A review of aussie hair products

  This is a prelude to a History of my hair and my current hair care routine.

  The first time I've tried Aussie in 2011, trying to save my damaged hair. I love the quote on the back of one of the Aussie products bottle: "For hair that's dry , damaged, a bit unhappy." I bought the Aussie 3 minute miracle moist deep conditioner and I liked it, even if it was a little more expensive than I liked. Soon I moved where I couldn't find Aussie in drugstores anymore. I don't love the smell of this particular conditioner and I don't love how hard it is to wash out of the hair after applying, but it does make hair softer. It was a last resort, that worked, possibly saving my hair for a while.

  2015 - My hair is unhappy again.

  I have noticed Aussie products in the drugstore. I don't like the price, almost three times more than I was spending on a shampoo at the time, but I say a little prayer for the hair gods, sneakily unscrew the caps of the few Aussie shampoos the drugstore has, to make sure it's not the annoying smelling one and I buy my new Holy Grail shampoo Aussie Miracle Moist. I love It. The smell is fabulous. After that I started to try out more of Aussie products.

  So far I have tried these:

  As mentioned before, smell is not my favorite, and very hard to rinse out. But somehow does the job I rate it 3.5/5.

  As mentioned before, I love the smell, my hair feels a little more alive after I wash this out, unlike other shampoos and I prefer this to any other shampoos at the time. I rate it 5/5.

  Not the best conditioner. I prefer to have my conditioners truly moisturizing, since I don't want to use a hair mask after that. The smell is the same as shampoo Miracle Moist, but I feel that it rinses out of my hair fully, leaving very little moisture behind, very lightweight. Rating this 3/5.

  Smells just like 3 minute miracle, I hate it. My hair feels way more dry after washing with this, rather than miracle moist. Rating 2/5.

  I don't like this. The smell is not my favorite. Not the best at conditioning my hair neither. Rating 2/5.

  Smell is tolerable, but out of all dry shampoos, that I have tried this has to be the most intense one, my hair felt too dry after applying this. Rating 1/5.

  Best hair oil I have ever used. I prefer this rather than the expensive and famous Moroccan Hair oil. I have had this for a year, still haven't finished it, but bought a back-up already, bought another one as a present for my sister. Very lightweight, very moisturizing, smells pleasantly, just like miracle moist shampoo, doesn't leave hair feeling too greasy.

  To conclude I'll say that spending the money on the products that left me disappointed was still worth it because I eventually did find my favorites. I think of this brand highly and recommend it to everyone I know. In the future I'll look into purchasing other Aussie products to try, probably online from other country, since I have already tried more than half the products from Aussie that Lithuanian drugstores sell.

Review of Catrice cosmetics

  My relationship with Catrice is shorter than the one with Essence, but lately it has much been stronger.  Last year I bought most of my Catrice makeup collection. Some of the products I have found very useful, and others not so much...

  The products are very inexpensive, but quality varies.

  The eyebrow palette is the only eyebrow product I use, have been using it since good eyebrows became a must have trend. The only sad thing is that my palette kept on breaking and crumbling every time I'd open and close it.

  Catrice mascaras are no-go for me. I expected more, since the price range is the same as L'oreal and Maybelline mascaras. I always end up going back to those...

 Catrice has very interesting nail polish colors, the ones I have tried left me satisfied. The only bad thing - drying time was longer than other drugstore nail polishes.

  Eye shadows are not the strongest part of Catrice appeal, at least to me, since I've tried a few. The 4-shadow palette was a disappointment, the colors I like were not as pigmented or smooth as I wanted and the colors I didn't care about were perfect. The 5- shadow palette was a good find since it was on sale and had hard to find shades at the time. The small single is a good purple but I mostly bought it for the name "Lilac Del Rey".

  The contour and highlight products are very new in my collection, but I enjoy them. Highlighter is very bright and the bronzer is cool toned, in time it might even beat my old time favorite essence bronzer. (Yes, like a true amateur I was using bronzer as contour, please don't judge me - post edited 2017)

 Winners! Liquid foundation (light shade, but not even the lightest, pretty good coverage) and all time favorite: camouflage cream concealer - that extra coverage for the worst breakouts. Primer is  a little disappointing in my opinion, I am not sure if it does anything really.

 Best about Catrice cosmetics: Not expensive, a few products have become staples in my makeup routine, and a few others might be on their way to become too.

Worst about Catrice cosmetics: mascaras, lipsticks (never felt intrigued enough to buy one) and lack of interesting and unique collections (the situation has been improving lately).

Review of Essence cosmetics

  I've been using the brand since 2010, evidence - glittery black eyeshadow from Twilight Eclipse collection. But I know for a fact that I've been buying the cheapest foundation I can find at the drugstore since I was 15 (I still do) and if I remember correctly, it was always from essence. I'm going to be 25 this summer, I'm almost deserving a tittle of veteran Essence cosmetics consumer.

  Speaking of that cheap foundation, I don't own any now, but I've found some pictures online of the exact ones I used to buy:

 

    I'm pretty sure essence foundations stayed the same, only the packaging changed. I remember them being always a little too dark for me, even if I bought the lightest shade. Coverage was good, the consistency was pretty thick and I'd go through that little plastic bottle really fast. I had a normal to dry skin with occasional little breakouts, so I didn't need good camouflage and I didn't look for it - essence foundation was enough for me. I wouldn't buy it today.

 The only blushes I've bought from the brand were a miss. Maybe I'm just not a blush girl?
But the bronzer was bomb, I've been trying to finish this exact compact since I bought it in 2014.
I still have to try essence highlighters.

  Essence lipsticks are well loved in my makeup routine.

 Second best thing are essence makeup brushes. I only own the two. Considering how inexpensive they were and how many times I've washed them since I got them, it's truly impressive how long they have served me.

 And the #1 best thing you can buy from the selection of essence products are the eye shadows. Essence often comes out with new mini palettes, very handy for traveling or just to carry with you.

 The matte shades are not very pigmented, but the sparkly ones are always great.

 

  Extras: Essence nail polishes are fine, I've tried only a couple colored polishes, I used to like the top coat better. But I have realized, that for nail polishes, other brands have better stuff for the same price. Essence lip glosses I've owned were very sticky, and the blue eyeliner was a present, I don't use it on myself, but it's very soft. If there was a red one I might buy it.

  Best things about essence - always cheap, always available and always has new things to offer.

  Worst things about essence - limited editions are hard to get hands on, some products lack variety (example - foundation shades).