5 Different Lip Balms

Yes, I do keep my lip balms in a sugar bowl.

Finding a good lip balm is a bit of science because of the many demands one have to one; it must have practical packaging, not too expensive, make your lips soft, repair your dry lips, etc.. I have collected five of my lip balms for a little overview and judged them based on their ability as well as their price.

The lip balms have been put in order from worst to best in the first picutre and later on in the second picture, from cheapest to most expensive (note: from left to right). 

Labello is the classical lip balm to use, especially in Denmark, as it can be bought almost everywhere. It makes your lips really soft immeditately, but in the long run it honestly do nothing for your lips. If you have a sore, then don't expect it to help with that. I always have one in my jacket pocket as a quick fix until I find one of the others.
It is the second cheapest of the five. 

Avène is the pharmacy's recommendation... at least in my hometown. It honestly works really welll and helps those dry lips to become soft again. It is a cold cream, so it doesn't sink it as quickly as the others. Instead it works over a longer period of time. Personally, I don't mind that though I know my mother has a problem with that. I prefer to put it on for when I sleep and let it work overnight.
It is the second most expensive of the five (Danish pharmacy price).

Lypsyl is also one of the classics in Denmark, and the one my mother swears to. It does work very well, though doesn't make your lips immediately soft the way Labello does. However, it does work in the long run and will offer improvement to your lips if your lips are in an okay-semi decent state. If you have a sore, then I don't find it to work much. The packaging is its weakness as it quickly gets dirty and just doesn't seem so practical.
It is the cheapest of the five.

Kielh's is their own recommendation, though it isn't a surprise they recommend their own product. It is a very basic lip balm in a pot, which have the resemble vaseline though only in appearence. It is a decent lip balm that heals your lips unless you have a sore; a sore is a bit too hard a task for it. I have placed it below Lypsyl, and that is due to its price compared to its effect. It is just as good as Lypsyl. Some mind using a finger to get and apply a lip balm, but I don't mind at all.
It is the third cheapest of the five.

Sard Kopenhagen is another pharmacy recommendation, though can also be found in the Magasin department stores. It does every thing you want a lip balm to do - softens and heals the lips, but can also handle a sore really well. The packaging is very chic looking. Both are what you'd expect from an expensive lip balm, and it really doesn't disappoint in my opinion. I would gladly definitely recommend this to anybody.
It is the most expensive of the five.

Do you have many different lip balms? What is your favouirte lip balm? 

Until next time,

Mia ♥ 

What A Year

Many bloggers write amazingly posts of reflections upon their year and the year to come. Somehow and please don’t ask why, I felt I should write something too, even though I don’t really think I have anything amazingly or special to say.

Review: A-derma Sensifluid Cleansing Lotion

After a quiet period from me, I am back with a new review on A-derma’s Sensifluid Cleansing Lotion!

I bought the cleansing lotion as a replacement for Bioderma’s Sensibio H2O Michelle Solution as I couldn’t possibly find it for a student-friendly price, and A-derma has stood the test. Almost, at least.

The cleansing lotion was very easy and effortless to use, removing my make-up gentle without leaving my skin to feel dry afterwards – this is a big difference from Bioderma’s make-up remover. The product itself is a white foam of sorts and feels cold when meeting your skin, which explains why I think it suits my sensitive skin much better. However, it should be said that it isn’t that great with removing stubborn waterproof mascara.

A-derma even writes on the bottle that you don’t need to rinse after using it, which I actually can understand. I still like to wash my face afterwards and all that, but if you were in a hurry then rinsing could definitely be skipped.

Even though I really like the design of the bottle with its sleekness and pump, I would have like the bottle to be clear as to be able to see how much product is left. It is just more practical. Also, you should know that depending on how thick your make-up is, a few pumps of foam is needed to remove all traces of make-up. In my case, I need five pumps – two for face, two for eyes and one for lips.

