Brush Cleansers are pretty convenient for spot cleaning. Especially when you want to create an eye makeup and use many different colors with only one makeup brush.
In the past I used the cleanser from Kiko. I know that MAC has a brush cleanser, too, which is pretty expensive, I never used this one. Since this month there is finally a brush cleanser available at the drugstore DM.
Today I am comparing the Kiko one with the ebelin brush cleanser.
Price:
Kiko: 50ml for 5,90€
ebelin: 100ml for 3,95€
Let's clean some brushes:
I took 2 similar blending brushes for this test. I dipped them into dark eyeshadow and used three pumps from each product straight on the brushes. Afterwards I swirled them on a tissue.
First result:
You can see that there is more product left after the cleaning with the ebelin cleanser.
Afterwards I used another pump of each product and swirled the brush again on the tissue to see if there is any product left in the brush.
Second result:
After a second step the brushes are clean. You can see on the photos that both cleansing effects are pretty good.
For spot cleaning this is definitely a good solution, I can recommend both products. For me this would never replace deep cleaning with water and soap though (which I hate ;) ).
The main difference between this two product is the smell! The Kiko Cleanser has a sweet fresh smell but the ebelin one smells pretty harsh like alcohol which I don't like. But if you know that and don't mind you can get definitely a good, low-priced product when you buy the ebelin cleanser. I am happy about the fact that there is a brush cleanser now available at the drugstore and even though I don't like the smell I would repurchase it anyway.
If you follow me on Instagram you know that I have been that brave to make a shopping trip to Alexanderplatz on a opening Sunday. It wasn't too bad and I found some nice new things.
I bought a Clutch at Parfois. I don't need this at all but it is so pretty so I just couldn't resist... :D
We have been to Rossmann where I bought this cute star shaped bowl and a christmas themed shower gel with this cute penguin on it.
We jumped as well into TKMaxx where I found a Christmas themed hand soap - yaay :) and a nice combination of hand soap and hand lotion to place at the sink.
I found a nail polish by Sparitual. So far I have one nail polish from this brand, I liked it a lot, I remember the color was beautiful and it was pretty long lasting. On top I have to mention that this nail polish is vegan, which could be a plus for some people, too. I am already excited to try this one out. It is a deep purple.
I think I found some pretty nice things. At the end of our shopping trip we had of course a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks where I couldn't resist to eat as well a cinnamon bun - delicious!
I am super excited because I was nominated by lovely Nica from Nica's Beautymanie for the "Favorite Blog Award". Thank you so much!!!
This nomination includes to answer eleven questions which the person who nominated you can ask you. So lets jump into this interesting part and deliver some answers.
1. Do you have a pet?
I have Elvis :) My cat! He has his own instagram account if you are interested you can follow him at @elvis_the_white_cat.
2. What's a make-up no-go for you?
For me in person I am not that crazy colorful in my make-up, I like neutrals, winged eyeliner and a lot of mascara. That's it. But to tell an absolutely no-go that is difficult, everyone should wear what ever the person wants to and in what the person feels the most comfortable. That's my opinion.
3. Which sentence you would never say?
Shopping is a nightmare.
4. How did you started blogging?
I started my first blog 4 or 5 years ago (I started with this one few months ago), the reason to start the old blog was a competition on zalando.de where you could write a post about your favorite shoes and the price for the winner was a shoe flat rate. I had to join in :D Unfortunately, I didn't win but I joined the blogger scene which was super good, too, a lot of fun and I get to know few super nice people through that.
I started this blog only because I wanted something new, a change...
5. What's your current fall favorite?
Pumpkin Spice and pumpkins in general and big scarfs
6. Which season do you like the most?
I like all seasons in general, I like feeling spring being around the corner, air is getting warmer, I love the heat in summer, feeling the sun burning on my face, I love a sunny fall, leaves on the ground, being totally cozy as well as the first cold in the air when winter is coming. It's just fabulous to feel the different seasons <3
7. What is your zodiac sign?
I am a scorpio and my second 29th birthday is almost around the corner...
8. With which beauty product you couldn't live anymore?
Mascara
9. What's your favorite color?
Black, grey and white - that's it, I am not really into bright colors.
