All posts filed under: Cosmetica

Back to blogging?

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Hey there! How are you? It’s been a while, I know. Who would have thought? How a worldwide quarantine tricked me out of my blogging confinement.  A whole year has come and gone, a new one has started once more (and what a year 2020 has been up to now). I’ve been away for quite a while, and I’d love to reconnect with you. My lastpost dates back to December 2018, and I kind of hit a wall around that point. In the months prior, I had been running myself ragged, stressing and fretting constantly, not only about life or work, but especially about blogging. Inspiration had flown straight out of the window, that love and passion seemingly evaporated and all but lost, and I just did not want to blog anymore. Sounds crude, I know, but if I’m being completely honest, that’s exactly what it was. I just did not feel like blogging anymore. The ever-changing nature of blogging, Social Media and PR had thrown me for a loop, especially the whole (Instagram) Influencer …

Winter Bases

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Also known as “The One That Was Supposed To Be Called Summer Bases But Evolved Into Winter Foundations” ( somehow I hardly wore any bases between May and October). Foundations and coverage have found their way back into  my make up stash, and these 4 bases have been tried and tested these last few months. Spoiler alert, there were 2 absolute winners, one that was just so-so, and one that turned out to be a complete no-no. First up, I went straight fo the Shiseido Waso Colour Smart Day Moisturizer. After originally dismissing this little tube as not being moisturizing enough for my Sahara dry skin,  I dug it back out a month or two ago and reintroduced it into my routine, but with a little twist. Instead of just going by its moisturizing mismatch with my skin, I started layering it over my Sukin Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin as a base, a little cover-up operation without having to go for a heavy hitter foundation or a glitter-ball, all too quick at disappearing BB/CC Cream, …

Kneipp Patchouli and Shea Butter Body Cream

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I feel like I am going about this winter skin thing backwards, as I am only now getting round to writing about the “fattiest” cream that kept me going this winter, but somehow my skin only realized winter had kicked in about a month and a half ago. Up until the end of January, I was happily lathering myself with the La Roche Posay Lipikar AP+ Balm every two to three days, never feeling itchy or scratchy, and generally not feeling that winter blues. However, the unthinkable happened, I ran out of the LRP Lipikar AP+ (shock horror, my back up had vanished as well), and even my pharmacist had run out of it’s stock as well. I dove into the stockpile that I affectionately call my little beauty hall, and the Kneipp Body Cream with Patchouli and Shea Butter caught my eye. Though not the flashiest of my body care bunch, the soothing white and gentle green packaging almost seemed to echo the softness and creaminess inside. Silky smooth might be two words that sound beguiling …

Friday Beauty

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Also known as back to basics. Some days you just wake up, jumping for joy at the idea of doing a three or four shadow look, foundation, concealer, eyeliner, the whole shebang. Today is not that kind of day! Today, less is more rules the roost! My skin is in tip top shape, my under eye area is neither blue nor baggy for the first time in God knows when, and I am just loving that ‘no make up’ make up freshness at the moment. Today I took that even further, and took Casual Friday to another level, and streamlined my beauty essentials to the bare minimum. Not pictured, but a firm fixture is my favourites in the Givenchy Teint Couture Balm. I’ve raved and raved and ravved about this one before, so I won’t go into details, but I’m on tube nr 3 (tube nr 4 has already been bought…), and it’s been used so much the lettering has faded from the packaging…. Givenchy and my daily make up stash have found each oher …

Into the Glow

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Into the glow we go! After a long festive season, a polar vortex winter and the mother of all allergic reactions, I am more than ready to welcome Spring and reclaim that glow! I might have to wait a bit longer to feel that first crisp in the air or see those first buds on the trees, but I do have a few new tricks up my sleeve to lightly amp up the volume and get that soft lit-from-within effect I love. Preparation is key, no gorgeous painting without a pristinely prepped blank canvas, so after my morning routine, I apply a thin layer of the Elizabeth Arden Eight Arden Cream. A golden oldie, but as my nan always used say:  ” The classics never go out of style”, and this product is the textbook example of a classic! A thin layer of the thick cream seals in the moisture, acts as a barrier between my skin and the extreme elements we are battling this moment, and functions as a primer for the Bourjois Air …

