Yijing Tan's September Giveaway

Check out her giveaway, most importantly checkout her blog. I love her reviews on beauty products. Hope to try some in the future. ^_^

http://chandelierdreams.blogspot.com/

Quick stop at Rossman

I had to pick up some Ricola for my hubby. He's had a real bad cough and it keeps me up at night and I don't want to get either so I stopped by Rossmans. Now, to get to the coughdrops you have to go past the make-up center. I couldn't resist. ^_^ I got 2 nail polishes, but 1 was in the price reduced bin so that one is a blue-green colour it looks interesting and the other is a matte black which is easier to do designs on and I don't use a black colour on all my nails just one nail on each hand. I don't like black nail polishes with the sparkles in them, I don't know why I just never did care for them. I picked up a brown gel liner and a liner brush, all from my favorite brand Essence. I also picked up an eye mask and two face masks. I change my nail polish once a week so you'll have to stay tuned to see new colours.

Hope everyone is having a good week. Try not to catch a cold.

Nail Colour: Essence #83 Luxury Secret

Here is the nail polish from Essence that caught my eye. (It was in the Rossman haul) This 0.16 fl oz/5 ml will cost you €1,25.

Here is the colour with only one coat.

This is a better picture. I was amazed that at only one coat it was pretty much all I needed. I don't like lines or streaks so I added a second coat.

2nd coat and top coat.

An even better picture. I love this colour. I've been looking for a silver colour like this for a long time and I'm glad I purchased it. I just hope they don't discontinue it.

Rossmann Haul

I cannot get over how great Rossmann stores are!!! I live in a nice sized village/suburban area but the Rossmann in bigger towns and cities are huge, but, the one closest to me is awesome too!!! ^_^

Remember what I said about the drogeries. Well Rossman is one of them. They have everything from make-up, hair products, stationery, toys, cosmetics, snacks and they even have a small perfume/cologne counter.

I'm on a budget, so I told myself that I wouldn't spend more than €20. I purchased a lot of good stuff, so, my mission is to become beautiful on a budget. In fact, I was under budget. The total will be at the end.

So here's what I got:

This is the Essence gel liner from the Sun Club collection (Summer). The name is 02 BBC All Night Brown. It's brown with small glitter particles, its very pretty and glides on nicely. This liner has 3 ml of product. It was in the sales bin and cost me €0,70.

Another gel liner from Essence, this one is new (duh, lol). It's called 01 Midnight in Paris. There were only two left in the store. There was a little girl running around with her parent not watching her so when I went to the Essence corner something told me to look at the jar and I'm glad I did. There was a smudgy finger print in side. I was upset because the angle of the display it looked like that was the only one left so I tapped the tray and another one rolled out and here it is. If your intuition tells you something listen to it. I would have been upset going home and finding a smudgy print in my liner. Sorry tangent, cost of this was €2,95.

Ok, Essence has small themes and is constantly coming up with new colours and designs. When a themed products need to be switched they are discounted. (Lucky for me right? ^_^) This summer had a sailor theme.

Since I moved the movers broke all my shadows and blushers. They were old anyway, and I love looking for a bargain so I'm okay with it. This is a nice blue color and the white is good for a highlight.

Here are the swatches, they were one swipe. It has nice pigmentation? What do you think? This cute duo was €1,20. Of course that was discounted. ^_^

RL stands for Rival de Loop. I love how cute this is. I'm such a sucker for packaging and designs. Found this in the bargain tin.

See how cute this is?

Here are the swatches. The purple glides on smooth, the pink (middle) I had to constantly rub to get the swatch. and the white is a nice highlighter. Price is €1,59.

Next is the Essence nail polish remover. I discovered this when I was on a look out to find a remover that was tough enough to remove OPI polish that I had on at the time. So, I went to Douglas (cosmetics shop) and asked one of the attendants and she came back and said this was the best remover and the only she used. She was right!! It got of the OPI no problem and left my nails moistrurized and its not drying or harsh like other removers. This lovely 150ml bottle will cost you €0,75. I love this remover and the price!!

