iHerb Haul (+ coupon code & information)

Hello everyone!

Today is haul day, and I am so excited to share with you the products I have purchased from iHerb. I bought a lot of oils because I really wanted to try out the hot oil treatment for my hair. I was looking for reasonable prices and good quality and I think I found it!!

Attention: In every picture you can see a special code. If it is your first time buying from iHerb, use this code when you checkout for 5$ off for small orders and 10$ off for orders above 40$. Awesome? Yeah :D 

Do not forget to use the code if you are new to iHerb, and do not hesitate to give it to your friends and family so that they can have a decent discount too. 

So, I bought Tea Tree Oil, for my annoying zits and acne, Jojoba oil, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil and Sweet Almond Oil. I read a few articles and blogs about hot oil treatment, everyone was mentioning fantastic results, so I wanted to give it a try too. iHerb offers a huge variety of brands, all organic and natural, from oils, to superfoods, supplements, beauty products etc etc. The list is long and the prices really good, you can find any price you seek depending on your budget.

I will review all my oils after I use them 2-3 times, so that I can give you an in-depth view of how they work, their price, the use and the effect. iHerb offers reviews from people that have already purchased the product (next to the rating starts when you click to view the product seperately) and this is really helpful if you are not sure about the quality of the product you want to buy, or the actual effectiveness it has.

 iHerb ships worldwide and what's most impressive is the low shipping costs. My package weighted 1.18kg and I payed only 4$. I was really impressed with the low shipping costs, because most of the products I wanted to buy from overseas in the past had high shipping costs, most of the times the shipping costed more than the actual product. You can also add the products in your basket, then choose your location from the tab and see how much the shipping will cost you before you actually buy anything.This is a good method to calculate your expenses, especially if you live in any country that applies taxes to things you order from overseas. Plus, if you use the code provided in the pictures for first time purchases, the discount will actually save you the shipping costs :D How amazing is that?

 The products came in a box, all sealed in plastic wrap and bags to prevent leaking and paper on top to prevent any breaking. I am really happy with the handling, and the reasonable time it took for it to arrive. I think it took only 20 days, and it was in the middle of easter vacations and whatnot, so I assume that it will arrive a bit earlier if you don't order amidst some kind of vacations or day offs.

I am really excited with iHerb, so I will definitelly order again in the future. Make sure to use your code for forst time purchases and take your time while ordering, there is a huge variety of things and prices to take into account.

I will review these products asap, so stay tuned. For any questions, opinions and recommendations do not hesitate to leave a comment below! ^__^

[Review] Essence All About Nudes Palette

 Hello everyone and happy Easter! (even if it's kinda late to wish that :P)

I was away for easter vacations so I only got some time now to review a product for you. The All About Nudes palette from Essence. I bought this one a month ago or so and honestly, I use it everyday, I almost neglected all my other palettes. I am a big eyeshadow fan, I wear shadows even on everyday and simple looks and I thought this one looked so pretty so I gave it a try. After all, pinks and shimmery champagne colours are top on the list of the colours I rock :D

First of all: the price! I was like "waaaah only???". Only 5 euros (~6.50$) for 6 colours. I don't know about you guys, but the price spoke to me, simply because palettes are usually kinda pricey, depending on the brand and the amount of shadows you get. So yeah, I just grabbed it and put it in my shopping basket along with some other stuff. The packaging is quite sturdy, it closes well and doesn't open easily (that's both blessing and curse if you ask me). I had it with me when I traveled to UK, it was in my suitcase, and it didn't break at all. The shadows were intact too. I was impressed I have to say. It is really compact too, so you can carry it in your purse when you go out, or a small pouch if you want something small for travelling.

As for the shadows' quality, I was impressed once more with how buttery and silky they are. They are very pigmented as well (alhough my bad photo below doesn't do much justice I am afraid) and they blend very easily. The swatches are made without any primer, so I promise you that if you use any kind of eyelid primer, the colours will pop up even more. In any case, it happens that most of the shades are close to my natural skin tone for some reason, so you can only see the darker ones clearly.

 Nonetheless, I will try to describe the shades as seen in the palette (starting from top left to the right, same for lower row): the first colour is a really shimmery off white colour, really pretty for highlighting the brow bone and the inner corner. The second one, is a matte "toasted" pink colour, which will probably match your eyelid colour if you are fair and I like it as a base, or as a light transition colour. The third one is a shimmery champagny-taupy colour which gives a nice "light" to the lid and it's really flattering without being too shinny. The next one is a pearly pink (it doesn't have any shimmer but I wouldn't group it as a matte colour for sure) really simple colour, easy to work with and very subtle too. Next is a matte greenish-gray colour, which I use in case I wanna darken some areas more. The last one is a matte plumy-mauvy colour, really pretty, it is combined very nicely with all the other shadows and works well for everyday looks as well.

Although all the colours are nicely pigmented, I would recommend a primer, which will help everything stay put for more and make the colours show off better, mostly because these kind of shades tend to blend in with the skin and not show up very much. All in all, I am really happy with this palette, I never expected to find such a good selection of colours and finishes in such a neat price. I will probably try some more of the palettes available.

 For me, this could even stand as a mini dupe of Urban Decay Naked 3. I haven't tried any UD palette, but I see a lot of people wanting the Naked 3 desperately and they can't have it because it's so expensive, so in my opinion, this palette will make up for that. I mean, let's face it, the Naked 3 has only pinks inside, if you can't afford it, buy this one and you will be just fine, the colours are kinda close :) Find ways to be creative and use things that look similar if you want to replicate a look!

