Glossybox February & Starlooks January

Hello my dolls,

Another quick post of my older videos that I did post on YouTube but did not honor with a blogpost yet. And I know that these are one of my more popular videos, so I do not want them overlooked whatsoever for the ones who are not subscribed to me on my YouTube channel.

This month's Glossybox really has been 1 of my favorite. Well I saw some of other people's unboxings and I was hoping to get this one. Just because it had a Mario Badescu product in it, which is a brand that I have heard so many good reviews about and have been hoping it will once come in one of my beauty boxes.

Glossybox February 2013 Unboxing

Now the next box is the Starlooks Starbox, this was the January Starbox and I have been so caught up that I only put it up a couple of weeks ago. I also explain why I have been MIA in short in this video, don't worry I kept it short lol.

Starlooks Starbox January 2013 Unboxing + Review

Enjoy! And if you are subscribed to any of these boxes let me know what you think, either in the video comments or here.

xox Ellen

Vani-T Cream Blush Review in Berry Parfait

Hi dolls,

As my 1 product review was so well received I thought I would share with you another product specific review. This is a product review that I received in my JohnBeerens.com blogger package. 

Now to be honest I have never heard of Vani-T before but when I first saw the name of the brand I thought it was a nice play with the word. So I did a little research and of course I received their brochure as well so I went through that. Vani-T is an Australian brand and was set up by Tania Walsh who has had over 20 years of experience in beauty. What really spoke to me the most was that it was targeted as ECO-Glamour!!

I have been more and more aware of using products that are more eco-friendly so that really spoke to me and when I read on I also discovered this.

All of Vani-T's products:

• contain no parabens, no sulphates or phylates, no talc or bismuth oxychloride, no animal testing!

Those things really spoke to me, because it means no unnecessary weird ingredients put on your face and most importantly no testing on cute fluffy bunnies.

So what product am I reviewing from Vani-T? It is the Vani-T Mineral Cosmetics Blush in Berry Parfait

Now onto the review. 

The packaging has a pewter colored lid and the container itself looks like glass but is actually plastic. It looks pretty nice and packaging is very sturdy. If you can read the back label it says it is good for 18months, which I am assuming is that is when the blush starts to dry out a little bit. Because to be fair, who throws away their products really after that period of time except for mascara and lipstick maybe. 

To be honest at first I thought, oh no it is dried out already because it looks so stiff and I didn't really apply to much pressure I just lightly dabbed it with my finger. But boy was I wrong! This is super creamy and very pigmented as well, it is blendible alhtough. I would recommend working fast when blending because it is super pigmented!!!

Both pictures were taken in day light. You can see the pigmentation in the blush so well, it is a nice berry color. It kind of does look scary and a bit dark when you look at the first swatch. But blended out it just looks so pretty pink berry. But I would recommend applying just a little bit and blend that and build up the color if you think you need more color. Because after it is blended and dried, it does not come off!! Which is a good thing because it means it lasts all day. 

I unfortunately do not have a picture of me wearing the blush I totally forgot to take a photo. But it really lasted nicely, would I use it under a different blush? Probably not because this blush is already so pigmented by itself. I does not contain any shimmer but it is not entirely matte either it has a slight sheen to it. If you like a bit of shimmer, a little bit of highlight goes a long way and changes a blush completely.

Now this blush retails for € 31.95 on the johnbeerens website and the link to the product you can find here; http://www.johnbeerens.com/vani-t-mineral-cosmetics-blush.

Which I know is a bit on the pricey side, but if you are looking for a great pigmented cream blush I would definitely recommend this. 

I would definitely recommend checking out Vani-T products because if they are as good as that cream blush in berry parfait then I am SOLD!!

Hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know what you think.

xox Ellen

MUA 50% off Haul!

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post telling you that I posted a MUA 50% off haul on my YouTube channel. MUA or make up academy had their amazing 50% off on their website a while back and I received all my goodies and was so happy with everything. So you can expect a few 1 product reviews coming your way.

I thought I would make a blogpost about it as not all of you are subscribed to me on my YouTube.

MUA 50% off Haul

End of Project Samples Week 10

Hi dolls,

It has been forever since I posted the Project Samples week 10 post but due to personal reasons I did not blog for a while. 

But now I am back and am trying to play a little bit of catch up. I don't think I will post week 11 this week. Hopefully next week.

Now you are probably wondering about the reviews of the samples that I used up.

The first is the Sisley Soir de Lune shower gel. This has a fancy floral scent, floral but still pleasant. It is that typical floral scent that you smell and you know right away that it is an expensive product you are smelling. Would I buy this? Probably not as it is pretty expensive.

The second is the L'Oreal Paris Revitalift laser 3x this is a pretty new product and is made for the more mature skin. To me it felt quite greasy, and I am not that big a fan of it. But then again I am 24 and this is targeted to the 40 and over I believe.

The third is the Shiseido Bio performance anti-aging cream, once again this was an anti-aging cream and not really targeted to my age-group but I actually liked this cream and will probably buy this when I am 30 or something. Also shiseido is a pretty high-end brand so it is a bit on the expensive side. But I really enjoyed this sample.

Lip Factory Inc. February 2013 Unboxing + Review

Hi everyone,

This is my latest unboxing and review video of the Lip Factory Inc. beauty kit. It has fast become the beauty kit I look forward to the most each month. 

This month I received mine a little late due to some issues but it made it here regardless. Of course as Valentine's day falls in February it had a small Valentine theme and they included a cute tutorial with your beauty kit. 

