Ilu Sõnum/Beauty Word 2012 and Estonian beauty bloggers 15 minutes of fame

The first weekend of October is always reserved for beauty fair Ilu Sõnum/Beauty Word. At least for me, for many years already. Basically, it's our local IMATS, an event you simply can't miss.

This year, it was bigger and better than ever, with 272 companies showing their stuff!

Also, there was a massive – and I mean massive! – advertising campaign going on before the fair. Whenever I opened FB or a magazine, turned on the telly or even walked on the street: beauty fair ads where everywhere.

10 minutes after 10 AM: quite a lot of people already!

Well, it must have paid off, because the fair gounds were pretty packed by 11 AM and by 2 PM it was getting quite impossible to move around and there were more people waiting in a que to get in. I went on two days and the situation was pretty much the same in Friday and Saturday. 

Ontic Minerals team is ready for the day :)

One of the prettiest makeups I saw...

I did most of my beauty shopping in Friday (I'll show you the haul pictures pretty soon!). As always, there were some great deals around and you must not underestimate the mingling: beauty fair was a perfect chance to meet up and chat with some dear old friends and to make some new ones. 

Some colourful body art.

On Saturday, we had Estonian beauty bloggers meet-up and a small group interview, that was broadcasted all along the trade fair grounds. Six beautiful ladies participated and Liis from Beautyfromliz was behind the whole idea. The interview that should have lasted for an hour was actually over in 15 minutes. We all had our chance to say what we are blogging about and why we do it and whether Estonian women are beautiful or not :) I must say the interview thing made me pretty nervous, but I guess it went well after all. I don't believe very many people had real interest or patience to listen to us, but it was still kind of nice being called one of the top beauty bloggers in Estonia or something like that in public. Yeah, really :P

Some works from the makeup competition that was held during the show.

After the interview, Angelika had her makeup done by Grete, while we others toured the trade fair together, staying at each others heels like a row of ducklings :)

Angeelika is ready for her makeup at Peggy Sage. 

While Angeelika was ready, we joined our forces to get a good deal on haircare products. At the end there was 19 products in our basket and I am so sorry that I haven't got a picture of this massive hair care haul! 

Random girls haggling over some haircare products at SalonPlus  :D

By then, it was afternoon already and I started to feel a bit tired from all the crowds, noise and shopping decisions. I must also sadly note that my falsies wanted to come sort of loose on one eye during the day because my eyes watered so badly. I think it might be the glue's fault that somehow irritated the eyes. Whoever wants to be left with only one eye of falsies in a beauty fair where every other woman looks like a supermodel??? No, not me. 

Liis K is testing some classic fragrances by Dzintars from Latvija :)

So it was adieu for this year and I am already looking forward to Ilu Sõnum/Beauty Word 2013!

In the meantime, I shall turn my greedy eyes in the direction of the beauty trade shows abroad :)

Yours Truly,
Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Nädalavahetusel toimus viimaks see kuulus ilumess Ilu Sõnum 2012, mille reklaame me söögi alla ja söögi peale juba mitu nädalat vaadanud ja kuulanud oleme. Ma olen ilumessil käinud mitmeid kordi, kuid nii suurt ja võimsat messi kui tänavu ei mäletagi. Osalejaid jagus tervelt nelja halli ja müügiks pakuti kõike juuksetoodetest ja küünelakkidest kuni ehete, sukkade, pesu, villaste kinnaste ja magnetkäevõrude, käsitööseepide ja aroomisooladeni. Otse loomulikult olid paljud tooted “messihinnaga” ehk siis palju-palju soodsamad kui tavaliselt. 

BeautyPro booth was crowded at all times.

Mõned pakkumised on juba traditsioonilisteks saanud. Näiteks BeautyPro, mis pakub juba mitmendat korda vanemaid China Glaze küünelakitoone võileivahinnaga ja SalonPlus, mis igal aastal üllatab eriti hea hinnaga shampoonide-palsamitega Tigi'lt, Rich'ilt, Joico'lt jne. Minu suur lemmik on juba mitu aastat ka Pilgrim Outlet, kust leian alati soodsa hinnaga ehteid ja kellasid. 

Lisaks soodukatele teeb ilumessi minu jaoks eriti mõnusaks asjaolu, et messile tuleb oma suletud kontoriuste tagant välja ka vähemtuntud meigi- ja nahahooldussarjade maaletoojaid, kelle asju igas supermarketis müügilt ei leia. Suur osa sellest kraamist on üldse proffidele mõeldud, aga messilt saab neid asju osta igaüks. Mulle meeldib!

