Com-pore-ison

You know what people, I'm not sure about this kind of primer. As I said in my last post, I love the texture of these things, but after a weekend of testing, I'm not convinced. Nonetheless, let's look at the difference between high end Porefessional and drugstore find Flower Perfection.

To be fair, I didn't give these two too much time before judging them. I wore both one day this weekend. I put on Flower Perfection Saturday morning, under my BB cream and powder foundation. I also wore some blush and bronzer. Same thing for Porefessional on sunday. That's that. I wore both a whole day and I didn't re-apply any make-up. I was outside both days.

I can't say either one of these made my make-up stay put any longer. Frankly, I don't really care, I don't mind re-applying. It would really impress me to find a product that actually fixed my make-up, these two don't, as expected.

They are really similar to each other when it comes to texture, feel and coverage. Both disappointed me a bit when it comes to tightening my pores. When testing them on my hand they both have the same effect, erasing fine lines and mattifying a little. Neither one of them is powerful enough to help my face. Bummer. I can see the magic happen on my hand, and I know I would absolutely love them if they did the same on my face. Maybe my pores are just too wide. Or maybe I have to wait until I've got some wrinkles to try it again. For now, nothing to get exited about here.

They both make my face feel nice. They're very gentle and soft on the skin. No complaints there whatsoever. They provide a smooth base for my make-up, although I can't help but wonder of that smoothness isn't erased when I put on my BB-cream. These primers seem so fragile...

Another similarity is the fact that they do nothing for my oily skin. It looks a tiny bit more matte at first, but it seems even more oily than usual a little while later. What's the point if they do that? Don't let the looks deceive you, these things look as matte as anything in the jar or on your hand, but for combo skin? I could get over this fact of they leveled my skin out better, but since they don't, no points here.

Maybe we should look at some differences, the only way to decide whether the most expensive product is also the best one. First of all: the packaging. Bourjois' tiny fiddly jar is absolutely no match for Porefessional's tube. What were they thinking, putting this in a jar? It almost guarantees that you will use too much. The tube is way more economical. A little goes a really long way with these products, the jar is just asking for using it up much sooner than you should. Porefessional wins this round with eyes closed.

The only other difference is the colour. Where Flower Perfection is translucent, Porefessional has a bit of a sandy colour. The colour gets into my pores and makes it a tiny bit visible on my face, which I don't like about a primer. It should be either invisible, or it should have a colour that corrects redness. Otherwise there is no point in it having a colour for me. So, Bourjois gets a point for that. 

We have a tie! If I would have to pick one I would still go for Bourjois because of the lack of colour and a very subtle hint of nice scent. However, this kind of product is not for me. It does too little for my face to balance out the fact that it makes it oily. I wish I would've liked it, because I'm still wondering about Clinique's pore filler with the same kind of  formula, but I'm afraid it would be a waste of money if not even Porefessional works for me, as it is such a popular product. I did only use it in the conventional way, maybe it will prove useful as a top coat, for a nice finish. I've heard of it being used that way.

For now my favourite primer is still Essence Sublime by L'Occitane. It's not comparable to the ones I talked about here, since it's a creamy one. But it does a much better job at tightening my pores subtly. It also feels like a moisturiser to my face, but it's got very good mattifying power too. Thank God I love it so much, 'cause it's mighty expensive!

If you love one of these primers and you think I'm doing it wrong, please, feel free to correct me!

Lots of light,

Sloppy D.

First impression: pore putty

There's something I need to talk about, you guys. Yesterday I was shopping for a gift for a friend and of course, I ended up in a drugstore. On the Bourjois stand I found a tiny jar, nearly hidden away between all the big flashy products. It turned out to be a primer, and the texture fascinated me so much I just had to take it home with me. It even fascinates me so I want to look into other brands that carry this type of primer.

I know I'm late with this again, but I had never seen anything like it before. I've used two primers before, Essence Sublime by L'occitane and That Gal by Benefit. Both are creamy.  So, you can imagine my amazement when I stumbled upon a primer with this kind of texture.

For those of you who, like me, have been living under a rock, this thing looks like a balm, but doesn't feel anything like it. It looks kind of grainy when you dab your finger in it, but it turns to something velvety once it's on your skin. Not a powder, but definitely nothing creamy either. I think it's really hard to describe, you should get a hand on a tester at a drugstore, you have to feel it for yourself.

Anyway, this thing is translucent, so it has absolutely no color and it doesn't show at all on your face. I tested it on my hand and noticed the lines on my hand would fade away without looking like anything was on it. I was hoping for the same effect on my face. It would be great for summer since it feels like there's nothing on your face and it doesn't matter if you get sweaty.

So, today I opened my little jar (7ml, you serious, Bourjois??). My first impression was that this wouldn't last two weeks if I used it every day, but I don't mind that anymore. I've discovered there are lots of brands that have stuff with this texture and I'm eager to try them. But more on that later. Nonetheless, it costs € 10 a jar so it's quite expensive.