I was in need of a new facial soap and looked at this. I have sensitive skin so I have to be really picky about what I decide on buying. This is for all skin types. After much browsing down the aisle, I came back to this. The smell of lime and cucumber is fantastic. Its not like other cleansers perfume like smells, that are strong and I strongly dislike. At a price of €1,95, would be fine if I disliked it and discarded it. I'll try it for a week and do a review on it.

Same as the facial cleanser. This face cream has nice subtle aroma not overpowering, will be used in combination with the cleanser. Price is €1,95 and will be included in the review.

This beautiful silver metallic colour is Essence ^.^ I know I know but, I needed a silver colour and even though its small it stood out to me. The name is 83 Luxury Secret. The colour & go series costs €1,25.

On the left is the colour & go, named 45 Date with the Night. (Don't you love the names they come up with? Cute right?) The small bottle is €1,25. The larger bottle is from the Nails in Style series name 01 Style for Summernights. I found this one in the bargain bin for €0,80. I'll probably use this one as a sparkly coat it is quite sheer.

I do love a good mask. I need to switch it up a bit. I ran across these after picking up the facial cleanser. I decided to give these a try. I don't know if you can see it but it is a preforated middle. There are actually two mask. These are €0,49 each. Not bad for two masks.

As you know, when you are shopping you become parched. I was looking on the racks waiting for the line to dwidle down. I didn't feel like water at the time, but I am an avid water drinker. So, I settled on this which is pear and apple juice and half of it is mineral water. This is so amazing!! I literally felt like my taste buds exploded. The best part the whole bottle is only 59 calories. Price for this deliciousness was €0,49.

It was a fun trip and I'll be going back sometime in the near future the total of my small trip was €16,55.  I came under budget and with the left over money I had a brotchen sandwitch for lunch!!! Have a good week my lovely readers!!

Happy Shopping!!!!

Apotheke vs Drogerie

An Apotheke (Apotheken for plural), sells medications and over-the-counter medications. The over-the-counter medications are usually in sealed displayed counters (so they're really not over-the counter ^_^) and you'll have to ask the pharmacist for it, yes even aspirin. A German pharmacy (Apotheke), sells medications and only medications.

A Drogerie or Drugstore is not a Pharmacy (so don't confuse the two). A Drogerie doesn't have an American equivalent. (Mostly because everything is compact in one store example: Wal-Mart.) At a Drogerie you can buy products such as body care, hair care, cosmetics, household cleaners and snacks. You can buy throat lozenges here but that’s the only thing close to a “medicine” that you are going to get. So it’s basically Walgreens or CVS or Boots (UK) without the over-the-counter medication or prescribed medication. My favourite drogerie is Rossmann. You’ll see soon enough. ^_^

Recap:

Apotheke + Drogerie = CVS or Boots


Also, if you were to go to a German pharmacist and explained your symptoms they can give you the medication you need on the spot. They are really fast and super friendly.

I hope this helped.

Quick guide to German beauty products

Now, if you find yourself in Douglas or Rossman (my absolutely favourite) wanting to try beauty products the labels are in German, French or Italian. You'll find few products in English. I know a good amount of French so I was ok, but the items I was looking at are completely in German. I didn't know what was what. As I mentioned before, I used to live in Japan and made Japanese girlfriends and they were able to help me out with some of the products that were completely in Japanese. The japanese beauty market is amazing!!! There were a good amount of products in English.  I was totally of course sorry! ^_^ Here are a few key words in German that will help you in your beauty journey. If there is anything that you think I've missed let me know and I'll update accordingly.


Sensitive Skin                                                
--Sensibel Haut

Oily Skin                       
--Fettige Haut

Dry Skin                       
--Trockene Haut

Combination Skin
--Mischhaut

Body Butter
--Körper Butter

Hand/Feet Cream
 --Hatte/Fusscreme

Bath Salts
--Badesalz

Bubble Bath
--Schaumbad

Day/Night Cream
--Tage/Nachtcreme

Hair Care
--Haarpflege

(Decorative)Cosmetics
-- Dekorative Kosmetik

Eyebrow
--Augenbrauen

Eyeshadow
--Lidschatten

Nails/Nailpolish/Nailpolish remover
--Nagel/ Nagellack / Nagellack-Entferner


Stay beautiful!!!