Peggy Sage had a huge booth with lots of selection.

Ka tänavu olid messil väljas mitmed ettevõtted, millest ma olin küll kuulnud, aga veel polnud saanud võimalust järele proovida. Minu jaoks suurimateks üllatajateks Peggy Sage ja NYX: viimase kohta ma isegi ei teadnud, et seda Eestis müüakse, aga tuleb välja, et müüakse ja koguni kahes kohas! Mõnusad avastused olid ka eriti hea hinna-kvaliteedi suhtega (loe: odavad) Bella Oggi ja lauvärvisari Film Maquillage, mõlemad Itaaliast. 

NYX lip glosses and palettes.

Võrreldes varasemate aastatega oli messil märgata rohkem mineraalmeiki ja muidu looduslikke/ökotooteid ja vähem küünekaunistusi ning muud maniküürimudru. Sellise suundumuse vastu pole mul üldiselt midagi :) 

Ahjaa, ja siis oli mul koos teiste ilublogijatega võimalus messil nautida oma viitteist kuulsuseminutit, sest messiraadios tehti meiega väike intervjuu, kus saime öelda, miks ja millest blogime ja mida üleüldse arvame Eesti naise ilust :D Ma eriti ei usu, et keegi meie loba pingsalt kuulas, aga no tore oli ikka. Millegipärast on palju raskem olla intervjueeritav kui intervjueerija :)

Kokkuvõttes jäin messiga väga rahule. Kui eelmise aasta mess tundus veel veidike "masumessina", siis sel aastal oli üritus küll täies purjes. Järgmisel aastal jälle!

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

Empties: summer 2012. Part 2

Now when the summer is really-really over and done with in Northern hemisphere and autumn has arrived, it's high time to do part with my summer empties. Here's the second part I promised a while ago (see the first part here). BTW, I've been suffering from the first true cold of this autumn for the whole weekend: slurping down some spicy chicken soup, while trying to stay warm and covered :(

OK, down to business, let's get this one done, so I could concentrate on better news next week.

• Purexin Garlic shampoo. We brought this from Turkey last spring. My hubby used up the most of it, but I did get a few tries. My frequent readers must know my love for kitchen-related beauty stuff by now :) It was a fairly decent shampoo (no actual garlic smell whatsoever!), but obscenely expensive and no need to mention, hard almost impossible to buy in Estonia. Since I have no special memories of it, no repurchase. (I used a lot of 'no'-s in these last sentences. Umm... the point remains the same, but I must contain myself, otherwise my reviews are going to be a lot like something you can read from certain books beginning with the word  'Fifty'). 
• Tigi Love Peace & The Planer Eco Awesome Shampoo and Conditioner. Whoa! These have been my greatest love in hair cleaning & conditioning since I laid my eyes on them. They totally deserve a review of their own! I've purchased these again in bigger sizes already and they are being loved by our whole family. Let's just say these are pure goodness in bottles. Don't remember the excact prices, but if you are familiar with Tigi range, then you'll know they're not the cheapest ones around, but not the most priciest either. 

• Avon  Senses Waterfall Shower Gel. I loved this too! Avon Senses is a nice range of shower gels, you've probably seen some of them here before. I love them for their smell, but must mention they're rather thin & watery, therefore go fast. I loved Waterfall for it's turquoise colour and great unisex smell of fresh waters. Paid 3.90 euros for it and shall probably repurchase. 
• Lancome Aroma Tonic Body Lotion. Another great love of mine!  I loved-loved-loved the scent of it! I've been saving it a while, using only a little at a time. To my knowledge, it's discontinued by now, so no hope for a repurchase. It's gone and dearly missed by me. If i could repurchase, I would.

• Australian Gold Intimidation solarium cream. Yep, I do visit tanning booth's from time to time, because a person needs a break from endless rains from time to time. I loved the cooling effect of this cream. The tube was huge, took a while to use up, but it was all good. 
• Sally Hansen Airbrush Sun self tanner. I got this as a GWP and totally hated it! The smell was obnoxious and application very patchy. And don't even get me started on the orangey skin tone and damage to the ozone layers it left behind! 
• Lush Cupcake Fresh Face mask. Not my first one of these, see review here.
• Lumene Arctic Aqua 24h Balancing Moisturiser. I was on the fence with this. I mean, I totally love Lumene and I like light face moisturisers, but this one was a brat. It completely sunk in to my skin, but after a few hours my face turned really oily & shiny, especially if I used some foundation on top. I liked it's slightly marine smell, but I can't give top grades on moisturising... I think there are better ones out there (this is my politically correct comment if I don't want to say that I'm outright disappointed with something). 

