MAKE UP | Swatches: H&M Beauty CURATED EYE QUAD DREAM COME ECRU

Hey there,

I just wanted to share a small swatch post with you.
It's about the new eyeshadow quad by H&M. The makeup/cosmetics section in this high street fashion retailer store is surprisingly good. I've purchased a few H&M makeup products already and am satisfied with the quality and lasting power.
This eyeshadow quad I've particularly purchased because it contains my favourite eyeshadow colours. Soft pinks and gold. I think one may create a festive eyeshadow look using the metallic colours especially.

The products are high quality, yet I find them being overpriced.
I purchased this product on a discount, so this wasn't a matter in this purchase.
It contains 4 colours and a mirror.
The quad is made in Italy. The shadows are buttery but not very pigmented due to the fact that they are very light.

xNat

Fragrance collection

Hey there!

Today I want to show you my collection of perfumes. 

All the details on the perfumes (like the main accords and notes) I have obtained from the webpage fragrantica.com

I highly recommend this page for all the perfume lovers that are interested in detailed information on popular scents!

Let's begin!

Number 1. Escada Born in Paradise Eau de Toilette

main accords: fruity, coconut, sweet, tropical, aquatic

top notes: green apple, watermelon, guava

middle notes: coconut milk, pineapple

base notes: sandal wood, cedar, musk

This perfume is summer in a bottle. It smells so warm, so tropical. People who know me do know that I am coconut obsessed. For example I use coconut oil for everything: I moisturize my body with it. I apply coconut oil on the dry ends of my hair to make them smoother and obviously you can cook with it to add a sweet nutty flavour to your dishes. You have to love the scent of coconut to be able to stand this perfume as the smell of coconuts is very overpowering in this one. I have the feeling that it can get on my nerves when I use it too often. It is a scent that I only wear a few times in the summer. It is definitely not an everyday scent for me! But every time I smell it my thoughts just wander into passed summers…(LIMITED COLLECTION SCENT)

(Lipstick by p2/ beauty blues waterfall lipstick in 010, necklace by h&m, ISANA hand cream with coconut scent)

Number 2. Jo Malone London Nectarine Blossom & Honey Cologne

main accords: fruity, sweet, green, powdery, fresh

top notes: green notes, black currant, petit grain

middle notes: nectarine, black locust

base notes: vetiver, peach, plum

I’ve had this perfume for a few years now. So many memories are connected with this one. It is such an everyday scent. You can’t compare the scent intensity to an ordinary perfume. Colognes have a weaker scent. But at times I just can’t stand heavy perfumes on my skin and on these days I reach for colognes or body sprays. I don’t know if you are familiar with the concept of Jo Malone but the description of the scents is exactly what you get. They produce very natural scents. I once tested a scent of this company called ‘Orange Blossom’ and it smelled exactly like squished orange blossom petals. So of course this number just smells like the blossoms of mandarines, very fruity/ floral. The honey gives it a bit of sweetness. It is a cologne so don’t expect it to last very long on your body. The scents of Jo Malone are meant to be combined with other perfumes or other scents from the Jo Malone range. On their own they are very weak. But I love the brand of Jo Malone. Their products are made with natural and high quality ingredients.

(essence the gel nail polish in 35 engaged, earrings can't remember)

Number 3. Dolce&Gabbana Intense Eau de Parfum

main accords: sweet, white floral, powdery, citrus, woody

top notes: green mandarin, neroli

middle notes: orange blossom, tuberose

base notes: sandalwood, marshmallow

This scent is pure seduction! It is the kind of perfume that will get you all the attention when you are wearing it. The problem is, in my daily life I don’t particularly want to smell that seductive. That is the reason why I don’t wear this perfume often. I guess it can only be worn on a few occasions. When you are meeting a special person for example. One can say this perfume is in fact intense. It gives you intense feelings when you are smelling it, believe my words. Oh boy, the italians know how to play with temptation. I wouldn’t recommend this scent to younger girls. Moreover in my opinion it isn’t suitable as an everyday scent.

