Review: Karma Se7en piercings

Hey Gals!

I was contacted by the company Karma Se7en about a possible review of their products. Since I am currently running low on tragus piercings and I wanted to write a bit about piercings, so.. of course I said yes! 

I was able to chose from the Cartilage piercings gallery, from where I fancied quite some of them. In fact I loved five of them, but was hoping they'd send me at least two. You know what? They did send me all five of them! Wooo! 

I must admit that at first I was kind of skeptical, because you know, I never heard about this site, right? But after some searching and looking around, I grew confident. I liked what I saw and I am sure some of my readers will love those items, too!

The store is UK located, and the shipping was express. I was impressed, because one of the team members from Karma Se7en (David) sent my package out on a Friday and it came Monday. That's.. brilliant. *excited*

More after the jump!

The first thing I noticed about these piercings, it's the packaging. It's hard to go unnoticed, because it's one of the best packaging I ever saw. Every piercing comes packaged in a box inside of which is this tiny plastic jar. The plastic jar contains a black plastic disc with an elastic, in which the piercing is fixed. Around the jar there's a black foam kind of thing. Everything looks sturdy and extremely safe for travel. 

Here are the piercings I have chosen. 

All these piercings are made from surgical steel, have a external thread and the back ball is detachable. The front part isn't detachable. I think that when ordering from this site, it's better to order 1-2mm longer piercings, because I found that most of them had shorter steams than I expected (7-8mm). I usually wear a 7-8mm long steam in my tragus, but these were impossible to close by myself. Some were a tad too short, which is a shame. But they will be perfect for a upcoming helix piercing ;). 

Crystal heart - a tiny red heart that looks lovely. I am sure it will look even better on a future helix! 

Moon - one of my favorites from the bunch. Love, love it! 

Jeweled upper ear stud - Beautiful and shiny. Maybe a bit too long for my tragus, but lovely either way. 

Large heart strip - I totally ordered a too big piercing. Hahaa, but it must look divine in a helix. *excited* 

And the cutest of the bunch - Cute Octopus -  I found it on their website and had a laugh or two. I got it because I thought it was hilarious. And when I got it, I was very excited. It's super cute and looks adorable in my tragus. Sadly, it's too short :(. 

+ lots of designs to chose from

+ creative and unique designs

+ quality peircings

+ nicely done website

+ BOGO sales!

- the lenght of the piercings was a bit short, 

even if the website said they are 7-8mm long

I like that they have piercings I haven't seen anywhere else. Most are original and very creative. I tried checking cheap sites, expensive sites and nothing of even remotely similar came up. Kudos for that! also the jewelery looks sturdily made so it will survive many years of wear. Or sleeping on (like I do on my tragus, haha). My only concern is that they may not have the real length of the steams written on the site.  I hope they'll fix that info, because once they do I suggest my readers to order with caution (I think that it's a good idea to order a longer piercing from the site). I am also sure that they are extremely helpful when answering customers questions! I think I'll want to try some septum piercings next (for my freshly pierced septum ;). 

P.S. I was informed that they do have a BOGO (buy one, get two) sale going on their site. It's automatic - when you put two items in your cart, it deducts the price of the lower priced one. 

EDIT: The store team informed me that they are working with their supplier, so the steams will be correctly listed/made with the correct steam length. This information pleases me a lot. 

This product was sent to me by the company itself or its PR. For more information please do read my Disclosure Policy. My opinion is always honest.

Dupe or not? MakeUP Factory Intense Fuchsia (Mat Wanted)

Hello!

When I got my Makeup Factory lipstick in Intense Fuchsia it reminded me of something else..  That made me compare it to a bunch of other lipsticks I already own. And I couldn't believe my eyes when some were a pretty similar match. 

Which means it's time for another Dupe or Not post. I must admit I quite like these. 

These lipsticks run for about 15€ and I wouldn't be surprised if most people think they are too expensive (they are). Also, this is a limited edition, which means they won't be available once the stand is gone. So read on, to see where you can get a similar shade for less buck.

MAT LIP STYLO

Creamy soft lipstick with a satiny, matt finish and very high covering power.

The Mat Lip Stylo is a creamy, soft lipstick with a satiny-matt finish. It distinguishes itself with its lush, intense and long-lasting colour as well as very high covering power. After putting it on, the lips feel supple and pampered without sticking or drying out. The product is free of parabens with dermatologically tested skin friendliness.

