Random internet haul

Hello everyone!
As usual, I have an exam tomorrow which will probably keep me up all night...so I've decided to distract myself by showing you what I ordered from the internet these last few days...
Technically it's not really a haul since all of the items come from different websites but whatever!

Ciao a tutte!
Tanto per cambiare, ho un esame domani...probabilmente dovrò studiare tutta la notte, quindi ho deciso di distrarmi un attimo per raccontarvi cosa ho ordinato da internet negli ultimi giorni!

Very Mini Haul!

So...my new year's resolution is to STOP BUYING MAKE UP. That's right, I actually wrote that...

Instead of  buying more make up in shades that I actually already have, I need to start loving what I do have ...I bet I have a lot of forgotten items which deserve to be used a lot more than they actually are!

So I'm going to try to use up everything, or at least hit pan on stuff such as eyeshadow and blush/bronzer/highlighter.

But...I had to give in one last time. It's like stuffing yourself with your favourite foods before starting a diet!

Although, in my defence, I managed to control myself very well.

I only bought TWO things.

***GASP!***

Yes, I know, absurd! Here's what I got...

The Body Shop Coconut and Shea Butter Lip Butters - Review

Aaaaand I'm back! This must be the most I've ever posted...
I really wanted to do a review on The Body Shop's lip butters for some time now...so here it is!

E sono tornata! Sto postando davvero troppo in questi giorni...
Volevo fare questa review sui burri labbra del Body Shop da un po' di tempo quindi eccolo qui!

 

The Facts

These lip butters come in super super cute little containers. Each container holds 8.5g of product and one of the best things of these lip butters is that the INCI is not too bad at all! In fact, it's almost completely green...if it weren't for a couple of ingredients (lanolin, peg-8 beeswax) it really would be perfect. As it is, it's a pretty good lip butter anyway. I like the fact that they are mainly made up of BUTTERS and not OILS; when lipbalms contain too much oil they're extremily drying and, at least in my case, the result is chapped lips. I like the balance between oils and butters that these have. 

The container is absolutely adorable...but not particularly sanitary. You do have to dip your fingers in them to get the product out. This doesn't particularly bother me because I keep these at home, on my desk and I put them on before I go to bed or while studying; I don't take these with me for the exact reason I mentioned before. 

Another reason I don't take these with me is that they leave completely white lips a whitish cast on the lips; especially the shea butter one (it's not so noticeable with the coconut). The trick is to apply very little and spread it out with your finger; this way, you get a slightly glossy finish! 

These retail at 5€ for 8.5 grams...it is good value because you get quite a lot of product for the price. There are also various flavours to choose from  (coconut, shea butter, pink grapefruit, mango, guaranà, sweet lemon...but we obviously don't get all of these in Italy!) and there are flavoured lip balms as well as lip butters.

The scent is not too overwhelming although it is noticeable; I can't immagine it being annoying though...I'm incredibly sensitive to scents and even I don't mind it! However, I must admit that I like the coconut scent way better than the shea butter; the latter tends to get sickeningly sweet! BUT the shea butter lip butter is more moisturizing (no idea why!)...do you see the dilemma?! I wish I could have the shea butter lip butter with the coconut scent! 

Questi burri labbra hanno delle confezioni carinissime!!! Ogni contenitore contiene 8.5 grammi di prodotto e una delle cose migliori è che l'INCI non è affatto male!! Anzi, è quasi completamente verde...però diciamo che se ne trovano di migliori in commercio. Se non fosse per un paio di ingredienti (lanolina, peg-8 beeswax) sarebbe davvero perfetto. Così com'è, è un burrocacao decente. Mi piace il fatto che sono costituiti principalmente da burri e non oli...se un burrocacao contiene troppi oli rispetto ai burri, mi secca le labbra da morire.

Come ho già detto, la confezione è adorabile...ma non particolarmente igienica. Bisogna intingerci le dita per prelevare il prodotto. Questo non mi infastidisce particolarmente perchè non li porto con me ma li tengo sulla scrivania; li metto prima di andare a dormire, o mentre sto studiando. 

Un altro motivo per cui non porto questi burri labbra in giro è che lasciano le labbra completamente bianche un alone bianco sulle labbra; questo è particolarmente ovvio con il burro labbra al karitè, meno con quello al cocco. Il trucco è di metterne pochissimo e di distribuirlo bene sulle labbra con un dito; in questo modo, si ha un finish leggermente lucido.

Il prezzo è di 5€ per 8.5g di prodotto; mi sembra un buon rapporto qualità/prezzo dato che il prodotto fa quello che promette ed una scatolina dura davvero tantissimo!!!! Vi sono vari gusti tra cui scegliere (cocco, karitè, mango, guaranà, limone dolce e pompelmo rosa...ma ovviamente in Italia non arrivano tutti!!), altrimenti potete orientarvi sui balsami labbra.

