MAKEUP
ESSENCE Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara Waterproof
I got the regular version of Lash Princess False Lash Effect a few months ago and it's an excellent volumizing mascara plus it can even hold the lashes up a bit, but it's not like proper waterproof formulas, so I was hoping Essence combined that amazing volume with the great I <3 Extreme waterproof formula that's my favourite. What it looks to me is that they just used the brush from the Lash Princess and added the I<3 Extreme formula, resulting in a pretty much the same mascara as the latter. Volume is not quite as impressive as at regular Lash Princess, but it's still more than at a lot of mascaras and it holds a curl. I get no smudging with this one, but an occasional flake can appear. It's also hard to remove as you might expect and requires an waterproof makeup oily remover. The shape of the brush doesn't bring much new to the table compared to the I<3 Extreme, in fact I find it a bit less defining, so both produce somewhat dishevelled lash look, but not clumpy or spidery. I wish Essence used this winning formula when it comes to holding a curl and create one of those L'Oréal-like double mascaras with a plastic defining brush on one side and a regular volumizing on the other, but for now it really doesn't matter whether you get Lash Princess or I <3 Extreme, as the both do about the same thing.
Müller, 3.59 €
*ORIFLAME OnColour Power Up Foundation
38805 Light Porcelain and 38807 Natural Beige
Oriflame launched a new or renewed collection of makeup products that they described as an explosion of colours. This foundation comes in 4 shades and I got 2, including the lightest one. Given my experience with Giordani Gold MasterCreation foundation I expected another very pale shade, but sadly that's not the case. Both shades I have are way too dark for me and I have to use lightening drops to use them. The foundation has a light coverage, it doesn't look well covered in person, but for some reason it looks very good on camera. It's too moisturizing even for my dry skin, so if you have oily or combination skin, this won't work for you. Finish is dewy-shiny, so powder will be a must for most people. Overall it's not very impressive aside from the fact it looks very natural on the skin and you can't tell you're wearing makeup apart from the shine people could mistake for a moisturizer. The shade ruined this one for me, as I thought I can rely on Oriflame for pale foundations.
Oriflame, regular price 9.90 €, currently 4.99 €
*ORIFLAME OnColour Perfecting Concealer Stick
39914 Natural Beige and 39913 Light Ivory
This formula is surprisingly not that hard, waxy stuff that put me off such formulas years ago, but it is summer, so when temperatures drop, who knows if it still be as easy to apply. It looks relatively ok on the skin, it's hasn't got a lot of coverage, I'd say maybe a medium, but it doesn't have the best pigmentation, so you have to layer it. Though the lightest shade is wearable for me, there are honestly so many better formulas out there. Only two shades are available, both are quite light.
Oriflame, regular price 6.50 €, currently 3.19 €
*ORIFLAME OnColour Power Face Powder
38801 M Beige
I can't find this in the catalogue, maybe it's just the Slovene version that skipped it, I don't know. My skin was not made for powders, I've hated them for years and this is nothing special. It set the makeup in place, but didn't prevent a meltdown I had happening with all of Oriflame makeup and it wasn't even that hot. Powder looks finely milled and it's not bad, but what do I know about powders with my dry skin, I never use them.
*ORIFLAME OnColour Big Lash Mascara
I'm not impressed by this one. It doesn't hold my lashes up, so it's useless for me. It's got a classic defining plastic brush with two lengths of bristles and it defines ok, though it could fan out the lashes better. In terms of volume it's (so far) nothing special, but it also doesn't look like nothing. It's just average and I prefer their The One Eyes Wide Open & Awake mascara.
Oriflame, regular price 7.90 €, 3.99 €
*ORIFLAME OnColour Perfect Duo Pencil
36088 Mocha & Rosegold, 36089 Blue & Sapphire and 36090 Green & Turquoise
Five shades of these are available and I got three combinations. These are my least favourite products in the selection. A few seconds after I apply them on the upper eyelid they transfer to my crease. Even with a ton of powder under it, I get the same result. They transfer to the waterline, but you have to go over the line several times. Pigmentation of the darkest brown is great and it's also softest, but the rest could be better. They aren't the softest or smoothest eyeliners so I'm sorry Oriflame, but this is a fail to me.
Oriflame, regular price 6.50 €, currently 3.19 €
*ORIFLAME OnColour Creamy Lipstick
38742 Blush Nude, 38750 Deep Red and 38775 Clover Lilac
Just a regular creamy lipstick with a shiny finish and semi-opaque to full pigmentation. Staying power is its weakness, especially at the lightest shade which is gone in an hour, but ever Deep Red is not that much more impressive. Shade Blush Nude is gorgeous, it's a lovely nude and it's a shame about the staying power, but it's actually very similar to Oriflame's The One lipstick in Pink Flair which is better quality. Shade Deep Red is a classic burgundy and Clover Lilac a medium violet. These come in 20 shades.