More after the jump! 

These are the lippies I have choosen to compare.

In the tube they all look quite different or quite similar, depending on the light. 

On the skin nothing is quite exactly the same shade. Some are pikish, some are lighter, too shiny..  

Essence 14 Adorable Matt! (1.70€) This one is a lovely deep red color, with cold undertones. It's not as cold as the others, but it is lovely on me. It is pretty long lasting for a inexpensive lippie, but it doesn't survive drinking or eating. Regular wear is 3h on me. Not a dupe! 

Catrice 360 MATTraction (~5€)  This one is one of the closest looking DUPE when it comes to the look on the lips. The application is creamy and smooth. And it's one of my fav lipsticks. I consider it a close dupe, even if it doesn't look similar on the hand swatch. Regular wear is 6h on me.

Catrice CO2 Rude Red -Lala Berlin 2015 (6€) This is also one of the pretties colors I own. Of course on me it's very similar to Catrice 360 and this means it's a DUPE for MakeUp Factory Intense Fuchsia. Because this is a Limited Edition, it's best to pick the 360 color, which is in the main line. This lipstick has a gentle scent and does survive eating and drinking. Without it, regular wear on me is 6h.

Makeup Factory 42 Intense Fuchsia - Mat Wanted (15€) Okay, so this is the expensive lippie. It's a red fuchsia with cold undertones. It looks very dark on my skin, but lighter on my lips. It has a terribly artificial flowery scent. Makes me kind of sick, because it doesn't go away with drinking or eating. Maybe it's a weight loss lipstick *laughs*? It survives eating and heavy drinking. Regular wear on me is about 5-6h.

Essence 12 Blush my lips (1.7€)  This is a lovely lipstick, and it reminds me of an older Essence lipstick I had when I still wasn't into lipsticks. This is definitely NOT A DUPE. On me it survives for about 3h, no eating or drinking. 

I think I found the closest dupes, for when I run out of the "main" one. I do also have to apologize for the state of my lips - rubbing off lipstick made them irritated. 

What do you say? Are those two lippies a dupe or not?

Dupe or not? China Glaze Fairy Dust

Hey!

Today I am looking for dupes for the well known China Glaze Fairy Dust. I am sure most of you are aware about it, especially if you are into polish-aholics kind of groups. 

If you don't know it, it's a micro holographic glitter topper that makes every manicure a spectacular one. There, I said it. A spectacular one. So from meh it goes to wow. But the thing is, China Glaze is hard to find in our stores (actually it's available only in one store in Slovenia, as far as I know? Maybe more online stores?). And I was looking for a dupe for it for ages. Even before I actually had the polish. Probably because I didn't have it...

So, I gathered a couple of the closest looking polishes I had, and put them to work. I must apologize in advance for my nails in these photos. They are stained yellow (dark green polish, I am looking at you!) and a bit in a poor shape...  *sighs*

The polishes I will be comparing are:

1. China Glaze Fairy Dust (yeah!)

2. Essence I ♥ Magic

3. Essence Hello Holo (discontinued)

4. ManGlaze Hot Mess

More after the jump!

Two layers, no top or base coat.

Two layers, no base coat. One layer of top coat (purple toned, to get the yellow out of my nails!)

Okay China Glaze Fairy (~4€) dust has micro glitter. And it applies sparsely on the nails. Even with two layers of the polish it still looked very gentle and well dignified on my nails. I think it would look lovely on any manicure. I also liked the effect it had on the sun *sparkles* 

Drying time is fine, as you'd expect from a topper. Maybe 5 mins max?

Essence I ♥ Magic (2€?) is the closest dupe I have. I think I knew it the second I bought it. It's beautiful and contains more glitter than the ChG does. Also micro glitter and it dries fast. One layer and my nail was full of sparkling goodness. Not so subtle as the ChG is, but beautiful. I do prefer this one tho the original one, because it has more glitter, which means it's easier to achieve a more wow look. I think this glitter is also more cool toned, than the ChG one. It's hard to look at micro glitter...  

Essence Hello Holo (sadly discontinued), must be my favorite of the bunch. Why? Because it shined incredibly when on the sun. Not even on the sun, also indoors. It's incredible. But also understandable because it has bigger glitter, regular glitter holo. Of course this one isn't a dupe, but is just pretty and belonged here. 

