Maychiri's Thoughts: Bourjois

Bourjois Paris Healthy Mix Clean Nail Polish [125 - Very Generose] Review

October 26, 2024

The only non-Rimmel nail polish for today! This is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Clean Nail Polish, shade 125/Very Generose!

You know, I never thought I’d have a Bourjois nail polish. I had been eyeing this one on Notino for quite some time, but it was mostly just curiosity. But then, one week, I had a special promo code that slashed the price even more so I decided to say ‘feck it’ and bought it! I was so curious to see what it would be like! A natural nail polish, from Bourjois, no less! It should be good, even if I am not really a fan of the Healthy Mix product line. Healthy Mix foundation is too shimmery for me, so I predict that this will probably be the only Healthy Mix item I have. The other thing that drew me in is the shape – I have never seen a bottle like that! And I still consider Bourjois to be slightly higher end than what I usually use, so I figured I could treat myself for once, especially at the low price I got it for! Seriously, it was more than 70% off the RRP (or what DM sells it at, anyway)! So, now that I am pretty hyped for it, let’s see what it’s actually like and if it’s worth it’s original price! I cannot wait! Let’s see!

My, what a curious shape for a nail polish bottle! I have never seen such a bottle! It’s really elegant and chic! The bottle itself is small and it’s got an interesting tapered shape; it’s also fairly heavy for such a small bottle. Black text is more legible than white, but I think white text would’ve been a better match for the cap. Speaking of, that is a ridiculously tall cap! It’s honestly funny how tall it is, it’s like twice the height of the bottle! I like its shape, with the elegant curve along it. The white colour is the perfect complement to the pastel pink colour of the polish. Oh, and, to aid with handling such a long cap, it has textured areas that give plenty of grip so that your fingers don’t slide all over it. That’s a great detail!

You know what makes this cap even more comical? The fact that the brush at the end of it is legit tiny! Max size cap – min size brush! What a contrast! The cap closes very securely, no need to worry about the polish drying out! Just a note: this cap is so long that it dwarfs all others that I have, which means that it barely fits into my nail polish drawer. You’ll want to ensure that you have enough vertical space for this! All in all, a funny, yet very French chic type of design!

Source: bourjois.fr

Ingredients: zinc sulfate and vitamin E to help make your nails stronger. 3 free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). Also, Lithothamnion calcareum and diatomaceous earth, interestingly! I guess it is a healthy mix! The scent is like most nail polishes, but it is also somewhat sweet. The expiration date is 30 months after opening.

The brush is quite small! That’s a change from all the wide, large brushes that I usually work with! I don’t actually mind that it is on the small side, as it is pretty wide so that it isn’t hard to work with. Besides the fact that it is small and quite short, it is, more-or-less, a typical flat brush. It picks up a huge amount of polish, way more than you’d think such a small brush can pick up! Much more than is necessary for one nail so be sure to tap it off! The brush does the best it can with what it’s got; the formula is somewhat uneven by nature, but this brush manages to make it look decent. It spreads the polish across nails easily, and, given its small size, is pretty precise on the sides of nails. It’s really easy to use, which is awesome that such a smol brush can be so good when I am so used to big, large brushes!

Colour: a very spring-appropriate pastel pink. It’s almost the colour of pink chalk. It’s also a very milky colour; indeed, it reminds me of strawberry milk! And that is so cute! This is a super girly colour but also very, very light. It’s almost a bit too light for even my pale skin, bordering on washing me out visually. But it’s also an elegant colour in its own right. Although, it’s nowhere near the colour you see on Bourjois’s website, there it’s more like a dark rose... when it’s actually a pastel baby pink. I like this colour, it’s always nice to have milky colours in your repertoire!

The formula is actually very nice to use! It’s slightly gelly, but in fact feels very creamy and soft. It’s not very thick, but it feels milky. It isn’t at all runny, but it does have some problems with how uneven it is, as one coat ends up being relatively uneven. I must say that this formula is a bit difficult to work with, it’s not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a feather-light formula that is still opaque with two thinner coats, this is a bit annoying to use, honestly.

One coat is semi sheer, about 70% opaque, I’d say. It would be alright as a milky wash of colour over the nails were it not pretty uneven. It looks pretty messy tbh. Shame. With two coats it can look totally opaque, if both coats are thick enough. If not, it can still be a tiny bit sheer. I like the way it looks with two coats, it’s not too thick but it still looks really milky. The texture is quite glossy. Oh, and it does seem to dry really fast! It seemed to be ready for the next coat in like seconds! Although I still didn’t want to take any chances, so I applied nail polish drying drops anyways.

