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Last month was pretty makeup heavy, given that I usually talk about skincare most of the time here. But if you have been around here from the start, you might remember that this blog was about makeup as much as it was about skincare back in the days. I even had a series where I tried to recreate makeup looks from current campaigns to challenge me to leave my comfort zone. (You can find one here if you want to have a laugh)

 

 

Now I don‘t experiment as much as I used to, I know pretty well what suits me by now, but I still enjoy exploring different brands I hadn‘t heard of before. Even if it is just their range of neutral shadows and red lipsticks!

So let me show you what I added to my stash!

 

 

 

New in from Sweed Beauty

Sweed Beauty is a vegan makeup brand founded by a makeup artist that focuses on no makeup-makeup, so you can expect neutral shades, and that is especially known for their eye products, out of which I had the opportunity to try a few. While I am a liquid liner girl through and through, there are occasions when I want a smudged line rather than the precise flick, so I picked two of their SWEED Satin Kohl Eye Pencil (1,58 g for 20 €, full review here), one in Black and one in Dusty Brown. In my mind, khol is the one you can smudge easily for a lived in, grungy look, but these don’t smudge as easily as I expected. I need to play with them more before I can give you a full review though.

Staying true to my love of neutrals I also picked one of their SWEED Satin Eyeliner (1,2 g for 23 €, full review here) in the color Golden Beetle, a beautiful golden bronze. That one smudges more easily and seems perfect for summer beach days.

The last eye product I got is the SWEED Cloud Mascara in black (12 ml for 28 €, full review here) promising volume and length while separating the lashes, and while I am not sold on the volumizing claim yet, I can tell you that ever since receiving this mascara, I haven’t reached for anything else.

And lastly they send over a new release, the SWEED Miracle Powder (g for 42 €, full review here). I picked the shade 01 Light, but should probably have gone with 00 Fair, as by first impressions, Light is a little too bronzed for my face right now. It isn’t a setting powder, but a mineral powder foundation with buildable coverage and while I already know that it is too glowy for my personal taste, it has a beautiful blurring effect.

I need time to play a little more with each product, but am already taking notes so I can give you a dedicated video on everything.

 

 

New In from Real Techniques

I have been a long standing Pixiwoo fan, they taught me a lot about makeup in my early YouTube days, so obviously I had to get some of their brushes when they launched their own line, Real Techniques, back in 2012. Before that I had exclusively used Zoeva brushes and to be honest I don’t have much else in my stash, all brushes I need on a regular are from either brand and have stood up to time and washing without problems.

The Real Techniques Miracle 2-in-1 Powder Puff (1 sponge for 8,35 €, full review coming soon) is their newest release and has one orange spongey side to use with liquids and creams and one pink velvety one to use with powders. I am especially in love with the orange side as it satisfies my need for a sponge to use dry and doesn’t absorb as much product as the Beautyblender, my only concern is if I will be able to keep it looking decent when continuously using it with foundations, it is already looking quite strange despite having been washed.

 

 

New in from Queen Musia

When a beauty brand is named after a cat, it immediately gets bonus points from me. Queen Musia apparently was the founders cat and still alive when the products were starting to get developed. The brand is vegan. So far they have come out with a mascara, the Queen Musia Mascara 2053 with lash growth extract (9 ml for 36 $, full review coming soon) and a range of the Queen Musia Matte Creme Lipstick (4 g for 36 $, full review coming soon) housed in a pastel green spiral packaging.

The lipsticks come in six different shades and are, what I really appreciate, photographed on the website on several different people with different skin tones. That made it easy for me to determine that only two colors would suit both my undertones and preferences, so I opted for Ada, described as antique Tuscan terracotta, and Montreux, inspired by Swiss balcony geranium apparently.

As they only arrived two days ago, I only had the chance to photograph them and don’t know yet how they will perform on my lips.

 

 

New in from Anastasia Beverly Hills

In my quest to try and find a brow gel to keep my unruly brows in place, I have decided to forego trying more drugstore options and buy more expensive stuff. The problem I have is that on top of my brow, the hairs grow downward rather than up, making my brows look less shaped than the could be. But no matter which gel I apply, it keeps them up for no longer than two hours – if it manages to get them up at all.

As Anastasia Beverly Hills is supposed to be the go-to for brow stuff – I have been using her Dip Brow Pomade since 2016  – I caved and bought a mini size of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel (7,93 g for 29 €, full review coming soon). To be honest, so far I am underwhelmed. Of course I need to experiment more to see if I can rule out that I am making any mistakes, but then again, shouldn’t it be pretty straightforward?

In any case, if you have any recommendation, please tell me, I am starting to get desperate…

 

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