Review | Black Heads Black Mask

I am a super fan of face masks, but I think you know that already! It's something I really enjoy doing. It relaxes me and makes me feel good. Sometimes, I get home really tired and upset and I just slap on a face-mask and lay on the couch pretending to be a vegetable.

So yeah, of course I had to try this black peel-off face masks that everyone seems to love. I ordered a bunch of individual packets online and I gave it a go.

When I cut open the little packet my first reaction was "Wow this is really Black!!".
It almost looks like tar... it's super sticky and thick and it will get everything on everything if you are not careful.
I used a small brush to apply it to my face -- it's the brush that comes with Glamglow's silver peel off mask, so I thought it was appropriate, since the consistency is similar.

The little package contains more than enough product for you to apply a very generous coat of it all over your face. And that's how you're supposed to do it. I assume you've all seen some videos on Instagram or YT of people doing this, and you do need to apply a thick coat or nothing is coming off your face. So I applied it and waited for it to dry. And yeah... this part was messy. Maybe I applied too much, I don't know, but there was a point where it was literally dripping from my nose... but once it stared to dry it was manageable.
I waited around 30 minutes for it to become completely dry. And you know it's ready to come off when the edges start to peel away when you move your face. To peel it off I just carefully pullled one of the lifted off edges and the mask comes off in one piece. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of mine, but it took away a lot of gunk.
I was able see yucky stuff sticking out to the surface of the mask. But honestly I could really see any difference on my face. Most of the black heads I had (which wore actually not that many) wore still there... but my skin felt really smooth and soft afterwards... Oh and the mask smells really really good -- contrary of what I was honestly expecting! It has a very minty, fresh smell. Really nice.

Oh and BTW, cleaning up the brush -- that was another whole experience by it self! My sink was all black, everything was back! Eventually I was able to clean everything but its messy AF.

Honestly, I don't really know where I stand for with this. I guess you can say I have mixed feelings about this...

Pros: it's fun to do, smells pretty good. The results are OK.

Cons: it tuna black anything it touches, it's kinda of messy. The results are just OK.

I know a lot of you have tried this as well, so if you have any tips on how to make this work better for me, leave it in the comments! I have a bunch of these packets -- hey, I had high hopes!! -- and I would really love to make this work for me!

I straighten my hair at least once a week. With a flat iron. And one my best friends is this NOVEX Brazilian Keratin spray. I got it from Embelleze, and  I really really like it. It's heat protective, which means that avoids your hair from frying up from the heat of the iron. I apply it on my hair -- focusing on the ends because their more prone to burn -- and when you use the iron over it you can actually see it evaporating!. It looks like smoke, but it's actually the product evaporating! And while it evaporates, it consumes the heat that could possibly damage the hair.

Review | ColourPop Faded Pencil + My favorite lip combo

I ordered a bunch of stuff from ColourPop because I wanted this particular lip pencil. I had been looking for the perfect lip liner to go with my fake Kylie lippie. I couldn't find anything close enough anywhere. But after browsing through ColourPop's website I found this shade -- Faded, -- and it is just perfect! I am always scared when buying stuff like this online -- usually the true color of the pencil is hard to figure out from the pictures, but this one was spot on. I was able to find the one that was the closest to my liquid lipstick just by looking trough the pictures!

And now, this is my favorite lip combo! They are not an exact match -- well, that would be impossible unless they were both from the same manufacture. But I like the way they go together. It looks really good on the lips.

The pencil is really creamy, and really easy to apply. It rolls on extremely smoothly. I've been wearing it almost every day, and it lasts a long time on the lips... And even by it self, it looks really good... sometimes I just fill in my whole lips with it and it looks really soft and natural.

I don't know what else to say about this, except that I'm really pleased with my purchase. I had heard a lot about the quality of ColourPop's cosmetics, but this was my first time trying it out, and yeah, I have not been disappointed. Especially for the price that I paid (5$)! Cheap and awesome!

Btw, does anyone know how to sharpen this thing?

