Duty Free Lovin': Givenchy Travel Exclusive

Hi dolls! I'm home and it feels great to be back!

One of my favorite things about travelling is checking out Duty Free goodies. There are always tons of exclusive travel collections. If you ever happen to be at the Miami International Airport near gate D20, check out their Duty Free. It is ahhhh-mazing. You'll find high-end brands like Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, La Praire, Sisley, and drugstore brands like Revlon and L'oreal. There is something for everyone. As I said before, Duty Frees have exclusive makeup "travel" collections.

I went for this lovely Givenchy "Givenchy Le-Makeup Must-Haves". I apologize in advance for the crappy lighting. I will take proper pictures during day-light and swatch the entire palette for you soon.

The palette is sturdy yet lightweight. Very travel friendly, I would say.

I think the value is pretty good, considering this palette cost me $50 and it comes with: a blush (3g), a face powder (8g), two lipsticks (2 x 1g: dark rose, pink), four eyeshadows (4 x 0.9g: sparkly black, lilac, soft brown and a shimmery white), a black kohl pencil (0.21g) and two applicators (blush and eyeshadow).

I did get to swatch these at the Duty Free, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. The pigmentation convinced me. Again, I will swatch these for you during daylight. 

I'm very excited to be back and to catch up with all of your blogs. Much love to everyone! XOXO

Final US Haul + Where Have I Been?

Hi my loves!

I know it's been a while since I last wrote a post, but I had been very busy getting ready for my brother's wedding which was on the 18th in Puerto Rico (which I LOVED). I came back to Miami on the 21st. The wedding was beautiful, and I'm very happy for my brother and my now sister-in-law, who is Puerto Rican. 

I will be going back home to Venezuela tomorrow, so I will be blogging again very soon. I have tons of info on products I have tested and liked, tested and returned. 

If you're interested in the haul and pictures from Puerto Rico, continue reading!

Super Sephora Haul!

Hi dolls! And guys if you read me, too.

I have no idea how I'm still awake. It is 9:45pm Eastern Time and I've been awake since 2AM. Yup. The flight went fine. The jump from Maracaibo to Miami is pretty quick - two hours and forty minutes. 

I told you I was bringing all of you with me, so I'm taking as many pics as I can!

First of all, here are some pictures I took off the plane. This is the Caribbean Sea.  

This is the view from our condo. I have so many memories of this place... I've been coming here since I was a newborn!

The area is called Aventura - it's very safe and quiet. I love it because you can walk at any time of the day. My mom, my sister and I took a shuttle to Aventura Mall which is a mile away, and we came back walking at 8pm. 

Now onto the haul... 

I got to the mall and went straight to Sephora! I wanted someone to pinch me... these vacations are my only time to shop because everything is too overpriced in Venezuela. Aside from that, you can barely find anything.

I'm a VIB member, which means "Very Important Beauty Insider". You get a few extra perks like discounts, invitations to private events, etc. I got a one on one session with a beauty adviser who was so kind. She gave me tons of advice on skincare and haircare. I talked to her about my blog and about my passion for skincare and makeup, and she gave me tons of samples (you'll see that at the end).

Please excuse my lousy pictures. I took them with my phone. 

The lady strongly suggested the Clarisonic. She said it really makes a difference in ones' skincare regimen. She advised me to go with the cheapest one, because it gets the job done. She used it on me today and it felt quite nice. 

The lady also put this mask on my face, and WOWZA! My skin was glowing afterwards. She left it on for thirty minutes and then peeled it off. It hurts a wee-bit when its being peeled, but it's tolerable. This is a detoxifying mask. 

There are SO many face oils in the market right now. I told her I was confused because there are people raving so much about Josie Maran's Argan Oil, Marula Oil, the one by Nude, one by Fresh. She recommended me the one by Fresh (I love the brand anyway) and she added a few drops of this on my face after removing the mask. My skin was pink and glowing. Loved it, so I got it.

She also applied this Ojon hair mask and told me to leave it on overnight. She even braided my hair :)

I needed a cleanser for my to use with my Clarisonic, so I got the Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel. I had tried this on a kit before and loved how a little went such a long way. It also has glycolic acid = exfoliating = glowing skin.

This product by Kate Somerville is one I had been wanting to try out. It's supposed to be amazing to clear out nasty pimples.

Another product with glycolic acid, the Perricone MD Firming Facial Toner. This brand is the most sold in Sephora.

And more hair stuff. I was hesitant about this one... have any of you tried this? I saw it on an infomercial the first time... and I'm always dubious when it comes to infomercials. A lot of them seem fake to me. But after reading many, many reviews online before coming to the States, and after noticing there was a try-it-out-kit, I decided to get it. According to the Sephora website:

What it does:
Cleanse, condition, nourish, and repair your locks with this collection of WEN favorites for all hair types. The five-in-one Cleansing Conditioner will pamper and invigorate your stressed-out tresses with its luxurious formula of herbal extracts like aloe leaf juice and sweet almond oil. The Re Moist Intensive Hair Treatment is a super-nourishing, weekly mask that promises to give your hair more body and a beautiful, healthy shine. The Replenishing Treatment Mist is a lightweight, hydrating formula specially designed as a quick pick-me-up to increase volume and body between washes. 

