Fresh Sugar Berry Lip Treatment!

Every Fall, Fresh releases a new shade in their Sugar Lip Treatment range, and this past Fall, they released it in Berry.  I had never tried any Fresh products before, but I had heard a lot about them through blogs and Youtube, so I was really interested in trying one out.

Over the Holidays, Sephora released a lovely gift set, the Fresh Sugar Berry Merriment Set ($28).  The set included a full-sized tube of their Sugar Berry Lip Treatment (which retails at $22.50) and samples of the Fresh Soy Face Cleanser, the Fresh Supernova Mascara, and the Fresh Sugar Lip Polish.

The product itself is really pigmented, it swatches a sheer raspberry shade on the hand, and on the lips it shows up as a raspberry tint, making your lips look amplified in a berry hue.  It's also a really hydrating lip balm, as well!

Sephora describes it as such:

Sheer raspberry mauve in fuchsia case

I don't really see any mauve in the color, but the raspberry is really apparent.  This color is perfect for this time of year, it's a gorgeous sheer lipstick that gives you the deep berry shade you're looking for without any of the maintenance of a lipstick!  You can also build up the color to make it an even deeper berry shade.

Upon closer examination, I also noticed some micro-sparkles in the lip balm, but they definitely don't transfer to the lips!

As for lasting power, I would say it lasts for about 3 hours, which is about all you can ask for from a tinted lip balm. 

Overall, I would highly recommend this product!  It's not cheap for a tinted lip balm, but you get a good amount of product (4.3g) and the pigmentation is fantastic!  I will definitely be buying another one of these when I get back to the US this summer (I have my eyes set on Rose) :)

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NOTD: Barry M Coral

I've been pretty true to my Nails Inc. Baker Street polish that I posted about in my last NOTD (see post here), wearing it solid for over 2 weeks. However, I get bored easily and rarely use the same nail polish more than once every 3 months or so, so I knew it was time for a change.

I'm still channeling Spring/Summer, so I once again chose a bright, neon shade, Barry M Coral.  I bought this while I was in England last June at Boots for £2.99 and I have never worn it.

When I was home at Christmas, I made sure to grab this shade because I had only heard great things about Barry M and I really wanted to try the one I had before I decided to go out and buy more.

It's definitely a very liquid nail polish, applying even too much color with a single stroke of the brush, which can be annoying.  However, that does make it pretty easy to get a great color onto your nails without having to do a lot of coats, and you can't beat the price.  It also lasts for a long time, this was on my nails for about 5 days with very minimal chipping!

So far I really like this shade and I think I'll get a lot of use out of it this summer! I'm going back to London next month, so I'm definitely going to pick up one or two of these polishes while I'm there, any color I should be sure to get?


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January Beauty Haul

As a part of my New Years Resolutions this year, I've decided to limit the amount of money I spend on beauty products to a certain sum per month, otherwise I just go crazy and spend all of my money and have to eat Ramen noodles, which nobody wants to do. This month, I was actually able to stick to my budget, which I'm massively proud of, and here's what I bought!

I got my hair colored when I was in the US over Christmas, so once I got back to Germany, I made sure to stock up on good hair care products in order to make the color last and for my hair to stay healthy.  I decided to get the Redken All Soft Shampoo and Conditioner (about €18/€19//$14.50/$15.50) to keep my hair soft and the Redken Color Extend Rich Recovery Mask (about €26) to make the color last (a problem I always have with getting my hair colored).  I'm not too impressed with the All Soft Range, it makes my hair soft, but I have naturally very soft hair and it doesn't seem to do anything more than any other shampoo and conditioner would for me, but maybe it would work better on someone who doesn't have naturally soft hair? However, I am in love with the mask.  I use it about once a week and besides some light fading, my hair color is still holding strong and I give all the credit to this mask!

I also got the Diorskin Nude Shimmer Instant Illuminating Powder (£32/$56), which I ordered in December (so it doesn't technically come out of this month's budget - yes!)  from Feelunique, though it didn't arrive until mid-January due to it being stuck at the stupid customs office! It was a very stressful experience that I won't go into detail about, but this highlighter was worth the stress!  It's very subtle and absolutely stunning.  I don't think I'll be needing any new highlighters soon (minus the LE Chanel one, I might need that...).

