MUD Archives - Vesna en violet

Beauty

Healthy Skin Harmony & my holiday makeup

26. 12. 2017

Honestly, I have never met a pickier person when it comes to choosing a new foundation. Is it just me or are foundations that have a good coverage, hold for a decent period of time and don’t crease in wrinkles really hard to find? Countless times have I bought a foundation that looked great on my skin in the drugstore and turned out to be a huge disappointment. And believe me, I was really skeptical when I received the Max Factor Healthy Skin Harmony foundation (and a Creme Puff pressed foundation, but I’ve already had it before and I loved it!). Firstly, I’ve tested several of their liquid foundations before and none of them fitted my skin tone and secondly, because how on earth would they be able to choose the right shade for me?! And the question about the wear time was still open at that point.

The reason why I am talking about it now is because I really wanted to embrace my inner skeptic and be 200% sure what I am talking about. Initially I received a slightly light Healthy Skin Harmony in shade Beige 55, but unfortunately the pump was broken. Then they sent me a darker shade Sand 60. When I realized that the second shade was too dark, I mixed both of them up and got the perfect shade for my complexion!

Healthy Skin Harmony has:

high coverage ♦ very moisturizing formula ♦ great wear time

So, I can finally tell you that I LOVE this foundation!! I hesitated so much about using it in public for the first time as I never know whether the foundation will oxidize on my skin … But I was pleasantly surprised when I realized the combination of the two shades matches my skin tone perfectly and doesn’t change over time. Its texture is quite thick, which means you use quite a lot of the product, but it also means it is highly buildable. Healthy Skin Harmony has a great wear time, especially when I fix it with the Creme Puff pressed foundation. I’ve already used the exact same powder before so I knew this would be a great addition to my makeup collection. All in all, this foundation has met my standards and I cannot recommend it enough to those who are looking for a high-coverage foundation that would last on your face from the morning till the evening.

This is also my favorite holiday makeup look, I love pairing the foundation with some bronzer, colorful eyes and a pop of highlight on my cheeks (and this Makeup Revolution Pro Amplified highlighting palette is AH-MAZING!!). On the photos you can also see everything that I wore that day–my current makeup staples, some of them are new and some are already among my favorites. Having said all that, Healthy Skin Harmony is Vesna en violet–approved and I will definitely buy it again when when I use it up!

♥

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Beauty

Best Beauty Buys of 2016

5. 1. 2017

Yet another year has come to an end which means I have a bunch of favorites to share with you guys! Here I gathered eight products that really stepped out last year and all of them were mentioned at least once before. This also means that there are tons of other great products that I still love without mentioning here, so you can read more about them in my monthly favorites!

First must be the Zoeva Cocoa Blend, an amazing warm-toned palette with some of the most blendable eye shadows I own. It’s very versatile and you can create a variety of shimmery as well as matt looks (more here!). Another makeup item is the Makeup Designory blush in shade Garnet. Its red wine hue creates a wonderful flush of color and goes well with every skin tone (more here!). As for the lips, I cannot go without mentioning the Kiko Milano Smart Lip Pencil in a mauve shade 711. This is such a lovely all-around color, I wear it on its own for a matt look or add some lipstick if I want it more glossy and moisturising (more here!). In terms of nail polish, I love love the Alessandro one in shade Baby Blue. The quality and longevity are beyond amazing, I think there are some other shades that would quickly find their place in my collection (more here!)!

There are two The Body Shop products that I’ve loved since summer. The first one is the Tea Tree Skin Cleansing Clay Mask, a very refreshing cleansing mask. As their Tea Tree line is among my favorites, there was no doubt this mask would work great for me. It’s very cooling on the skin but it really doesn’t dry it out as much as other clay masks do! The second product is the amazing Moringa Body Butter, oh how much I love it! The Body Shop body butters are always so moisturising and nourishing and the fact that they smell amazing is just another big bonus. I love them all, but this one is definitely the most used at the moment (more here and here!). As for face serums, I used the Lavera Organic Mint Moisturizing Fluid to the last drop! It’s insanely moisturising and beautifully preps my skin for makeup (more here!). Last but not least, I really really loved the Corine de Farme Refreshing Orange Blossom Mist, a very refreshing and hydrating face mist. I’ve been using it mostly in my evening routine before applying face oils or rich night creams (more here!). Oh and I love its scent, it reminds me of summer ♥

//Konec je še enega leta, kar pomeni, da imam kar nekaj najljubših izdelkov, ki bi jih rada delila z vami! Izbrala sem osem takih, ki so lani res izstopali in sem jih vsaj enkrat že omenila. To tudi pomeni, da obstaja veliko izdelkov, ki jih rada uporabljam, vendar jih tokrat ne bom omenjala – lahko jih preberete v mesečnih objavah o najljubših izdelkih!

Najprej moram omeniti paletko za oči s toplimi toni Zoeva Cocoa Blend, kjer so zbrane ene najbolj kremastih senčk za oči, kar jih imam. Zelo je vsestranska, saj lahko z njo ustvarimo celo vrsto svetlečih in mat videzov (več tukaj!). Drugi izdelek za obraz je rdečilo za lička Makeup Designory v odtenku Garnet. Barva rdečega vina ustvari prelep odtenek na licih in se poda vsem tipom kože! Kar zadeva ustnice, moram omeniti Kiko Milano Smart Lip Pencil v slezenastem odtenku 711. Uporabljam jo samo, ko želim mat videz, ali pa dodam šminko, če želim, da je bolj svetleča in vlažilna. Pri lakih za nohte sem lani najraje uporabljala lak za nohte znamke Alessandro v odtenku Baby Blue. Kakovost laka in obstojnost sta neverjetni in v liniji je kar nekaj drugih odtenkov, ki bi hitro našli mesto v moji kolekciji!

