OSTENTUM: 2016

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance | Review

Oct 27, 2016

I bought this palette when it first came out, so quite a while ago. I originally intended to post a review as soon as I got it, but then my break happened and I decided I wanted to test it out more. It is their first permanent palette, meaning I did not have to hurry and post a review because it will be available for a long time.

ABH Modern Renaissance Palette - 41£

The palette contains 14 different shadows that are supposed to be a modern twist on Renaissance colours. They come in a mix of warm neutrals with some pinks, reds and oranges. It is a mostly matte palette comprised of 11 mattes and 3 metallic shades. All of the shadows are very buttery and soft, just generally easy to blend and not patchy.
The exterior is made of velvet, which looks so pretty but is actually a con for me, because it gets dirty so easily. Mine is luckily still quite clean, but keep in mind that I carry it around in a plastic bag and that I am really mindful of keeping it clean.
I bought this palette on beautybay.com , but I linked it on Cult Beauty because it is no longer available on BeautyBay. It was 55.60e so quite expensive but you do get 14 shadows and if I break the number down I paid a little less than 4e for one shadow which is a nice amount. The pans are a bit smaller than usual at 0.7g while their regular pans are 1.7g for 12$, but I have been using them for 4-5 months almost everytime I do my make up and I have not hit pan on any of them. To compare it to their new Master Palette by Mario, MR is cheaper and has more shadows so I really do think it is worth the money.
It was created by Claudia Soares and she did an amazing job of creating this palette. It can be used for daytime and night time looks, bright and also neutral looks. All of the colours work great together.

Here is the closeup of the palette but keep in mind that this was taken a few days after I got it so it does not look perfect. And while I love the packaging it is so hard to keep it clean and nice because the shadows produce quite a bit of kick up.

Shades:

Tempera - Velvety beige matte
Golden Ochre - Brownish yellow matte
Vermeer - Iridescent white metallic
Buon Fresco - Muted purple/lavender matte
Antique Bronze - soft brown metallic
Love Letter - Dark bright pink matte
Cyprus Umber - Dark brown matte
Raw Sienna - Amber matte
Burnt Orange - Dark Orange matte
Primavera - Gold with shimmers matallic
Red Ochre - Brownish red matte
Venetian Red - Crimson matte
Warm Taupe - Brownish gray matte
Realgar - Dark orange matte

I have to say I adore all of the colours, but Antique Bronze. It just does nothing for me. It seems patchy to me and glittery, I just never use it. My most used shades are: Golden Ochre, Buon Fresco, Love Letter, Burnt Orange, Venetian Red, Primavera and Realgar. So basically all of them.

All of the other colours are overall great, very blendable and buttery. The only thing with them is that since they are so soft they produce a bit of a fall out but it is manageable. I will add some pictures of me wearing the colours on my eyes, when I get a better camera to take them and I also have them on my Instagram.

I swatched all of the colours with my finger but next time I review anything I will do it with a brush.

Another thing I do not like about this palette is the brush that came with it. It is very rough and scratchy, it does not blend they eyeshadow well and it unconventional to store. I wish they wouldn't have included it and lower the price because of it. I also find the mirror useless since the shadow are so soft and they smudge on the mirror. It just needs to be cleaned all the time.
But overall it is an amazing palette that you absolutely need in your life if you like to be adventurous with your eyeshadow, which I do. It is not so good for natural eye looks, so I would skip it if that is what suits you.
Plus I think it is online on Sephora right now and will be on ABH site in two weeks so be sure to get it. :)

Aug 2, 2016

As you guys may know, I went to Italy this month. I visited Firenze and Bologna, Firenze being my favourite city on this planet (although, recently I have been loving one, just because of excitement and future stuff ;))

And as I always do when I travel, I shopped a lot. I do this because we don't have the shops I want to visit in my town, so I save up my money and then shop till I drop.

Jul 25, 2016

We all know taking proper care of our skin is a year round task, but did you know you need to adjust it with the changing of the seasons?
It seems obvious that with elements changing you would need to change up the products you use, to protect your skin better. And since most of us are enjoying summer right now, I thought I would concentrate on summer skin essentials and what to keep in mind while going through the warmer months, whether you spend them on a beach or in an office.

Jul 20, 2016

Hello,
I have been so late with posting this even though I got the lot a few weeks ago, but hey at least there is something good that will come out of my bad organisation. I got to try the makeup bits and the bag I got so I can now tell you how I feel about them.

