The Lipgloss For Me - Essence's Velvet Matte | Beauty

I have never really liked lipglosses because let's be real, they are pretty impractical, especially for people like me who have long hair - it will always end up getting stuck in the lipgloss. Not only when it's windy - that's a nightmare in itself - but also when you're just casually letting your hair fall into your face. Nice.
On top of that, I also can't deal with my lips being all sticky. It's just weird. I don't like it. Leave me alone.

I've stayed away from any sort of lipgloss for as long as I can remember for all of the reasons I just mentioned, but I realized that when Essence had come out with a new range of 'Velvet Matte' shades as an addition to their 'XXL longlasting lipgloss' line, I was intruiged. For one, I have been a faithful lover of Essence, an affordable German drugstore brand, ever since I started experimenting with makeup, and secondly, I just have a thing for matte lippies. They always end up coming home with me - and as this one was only 2€, I really couldn't resist trying out a matte lipgloss for the first time ever - I went for the shade, 06 which is called "soft nude" - as you can see in the swatch below, it's a medium brown shade with pink undertones.

The first thing I noticed about this product was its scent - it smells deliciously sweet, a little like vanilla. However, the scent is not sicklish or overpowering.

Application wise, this is fairly easy to work with, the product doesn't come out clumpy or smudge while applied with the wand, although it would be great if the wand picked up a little more product because it often comes out a little sparse.

After applied to the lips, the product dries very quickly (very much to my satisfaction due to my hate for anything sticky), leaving a velvety looking finish. It looks like your usual matte lipstick! I'm so amazed that I actually does what it claims to do.

Wear wise, this is amazing! Hardly any of my lippies sit this comfortably on my lips. It doesn't make my lips sting or leave them feeling tight, either.

It lasts for around two or three hours without budging, however it does not last through heavy/long meals, but compared to the longevity of an average lipgloss, that's still really good.

Altogether, I think it's safe to say that this lipgloss is outstanding! As I mentioned, there are a few tiny things that I don't exactly love about it, but the overall quality you get for such a low price is amazing! And they're a great alternative for people like me who aren't too fond of the average lipgloss but still don't want to give up on them altogether.

Have you ever tried a matte lipgloss?

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June Favorites | Beauty

This morning, while making breakfast (aka a bowl of cereal, because who has time for anything else?) something crossed my mind. "I  feel like I haven't done a monthly favorites in aaages."

Well, apparantly June has been messing with my head even more than I was aware of, because it has been around four weeks.
Finals, work and finally living on my own have most definitely left their marks on me - as you might have noticed by my absence or general attitude, so beauty wise, the last month has been more on the comfortable side of things because when I'm not feeling my best, I'll at least want to look my best.

So let's have a look at the items that made be feel like kicking ass this June, shall we?

MAC Matte Lipstick in 'Kinda Sexy' (20€)

If you read my in-depth review on this lipstick, you will know that I actually won it in a giveaway after admiring the shade from afar for months!

Even though the days are noticeably getting warmer here in Germany and I usually prefer wearing really light make up during this time of the year, I've found myself reaching for this at least every second day.

'Kinda Sexy' is a more pale pink tones nude lipstick which looks great on gals with lighter skin. It works for both day and night looks and because of its matte formula, it lasts for up to five hours, which is marvellous.

Essence "So Glow!" Highlighter in 'Bright Up Your Life" (2,79€)

I actually picked this product up around early May and already spoke about it back then, but it's been getting a lot more love over the past weeks as I've been loving dewy, glowy skin which sadly doesn't come to me naturally.

I love that this does add a subtle glow which mostly shows up in the sun without being to out there or making me look like I came straight out of a Twilight movie. It's a cream to powder product, which took a little for me to get used to, and it's available in two shades, one of which is more sparkly, and one champage toned shade, which is the one I own.

Avon Magic Effects Matte Nail Polish in 'White' (8€)

I'll admit it - this is the first ever matte nail polish that I bought. I know, I know. I don't know why it took me so long, either, because I fell absolutely head over heels in love with this one.

I own around fiteen polishes by Avon, and as I trust their products to be of good quality while still being affordable, I decided to go for this new product when I spyed it, and I wasn't let down.

Within a minute, this dries to a matte finish - you will need two coats for a full coverage as this is a white shade, but with that drying time, that's totally doable.
The polish lasts for three to four days before seriously chipping, which isn't too shabby, especially as I didn't have the time to take care of my nail a lot in June.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette (47,99€)

I've mentioned this in a previous monthly favorite back in March, but I have no shame including it again because without fail, I have used this palette every.single.day. I was mentally slapping myself on the wrist everytime I went back to it because I didn't want to neglect my huge collection of eyeshadow palettes, but I just couldn't help myself. It's that good.

