not something I usually do). Looking Sunkissed here is probably the best-looking of the lot. I think.

As you can see, it is a very photogenic polish too.

More information:
Catrice Limited Edition Bohemia collection

Win: KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 Nail Polishes

2011-10-27T23:13:00.004+02:00

This giveaway is closed. Thank you.

This giveaway wasn't in the original plan but KOH has kindly provided another set of the KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 polishes. So, of course, someone needs to win this!

The winner walks away with the entire set of six polishes that make up the KOH Balance Collection with a total retail value of almost €90.

The polishes are:

L-R:
Breathe Deeply
Rest Fully
Play Daily
Laugh Limitless
Love Passionately
Eat Purely

Each bottle would of course come in a KOH case which I talked about in the Eat Purely post. There will also be a cute mini KOH paper fan inside every case.

Here is the giveaway info in quick bites:

1. Open worldwide.

2. Open to all who follow Witoxicity's writings.
Followers on Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin' receive one extra point.

- Google Friend Connect (one extra point)
- Bloglovin' (one extra point)
- RSS feeds
- Regular visitors

3. Fill in the form below (now removed).

4. Answer two simple questions:

Which is your favourite out of the six polishes in the KOH Balance Collection and why?

5. Comments from readers are always much appreciated. Readers who left comments on the posts featuring the six KOH Balance Collection polishes receive one extra point for every comment left there prior to the announcement of this giveaway, provided that they fill up the giveaway entry form.
Note: To avoid confusion, please participate using the same name as the one used in the comments.

6. Optional: Feature this giveaway on your blog with the first image above - three extra points.

7. Optional: Tweet about this giveaway - one extra point.
For your convenience, you might want to copy this:
Win the entire set of 6 polishes from the KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 Collection @Witoxicity http://goo.gl/dO2IH

8. Optional: Follow me on my style site, Witoxichic - one extra point
- Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin'
Note: Tastes differ. Do follow only if you like what you see.

9. Submit your entry by latest 11.59pm (Central European Time) on Friday, 11th November 2011.

10. The winner will be picked randomly.

Full giveaway details here.

Good luck, everyone!

To view upclose each of the six polishes on nails, here are the links:

KOH Breathe Deeply

KOH Rest Fully

KOH Play Daily

KOH Laugh Limitless

KOH Love Passionately

KOH Eat Purely

Inglot: Duraline Review

2011-10-26T23:38:00.029+02:00

A product that makes it possible for other products to multi-task - that's always a good thing and that's what Duraline can do for eyeshadows. It's something similar to others on the market, like Eve Pearl's Shadow Mixer and Sealer.

According to Inglot
Duraline is a special transforming liquid that will turn any Inglot powder eyeshadow into a liquid formulation.

Use one small drop of Duraline mixed with any pressed or loose eyeshadow. This transforms the eyeshadow into a concentrated fluid texture that can be used as a gel eyeshadow or liquid eye liner. Mixing Duraline with eyeshadow ensures that the colour will resist creasing, smudging or fading.

Price: €10 for 9ml

Ingredients
Isododecane, Bis-vinyl Dimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Capryl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Hexylene Glycol.

It's a clear liquid, thicker than water.

In the instructions, Inglot advises to dispense a drop of Duraline on the back of the hand, wet a brush with it, then blend into any pressed or loose eyeshadow and apply.

I do it slightly differently: a drop of Duraline on the back of the hand, pick up eyeshadow from pan with (dry) brush, then mix the eyeshadow with the Duraline on the hand and apply. I do this as I prefer to keep my eyeshadows in the pan 'untainted'.

The possibilities are limitless, if you extend its use to beyond Inglot eyeshadows. I'm sure Duraline has been tried on eyeshadows from other brands too (well, there is actually no advice against that). I myself have tried Duraline with loose pigments from other brands only a couple of times but I don't think I will be venturing much further. Call me paranoid but I know nothing about how Duraline changes the chemical composition of any willy-nilly non-Inglot eyeshadow. I mean, would the mixture be toxic for the skin? Perhaps it's not a big deal but I just thought I'd give my two cents' worth. If it doesn't matter to you, then there're certainly many possibilities to explore with Duraline!