Jul 8, 2016

Hey guys,

I have been away on holiday, at our weekend house at the seaside with my friends having a great time and I was not bothered with posting, because honestly I don't think I would put much effort in it. But I am back now with a new post, a quick one.

It has been a busy month for me, a month of great plans for the future including plans for my blog. One of those plans is to post five times a week, starting with the week I come back from Italy.

Jun 25, 2016

Zoeva Rose Golden Luxury Set vol.2 | Quick Review

Hey guys

I have decided to post my entire brush collection and do a quick review of them all, but posting it all at once seems quite ridiculous since I have around 70 brushes.

So I am firstly posting about my most recent brush purchase, I got them for my birthday about a month ago. It is by Zoeva and is part of a Rose Golden collection volume 2.

Jun 23, 2016

Benefit Roller Lash vs They're Real | Review

Hello,

I am going to review my favourite two mascaras and make a comparison.

Jun 17, 2016

L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Last Lip Color | Review

Hello again,

I think it is about time I stop being surprised with my recent posting habits and just get used to my blogging productivity. And although my productivity in other departments may lack, I am quite proud of myself.

Wearing red lipstick is one my favourite things to wear, along with a simple cat eye and I have been looking for the perfect and long lasting lipstick. And I have found it.

Jun 15, 2016

Hey, how are you guys?

I am back with a new post, I am really trying this time around. I think nobody is more shocked than I am hah. But it feels great to finally stick to a schedule and actually check of the things from my to do list.

So, lets not get sidetracked and get back to this post. It's about my new favourite highlighter. I mean don't get me wrong I love love love Mary-Lou Manizer by the Balm but this one is on a whole new level for me.

The product in question is by the brand Bell and it belongs to their HypoAllergenic line.

Jun 13, 2016

Hey friends,

My parents went away recently, to Cannes and there was a Sephora there so they brought me a few items from there and I also bought some things in my hometown, as a reward for myself. This will be a very short post with mainly just pictures, because I do not have much to say about the products since I have not tested them yet.

Jun 12, 2016

Hey guys!

Yay I am finally sticking to my schedule and to my promises and I am here with a new post. And it's a nail polish post! A post about nail polishes is something I never thought I would be posting, because I don't really care as much about nails as I do about makeup and skincare. But nonetheless, I have fallen in love with these five nail polishes and I have been wearing them non stop for the past few months.
Now I called this the summer edition so naturally you would expect bright summery colours. But let me disappoint you, the colours are not what you would expect although one does have a name that suggests a tropical theme.

Here are the Colours:

Jun 10, 2016

Ahh I failed again with my promises, but hey at least I am delivering now. So here is a post I promised a long time ago .

I have been promising for a while now that I will do a post on my new hair care routine and that I will tell you all about CoWashing and why I try to use sulfate-free products only so here it goes.

To start, I would firstly like to describe what my hair is like because it honestly just makes sense.
My hair is quite thick, but I do not have a lot of it, just due to genes and also because of something my doctor prescribed a year ago and it made me shed hair like crazy! I also colour my hair, and I have been doing so since I turned 15, I think.
My natural colour is dirty blonde, a colour that does not suit me well because I am to pale for it, but I did bleach it for years. I even stupidly dyed my hair to a very dark brown colour and then back to blonde in a few months. So as you can imagine, my hair was really ruined. And on top of that, I basically fried my hair with straighteners, as I used them everyday without any protection. Then two years ago I cut it to a shoulder length lob and stopped with the bleaching, but I still dye it to a dark brown/mahogany colour.
So yeah, there you have it, my hair.

After what I put my hair through, I decided to really try and get it in better shape, because who does not want long louscious locks. I did some research and after reading copious amounts of different articles I decided to try the CoWashing method, which stands for conditioner washing only and cutting shampoo out of your regular routine. I know, it sounds scary and completely unhygienic, since it seems that only shampoo will really clean your hair, but I swear conditioners do wonders without really stripping your hair.
I started with CoWashing my hair everyday, but now I wash them every 2 days, and I use shampoo only when I feel it is really necessary or when I put on a coconut oil mask. My scalp is also very oily so that is why I wash my hair every two days, but if you do not have that problem you might not need to do it so often. I try to avoid using dry shampoos but sometimes I do, but that is mostly before I wash my hair with a shampoo. Normally I use cleansing shampoos once every few months, and I use a sulfate-free shampoo every two weeks or something like that.