(Lancôme lipstick in L'Absolu Rouge 132 cream, chocker by forever 21, yes I included chocolate in this picture as for me chocolate is quite a seduction...)

Number 4. Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Parfum

main accords: ozonic, white floral, powdery, aquatic, citrus

top notes: violet leaf, blood grapefruit, strawberry

middle notes: gardenia, violet, jasmine

base notes: musk, white woods, vanilla

This is a scent for younger women. Day-to-day scent appropriate. It is very fresh and I used to adore it. However in the last months I started to dislike it for any unknown reason. It is a very nice scent. I can’t say anything bad about it. The wearing time of this one is outstanding. One spray will last you for a day for sure. I guess I just wore it too often in the last years so now I am a little sick of it. It is quite citrusy so you do have to love citrus scents or else this perfume will be a fail for you. Still it is included in my favourites because it used to be my signature scent and maybe after a little 'Daisy' break I will fall in love with it once again.

(ring by I AM, lipgloss by essence)

Number 5. KENZO L'Élixir Flower by Kenzo Eau de Parfum

main accords: sweet, powdery, vanilla, fruity, rose, citrus

top notes: mandarin orange, raspberry

middle notes: bulgarian rose, orange blossom

base notes: praline, powdery notes, bourbon vanilla

So this has to be my favourite scent out of the five, though I love all of them. But I would even describe this number as my signature scent. It is a sweet scent but doesn’t give you a headache like some sweet perfumes tend to do. It is a scent for younger women I suppose because it has this element of sweet candy scent. I think this scent can suit a lot of women. It is very subtle and mixes with your individual scent into something unique. Perfume smells different on each person and I do think that this scent simply underlines your personal scent and doesn’t cover it too much.

(lipstick by p2 full matte lipstick in 140 match my ambition)

I can summarize my perfume picks as following: Sweet like vanilla, citrusy fresh and fruity like red berries. I guess I am more drawn to fresher scents. The heavy, seductive scents tend to get on my nerves very easily after a few uses and sometimes I can even get headache of a strong scent or feel dizzy. I just love the scent of fruits like peaches or red fruits in general. And I am a fan of warm scents like vanilla. I guess the powdery aspect in those scents gives it a delicate feminine touch. White floral seems to be included in my perfumes of choices very often. And I can confirm that I am obsessed with scents like Jasmine or Orange blossom. If I were to have an own garden I would plant Jasmine plants everywhere and go crazy over the marvellous smell they’ll produce. And I would plant all kinds of citrus fruits. Guess I have to move to a warmer place for that plan but time will tell!

Please comment your personal favourite perfume of the moment!

I am very curious to hear about that.

#Escada Born in Paradise Eau de Toilette

#Jo Malone London Nectarine Blossom & Honey Cologne

#Dolce&Gabbana Intense Eau de Parfum

#Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Parfum

#KENZO L'Élixir Flower by Kenzo Eau de Parfum

xNat

MAKE UP | Like a rose

Hey there beauties,

Today I am back with a makeup look!

I just love a rose colour on the eyes.
I guess it is not really approriate to talk about flowers in the middle of winter but still I do love roses all year round. A light pink shade on your eyes is a colour you surely can wear in all seasons.
I love including rose colours in my makeup looks. A pink shade on the eyes and a sheer red colour on the cheeks and you will look youthful and fresh. This time I used my blush as an eyeshadow colour. There are so many makeup products that you can use for many different purposes at one go. For example a lipstick can be an eyeshadow colour, a blush and of course a lipstick. Pink shades can be applied on many points of your face, they are so versatile. But be careful and don’t overuse a rose colour on your face because you may end up looking like you just did a marathon run. This is a very basic makeup. I applied foundation, highlighter and the blush. On the eyes I used my highlighter as a base. Over that I applied the blush and a sparkly pink eyeshadow shade. In the crease I applied a matt brown shade to create more definition. I rounded up my eye look with my statement feline flick. Then I applied a rosewood colour on my lips and I was good to go.

