Drugstore or high end?

Getting into cruelty free makeup doesn't mean that you need to spend a fortune on new products. There are a lot of good, cruelty free drugstore brands like e.l.f, Wet n Wild, Gosh, Physicians Formula, Milani, Nyx, Pixi, Ecotools, etc. The list goes on and on. However for some reasons 80% of things I own are high end. Why is it so?

I got into makeup about 3 years ago. I didn't really bother with makeup during my teenage years, because I had really bad acne and my dermatologist said that covering it with foundation only will make the whole situation worse (I guess I can argue this now). But anyway, I had no interest in makeup until 23 years. At that time, I read one blog article where one Russian girl living in Japan was compering Japanese women and foreigners. You know, in Japan women put a lot (and by 'a lot' I mean A LOT) of efforts into their looks, because there's very huge pressure from society and media that only woman who looks and acts feminine can be popular among men. That Russian girl said that all foreign women that she sees on the streets of Tokyo don't bother with their looks at all - no makeup, no fashionable clothes. She was asking - why most Western women don't care? While I can argue with this by saying that even in Japan there are a lot of people who don't use makeup or have interest in fashion and otherwise (well, look how many beauty/fashion bloggers or youtubers from US and UK out there), I asked myself: why I don't wear makeup? And suddenly I really, really wanted to try doing it.

While I don't think that expensive means better and cheap means bad quality, there are a lot of miss/hits among drugstore products. For example, you never go wrong with Urban Decay Naked palettes, but cheaper dupes might be quite disappointing. My whole makeup game has begun with Original Naked palette. It was my first eye shadow palette and I'm still in love with it. Yes, it was expensive - but if you divide 50 euro by 12, you'll get about 4 euro per 1 eye shadow of high quality. Personally, I think it's better to spend 50 euro on one Naked palette that you will love and use daily, rather than 50 euro on 5 different Sleek palettes (I'm sorry to all Sleek fans, but ugh, I had really bad experience with everything I tried from them).

Also packages of high end products are so well made. On the photo above e.l.f blush package looks almost identical to Nars blush, but not really. E.l.f's package is made of cheap plastic which is much more light weight than Nars. Nars package is more matte and it gives you an impression of expensive, elegant item. It's like wearing expensive underwear - using beautifully packaged high end products makes me feel very good and special (haha).

Also, marketing part. I know that a lot of people hate admitting that marketing has effect on them, but let's face the truth. How many times did you read someone's blog post and feel like you can't live with the item introduced by author? I have a feeling that there are much more bbloggers who writes about high end products, rather than drugstore ones.

Drugstore or high end, what do you think?

Personal notes #1

I know that this blog should be focused on makeup, but maybe it won't hurt much if sometimes I will post something personal, right?

So, what was good so far?

1. I don't really believe in "New Year = New Me" stuff, but I this year I've decided to treat my skin/hair more than I did last year and bought a few things from Antipodes, Out Of Africa, Badger Company, Dr. Hauschka, Paul Mitchell and Avalon Organics. All brands are cruelty free with 100% vegan Out of Africa. I'm still waiting for packages to come and hopefully more reviews are coming to mymakeupiscrueltyfree.

2. I'm marathoning all movies nominated for Oscar Academy Awards 2015. Going to see Birdman today and Whiplash next week, so excited for them both. I also saw Unbroken - movie directed by Angelina Jolie about the life of USA Olympian and athlete Louis Zamperini. Despite bad comments on imdb, I did enjoy the movie and it made me think a lot of things about the Pacific War. You know, all my life I've been studying Japanese language/culture and I lived in Tokyo for one year, so everything Japan-related has my interest. Now I really want to read Eien no 0 ("The Eternal Zero") a novel by Naoki Hyakuta about Japanese soldier who volunteered for Kamikaze Attack.

3. I'm not all that in youtube videos, preferring to read blogs, but this lady has caught my attention recently. Laci Green talks about sex, body images, feminism, relationships and more. Her videos are funny, informative and short (which is important fact for me lol). Love her so much :)

4. The 5th season of my most favorite tv-show Shameless has started!! Oh, I've waiting for this moment for so long. It's so good to have your favorite characters back and I'm really excited to see what the Gallaghers will be going through this time. If you don't know, Shameless is Showtime tv-show revolving around an alcoholic man and his six children in the poorest part of Chicago.

5. Fall Out Boy will be releasing their new album "American Beauty/American Psycho" on the 19th of January, but you can listen their songs on their youtube channel. I don't know how it's even possible, but EVERY SONGS IS SO GOOD. I can't even pick the most favorite one. I saw them live in Russia two years ago and I really hope to see them again in the nearest future.

6. I can't stop watching reviews on new Too Faced Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar palette. I don't really need it in my in life, because I already own two neutral eye shadow palettes, but there's something very appealing about this one (so many matte shades, for example). Maybe one day, maybe one day.