10. Do you have a favorite TV show?
I have many, I am a junkie: Revenge, Pretty Little Liars, I loved SATC and Friends, HIMYM (I didn't like the end though), Homeland, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries and maaaaany more :D
11. Which city is your favorite?
In Germany: I really like Berlin <3 I loved being in Rome and Paris. But I've never been to New York, yet, I can imagine this city is a good candidate to be my favorite one :)
After you answered the questions you can nominate as well some bloggers and ask them eleven questions, too. The point is to nominate bloggers with less than 200 followers. But to be honest, most blogs I know where already nominated, so I think this is stopping here... But if you read that and you want to be nominated just leave me a comment with a link to your blog.
I was tagged on Instagram to show some of my favorite drugstore beauty products. I thought I can do a short blog post about that, too.
Here are the products I chose:
Balea Lip Balms
I really like the Balea lip balms, they are cheap and pretty good and what I like the most is that they always come up with new fun flavors like the new Sweet Lady which taste like apples and cinnamon and as I love christmas related things I had to get this one.
Catrice Lip Smoother
I absolutely love the Catrice Lip Smoother, they are a dupe for the Clarins Lip Perfectors, way cheaper but for me the same quality.
Alverde Browgel
Pretty quick way to give my eyebrows a clean and a bit darker look what I need as my eyebrows are very light.
L'Oréal Super Liner
I can create the best winged eyeliner with this liner. But I am always looking for a better one (from a cruelty free brand would be fabulous, can anyone recommend something?).
Essence Lash Princess
The first Essence mascara I really love! I like the look of my lashes and especially the long lasting effect it has.
Catrice Nude Illusion
Before this one I had another Catrice foundation which I liked to. I only wanted to try something new. I would say I like the Catrice foundations in general.
Balea med Deodorant
I have this always with me in my bag.
Alverde translucent Powder
I like to fix my concealer with that powder and I don't want to miss it.
Rival de Loop décolleté cream
I just like the fact that I have something especially for the décolleté skin.
Catrice Eyeshadows
I like the skin tone eyeshadows for blending, but the Catrice eyeshadows are pretty good in general.
Catrice Luminizing Bronzer
Got this one this summer and fell immediately in love with this bronzer. I use it still every day.
What are your favorite beauty drugstore products? Is there something I need to try?
What did I read in the third quarter of this year? Third quarter, unbelievable, he?! The year is almost over, for me this year just flew by like never before, like crazy, really... It feels like it was just January and it is October... Okay, before I totally freak out about that I quickly jump into my reading list from last quarter ;)
Tess Gerritsen: Abendruh
I am a huge fan of Gerritsen and I read every book from the Rizolli series and I loved them, like this one! It is an diverting and thrilling book like the other ones.
Veronica Roth: Insurgent / Tödliche Wahrheit
This is the second part of the series and I have to say that I liked it even more than the first book, which usually never happens. I am so much looking forward to read the third and last one. Not sure if I should watch already the film about the first part or if I should wait till I finish reading the books.
Dan Brown: Inferno
I like Dan Brown, his spelling style is so super good that I usually only need few days to read the whole book. And the stories are always interesting and as well thrilling.
Kerstin Gier: Silber - Das erste Buch der Träume
It was a fabulous book! Amazing! Imaginative! Humorous! Really not only for kids or teenagers, I really recommend this beautiful book (and I am usually someone who loves thriller). I have already the second part here, but as the third one is coming up in summer 2015 I want to wait till I start to read the second one so that I don't have to wait that long till the last part :)
Kerstin Gier - Rubinrot
After I loved "Silber" that much I had to get Rubinrot, too. And what should I say I love this book as well. I really like the humor in this books. It doesn't happen that often that I really have to laugh out loud while reading but it happened to me both in Silber and as well in this one. The story is amusing, you can get so quickly through this book. Can't wait to read the rest of the story.
That's it, not that much... But I started reading and haven't finished yet: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (part 3), S. Fitzek's "Abgeschnitten" and J. Dashner's The Maze Runner ("Die Auserwählten im Labyrinth").
Few days ago I made my own pumpkin spice sirup, as I had still some mashed pumpkin left I thought pumpkin muffins would be a good idea.
