Hello there!
I was a little off lately, because I went on a vacation to Spain. Costa Dorada to be exact. It was absolutelly incredible, I had the best time ever, I want to go back now and I'm not thrilled to go back to work. I finally saw Barcelona for the first time, walked my feet off and fell in love with that beautiful city.
While I was at it...I did my research. Some people don't like it, some think it's just stupid, but I like to buy makeup when I travel somewhere, because the chances are, they have stuff I'll never see again and probably won't ever buy in Czech Republic. So, I was very excited to get some new goodies and I got more than enough.
In Spain, there is Sephora and there are many different drugstores and pharmacies. I saw several of them, they sometimes had medical stuff and makeup as well and overall, there were many places where you could buy some good looking makeup. Like a regular supermarket or a handbag store. So I took my shots with some of the products I found, because I didn't really want to spend all my money on makeup, and I was very happy that I did get some. Let's see what I got.
Mystery face cleansing device | 3 Euros
As a skincare enthusiast, I couldn't resist this little mystery thing. I first thought, it's a speaker, and it wasn't. It's the most inovative and cool thing I've seen in a while. Pretty much it has a surface similar to Foreo or one of these rubber facecleaning devices and it has a sponge inside, so you pour a face cleanser into the sponge from one side and can clean and exfoliate your face with the other side and the cleanser soaks through and gets foamy right on your face. It's hard to describe, but I couldn't leave it there.
I have used it already and it takes a bit to make the cleanser actually foam up from the sponge, but if you wait for a minute and give it a squeez a few times, it will happen eventually. I feels very nice on the skin, leaves it very smooth and not feelling too rough like when using a gridy exfoiliator. So far I really like it and I feel like it's a great way to use a face wash gel.
Marc Jacobs Coconut Fix Complexion Duo | 24 Euros
I was looking at this set for a while and you cannot get Marc Jacobs cosmetics in Czech Republic. I was waiting in line at Sephora and I thought I will give it a try. I was hella expensive and that wouldn't be too bad, but the products are not even travel sized, they are just suuuuuper tiny. The primer is 5ml and the powder is 2.86g, which is really not a lot at all. Also the box is misleading, because the products take up like a fifth of it. But I guess you just have to get over that, when it's a brand like Marc Jacobs. I haven't tried it yet, I am really excited to try it, but since it's so small I think I'll save it for a good accasion.
Lottie London Eye Foils | 6 Euros each (cca)
Since Lottie London has been very silently canceled in Czech Republic, I was thrilled to see it in spanish Marionnaud. They had everything, even the new stuff, but I didn't have my paycheck back then, which arrived to my account a few days after that, so I had to get what I had money for. Since my favorite item was for a while the Eye foil I got in my Advent's calender, I decided to go for these. I got the shades shady and too much, both of them are stunning. You get 5.5ml of product, which is really nice. They are packed with glitter and look stunning and also they dry down fully and don't go anywhere for the whole day. I absolutelly love those.
Shady is kind of a duochrome peach / pink with pink and blue glitter and too much is more purple-toned with blue and silver glitter. At least that's how I would describe these colors, I am not good at desrcibing glittery liquid eyeshadows.
Lottie London Ultra Glow Metallic Creme Eyeshadow | 6 Euros (cca)
This liquid eyeshadow is from the Imogination's colab with Lottie London and if they had more colors, I would probably buy all of them. This one is not at glittery as the eye foils but it's very opaque in color, super metallic and also dries down and doesn't move anywhere. I got the shade story time, which is a beautiful bronzy shade and I am so happy with it. You get 4.5ml which is a little less, but also it's a colaboration with an influencer which tend to be a lot higher in price, so in my opinion the price is alright. And also the product is totally worth it.
I really love Lottie London liquid eye product formulas, they always get it right and not too expensive and the shades are just stunning. I also wanted to buy the cream highlighter pallete from Imogination a lot, but I don't really go for cream highlighters now, so I guess I'll have to keep that for the next year.
H&M strikes yet again!
You may or may not remember my H&M craze in the summer sales this year. Well, there are no more makeup products in Czech H&M stores, but in Spain, it's a whole new story. The sales makeup section in Barcelona was HUUUUGE and all makeup was 50% off from the already discounted price. That means pretty much anything for under 3 Euros. Insanity. I went there twice, I would go again. The best thing was, that they had products I didn't even see in Czech stores, so I was super excited to try everything.
I don't remember prices of these at all but they were mostly around 2 Euros. The most expensive was the loose powder, which was 2.50 Euros. All other items were 2 or lower.
Hi-Definition Invisible Powder
One thing I really wanted to try was their loose powder. I always feel like loose powders are best from brands you don't expect to be too good. There's 10g of product, not terrible for the super discounted price, not great for the original price. It's really pretty much just a translucent powder. I just really wanted to try it.
Brow Perfector
I am a sucker for a good brow mascara. Lately, I've been enjoying the fiber ones a lot and there happened to be one of these in the sales as well. I embraced my blonde brows this summer and I've been using more medium brown - cool blonde products. This one is in the shade Caramel and it's pretty warm, a little too warm for me maybe, but I'm sure it will be fine with like a more cool toned brow pencil. I really like that it's small and has a nice spooley, which gets everywhere and isn't too thick.