Longevity is honestly excellent! On par with the Rimmel nail polishes that I got at the same time (here & here). After 4 days there is just one chipped off part, on one nail, that happened as I was washing my hair (it somehow survived me washing the turtle’s terrarium without any deterioration, which is magic to me). Besides that, the rest of my nails are in great condition, despite not even trying to keep them from chipping. So if it can survive my general clumsiness, that is truly fantastic! However, this nail polish does get scratched rather easily, so I definitely recommend some kind of top coat. The scratches aren’t too visible, and they don’t affect the highly glossy finish, but they are there nonetheless.

I even got a few bigger scratches that are plainly visible. So yeah, top coat! Also, it seems like this nail polish developed some air bubbles. It’s not the nails themselves causing this as the bubbles aren’t on the same nails as with the Rimmel nail polish, so it’s really annoying. But hey, at least the light colour prevents the bubbles from being too visible, and there aren’t many (which is something the Rimmel nail polish cannot say). I am still pissed that there are bubbles in the first place though. I am, in general, very happy with how durable the nail polish is, now if only it didn’t have those pesky bubbles...

I had no trouble removing this nail polish with my trusty Ebelin Express Remover. It didn’t take too long to remove it completely although there was a bit more rubbing required than with other nail polishes. Still, it wasn’t difficult and, given the very light colouration, there were no stains.

All in all, hmm, Bourjois did not blow me way with this one. Look, it’s not a bad nail polish in any way, but it just leaves some things to be desired. The colour is very pretty, but also very light, so be prepared for that. It’s already a bit too light on my nails and I have pale skin. But I do love how milky it is, it actually reminds me of strawberry milk! Yummy! It’s a great colour for spring, when pastels usually take over. The formula is good enough; if the polish looks milky, it makes total sense, then, for the formula to feel milky too. It feels pretty creamy and soft, and it offers nice opacity with one coat (~70%). However, not all is well with it; it suffers from being uneven, which means that you have to work harder to get a good looking finish. One coat is pretty uneven and rough; two coats is, in general, pretty good, but it does have a tiny bit of that unevenness still. Only if you really stare at it, though. From afar it looks good. And that’s not even mentioning the air bubbles that formed on a few nails (no, not on the same nails as with the Rimmel nail polish). This is the real problem, as the uneven finish can be fixed by adding another coat but this, this is a real problem to try to find and fix the root cause. To be fair, it doesn’t ruin the highly glossy finish and it doesn’t actually detract too much from the beauty of the polish. But it does get scratched up a fair bit – again, it’s not too visible, but you can see the scratches clearly if you look closer. And it didn’t take too long to get a few nastier scratches. That pretty much covers the bad. Now, let’s finish with the best this nail polish offers: Longevity. See, this nail polish lasted for four days on my nails without any chipping. And that’s saying a lot as my nails usually make most nail polishes chip within 2 days! I’ve just got cursed nails and I accepted it, it is what it is. But this one lasts ages! Even a hair wash only caused one little piece to chip off! Hell, even washing my turtle’s terrarium caused no harm to the polish! That’s real magic right there! That disinfectants and scrubbing with steel wire caused no harm?? How??? So that’s fantastic! The zinc inside this polish didn’t do much to strengthen my nails, but they were already strengthened by the previous two nail polishes that I wore (two Rimmels, to be exact). My nails did not feel weaker, that’s for sure! I cannot say how good this polish is compared to the rest of the Healthy Mix line, but on its own it’s pretty good. However, I honestly believe it’s not worth RRP, so if you want it, really, try to find it at least 30% off. For that reduced price it’s a very good polish, but for the original price, I simply expected it to be better. Sure, it’s almost endlessly durable, but it’s got significant problems with the formula. Honestly, I doubt that I am going to recommend it, the uneven formula and air bubbles are just a deal-breaker. Shame, it could’ve been much better. I would only recommend trying it if you find it like 50 or 70 percent off.

Rating: 7/10

Would buy again? Probably NO

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3INA

New Stuff - Part 48

October 26, 2024

Greetings!

I come to you with a nice assortment of products, one of which was a free gift!