Filorga Oil Absolute

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Bonjour mes amours! It is the week of love, and if there is anything I love, love, love in beauty, face oil takes that crown. My adoration of face oils has been well documented here on LeenLovesStyle, especially when my skin’s feeling dry and tight due to a change in seasons, a lack of hydration or after a retinol or AHA binge. I usually have a few of them on rotation, but the one I’m reaching for the most lately is Filorga Oil-Absolute Ultimate Anti-Ageing Serum. Wait, what? Serum? Oil? Can it be both? Filorga markets this as a ‘facial oil with the power of a serum’, promising to improve the look of wrinkles, even out skin tone and boost its radiance. Filorga + face oil? I was ready to dive in, literally and figuratively! The ingredient list is always the perfect place to start, and the one for the Filorga Oil Absolute reads like a who’s who of skincare Tinseltown. Reigning supreme is a blend of several natural oils, with buruti and camellia being the most enticing ones. …

Vichy Liftactiv Vitamin C Brightening Skin Corrector

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A 10 day booster treatment of a few drops a day for an improve skin texture and a brighter skin tone? Colour me excited! The press release for this tickled my fancy in a flash, and I could not wait to photograph and test this beaut’ as soon as it dropped into the LLS postbox. First things first, what is it that I rambling about? The Vichy Liftactiv Vitamin C Booster (or the Liftactiv Vitamin C Brightening Skin Corrector, as you will), is a 15% Pure Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Fragmented Hyaluronic Acid and Vichy Mineralizing Thermal Water formula. The 15% Vitamine C and Hyaluronic Acid will have already given it away, the goal of this little bottle is a skin that looks radiant and well rested, with a refined texture and less fine lines. Let’s just call it a time machine for your skin. A big claim for a small bottle! It was the perfect time for this Vichy Liftactiv Vitamin C Booster  to pop up in my life, stress at work + working mum’s …

Treading Into Glossier Waters

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Glossier…. Aka the Holy Grail of skincare according to many. I’m sure this is not the first article you’ve read on the brand, God knows how many articles I’ve read on it, but still, I’d like to add in my 2 cents as well. I couldn’t resist temptation any longer, and asked (no, pleaded) sweet Katia to bring me back some Glossier goodies when she hopped across the Atlantic to discover New York, and thanks to her being the amazing friend that she is, I finally got my mittens on some products. All in the name of blogging of course! For those not aware who or what Glossier is (where have you been?), it’s a beauty and skincare brand created by a super savvy woman (Emily Weiss) super savvy women who know what they want: Enhance what you’ve got and flaunt it, instead of hiding it. No frills, no faffing about, but luxury products that work for a price that doesn’t break the bank. Add in smart packaging, formulas that work and a loyal millennial …

Autumn Newbies – How do they stack up?

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Autumn is more than halfway, I know, but still…Earlier this week I mentioned my skincare routine being in dire need of a shake up (check this article), and as some interesting skincare tidbits had landed on my desk and my skin was no in the best shape ever, I trialled and tested some new bits to see if they had what it takes. What came next is a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly. Or, the good, the semi-ok and the not-for-me! Caudalie and I go way back (check the first years of this blog, and you’ll find a myrriad of pieces on Caudalie), and whenever they launch a new product, I am all ears, and in this case, all face. The Caudalie Vinoperfect Concentrated Brightening Essence is the first one that actually made me want to try essences, because what one earth could be the added bonus of an essence? For starters, what do it actually do? Is it a cleanser? A toner? A micellar water? No, no and no! More …

A Tale Of Caving In (Into The Ordinary)

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Us bloggers are at the same time a critical and impressionable bunch. Sure, years of testing, trialling and studying have taught us a thing or two, which makes that we approach new launches with caution, but when friends and fellow beauty afficionada’s start raving about that same new launch, we end up throwing that same caution to the wind, hop on the bandwagon and end up ordering the product anyway? Me? Guilty as charged! Case in point: The Ordinary. I steered clear from the brand for a long time, not quite trusting the low price / high quality claim and feeling bulldozered by the extensive catalogue of products… something about not seeing the wood for the trees and such… But still, curiosity won, and I caved. Cue back to a few weeks ago, when my serum stash was dwindling and my skin was in need of a shake up of my skincare routine. My curiosity was getting the better of me, so I dove in, did my research and ordered the 100% Squalane Oil, the …