It doesn't have as big of an effect on my face as it did on my hand in the store. I don't really see any pore-tightening. It feels extremely light on my face and it has a beautiful, subtle scent, so that part is great. I'm wondering what the effect will be when I actually put foundation over it. I think it will look nice, but that's not what I bought it for. I don't like wearing foundation in summer. But I'll try and see. Maybe with a bit of a coloured powder it will do its magic.

I've read a few things online about it today. Like, you should put it over your foundation, it has no shine control and it causes terrible breakouts. I put it on with some colorless fixing powder (Essence, All About Matt) and a few hours later I have no shine whatsoever. It might be because of the powder though, I'll have to try it with a non-mattifying powder.

I haven't seen any miracles happen yet, but it's certainly made me very curious about experimenting with it. I've also heard it being compared to Benefit Porefessional. By a stroke of luck I got a sample of that a few weeks ago, I will definitly try and compare. For now, I'll be wearing the Bourjois one in several ways so I can really see what it does. I'll keep you posted!

Lots of light,

Sloppy D.

Quick post: Sloppy day lipstick

The Color Boost is helping me feel a tiny bit less sloppy at work today

It's very warm in my house nowadays, which leads to me really, really, not wanting to put on make-up. I'm afraid I'll sweat it all off. Could take some with me and fix myself up at work I guess, but... Anyway, this morning I was in a hurry but I felt uneasy at leaving the house with absolutely nothing on my face, since my outfit's very dull (again, in a hurry) today. I grabbed the first flashy thing in my lipstick box and hurried out. It turned out to be my Bourjois Color Boost lip crayon and I'm glad about that.

Bourjois Color Boost lip crayon n°01

I bought this lip crayon in n°01, Red Sunrise, way back (it's actually not that long ago) when I'd just started to wear lipstick on a daily basis. I remember liking it back then and wearing it religiously until I discovered the L'oréal Color Riche l'extraordinaire lip lacquers and I became addicted to those. I remember liking the Color Boost crayon because it felt very nourishing to my lips. I loved the colour too because it was my very first colour that wasn't dull and had a bit of a pop to it (in those days it looked totally extreme to me, imagine that). What I didn't like was that it got into the fine lines of my lips like crazy.

So, up until this morning it had been gathering dust for quite a while. When I put it on I remembered all things I had liked about it and I'm very glad I picked this one, because the colour gives my dull outfit a hint of colour, without being overpowering. The last lipsticks I've bought have either been nude or very flashy.

About it getting in the fine lines of my lips: since I've bought it I've learnt to prep my lips with some lip balm. That does help a lot. It still gets in there but it's waaay less noticeable than when my lips aren't prepped. I still love how it feels as nourishing as a lip balm. It doesn't dry out my lips and the feeling is really addicting. I like re-applying it now and then.

About re-applying,  this crayon does need that. Don't be fooled by the packaging, saying it lasts up to 10 hours and is waterproof. That would be great, but no, it doesn't do that at all. However, it does have quite a bit op lasting power. I've only re-applied it once since this morning (it's now nearly one P.M.) and there was still quite a bit of colour left. Also, apart from the line crawling it stayed in place.

I think I would like to get more of these, but I've been wondering about the Clinique ones. Maybe I should get one of those so I can compare them (yeah, I'm looking for excuses to shop more).

This adult toy does wonders for my hair

A lot of people say it looks kind of phishy. I have to admit I made sure my parents knew it was a hairstyling product before I opened the box. I told them so many times when I ordered it, when it arrived and right before opening it, they must have found it even more suspicious. Anyway, its weird look doesn't take away from the fact that it's pure magic. Let's talk about the Revlon Curl Magic bubble curling wand!

This is a really long post. In a hurry? Skip to the conclusion (in italic) way down below!

I saw this thing on Itsjudytime on YouTube. Despite all the comments on how Judy was "doing it wrong", I really liked the effect. It looked a bit messy (sloppy, ya know), not like those boring curls that are all the same size you get from a classical curling iron. At the $20 mark I thought this fascinating thing was definitely worth seeing what I could do with it. The hunt was open!

After looking for a European version for ages, I gave up on my continent. As far as I know, a bubble wand like this isn't available in European stores or web shops yet. Bummer. Normally, I would give up by this time, but I wanted it so badly I just tried to find the Revlon one. I managed to find a store on Amazon(.com) that shipped it to Belgium, and voilà, my magic wand was on its way.