The only downside for me, was the fact that there was no brown shadow in the bunch. I mean, the palette is called "nude" so I expected and I would like to see just one light brown shade, just for the crease. I am not really complaining, but I would prefer a light brown instead of the greenish-gray one, which isn't really useful to be honest. But I suppose you already have a light brown shadow in your collection if you actually wear eyeshadows, so you can use that :D

I hope I have covered everything, for any questions,opinions and recommendations don't hesitate to comment down below ^__^

UK Makeup Haul

Hey guys!

Today I won't be reviewing any product, I will show you the makeup haul I did while I was in UK a few days ago. I will be reviewing most of these products shortly, because I need quite some time to test them and come to a conclusion.

I went mostly to Superdrug because it was way cheaper than Boots and it had some nice offers. The Essence products were purchased here in Greece right before I go to UK so I included them in my haul :)

* Olay Beauty Fluid (suitable for all skin types) -- isn't the pachaging the most beautiful you've ever seen?

* Batiste Dry Shampoo (original scent)

* Superdrug Mud Masks (aloe vera + witch hazel)

* Vaseline Healthy Hands and Stronger Nails Hand Cream

* Neutrogena Pore & Shine Daily Scrub

* NYC Expert Last Lip Color (#438 Candy Rush)

* NYC Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm (#350 Blushing Golden)

* Essence All About Nudes Palette

* MUA Pressed Powder (Shade 4)

* Essence All About Matt! Fixing Compact Powder

* Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal (in Bronze and Nude)

* Essence LASHmania Reloaded

* Olay Eye makeup Remover

* Olay Cleansing Milk

 As you can see I purchased mostly face care products, since my makeup collection is quite ok and I don't think I need anything more at the moment, perhaps only a highlighter and a good concealer (even though I never use the latter because all concealers crease under my eyes and I hate it).

I bought a couple of clothing items shoes and accessories from Primark and second hand stores too, and overall I enjoyed my trip in UK very much! I will make sure to visit again in the future, mostly to see London better, since I stayed in Kent and I didn't have enough time to go through all the sightseeing sections of the capital :)

I wish you a good day~ :*

[Review] Etude House Skin Malgem Emulsion

Hello everyone!

I am here today with a brand new review, and to be honest I missed reviewing products the last 20 days or so. I was in UK, and I didn't have as much access to a pc as I would like, that's why you haven't heard from me for a while. I did an amazing haul while I was there, so if you would like to see what I bought, a sneakpeek to upcoming reviews, stay tuned :D Today I will be reviewing Etude House's Skin Malgen Emulsion.

I bought this 4 months ago or so, because I needed a moisturizer without SPF and I read that this product is quite good. I purchased it from cosmetic.jolse.com, for 12.58$ (~ 10 euros) with free shipping. It contains 200ml which is quite a lot. It comes in a sturdy plastic bottle (which looks and feels like glass) with a pink lid. The opening as you can see in the picture is quite big and the product runs kinda free, so you better be careful with the way you handle it otherwise you are gonna end up with a handfull of product on your hand. The bottle isn't actually very squeez-able, so I found this kind of packaging a bit tricky for such a product. I was expecting a more sqeezable bottle and a smaller opening, but well, ok, it didn't bother me that much.

I did quite some research before I buy this product, and I was excited because it was as natural as it could be. It is paraben, ethanol, mineral and benzophenone free, plus it is all in one, meaning Emulsion + Essence + Cream. I thought that this could save me some money on a long term. So far so good. The list of ingredients is ok (in my opinion) so I was hoping that the product will be nice on my skin.

It contains a lot of fruit acids and extracts which help exforliate the old skin and create a clear, smooth and hydrated complexion. It also contains babassu seed and orchid extract which moisturize the skin.

 Actually, it smells really nice! It has fruit extracts in it, and it smells like grapefruit, which is my favourite fruit so of course I loved the scent, which is not very overwhelming, more like a really light fragrance. It has a runny and watery consistency, and it is light on the skin. I was kinda disappointed with the amount of time it took for it to sink into my skin, I like products that sink in immediatelly and this one required some "work" until it was fully absorbed. It left my skin nice and smooth (some bloggers said it was sticky, but honestly I didn't experience any stickiness at all) but on my cheeks I felt like I could use more hydration. My cheeks tend to get quite dry (I have oily/combination skin) so I didn't feel like this emulsion was as potent as a regural moisturizing cream, even though it claimed to be 3 in 1.

 It is more of a light moisturizer, suitable for normal skins and definitely not for the winter. I wouldn't recommend it to people with dry skin, and to those of you with oily skin and dry patches I would advice to put a little extra product on the dry areas after the first layer of product that has sinked in. I still use this emulsion effectivelly everyday, and now that it's spring it is more easy to use than before. I use it even before my makeup and it hasn't caused any kind of greasiness or excessive oilness. It is a really nice and light moisturizer for oily skins and warm weather, so if you need something new and light for the spring I would totally recommend this.

As with all products, I didn't expect miracles on my skin, but to be honest, I saw a slight difference on my face. My skin tone became more clear and radiant and I stopped having as many pimples as before. I assume that this is because of its exfoliating properties. I am quite happy with this product overall, but I don't think I will repurchase it, mostly because it wasn't exactly what I was looking for at the time I bought it, and because it is quite more expensive than the Mizon moisturizers that I usually buy.

Random precaution advice: Because this emulsion contains fruit extracts, if the skin is irritated it may sting a bit in the beginning. If you feel it stings, it's not an allergic reaction, it's the fruit acids that "exfoliate" the old skin and help the product sink in the deeper layers of the new skin :)

I hope I have covered everything but if you still have any questions or you want to state your own experience about this product, do not hesitate to leave a comment down below ^__^