Empties #10 | Summer Empties

I know summer is only halfway trough but I already have a bunch of emptied out products that for me are summer staples. A long long time ago I wrote a post about which are my beach essentials -- it was acutally one of my first posts here on the blog! And this choice of products is very much related to those essentials. These are products that I need to have every summer and although I don't get exactly the same stuff every year, but I always gravitate to the same type of products.

- NIVEA SUN Protect & Refresh Sunscreen 30 SPF. On *drugstore* sunscreen, for me, Nivea tops it all. I don't really like the other brands. They smell weird. And this one is my favorite. Is not sticky, it's very light and it's completely transparent on the skin. I never had any problems with it, it does what it's supposed and it's fairly cheap. Will I repurchase it? Probably, but now I already bought something else. 

- VASENOL Spray & Go Body Moisturizer Aloe Fresh. I really like this moisturizer for summer. It's a spray on -- which means it's super easy and fast to apply. You can just spray it on and give it a little rub and that's is. And it's aloe. Aloe is great for skin burns, and if you are out in the sun, I think that a moisturizer with aloe it's the best thing to avoid redness! It smells super nice! Just one thing: it doesn't last long... This spray bottle was good for maybe a week and a half of everyday use. But I really like it. Will I repurchase it? I would like to, but I can't seem to find it anywhere! Do you know if it has been discontinued? I've found the plain version and the chocolate version, but this one I just can't find anymore!

- LUSH Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrubs. It's not the first time I talk about this product, neither will be the last. This is a very natural product. The scrub agent is salt. And it has alcohol and limes, which makes it smell like a mojito -- super appropriate for summer, don't you think? I really like it, but it's not a cheap product. It's my all-year-round body scrub, but it is super expensive and I've restrained my self from buying it as often as I would like.Will I repurchase it? Yep Yep!

- MYLABLE Anti Celulite GEL. I wrote a full review about this product a while back. And, yes, this is a repeat! I honestly like it. Does it work wonders? I don't know. Did I felt that my skin was tighter and smoother? Yep! It's good and really nice, specially for how much it costs. Will I repurchase it? Maybe!

I bought this cream highlighter at H&M the other day. It looked really nice. It's a cute little pot and it appeared to be a warm golden shade, perfect for summer. It costed 4 € if I'm not mistaken. And it was a compele waste of money. It is super pasty, not creamy at all. It is super hard do apply, and impossible to blend basically. It's just a waste of money. DO NOT BUY IT.

Wells is having a 2-for-the-price-of-1 sale on a bunch of sun products...from expensive brands! You pay for the most expensive, and they offer you the cheapest. 

And off course I had to take advantage this sale! I bought a bunch of Vichy sunscreen because they're my favorite (but you can actually mix around the brands!) To get my money worth I bought two kits. And I have been dying to try this Bronze line. The big kit was 28€ and the smaller one costed 20€ but it was free! It's an awesome deal!

Review | TOO FACED Better Than Sex Mascara

This must be one of the most talked about mascaras ever. I mean, who hasn't heard or read about it, somewhere...? Even if you don't remember if it's good or bad, I'm sure you remember it's name! Better Than Sex. It's a curious name, don't you think?

I have to admit, that at fist I bought it just because I'd heard so much about it that I needed to try for my own. I was curious. It's a pricey mascara. I don't really remember how it costed, but this is the travel size, I bought it at Sephora, and I think it was close to 20€. Honestly I actually rather buy smaller sizes when it comes to mascara. I like to change the tube pretty frequently (to avoid eye infections and styes). Anyhoo, it's hella  expensive. However, the tube is just the most adorable thing ever. The metallic, rose gold pink it's just the most girly color ever. Pulling this out of your purse on your office's bathroom just makes every other girl jealous, trust me.

The wand is super cool looking -- it has an hourglass shape and that's what does all the magic. The bristles really grab your lashes and coats them almost evenly. You do need to wiggle the wand while applying it, right from the roots, since the bristles are really packed on the wand. But you will get doll like lashes. A ton of volume, thickness, and a miles of length.

One thing I need to warn you: This is not waterproof. But it is super resistant. It lasts all day and it's pretty hard to take off! And is completely smudgeproof!

