Charleston Naturally – Skincare Review

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I got some products sent over by Charleston Naturally and I tried them out for some month, so I am ready now to give you a review about them. All the products came in this nice little linen pouch:

Inside there were a number of nice products for me to test, peek-a-booo!

First one I tried out was the coconut butter cinnamon lip balm, it is yummilicious. It contains a few basic natural ingredients coconut oil, cocoa butter, organic beeswax, organic cardamon and cinnamon oils. I applied it for the first time in the office where I got the package and it just lit up my day. Tastes really natural, a lot more natural then the Japanese chocolate lip balm I purchased earlier from sasa.com. You can check that article here.

The next thing I tried out was the hand cream. I fist used it for the hands only. It is not too oily, very good consistency and gets absorbed in the skin really quickly. Then I checked the ingredients and realized I could sometimes use this as a night cream, like when I am travelling. It contains two basic ingredients: 

• Tamanu: restorative, healing, moisturizing
• Red Clover: soothing, nutritive, purifying

Other organic ingredients are: aloe gel, rose hip seed oil, cocoa butter, vitamin C, grapefruit, lavender and soybean oils, just to mention a few. It is also a vegan and gluten free product.

I was in the meanwhile using this eye cream too. I find it really soothing. I mainly use it in the evening, but sometime I applied it in the morning too under makeup. It absorbs quickly has a nice consistency and a really natural smell. I cannot talk about any regenerating effects as I don’t really have any problems in my eye area yet.

Then as a wrap up, I would like to write a bit about the only decorative skincare item that I have received in the package. I was totally amazed by the ingredients and by the fact that these ingredients can give such a nice color (see picture on top of the post): fruit pigments of organic: blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, rosehip oil. Then loads of organic butters: avocado, cocoa, flax seed and also Vitamin C. All the pigments, butters and oils are certified by Oregon Tilth Certification Organic. Here are some pictures of the blush: 

For more organic skincare products, please visit Charleston Naturally.

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Caught between Müller and the Dojo

I like shopping in Müller a lot. There are so many good things in there. I am also planning to purchase some day and night creams there when I run out of the ones from Yves Rocher that I have now. So many brands can be found in Müller. From drugstore cheap stuff to high end Dior and Chanel makeup and skincare. All your heart desires. So I went for the cheaper makeup stuff that I was already planning to buy for a longer time. Yesterday, I arrived to the dojo half an hour earlier than I should have. That was why I decided to just spend some fun time among the makeup counters and maybe buy something I have been planning longer ago to get.

I have been hearing good things on YouTube about this bronzer from Catrice. I liked it because it is not shimmery but matte. I tried to take a good close-up so you can see the texture of the bronzer also. You can also double click on the picture to get an ever better close-up.

I have really few blushes, about 2 or three, so I have been considering for a longer time to add some new blushes to my pallet. I always hesitate what color it should be, which would fit me better. When I saw this pretty and discrete blush with more shades in it, I decided to buy it. You can either swirl your brush in it and use the mixture of all the colors or just pick up the upper colors for blush and use the bottom light color as a high-liter.

Last but not least, I walked by the Artdeco counter. The design of their makup containers is absolutely lovely. I really liked the packaging, but the fancy patterns make the make-up articles from Artdeco cost a bit more than Catrice or Essence products. However I think the quality of the product itself is quite similar, so I just kept back from the time being…but I might find myself buying one of their blushes or eye shadows 🙂 What really caught my eye, and about which I thought it was worth buying, was this nail polish. I guess you all had those moments when you look at the nails of someone else, and the nail polish is so even, shiny and great looking.

I was always longing to get that look. I tried the Essence Gel nails topcoat, which worked partially but was still not the real thing. Finally yesterday I found this great ceramic polish. Never heard of anything similar until now. I was really happy with the result and will buy it in other shades also. I think it approaches high end Dior and Chanel quality and costs not more than 5 Euros. The color will fit my butterfly dress perfectly and I am looking forward to buy some more bold summery colors from the same ceramic nail range.

YAY! Looking forward SUMMER! What about you? Do you use more bold colored makeup and nail polish in summer?

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>Sonya Make-up for the Face

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As you can see from my previous posts, I am more like a skin care person, than a make-up person. That is also because the more you take care of your skin, the less make-up you need to use. I of course enjoy make up a lot, but I am really careful at choosing what I apply to my face. Especially when it comes to facial make-up that can clog up your pores and cause break-outs. Not long ago, I bought some Sonya make up for the face and eyes. In this post I am presenting the ones for the face. In my next post I will present some eye shadows and I am also planning to make a YouTube video with a look using the products, so stay tuned!

 

To start, I got this Cream to Powder Foundation. What I like about this brand, is the natural components it is made of, see the ingredients:

 I like using natural products that do less damage to my skin. Especially when it comes to make up that covers your whole face all day long. The consistency of this product is best described by the name. On the face, it turns from a cream into a powder.

It offers a light coverage, that can be further built upon with another layer and/or a bronzer if you feel like it is to light colored. This is what it looks like on the skin:

For a fresh and cute look, you can add some blush also.

 Be careful when using blushes. Blend it out well enough because otherwise you might risk to look clownish. If you feel you used too much blush, you can reduce the harshness by using some powder or mineral foundation. This blush contains again a series of natural ingredients and it is nicely pigmented.

A swatch of how it looks on the skin.

All you need is a nice brush to blend it in nicely. I use the ELF Studio Brushes because they are so smooth and very good quality on a low price. 

In summer I don’t really use cream or liquid foundations because I don’t really feel comfortable. The solution I found instead is using mineral powder foundations. This is the foundation I used the whole summer, not every day, so there is quite some product left. I also use it in other seasons when I want a really natural look.

The good thing about Sonya products is that they are not only make up but also treatment for your face as they contain ingredients like Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract and Algae Extract.

This mineral make up is a fine powder that provides a mat finish. I usually apply it with a powder brush and it gives me a natural glow I really enjoy.

I hope you enjoyed my swatches and remember if you do use make up, try picking some items that contain natural ingredients and through this do less damage to your skin. I especially recommend this for women who use make up on a daily basis.