My observations about its conversion of eyeshadows to liquid eyeshadows or eyeliners:

• Takes a while to dry, about three-four minutes.
• Once absolutely dry, the eyeshadow stays put.
• Does not smudge.
• When rubbed on hard, does not smudge but a teeny tiny bit does rub off on finger.
• Does not fade.
• Is waterproof
• As eyeshadow, not quite as crease-resistant on my lids as hoped. This is less of an issue as an eyeliner.

Here are some pictures of how the back of my hand looks after messing around with Duraline and the Inglot Eye Shadow Matte 332, and what happens as I try different things:

Duraline with Inglot Eye Shadow Matte 332 - dried

L: Rubbed on with water; R: A few very hard swipes with cotton pad and normal eye makeup remover

With cotton pad and waterproof eye makeup remover, L: single swipe; R: three/four further swipes

I applied this mixture as an eyeshadow to see how crease-resistant it is. These photos were taken five hours apart:

It's not 100% crease-resistant, as you can see, but like I always say, I do have inward folding lids. It probably works better on some other ladies.

I like using it for converting eyeshadows to eyeliners. It works great. At €10, I think it's good value for money. I've used it many times since I bought it in May - one or two little drops each time - and the volume level has sunk only about 3mm.

Here are two eye looks that I've done in the past. In both, I used Duraline for eyelining.

Duraline with
Teeez Magic Pigment Powder - Cool 09 (blue pigment powder)
Inglot Eye Shadow Matte 340 (dark green pressed eyeshadow)

For those living in the Netherlands, there are currently three Inglot stores:

Inglot Amsterdam
Inglot in V&D Alkmaar
Inglot in V&D Zwolle

The online shop of Inglot Netherlands will be open for business soon.

Websites:
Inglot Netherlands website (check out the snazzy opening video)
Inglot Cosmetics brand website

Adorned Nails: KOH Eat Purely

2011-10-24T16:06:00.000+02:00

Finally! KOH Eat Purely, the last of the six polishes in the KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 collection.

I should first show you the case in which each bottle of KOH polish comes. I admit, I often get carried away with the nail polish itself and tend to forget to feature the case. Again, a reminder for those ladies who purchase KOH polishes from physical retail stores, be it in the Netherlands or in other countries: Make sure that you are given the accompanying case. If the sales assistant forgets or is ignorant about it (it has happened to me before in a couple of parfumerie stores in the past), don't be shy to remind them about it.

The case is really an oversized lipstick case. I've mentioned before that KOH changes the design of the casing every now and then. Some versions have mirrors and some others have two elastic bands (to hold your mini nail file). This one shown here is what they've been issuing this year - black or white faux patent leather with a black & white interior. This version tends to attract finger marks but okay, okay, I know, it's good to have design variety.

For those who are new to KOH, I'll give you an idea of how the case design has changed in the last two years plus. Have a look at the photos in these old posts:

KOH Rain Forest
KOH Purplelicious
KOH Hot Pink
KOH Meditate

As for the polish today, KOH Eat Purely is an easy super-glossy creme. It's a muddy medium brown. You could call it a khaki brown. This one applied very, very well. It was pretty much opaque with one fairly thick coat but I did two to intensify the colour.

That's it with the KOH Balance series. Many thanks to KOH Cosmetics for providing me with this collection.

Stay tuned for more on KOH.

ELLIS FAAS: Eye Look With Light XIV

2011-10-22T23:39:00.000+02:00

It's been a long time since I last used ELLIS FAAS Eye Light E305, that duochrome metallic turqoise-burgundy liquid eyeshadow (well, wasn't that a mouthful?!). The last time I used it was when I tried out two looks suggested by Ms Faas for the Winter Glow gift set. I think I overdosed on E305 back then.