The only down-point is that the tube drys quite fast. I mean, I don't know if this was a problem with my particular tube, but after a couple of months I could tell that the formula had thickened up. It wasn't bad, or unusable. It wasn't super clumpy. It was just a little bit drier. 

Primark thoughts

I am not a big fan of Primark. I don't like shopping there. I don't know what it is but I could never understand the crazy hype about it. But I've been seeing all the great stuff you people buy there -- make up, accessories, shoes, cloths, cute home stuff... So, once again I've decided to give it another shot. OK, so I went to Primark. I spent almost three hours there. And yes, my conclusion is the same. Although everything is super cheap, I don't think it's worth the money. Yes, somethings are cute, some patterns are just super adorable, but the fabrics feel and look cheap. I like to buy stuff that I know are going to last. I like to know that I can wash a shirt several times and that it's not going to look weird. And that's the feeling that I get with Primark cloths. They feel like disposable clothes. Like you'd wear it two or three times and than when it starts to look weird and worn out, you could just trow it way. And it wouldn't weight on you conscience because it was super cheap. I don't like living like this. I feel like this is super wasteful. It's a waste of money and a waste of resources. I understand buying there stuff for kids -- OK, they ruin so much clothing that buying expensive stuff is pointless.

While I was canvasing the store, I saw a lot of people with those huge baskets completely full, buying those crappy things, crappy plastic accessories, toys... And I think this is the perfect example how consumerism works: I feel like some people buy all that shit because it's just so cheap. "Oh, it's only two euros" "Oh a dress for 10 euros, so cheap". And they end-up buying too much crap that they don't really need. 

I ended up buying only two things: a pack o socks and this cute pink toothbrush because I found it cute and I needed a new toothbrush to carry around (and who can resist a pink toothbrush with a pink case? )

Astrophysics For People In A Hurry // Neil deGrass Tayson

I love books like this. Simple books that explain complex concepts for ordinary people to understand. I'm a geek, and I'm interested on this stuff. I understand the math behind it, I know most of the physics concepts involved but it's always nice to read a book written by someone that know so much about space and that yet is able to explain it you in the most simple and captivating way.

If you don't know who Neil deGrass Tayson is, well, I don't know what are you doing with your online life. He is an renown astrophysicist how is also an internet sensation -- with his own meme and all! He often apeares on space related documentaries, he presents Cosmos -- a super cool TV Show that everyone should watch -- and he has a science-y talk show where he invites celebrities and where he tries to intersect pop culture with science. It's a really awesome show. And that is -- more or less -- what he does in this book. He explains how the universe was formed, what's is the speed of the light and why is it a barrier, how we know how many years ago dinosaurs stroll the planet, and many many other super interesting things.

It's a small, short book, easy to read. Perfect for an afternoon at the beach. And look at that cover! It's just stunning!

Quick Tip # 6 | Biphasic Makeup Remover

If you wear any type of long-lasting, waterproof make up, you know that you need a really good makeup remover. For me the big challenge is to remove eye makeup. Specially waterproof mascara. I just hate, hate, not being able to remove every single bit dark speckle of mascara, and then waking up in the next morning with the biggest raccoon-eyes. I just hate it. What really works well for me is this Sephora's Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover. It is really good. I really like it. It's biphasic, and this means that it has an oily part and a water-based part. And yes, you need to shake it to mix them together. I've found that one of the best ways to use this is with a Q-tip -- the opening of the bottle is a small hole, just big enough for you to put a hold a Q-tip on it and let it soak with the blue-ish liquid without having any leakage. Than I use it to rub my lash-line, removing the remaining bits of mascara.

And since now I've stared to also started to wear Liquid Matte Lipsticks, I also use it on my lips to make sure I remove every little bit of lipstick. I know that the bottle says eye makeup remover, but it works perfectly fine for lips too.

Winner Winner!

I know the giveaway ended almost two weeks ago, but I've finally picked the winner -- not that it takes a super long time to do it, it's just that I'm busy, and lazy and I've totally forgotten about it! But hey, better late then never right?...

Laura, congratulations on winning this giveaway! I've sent you an email. and I'm waiting for your reply!