Catrice Brow Colorist Semi-Permanent Brow Mascara 015 Soft Brunette 3,8 ml Review

Ingredients:

Aqua (Water), Mica, Glycerin, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Panthenol, Cellulose, Acrylates Copolymer, Polyisobutene, Peg-7 Trimethylolpropane Coconut Ether, Schinus Terebinthifolius Seed Extract, Sorbitan Isostearate, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Ci 77491 (Iron Oxides), Ci 77492 (Iron Oxides), Ci 77499 (Iron Oxides), Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide).

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Ingredients thought to be good and useful for skin I mark green.  Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- Not waterproof, though it is not going to run in a small drizzle... but proper rain, just yikes. Haven't tested how it can withstand sweating.

- Promises to tint brows semi permanently, I didn't notice any change. But it is not a deal breaker for me, just something I observed.

- Not a strong hold, doesn't keep brows super fluffy, they fall down in a couple of hours. My brow hair are relatively soft and normal length/thickness too so I don't think this brow gel can tame coarse/long/thick brows.

- Doesn't really make brows more fluffy, or hair longer, just tints and works with whatever you naturally have



+ Tiny precise well shaped brush, easy to handle and quick to apply even when I am in a hurry, no mess

+ From my point of view, good shade selection, I could use several of the shades depending what kind of result I want and my brows would still look natural enough. But Soft Brunette is exactly like my brows but better shade.

+ Easy to remove because it is not waterproof

+ Doesn't break me out around my eyebrows (but usually it's only the pencils etc that break me out because they go straight to skin)

+ Affordable!

+ No clumps or crunchy looking hair, it just sets so well, dries quickly too (2-4 min)

+ In the everyday life stays put perfectly. I haven't had to correct it at all, ever.

* I bought Catrice's Brow Mascara a bit on a whim, but I am happy I did. I've been using it now for about 2-3 months. This product has really helped me to get to know my own eyebrows better and actually enhance them. I used to do nothing for my brows, then I used clear brow gel and randomly pencils and Missha's brow gel, but they didn't really stick with me. I think it's because this Catrice's gel is so easy to apply. I am practising using the pencils still, but they take more time and I don't really have bald spots in my brows so I feel lazy.

* I am interested in trying other brow products as well, like a pomade. I've never used one. But I am a bit afraid it's time consuming or difficult to apply and it will be just a waste of money. I will see if I find a cheap one! Also I am very interested in the tattoo brow concept. How perfect that would be? But I do oil cleansing and I think the tints won't last through that for many days, plus I must cleanse my brow area well to avoid huge break outs.

Catrice and Delilah are neutral cool, I would say. Delilah even cooler. Model Co is warmer, but Missha is the most warm red. 

Price: 

About 4,4 € / 3,8 ml

Bought from: 

Supermarket

Buy again? 

Yes, unless it gets discounted like everything else I might want to repurchase, hah. Maybe in different colors as well to play with my looks. Maybe 025 Brunette. 020 Medium looked warmer than others but I think it could work too.

Worth the money? 

Definitely. As you can see, Catrice's Brow Mascara is not perfect, but for an everyday use it is very good and low maintenance. I do still need want a waterproof gel with stronger hold though. 

La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 SPF 50 40 ml Review

Ingredients:

Aqua, Water, Homosalate, Panthenol, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Octocrylene, Alcohol Denat., Bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine, Styrene/acrylates Copolymer, Ethylhexyl Triazone, Triethanolamine, Dimethicone, Phenylbenzimidazole Sulfonic Acid, Peg-8 Laurate, Sorbitan Oleate, Zinc Gluconate, Madecassoside, Manganese Gluconate, Isohexadecane, Sodium Acrylates Crosspolymer-2, Silica, 2-oleamido-1,3-octadecanediol, Perlite, Drometrizole Trisiloxane, Poloxamer 338, Disodium Edta, Copper Gluconate, Caprylyl Glycol, Polysorbate 80, Acrylamide/sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Acrylates/c10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Bht, Tocopherol, Phenoxyethanol (F.I.l. B183447/1).

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Ingredients thought to be good and useful for skin I mark green.  Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- Makes my face itch for a while (but not painfully, no redness or burn), I keep scratching especially the sides of my nose, near my eyebrows, and around my mouth (I believe it may be the sunscreen ingredients? What else could itch in this calming and repairing balm???)

- A bit clogging, definitely not something I could use everyday

- Pills even on its own if you touch your face after it has dried, pills also under makeup, etc.

- Also, if gets too close to my eyes, if I sweat, burns my eyes!

- Will not absorb, will partly just stay on top of skin, you can feel it all day.

