Review: Bourjois La Laque nail polish

I only have 3 Bourjois nail polishes. Somehow they never convinced me to buy more.  The colors I have are pastels and they apply so streaky that I wasn’t keen on trying other polishes.  But sometimes you just have to give a brand another try.  I love Bourjois lipsticks, eye pencils, foundations … so why wouldn’t I love their polishes?  When I saw they brought out a new line called La Laque I decided to just go for it and buy 2 colors: Beach Violet and Chair et tender   

from left to right: Beach violet, Chair et tendre

I had high hopes and I tried to keep an open mind but unfortunately I was disappointed again by the formula.  This time not because the colors are streaky in any way but the consistency of the polish is just too liquidy (I know, spelling check already warned me that this isn’t a real word).  It’s just like water and it acts like that.  It runs right into the edges and it is a pain to clean up.  Especially the darker Beach Violet.  It took me so long to clean it up halfway descent but you can still see stains on my cuticles.

The colors are beautiful I’ll give them that but for €8,99 you can find better quality nail polishes.  Sorry to say it Bourjois but in my opinion, nail polishes aren’t your forte.

Where to buy:

You can buy Bourjois at you local drugstore and supermarket or online.

Review: Bourjois Soin Miraculeux

Do you remember a few years ago when Sephora came with the Instant Nail Polish Remover?  It was the answer to all of our problems, hallelujah!!!  We all went crazy of the simplicity and geniusness of this product.  You just dip you finger in, twist it around an begone nail polish!!!  I got sucked in the hype just like the rest of us, loving my little bottle of easiness, being sure there would be nothing that could make me turn away from it.  And then there was the day that I put my finger in there and it came out all reddish.  Granted, the nail polish was gone but leftover of red nail polish (from the time before maybe) stayed on my finger.  Putting my finger back in was no option, washing my hands didn’t solve anything so it was down to my all time classic bottle of remover to solve the problem.  Slowly my love faded away and once again it seemed that ‚the good old way’ was the best way.  

Memories of the Instant Nail Polish Remover came to me when I saw this little cutie by Bourjois.  Soin Miraculeux, the same concept but this time to nourish your nails an cuticles.  I looked at it again and again and decided to get it.  I could say I rationalized buying it (and I did to a point because the red stains on my fingers wouldn’t be happening here and aside from that it was very handy) but the truth is that it was just too cute to resist.  I mean, just look at it!!  Wouldn’t you want that sitting on your makeup table?  It’s just perfect: cute and handy, what more could a girl want?

But by now I know that there’s no such thing as ‚perfect’ and Soin Miraculeux only confirmed that.  It is easy, you just dip your nail in there for a second and let the jojoba oil do its work.  Sound good right?  There’s just one problem: there’s a finger behind the nail!  The whole tip of you finger gets covered in oil. NOT HANDY!!  We as women, we are usually multitasking.  Putting on cuticle oil and letting it sit there a few minutes while we buy that one pair of shoes that we absolutely need online (or whatever else you like to do) but when you have oil covering your whole fingertip instead of just your cuticles/nails there really isn’t much you can do aside from just sitting there making sure you don’t touch anything.  And after you massaged the oil in, you need to go clean all of your fingers.

Needless to say I was disappointed.  The product does its work and it smells good but the whole concept just doesn’t work for me.  If you don’t mind sitting there without touching anything than by all means, go ahead and buy it.  If not, just walk along when you hear the cuteness calling.

You can get Bourjois Soin Miraculeux at any drugstore, I paid €8,99 for it at Lookiss.

Everyday makeup routine

Jeej, it’s monday - said no one ever.  I imagine most of us have a morning routine we don’t mess with once it’s in place and there isn’t a lot of margin for change.  So it’s no surprise that my makeup routine for working days is pretty much the same every day.  I can even do this before I have my first cup of coffee and it usually takes me 10-15 minutes max to put it on.  (the exception being those days where I really can’t get started no matter how hard I try and I end up wondering why there isn’t any color coming off my mascara only to find that I’ve been putting 3 coats of eyebrow gel on my lashes).  I guess I can even get it down to 5-10 minutes but putting on makeup feels like a little treat to me, a bit of me time before the hustle of the workday starts and therefore I don’t want to rush it.

This is what I wear to work every day, I’m going for the 'me but better' look.  Very natural and not too 'synthetic’ looking and something that easy to apply even when you’re still half a sleep.  

First is the base: Mac Prep + Prime Natural Radiance Base Lumière in Radiant Pink.  I love this, it feels moisturizing and gives my skin a healthy glow. The skin on my cheeks is quite dry and as I’m getting older I feel like my skin is starting to look a bit more dull, especially in fall/winter time.  This is the perfect primer if you want to remedy that.  

In the fall/winter I put on a real foundation but now that the weather is getting warmer, I switch to a BB cream or something similar.  Last year I bought the Guerlain Lingerie De Peau BB Beauty Booster in Light and since I had some left I started using it again this year.  I still love it as much as I did last year, it’s easy to apply (I use my fingers instead of a brush for this one),it looks really natural and has an SPF 30.

I don’t use under eye concealer simply because I haven’t found one that doesn’t crease.  I have lines under my eyes so under eye concealer is a tricky one.

To set everything I use my Hello Flawless powder by Benefit and for a blush I love my MAC legendary blush from the Marilyn Monroe collection.

For my eyes I really wouldn’t know what to do without my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  My eyelids are a bit greasy so without a primer my eyeshadow would never stay put.  Next up is MAC Haux in the crease or should I say to create a crease.  I have hooded eyes (it only gets worse when you get older, don’t say I didn’t warn you) so I don’t really have a crease.  Nevermind, I just slap the color above my eyelid and pretend it’s a crease.  MAC All that glitters on my eyelid and MAC Dazzle light on the inner corner for that extra pop.  After the lash curler had done it’s duty I tightline my upper lashline with a brown pencil (Bourjois Contour Clubbing waterproof pencil in 57 up and brown) and a good coat of Benefit’s They're Real mascara.

MAC Eyebrow pencil in Fling to fill in those brows a bit and to set it Hema eyebrow gel

And to finish it all off some MAX fix+ which helps the whole thing to melt together and make it look very natural.

I play with the lip color a bit although I don’t go for very bold colors when I have to go to work.  But MAC Pink Plaid, Cut A Caper or Shy girl are regular guests here, as are Too Faced Melted liquified long wear lipstick in Melted Peony and Urban Decay Sheer Revolution lipstick in Sheer Streak.

A simple, neutral look that you really don't have to think about, perfect for weekdays!