I anticipated some problems with clogging in the pen and decided to give the applicator brush a good wash. Applying the same method and using the same precautions as when washing makeup brushes, I gave the E305 brush applicator a good wash with water and cleanser. This was what the brush looked like after it dried - nice and clean.

There was still a bit of solidified eyeshadow further inside that couldn't be washed out. I managed to extract that with a clean toothpick. With that done, I didn't experience any clogging problems with this pen.

For this eye look, I used:

Milky Eyes E204 - petrol green
Light E305 - duochrome turqoise-burgundy
Eyeliner E501 - matte black
Mascara E401 - black

Milky Eyes E204, Light E305 (swatched lightly)

Upper lid:
• Applied the petrol green of E204 on the lid with a brush, used finger to fade out the edges and add a hint of colour to the outer corner.
• Used an eyeliner brush to draw Light E305 on the lid fold, wing-ed it.
• Used an angled eyeliner brush to line upper lash line with Eyeliner E501, follow the wing of E305.

Lower lid:
• Lined lower lash line with a bit of Light E305.

• Applied two coats of Mascara E401.

Adorned Nails: KOH Love Passionately

2011-10-21T20:54:00.002+02:00

KOH Love Passionately is the fifth shade from the KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 collection.

Red may symbolise passion but Love Passionately isn't quite as amorous a red as what the name suggests. To me, it's a weeee-happy! red, a kind of upbeat coral cherry red with a tiny bit of blue undertone.

It's a crème and this polish applied just like how Rest Fully and Laugh Limitless (-ly?) did, i.e. nice and smooth. I applied two coats on all nails except this pinky, which has three.

Indoors

In sunshine

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Eat Purely

Virtual: Maxi Brilliant Lip Gloss Review

2011-10-20T23:59:00.009+02:00

For most of us, Inglot must be the only Polish cosmetic brand we know, thanks to its retail presence in many countries. Of course, there exist other Polish cosmetic brands that have remained mainly local and which most of us have no easy access to.

I was introduced to this brand, Virtual, by the lovely Paulina who, yes, lives in Poland. I won this lipgloss in a giveaway she held a while back and this lipgloss arrived very securely wrapped in an envelope and accompanied by a gorgeous scenic postcard. Thanks again, Paulina!

I looked up Virtual's website and found some information on this Maxi Brilliant Lip Gloss. It was all in Polish but this is what I got through Google Translator (with minor corrections here and there):

Lip gloss with gentle coverage, with the effect of spatial reflexes in diamond coating. Apply for a layer of shiny lips, giving them maximum shine, causing the optical magnification. Moisturizes and nourishes the delicate skin, contains complex formula with vitamins A, E and F, and jojoba oil.

According to the website, there are six shades in this range and the one I have is No. 12. It is a pale milky pink with bits of bling-bling shimmer. It has a pleasant, light fruity scent and it is only slightly sticky, which is good! The shine/gloss factor can't be missed.

I unfortunately can't wear pale pinks alone on my lips - doesn't go with my skintone. However, it's nice to layer this Maxi Brilliant Lip Gloss over dark lipstick shades, for a different look or if I want to tone the dark shade down a few notches.

Seen here is Catrice Absolut Moisture Lipstick in 140 Burgundy. Sadly, this range of Absolut Moisture lipsticks is no longer available (at least, here in the Netherlands). I had featured this lipstick in the pinup girl red shade called 070 Luxury Red in June last year.

This is how it looks with Maxi Brilliant Lip Gloss No. 12 layered on top. You can probably just about make out the bits of brilliant shimmer on the lips.

It is stated on the packaging that the lipgloss is produced by Joko Cosmetics, which has its own separate line of makeup.

More information:
Check out Virtual's range of makeup on the Virtual website
Joko Cosmetics website

Adorned Nails: KOH Laugh Limitless

2011-10-20T00:09:00.001+02:00

Here's the fourth shade in the lineup of six KOH Balance polishes.

KOH Laugh Limitless [sic] is an appropriately bright, happy orange crème. There is nothing too complicated about this one.