L'odore non è assolutamente fastidioso...ve lo dice una che non sopporta proprio i profumi! Tuttavia, devo ammettere che preferisco l'odore del burro labbra al cocco...quello al karitè tende ad essere eccessivamente dolce. MA trovo che quello al karitè sia più idratante...capite il mio dilemma?! Vorrei il burro labbra al karitè con l'odore del cocco!

In conclusion...

Pros:

• Moisturizing (Idratanti)
• Cute packaging (confezioni carine)
• Good value (buon rapporto qualità prezzo)
• No parabens (parabeni assenti!)
• No silicons (siliconi anche!)
• Pleasant (or at least not annoying) scent (odore non fastidioso, per alcune suppongo piacevole)

Cons:

• Unsanitary packaging (confezione poco igienica)
• INCI is not completely green (INCI non è totalmente verde) 

Final Verdict

Product: 14/15
Value: 5/7
Ease of use: 3/4
Packaging: 3/4

Overall: 25/30 (B+)

I really do like these but I probably wouldn't repurchase, just because I don't find myself reaching for them that often; maybe I'll have better luck with TBS lipbalms. As it is, I'm still on the hunt for the perfect lip balm!

Questi burri labbra mi piacciono abbastanza ma probabilmente non li ricomprerei, semplicemente perchè non li uso tantissimo; forse mi piaceranno di più i balsami  labbra del Body Shop! Per ora sono ancora alla ricerca del burrocacao perfetto (proverò i Lavera a breve!)...

Lots of love,

Too Faced Natural Beauty for Spring 2012

Too faced is releasing a "Natural Beauty" collection for spring 2012!
Wait...is it spring already? Well, not really! In fact, it's the 31st of December and I'm just about to jet off to New Year's dinner...with my New Years resolution that I will ONLY haul two things from the new Too Faced collection, even though I'm attracted to all of it! Do you want to know which ones? Keep reading!

Too Faced è già pronta per rilasciare la collezione primaverile "bellezza naturale" per la primavera 2012...strano, dato che siamo al 31 dicembre! Ve la introduco brevemente prima di scappare al cenone di capodanno con la mia risoluzione di prendere solo DUE cose dalla nuova collezione, anche se la vorrei tutta!!! Sperando ovviamente che arrivino a breve in Italia...

The images are taken from the Too Faced website! (Immagini dal sito di Too Faced!)

Indian Vanity Case - "The Lord Of The Rings"

Here is the look that I did for the contest featured at Indian Vanity Case!
Hope you like it!!!

The name of the look is "The Lord of the Rings" because I'm a huuuuuge fan and I'd been wanting to do a dark forest green and gold look for a while...and I copied some of Tolkien's elven script!!!
The quality of the image is not too great, I know; unfortunately I still have a rather crappy camera! Sorry!

Here it is:

Products used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight
Essence Gel Eyeliner in 04 "I love NYC"
Essence eyeliner brush
L'Oreal Chrome Intensity Eyeshadow in 186 Timeless Green
Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Clinic
Mac Eyeshadow in Woodwinked
Mac Eyeshadow in Satin Taupe
Sephora Eyeshadow in Universal Beige
Bottega Verde eyepencil in Pure Gold
Maybelline Expert Eyes Crayon Oriental in Starry Green
Essence Liquid Liner in Black
Cargo Triple Action Mascara

Love!

Lush Honeytrap (Gustami!) and None Of Your Beeswax (Usami!)

Ah, Lush! I SO wanted to love you...but here's the thing. Everytime I enter a Lush shop I honestly think I'm going to die because of the overpowering smells.
But I was so attracted to Lush lip balms that I really wanted to try them...did these pass the test?
Read on to find out!


Ah Lush! Volevo proprio amarti...ma sai cosa? Ogni volta che entro in un negozio Lush la combinazione di tutti i profumi è quasi letale per me!
Ma ero così attratta dai burrocacao Lush che dovevo assolutamente provarli! Hanno passato il test? Leggete per scoprirlo!

Fitocose - Vanilla Scented Water

I know..I've been missing for a while! But I'm back, tired and sleepy but here...although this will be a short(ish) review because i REALLY need to sleep!

Onto serious stuff!

I love perfumes...I really do...

Or at least I used to.

Thing is, I can't wear them anymore because of my allergies; the alcohol in particular irritates the hell out of me and gives me migrains. So what's a girl to do?

I started my search for "scented waters", lighter perfumes which don't linger as much and tend to fade very quickly. I know the fading is a turn off for most of you but I really don't like a scent which starts off strongly and stays strong for the whole day...nightmare!

Unfortunately, most scented waters contain.....you guessed it, alcohol. So they're really just lighter perfumes...which annoy me just as much as the "real" perfumes. 

That is, until I came across Fitocose....