It's only after I hastily ordered it (like it would get sold out within the five minutes it would take to see which Amazon I was on) that I realized I'd bought it from America, where the plugs and voltage are quite different... But you know that shopping rush when you've been looking for something for so long and when you find it your mind goes blank until it's yours, right? (it might just be me)

Luckily, the wand turned out to be suitable for worldwide dual voltage, so the only thing that I needed to use it here was a plug adapter. The funny thing is, I bought the wand for $22 (€16!) and the adapter cost me more than the wand (€18). That's really stupid, I know, but in the end, I think it was worth the investment. I'm sure you can find an American to European adapter for like €3 online, but after looking for it a while and considering what I would have to do to return it if it didn't work, I decided on just going to a real store. I'm glad I did that, 'cause I bought a wrong one at first, but I'll tell you about that later on.

Now, let's finally get to the product and what it does. The wand can be used in several ways. You can swirl your hair in between the bubbles for tight little curls. By placing your hair on top of the bubbles you get a wider, more mermaid like curl. As usual I didn't go for the conventional way on the packaging, because I wanted a mix between tight and loose curls. I'm sure if you focus on it you can get your hair to kinda look like Merida's in Brave (the look I was going for). I didn't put much time and effort in it, because I desperately wanted to test it but it was already late at night. I took wide strands of hair and wrapped them evenly over the wand. So without aiming them in between or on top of the bubbles. Just all over the place! It took me about 15 minutes to make my hair look like this (excuse the bad pictures).

left: right after curling, right: a day later, about noon

On the left you can kinda see what it looked like when I'd just curled it (before combing). It gave me a great mix between nice, tight curls and loose waves. For me, this look is a bit too 17th century, but if you want real dramatic curls it's wonderful. Once I'd combed it it looked perfect for a night out. Still dramatic, something in between curls and waves.

On the right you can see what my hair looked like a day later. It's the exact wavy look I like for a casual day out. Still not too much for work either. I'm already exited to use this right before a party at evening, knowing my hair will look great for work in the morning. That's more than I bargained for when I bought this cheap thing.

I thought handling this wand would be really tough, because I'm not used to using clipless wands.  I the comments on amazon I read horror stories about people who burnt themselves constantly with this thing. Since I believe I'm the most clumsy person in Europe, I already pictured tearful scenes of desperation and third degree burns. The wand comes with a heat protection glove and although it works for the heat, I have to agree with all other users that it's just a pain to use. I gave up on using it very quickly. So, how many times have I burnt myself? Guess what? None! People reading this who don't know me will have to take my word on this, but if I don't burn myself, there's no reason anyone should. If you use this thing how it's supposed to be used, I'm pretty sure you'll be alright.

But is it easy to use? Yes! It's super easy! I like it much better than my iron with clip. I don't have to redo every curl, which is the fact with my iron with clip. Apparently, a clipless iron just works better for clumsy me. I have, however, read about a lot of people who think clipless irons are a lot harder to use, so I can't guarantee you'll like that aspect of the Curl Magic wand.

Some last details about the wand that might be interesting to you are that it has several heat settings (actually quite a lot). I have thick hair and I don't even set it to the highest setting, so it's quite powerful. It also has an on/off button and the bubble on the very tip of the wand is made from a material that doesn't heat up. That's very nice to rest your curling hand on while you wait for the magic to happen. The cord is quite long, but not too long so it doesn't get in the way.  Some people say they find the handle too thin, but I like it a lot. It's not as bulky as most handles, I think it's perfect.

Conclusion: I love, love, love this thing and I don't mind at all that I had to buy an adapter to use it, because this wand is so cheap for what it does. At $22 it's definitely a bargain, considering I paid at least double for my straight barrel curling iron with clip and I like the Curl Magic bubble wand twenty times better. I don't think I'll be switching to my old wand any time soon. You can get a lot of different curly or wavy looks and the curls stay in very long.  My close friend and fellow blogger Anine saw me two days after I'd curled my hair with it and she thought I'd curled it right before we met up.

Warning: keep in mind that to use this thing in Europe, you will need a plug adapter. It can handle dual voltage, so no problem there, but of course the American plug won't fit in European sockets. You can come by a plug adapter very easily online, HOWEVER: the plug is not just an ordinary A-type plug, but an A type with two poles that are different in width. Most European adapters have two holes that are equally large, so make sure you get the right type. It shouldn't be hard to find though, I found mine here.  

As you can see, two different poles, two different holes

If you've been looking for the perfect curling wand, don't hesitate. It might seem like a fuss to use an American one in Europe, but I don't think we have anything that compares to this wand in Europe and it's really worth the effort! If you have any concerns or questions or if you have a curling iron you couldn't miss for the world, please let me know in the comments below.

Lots of light,

Sloppy D.

Open for business!

Yo!

I hereby officially open the Sloppy Diva blog! Hurray! *and there was much rejoicing*

Now, to wait for visitors...

Anyway, have fun! suggestions and stuff welcome :). Hatin' unwelcome. I'm just a fragile little girl who wants to write a little...