A flower does not think 
of competing with the flower
next to it.
It just blooms.

quote by Zen Shin

What did I use?

Foundation- Rival de Loop Natural Lift Make-Up in 01 Light Beige

Lipgloss - L.O.V LOVlicious caring volume gloss in no. 170 Tempting Grape

Eyebrow gel - essence make me brow in 02 browny brows

Highlighter - Alverde Naturkosmetik Rose Tinted Highlighter (love it)

Blush - H&M Beauty in Pale Pink

Eyeliner - essence 2in1 eyeliner pen in thin/thick

Mascara - p2 Hero Lash mascara in 010 super black

Matt brown eyeshadow - EYLURE cosmetics London Fleur de Force brow powder and brow highlighter

Lipstick - p2 Full shine lipstick in 080 tell me a tale

Eyeshadow palette - essence ...& the lovely little things in 02 ...& the love story with my wardrobe (limited edition)

Information: The brand p2 is no longer available but this makeup look should rather be an inspiration and the exact products don't have to be used to achieve a similar look.

Do you have a favourite mascara that you can recommend? I am in need of a new one.

I like lengthening mascaras. Volume isn't as important to me.

xNat

MAKE UP | Essence follow your ♡ (heart) eyeshadow palette

Hey there beauties,

today I want to show you some swatches of the palette by essence called follow your ♡.
Recently I've been updating my makeup collection and I noticed that I don't have a good eyeshadow palette with neutral colours that I could use every day. It had to be nothing too colourful or artsy. I just needed nude/neutral/skin coloured tones for my eyes to accentuate them daily. So I went into our local drugstore and found a palette by essence that was reasonably priced. I didn't swatch it in the store because I thought that essence has a decent quality in general and so I thought their newest eyeshadow palettes should work for me anyway and I ended up buying the palette with the most neutral colour selection of their range. I have to say that I am disappointed with the quality of the shadows. Maybe the palette is for a very young target group where less pigmentation goes a longer way but the colours can't be build up as they are very dry and accentuate every tiny wrinkle on your eye. They are very powdery and the fall-out is absolutely above average for these shadows.
I am just not impressed at all. You can see on the photos below that the pigmentation of the darker colours is quite okay but the lighter colours are just invisible. To be real, I wouldn't have that much of a problem with the low pigmentation if the shadows would be buildable. But because they are so dry
an advanced eyeshadow look would be just intense crumble action. I think I have to give the palette a second chance and apply the shadows with a wet brush. Maybe they will work for me that way. But for now I can only say that my first impression is that they are low in pigmentation and sadly very crumbly. The palette contains 13,5 grams. What's nice is that it has a mirror inside the palette which is very handy. It has a magnetic closure.

Only the colours jet set and rich copper are glittery. The others have a matt finish.

To summarize, I will try to use this one up as much as possible but I won't buy an essence eyeshadow palette again as I am not satisfied with the quality of the shadows. The palette doesn't cost very much but still I can't accept the level of crumbliness of the shadows. It may be a good makeup beginners palette or if you are very young and want to keep your eyeshadow looks quite natural you surely can work with it but I will continue my mission to find a neutral coloured eyeshadow palette where the nude tones are highly pigmented and buttery in consistency.

Are you satisfied with essence eyeshadows? If yes, what eyeshadow can you recommend?

xNat

My summer perfume: Jo Malone 'Nectarine Blossom and Honey'

I like Jo Malone for their unique fragrances. They are different in a good way. Their names just 100% express what the perfume smells like. Though they usually are colognes, their aromas are very intense. One pump of this bottle lasts you the whole day. It smells very sweet and fruity and somewhat like showergel.
There may be some similarities to perfumes like Taj Sunset from Escada, so if you like kind of sweet fruity fragrances just check this one out.

xNat