What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 106

In Amanda Michalopoulou's Why I Killed My Best Friend (original title Giati skotosa tin kaliterimou fili), a young girl named Maria is lifted from her beloved Africa and relocated to her native Greece. She struggles with the transition, hating everything about Athens: the food, the air, the school, her classmates, the language. Just as she resigns herself to misery, Anna arrives. Though Anna's refined, Parisian upbringing is the exact opposite of Maria's, the two girls instantly bond over their common foreignness, becoming inseparable in their relationship as each other's best friend, but also as each other's fiercest competition-be it in relation to boys, talents, future aspirations, or political beliefs. 

Nail polish is from Bourjois from the line 10 days no chips, which is discontinued. The number of this polish is 19. This line had these strange brushes that were cut sideways, but I could manage the application just fine. Once you get to know how to hold the brush the application is easy. My nails are not so brittle anymore, so this one stayed three days without chipping which is very nice for me.

 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 95

Where She Went is a sequel to If I Stay and focuses on Adam and his story. 

It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life. And three years he's spent wondering why. Ever since Mia's decision to stay - but not with him - Adam's career has been on a wonderful trajectory. His album, borne from the anguish and pain of their breakup, has made him a bona fide star. And Mia herself has become a top-rate cellist, playing in some of the finest venues in the world. Then their respective paths put them both in New York City at the same time. 

If I compare this sequel with If I Stay, I would say that If I Stay was more memorable for me, as with this one, good story, but nothing special, the story won't stay with me for long. 

Nail polish is from Bourjois with the name Rouge obscur from the line 1 seconde. It looks like this line is still available (online) but not this colour. As you can see, the colour is dark red that leans on the berry side, the colour that looks good on everyone, in my opinion. The application is ok. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 60

A couple of months back I said that I read everything there is translated in Slovene of Agatha Christie, well I guess I was wrong, because here is another book of hers and maybe I will find some others that I haven't read yet.

Here it is, The Big Four. A ruthless international cartel seeks world domination...Framed in the doorway of Poirot's bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man's gaunt face stared for a moment, then he swayed and fell. Who was he? Was he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what was the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about 'Number Four'.

Meh, I didn’t like this case very much. One of the worst in Poirot series, in my opinion. But I guess one must be the worst :)

The manicure is an upgrade from last time. I have a Shaka nail polish with the name Burlesque over the Bourjois I had the last time. This time I used the Catrice base coat because of the removal process. Shaka nail polish is just shimmer so I thought it would be easier this way. Here you can see just golden shimmer, but the shimmer is in pink liquid, so if I just put Shaka Nail polish on my nails I would have a beautiful rose gold colour, but I guess I would have to put at least three coats, so I will try this next time. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 59

I don't know if I mentioned this already, but I love Harry Potter. So of course I'm going to read all the other works of J. K. Rowling. Robert Galbraith is pseudonym of J. K. Rowling and book The Cuckoo's Calling is the first of the detective Cormoran Strike series. So a crime genre, which you already know I like.

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case. A war veteran, wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike's life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger.

The nail polish is from Bourjois, from an old line 10 days no chip. And it lasted whole 3 days without chipping, which is a miracle for me. But I have to say that in that period I wasn't very active in the housework department, so this could be a reason. The nail polish has a strange brush that is cut sideways, but I actually like it. The colour is coral with tiny golden shimmer. The polish doesn't have a name, just a number, and this one is number 16.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 38 and 39

One novel, in Slovene translation divided in two books. Bread Upon Waters is a novel by Irwin Shaw, written in 1981. The Slovene publication is from 1990. You know, language is a living thing, and this is very visible when you read a book translated a while ago, like in this case. Different spelling of certain words, words that we don't use any more but use other instead and so on. We can see, that language change trough time, either if we want to or not.

In Bread upon waters we are acquainted with Strand family. The Stands are a self-reliant family in New York City. Far from wealthy they are still reasonably content with their life until one night when their teenage daughter helps a wealthy and lonely Wall Street lawyer. Out of gratitude the lawyer showers the family with gifts and money. The Strands find their lives altered and not necessarily for the best.

Where there are two books, there are also two nail polishes. First is from Essence, a discontinued one, from the line nail art twins, colour base, 06 Bella (yes, its twin was Edward :) ) I don't like Twilight, but I like this colour. It's a bright green crème and the application was non problematic.

The second nail polish is from Bourjois, the 10 days no chips, number 11. Remember the line of nail polishes, where there was a funny brush, cut sideways? Well, this is is, and I must say that I don't mind it at all. Once you get a hold of it, the application becomes easy. It’s a tomato red and if you look closely you can see tiny shimmer, but on the nails it look like a regular crème nail polish.

