European Beauty Haul Part 1 - Essence, P2, Catrice, Make Up Factory & Astor

Long time, no...write? I was in Germany and France for a while with my family, dealing with the loss of a much loved pet and am now experiencing camera issues, so it's no surprise that SSD has suffered a little as a result. Luckily for all you beauty lovers, I was thoughtful enough to take some basic photos of my first purchases while still in Germany so while I'm sorting my camera out, I thought I'd share part one of my European beauty haul with you all.

1. I found these two in a shop called Douglas (how German does that sound...not!) which was basically a beauty shop. I picked up Isadora's 'Creme de la Creme' after reading and conversing about it ages ago on a blog so when I spotted the Isadora stand I hunted it down. I also picked up BeYu's Shimmering Top Coat in '743'. I love this because the glitter is holographic (my favourite type of glitter polish) but the chunks are square instead of circular or hexagon shaped. 

2. Here we have Essence's 'Mrs and Mr Glitter', 'The Boy Next Door' and 'That's What I Mint'. I absolutely LOVE Mrs and Mr Glitter. Just before going away I had seen photos of mermaid-esque nails on Instagram and when I saw this top coat I had visions of creating my own. The Boy Next Door is a nice, shimmery, vibrant blue and to say these polishes are all so cheap, I was impressed with the wear of them.

3. I purchased the P2 Pure Color lipstick in the shade 'Kärtner strasse', which is an everyday dark nude shade and perfect for people like myself who have slightly darker lips than average. I also picked up the Astor Color Last VIP lipstick in the shade Bubbly, which is a gorgeous vibrant pink shade and was probably my most worn holiday colour in the end. I also picked up this P2 profi concealer palette because concealer palettes have always intrigued me but are rare here in the UK. I have only used the green and pinky-purple concealers but so far I've been fairly impressed with their coverage and staying power. The Catrice 'Absolute Nude' eyeshadow palette interested me because there are so many UD Naked dupes out there and I'm a sucker for nude eyeshadow. I purchased all of these things (plus the Essence polishes and the P2 polishes below) from DM. Finally for make-up, I picked up the Make Up Factory Automatic Eyeliner in '24' from Müller (that shop is insane) and fell in love with it instantly. I also went back and picked up shade 21, but that will be in part 2.

4. Given that drugstore products were SO much cheaper in Germany than they would ever be here in the UK, and also given that my holiday money was pretty much entirely for feeding my beauty addiction, I went a little bit crazy polish-wise. I picked up two of the P2 Rich Color + Care polishes in 'So Fresh' (green) and 'So Cool' (blue), as well as one of the Color Victim polishes in the shade 'Artful' (PERFECT with Essence's 'Mrs and Mr Glitter') and one of the Last Forever polishes in the shade 'Lovely Moment'. 

5. P2 also had a huge range of nail care type products so I picked up their Anti-Split coat, two of their Quick Dry Sprays (there were only two left, and they were so cheap...) and their Nail Food Ananas. 

I'll be writing up proper reviews of the products I've actually tried soon but do let me know if there are any you'd like me to review. Have you tried any of these products? Let me know in the comments below because I've missed you!

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xo

Twitter: rachelizabethxo

Personal blog: rachel writes

Instagram: iRachey

Email: rachel.soshedances@gmail.com
Tumblr: lookintothestorm.tumblr.com
YouTube: soshedancesxo

Meet the Blogger: house in the sand

Hi guys! Today I have an extra-special post for you. I've been chatting to music blogger Vanessa for a while now and when I tweeted about the idea of interviewing a blogger, she jumped at the chance. I love her blog because it's a brilliant example of where hard work can get you. So, without further ado, I'm thrilled to introduce you to Vanessa...

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your blog

I’m a big music fan from the South of Germany. I live by the motto "the only way you fail is when you don’t react” (lyrics written by Jim Kroft) and believe in the saying "what you put out in the world is what you’ll get back".

The thought behind my blog is it to get unpopular bands/solo artists a bigger fan base and to put them into the spotlight they deserve. Also it’s kind of the road into my future as a journalist.

2. Why did you decide to start your blog?

I decided to start blogging on a really boring Wednesday afternoon. I have been a writer for quite a while and I wanted to improve it, connect with people and get my thoughts 'out there'. After blogging for about six months the idea of becoming a music blog popped into my mind and well... here I am.

3. What is your proudest blogging achievement?

That is a really good question! I think it was when I got my press card for a Tom Odell concert because of my blog. (You need press cards to take your DSLR camera with you here in Germany.) But I also love the 'smaller' moments where great musicians just tell me how much they like what I do. That’s a really wonderful feeling!

4. Is there anything you dislike about the blogging world?

Yes, the jealousy. I’ve experienced that from the very beginning when some musicians helped me out and their fans took it completely wrong and started to talk not the nicest things about me and my blog. It was kind of depressing for me because I didn’t (and still don’t) really understand why you would get jealous about something you could do yourself. Everyone can blog. Everyone can do what they love.

5. What are your hopes for the future of your blog?

I hope that I can grow with this blog and do lots of cool things and never quit because of the down phases. And I hope that I will keep on meeting more wonderful people and stay in contact with the ones I already met. A few more readers would be quite nice too, haha!

And since mine is a beauty blog after all...

6. Tell us a bit about any German beauty brands you can think of or that you like

The first one that comes to my mind is the brand called 'essence' – it’s a drug store brand and basically offers everything you need – eye shadows, eye liners, brushes, make up, nail polishes, etc. Their limited editions are my favourites because they’re always really creative and the products are mostly worth a buy.

Another brand I really like is called 'alverde' which is a natural cosmetics brand. They also cover the whole beauty section. I personally love their blushes and lipsticks. High quality – affordable prices.

7. Are you into beauty? Which are your favourite products if so?

I definitely am into beauty. But I used to care about make up a lot more a while ago, nowadays I care a lot about skin care and keeping my skin and hair healthy.

Besides that I’m really into nail polishes (that’s definitely a reason why I love your blog!). I totally suck at nail design but I love painting my nails. My favourite nail polish brand would be Essie – I love their colours and how long the polishes stay on your nails.

8. Are there any other blogs you would recommend?

Yours, definitely!

I love the blog 'Dirty Little Secret' written by my friend Ola, a beautiful model with an amazing taste in clothes. Whenever I need some inspiration I just head over to her blog.

Another blog I really love is 'London Calling' by a great friend of mine called Jana. Her blog is basically one big bubble of inspiration. Jana and I share the same interests (music and photography) so it’s always really nice to see what she’s up to.

There are lots of other great blogs which I will be introducing on my blog soon. 

9. How can my readers get in touch with you if they want to know more?

Either they can come over and visit my “house in the sand“ and discover some really talented musicians, talk to me on Twitter or see what I’m up to on Facebook. You can find all the links on my contact page.

So, please head over and say hi to Vanessa :-) I'll leave all of her links below underneath my own. If you have any more questions for her leave them in the comments below and I'll be back next week with some more beauty themed posts.

Thanks for reading,

Rachel x

Twitter: rachelizabethxo

Personal blog: estoy mejor sin ti

Instagram: iRachey

Email: rachel.soshedances@gmail.com
Tumblr: lookintothestorm.tumblr.com
YouTube: soshedancesxo

Vanessa's Twitter: vanyhoney
house in the sand Twitter: houseinthesand
Vanessa's blog: house in the sand
Vanessa's email: houseinthesand@web.de
Vanessa's Facebook: house in the sand

P.S. apologies for the hideous line spacing... Blogger hates me. Haha.