Illumination Lustre Powder
I was interested in their highlighters for a very long time, but they were never on sale. This one caught my attention immidiatelly. I have many highlighters, but this one is a different league. It's not blinding as much as other ones that I have, but it's so beautiful and angelic and glowy and just more natural and light but still looks absolutelly stunning and you can build it up to a nice punch. I just love it.
I have the shade Delicate Pearl and it's a very unique color. It has a very light pink-peach base and very sparkly microglitter, I cannot even describe this goodness. But if you ever see it, you need this!
Colour Essence Eye Pencil
I already own one of these, but some time ago, I bought this exact shade Grand Cru to my sister. And I did regret it a lot because it's stunning cool toned light gold which is so metallic, your eyes hurt looking at it in sunlight. So when I saw it, I just had to get it, it was my shot. Their eye pencils are very creamy and they last a very long time. I am a big fan of those.
Pure Radiance Powder Blusher
By now, everyone heard about H&M blushes. I needed another one in my collection, so I picked up the shade Brown Sugar, which absolutelly got me. It has a beautiful sheen to it and looks very nice and healthy. It's quite brown/cool toned peach and I love that because it's gonna be good for any look. It's a very nice everyday blush and I love the consistency of their blushes. They sell out really fast when they're on sale, so be sure to check them out once you see them there. Also, it's impossible to take a picture of that color, but it's more brown, vibrant and peachy in real life, than in the picture.
Tarte Shape Tape | 27 Euros
I found out that spanish Sephora sells Tarte quite fast. I also think it's quite a new information, because in the Sephora I went to, they had a gigantic display with Tarte products and a flower wall and a few places to take pictures at with "Sephora x Tarte" logos everywhere. I guess I made my vacation at a great time. So I just had to get Shape Tape. We all know it's a staple in the beauty world and I just needed it.
However, there have been several problems. The light was very weird, my hands had so much tan on them and I didn't realize at all and also...I wasn't even looking at the Fair section, because it all looked white in the lights they had in the store. That's how I ended up with shade 22N Light Neutral, which is clearly waaaay darker than most of my foundations. How did I manage that? I don't know, but it kinda sucks. Now I have tan, so I will be using it anyway, but in the winter? No way, Jose. So, there's that. I've tried it a couple times already, but I didn't give it much of a fair shot to make any conclusions. I cannot wait to actually give it a proper wear test, but the coverage is there!
I've tried it a couple times now and it's a really good concealer, clearly, as the whole beauty community already stated years ago. But also, the color is a lot lighter than it appears in the tube. Considering it's a neutral color, I am a little confused, because it looks very yellow, but isn't too dark on the foundations I've worn in the past week. Maybe we'll make it work after all!
Kiko Magnetic Impact Eyeshadow
I don't remember the price of this eyeshadow, but it was on a huge sale and I loved the color of it. I stumbled upon Kiko Milano store while I was at Tarragona and I was hypnotized. It's quite an expensive brand to me, so I didn't get too much stuff, but the single eyeshadow with weird formulas, that's my business any day of the week. This one swatched like a dream, it's the shade 04 which is a perfect copper shade and I just loved it so much. It's incredibly reflective and metallic and pigmented as well, just perfect. The only downside it, that you just cannot apply it with a brush. I didn't find a way how to do it, but with a finger, it works like a dream.
Kiko Water Eyeshadow
Or at least, I think that's how it's called. It's a pretty famous eyeshadow formula, I've heard about it a couple times and they look very pretty in a pan, so I grabbed the shade 227. It's a very unique color, it's very soft and light but also cooltoned and kind of pink-purple-silver mashed up together. It's very pretty and very nice for a cut crease or as a more matte-satin highlight. I really like everything I have from Kiko, I'll have to go back one day.
Zoeva Voyager Soft Sun Eyeshadow Pallete | 14 Euros
Another purchase I made while waiting in the line at Sephora. That little travel stuff isle they have is just pure evil. I was never too impressed by Zoeva palletes because the color stories just didn't make sense to me. I have the little Caramel Melange pallete and I just don't like it because all the colors have the same depth and the metallics are not as impressive as I want them to be. I opened the Soft Sun pallete almost by accident and I fell in love. You have 3 mattes and 3 metallics which are just speaking right to my heart. There's a neutral light shade, cool-toned almost barbie pink and deeper warmer brown. Perfect matte shades for base of any eyelook. And you get a bronze-copper orange, pink with gold glitter and cool red metallics. So much variety in one pallete! I am proud of you Zoeva, I really couldn't leave this pallete behind.
The price isn't too bad, because the quality of these shades is just amazing. The mattes don't swatch well at all, but I've used it and loved it first, then I tried to swatch it and couldn't wrap my head around it. Don't always trust the finger swatch, it lies sometimes, especially with the mattes. The metallics are in my opinion way better than the ones I've used before and they look stunning even with a dry brush. So I am super impressed by this pallete. I also love the texture on the packaging...I am a packaging whore.
So that's pretty much it. I also bought a backpack and some other little things that are not makeup as well, but mostly I had the best time ever and finally got to eat a Crunchwrap at Taco Bell. I go on holidays for experiences, not as much for the beach pictures. I hope you're having a great summer and stay tuned for more stuff now, that I'm back!