This set contains:
- 12 oz Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner 
- 2 oz Sweet Almond Mint Re Moist Intensive Hair Treatment 
- 2 oz Sweet Almond Mint Replenishing Treatment Mist 

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
- Sulfates 
- Synthetic Dyes
- Petrochemicals
- Phthalates 
- Triclosan 

And finally, THE SAMPLES!!!!! She gave me tons! I will be reviewing all of these products individually in a few months to give you proper and genuine opinions.

Enough for tonight. I should take a nice warm shower and go straight to bed. My eyes are achy. 

Have you tried any of these products? 

Mini Clinique Haul

Clinique is a brand for some reason I've never been drawn to. I honestly don't know why. Well, maybe I've just been really satisfied with French Pharmacy products and haven't wanted to try anything else other than a few things here and there. So I went for a mini haul today and I wanted to share it with you.

I went to the store to get an eye serum, since my all time favorite Vichy Roll-On is almost empty (second tube). Why is it that when we, women go to a store to get one thing, we end up getting something else we don't need? 

What I got today that I didn't need was an eyebrow pencil. I already have my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder duo and it works just fine, but I guess I wanted to try a stick for my brows. And it had great reviews...

Excuse my dispersion, I am quite sleepy. I was talking about the serum! Yes! I got the All About Eyes Serum. The saleswoman was kind enough to give me many samples to try out (woohoo!). Full list of products in the pictures above:

Products I Purchased

1. All About Eyes Serum: a lot lighter than my Vichy Aqualia Thermal Roll-On. Less tightening too. This product claims to reduce puffiness and dark circles. We'll see...

2. Superfine Liner for Brows (02 Soft Brown)

Samples I Received

1. Repairwear Laser Focus All Smooth Makeup: It doesn't have a shade # but it's too dark for me.

2. Aromatics Elixir: a grandma-smelling perfume I will probably give away to someone older.

3. Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle and UV Damage Corrector: lightweight, absorbs quickly. 

4. Liquid Facial Soap: tried it tonight. It's clear and soapy feeling. I prefer sticking with my Farmhouse Fresh One Fine Day Face Polish for the morning (LOVE!!) and REN No.1 Purity Cleansing Balm for the evening. More natural! 

5. Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer: a thick, white cream that absorbs quickly. 

6. Repairwear Intensive Eye Cream: thick, a little goes a long way. 

7. Repairwear Uplifting Firming Cream: doesn't "tighten". It's thick but the skin absorbs it quickly. No greasy feeling. 

I obviously cannot give much input on these products other than texture descriptions, because they're samples and I just got them. 

Have you ever used any of these products? Thoughts? Opinions?

Night night! xoxo

Instant Wake-Me Up In A Minute? Yes!

Sorry to "Spam" your Reading List, but I felt tonight was the night to write this post for two reasons:

1. I woke up at 5:30am today and it's currently 8:18pm and I have not slept at all -- I'm going to bed after this.

2. I haven't had a good day at all and I cried a lot this afternoon due to personal issues.

So not only do I look tired, but my eyes get very swollen and red when I cry, even if I cry a little bit. 

I went to the store in the hunt for something with chocolate, and I also got two makeup products which I'm absolutely happy I got. 

Tonight is the night to blog about this because the two products that I bought are post-cry-approved/instant-wake-me-up-approved.

Whether you look tired from crying or lack of sleep, you'll thank me later.

The Haul

1. Balocco Wafers filled with Cocoa Cream
2. Revlon Lip Butter in the shade Candy Apple
3. Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in the shade 10 Light



The cookies: if you see these, get them. They are SO good.

Now to the part that interests you: the makeup. 

I am honestly extremely impressed with the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer. 

I was standing at the drugstore remembering Wayne Goss rave about the foundation, thinking to myself: do I really need another foundation? To decrease the sense of guilt for already buying another concealer which I definitely do not need, I didn't get the foundation. 

On to the photo which will probably shock you the most:

Ladies and gentlemen: the photo to the left is me with no makeup whatsoever at all. Dark circles and swollen lids due to crying. My skin is very spotty at the moment as well. 

No filters/editing on either pictures.

The photo to the right is me after applying the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer below my eyes, around the nose and on visible blemishes. That's it.

I know. 

Texture & First Impressions

The Maybelline Fit Me Concealer feels very runny, but that makes it very easy to blend. 

I applied it directly to my skin and blended it with my fingertips.

This is probably one of the best drugstore-concealers I've ever tried. I find most of them to glide on patchy and to look cakey. This one has a very thin consistency and it looks very natural on the skin. I would say this is medium coverage. 

On to the Lipstick!

I have seen this lipstick (not the same shade) on some of your blogs (I'm talking to you, beauties!) and after reading great reviews, I decided to get one. A bright color to lighten up my mood. 

This lipstick is very creamy and actually very pigmented considering it feels more like a balm than a lipstick.

The shade reminds me of a stain-like color. A flattering orangy-red.


So it's obviously too soon to review these, but I wanted to give you my first impressions. I'll definitely keep you posted on my thoughts during the next few weeks in terms of how long-lasting they are and whether I had any problems with them or not.

What do you think of the Maybelline Fit Me Concaler? Were you as wow-ed as me by the coverage? 

Do you own any Revlon Lip Butters? Which are your favorite shades?

Thanks for reading. Have a lovely, beautiful night. xx