Outdoors or by a window, it is a mildly milky orange (images below). Indoors with low lighting, I see something close to a neon orange (image above). I have on the standard two coats here. The nail line can be seen if looked at closely in real life but under most circumstances, it is not visible. Three coats would be better if you want total, absolute coverage.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Love Passionately

Esse Organic Skincare: Trial Pack Review

2011-10-19T14:43:00.002+02:00

Esse says:
A selection of 5 miniature products, ideal for travel, as a gift or to try the range. Presented in a wooden box handmade as part of a community development project in KZN (KwaZulu-Natal - a province of South Africa).

The Esse Oily/Combination Skin - Trial Pack contains

10ml Cream Cleanser
10ml Gel Cleanser
10ml Toner
5ml Cocoa Exfoliator
5ml Deep Moisturiser

Price: €22.50

There is another Trial Pack for Dry/Senstive skin. It contains the same first three products, plus 5ml Cream Mask (full-size version reviewed here) and 5ml Ultra Moisturiser.

I read that the elegant wooden box is made of cypress. All the products are housed in glass bottles and mini jars.

I received this Trial Pack from Esse Netherlands in June and I've been using these cute minis on and off. I decided to spread the use out over a longer period, interspersing these with my usual facial products, instead of using this set intensively for a short period of say, a week. The latter would have meant a total and sudden revamp of my facial cleansing routine and I wasn't brave enough to put my skin through that change (problem skin, remember?).

As these are mini-size products, this will be a simple review, or if you prefer, a feature. However, one of the products has already been reviewed indepth - Cocoa Exfoliator.

Here's a quick look at the individual minis (words in italics are from the Esse website):

Esse Cream Cleanser

- gently and effectively removes dirt and make-up by binding with oil-based impurities allowing them to be rinsed away.

Ingredients
Rooibos Extract*, Decyl Glucoside, Jojoba Seed Oil*, Glycerin, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Olivate, Leuconostoc/Rasish Root Ferment Filtrate, Baobab Seed Oil*, Xanthan Gum, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Tragacanth (Astragalus Gummifer) Gum, Geranium Leaf Oil*, Palmarosa Oil*, Caraway Oil*, Tocopherol, Citric Acid, Spearmint Leaf Oil*

* from organic farming

My thoughts
• pale caramel colour
• light texture
• not much lather
• smells earthy, sweet and of rooibos
• removes foundation makeup well

Esse Gel Cleanser

A foaming, tingling wash that deep cleanses without drying.

Peppermint and Spearmint oils refresh and improve micro-circulation to aid in the elimination of toxins. pH balanced at 4.5 and uses mild biodegradable surfactants made from coconut oil and glucose. Additional Uses:

• Can be used as a body wash
• Safe to use on acne affected skins

Ingredients
Rooibos Extract*, Decyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Marula Seed Oil*, Xanthan Gum, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Citric Acid, Spearmint Leave Oil*, Peppermint Leaf Oil*, Honeybush Leave Extract*, Caraway Leaf Oil*, Tocopherol, Rosemary Leaf Oil*

* from organic farming

My thoughts
• brown colour (like rooibos tea)
• thick-ish gel texture
• lathers a bit more than the Cream Cleanser
• smells earthy and like sweetened toothpaste
• cleanses very well, no tightness afterwards

Esse Toner

- completes the cleansing process with actives to revitalize, protect and improve skin texture.

Rooibos Extract provides potent antioxidant activity. Olive leave extract combats the negative effects of pollution and reduces sun damage. Additional Uses: Can be sprayed over make-up to freshen and re-hydrate throughout the day.

Ingredients
Aqua, Rose Flower Water, Rooibos Extract*, Glycerin, Olive Leaf Extract, Vanilla Seed Extract, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid.

* from organic farming

My thoughts
• the colour of weak rooibos tea
• watery (like most toners)
• smells very sweet and of rooibos
• worked all right

Esse Cocoa Exfoliator

Please refer to my detailed review of the full-size version of the Esse Cocoa Exfoliator.