I shall stop talking and just let you get on to the video so you can see what I all received and what I thought of the products. As usual I have also compiled a list of the prices of the products in the down bar. So don't forget to check that out. 

Lip Factory Inc. February 2013 Unboxing + Review

Where do I begin......?

I have no words to say how horrible I feel for neglecting this blog for the past couple of weeks. I have been going through a rough time and had shut myself off for most of the time. 

I don't like to admit this but I felt defeated and lost and I didn't want to think I just wanted everything to stop spinning and have my head in it's place again. I like to feel in control of what is going on and at that point I felt like I lost it all and that I was falling very fast into a bottom-less hole and there was no way out.

The darkest period went on for about a week where I barely ate anything and did anything, I did not communicate and basically stayed in bed all day for that entire week. I felt emotionally drained and not able to function.

Before that dark period, I was already in a not too good of a place which I noticed myself by not making too many videos (I felt like I was making videos on auto-pilot with no feeling) and not feeling inspired to blog. Which is why I neglected this blog by only posting once or twice a week. Whilst I normally would post every single day or every other day. 

Last week I started making videos again and also posted up two videos. In one of the videos I explained why I was MIA and received a lot of support for it from my YouTube friends. Reading their comments and messages really helped me to realize that there are people who care how I feel and don't want me to be in that dark place. I am so grateful for them.

I do realize it has been over a week since those videos and I did not return to my blog. Why you ask? I really did not feel the inspiration and the energy was back yet in order for me to sit down and face the darkness that I was facing. I was just getting out of it, whilst making a video and doing a short intro saying why I did not post any videos seemed easier. Than actually sitting down and typing all these words and having to think back at where I was. 

I don't want to get into too much detail of what triggered it and what has been going on. But just to let you know, when things go wrong everything goes horribly wrong and when you feel alone with no one who understands you, you truly feel more alone than ever no matter what people can say to you. 

But what I learned from this experience is that the best thing for me to do was to step back and take a break from everything. Even though it was hard to leave my blog and YouTube channel for that period of time. I had to as I was not happy and I still wanted my writing and my videos to have me in it and not the fake me who puts up a front to everyone and acts like nothing is wrong.

If you have made it through to the end of this blogpost. Thank you, thank you for reading my blog, thank you for taking the time out of your day for me, thank you for the support you have given me, thank you for understanding. I hope after this blogpost I can go back in creating regular blog posts again. Once again thank YOU! 

All the love,

Ellen

Project Samples Week 10 + Giveaway

Hi dolls,

Can you believe it? It is week 10 of Project Samples already I have to admit time seems to have flown by and my sample collection seem to be slowly but surely decreasing although, me being subscribed to beauty boxes does not help with the decreasing and more with the increasing. I have shampoo and showergel for the upcoming year.

Now onto the samples for this week.

The first one is the L'Oreal revitalift laser 3x sample, I received this sample in the mail for some reason I have two of them. So I thought I would try 1 out for this week and it is a fairly new product in stores.

The second is the Shiseido revolutionary anti-aging cream. Since I liked the Clarins one I thought I would try out the Shiseido one to see if I like it or not. 

The last sample is from Sisley en is a perfume bath and shower gel from the Sour de Lune line. I have not smelled this scent so I look forward into trying this one out.

So as you can see from the title, I said I will be doing a giveaway. Well I decided to give you the opportunity to do the same project sample idea, I will randomly select some samples and send it to you through mail. All you have to do is leave your email address so I can contact you and why you want to do project samples. That is all, I will choose a winner on Sunday when week 10 of Project Samples ends. 

This giveaway will be open internationally and just leave your email address and why you want to join me in Project samples. Also you get to opportunity to do a guest post/review on the samples you received on my blog.

Good luck! And I look forward to all the entries.

End of Project Samples Week 9

Hi dolls,

I don't think I have ever posted so little this week ever since the beginning of this blog. When it was more of a diary for myself. 

But this week, has been a week of trying to get myself straight and getting everything in line. I am glad I posted my small rant post and I am happy that you all support me in my decision. I am also glad that I am not the only out there that had that problem. From the support that I received in that blogpost it just shows that it pays off to be true to yourself. I know it sounds cheesy but honesty is the best way to go. I have always been honest with you and if I weren't I know what lying does to someone too and the consequences.

Now onto the happier part of this post. Which is the project samples week 9 round up. I have been fairly good and actually managed to use most of this all up before the weekend. Normally I am like scrambling on saturday trying to finish all the samples because I tend to procastinate most of the sample uses. 

So the first sample was the Angel by Thierry Mugler scented body lotion, ok now I do have a miniature of this sample and I have also smelled it before in stores and always enjoyed it. But they are not joking when they said scented body lotion. Wow was that scent strong, seriously I put it on after showering at night and the next day after my shower I could still smell it from my PJs. I did not mind it that much but when you first put it on, the scent is very strong. It has a soft spice scent to it mixed with a sweetness. So if you like sweet scents this is definitely something you should go out and sniff.

The second and third sample were the Clarins multi regenerate day cream and a night cream. Normally I don't really use anti-ageing cream considering I am 24. And most of the anti-ageing creams are very oily feeling. This was surprisingly moisturizing but not oily. I liked both of them, and definitely something I would consider if I was starting to age. It has a pleasant scent to both of them and the consistency was a cream but not too thick and not too liquidity. 

I hope you enjoyed this week's project samples. For upcoming week I will be doing a new selection of samples, I also will be trying to put up a review post (as that was well received), probably film a review video and do a Starlooks Starbox unboxing + review as I just got this in yesterday.