- Not really moisturizing on its own and definitely not hydrating.



+ Good as a winter hand cream! Feels protective against frost and wind, plus sun protection.

+ Also during winter I used this cream on top of other things when I went out for a walk for longer time periods, did seem to help my face not get too irritated by wind/frost/snow (my skin is sensitive to cold and heat)

+ No white cast even though goes on skin scary white

+ A nice finish, smooths skin a bit, shiny satin like, not embarrassing shiny/oily

+ 5% panthenol

* This is another old product (bought in 2017). I bought it because everyone was raving about Cicaplast Baume, so I thought, hey, maybe Cicaplast Baume with SPF is even more superior! Even though when you look at the ingredients, they are obviously very different products and the SPF 50 one has only chemical sunscreen filters (which is fine, but I didn't know back then that almost all chemical filters burn my eyes). Wasn't that expensive either so I just bought it along other things. I think the packaging says that it should be used within 12 months (ha) so I haven't really thought about it as sunscreen anymore really, I bet the filters are deteriorated already. It hasn't changed in consistency or smell or color at all however.

* I must admit that if you just want panthenol in your cream, Soon Jung Balm by Etude House is a lot more pleasant consistency and not so clogging, more moisturizing as well. It also has 5% panthenol.

* Cicaplast Baume SPF 50 doesn't have fragrance, so it just smells like unscented product, it has that slight stuffy smell. It is very thick cream, so yes I would call it balm.

* I'll update photos if I can find them!

Price: 

9.60 € / 40 ml

Bought from: 

Feelunique

Buy again? 

I am not saying no, because as a winter hand cream, this really delivers... so, maybe. Also maybe the original without SPF is a better choice. But who knows, it is again a different product.

Worth the money? 

Interesting product, but if I am honest, I would totally survive without and at times I looked at the tube and wondered why I bought it in the first place. I guess, it's very good if it doesn't make you itch or clog your skin, or on your body, to protect tattoos etc. I see this strongly as a wintertime product. Weird, because it is and isn't versatile at the same time!

Face Products Comparisons / Swatches - Blushes, Highlighters, Bronzers

I must admit blushes are something I could just keep on buying. Maybe it is because when I first got eye glasses (a long time ago), I thought it was a waste to even try to do eye makeup (plus oily eyelids that make it impossible anyway), but I never wanted to wear lipsticks either, so I went to the blushes... Especially orange blushes were my weakness. Well, they still kinda are! Also I like all types of blushes, no matter if they are matte, shimmery or glittery. As always I'll update when I experiment more with my stuff.

Random assortment I wanted to swatch together today:

H&M Blusher Bronze - Very, very old. Also very, very pigmented and flattering. Orange-ish on me.

Catrice Blush Box Burgundy - Shade looks a bit like bruise on my arm, but on my face it is probably ok? Strangely natural, almost brightening, if only a little is used I bet everyone would think I have zero blush!

Max Factor Creme Puff Stunning Sienna - Very pretty shade but makes me look green. Very pigmented, too much, difficult to blend. But if I manage to blend it, it has this almost editorial storybook flushed look.

L'Oreal Life's A Peach - I love this one. So natural. Sheer, easy to blend, you just can't go wrong. But must be layered several times if you want it to really show.

Wet&Wild Rose Champagne - Weirdly looks a lot more pink on my face than the swatch. Still natural, but doesn't have that brightening effect that Apri-Cot has.

Wet&Wild Apri-Cot In The Middle - Brightens up my face immediately.

Illamasqua Colour Veil Enamour - Very natural if not layered. Stays super well.

Outside light.

Inside, with daylight lamp.

Next up I think all my highlighters. I haven't really used them even though I have been excited about them... I don't think the pictures make them justice, sparkle is so hard to photograph. Maybe when the sun shows up I'll photo my favourites again. Plus it's so cold my skin looks all bumpy.

Pixi By Petra Liquid Face Illuminator Peach Gold - Very pretty and brightening red leaning peach shade. 

Lumene Instant Illuminizer Midnight Sun - Great neutral shade. Best of all worlds. Not too cold, not too warm, not too pink, not too golden... etc.

It's Skin Waterful Highlighter Polish Golden Vanilla - I thought this was very flattering on my face but I am not sure if I got some reaction from this or not. Time to test again.

Colourpop Super Shock Highlighter Hades Everybody's Got A Weakness - Sooo soft and buttery! The Super Shock Shadow that I have is dry compared to this. I absolutely love this shade too, it's nowhere near as flat as the picture makes it look. It's very pretty peach-apricot-yellow-pink sparkle combo. I need want more SS highlighters!