Oriflame, regular price 6.50 €, currently 3.19 €
*ORIFLAME OnColour Nail Polish
38983 Soft Pink, 38992 Deep Plum and 38996 Silver Black
These are the best products in the OnColour line. They don't state they are gel nail polishes, regardless they behave similarly and are very smooth to apply. One coat is enough, even at the darkest Deep Plum shade and I don't think I have any such shades that wouldn't be sheer with the first coat. Soft Pink is actually a pink coral, deep plum is pretty much black and silver black is a graphite grey with shimmer. 20 shades in total exist, 5 are special shimmery shades.
Oriflame, regular price 6.50 €, currently 3.19 € (5 ml)
*MAX FACTOR Miracle Touch Skin Perfecting Foundation
I used to have the old version of Miracle Touch which was like a whipped creamy foundation in a compact form - this new one is nothing like it. It's that classic hard compact foundation and getting enough product on the face is a far bigger challenge than before. I got all the shades that are sold in Slovenia, of course none fit me (I took a picture for IG story of all four next to Makeup Revolution Fast Base Stick F1, a shade that fits me) and since the texture is hard, I cannot use my lightening drops and I can't wear these, nor do a proper review, so don't expect it. I applied one of the shades quickly on a Sunday so no one could see me and the first challenge is getting enough on the face quickly and second it's blending because it's a waxy texture. What I managed to get on the face had a matte-ish finish on my dry skin, but with so little I could get on, it's hard to tell if my assessment is true. I also could not tell you the level of coverage since all the shades are too dark for me. I'm sorry I can't be more help, but I can't work with these. The whole shade range contains 16 shades. It's got a separate compartment with the sponge.
Update: you can find a mini review from Preslava in the comments about this foundation, where she describes her experience with it on oily skin.
Update: you can find a mini review from Preslava in the comments about this foundation, where she describes her experience with it on oily skin.
15.19 €
SKIN CARE
EUCERIN Hyaluron Filler Vitamin C Booster
I've already detailed my experience with this in my monthly favourites where I raved about it and I still stand by what I said. I've finished my first bottle and now I'm actually back to Melano because I want to use it up, but I'm already seeing it was a bad idea because my skin is no longer as nice as it was with this. Eucerin's is by far the nicest vitamin C product I've used, also most effective and a great product in general. This contains 10 % ascorbic acid, yet it works more effectively on me than the 20% Tiam, it also has no alcohol and it contains glycerine, squalane and hyaluronic acid. Eucerin's version has Vitamin C in a form of ascorbic acid, which is the most researched one in terms of beauty and has been shown to assist collagen production, but it's most often mentioned as a powerful brightener, helps fight UV damage and that is helps diminish fine lines. Vitamin C is packed in the bottom of the packaging, separated from the emulsion. Before first use, you have to peel off the foil to reveal a soft rubber bottom with you then have to press a few times to push the vitamin C to the emulsion. After some shaking the product is ready to use. The emulsion is very lovely - it's a nice smooth liquid formula that applies with ease and feels moisturising. Eucerin recommends to mix this with your moisturiser, but like I explained in my monthly favourites, I use it on its own. They also say that a reaction might occur when you first start using it, but I didn't experience it since I was already used to Tiam. At that one my skin became sensitive for a few days, so expect something like that if you're new to vitamin C products. I mentioned in my monthly favourites it took two weeks for the effects to start showing, but after than my skin was looking its best. It was always properly nourished, it started to become more even, healthy and I had zero breakouts (I'm currently treating one since I switched back to Melano). One thing that will bother people is that the bottles are very small with only 7.5 ml of product. While I like that they are small because by the time you finish the bottle the vitamin C is still relatively "fresh" compared to bigger bottles, I would much prefer to seethese costing less than 17 € for such a small amount and Tiam is still a far better bargain per ml if you can deal with the obnoxious texture and self-tan smelling skin. I love this, it's my favourite Vitamin C product out of the three I tried and I'm glad I have an extra bottle. There's a couple more cheaper vitamin C products I'm interested in (Nivea, Eveline and Avon), but though I'd love for them to be better because they are cheaper, it'll definitely be sticking to Eucerin's if those don't work out.
17.43€
NIVEA Sun UV Face Shine Control Cream SPF50
UV Gesicht Mattierender Sonnenschutz LSF 50
I've already mentioned this one in my last monthly favourites and in my best budget friendly post, so I've said a lot about it already. This fits my dry skin well and it's so far the only sunscreen from local drugstores I found that sets to a dry to the touch velvet finish. I can apply it the recommend 1/4-1/2 teaspoon amount with no problems and it never feels suffocating or heavy neither does it have a trace of a white cast. Texture feels like a regular cream, more on the thick side and it’s like a typical heavy sunscreen from the start with a lot of shine, but after a few minutes it completely sinks. There is some sunscreen shine, not greasy one, since this feels dry to the touch when it sets. I wear it under makeup and it never pills, but it can mess with the eyeliner, so it's not my favourite thing to use around the eyes. I get no oily shine during the day, but my skin is dry and it's been a while since I've had a greasy T-zone. Biore Aqua Rich Essence is still much lighter, as are A'Pieu Pure Block and Etude House Sunprise, but for my normal-dry skin Nivea is great.
