Empties | 2019

** GIVEAWAY (rules and entry form): Blogmas 2019: My 1st GIVEAWAY

How has the year already passed? I sound like a broken record every year, but I feel like there's so much I could have done during the year so the end now seems so weird and almost unexpected. Is the life now really faster then it used to be? I wonder how you feel about it...

Each year I have more and more products in this box. I think I'll need a bigger box for these posts. If you're interested in any of the previous posts on this topic, you can find them in my 'Empties' category (Empties | 2016, Empties | 2017 and Empties | 2018).

Oriflame lipsticks

** On a personal note this week: Movie review: Molly Maxwell

As I mentioned in several of my posts, I'm in love with lipsticks. I think they are perfect quick addition to every outfit. I think I also mentioned I have way too many lipsticks for a normal girl. I showed you all of them in my post My lipstick collection.

Since then, I added few lipsticks in my collection and I can't see an end to this. Send help. Anyway, since the previously mentioned post, I did some other related to lip products, which I'll link below this post, but now I'll show you one unusual collection.

Empties | 2018

OMG it's officially the last post of 2018. It's already a boring statement, but each year passes by faster than the previous one and it scares me. By the products I'll show you in this post, it actually looks like I used some more than I usually do and this post won't be a miss. 

If you don't know, this post is my yearly thing and you can read Empties | 2017 and Empties | 2016. I'll divide products into few categories and give my short reviews and/or links to my review posts. So enjoy.

Hydra Moisture Boosting Serum by Oriflame

** On a personal note this week: Should kids earn their money?

Welcome to the world of oily skin which was dried up. Yes, I'm the founder of this little community. This, however, is not a bad thing. I used to have extremely oily skin, especially T zone and it took me some time to realize what I need to do. Thankfully I found all the right products.

However, before I realized what my routine needs to be, I dried my skin with every existing mattifying product. Now I have it all in control, still using mattifying products, but I now know the importance of hydrating my skin.

Essentials: Skincare

** On a personal note this week: When there's too much bad sh*t in short time

This is 4th post in the 'Essentials' series (previous Essentials: Nails, Essentials: Fashion and Essentials: Make-up) and, on the contrary of how often I've been writing them, I actually love to write these. These posts also help me realize what I actually want and need. I always emphasize how I have a small room with very little storage space so I need to take a look of what I really need to make my routine full.

Let's pretend I know a lot about skincare. Let's pretend I'm so good at keeping my skin in place that I can actually share some advice on the topic. I definitely know what to do to keep my skin great, but I often forget or I'm just too lazy for it. However, I'll write down my essentials. Also, reviews to some of my favorites here are in the photo descriptions.
Note: Even though I feature a lot of L'Oreal products, this is not a sponsored post. I wish it was though...

My skincare routine (morning + night)

** On a personal note this week: My body image journey - body shaming (part 1)

Every time I think of skincare, I just think of my grandma and my mom. To give you some background, my grandma grew up very poor. In the years of her youth, she barely had money for food so she really couldn't afford skin care products. Since I can remember, she always used the same 2 creams - Becutan and Nivea. There was no toners, cleansers, oils... And her skin is to this day (she's 79) is absolutely gorgeous.

Then I open my YouTube, I see all these beauty gurus with their routines and fancy products and then I look at myself and think if I'm doing something terribly wrong to my skin. I also wonder if they really have the time to do all that every day, because I don't. Or, at least, I don't want to lose precious time doing 20 extra steps. Not that I don't trust my grandma, but things have changed over the time so I'm trying to pick up as many useful advice as I can.

L'Oreal Smooth sugars clear scrub (kiwi)

I've already written few words about L'Oreal Paris masks that have basically taken over the beauty world. You can read my thoughts on the green mask here Review: L'Oreal pure clay purify mask (green one) and on red mask here Review: L'Oreal Pure clay exfo mask (the red one). With me being so satisfied with the red one, I had to try new 'sugars' collection. 

Like the red clay mask, these 'sugars' also have some micro-beads in them so they're all good for exfoliation. Or so I thought when I bought all 3 of them. Since I've been using clear scrub (or kiwi sugar, as I like to call it) the most, I'm here to write down my thoughts on it.

Winter skin care routine

I don't think I've ever written a skin care routine. I don't write these because I change it a lot and I'm not consistent with products I use. However, winter is always a problematic season for all skin types and we need to pay extra attention to our skin. As I mentioned I'm not good with 'routines', I'll write down some products I really like during this season and some tips I have to maintain a good skin care.

I also read this moisturizer guide "The best face moisturizer"* that emphasizes the importance of using one. They also explain everything you need and why you need it in a moisturizer and also what do you need for each skin type. What I love the most is how they actually did a contest between more than 200 moisturizers so pick the number one for day and night time and also gave some other options (find out which ones won the battle in the given link).

My lipstick collection

Some time last year, I realized that putting on just a lipstick can make you look more put together in the shortest possible time and without any special effort so I started buying them. I haven't even thought I would reach for them this often. Since I realized I have more lipsticks and lipglosses than a "normal" girl would have, I thought it's time to share the collection with you.

I keep all my lip products in these two acrylic stands and one glass which is actually a candle holder painted in my currently favorite color - copper. I also modified larger stand so it would have more storage space and I showed it to you in my DIY post about it.

SkinPro cleansing device

If you care for your skin at all, you know that cleaning it is the most important thing. You can't cover bad skin with makeup or by tanning it. You need to clean your skin properly. Here's where this device should come in handy. It's SkinPro cleansing device by Oriflame.

I bought it for about $50* and I also bought these two additional brush heads for $7. I've used it for a month and a half now and I'm ready to write first impressions, whole review and to tell you whether I would recommend it or not. You can order it on Oriflame's site (linked above) or on Amazon here.