This is how I did the delicious muffins:
Ingredients:
(I am not super good with measurements, mostly I just stir everything together till it looks good, so the following is an estimation)
250g flour (sieved)
180g sugar
a pinch salt
spice mix: clove, ginger, cinnamon
2 eggs
180g mashed pumpkin
90ml oil
3 or 4 apples, cut up in small pieces
for the crumble part:
flour
sugar
cinnamon
butter
Mix flour, sugar, spices and salt together.
In a separate bowl mix eggs, oil and the pumpkin and add it to the flour-mix. Mix everything together. Add the apple pieces and put the dough into muffin paper cups.
For the crumble: mix all ingredients together and spread them over the muffin dough.
Put everything for about 35 minutes into the oven.
As I like Halloween a lot and of course October is the Halloween month I used this cute pirate skull paper cups.
Make a delicious coffee or tea and enjoy! :)
I am hands down the biggest Pulp Fiction Fan ever! I saw the movie one million times, in German and in English. I just love Quentin Tarantino, I think he is brilliant! His movies are more art than a usual film - don't know if you know what I am trying to say. However, Urban Decay came up with this Pulp Fiction styled limited edition. Of course I have to get that! Right?!
Unfortunately, I was a bit too late for getting the lipstick and the eyeliner from this collection was a bit too glittery in my opinion but the palette and the nail polish are mine!!! :)
Besides the fact that the palette is designed in a Pulp Fiction style, the palette is not really super special. I mean the colors are neutral, mat and nothing new. But you can create super neutral eye make ups or even dramatic ones with it. The size is pretty good for carrying the palette with you on trips and you have everything you need in one palette.
I really like this palette but I am not sure if I would order it without the Pulp Fiction theme even though I am not regret buying it :)
One of my favorite fall flavors is pumpkin spice. As soon as Starbucks is selling the Pumpkin Spice Latte again I am running into a Starbucks branch to buy my first PSL of the year! Delicious!
On the other hand the PSL from Starbucks is pretty expensive. That's why I wanted to try to make the sirup on my own and of course because I could drink a Pumpkin Spice Latte whenever I want :)
Today I am going to share the recipe I used with you.
Of course you need mashed pumping for making the sirup. There are two ways to get this. You can either buy a Butternut or Hokkaido pumpkin, cut it up into small pieces and cook it with a bit water round about for 10 minutes till it is soft boiled. Afterwards you use a blender to create the mashed pumpkin. Or you use this:
Usually, I buy this pumpkin purée at the Kadewe in Berlin. I read as well that you can get it sometimes at Karstadt or of course online. I saw it as well on amazon. If you want to bake something else which includes pumpkin this is a pretty good solution, I think.
Okay, now you've got your pumpkin done so next you need the following ingredients for the sirup:
300ml water
300g sugar
100g pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon lebkuchen spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon nutmegg
1/2 vanilla bean
Put water and sugar in a pot, stir it and make sure not to cook just warm it up till the sugar is melted.
After the sugar is completely melted add the mashed pumpkin and all the spices, stir everything together and let it warm up for round about 10 minutes, no cooking. Stir it from time to time.
Hand a sieve into a large glass bowl and line the sieve with a cheesecloth.
Carefully pour the hot sirup through the cheesecloth and squeeze it at the end so that only the solids remain in the cloth.
Let the sirup cool down and afterwards fill it in closeable bottles. Store in the fridge.
Enjoy the sirup either in a latte macchiato or just in a hot milk and eat apple or plum crumble with it - super delicious! I promise! :)
Wow, it's been a month now since I've last posted here. But September was quite stressful for me, I had a cold, I've been often on the way and I had several job interviews because I am looking for a new job challenge.
However, October started and if October is a sunny month, it is one of my favorites. A sunny fall is the best: huge scarves and sunglasses, long walks. Already since last month I am totally in fall-mood. I have eaten several times a pumpkin soup or pumpkins in general, I like already gingerbread flavor and of course pumpkin spice and I wish the whole Halloween thing would be bigger in Germany because I think it is super funny.
And I absolutely love the cozy feeling in the evening with (scented) candles, a hot tea or chocolate, a good movie or a book. Just perfect! <3
I wish we will have a sunny and gorgeous fall. Enjoy everybody! :)