So, a little story... I like to treat myself to something nice after my birthday, so, last year, after my birthday passed, I felt like trying out something new. You know, new year, new experiences and all that. And luckily, Notino was there for me, with great discounts! This felt like it was fate calling me to buy stuff that I had never tried out before, so I ordered these lovely items. As you can see, they're mostly nail-focused, as I do love myself a good nail polish! And I love to experiment with colours, even though I mostly gravitate towards neutrals, haha! But also, a few brushes because I am constantly searching for the 'perfect' brush. And then also, another Max Factor False Lash Effect Lash & Brow Serum, because I love that darn little thing so much!

The entire range; mostly, it's rose and red colours
Source: bourjois.fr

Regarding the nail polishes, both Bourjois and Rimmel were brands that I was itching to try. However, Bourjois, in case you didn't know, isn't exactly the most affordable drugstore brand... well, not unless you are buying it on Notino! I was curious to see whether Bourjois' nail polishes were as high quality as the majority of their other products. But the only nail polish available was a 'clean' one, and those can come with a bunch of problems (specifically, lack of durability); this is why I spent ages trying to decide whether to even order it. But I'll never know unless I try it out myself, and, besides, where else would I find it at such a great price?? So I ordered the lightest shade, it was a toss-up between this and white, but I already have a few awesome white nail polishes (and pure white is going to/should look the same across brands anyways), so light pastel pink it is! All the others were too red for me, and I would like to avoid stains, if possible.

The entire Kind & Free range
Source: www.amazon.com

As for the Rimmels, I was driven mostly by hype surrounding them. Both of the ranges I bought were hyped out to be superb nail polishes at a very low price, so of course I would buy one of each to test that out! Similarly to Bourjois, I was a bit hesitant to buy a Kind & Free nail polish, but its claims of strengthening nails filled me with hope. The Kind & Free range is supposed to be friendly to your nails, while also being friendly to the planet. The colour range is quite excellent; there's light colours (including white!), there's dark colours (including black!), and there's also various colourful shades, all drawing inspiration from nature and its wonders. From the red of a poppy flower, to the light blue of a clear sky, to the dark gray of stormy clouds, it's all very natural. This made it difficult forever to pick just one colour, my instinct was to go with the nude colour, but I wanted to spice things up a bit so I instead decided to go with a lavender colour. Although, that light blue also looks good...

Insane amount of colours...
Source: www.notino.hr

The 60 Seconds Super Shine had an extreme amount of hype behind it, but again, I didn't want to pay full price for a brand whose nail polishes I'd never used before. Luckily, just like with Bourjois, Rimmel is also much more affordable on Notino, now, the only choice remaining was to pick a colour! And boy, are there colours to pick from... there's like 40 of them. I included a screenshot from Notino just so that you could see how many there are - and I am pretty sure that's not all of them! I was stuck trying to decide whether to buy a light brown nude colour or a more light greige nude or maybe a light brownish nude... all roads lead to neutral brownish colours with me, it seems! But I bough this one because the name was so cheesy I just had to!

The entire Fluffy Dreams LE
Source: www.essence.eu

As for the spoolie, I knew that I wanted at least one product from this quite unusual LE from Essence. Why is it unusual? Because it lacks any sort of makeup per se; the entire LE consisted of just various brushes! But spoolies are essential to have, and it will probably be easier to clean than the brushes that have bright white hairs.

The only other thing I would like to highlight is the MUA products, because that ties in to what I said at the very start. This is where the gift comes comes into play - see that clear brow mascara? Yup, that's the gift that I got for purchasing the brush! Did I need a clear brow mascara? Probably not, but who doesn't love to get gifts with their purchases?? And besides, I wanted that brush badly.

Alright, all that aside, now that the products I ordered arrived, it's time to see how good each one is... so, without further ado, the items for this week, with a link to the brow serum, because I have already reviewed it before:

See you soon!

Maja

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Bourjois

Bourjois Paris Rouge Edition Velvet [34 - Belle Amourose] Review

April 12, 2023

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Bourjois

New Stuff - Part 10

April 12, 2023

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Bourjois

Bourjois Paris Rouge Velvet The Lipstick [11 - Berry Formidable] Review

November 23, 2022

And now the second, and last, review! This is the Bourjois Paris Rouge Velvet The Lipstick, shade 11/Berry Formidable.

This lipstick is one that I had always wanted to have; I always thought that Bourjois is a very fancy and chic brand, it’s just that it had always been a bit too expensive for me. But then I saw this lipstick on a huge discount on Amazon, and surprise, surprise, they also had a matching lip liner! That was my cue to order it! I was still in my red lipsticks phase back when I ordered this one, but is it a good red lipstick?