Esse Deep Moisturiser

- will moisturise and maintain balance without leaving greasy residues or dry areas.

Ylang Ylang’s balancing effect stabilises both oily and dry skin patches creating an even skin state. Honeybush is included for its anti-aging, anti-oxidant and healing properties.

Ingredients
Rooibos Extract*, Jojoba Seed Oil*, Marula Seed Oil*, Aqua, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Olive Fruit Oil, Olive Fruit Oil Unsaponifiables, Manketti Seed Oil, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Xanthan Gum, Tragacanth (Astragalus Gummifer) Gum, Geranium Leaf Oil*, Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Baobab Fruit Extract, Cape Chamomile Leaf Oil, Sutherlandia Frutescens Leaf Extract, Honeybush Leaf Extract*, Olive Leaf Extract, Ylang Ylang Flower Oil*, Kigelia Africana Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Grape Seed Extract, Vanilla Seed Extract, Citric Acid, Spearmint Leaf Oil*

*from organic farming

My thoughts
• light beige colour
• light, thin-ish, non-oily texture
• smells earthy, mildly sweet and of rooibos
• absorbs into skin quickly (within one minute)
• only mildly moisturising

You would have noticed that there are a few things common across many of Esse's products: the rooibos ingredient, the general colour and the earthy scent. On the whole, I'm fine with these products, albeit it's just a mini trial pack. I especially like both the cleansers. The only one that I was less than satisfied with was the Deep Moisturiser. My skin didn't find it moisturising enough.

About Esse Organic Skincare
Esse Organic Skincare was founded in 2001 by a South African chemist, Trevor Steyn. I've mentioned this before but here's a quick reminder of its ethos for those who are not familiar with Esse (pronounced es).

The South African brand

• harnesses the rich plant diversity of Africa
• subscribes to the organic standards of ECOCERT
• is an accredited Good Partner of PhytoTrade Africa (a Fair Trade movement)
• does not test on animals
• is accredited by Beauty Without Cruelty
• is endorsed by the Vegan Society
• uses no parabens, no petrochemicals, no synthetic fragrance and colourants
• uses recyclable glass packaging.

The beautiful lining in the wooden box

Here's a quote from Esse's Facebook which refers to the wooden boxes used to house the Esse Trial Packs:

One of Esse’s philosophies is to ensure that local communities benefit from the sale of its products. Through the use of hand crafted packaging items and community sourced indigenous ingredients, Esse offers back to communities and the environment through fair trade practices.

I found a two-part video on Youtube which I think is useful and informative if you'd like to learn more about Esse Organic Skincare and the believes of Mr Steyn.

Video Part I
Video Part II

Note: The information provided here is from research carried out on my own initiative.

Further reading:
All my posts on Brand: Esse Organic Skincare
Esse Organic Skincare website

I've been informed that Esse Netherlands provides international shipping.

Adorned Nails: KOH Play Daily

2011-10-17T20:00:00.002+02:00

In this third part in the KOH Balance series, we will look at the darkest polish of the lot, KOH Play Daily.

The lighthearted name belies its true nature. Play Daily is really a quiet, broody and mysterious super dark midnight green with fine shimmers. At a glance and in low lighting, it is one of those shades which are so dark that it's almost black (photo below).

You would notice the dark green if you took a closer look or if you viewed it in sunshine (as seen here in the first photo and in the photos below). I've always had a thing for dark broody shades, so this polish fits this wretched soul perfectly.

I love how Play Daily applied. With two coats, the end result was opaque, smooth and even.

KOH polishes retail for €14.95 per bottle (10ml).

Thanks to KOH for providing me with this polish.

Next KOH polish: KOH Laugh Limitless

Rituals: No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli Eau de Parfum

2011-10-16T23:43:00.001+02:00

There are two things that I should first mention about this Rituals Eau de Parfum:

• No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli is a perfume for men.
• It is a new release by Rituals, making this the fourth perfume in the men's range.