A-derma or Bioderma? The answer is both. I find when having sensitive skin that a combination of products for the same job is better, and these obviously do the same job but differently. My skin and me prefer Bioderma for removing eye make-up, especially stubborn waterproof mascara, and A-derma for the rest.

Do you use a combination of products to remove make-up? If so, what products?

Until next time,

Mia ♥

Review: Matas' Volume Booster

 

A little month ago, I decided to cut my hair again. It went from being a kinda medium length to ‘I can’t put all my hair up in a ponytail anymore’ short. With this change came some challenges as the last time I had this short hair was some four years ago and I can’t remember much other than it fell differently around my face. The hairdresser recommended dry shampoo and volume booster to me as it would give my hair some texture and some playfulness. I am very familiar with dry shampoo, but volume booster? That would be a no.

I went to the locale Matas shop and purchased their volume booster in travel size. I didn’t want to buy the bigger size and spend some money on it if it should turn out that I wouldn’t like it. On the bottle, it recommends you to use it in completely dry hair. From experience, I actually think it works so much better if you use it when you have towel-dry hair and then following blow-dry it. It activates the volume booster thingy more in my opinion. If I use the volume booster in towel-dry hair, I feel the effect last the longest and that my hair looks nicer for more days.

So, how much do you need? Not a lot. I learned that lesson from the first time I tried it out as I ended up looking like a poodle. A cute poodle, but definitely a poodle. I really love this product and the volume it creates, so when the travel size was empty I immediately went out and bought the bigger bottle. The thought of not using it… it wasn’t a pleasant thought. All in all, I would beyond recommend it!

What is your favourite hair product?

Until next time,

Mia ♥ 

DIY: Christmas Decorations - the 2014 edition

It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to make my own Christmas decorations – I make a few each year for my mother and for myself. I make them myself because I find it very calming and soothing to create something with my hands. Also, it is cheaper than buying them. And so I thought I would share…

What you will need:

• Metal wire (I used 1,5 mm wire, but 1,1 mm or 1,3 mm would be just as good).
• Glass beads in transparent and blue/black (I had mine in two bowls, as it was easier).
• Thread and needle (note: the needle should be able to get through the beads).
• Fabric in black or blue.  
• Jewellery metal wire.
• Sequins.
• String.
• Tools (side cutters and round-nose pliers/ flat-nose pliers).

Most things I already had, so I didn’t need to go out and purchase anything. But if you don’t have these materials, you can find them in a mix of supermarkets, DIY retailers and hobby shops. 

For metal wire Christmas decorations, you start by cutting an appropriate size of and shaping it with either your hands or pliers. I recommend pliers if your wire is 1,5 mm like mine because I struggled. I did a leaf and a heart. It won't be perfect, but that is the charm of homemade Christmas decorations! 

For fabric Christmas decorations, you start with getting your needle and thread ready. Now, you can decide whether you want to cut your fabric in a shape from the beginning or wait until after you have sewed on the sequins. When you start sewing, your needle and thread should go through the fabric, then sequin, bead, sequin again, and lastly fabric; this secures the sequin and bead to the fabric. Remember to tighten!

My finished wire-bead leaf decoration.

After you have shaped your decoration with the metal wire, you take the jewellery wire and cut a piece off. You wrap a bit of the jewellery wire around the metal wire to secure it. Then you put beads on the wire and then wrap it around the metal wire. My leaf decoration is tightly wrapped with beads, but you can do it loosely. Afterwards you attached a piece of string so you can actually hang it somewhere. 

My finished fabric-sequin-bead leaf decoration.

You continue with the sequins and beads by placing them close to each other and let them shape whatever you like. I went for a leaf again… surprise! On the back I sewed on longer beads that would form the general outline of a leaf, so it would be easier to guess for others and because I thought it looked nice. For my mother I made a Christmas tree, where I replaced some of the tiny beads with bigger beads to replicate Christmas baubles and as the Christmas star/angel/whatever you place on top of your Christmas tree, I attached a big bead to replicate that.

Do you make your own Christmas decorations?

Until next time,

Mia ♥