ManGlaze Hot Mess ($13.13) is actually not a holo glitter.. I kind of forgot that, haha. But it does shine very well when used with a top coat. It's silver small glitter, lovely. Not a dupe, tho. 

Funny enough I had the same hard time removing all this glitter, not depending on the size of the glitter. Which made me giggle, while I was scrubbing my damn fingers off. Of course I was too lazy for the foil method!

Do you think Essence is a good dupe? Would you prefer having the original ChG or is a dupe good enough for you?

Preview: Essence Nauti Girl

Hi!

Today I have another preview for you. This Essence Nauti Girl collection comes out mid June to July 2015. And I'm pretty excited about it, to be honest. Red & Nude are my new thing now. :D And look at those lipsticks..  ups, enough. Let me show you first. 

Cast off and ship ahoy! The new trend edition “nauti girl” by essence invites all beauties

to the sailing tour of the summer from mid June to July 2015. Just drift along and enjoy

the sound of the ocean – with a trendy marine style that’s sure to be lots of fun! Various

classic blue shades, grey and red define the nautical colour scheme and are combined with

fresh apricot, beige and brown. Plenty of beauty treasures are on board, including four nail

polishes, two long-lasting lipsticks and a blush in bright apricot-red with an anchor

embossment. The ultimate highlight is the waterproof eye pencil in cool blue with an

integrated sharpener in the lid. The limited, fruity-aquatic fragrance ensures a wonderfully

scented breeze on your skin. On top, the trend edition also offers a cosmetics bag with a

nautical design and cute cord on the zipper. Sail away… with essence! 

essence nauti girl – cosmetic bag

Not just sailor’s yarn. Thanks to its large size, the cool cosmetics bag in a

blue and white marine design with stripes and a red anchor is ideal for

storing all the beauty pieces that simply have to come along on your next

boat ride. With a zipper decorated with a cute cord at the end. Available

in 01 Anchors aweigh!. 

More after the jump!

essence nauti girl – like a nauti girl fragrance

Like a gentle sea breeze… This floral-fruity and aquatic scent spreads a

pure maritime summer feeling! The head note is absolutely fruity and

offers a sparkling freshness with its bergamot, black currant, peach,

melon, tangerine and lemon ingredients. Coconut, lotus blossom and

oceanic elements in the heart note provide an aquatic, floral touch while

raspberry, musk and vanilla add depth in the base note. Playful and fresh,

this eau de toilette is reminiscent of your last sailing trip on the wideopen,

sparkling sea – pure freedom! Comes in a 10 ml size.

essence nauti girl – nail sticker

Sea stickers! The nail stickers in a classic stripe look or with cute little

motifs like anchors, ship’s wheels and shells are super-easy to stick on

your nails. This way, you can turn your nail style into an eye-catcher in a

flash! Available in 01 hey sailor!.

essence nauti girl – longlasting lipstick

Summer lips… soft apricot-nude and an intensive red provide your lips

with a gorgeous finish and a light shine. The longlasting formula feels

wonderfully smooth and pleasant on your lips. And the white packaging

looks great with the nautical style. Available in 01 miss navy and 02 crew

first. 

essence nauti girl – eyeshadow palette

Eye-hoi! The eyeshadow palette with five trendy colours and a soft texture

ensures lots of gorgeous, summery eye make-up styles. The palette

comes in a blue-white-brown and an apricot-beige-brown version.

Available in 01 cool breeze and 02 rock the boat

essence nauti girl – waterproof eye pencil

Ocean feeling… this waterproof eye pencil is an absolutes must-have and

so practical. The navy blue contouring pencil for your eyes has an

integrated sharpener in the lid, so the mine is automatically sharpened

whenever you close it – wow! Available in 01 ahoy, boy!

essence nauti girl – eyebrow tint

Brows in shape! The eyebrow tint has a practical felt-tip so you can easily

define and accentuate your brows. The universal colour – a dark ash

shade – suits many hair colours. Available in 01 ocean liner.

essence nauti girl – nail polish

S(N)ail-Crew… The four longlasting nail polishes in trendy dark blue,

bright blue, red and apricot simply have to join every marine girl’s hands

on deck. Available in 01 ahoy, boy!, 02 oh captain, my captain, 03 miss

navy and 04 crew first!.

essence nauti girl – blush

A new dawn! This bright apricot-red blush gives your cheeks a gorgeous

colour – as if you’ve spent the day at sea. Its silky texture blends easily

and the cool anchor embossment turns the blush into a true eye-catcher.