Despite it being a men's perfume, I bought it for myself early this month. As mentioned in my post on the new Rituals Eau de Parfum Travel range - Luxury Holder and Refill Eau de Parfum Spray - I fell in love with this perfume right from the first spritz. I didn't even realise at first that it was a men's perfume (the display information wasn't up yet at the store).

As I was quite captivated by the new Luxury Holders, I decided to buy this perfume in this travel format, priced at €14.90 for 20ml (the Luxury Holder costs €12.90 but there is currently a special price of €24.90 if you buy the two in a set). Pictured here is my Luxury Holder - Elegant Wood.

This perfume is now also available in the full-size bottle - €39.90 for 50ml. Just like in the women's range, these full-size bottles for the men's perfumes also come with a rustic wooden cap.

Perfume
Vincent Schaller, a Paris-based perfumer and the creator of No. 10 says:

This creation is real shot of oxygen. The fragrance is built around the extreme freshness of Lemongrass and the radiance of Neroli, with a citrus aromatic character and woody undertones.

I can't quite put my finger on what it was that got me when I smelled No. 10 for the first time.

I grew up with a robust lemongrass plant in the garden - it was very handy for when my mother wanted to cook a dish which required lemongrass. So, to me, it is a smell from my childhood and a smell that I always associate with southeast Asian cooking.

However, I've never thought of lemongrass as a pretty scent. It is, well, just exotic, aromatic and only very slightly citrussy.

In this No. 10 perfume, I think the lemongrass scent has been 'prettified' by the neroli. Let me put it this way: it brings back no memories of Asian cuisine. It starts off citrus swwwweet, heavy and, in my opinion, feminine. On my skin, it is powdery with a hint of cinnamon some hours later. What's left at the end of the day is a pleasant, bittersweet scent. This perfume lasts many hours on me.

No. 10 may be meant for men but I find the fragrance as a whole to be too pretty to be a men's perfume. But that's just my nose.

Further reading:
Rituals Eau de Parfum No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea
Details on the Luxury Holder and Refill Eau de Parfum Spray

Adorned Nails: KOH Rest Fully

2011-10-14T16:00:00.002+02:00

This is the second part of the KOH Balance series. As mentioned the other day, there are altogether six polishes and each will get its own feature here.

I've been told that since the release of the KOH Balance collection a few weeks ago, this polish, KOH Rest Fully, has been particularly popular among the customers of the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam. Well, I can understand why.

I like Rest Fully. It's charmingly grungy and murky. Truth be told, it's the army green that I've been looking for for months. There was a similar one that I had been eyeing from Pieces but it proved to be an elusive one.

Basically, Rest Fully is a khaki green crème but once in a while, in certain lighting, your eyes may be tricked into thinking it's a khaki brown. Rest Fully is a bit on the thicker side but it applied beautifully. You're looking at two coats here.

I can see Rest Fully coming in handy the next time I give military camouflage nails another go.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Play Daily

Adorned Nails: KOH Breathe Deeply

2011-10-13T00:13:00.001+02:00

KOH Breathe Deeply is the first colour I'm featuring from the KOH Balance collection, KOH's set of winter colours for 2011.

In the bottle, there is a certain faint pearlescence but that can hardly be seen when applied. Just like many of the KOH polishes I've tried, Breathe Deeply has a thick formula. I had some application issues with this one as it was streaky. I have two coats on here and I think you can notice the streaks in the photos. I suspect it has something to do with the brush, which is strange. I don't recall ever having any such problems with KOH brushes. Or, perhaps I got the odd defective bottle.

Still, it's worth mentioning that Breathe Deeply is more than just a white. I would describe it as a white with a tinge of grey/taupe. The nuances of taupe add some warmth to what would otherwise be a stark white.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Rest Fully

KOH: Balance - Winter Colours 2011

2011-10-12T20:49:00.003+02:00

These are the winter colours that KOH released recently. For those who have access to KOH in physical stores, you would have no doubt seen the displays already. Each retails for €14.95 (10ml), which is the usual price of KOH polishes.