Packaging: plastic, and it matches the colour of the lipstick perfectly. That makes it easy to swatch at first glance without opening it. The cap fits so tightly that I always have to pull harder to open it. At least that means that it’s kept fresh for longer. The retracting mechanism is super precise and robust, and it takes ages to fully retract the bullet. I like how it’s so precise and well-made. Also, the bullet is teardrop shaped, making for quick and easy application.

Source: www.bourjois.com

Ingredients: no nourishing ingredients nor parabens. The scent is subtle, and gentle, smelling creamy, almost like Nivea crème. It’s a lovely smell. The expiration date is 30 months after opening.

Colour: vampy, dark red that is very sultry and elegant. It’s great in wintertime, as a contrast to the whiteness of snow. But it’s not a pure dark red, as it has berry tones. So it’s a bit berry but mostly red, quite a gorgeous colour for pale skintones! I think that this is a universally flattering colour, though!

Pigmentation: truly extremely intense! Even the slightest touch is enough to get a rich, intense coat of colour! It’s super easy to apply, especially with its teardrop shaped bullet that makes it so easy to line the lips with just the bullet itself. The tip of the bullet is precise enough to not have any issues drawing a perfect cupid's bow shape. The formula is waxy and a bit on the dry side, but it still glides across lips incredibly easily.

The formula is rich and thick, but feels waxy, somewhat tacky (due to the waxiness) and kind of dry on my lips. It is surprisingly light despite the waxy formula, though! I would definitely like it more if the formula was creamier, I think that would make it more comfortable to wear.

The texture is ultra-matte, like, there is barely any shine at all! Despite being so matte, it does not look dry. No, it actually looks velvety and soft. I really like this texture; I, in general, prefer more matte textures anyways, but this one is just so luxuriously velvety. This lipstick is still quite comfortable, even if it does feel relatively dry. It’s a really lightweight formula; I actually forgot I even had it on, how lightweight it is!

Although, I did feel like my lips were a bit dried out after a couple hours of wearing this lipstick. To be honest, that’s really not surprising, what with the waxy, somewhat dry formula.

This lipstick is incredibly long-lasting; after 8 hours of wearing it it did not change one bit, nor did it fade, smudge or anything else. Bourjois did advertise this lipstick as having up to 24h of wear, and you know what? I would be inclined to believe that. It is also very resistant to eating and drinking, even if it’s greasy food. I did not notice any faded/smudged areas after eating, so I would say that it does not have to be reapplied after eating. It does transfer, though, if you don’t blot it. I don’t because I just can’t be bothered to, tbh.

This extreme durability is excellent, especially when you know you will be wearing it for hours and eating/drinking because it will stay looking fabulous after it all.

Worn with Bourjois Paris Lèvres Contour Edition [10/Bordeaux Line]

This lipstick hides another surprise up its sleeve: it’s super easy to remove, be it with micellar or with a specialised remover. Red lipsticks can be a bit hard to remove, but not this one! I didn’t have to rub hard to remove it and there were no stains afterwards. This was such a surprise to me, like, really!

All in all, my hype for this lipstick was warranted! The colour is divine, the longevity is endless, surviving eating and drinking like a champ, and it’s super easy to apply and remove! The formula is comfortable to wear, but it does feel a bit dry, and, indeed, does dry out my lips a tiny bit. I really love how it actually looks velvety soft on lips, so luscious and luxurious. And best of all, it’s easily removed! So, my first foray into Bourjois lipsticks was tremendously good! I am really happy I grabbed this lipstick, and the matching liner just improves how it looks. It can be used without a liner, of course, and it will still look gorgeous! I will recommend this lipstick gladly, with the caveat that, if you suffer from very dry lips it will feel uncomfortable. But if you don’t have dry lips, don’t hesitate to buy this shade, you will love it, I am sure!

Rating: 8.5/10

Would buy again? YES

Price at time of first purchase:	5.15 ₤ ( ~5.96 € )

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Bourjois

Reviews From the Past - Part 8

November 23, 2022

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Bourjois

Bourjois Paris Lèvres Contour Edition [10 - Bordeaux Line] Review

November 23, 2022

Let’s get this started!

This is Bourjois Paris’ Lèvres Contour Edition, in the shade 10/Bordeaux Line.

