The Great Lipstain Review

I like lipstains. I want my makeup to be hassle-free and don't want to touch it up during the day. I have tried every lipstain that available in Finland so far and I've liked most of them, so I decided to share my experiences :)

All my lipstains! From top to bottom:
Gosh 003 Berry, Gosh 002 Pink, Rimmel 200 Grippy Grape, Rimmel 210 Everlasting Mauve,
Max Factor 06, Rimmel 600 Carry On Cherry and Lumene 15 Eternity.

Gosh

The Gosh stains are one of the first on the Finnish market. The come in only four colours: two reds, a pink and a brown shade. I have the pink and a dark a bit pink cool red, called 002 Pink and 003 Berry. Both are very pigmented (the pink is lighter, but still stays well and gives colour) and last well on my lips. They don't have a lip balm attached, but leave a nice finish. You can add balm on top to give moisture, it doesn't affect the colour.

Rimmel

Rimmel stains are the newest additions to the selection. They have a lip balm on one end and the standard felt tip at the other. I have three colours. 200 Grippy Grape is a cool, purple toned dark red, 210 Everlasting Mauve is more brownish and lighter, and 600 Carry On Cherry is a warm red. They are generally not as pigmented as the other stains and you can have tip marks on your lips if you are not careful. With two coats or more they settle nicely. Everlasting Mauve is really a "my lips but better" shade on my pout, it defines my lips and makes them just a bit darker. A great way to look smart!

Max Factor

This was the first lipstain I got. I have the 06 shade, which is a dark cool red. It applies perfectly, doesn't leave any brush marks and suits my skin tone very well. It's dark and best for heavier makeup looks. I wasn't too thrilled with the colour selection, this one was the only one I liked, but it works really well.

Lumene

The Finnish brand Lumene also came out with stains a while ago. The colours were quite boring, but fit the brand image. Most were really light which usually doesn't work with stains, but shade 15 Eternity caught my eye. It's very light compared to the other stains. I like how it goes on, evenly and easy. It's close to Rimmel Everlasting Mauve and lightly defines my lips. The lip balm also works well.

Gosh 003 Berry, Gosh 002 Pink, Rimmel 200 Grippy Grape, Rimmel Everlasting Mauve
Max Factor 06, Rimmel 600 Carry On Cherry and Lumene 15 Eternity.

A bit lighter shot of the swatches.

In general, I would say that light shades don't usually work in lipstain format. Light colour doesn't really show and it's hard to get on evenly. With dark reds the stains really shine, they wear well and last a long time and have no chance of smudging. Rimmel stains are the hardest ones to get to go on evenly (I think you can see it in the swatches too) but the others were easy to put on. 

My personal favourites are the Gosh 003 Berry, Max Factor 06 and Rimmel Everlasting Mauve.

I have also reviewed the Maybelline Super Stay 10h Tint Gloss, which is quite similar to lipstains but has more shine to it.

My Favourite Beauty Products

I wanted to share my favourites with you! Sometimes it takes a lot of time to find products that suit your skin and hair, so I hope this post helps someone find new products they like :)

The whole bunch.

I use other products, too, but these are the ones I'm very happy with and will definitely buy more when they run out. I don't have favourite companies, all the stuff is from different places. I like to try out new stuff but always do my research first.

Tigi Superstar Blowdry Lotion and a Lush shampoo bar.

I have been washing my hair with Lush solid shampoo for over a year. I've tried Seanik, but the shampoo I have now is something with lavender in it, works just as well. I feel like the solid shampoo washes hair really clean and makes conditioners penetrate it better. I think I'll be getting another Seanik once this bar runs out. Note! The shampoo tins are totally useless, you can't open them if your hands are wet. I use one without the lid.

Tigi Bedhead Superstar Blowdry Lotion helps hair get that poofy look when you blowdry it. I think the lotion helps the "poof" last better than blowdrying without any product on or with just mousse on. I put the lotion on top of a thermal protection spray. The only con is the bottle, there's no easy way to get the lotion out and into your hair without having it all over your hands. It's quite runny.

Black Magic Soap, DermaE Vitamin A Gel and Louis Widmer
Eye Contour Cream.