Available in 01 Anchors aweigh!

I have my eyes set on a couple of products. How about you?

Preview: Catrice Travel De Luxe

Hey!

In June 2015 Catrice will be offering these goodies in stores, so your travels (vacations, wohoo!) will be nicer and easier - and you'll look even prettier. :D

La croisière. The current Cruise Collections invite you to enjoy warm temperatures and the beautifulsound of the sea. Light fabrics, summery prints and fresh colours replace dismal grey skies with acarefree summer mood. Designers are focusing on casual, modern styles. In June 2015, we areoffering the ideal travel companions for the fashion collections with the Limited Edition “Travel DeLuxe” by CATRICE. Fresh apricot, light rosé, pristine white, nautical blue and soft grey-blue is theperfect colour scheme for this. The highlights include the Travel Set consisting of a highlighter, blush,bronzer, two eyeshadows, an eyeliner pencil as well as a highlighting pen, the Refreshing Mist Body

Spray, and the Caring Lip Balm with an SPF of 20. Take a Cruise – by CATRICE.

Travel De Luxe by CATRICE – Travel Set

Beautiful Setting. This practical Travel Set is the ideal travel companion. It unites

seven must-haves for a gorgeous summer look, including a highlighting powder

and blush for fresh accents on your face as well as a matt bronzer for a sun-kissed

complexion. Two powder eyeshadows with a subtle shimmer in apricot and light

blue as well as an anthracite eyeliner pencil and a highlighting pen guarantee a

radiant and expressive eye make-up look. 

More after the jump!

Travel De Luxe by CATRICE – Caring Lip Balm

Kiss the Sun. The Caring Lip Balm is a nourishing product that pampers the

particularly sensitive skin around your lips and contains an SPF of 20. At the same

time, it offers a subtle colour-dispersion in a soft apricot shade – for a natural finish. 

Travel De Luxe by CATRICE – Cosmetic Bag

Travel in Style. Never go on vacation without the most important beauty musthaves.

The stylish Cosmetic Bag is ideal for keeping everything in one place in

your XXL beach bag. The wavy design incorporates the colours of the season and

invites you to daydream. 

Travel De Luxe by CATRICE – Refreshing Mist Body Spray

Bonjour à la Mer. With the Refreshing Mist Body Spray, you can keep cool no

matter how hot it is. The refreshing body spray is distributed evenly thanks to the

practical pump dispenser, and it has the pleasant fragrance of a bouquet of tropical

flowers, too.

Travel De Luxe by CATRICE – Nail Lacquer

Nail Resort. Four summery colours with subtle shimmer effects and a high

coverage provide your nails with a fashionable maritime look. Soft blue-grey and

pristine white are true jetsetters, nautical blue with a delicate shimmer is

reminiscent of the sun’s rays sparkling on the ocean and soft apricot offers a fresh

touch full of feminine nonchalance. Available in C01 Isle of White, C02 Grey

Country, C03 Apricot Lane and C04 Port Blue. 

I am looking forward seeing these polishes and the bag is divine. I had one from the 2014 Lala Berlin collection and it's beautiful and very nicely made. Totally worth its money (5€ I think).

What will you get from this collection?

Review: Everyday Minerals Base in 0N (Matte)

Hey!

I remember a long, long time ago I had this wonderful mineral foundation. It must have been about 4 years ago, I guess. It's been a really long time, but I did remember the brand who made it - Everyday Minerals. Then I checked my blog - that's a useful feature when your blog is so old (6 years!). And there it was, a post about a bunch of EDM samples! 

I checked my post and saw that some of these shades were a good match. But to play it on the safe side, I decided to buy a Fair 0N (previously Fair Neutral) in a matte base. 

I liked the deal they had on their site (if you have something in your basket and you are logged in, you get a coupon code with % off in a couple of days), but sadly I couldn't order from them. I emailed them if they do ship to Slovenia and no, they do not. They did, however, they said that many packages got lost and that's the reason they don't do that anymore. *sad panda*

I had to buy from a retailer (Licila.si), who has it somewhat fairly priced - 15€. 