There is a whole philosophy behind this collection - about finding balance in one's hectic life - but I know that you, my readers, are really more interested in the nail polish colours. So, here they are:

L-R:
Breathe Deeply
Rest Fully
Play Daily
Laugh Limitless [sic]
Love Passionately
Eat Purely

KOH has kindly provided me with this set and I will be featuring them one by one with more details in the coming week or so. Do stay tuned.

Update 24 October 2011
The entire collection has now been featured. Please click on the links above to view the individual polishes.

Catrice: Made to Stay Long Lasting Eyeshadow Review

2011-10-12T00:20:00.002+02:00

These Catrice eyeshadows retail for €3.49 per piece (5.0g / 0.17oz) and have a name with a big promise. Huge expectations with a name like Made To Stay Long Lasting Eye Shadow.

According To Catrice
Six eye shadows with a high pigmentation for the ultimate metallic shine effect! The soft cream texture is easy to apply and lasts for an extremely long time – without settling in the crease of your eyelid or smudging!

Ingredients
Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Mica, Polyethylene, Polybutene, Phenyl Trimethicone, Cera Microcristallina, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Silica, Caprylyl Glycol, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Propylene Carbonate, Bisabolol, Tin Oxide, Ascorbyl Palmitate, May contain: CI 75470 (carmin), CI 77000 (aluminium powder), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 77510 (Ferric Ferrocyanide), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)

I have here two shades:

050 Metall Of Honor

040 Lord Of The Blings

Metall Of Honor is a metallic khaki brown, like brass.
Lord Of The Blings is a metallic beige or, as some of you might prefer, warm silver.

These two eyeshadows (plus a third one: Jennifer's Goldrush) were initially released under the so-called Limited Edition Modern Muse Collection. Of course, some weeks after that, we all discovered these Modern Muse products slotted amongst the permanent range items. They were not limited edition. I was, to say the least, annoyed with this misrepresentation and I had griped about it in my post on Catrice Khaki Perry.

By the way, the eye look shown in this post was done with the following products:

Catrice Made to Stay Long Lasting Eyeshadow - Lord Of The Blings
Catrice Made to Stay Long Lasting Eyeshadow - Metall Of Honor
(both applied with a flat brush)
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner Metallic Brass
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner Black Ink
Josie Maran GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara

My Thoughts
Texture
These are cream eyeshadows - thick and fairly smooth. It can be clumpy if you extract too much at one go.

Application
Drying time wasn't too fast, thus allowing enough time to toggle with the eyeshadows before they dry.

Durability
Okay, the big question: Is it longlasting?

I kept my expectations real. Er, have you seen my inward-folding eyelids?! Most cream eyeshadows don't stand a chance. It would be crease-ville within an hour.

The thing is, these Catrice eyeshadows managed to exceed my expectations:

They
• stayed put
• did not smudge
• is water-resistant, but not waterproof
• did not crease in the first four to five hours.

Put simply, this was how the eyeshadows looked after seven hours:

Yes, if you look closely, there is some creasing in the inner corner of the eye in this photo. I'm all right with that, considering that it is, after all, seven hours later. These eyeshadows didn't cost an arm and a leg, so of course, I can live with that!

More information:
The other four eyeshadow shades on the Catrice website

KOH Experience Shop: New Look

2011-10-10T23:30:00.002+02:00

I'm beginning to lose count now how many facelifts the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam has had in the past couple of years.

Back in August, I was told that the KOH Shop would get a new look in autumn. I dropped by the shop last week for a meeting and the following are some shots of the shop. Note: This visit was made at my own cost.

The shop has retained its black glossy furnishings but (what I fondly called) the Walls of Joyful Colours have been given a metamorphosis. There is now only one Wall of Joyful Colours which looks substantially different from the previous version. It is now with slanted display shelves with crevices for the nail polish bottles on display. Each of these slanted sections slides out revealing a drawer filled with KOH polishes.

The shelves for the nail and body care products have undergone only some minor changes.