Two coats were needed for full coverage for both nail polishes.

Have a great day :)

Essence longlasting lipstick Velvet Matt 23 and swatches of other nudes in my collection

A couple of weeks ago I bought myself a lipstick from Essence, it was a new addition to their regular assortment. So I thought to myself why not show you the swatches of it and in the meantime compare it to other nude shades that I have in my collection.

The lipstick is from the longlasting line with the name Velvet Matt 23. It seems like Essence couldn't be bothered coming up with names anymore, because we have also a lipstick called Velvet Matt 24. If all the other lipsticks have also different names with numbers, why stop now? Number 23 is indeed matte, but if you have dry lips the lipstick will emphasise dry patches. The lipstick barely has any smell and this is good, because the smell of other longlasting essence lipstick is not plerasant, artificial smell of crayons, who likes that? On the swatches you will see that is most similar to the discontinued essence stay matt lip cream in the colour Velvet Rose.

1. Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick 180 Vintage Pink is the darkest of the lipsticks and even if the name suggests that is pink it has violet undertones. It's creamy and moisturising, but I'm not too fond of the smell, since it's again very artificial.

2. Essence lipliner 06 Satin Mauve is very similar to Rimmel one, but a little bit darker and matt. This was my first lipliner ever and I bought it long before the 90's trend. Then I was, oh, I got this one, I should use it more. You can clearly see the violet undertones when on my lips, but I like it (and can you actually believe that Essence didn’t discontinue this colour for this long, like 6 years or more?).

3. Catrice Ultimate Shine 190 Gentle nude is Back (but not anymore- discontinued, the whole range actually) is very creamy and it feels nice on the lips. The longevity is not the best since it's so creamy. And it’s definitely on the cooler side.

4. Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet 07 Nude-ist with the perfect name for this post, but it stands out the most. Even on my lips it doesn’t look nude, but it is a rose colour. I like the formula, it's the most longlasting and matt and the application is easy and it feels nice on the lips. It has a slight artificial smell but once on the lips you can't smell it anymore.

5. Essence longlasting lipstick 05 Cool Nude is similar to Catrice one but is not so cool, it's on the warmer side, even if the name says differently. It is creamy, but not like Catrice one and it is a little bit darker. The smell is horrible, the artificial smell, that some compare it to crayons.

6. Essence stay matt lip cream 01 Velvet Rose (discontinued) is on pinker side, like the name says it's matt, but the lip creams that are now in circulations have better formulas, which means that are more matte and really longlasting, and this one is not longlasting. But then again I think everyone was sad when Essence decided to discontinue this range. They could add more colours to the range, but no, let's discontinue them. The smell is really good. It smells like candy.

7. Essence lipliner 01 Soft Rose (discontinued) is a true nude in my opinion; it's a little lighter than my lips, so it shows on the lips. These Essence lipliner are very soft and a lot of people like them, but be careful, all my lipliners have grey caps, but the new one have coloured caps and some say that the formula has also changed, not just the caps. Actually I have one coloured cap and I think that is really a bit harder than the grey cap ones.

8. Essence longlasting lipstick velvet matt 23

9. Essence longlasting lipliner 05 Lovely Frappuccino is the true 90's colour on me. It is brown, very brown. And if I recommend just one formula of all of these I would say get yourself one f these ones. The formula is great, it applies nicely because is soft enough, but on the lips is matte and even if I had a little bit dry lips it didn't show one bit. Just perfect. I would like to have more colours of the longlasting lipliner shade.

The swatches on the lips together:

So this is my nudes’ collection. I hope there was some useful information for you. I’m still not good at describing colours and all, but at least you can see swatches ;)

Have a great day :)

What I'm reading + NOTD pt.14

It's pure coincidence that today is Valentine's Day and I'm showing you here a great love story. I don't care a lot about this made up day brought to us from United States and that it's driven by consumerism but I like love stories and this one unfolds in front of us on thousand pages so magically that you don't even know that this story is also a love story. 

Here is the third book, or better said the third part of 1Q84. In the third part the things are moving forward, and Aomame does not yet know that she and Tengo are more closely bound than ever. Tengo is searching for Aomame, and he must find her before this world's rules loosen up too much. He must find her before someone else does. 

A book that has a grip on you right from beginning to the end. If you missed first part, here it is. 

Also a shout out to my mum and dad, who are celebrating tomorrow their thirtieth anniversary of their marriage. A love story in real world :) Congratulations! 

The nail polish is from Bourjois, from the line So Laque! Ultra Shine, number 22 Rouge diva. Easy application, two coats, classic red. Nothing special, but at a same time classic and pretty.

Have a great day ;)