Hello my little limpets,
It's been a while, but I'm bedridden with nothing else to do and I thought I'd take advantage :)
Let's just jump right into this, shall we?
Recently I've found some products that have blown me away with quality in regards to price.
Bargain finds, you could say.
Beauty wins on a budget :)
The first one is something out of Sephora (surprise surprise).
Actually, it only cost around 10zl (roughly 3 bucks) and it.works.wonders.
It's the sephora face brush/scrub/awesomethingfromheaven.
Seriously, I don't know how it does it, but my skin has had NO pimples/redness/dicolouration in weeks!
(don't wanna jinx it, knock on wood). NOTE: that photo was off of google.
Going back to my point.. It's like the poor-man's Clarisonic (http://www.clarisonic.com/). It doesn't cost a buttload of cash (roughly 250$ apiece) but it still gives results almost identical to those who use Clarisonic.
You just scrub your face every night/morning after removing your makeup and it clears your pores and gets rid of all dead skin on the surface.
Not to bash on the 'Sonic, but in my opinion, a bargains a bargain.
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I'm pretty sure you remember, (or probably dont since it's been so long since I've posted here), that I mentioned a new find from Manhattan. The Matte lip mousse is almost a perfect dupe of the oh-so-popular NYX lip mousses.
Personally, I'm a huge fan of all matte lip products. The preference might just stem from a deep hatred of getting my hair stuck in sicky shiny lipglosses growing up, then again, I just like how the colour can be really striking but soft at the same time.
Once again, since it was a drugstore product, it only cost me around 20zl (6-7 bucks?).
The thing I love about this lip mousse is not only do I get to call it a "lip mousse" and sound pretentious (like a madame), but it stays on for a lot longer than expected without drying out my lips (which is a big no no).
Sure, if you're talking a lot or eating lunch you'll need to reapply it afterwards, but for the price tag and the overall longevity of it? So worth it.
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Now, the next item on my super awesome list of cool things to buy on a budget:
TAFT instant volume powder.
This experiment started from not wanting to wash my hair everday during the winter because it would get oily very quickly due to the severe cold. I tried out SYOSS's dry shampoo, which worked, but sadly ran out really quickly after only a few applications. It also gave me a bit of dandruff, which I hated.
My hair is really thick and heavy, so being a volume-freak, I found this product a bit of a life saver, especially when it comes to keeping the volume throughout a night of dancing!
This got a lot of mixed reviews when I asked around. The texture of this product is almost like a powdered wax. I have a joke with my friends by calling it "Cocaine for hair".
This works best if you already have some products in your hair (mousse, for example) because it has something to hold on to. I found that when I used it on freshly washed and blow dried hair it didnt hold up as well.
Another thing is that this is NOT a dry shampoo, so if you're expecting to have smooth hair after applying this, you'll be disappointed. As I said, it's almost like a powdered wax, so it does get a bit tough. However, if you want to have volume for hours, you gotta put your silky roots aside.
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And last, but definitely not least:
Maybelline's One by One Volume express mascara in Satin Black. (Approx 35zl/ 12 bucks)
Most mascaras have to be a few weeks old before they start drying out a teeeensy bit giving my lashes that thicker, more mousse-like effect as opposed to a brand new mascara. I find that even a really good mascara such as Clinique's High Impact mascara (Roughly 19 Euros), I'd have to wait for the product to slightly dry out before I get the best volumizing results.
Although I love Clinique's mascaras, this is about the Maybelline's mascara.
Going back to it then, I found like right out of the packaging, it worked fantastically on me.
In just ONE coat it gave me fuller lashes without any clumping whatsoever.
Here's a picture of my lashes with and without the mascara
Excuse the lighting and pale face, it's almost 6AM here and I'm right in the middle of getting through strep throat..
But as you can see, one coat of mascara (on the right side) seperated my lashes and darkened them into a silky black colour. Normally, I'd pile on a few coats, just because I'm a firm believer in big big lashes (although I hardly ever wear falsies.. hm). I guess I'm more comfortable with just 4 coats of mascara than having fake lashes glued on my eyes.. Then again, I'm waiting on a bulk order of falsies from ebay so who am I to talk? :)
Alright, so there you have it!
A list of what I believe are pretty good bargain products that should be staples in your beauty bag.
I'm not going to "promise I'll start posting more" because with my current schedule, I have no idea when the next time I'll be able to sit down and type away will be.
I do have some new paintings that I'll take photos of and post up for you to see. I'm quite proud of them.
Lots of love from a temporarily-mute Salamander!
xx -S
