Listen to this ....

If I ...

... end up alone when I'm old, I would so become the old owl lady rather than the old cat lady.

Listen to this ...

The BAD ...

... that none of those lovely monthly gift boxes services send to Malta. Le sigh.

I have always wished to subscribe to a monthly gift box service whether they consist of makeup, food or anything else which I might fancy.  Here is a list of those monthly gift boxes which I really wish to subscribe to (in no particular order of preference), but as cruel faith having me live in Malta, I cannot;

1. Conscious Box - Who wants to pamper themselves with food and makeup goodies and at the same time save the planet? I do.  According to their site, they hand pick their products from small and large businesses, which is a good thing as normally I wouldn't dare to try a product from an unknown company.  This box can be yours at just $12 (+$7 shipping) per month.  However, for those of us who live outside the US we cannot get this as of yet, but soon they will extend their services to other countries as well including Europe (hopefully they don't forget about Malta, as funnily enough even though we are part of Europe we are usually not included)

 

As you all know I love my makeup and unfortunately I cannot find some very popular brands like Benefit or Mac in Malta and I wouldn't risk buying off the internet as I usually would want to test shades to see if they match my skin colour (as in my opinion I think I have a very weird skin tone colour), but through such beauty boxes I would be happy to try such brands and taking very small risks since you don't pay a lot.  

2. Birch Box - For $10 a month you get a 4/5 deluxe sample products from well-known brands like Stila and Smashbox.  Unfortunately this only ships to the US and also people have been complaining that they are sending repeats from previous boxes, which isn't a good thing if you have been a long-time subscriber.

3. BeautyArmy - The great thing about this box is that you get to choose the samples you want to be sent to you, which is great in my opinion, especially since you are paying for such products.  You get to choose six samples every month for just $12 a month. The downside, only availabe in the US. 

4. Glossybox - This is a UK box and they send up to five mini-beauty products for just £10.00 per month.  Again unfortunately for me this only ships to the UK and a number of countries, such as Germany, South Korea and Italy.

Hope you enjoyed this post, if you know of any good monthly boxes which ship to Malta let me know ;D

If I ...

... knew how to walk in very high heels, I would wear this pair of Charlotte Olympia shoes.

from the Charlotte Olympia Fall 2012 Collection

... a Hollywood starlet, I would so rock this Shady ZeinEldine dress on the red carpet.

from Shady ZeinEldine's Spring/Summer Collection

and
If I was filthy rich, I would definitely buy this Alexander McQueen clutch.

from the Alexander McQueen Fall 2012 Collection

Rimmel SpecialEyes Duo Eye Shadow - 383 Budding Star Review

Hey everyone,

So I apologise if it has been quiet a long time since I posted something on my blog but unlike other bloggers out there I test products over a period of time and do not base my views on just a first impression.  

Today's review is on a Rimmel Eyeshadow.  This eyeshadow has been out for quiet some time, but it is still available for purchase online.  I had the eyeshadow for a while and I decided to throw it away, but before I did I have decided to write this review.

As you know I usually write my reviews by comparing the product to what is advertised by the company, but for this one I couldn't find what Rimmel claims that this product achieves, so will base it on what one normally looks for in an eyeshadow.

Packaging:  It comes in a small compact, with two decent sized eyeshadows and an eyeshadow applicator.    The compact is easy to carry around in a handbag, but the applicator is rubbish in my opinion, so either buy a new good applicator if you are on the go or use a brush if you are using at home.  

Colours: From a quick google search, this product does come in a variety of colours, but I will only comment on the one I have - 383 Budding Star.  Budding Star comes in a white shade on the left side and a pale minty green on the right side.  

Pigmentation:  Pigmentation is the absolute worse I have seen, it is very poor and the pale minty green looks white when applied, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a duo compact as the colours look too similar.  Also when I went to apply it on my eyelid, barely any eyeshadow was transferred on my eyelid, I thought it might be the applicator the eyeshadow comes with as it seems it absorbs the powder, but when I tried with my fingers still very very little product showed up.  In order to achieve a decent colour on my eyelid I had to reapply for several times!  Also the eyeshadow didn't last for 8 hours as the packaging claims at the back.  The eyeshadow didn't crease, but how would you expect an eyeshadow with barely any pigmentation to crease!?