I picked up two new nail polishes in preparation for Spring: Essie Mint Candy Apple and Essie Ballet Slippers (€8/$8 each).  They look so pretty and I'm really excited to try them out!

I picked up the Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue EDT ($48) as I've been wanting it for ages and I kept putting it off, it's a very light, fruity, fresh scent that I will definitely be wearing a lot of during the Spring/Summer.  

I also decided to get the L'Oreal Rouge Caresse in Daring Coral (€10).  I've been thinking about getting something from this line since August, but for some reason I never have.  It's a really nice, natural coral color that looks stunning on the lips.  It's very moisturizing and gives off a pretty decent pigement, as well.  So far, I'm impressed!

Anything I should make sure I grab in February?


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The Sunday Session #1

Here in Germany, there aren't any shops open on Sundays, no one is in town, everyone just tends to stay at home and spend the day there, and I am definitely one of those people, too.  I like to take Sundays to clean and relax.  So, I thought I would share with you what my essentials are for today :)

I've recently taken to drinking a cup of tea everyday, today I'm going with my favorite tea of all time: Mint tea.  It's really refreshing and absolutely delicious!  And I of course need a snack to go along with it, so I'm opting for dried cranberries.  I've decided to spend the day reading, so that's my Kindle that's sitting underneath the cranberries :)  If you want to know what I've been reading, you can check out my post here!

Now, onto the best/worst part of Sundays, the beauty regime.  Now, I say best because I like to paint my nails and put on a mask on Sundays, but I also say worst because Sunday is brush cleaning day (Sunday Funday, yeah right..).  I'm going to go with Butter London Muggins ($14) as my nail color for today, I've never tried it, so I'm excited to try out that gorgeous lilac color! As for my mask, I'm going with the Origins Clear Improvement Mask ($23) as my skin has been acting up recently and this seems to be helping it get back under control.  Finally, brush cleaning *sigh*, I don't just have those three to clean, I have a lot more, oh well...

Lastly, I have to have a candle burning on Sundays (and Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays,...), and I'm currently loving the Yankee Candle Black Cherry Candle (€20), I'm actually already over halfway done with it, must learn to control my candle burning better...

Anything interesting happening on your Sunday?

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My Week in Review #1

I thought I would make up a small post once a week, looking back at what my favorite product, TV Show/Movie, Book/Magazine, and Song were, and of course, keep you up to date with my newest item added to the ever-growing wishlist!  I got this idea from Viviannadoesmakeup and I thought it was a cool idea, hope she doesn't care that I'm stealing it :)

So, this week was beyond stressful; it's finals time in Germany and I had 2 tests this week, one was even on a Saturday (that's just cruel), so I've been heavily relying on a few indulgences this week.

My Best Product of the Week:  I'm cheating a bit on this, I'm choosing a line rather than one product, which is the L'Oreal Rouge Caresse Line (€9.95 each), I bought 3 different shades over the past week (oops) and I'm highly impressed, they're tinted lip balms, but they last and they're pretty pigmented, as well!

My Must-Watch of the Week:   I re-discovered 30 Rock this week (the week it ends - nice one, Bryn), I've always loved the show, but I just didn't stick with it over this last season, but I watched the last 10 episodes of the season (in about 2 days, mind) and I was just reminded of what a comedic genius Tina Fey is! 

My Must-Read of the Week:     Everyone is going to think I'm such a nerd, but I don't care; I started reading The Lord of the Rings a few weeks ago and I'm seriously enjoying it.  I grew up watching the cartoon versions of the films, and then I remember I went and saw all of the films in theaters with my mom when they came out 10 years ago (eek, I feel old), so I thought I would finally get around to reading them - I finished reading The Two Towers this week and just started reading The Return of the King!