Sleek MakeUp Highlighting Palette Solstice

Hemisphere - My least favourite from this palette.

Equinox - Maybe my favorite safe choice from this palette. 

Subsolar - My second favourite, a pale gold.

Ecliptic - Mauve-ish, brownish, muted. And very, very pretty. The only cream shade in this palette. Haven't dared to try this yet though!

Essence My Glow Passion Highlighter - I have to get rid of this one. Not because it's the most matte (I do like the subtle shimmer) out of all of them, but it is so lilac and ashy, I look sick!

Pixi By Petra Beauty Blush Duo Peach Honey - Very nice shades, alone or together! Can't believe I've owned this and the other Pixi product (came from Lookfantastic Advent Calendar) for 2 years but haven't used them! 

Current Favourites

I am the master of blurry photos.

Colourpop Super Shock Shadow in Hanky Panky

Canmake Lasting Multi Eyebase WP


Now this is going to be a long ramble.

I have finally figured out how to make my eyeshadow last for around 12-13 hours with very minimal creasing! It is winter now though, so the weather is dry-ish and cold (from 0 to -10 C) and I don't sweat much. Don't know if this works during summer. If you didn't guess already, my eyelids are super oily. It has prevented me from wearing eye makeup for the longest time.

I wait for my eye cream to properly sink in, then I gently wipe my lids with my fingers (to make sure there is no residue). Then I apply very thinly Canmake's Eye Base (it is like balm), I concentrate on my crease. I wait just a tiny bit, then I apply Colourpop's Super Shock Shadow in Hanky Panky. I use both my fingers and a sponge. With sponge I can get more product and really press it into the lid (not too heavily though because it will crumble!). If I want to be extra, I can still brush very lightly Catrice's Blotting Powder during some step but there is no need for that.

Then, I can apply whatever eyeshadows I want. Hanky Panky is neutral colour, but it is still not meant to be used as a primer, so it is quite a strong base (quite a bit darker than my skin) and affects all the other colours that come on top of it. Everything will end up more brown and muted, but for an everyday look, it is quite ok. The end result will end up being very powdery, but it lasts. Actually, I even feel like my lids get a bit dry during the day. So I wouldn't use this method everyday!

I have also used Hanky Panky as a base alone, and it also is surprisingly long lasting - at least 5 hours or so (should test again and actually check it every hour). I am very impressed. Please, Colourpop, release more matte Super Shock Shadows, in boring colours like cream, light brown, yellow brown... I will buy them all. Thanks. (And I will not lie, I have several of the shimmer SSS on my wishlist too. But they can wait.)

Also I feel Canmake's Eye Base is the best out of the eye primers I have tried, but it still requires more testing. I want to do for a couple of days my other eye with it, and other with Essence You Better Work Eye Primer and really compare results, just to make sure I am not imagining things.


Catrice Brow Colorist Semi-Permanent Brow Mascara in Soft Brunette (not in the picture)

I have learned so many things last year, including wearing brow products almost on a daily basis! The shade is very neutral and blends in, just like my own brows but better. Zero clumps. I wouldn't say it's semi permanent though.


Tonymoly Black Tea London Classic Cream

Why, hello there an old moisturizer I bought a long time ago. You are okay, not amazing (as in it would do something extra or be perfect in some way)  but certainly nowhere bad, and I just forgot about you. After I rediscovered this cream some weeks ago I have been using it regularly. I think it's very moisturizing for winter! Could almost repurchase, but I didn't like it at all during summer.


Bioeffect EGF Serum

Whether the EGF itself absorbs or not, this is still a very good serum. The 5 ml mini lasts longer than what I expected. If this stuff were cheaper I probably already would have purchased another bottle. Most of the evenings now I have used this serum alone (+ eye cream after a waiting period when I remember) and it is enough, and my face looks very good the next morning. It is weird, it's winter and I can get away with only a serum! I feel like it is also somehow balancing my skin but who knows.


SVR SUN SECURE SPF50+ Blur Anti-Shine Sunscreen for Face

Hmm, can't say this a favorite yet, since I just got it and have been using it only for two weeks. But it is a current favorite in a way that it is very interesting product! It disappears to my skin, so it's not detectable, even though it also blurs, but not in a way a true primer would. It feels like a silicony primer, absolutely. After I had used this several times under Missha's Perfect Cover BB and then I used the BB without or with some other sunscreen, I noticed that my skin looked a lot better with SVR under it! So I am a little hooked now, I hope there won't be negative skin reactions later on, because sunscreen + primer combination is clearly what I want.