However, I would like to point out that the product can also be applied wet, which I did not try so maybe pigmentation pay-off is better when applied wet.  

Would I buy it again?

Definitely NOT!  I personally prefer to apply my eyeshadows dry and was really disappointed with the pigmentation on this one.  I wouldn't recommend this eyeshadow. Maybe the other shades in the range have better pigmentation but after the bad experience with this one, I wouldn't even bother test the shades at the beauty store, let alone buying it.

I hope you have enjoyed this product review, feel free to share your views on this eyeshadow or any other eyeshadows and don't forget to subscribe ;D

Max Factor Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation Review

Recently I won a mixed makeup lot on e-bay and got this foundation for a fraction of the original price and lucky me it came in a tone very similar to my natural skin colour.  

Max Factor advertises this foundation as the following; 

"Max Factor’s newest and most innovative foundation will revolutionise the way you apply your base. With a unique lightweight solid to liquid formula it removes the need for the traditional concealer, foundation and powder combination and instead creates the perfect base in just one easy application. The result is a flawless, fresh and incredibly smooth complexion that glows with radiance."

About the Product in General. 

The product comes in a plastic circular container.  It has two separate compartments, the black compartment contains a sponge which is to be used to apply the foundation and the transparent compartment contains the foundation which comes in a solid but creamy form.  According to the British Max Factor site, it comes in 6 colours and from the colours available I don't think this foundation comes in colours for those with a darker complexion. 

So does this live up to Max Factor's claims?

Max Factor claims that this new foundation offers a revolutionary way how to apply foundation.  To be honest it is nothing out of this world, it is a normal foundation in solid form which is applied with a normal sponge.  However, what I consider as 'revolutionary' is the packaging itself as it keeps the foundation separate from the sponge, which not many products out there offer this.  Also unlike many sponges and applicators which come with makeup products, the sponge that comes with this foundation is really good, but it is a pity that it is quiet small and that it doesn't seem possible to just buy the sponge.

The formula is very creamy, but I wouldn't consider it 'lightweight' compared to my previous Maybelline foundation I find this foundation to be thicker.  It is of medium coverage, as due to it's thick consistency if you applied more one would look too made up and unnatural and so it doesn't cover everything and I still needed to use my concealer to cover a few red spots and my under-eye area.  However, it did help in applying less concealer but didn't remove the need completely to apply concealer as Max Factor claims.  

To get the best result it requires some blending, which the sponge helps a lot in achieving this.  The sponge helped in making application easier and less messy, however it does seem that the sponge absorbs a lot of the product which results in some of the product being wasted.  This is a real big disadvantage, since the foundation is quiet pricey and there is little product!

My complexion did look more glowy and radiant.  However, this didn't last long!  In fact, after an hour of applying and I needed to blow my nose and a huge amount of the product ended up on my tissue!  Also the formula is very drying.  I have combination skin (i.e. both dry and oily skin). and after 3 consecutive days of using the foundation my oily parts dried up and ended up with small dried flakey patches on my skin, which obviously this is not my desired result when using such product.  I started using moisturiser before I applied this foundation but it still had a drying effect on my skin and so I went back to my old Maybelline foundation.  

Would I buy this again?

It costs I think around 12 Euros, which for just 11.5 grams of product it is very expensive.  Also considering that a lot of the product gets absorbed by the sponge and also it dried up my skin - I will not ever buy it again.

The product had a lot of potential; the packaging is great  and is ideal to carry around with you when you are on the go and the foundation blends nicely.  However, there are way too many cons.  I would only reconsider to buy this product if the price was cheaper and the foundation was moisturising but not too greasy and too drying and had better lasting power.

Max Factor Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation in Natural 70

Max Factor Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation in Natural 70 blended

I hope you have enjoyed this review, feel free to share your opinions on this foundation or other foundations ;D