You'll all know the deal about Urban Decay's palettes by now - the quality is outstanding, the shadows go on buttery smooth and are very blendable, while also lasting for a pretty long time.
What I love about this one in particular is that there are so many nice shades for summer. There's pinks, golds, silvers, some darker shades for when you're feeling something bold - if I could only ever use one eyeshadow palette for the rest of my life, it'd be this one!

What have you been loving throughout the past month?

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Glow In Three, Two, One... | Beauty

Do you ever put off repurchasing a product because you think yours is going to last you for at least a few more weeks?

That's what happened to me when it came to the one and only highlighter I was using which was by Manhattan, I kept telling myself that I'd still get some use out of it, but by the time I had to face the fact that there was nothing left and went to buy a new one, I found out that it had been discountinued.

Nonetheless, I was obviously still in need of a highlighter, so I wandered around the drugstore, searching for an alternative.

That's when I stumbled upon Essence's "soo glow!" highlighter, a cream to powder product - which I was very skeptical about, but more on that later.

As it was only 2,79€ for medium sized product, I decided to check it out.

There are two shades to choose from, but I went for "bright up your life", which appears to be a rosey shade at first, but actually shows up as more champangey, which I feel compliments my skin quite a bit.

Now, I have never used a cream highlighter before,

Actually, I haven't used any cream products on my face before - I'm not entirely sure why, but I somehow always stuck with powder ones.

Application wise, this is okay - not great, but also not completely bad.

I use my fingers to apply it to the desired areas, which is all good and well, but it takes quite a while to blend into the skin to get more of a natural looking glow - if you don't blend it in sufficiently, you might end up looking greasy in the sunlight.

What I really like about this is that it doesn't feel heavy on my skin, which I had expected from a cream product - it actually feels like I'm not wearing anything at all.

The longevity however, is really neat.

I usually apply my make up at around 6 in the morning, and this always stays on until around 11 or 12, which I find outstanding for such a affordable product.

Overall, I think this is a really nice, affordable highlighter, but definitely not for someone who is looking for something more subtle - especially people with darker skin - or someone who doesn't have a lot of time they can spend on their make up in the morning.

I actually have a lot some time to do my make up in the morning - I mean, I don't get up at 5.30 for nothing - so this has become a set step in my make up routine!

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A Pastel Love Affair | Beauty

It's no secret that I love me some pastel nail polishes, and it's also not a secret that I love to find an absolute bargain.

Now, I went to drugstore with some really good intentions the other day  - like buying toothpaste and straight up ignoring the make up counters - but you know me, I just couldn't not take a quick peek.

Lately, I've seen some German bloggers rave about one of Essence's newest launches - their "The Gel Nail Polishes", which, as you might've guessed by the name, are supposed to give your nails a high shine, gel-like finish for just 1,59€ a bottle - that sounds just too good to be true, right?

Now, I have mixed feelings towards Essence. That might just be because, being the biggest buget brand available on the German market, I used a lot of their products when I was just starting out with make up, and some of the memories of that still give me nightmares. Just one word - bright pink lipgloss.

But they also do some products that I love, including their Pure Skin powder and, you guessed it, their nail polishes.

So I decided to bite the bullet and get one, because come on, this was less expensive than the lunch I had on that same day.

Now, this range has a total of 46 shades you can choose from, including bright, pastel and shimmery shades, so naturally, I spent a good five minutes ooh-ing and aaah-ing at all the pretty colors, only to choose one that I can only classify as so me - the shade 37 "Serendipity", which is a pretty light purple pastel shade - perfect for spring!

Sadly, as this is a light shade, you will have to apply three coats of it to get the maximum coverage - which would've really annoyed me if this didn't dry so quickly! I found that to be really helpful, especially for us busy girls who can't afford to spend what feels like an hour just to paint our nails.

Judging by how little money I spent on it, I expected this polish to chip within the first two days of wearing it, but no, none of that happened!

I went a good four days until it started to chip slightly on the outer corners of my nails - I mean, it lasted longer than my Givenchy nail polish has managed (full review here), so I'm more than impressed.

As I mentioned, I was a little sceptical when I popped this into my basket, but my view on it has taken a 180 degrees turn.

For less than two Euros, you get a nail polish that has an insane longevity and a great color payoff - and you have just about the widest range ever to choose from, so there is definitely going to be something for everyone in the mix.

I swear I mentioned that I didn't want to pick up any more nail polishes - as I own well over 40 - before, and I also mentioned that I put myself on a spending ban, but really - would it hurt if I got one or two more spring shades from this collection?

I think not - so if you have any recomandations shade wise, make sure to comment them!

Thank you so much for reading!