Black Magic Soap by One Hand Washes The Other has been a part of my skin care routine for half a year. I used to have Lush Fresh Farmacy and Coalface, but Coalface contained particles I felt were too large, and Fresh Farmacy just wasn't for my skin. Black Magic in a tube works nicely, it washes off my makeup (both eye makeup and the whole face) and leaves the skin soft and ready for lotion.

I got the DermaE Vitamin A Wrinkle Treatment Moisturizing Gel after seeing it on the Fashioned in Finland blog. There were a few things I wanted from iHerb and I just wanted to try a moisturiser, since it was spring and my winter moisturiser was too heavy. I use heavier lotions in the winter to cope with the freezing temperatures drying my skin, but in the summer I need a super light lotion lest my skin look greasy all the time. The DermaE gel is absorbed super fast and keeps my skin soft without adding shine.

Louis Widmer Eye Contour Cream is one of my long time favourites, I've been using it for a few years. It was one of the most popular eye creams when I did research online to find out what kind of an eye cream I should get. It's light, sinks into the skin fast and keeps the eye area looking fresh.

Missha Perfect Cover B.B. Cream in no. 13

I recently got a bigger bottle of the Missha Perfect Cover B.B. Cream I reviewed earlier, because I have been very happy with it. It covers lightly but can be built to medium coverage, and is rated SPF 42, so my  face is safe from the sun. It also goes on easily, and even though I don't use a primer every day, it still stays put with a light dusting of loose powder.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Sensai 38 °C Mascara and a pile of lipstains.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion is my Holy Grail of eyeshadow primers! I've tried around five different primers and most just don't work on my oily lids. Pixie Epoxy by Fyrinnae works and is excellent for glittery eyeshadows, but I use UDPP in my everyday makeup to hold the eyeshadow in place. The new tube is nice, but keeps the product more moist than the old wand type packaging. I've found out that to get the right consistency you only need to work the product a bit more; I apply it with my fingertips and first swirl it around on the tips before applying it on to the lid. This seems to get rid of the extra moisture. I think you could also leave the bottle open for a while and hope it dries to the right consistency.

Since my lids are oily, waterproof mascaras tend to smudge and water soluble ones don't hold up well in the Finnish weather. So Sensai 38 °C Mascara was my saviour! It's heat reactive and only comes off with water that's 38 ° Celsius ("warm", slightly higher than normal body temperature), and even then only in tiny strips with no smudging. It works well with the Black Magic Soap, I can just wash my whole face with the soap and warm water and the mascara comes off with the rest of the makeup.

I added lipstains in general, since they are so handy and instantly give your face a sophisticated look. I usually wear a lipstain that I put on in the morning around eight or nine, and it lasts all through the day and even through lunch ;P If I'm going out in the evening, I'll touch it up, but usually on my lips the stains last over eight hours. I have stains by Rimmel, Lumene, Max Factor and Gosh, and every one performs well.

MavaDry by Mavala.

I usually wear UV-gel nails that I make myself, but I use regular polish on them so the look is easy to change. I don't have that many polishes, but the one product I always return to is the MavaDry nail polish fast dry top coat. I'm impatient and don't want to wait for fifteen minutes for the polish to set, so I just apply a thick coat of MavaDry and it's all done in a few minutes. I think this is the third bottle I've gone through in a few years. It gives a shiny finish and dries the polish, so you can skip the usual top coat. It has a slight purple tinge to enhance the polish colour, but I don't think you can really see it on the finished nails.

That's all! I also have eyeshadows I use regularly and a blush that I tend to put on 80% of the time, but I wanted this list to be a more general list on beauty products. I might do another one on my makeup products later on.

Living Room Picnic

Yesterday I was out all day celebrating a friend's bachelorette party. Had so much fun and I'm looking forward to the wedding, haven't been to a wedding in ages! We took part in the gay pride march, had a picnic, went to the Särkänniemi amusement park, had some delicious pizza and went out to a club.

Almost everyone from the party, we didn't get a group shot with everyone present!

So today I've just been lounging and cleaning the apartment lazily. My other half and me decided to get the barbecue going and make a late lunch. The coffee table had been moved to make room and I was too lazy to put it back, so I came up with an idea to have a picnic in the living room.