Müller, 9.99 €
NUXE Huile Prodigieuse
Florale
I've so been enjoying being reunited with this. It's my favourite oil to use for my face and I've been using it for many years now, and I definitely missed it in my routine when I was without it for a month or two. I got the new Florale version though I very fond of the original. The new Floral version smells very similar as the discontinued Fleur D’Or Acacia by L’Occitane, it’s just a bit more green and citrusy. Nuxe says it smells like magnolia, white musk, grapefruit, lemon, bergamot and orange flower. Overall it’s a citrusy floral scent and it smells like spring to me. It's nice because it's different, I've been using the original for so long I don't even notice the scent anymore, but I still love it a tiny bit more than this one, though this one is pretty nice and I think also stronger. The ingredients are the same as in the original one. I said in my monthly favourites that this oil + Eucerin's vitamin C really helped my skin look its best.
Pharmacy, 25.50 €
LVLY by Paola Maria Cleansing Oil
This is a new DM brand and as far as I could see consists of an cleansing mousse, serum (looked pretty good ingredients-wise), moisturiser with a SPF 15, eye cream, lip balm and one of those masks in a satchel (I saw a gycolic acid toner online too, but not in the shop). This oil immediately attracted my attention since I'm looking for a more affordable alternative to Biobaza. This one is about a third smaller (100 ml vs. 150 ml of Biobaza), but the latter costs almost 13 €. I've been using it for some time now and I'm not loving it. The texture is light like most such oils I've tried and once you start rubbing it in it becomes one of the thickest oils. Adding water creates a thick emulsion and normally I'd be so delighted to see this, but there is a bit problem - this does not rinse of completely. You can add as much water as you want and keep trying to get it off, but a film remains on the skin. Based on the feedback I got on Instagram, a lot had the same problem. A second cleansing with a gel or a mousse in an absolute must at this. For such a thick formula it doesn't remove waterproof mascara well and a separate two-phase oil cleanser is needed. Another thing is that in the following days my skin started to become more and more congested (possibly due to me not being able to wash it off completely, but it could also be that it's simply breaking me out like most oils). The scent is I think like Balea's other oil, it pretty much smells like vegetable oil, so nothing special. I really wanted to love this because Biobaza is expensive, but even if this didn't break me out, the fact it's so hard to rinse off it a no for me.
DM, 3.99 €
BIOBAZA Exclusive Face Cleansing Micellar Oil
A repurchase. I still haven't found anything to replace this, I just sort of give in when my old bottle runs out and shell out those 13 € for a new one (we don't have Tuš Drogerija here with their discounts so it hurts even more). Sadly LVLY is not working for me, which is a shame because it would save me some money. Biobaza is one of rare oils that works with my skin as most others I've tried tend to break me out, but it's relatively weak and doesn't remove eye makeup well. This is probably my fifth or sixth bottle in a row and I use this every day without fail together with the Balea gel.
DM, 12.79 €
DOVE Body Wash
Summer Breeze
This is a limited edition scent that I found in Müller. I was looking for something fresh among Dove formulas, which are my favourite and this was the closest to what I wanted, though I'd prefer something more uplifting as this is still relatively soft for a fresh scent. The description say it smells like apples and black currant. I get none of the notes, but it smells nicely fruity-fresh clean. The formula is one of the new Dove ones, which are not as luxuriously creamy as the original, so I'm not 100% happy with it because when I pay more for a Dove shower gel I expect that fabulous rich texture, but it's fine, still better than 90% of other stuff.
Müller, 2.19 €
SUN DANCE Sun Milk 50+
Sonnenmilch 50+
After years of experimenting with sprays and oils and other weird textures, I went back to the basic, thick and annoyingly sticky sun cream. Last year I had a Lavazon clear sunscreen in a spray, that though it was clear was despite the promises greasy and it reeked of alcohol. The clumsy spray made it even worse as it was very difficult to apply nicely, so I decided to get a regular milk version for this year. This is a very regular sunscreen texture that never truly sinks in and it leaves you slightly sticky for a long time, but it's easy to apply and in sufficient quantity, since at sprays I never know how much to use. It's far from perfect, but it protects well and is a decent price for SPF 50+.
