What I've been up to, and a project idea

Birthday present, painted especially for me!

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Let's start with the simple "'I've been busy", because I have. It was my 18th birthday this month, and as I failed to do a birthayd presents post, I'm showing you perhaps the most personal present I got - a picture, which a very tallented friend of mine painted especially for me. 

As you can see, it has a little version of Big Ben on it *faints* and the British flag, which takes me to another thing I've been up to - applying for universities in the UK. As moving to the UK has been my dream for as long as I can remember, this is reaaally important for me, almost as important as it is timetaking. Also, I have been trying healthy living - I'm doing some Chinese Tzi Gun excercies, and trying t eat less junk food (and failing miserably at this).

So, naturally, I have almost no time for blogging. But I promice I'll make up for it, lots of posts coming up. Both fashion and beauty related

And also I have a question for you guys, what do you think about a university-related post - applying, choosing a course (this was particularly tough for me as I was really torn between 2 things, so I'd gladly give some tips) tips for a personal statement, tips for organising your moving etc., as right now this is a hot topic for me, and I need to let it out. And also, as I'm having kind of a hard time at it, I'd really like to help at least some of you guys/girls going through the same thing!

So would you find a University Help series interesting, and what have you guys been up to!

L'Oreal Micellar Solution - The Bioderma alternative

So, I'm a bit late on the bandwagon with this, but, I, like everybody else feel the need to rave about the L'Oreal Micellar Solution. Having used the Bioderma Micellar water, I felt like no drugstore brand would be able to replace it. However, as I recently ran out of it, an awesome friend of mine bought me the L'Oreal Micellar Solution for my birthday. And it has lived up to every promice. It's my go-to cleanser at the moment, being way better whan my ROC cleansing foam.

It does pretty much as good a job as Bioderma, and as it's way cheaper than any high-end product it's great when you're on a budget. For £3.33, it's the perfect Bioderma drugstore dupe - removes even waterproof mascara after a few scrubs, leaves my skin feeling squaky clean, and is also hypo-allergenic. I wear contact lenses (and even when I don't my eyes are extremely easily irritated) and this does a pretty decent job for me, as it's quite gentle, yet effective. 

This is a great product if you're in a rush in the morning and don't have time for your cleansing routine. Fast, fast, fast. You just take a cotton pad, pat it all over your face, and you're good to go. And in the evening, it does a great job removing your make up. A far beter job than any cleansing wipes in my opinion, and just as quick and easy. If you're a micellar solution person, go for this, as it's no doubt the best drugstore one.

And now the one thing that I don't like. When I'm wearing too much make up - eyeliner, eyeshadow and mascara for example (I rarely do that, but still), it sort of irritates my eyes, leaving them a bit itchy, BUT I think this is not just the solution itself - it's me rubbing a bit too hard on my eyes. However, this is just me perhaps, as my eyes are reaaally a pain.

Overall, I'm in love with this product. It's a great purchase when you-re on a spending ban and you want to sneak something useful. It's the best alternative to Bioderma, it might just be the new holy grail of drugstore cleansers. When I have the money, I will buy Bioderma again, as I think switching between cleansers is alwas a good thing. But I'll be repurchasing this one over and over, too!

Which is your go-to micellar water right now? What do you think of the L'Oreal Micellar Solution? 

Catrice Pure Shine Colour Lip Balm Review

Lip crayons are a huge thing. Pretty much every other brand has one. And for me, the fuss began with the Bourjois Colour Boost. But today, our focus is on the Catrice Pure Shine Colour Lip Balm. It's reasonably priced, comes in great packaging, and its color range is amazing. What a lovely friend of mine gave me for my birthday is the shade 070 - I Don't Red It, and that's what I'm reviewing today!

Like any other lip crayon, it doesn't need sharpening. You just twist its back part and the crayon comes out. Like so: 

Twist mechanism

1. Color,  fragrance and how long it lasts: The color is fantastic, really sheer, but still noticeable. Great if you're going for a more subtle effect. After all, it's a lip balm, so I didn't expect it to be extra pigmented anyway. It's extremely moisturising and feels sort of velvety on your lips, which is really nice. And this feeling lasts for about two hours if you apply it generously, which I think is a very reasonable amout of time! I forgot to mention the smell.. vanilla. It smells so delicious I'm tempted to try and eat it every time!

2. Price: Oh. So. Reasonable. For about 5$ (depending on your local store) you get a really great product. I presonally prefer it to the Bourjois Color Boost, for example, as the Bourjous one is sooo pigmented and doesn't compliment my skin tone at all. What's more, almost all the other lip crayons out there are overpriced, unlike the Catrice Pure Shine Colour Lip Balm.