I laid a tablecloth on the carpet and brought out some plates while my other half was taking care of the food. We gilled zucchini slices with grated cheese, skewers with bell peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes, sweet potato sticks and chicken with teriyaki sauce. My other half is an excellent cook and had just the right sauces for everything, it was super delicious! I handled the drinks by chilling some French dry cider ;)

The tablecloth is from H&M Home, I really wish they would open a store in
Tampere so I won't have to shop at Helsinki or the net!

Skewers with mushrooms, bell peppers and tomatoes.

Grilled zucchini slices with cheese.

Chicken teriyaki.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend, I sure did!

Anniversary!

Me and my other half have been together for two years now! To celebrate, we went to eat at a restaurant and have a few delicious beers.

Two years isn't long, but I'm so happy I have him by my side. We met at a friend's birthday party. He brought beer to the lake while everyone was swimming. It was a really hot day and drinking cold beer while floating in the lake was amazing, gotta appreciate a guy who comes up with such an idea! And now we have lived together for little over a year! So my tip to anyone seeking a partner: always offer cold beverages on hot days ;P

The pictures came out a bit grainy, it was so dark when we were ready.

Going out. I wore my red dress from Restyle and
shoes from H&M. His jeans are from H&M too,
we went shopping together and found the perfect
jeans for him in the ladies department ;P The shirt
is by Collectif and boots by New Rock.

Being cute!

Up to our usual antics ;)

I did a dark smoky look, as it has been some time since I've worn anything like it. I haven't put on eyeshadow every day because I'm on vacation, doing things like going to Ikea, visiting flea markets and bicycling in the rain, mostly.

I used:

Scaredy Cat Nevermore (with Evil Shades mixing medium)

Sugarpill Tako (brow bone and inner corner)

Dark Sunshine

Yesterday I went to check out a new club called the Dark Sunshine Summer Club. The doors opened at eleven, which was a bit late for my friend and me, so we didn't stay long. I had planned to just do something with my hair and put on some eyeshadow, but kinda overdid it ;P

I curled my hair with a curling stick, but it looked kinda flat and boring, so I put it up in two messy buns.

I was thinking of doing a smoky look with purple, but remembered how nice Polar Bear from Fyrinnae looked with a plum colour, I put some on. This is what came out!

I used:

Concrete Minerals Jezebel (also on the brows, but on top of black it looked really dark)

Fyrinnae Polar Bear

Sugarpill Tako (inners corners and brow bones)

And the outfit! I fixed the skirt earlier and now it fits perfectly! I'm getting the lowest lily on the tattoo fixed, it should be a cooler pink, but I haven't had the time to stop by the tattoo parlour to see when the tattooist has time. The club was really nice, it's a shame it's in the middle of the week so not that many people can come and stay so late.

Top - Second hand (Necessary Evil)

Belt - Sokos

Skirt - Restyle (modified)

Shoes - New Rock

Where I Live

A few people suggested a post about my home when I asked for feedback in the giveaway post. So here it is! Today was such a nice sunny day; perfect for taking a few pictures.

Actually we just visited a bank and are contemplating on buying our own apartment, but we have no hurry to leave this one. It's rented, but really spacious and right in the middle of the city so everything is near.

On to the pictures!

Living room and hallway

First the living room area. It includes the sofa and armchairs, my vanity, an aquarium, and a dining table that we tend to use only for crafts or when friends come over for dinner. The sofa, armchairs and table were bought from an antique shop. They are not that old though, the cushions are made of foam. We also have no less than three bookshelves in the living room and would need one more, because all the books just don't fit on the shelves at the moment! 

The sofa and tons of pillows.

Nana sitting on the aquarium, it's her favourite spot!

A painted plaster angel in an Ikea frame and a small mirror from Tiimari on
top of the dining table.

Mörkö sleeping in an armchair in front of the cd shelves and book shelves.

I'm not good with plants, but a few have bravely survived on the window sill next to the balcony.
We have electric candles for autumn evenings, that way the kitties don't set anything on fire.

Another view of one of the armchairs. A lamb pelt, tons of cds, Wii controllers
and a purple skull sitting on a cool lamp. This kind of sums up the apartment ;P

I had the turquoise pillows in my previous apartment, but luckily they went well
with the red sofa!

My other half's formidable gas mask collection hanging on old bedsprings
on the wall. A real conversation starter ;)

Mörkö enjoying himself on the pelt a little more. He's just too cute!