Mini Haul (Dusseldorf)

I checked out a bunch of different sites for tourist and I came upon Dusseldorf. Now, the websites stated that Dusseldorf had a large Japanese population and it was like "Mini Tokyo". Me and the husband, met in Japan and we miss Japan. So, we went to check it out and it was not like fantastic. There were small Japanese stores sporadically all over the place. We did get some "Oishii" (delicious) ramen and gyoza from the ramen house. Which made up for the dissappointment and decided to do a little shopping. This is what I bought.

I absolutely love Hello Kitty and wanted a messenger bag. Most of the bags in the area that I lived in; in Japan had purses or backpacks. I love over the shoulder bags. I don't really carry a purse. This cost me €30. Not bad if I say so myself.

What we have here are eyebrow razors. Now, I first started doing my own eyebrows in Japan, picked up a few razors (at Daiso or 100 yen shop; totally love that store) to see which ones I liked the best. (No these aren't my #1) This pack is actually my 3rd pick. For me, american razors were too sharp and if I ended up cutting myself I kept bleeding. My friend is going back to Japan and I've asked her to send me my favourites. ^_^

I picked up this small eyeshadow palette (photo doesn't show the colours well) because most of my eye shadows were broken in the move. Which I'm just fine with because it allows me to shop for more. ^_^ This kit was on sale from €12 to €3. From Left to Right. That's more of an opaque white. It's a great highlight. Then there is a light green and a dark green, both of these colours don't show up well on the eye but they do on the finger tips. (pictures below) The next to colours are a nice brown and maroon colour, my favourites so far. The last is a light blue and I don't know what I'm going to do about that one.

Same colours (Left to Right)

In the middle is the dark green that wouldn't show up.

#414 Missyln Nail Polish. I got this for about €4.50. I wasn't sure about the colour but I couldn't stop staring at it. The hubby encouraged me to get it. I adore this colour it's a nice addition to my growing nail polish collection.

Another look at the nail polish...

The nail polish, I had on the day of the trip. It's called Flormar; it originated from Turkey. It was on sale at Douglas and the price was €1.25

End of trip. I'm surprised my curls lasted. ^_^ Hope you enjoyed.

Traveling tips in Europe (Saving money)

It's not much different traveling in Europe from when I was a kid. (I was in Germany from 1997-2001 and out of that I did a year as a foreign exchange student with a family in London.) Now, I'm back and the only thing that really has changed is that the currency is Euro's no except for the UK, which still has the Sterling Pound. As an American, the Euro has the Dollar beat, which can sometimes make traveling or buying souvenirs a little difficult (or whatever your currency). So here are a few small tips to help you save.

• Plan out trips at least 3 months in advanced. This way you can save money on transportation (i.e. Train, Plane)
• Check your local news paper or recreation center, they usually have discounted trips.
• Try taking trips in a group, groups are always discounted. This will allow you to save money not only on transportation but hotels as well.
• Never accept tours from people that come to you and ask. This is a scam and also is a safety concern. Besides what's the fun in that? Grab a map and go explore!!!
• In a restaurant, order in sets. Some menus will display a certain amount of food and it will say, "Serves 2" etc.
• When buying souvenirs, buy them at the exact location you are at (i.e. Eiffel Tower). Let's say you want to get a small Eiffel Tower key chain or magnet. The further you get from it the more money you'll pay.
• In a big city, lets take for example Paris; Buy an all day (or days) Metro Pass, you can ride all day and night (Just don't lose it!!!). It will pay for itself and you won't have to stand at the kiosk. These passes are accepted on buses too, but the Metro is so much faster.
• Always bring water or your favourite type of drink. I usually carry a small back pack and I always  have water in it (along with small things I purchased). This will save you about 2-3 Euros. Every little bit counts right? ^_^

I hope that this is helpful. Exploring the world is what I have done, and was lucky for the opportunity to travel at such a young age. Don't be afraid, explore!!!

xoxo
*CiCi*

Just (started) blogging!!!

Hey,

Just started my first blog. I guess I'm a little late (age 25), but it's better late than never!! I'm excited none the less. This blog will be random from what my day or week consisted of, to me trying to break out of my tomboy habits to goals, I'm trying to achieve. Well, I'm going to start learning the controls and try to change my template background. More to come!

Have a great day!

*CiCi*