On the righthand side of the shop, opposite the slanted Wall, there is now an LED glowing display platform with three tiers which changes colour several times per minute (see also the very first image above). The three tiers are packed with KOH polishes. It gives the impression that there are so many KOH nail polish colours in the range, but that's just an impression. There are repeats in the colours. It is visually very impressive though.

The manicure table and the high velvet chairs in the middle of the KOH Shop look the same as before, so I didn't take any pictures of them (you can view them in the write-up of my visit in November 2010). I was told that the metamorphosis isn't complete yet as they are in the process of re-designing the manicure table as well.

Once again, here's the address of the shop in Amsterdam:

KOH Experience Shop
2nd Floor, Bijenkorf Amsterdam
Dam 1
1012 Amsterdam

There is good news for those who do not live in Amsterdam. There is now a KOH Experience Shop in de Bijenkorf in the city of Eindhoven.

de Bijenkorf
Piazza 1
5611 AE Eindhoven

Stay tuned for more on KOH.

My previous visits to the KOH Shop:
November 2009
January 2010
November 2010

All images belong to Witoxicity.

Jane Iredale: PureMoist LipColour Review

2011-10-09T23:51:00.000+02:00

I ordered this lipstick online and chose this shade called Nicole based solely on visuals of the lipstick on various websites: Jane Iredale's and a few online retailers. I couldn't find any colour descriptions! The Jane Iredale PureMoist LipColour is available in 26 shades, so you can imagine how long I had to spend online to make this one decision on the colour.

When I received it, I thought it looked like my PUPA Diva's Rouge lipstick in Euphoria Red. I really didn't need a repeat.

Thankfully, I was mistaken. The two shades may look similar at first glance - coral tomoato-ey red - but the one from PUPA's is perkier and opaque and Jane Iredale PureMoist LipColour in Nicole is a semi-sheer coral red. It's definitely not overpowering. It's what I would call a sweet shade, the kind that imparts just enough colour to give you a healthy look. Viewed upclose, this lipstick has fine golden specks of shimmer which I didn't think were conspicuous when applied on the lips.

According to Jane Iredale
You'll love the way your lips feel! Our state-of-the-art liposome formula packs in moisture, color and staying power. With 26 fashion shades to choose from, ranging from matte to shimmer, you're bound to find your perfect colors.
• No FD&C dyes or synthetic preservatives
• Conditioning, moisturizing formula is designed to be a drink for your lips
• Contains antioxidants
• Delicious mint/vanilla flavor

Ingredients
Castor Seed Oil, Isopropyl Jojobate, Zinc Oxide (CI 77947), Jojoba Esters, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Candelilla Wax, Carnauba Wax, Beeswax, Grape Seed Extract, Peppermint Leaf Extract, Vanillin, Borage Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Bisabolol.
May Contain: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77489, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Carmine (CI 75470), Red 30 Lake (CI 73360), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850)(Aka 202)

Packaging
The lipstick comes in the usual Jane Iredale gold packaging. It certainly looks classy.

Scent
Pleasant and vanillic. I detect no minty scent in this one.

SPF
It has natural sunscreen - zinc oxide. It's a lipstick with SPF 18. Good, no?

Moisturising
It applies like a good lipbalm and yes, it is as moisturising as a lipbalm. If you've read enough of my posts, you'd know that I have ridiculously dry lips and I usually need to use a lipbalm before applying lipstick. There have been a few exceptions, I've discovered, such as NARS Dolce Vita. With Nicole, it's direct application on bare lips and I'm good to go. It lasts about as long as any good lipbalm.

Price
USD20.00 for 3.4g / 0.12oz. With the help of a friend in the UK, I bought mine from Musthave. Price: £14.00.

Final Words
It's a moisturising lipstick with SPF. I love it! Give the PureMoist LipColour a shot if you have the chance. It would be a lot easier to choose a shade if you have a beauty salon near you which sells Jane Iredale products. Choosing a shade online is a pain.

More information:
Jane Iredale website