The hallway leading to the living room. I have collected frames
and mirrors there, since the walls were really plain and boring.
The reindeer antlers are used to hold sunglasses. You can also
see a peek of the dining table, I re-upholstered the chairs when
we moved in a year ago, they used to have fugly beige cushions.

Some of the frames in the hallway. I haven't found nice pictures
in all of them yet, but I'm sure some will come up with time. The
oval frame holds an Amelia Arsenic flyer, the large black one
an old painting by me and the golden one a picture of me I
gave my other half for Christmas. The plastic frames are
from Urban Outfitters.

My vanity is in the living room area also, here's how I store my earrings!

Balcony

Our balcony gives to the west so it's sunny in the afternoon. Last summer we grew herbs there, but I think the cats ate most of them and I forgot to water the rest ;P This summer we got an electric barbecue we can use on the balcony and the waterpipe is there, so there's still much use.

The balcony was so messy I didn't take more pictures! But here's Nivek on the spare cat tree we put
there so the cats can enjoy the view.

Bedroom

Our bedroom is super hot in the mornings, since the first rays of the sun hit the window. And we were so goth we got black dim-out curtains instead of white ones ;) It's a bit small for us, since there's so little closet space and most of the clothes are on racks that take up some space. Then there's the shoe collection...

Möttönen sitting on the cow hide we use for a carpet. You can see my fancy
pantyhose organizers in the back, I covered old shoe boxes with wallpaper I got
from the flea market.

Tons of black clothes! We have two racks plus two closets.

Shoes. There's a shelf just for boots and a pile of shoe boxes for smaller shoes. Needs dusting!

The bedroom curtains. I pondered over buying these for months, but finally got them and
couldn't be happier. The pattern is called Mandariini and the fabric is from Vallila. I love their
large, ornamental designs!

The bedspread and some pillows.

My hat storage! I'm getting more of the stripey boxes from Ikea,
I was just too sloppy last time there and accidentally picked a
packet of boxes that was damaged, so I have to go and exchange it.

The bedroom setup: wrinkly bedspread, a cat on top, some
laundry in a basket and the cow hide on the floor.

Study

The study is one of my favourite places in the apartment. We wanted a two bedroom apartment so we can have a decent study, since both of us work from home sometimes. It's usually messy, so I didn't take many pictures, but basically it has two shelves for random stuff and about five meters of table. There's room for two computers (three with my other half's work laptop) and I can still find space for my sewing machine when I need it. I do a lot of crafts, so decent workspace is essential!

My tiny plaster angels and the corner of my notice board.

Kitchen

The kitchen is nice, but the cupboards are super ugly and the fridge is really old. There was room for a dining table, but since we never eat at the table anyway, we just put a sofa and a coffee table there. Works fine and it's one of the cat's favourite spots!

I got this from my mom, she had seen the post about the A for Arsenic
necklace and remembered this old print she had. It's really pretty! I might change
the frame, but it's nice as it is, also. It was originally my grandmother's.

The kitchen sofa, coffee table and a cat. There's also part of a pink barbecue (a friend's,
it's just stored here at the moment) and my lovely orchid in the back.

The kitchen is the place where I shove all the kitschy stuff! Here you can see
stone cats my mom bought from New York, the remote for my camera (I take my
outfit photos in the kitchen) and vampire fangs bottle opener from Leipzig.

Dried chili peppers. My other half loves spicy food!

Sugar, cocoa, dried mint leaves and chickpeas.

Pretty golden dishes and a tin can with tea bags in it. You can see my other half
cooking in the reflection ;P

An orchid. I got this from the supermarket, it was the last one left and looked
a bit worse for wear, but it really bloomed when I took it in. Usually I suck with
flowers (just look at the pimpernels in the photo below) but me and the orchid
really hit off! You can see earlier pics here!

Möttönen and Nana looking hungrily at my sorry looking pimpernels on the
kitchen table.

That's all! We are not allowed to paint the walls, so they are white and boring. We installed the laminate floor ourselves to cover the horrible yellowed plastic floor the apartment used to have. I'm dreaming of owning an apartment, so we could paint it just the way we want, since I love decorating and am not afraid to use machinery or do big changes. A brand new kitchen would be awesome, my other half could cook even more delicious meals and we could choose any colour cupboards we like! It's good to have things to dream about, and owning an apartment is not a too hard one to make come true :)