Back when this was ordered I was still in a ‘dark lipstick' and 'red lipstick’ phase, and when I saw this dark red Bourjois lipliner on Amazon, I just had to order it with a matching lipstick. Ever since I was a child Bourjois has been this brand that was really chic and cool but just too expensive for my budget, so imagine my delight when I found Bourjois products marked down on Amazon!

Packaging: just a wooden pencil with an exterior that matches the colour of the liner perfectly. The silver text looks really elegant with this dark red colour! The cap fits securely, sometimes even a bit too securely!

Source: www.bourjois.com

Ingredients: vitamin E, silk/serica powder, grape (Vitis vinifera) seed oil, shea (Butyrospermum parkii) butter for nourishment. No parabens. That’s quite a few nourishing ingredients, I must say! The scent is not too intense: it smells waxy, like a coloured pencil, with the tiniest bit of sourness present. The expiration date is 18 months after opening.

This is a super precise lip liner when sharpened properly. It’s extremely easy to line (or fill in) lips with this liner due to its waxy, creamy and soft formula. The liner literally glides across lips, with absolutely no tugging or pulling, which means that I can be done with my lips much faster with this liner than other, drier ones. Even the softest touch was enough to get a rich coat of colour! And I don’t even need to exfoliate my lips prior to lining them as this nourishing formula will help even them out on its own!

This pencil can be quite smudgy when it’s blunt, so you will definitely want to keep it pointy and sharp. Speaking of which, it is super easy to sharpen, although it can break more easily due to the super soft formula. The beautifully soft and waxy formula is a dream to use, but it does get dull rather quickly, requiring you to sharpen it again and again. This means, unfortunately, that this liner isn’t going to last a huge amount of time. But the pigmentation, man! It’s extremely intense and bold and quite sultry, indeed! This is a dark red, almost bordeaux that is universally flattering. It’s a beautifully vampy and sexy shade, especially in autumn or winter, and I love how it’s even bolder on pale skin.

The texture is mostly matte but there is a slight waxy sheen to it, as well. So I’d say that it’s somewhere between demi matte and matte, but more on the matte side. I love how soft yet rich it looks with this barely-there shine. The formula is as comfortable to wear as it is beautiful; this liner feels waxy and thick on my lips, yet still surprisingly light. There is a tiny bit of tackiness that really isn’t a problem. But it also feels soft and somewhat dry at the same time, like, it is greasy, but that waxy, dry type of greasy, not oily.

In any case, it’s super comfortable and you shouldn’t have any problems wearing it the whole day. My lips didn’t feel dried out by this lip liner at the end of the day, even if it did become a bit more dry.

The longevity of this lip liner is astounding! It stayed in perfect condition the whole day, and even eating and drinking didn’t cause it to fade a lot. There was just a small amount of fading on the very centre of the lips, much more on the inside. Outside, it wasn’t at all visible that it had faded. So, it’s pretty food-proof! I love that it doesn’t need a touch-up after eating! Besides that, there was no feathering or bleeding at all and the colour intensity stayed the same.

Now, it does transfer a lot when you touch it, so it’s definitely not mask-proof or kiss-proof, but that’s a small price to pay for such awesome longevity!

Surprisingly, this lip liner is extremely easy to remove. Whether you use micellar water or a specialised remover, it comes off easily, and without much rubbing at all. I thought that such a vibrant, intense red would be much more difficult to remove! There weren’t even any red stains! Superb, just superb!

In short, this Bourjois lip liner is fantastic! The colour is really gorgeous, a deep vampy dark red, the pigmentation is extremely intense and it’s both super easily applied (thanks to the waxy yet really comfortable and creamy formula) and lasts forever! It also tolerates food really well, showing almost no signs of fading! And it’s incredibly easy to remove! The only negative is that the formula, while really comfortable, is a bit too soft, and tends to become dull rather easily and can break more easily than drier pencils. I am so glad I picked up this lip liner; Bourjois definitely lived up to the expectations I had back then! So, of course, it gets my recommendation!

Rating: 9/10

Would buy again? YES

Price at time of first purchase:	4.60 ₤ ( ~5.32 € )

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Bourjois Paris Healthy Mix Clean Nail Polish [125 - Very Generose] Review

New Stuff - Part 48

Bourjois Paris Rouge Edition Velvet [34 - Belle Amourose] Review

New Stuff - Part 10

Bourjois Paris Rouge Velvet The Lipstick [11 - Berry Formidable] Review

Reviews From the Past - Part 8

Bourjois Paris Lèvres Contour Edition [10 - Bordeaux Line] Review

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