A less glamorous post

Today's post is not a very glamorous one but rather practical. The urea body lotion wasn't actually meant for me but as it so happened I have put in on my night stand on my last visit to Germany and since my skin was quite dry, especially in my shins area, I have started using it. I am usually never sold on the 24h promises however 24h after application my legs still felt smooth and moisturised. The itching disappeared and the little flakiness got better (I know it sounds rather disgusting but hey, it's winter time and the shaving is not helping). 

This product was designed for dry and itchy skin so it definitely lives up to its name. It contains 5% urea. The scent is o.k. actually reminds me a little bit of pears. 

It absorbs well into the skin and doesn't feel heavy or sticky. All in all I am very pleased and would definitely recommend it for winter time.

Nivea BB Cream review

It has definitely been a while since I have posted a review but I really am trying again to blog more regularly and to do more reviews because after all these posts are ones of the most useful ones.

I was very excited when I saw this BB cream in my drug store. I was still in the market for a decent BB cream and the task of finding one turned out to be more difficult than I have thought (I am aware that I am quite late for that trend). I previously tried the Garnier BB cream and really did not like it. It make me break out, or so I think at least, and made my face really shiny only after a few hours after use. 

Anyways, I had very high hopes for this products so naturally my hopes had to be shattered into pieces.  This BB cream claims to a 5in1 product. Supposedly it smoothes, covers, moisturises, protects and improves the general appearance of the skin. It has an SPF of 10, which is not high at all and in a country like Israel, where the sun is shining most times of year it most definitely is not enough. Its consistency is something between a tinted moisturised and an Asian thick BB cream. It also has a typical Nivea smell to it. It only comes in 2 shades, which are light and medium to dark. 

The application is not complicated by any means and it does not streak too much. Unfortunately the colour selection is rather limited and the light colour is too dark with an orange undertone for me. Having said that the BB cream does cover better than my tinted moisturised would. My biggest problem with it was however, that like with the Garnier cream my face became shiny after only a few hours after applying it, even though I dusted my finishing powder on top. Now I do not have very oily skin, rather combination skin that is dehydrated, thus this product clearly is not suited for people with oily skin. Still I was not giving up and really wanted it to work. I tried using a pump of my Clarins hydra-matte lotion underneath but it could only fight the shine of for so long. 

All in all I am disappointed. Luckily the price tag doesn't hurt too much and my balance was not savaged. I definitely would not repurchase. 

The repurchase

As you all know there are constantly new things coming out and thus a repurchase for make up turns into a big deal. Well, at least I count is as one.

I wrote a very short review about the original loose finishing powder. I really enjoyed it and used it to the very last grain. Obviously it is not exactly the same product however, for me one of the most negative issues about the loose powder was that it literally went everywhere. It was very hard to carry it around and I was always keeping it in a little plastic bag to avoid a mess. 

So imagine my joy when I realised that there is a pressed version of the powder. The ingredients are slightly different and I find that I need to reapply this version sooner to prevent shine, but it is definitely much more practical for travelling.

The style is similar. The packaging is black with sparkles and the compact itself is very elegant and practical. It also contains a mirror making it a valuable companion. 

New in

I have been naughty and as usual paid a visit to my nearest MAC store. Youtube beauty gurus have such a bad influence on my week psyche, so thank you Lily, Anna and Estée.

I wanted to check out the lipstick "patisserie" but of course the highly hyped "plumful" struck me. I was very determined not to buy it because I assumed that it is very similar to my beloved "syrup" and yes, that definitely is a rather subtle hint that syrup does not get enough credit in the beauty world. Upon closer observation however I decided that they more different than I assumed. Plumful had a nice hint of colour on the lips and is quite moisturising. It is a lustre finish, which is one of my favourites from MAC. It looks much darker in the bullet than it actually does on the lips.

Another undervalued product is the eyeshadow in "soba". It is golden-brownish colour in a satin finish. It generally looks lovely on the eye and is easily smoked out into the crease.

This time I even tried to make some swatches for you. Unfortunately the quality is poor since they were made with my iPhone because my camera is broken, but better than nothing.

I absolutely love both of the new purchases and have been using them loads, especially the lipstick. It is just gorgeous and very easy to wear. The colour goes with practically everything. 

The acids

Recently I have realised looking over my ever growing beauty stash that the acids play a big role in today's skin care.

Unfortunately I have lost focus and so I decided that I need a little list to keep me updated about all the products and their ingredients.

Hyaluronic Acid: (Estée Lauder - Advanced Night Repair)

Hyalorinan is a major component of the skin and is responsible for tissue repair such as damage from UV rays. Further it helps hydrating the skin and its cells.

Salicylic Acid: (Estée Lauder - Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator & La Roche Posay)

It is derived from the white white willow plant. Classically it heals aches and fever nowadays in modern cosmetics salicylic acid is used to fight acne and other skin inflammations.

Some of the alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs)

Lactic Acid: (dermalogica - Gentle Cream Exfoliant)

Its origin is sour milk, hence the name. It helps disinfect the skin and is used as a peeling since it resolved the dead skin cells.

Tartaric acid: (Clarins - Gentle Exfoliator)

It eliminates impurities and clears the skin, similar to lactic acid.