Valentina in Shorts

As it is important and interesting to share the discoveries and products you love, I also find it is useful to share products with which you don’t feel comfortable and don’t work on you, especially if they’re expensive or very expensive. However this is my experience and not the absolute truth.

Let’s start with two skin care products. The first is the famous Estee Lauder Advance night repair eye cream. I’m just saying one thing: useless, like applying nothing! I don’t see any benefit. I have been using for years another famous one, the bio Martina Gebhardt eye cream and the difference is abysmal. It costs only 13€ instead of 60 and more euros than the Estee Lauder. 

The MAC “Strobe Cream”. Here I really had a lot of expectations about this product, luckily I bought the mini size. I don’t see any additional moisturizing effect and about the strobing effect, well… it is really really minimal. I prefer the Becca “Shimmering Skin Perfector” Cream. 

The Aesop “Blue Chamomile Facial Hydrating Masque“. I love Aesop products and the concept behind the brand. However that product… It left me a little disappointed because I can’t use it the way I want to. The herbs scent is too intense on my face. I can’t use it on my face, which is a pity. I can hardly use it as a hand mask or better on my feet because of the perfume.

YSL Touch Eclar illuminating Foundation. A foundation that really let me down. It promises to be illuminating with perfect coverage, with an incredibly smooth ultra-light texture that hides imperfections. Well, my skin is normal, drier in winter, sometimes dull. So it looks perfect for me… Nope! While on the one hand I find that it illuminates the face in a very elegant and natural way, not too much; on the other hand to achieve a good coverage, it highlights the pores and all the lines, even the finest. It layers a lot on the skin and closely it is really not natural. On photo instead very beautiful. I use it only for important evenings and when I know I have to take pictures. So it is not a foundation to use every day with natural bright light. That’s too sad.

The Make up forever “Mist and Fix”. It works perfectly, I think it is a great products however it smells like vomit. It last for some seconds but I hope the company changes the fragrance in the future otherwise when I finish it I will buy again the MAC Fix Plus. 

I have three concealer to fail! One is actually a concealer and cream highlighter duo: the Benefit  “Boing & Watts up” Duo.  If the creamy highlighter is passable, although not one of my favourites, the concealer is dry, it doesn’t fix well on imperfections and doesn’t last enough on my dark circles, as well as not being moisturizing enough for the eye area. I used it on the go when I am “desperate” and I need to put something (for a short time) that is better then nothing!

The new MAC Studio fix liquid concealer. I find this product really disconcerting: sticky, not easy to apply, not very covering and leaving a glossy patina in the dark circles. Neeext please!

Another flop concealer is the Estee Lauder “Double wear”. Same problem as the mac concealer: it doesn’t cover enough my dark circles under the eyes and lasts with a strange patina. Really bad, especially for the high price!
If you are looking for a good not expensive concealer, try the Catrice Liquid camouflage high (not really) coverage concealer. Heaven in comparison!

The Urban Decay Smoky palette. As much as I love Naked Heat palette in summer and Naked 2 in winter, I find the Naked Smokey so miserable and I am sad because it was a gift from my husband (what a good husband I have!) I was happy to get it because smoky eyes is my signature look and the colours looked smokey and pretty on pan. On the other hand, the matt colours are not really pigmented and the dark shimmers lose intensity when applied, not recognizing whether if I am wearing a black or a purple colour. The two light opaque, rather ordinary and the light shimmers are well pigmented but nothing special. The grey light blue shades have a strange, retrograde, 80’s tone that I don’t like at all. Let’s add also that when I have used the shimmer colours, my eyes always itched a lot. A palette that I keep in the drawer, I don’t use and I don’t recommend at all.

Another MAC product: the Mac “A girl’s got needs” matt lipstick. Matt finish? Nope, it’s not matt, it’s a quick-setting concrete! It is a pity because I love the color, so 90s. A medium neutral brown that I love but I can’t really wear for more than two minutes. Really too dry!