3. Verdict: If you haven't treid a lip crayon before (which I doubt, but still) and you're afraid to go for a more pricy one like a Revlon or Bourjois one, go for this! Great quality, great colour, fantastic range of shades, suitable for every skin tone - from brighter reds like mine to more autumnish plum and rose colours. 

Overall I'm really satisifed with this lip crayon, and will purchase some of the other colours! 

Which is your favourite lip crayon, and have you tried this one?

L-Lysine against cold sores!

Anyone who knows me can tell you that cold sores have been a probelm for me almost my entire life. I get them on my nose and it gets awful. Blah. Aaand it so happens that I stumbled upon L-Lysine, which so far has proven to be the best cure for the cold sores ever.

So L-Lysine is an alpha amino acid, which the human body can not produce itself. And with a poor diet (like mine, and I think like most young people's) you don't get enough L-Lysine. And that's bad. Why? Because L-Lysine fights the herpes virus, speeds up the healing processes of the body etc. And cold sores are caused by the herpes virus... Nasty little things.

L-Lysine is available in a food supplement form. I reccomend all you girls/guys suffering like me to run to the next drugstore and buy this. Now. I bought it after I had two huge breakouts on my nose, just 2 weeks apart. I was so desperate and went for this, thinking "what the hell, it won't do any harm". But all it did was good. I've taken my third tablet today and my cold sore is no longer red and painful, it's just formed a crust a lot faster than usual. It works wonders in my oppinion, and many other people on forums (thank god for forums.. ) think it's the best, too. L-lysine is a great immune system booster, too, so here's to another perk!

If I can helped just a single person with this, I'll be a happy girl, because I've suffered from this long enough. So, do try this if you're like me!

Do any of you have the same problem and what are your best remedies?

Maybelline Colorama Polka Dots vs. L'Oreal Top Coat Confetti

So, it's been hard for me to keep up with blogging these days, and I've been telling you this in every single post this month. But I'm back, and I've got some really good stuff coming up for you guys, includinga birthday presents post, and some reviews - let's start with this one!

Who doesn't love their polka dot top coat these days? So many brands have made these in every colour possible, wither glittery or non-glittlery. My personal faves, however are the black and white ones, as I am quite a sucker for minimalistic things. I find that this sort of nail polish goes well with almost any matte color, or just worn by itself. But, as so many brands have introduced their version of this it's really hard to find the best and most reasonable one price-wise. So, I've decided to make this little post to help sort things out - I'll try and compare the two polishes most raved about - the Maybelline Colorama Polka Dots amd L'Oreal Top Coat Confetti.

1. Application and consistency: When it comes to brushes, I prefer a flat, wide one, simply because it's so darn easy to work with. Especially for this sort of nailpolishes, as the little particles are rather hard to spread evely, and a normal brush makes it even harder. So for me, the winner here is the L'Oreal Top Coat Confetti. But see for yourselves!

Maybelline Colorama Polka Dots

The Maybelline aplicator is long and thin, which makes it a litle bit harder to apply the little dots evely onto your nails.

 L'Oreal Top Coat Confetti

The L'Oreal one's applicator is wider and the cap is smaller which is better, I think, as it gives you more control of what your doing, if for example you want to da a French manicure and you have to be really precise.

 

2. How long does it last? Actually, they both last pretty long, I haven't really noticed any difference, they don't chip, just the occasional little dot falls off sometimes. But what makes me sad is how fast the L'Oreal Confetti dried out.. I've had it for just like 2-3 months, I've been using in quite regularly, and yet, it's almost dried out and unusable now... The Maybelline one seems to be more watery somehow and it seens like it's going to last longer than that. So far it hasn't dried out one bit, so the winner is.. wait for it... Maybelline!

3. Price: Well, I think it's obvious that the Maybelline one is quite cheaper - for 2,99$ you get 7ml of great quality nail polish, whereas for the L'Oreal one you give 6$ and get a 5ml bottle. Quite unfair I think. 

4. Verdict: For me, the Maybelline Colorama Polka Dots is much more reasonable - it's bigger in size, much cheaper (yes, don't judge me, those 3$ matter!) and I think it dries out much slower. I'd purchase it again, and I'll definitely try the other colours, they look fabulous!

I hope you liked it, and I really really hope I helped you choose a polka dotted polish. Which one is your favourite?