My Must-Listen of the Week:    I'm cheating again and picking two: Flaws by Bombay Bicycle Club (especially the songs Flaws, Jewel, and Ivy & Gold, all three are so good) and the Les Misérables Soundtrack from the movie that recently came out (which is amazing, by the way, see it if you haven't already), I especially like the song Empty Chairs At Empty Tables, though it's quite depressing...

My Must-Buy of the Week:       I never really get into the MAC Limited Edition Collections when they come out, but for some reason I'm falling in love with a lot of things from the Après Chic Collection, which is a shame as it's basically sold out, but I'm determined to find the Après Chic Lipstick, though I doubt it'll happen, but fingers crossed!

That's it for week #1, I think this will be a good way of keeping up with some good beauty products, as well as adding a little more of myself into the blog :)

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Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum

My Make-Up routine changes constantly.  I change my foundation, my eyeshadow, my lipstick on a pretty regular basis, but one thing has stayed constant throughout the past 5 months or so - the Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum ($28).

This basically acts as a primer for your mascara, coating your lashes in white and grabbing them all.  It adds some volume to your lashes and lengthens them, as well.  So, when you put your mascara on, your lashes look unbelievable.

This is a great product for people with non-substantial lashes, but it's also really nice for people who do have pretty good lashes already.  My lashes are quite long and pretty thick on their own, so when I put this on they look unreal.  People often comment on how long my lashes are and I give a lot of credit to this!

I really enjoy using this and will definitely repurchase it when the time comes :)

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January Favorites 2013!

It's officially February, so I thought I'd start the month off right with my monthly favorites from January!

This month, my skin was looking a little worse for wear, so when doing my weekly mask routine, I usually opted for the Origins Clear Improvement Mask ($23).  This is a clay-based mask, which I don't often reach for, as my skin stays generally in the Normal zone and doesn't tend to move in either direction.  However, this month, I was looking a bit oily so I loved using this for clearing out my pores.

I decided to stay away from foundation for most of the month, since my skin was acting up.  I don't own any medium/full-coverage foundations, so I didn't have a chance of covering my skin up, so I opted to just let it breathe instead.  I actually kept my make-up quite light overall, departing from my usual black eyeshadow used as eyeliner, as well.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

I still did discover some good stuff, though.  I fell in love with a new eyeshadow primer, NARS Smudge-Proof Eyeshadow Base ($24) (review here), which knocks Urban Decay Primer Potion so far out of the park, it can't be seen for miles!  On top of that, I usually opted to use the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze (about $8) (review here), as a way to add some depth to my eyes without needing to do much (I'm lazy, what can I say?).  I also discovered a new mascara, Revlon Grow Luscious (about $5) (review here), which I picked up while I was in America over the Holidays and now love!  

Even though I haven't lined my upper lash line this month (due both to laziness and a way for me to get used to not wearing eyeliner), I still lined my tightline everyday with the NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto ($23) (review here) just to make my lash line appear thicker without looking unnatural.

Benefit Coralista Blush

For blush, I decided to try out the famous Benefit Coralista ($28) (review here), which I found a sample of in my make-up collection (yay for samples!) and now really like.  Despite the cold weather outside, I can't help but wear my spring/summer make-up in the hopes that the weather will react to that somehow (so far, it hasn't worked..).  

My lip color of choice also reflects my need of Spring/Summer; I've been opting for my Clinique Chubby Stick in 05 Bountiful Blush ($16), which I used to hate, but have recently fallen in love with.  It's a tinted lip balm that gives off a MLBB look, which looks really natural (a far cry from my usual lip color choices, but I'm liking the natural look at the moment, if you can't tell ;) ).

Nails Inc. Baker Street

I've also been wearing a gorgeous, bright nail color for almost the entire month of January, Nails Inc. Baker Street ($9.50), which is a gorgeous cobalt blue (see NOTD post here).

My last favorite is the LUSH Solid Perfume in Imogen Rose ($15.95), which I picked up in Scotland last summer and am in love with the true rose scent!

I'm really glad that I sort of took this month to rediscover old favorites (for the most part) instead of going out and buying new things and falling in love with them *pats self on back*!  I'm trying to not spend as much on beauty this year as I normally do and I feel like I'm doing well so far, 1 month down...