How was your life recently?



Lush Honey Trap lip balm

I went to Lush store the other day to re-purchase my favorite Coalface cleanser and ended up buying Honey Trap lip balm too. As you know, I've promised myself to stop making impulsive buys, but sometimes you just need to treat yourself. And I'm glad that I did, because Honey Trap is the best lip balm ever. Combination of honey, shea butter, beewax, white chocolate and different oils makes your lips soft, very moisturized and protected from cold winter wind. I still love my lip balms from Hurraw! but apparently they don't give me enough of moisture :(

The package isn't hygienic because you have to dip your finger into tin in order to get product, however you get 8g of lip balm so no complains here. Honey Trap has very strong smell of honey and mint and if you don't like harsh scents I guess it's better to avoid this product. Personally I love how it smells and it doesn't bother me at all (I can feel it only when applying lip balm on the lips).

Ingredients: Fair Trade Shea Butter, Almond Oil, Beeswax, Honey, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, White Chocolate, Glycerine, Flavour, Organic Cold Pressed Wheatgerm Oil, Oatmeal, Peppermint Oil, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Sweet Wild Orange Oil*, Limonene

You know, I was under impression that all Lush lip balms contained methylparaben in it. Despite Lush' claims that parabens are safe to use, you still don't want to have something that may lead to cancer in your products - especially in your lip balm, especially when there's a lot of cheaper alternatives that don't contain parabens in it. I googled a little and found out that not long time ago Honey Trap did contain methylparaben and that the tin was 10g. It's sad that now you get much less of product for the same price, but it's good news that Lush decided to change their formulas.

This lip balm isn't suitable for vegans since there's beewax in it (sorry, guys!) and price is quite high (7 euro anyone?), but still your lips will thank you if you treat them to Honey Trap. I'd totally recommend this product especially if you live in the Northern country like me.

Have you tried Lush lip balms?

Best of 2014

2014 was "make up" year for me. I bought a lot, tried a lot, watched tons of videos how to use all the stuff I own. The most used brand this year was Urban Decay for me. I expanded my eye shadow collection by buying their Naked 3 and Basics palettes, used their famous eye primer potion, loved their Revolution lipstick range. I know that a lot of cruelty free beauty bloggers don't buy their products, because UD is owned by L'Oreal, but still I choose to support them. High quality products, last for a long time, can be easily bought at almost every online beauty store, is certified by the Leaping Bunny... so yeah. I love it and will use it in the future.

For base I have found my holy grail - Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation SPF15 in Warm Peach*. To tell the truth, I don't use liquid/cream foundations because I had bad experience with them in the past (they made an emphasis on dry skin areas or big pores), so for a while mineral foundations have been my best friends. If you don't know, mineral foundation looks like loose powder, but has good coverage ability. Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation is affordable, evens out my skin tone, covers everything I need (I have combination skin with dry cheeks & oily T-zone, breakouts happen time to time). 

The best concealer this year was e.l.f. Maximum Coverage Concealer*, because it is so easy to blend + definitely gives very nice coverage. Best facial primer award goes to Too Faced Primed Poreless Skin Smoothing Primer* (no parabens, makes makeup stay in place all day long). For fixing eye brows - Anastasia Beverly Hills Beverly Hills Brow Fix and for filling - Urban Decay Faint eye shadow (Naked Basics palette).

For contouring I love using The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder in Medium 03 because it doesn't make my skin look orange and blends very easily. And it smells like honey, I can't get enough of it!

My most favorite blusher was Nars Orgasm, but I also love Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer which I bought at beautybay.com when they had Black Friday sale. Since it's too shimmery it can't be used for contouring, but it gives beautiful golden-pinky glow to the cheeks.

What about mascara? Pixi Large Lash Mascara is something I'd recommend to try if you need to add volume to your lashes. This mascara can be used by contact lenses wearers.

Next year I'm going to focus on skin/hair care products. Stay tuned!

What are yours 2014 beauty favorites?

Product marked with * are 100% vegan.

Happy New Year!

In 2014 I traveled to Spain, got sunburn while lying on Barcelona's beach, climbed Montserrat mountain, swam in the Mediterranean Sea when it was snowing back in my home country, experienced horse riding for the first time in my life, walked narrow streets in Amsterdam, was lifted into the sky by Tallinn Balloon, was photographed by professional photographer, lived in a tent for couple of days, got drunk with beautiful people, went to see Hurts and 30 Seconds to Mars gigs, made St. Valentines chocolate candies, bought maybe too much of makeup products...

Overall, it was a good year, but I hope that 2015 will be much, much better. I don't update this blog much, but I appreciate every comment and every follower. Thank you very much for being with me! I wish you a lot of happy moments in 2015 :)