DM, 5.49 €
SUN DANCE Self-Tanning Face Cream
Teint Selbstbräunungs Creme
I got this for mom, as it's been years since I've used a self tanner (I prefer to be my natural pale self). They had two such products from Sun Dance here, this inexpensive cream and a more expensive concentrate that is meant to be mixed with a regular moisturiser. This felt simpler to use, so I got this, but it's a shame they didn't have the toner version that I used to use and it was surprisingly good. I can't say anything about how this cream performs yet, but I buy one of these either from Sun Dance or Lavazon every year for mom and they've always been good enough for the price.
DM, 1.89 €
SUN DANCE Sensitive Lip Balm SPF 50
Sensitiv Lippen Pflege Stift
I always use my Palmer's Swivel stick which I've been using for years and it's my favourite ever, but I have only version with no SPF, so I grabbed this for using during the day. It's better than I expected. I'm used to the lovely soft texture of Palmer's and dislike the waxy formula of regular lip balms, but this feels more balmy and doesn't just sit on the lips doing nothing. It's nicely moisturising and it holds on well, it didn't wipe off completely during eating and drinking which was impressive. It's got no scent.
DM, 1.69 €
SUBRINA Shower Gel
Rainbow Splash
I made a switch from the Cherry Blossom to Rainbow Splash which is a lot more girly with a scent of gummy bears (official description is a fresh fruity floral scent). I still have Fresh Elder which is my current favourite and when it runs out I'll repurchase it in this Spar XXL size, but Rainbow Splash might stay in the shower long too, since I'm a bit fed up with Cherry Blossom by now, though it's really good.
Interspar, 1.85 €
DOVE Nourishing Shower Cream
A repurchase. Dove shower products are my favourite because of the luxurious creamy formula. Since I finally found an XXL formula in Slovenia, I'll keep repurchasing it. This one has a classic Dove creamy scent.
Müller, 2.99 €
DOVE Purely Pampering Coconut Milk & Jasmine Petals Shower Gel
I haven't seen this scent in a while, it's gone from DM and Müller, apparently to make place for the new less appealing scents to me. This scent is so amazing, but I don't know how to describe it. It's creamy, soft and floral, but not a since whiff of coconut, which I actually appreciate.
Interspar, 2.29 €
BALEA Rasiergel
Exotic Coco
Standard repurchase and another one is the numerous LE edition scent editions. This one of the worst editions they've done and I hope they'll replace it soon. Don't expect a coconut or frangipani scent, it's all very plastic, boring and not authentic.
DM, 1.99 €
EBELIN Nail Polish Remover Express
Another repurchase. I had an ancient Aveo version in my drawer which I never liked because the sponge was falling apart from the first use. This one has a softer sponge which last a bit longer (still not even remotely comparable to the original Bourjois). These are still expensive for the amount of uses you get (it's best to stick to neutrals if you want it to last long and avoid reds or glitters for as long as possible), but it's still the fastest way to get the nail polish off. I mostly use regular cotton pad + remover method to avoid buying these express removers too often.
DM, 1.99 €
HAIR
PANTENE Pro V Intensive Repair
Since I was so blown away by the quality of the conditioner, I got most of the rest of the Repair line too. Still on my list is the 3 Minute mask, but not the oil because it's got a high alcohol content. I gave everything to my mom to try first, since she has the same texture of hair like me and was complaining it's consistently so dry and she gave everything two thumbs up (and she's even less forgiving to hair products that me, for example she doesn't like Schwarzkopf Professional Bonding Potion and Mask and I find them great.)
Shampoo
This is a very creamy, thick formula and it doesn't foam that much on the first wash, but on the second it produces a very thick and rich foam. It’s similar to L’Oreal’s Extraordinary oil shampoo in terms that it almost feels like there is a bit of conditioner in there (it doesn't have silicones unlike L'Oreal), but it’s not quite the same and I still like L'Oreal's a bit more. I find it’s great for very dry hair and probably my second favourite drugstore shampoo.
DM, 3.99 € (400 ml)
Intensive Mask
Mask is just like the conditioner one of the most impressive formulas I’ve found. It’s a bit thicker, but it does the same job of nourishing the hair, making it soft, silky and shiny. The pot is easier to use that the squeeze tube, but I'll continue buying both. The conditioner is a bit cheaper per ml.
DM, 4.79 € (300 ml)
Instant Damage Defense Conditioning Spray Leave-in
Surprisingly this has no silicones, which is not common for Pantene and it has panthenol high on the list, which is a good moisturiser. The two-phase design is just like at Gliss Total Repair 19 and indeed these two feel similar. I tried using it on dry hair and it's not amazing just as I expected, I prefer something with silicones because when my hair is dry it become tangled and silicones make it smoother and more manageable. For me this is a leave-in conditioner to use on damp hair straight after rinsing off the conditioner to add an extra boost of moisture and it does its job well, it will likely be too heavy for some. It needs to be shaken a lot during between spraying because it separates fast.
DM, 2.99 €
Have a great day!