What I do in the shower is, I get my hair thoroughly wet and then I apply copious amounts of sulfate-free conditioner, work it in and massage it into my scalp, which is easier if I keep my head hanging upside down. Now some people say they need a second round of conditioner but I find that for me it does not really work. I also recommend doing this at the start of your shower and letting the conditioner on your hair as long as possible, because the oil needs to be dissolved by the conditioner.
My tip is also to comb your hair before every shower, and to let your hair air dry since heat will also damage your hair. And also when massaging your scalp try to avoid using nails but rather your pads.

I used a few different conditioners before, but the one that suits my hair greatly is called L'oreal Paris EverCreme Sulfate-free conditioner and the shampoo is basically called the same.
I use the first two in these picture, because I cannot find the other ones in stores in Ljubljana.

(Not my picture)

I chose this line because it does not contain sulfates and it has been working wonders for me. SLS can cause irritation to the skin, meaning to the scalp. Plus some people claim that it can cause damage to the hair follicles. And since I am trying to grow my hair I really want to treat it the best way I can.

Apr 4, 2016

I have been bad again, and I have not been posting. I could list all of my excuses, some of them being justifiable but mostly it was due to my procrastination and general laziness. But now I really want to get back into swing of things, set a schedule for myself and stick to it. And I thought I would start of with my favourite package to get every month.
My Beauty Box is a monthly subscription box in my home country, Slovenia. I am a big fan of beauty sample boxes, because I get to test out new things which is amazing and they are usually very reasonably priced. This one in particular costs 12 euros plus shipping, so it amounts to 15 euros. And you also get points with every purchase to use for upcoming purchases.
The theme of this months box is Eco beauty so it consists of organic, vegan and bio beauty products. The card that comes with the box says you get 2 makeup products, but I think there are actually 3 because to me an eyeshadow primer is a makeup product. I love love love getting makeup items in boxes like this one, because makeup is my main interest. I also have a passion for skincare but skincare can be really tricky since what works for me might not work for you.

Mar 3, 2016

Before I started this blog, I thought I could only dream about Slovenia having its own beauty subscription box, but now we have it and it is absolutely amazing. It is called My Beauty Box and it is based in Slovenia. As a real lover of makeup this is the perfect box for me, and in my opinion it compares to the great Glossybox. It is however a lot better than the Lookfantastic Beauty box that I have been subscribed to for nearly a year. And on top of superiority in product quality, the box is a bargain compared to the Lookfantastic box. For the price of 12 euros plus shipping you get amazingly picked out items in a very nicely designed box.

Feb 24, 2016

Lookfantastic Beauty Box unboxing | February

This might turn into a rant because I had only bad experiences with Lookfantastic in the past months.

I ordered my box along with a new EX1 Invisiwear Liquid Foundation in F100 and a Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer. I payed for it all at once, but now they have charged me again for another box even though I did not want one.
And I also had another problem with them a few months ago when they sent me two of the same boxes instead of the next months box. After a few days of back and fourth talking with the support I managed to get another box for free, which was nice since it was their error but still a hassle.

Jan 31, 2016

ZOEVA Naturally Yours Palette | Makeup Review

For the past few months I have been really into eye makeup looks and perfecting my blending skills, so I really wanted to expand my collection. And since I have heard so many good things about the Zoeva products I decided to choose a palette from their site.
Since I am still a newbie I opted for the neutral palette called Naturally Yours. The palette costs 17.50 euros which is a great price for 10 eyeshadow pans, and the shipping to Slovenia was 7.50 euros which is quite a lot but I am prepared to pay that much for an excellent shipping service.

Also if you guys have ever ordered stuff from them let me know which items you guys recommend so I can add them to my wishlist. I already have two more items I want from them hah.

Jan 25, 2016

Lookfantastic Beauty Box unboxing | January

I was so happy to receive this box, like I always am. The box is supposed to be a detox edition and it is great but I was a bit disappointed.

Jan 16, 2016

Is the Beauty Blender worth it and how I clean it

I have always been sceptical about the Beauty Blender and about all of the hype around it. I watched countless videos and read many blogposts about the blender and all of them claimed it gives you amazing skin while not absorbing too much product.

Jan 13, 2016

A few days ago I noticed a post on my Instagram feed from a Slovenian beauty blogger called Katja, she posted a picture of her MAC lipstick collection and said she will do a blog post about her lipsticks and the stories behind them (I will post a direct link to her post when she publishes it, but for now there is a direct link to her blog and instagram) . I loved the idea and decided to basically copy it and do my own version of the post.

Here is a picture of all of my lipsticks that I have been accumulating over the past few years.