I later had to buy a kabuki, because I didn't have it (??). I purchased one from Catrice and it works nicely with this kind of a foundation. 

So, my skin is fairly problematic now (hoping to fix it soon!), and I do realize that this foundation isn't the best kind for very problematic skin on its own, but I do like to pair it with a liquid foundation to get that amazing porcelain skin look. 

This type of foundation is build-able, but not very. You can go from light coverage to medium, but that's it. I do however like that it helps with the shine - especially during hot days. It does cover red spots quite well. 

I ultimately hope that I will have nice skin, so I'll be able to use just this foundation over my sunscreen. 

+ Lots of powder in one package (4.8g)

+ Matte finish

+ helps with the shine during hot days (so I don't look all that oily)

+ I use it as a base before liquid foundation and it works wonderfully

+ doesn't accentuate dry patches

+ evens out the skin tone

- I wish it had more coverage

I am really happy that I am back to using mineral foundations. I like how it doesn't accentuate dry patches and it does help with oily parts of my face (T-zone). I think that full-size packages are a good deal (when it comes to price), compared to samples (which are incredibly hard to use, since they come in a baggy kind of thing). I wait the day my skin gets better and this foundation will be the one I'll stick to. I totally recommend mineral foundations to everyone. 

Review: Essence Lip Candies Beautifying Lip Care [Cotton Candy 06]

Hey gals!

I may have already told you, that I am not a fan of lip glosses. But I did become quite attached to the Catrice Voluminizing lip booster. I liked the hydration it offered and the tingling sensation on my lips (menthol). I used that one up and decided to try the lip candies from its sister brand - Essence.

These lip candies look very intriguing - cute packaging and fun names.

I was sure they are lip glosses, but Essence says no, they are a lip care product which pampers your lips. So basically it's a gloss that hydrates your lips. 

photo: essence.eu

candy colours! this gloss pampers the lips with valuable aloe vera so that they feel wonderfully soft and supple. beautiful pastel shades offer a subtle touch of colour and a shiny finish. colour and care… with essence!

 

Lip candies come in 7 different colors and each of them looks lovely. I picked the shade called 06 Cotton Cady, because it looked the most neutral. 

The scent is lovely - very gentle, but artificial. For me it's not overpowering and it reminds me of cotton candy. I can't put my finger down on what exactly this scent is, but it is very gentle and you can't smell it on your lips (unless you, you know, pout).

I really like the packaging. It's sturdy and looks damn cute. Maybe it's not cute as in "classy cute" - for grown ups cute, but it surely makes the child in me extremely happy. And my real child. He wants to have this gloss so badly and he comes and uses it all the time. =P

I can't really talk about the longevity of this gloss, because I like to eat and drink - a lot. Especially when I am in front of my pc, which is the only place I use this gloss. 

I think on me it lasts about 1-2 hours. 

Now, let's talk about the main problem with glosses - the stickiness. This one is sticky, but more like creamy - sticky, if you know what I mean? It's creamy and it's a tad sticky, hence it's a gloss. 

It doesn't make me irrationally mad about the stickiness, so it's alright. 

The only thing I don't like is the wand. It's hard and it doesn't pick the gloss nicely. Usually the wand gets soaked in gloss after a use or two, but this one doesn't! The gloss kind of lingers at the tip of the wand and that's it. That makes the application a tad problematic - if you like to use lots of gloss.  I wish they'd made a softer wand. You know, like the amazing one from the Voluminizing gloss from Catrice!

+ Sturdy & cute packaging

+ cheap (2€)

+ delicious scent!

+ semi-sticky 

+ creamy and hydrating

- the wand: it's too hard and hardly picks the gloss

I like when companies come out with cute products, and I like it even better when these cute products are good. This hydrating (gloss) lip care product does its job at moisturizing my lips well, but I wish the wand would be softer and more absorbing. So I could apply way too much gloss on. 

I don't care about pigmentation, but this one gives some light pink (unflattering) pigmentation, when used a tad too much of it. I don't mind it, since I use it only at home, but outside - that may be a problem. Overall I am pleased. It's a product worth trying, maybe in some darker tones. 

Have you tried this Lip Care product? Your thoughts?