Omeniti moram tudi dva izdelka znamke The Body Shop, ki sem jih vestno uporabljala od poletja. Prvi je Tea Tree Skin Cleansing Clay Mask, zelo osvežilna čistilna maska za obraz s čajevcem. Njihova linija s čajevcem je med mojimi najljubšimi, tako da sem vedela, da mi bo tudi ta maska ustrezala. Na kožo deluje ohlajevalno, vendar je ne izsuši, tako kot jo vse ostale maske z glino. Drugi izdelek je Moringa Body Butter, tako ga rada uporabljam! Vsa The Body Shop masla za telo so vedno zelo hranljiva in vlažilna in dejstvo, da prekrasno dišijo, je samo še en velik bonus. Vsa masla imam zelo rada, tega pa res največ uporabljam. Če moram izbrati še en fluid za obraz, n bi izbrala Lavera Organic Mint Moisturizing Fluid, ki sem ga porabila do zadnje kapljice! Kožo res noro navlaži in lepo pripravi na nanos ličil. Nazadnje pa moram omeniti še meglico za obraz Corine de Farme Refreshing Orange Blossom Mist, ki je izjemno osvežilna. Večinoma jo uporabljam v večerni rutini, preden nanesem olja ali bogate nočne kreme. In obožujem njen vonj, spominja me na poletje ♥

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Favorites

Summer favorites ◊ 2016

29. 8. 2016

My my, autumn is almost here! I cannot say that I enjoyed this summer to the fullest as I had a lot of weird weather in Belgium, but June and August weren’t that bad either. Let’s take a look at what I’ve been using regularly for the past few months to feel the best as possible.

The first and the most important thing I’ve been using for the past two summers are water sprays. The Balea face and body mist has often saved my body from boiling! When the heat gets unbearable, spray this mist all over your body, even several times if necessary, and you will immediately feel much more refreshed. Plus, this one is not expensive at all compared to other mists as it only costs around € 2. I have to mention the Corine de Farme Refreshing Orange Blossom Mist, I love how fresh my face feels after the use. I haven’t been using it just for spraying my face, but also as a toner before applying my night cream. I already mentioned it here!

The next thing that has a constant place in my morning routine is the CD Deo Pump Spray with water lily. I basically love all of their deodorants because they are free from aluminium salts, mineral oils, silicones, parabenes, colouring and contain no ingredients derived from animals. This also means they will not prevent you from sweating, but this is unfortunately something we all have to go through during the summer one way or another. I already dedicated a whole post to the water lily line, you can take a look here.

In terms of facial skin care, I always prefer serums or fluids over rich creams, especially if I apply some products with SPF afterwards. I mentioned this Lavera Mint Face Fluid several times already, I think this can easily be my favorite day serum right after the L’Occitane Angelica Day Serum, which is way pricier. You can read the whole review here.

I’ve also started using the Ma Provence hair shampoo in solid form. It is actually really weird at the beginning because it doesn’t foam in the usual way, but it gets better after a few uses. One solid shampoo should substitute two usual bottles of hair shampoo and you don’t have to use the conditioner at the end – I just apply two drops of argan oil on my hair tips before drying it and that’s it!

And now onto the best find of this year, the Bottega Verde Skin Voile serum foundation with hyaluronic acid and SPF. I really wanted to write a whole post on that in spring, but I just couldn’t find time to do that so I’ll go in more detail now. I found it around the last December as I’ve been searching for a good quality organic/vegan foundation for months. The beauty adviser at the Bottega Verde store in Ljubljana showed me a couple of their foundations and I decided to give this Skin Voile a try as it provided the most coverage.

I was pleasantly surprised by how easily this foundation is applied and how much coverage I can achieve with just one layer. They have around 8 different shades, but I’ve been mixing the lightest number 1 (Beige eclat) and number 4 (Mandorla) throughout the whole time, I just add a drop more of the darker one in the summer. In almost eight months, I’m still using the first darker shade and the second bottle of the lightest shade. They are a bit pricy, around € 23 each, but I always get them when they have a 50 % discount.

I usually apply a layer of pressed powder on top. I’ve worn it from 7 in the morning up to 9 or 10 in the evening, which amounts to 15 hours of wear time without any corrections. It usually wears a bit on my nose or on my chin, but other parts stay impeccable, I love it!

My new blush obsession is also very high on my priority-stuff-to-tell-list! I totally love the MUD blushes, especially the one in shade Garnet. All of them are highly pigmented and have to be applied with caution – looking like a clown is not something we want, am I right? ;) So, I swirl my Real Techniques Blush Brush lightly, then tap the access off on my hand and then apply it on the cheeks, I rather repeat several times and achieve a nice flush of color than applying way too much the first time.

As for the lips, I’ve been very much into matte lipstick, I don’t like glossy products because it’s much easier to smear them all over the face with my hair. I really liked the combination of a dark lip crayon and the Aura Absolute Matte Velvet feel lip cream in shade Dream Team, on top. It stays put for the whole day and its peachy hue is just gorgeous!

♥

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