• Ambray Nail Polish Remover and Avon Individual Blue Ladies Scent. These are the beauty school drop outs this time. The nail polish remover didn't remove much, so it was gone in a jiffy, but Individual Blue was totally another matter. In spite of being a popular ladies scent, I hated it, so I mostly used it to scare off my evil cat from biting my shins at nighttime and to freshen the toilet. Glad they're both gone! 

After staying on the empties project for about 9 months now, I noticed today some more unexpected free space in my bathroom cabinet. Yay! On that happy note, over and out.

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Järjekordne osa tühjade potsikute projektist. Heas mõttes on kõige märkimisväärsemad on Tigi Eco Awesome shampoon ja palsam, millest ehk kunagi jõuan põhjalikumalt kirjutada, ja Lancome kehakreem, mida ma väga armastasin, kuid paraku sai seegi lõpuks otsa. Nüüd lähen voodisse oma nohust nina nuuskama ja loodan, et selle sügise esimene külmetushaigus jääb ka viimaseks. Loota ju ikka võib, eks?

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

Quum.ee has a supersale! Warning: great beauty bargains

This morning sucked. Opening my eyes, I saw that my nail polish job from last night has sheet marks all over it. I found some cat pee on the floor, discovered that my shower gel had exploded in my gym bag (on top of the white yoga pants, which are ruined: the stain won't probably come out ever again) and my Lush facial cleaner had grown a thick layer of mould in the shower. And all that even before nine in the morning!

But then the day grew much better. My Elsa Hjeronymus facial care procedure was as great as I had expected (anyone fancy a review?) and I was even given a free Guinot eye cream sample from the salon. And once back at my computer I discovered this Quum.ee supersale with great offerings starting from 1.39 euros. Yay!

Some great finds:

• Clinique Take The Day Off makeup remover, 50 ml travel size, 4.80 euros.

It is a highly praised makeup remover, some even say, the best in the world. Although this is a travel size, the price is great: full-sized 125 ml product costs 21 euros in Strawberrynet. Get three from Quum and you'll get more product for a lot less and have some money left for other bargains. Plus, you can take  it on a plane.

• Jean Philippe Wild Honey Body Scrub, 170 g, 139 eur.

I have never heard about this scrub, but I like the price and packaging seems nice too :)

• SJP Covet Body Lotion, 200 ml, 4.80 eur.

• Christina Aquilera By Night body lotion 200 ml, 7.70 eur.

Well, these are the prices of a ordinary drugstore body moisturiser, but perfumed body lotions are rather perfumes than ordinary moisturisers and therefore usually cost much more. If you are a fan of these fragrances, then run.

• Tigi Love, Peace and the Planet Freak of Nature Volumizer and Thickener, 250 ml, 7.92 eur.

A great volumizer, that usually costs around 15 euros (at least in Estonia). You can find my review here.

There are also lots of L'Oreal lipsticks for 4.80 euros, Anatomicals and Manatomicals stuff starting from 4.44 euros and so on. I might fall for some bargains myself :P

Quum.ee is quite respectable Estonian web shop. They sell discounted beauty items like Strawberrynet.com  does, but have often better offerings. I have ordered several times from them and have not been disappointed with the service or goodies yet. Sometimes they even include free samples with the order (always a bonus in my eyes!). Quum delivers all over the world and in my opinion the shipping is reasonably priced. The only minus is that the delivery time is a bit long sometimes.

Note: I'm not affiliated with this shop, just took my time to share this information. All images are press pictures from internet. 

Did you find anything from this supersale?

Sincerely Yours,

Tolmu Rull

Edit: Now, more than a month later, these items are still not in my hands. So I must say that the delivery time is more than a bit long. I made an inquiry about my order and received a very vague answer about them being delayed with no exact arrival date. Hmm...

Edit 2: I have been extremely patient and waited more than four (4!) months by now. Still my goodies are nowhere in sight and the company doesn't know when they will be. I've asked for a refund and will let you know if or whether it arrives.

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Tänane hommik polnud mul just parimate killast. Aga pärast ülimõnusat ja loodetavasti ka tõhusat Elsa Hjeronymuse näohooldust arvuti taha naastes avastasin, et Quum.ee veebipoes on supersale ja seal leidub väga häid pakkumisi, millest mõned olen ka ülalpool välja toonud. Soovitan uurida!

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

NB! Praegu on tellimise kuupäevast möödunud juba enam kui kuu ja tellitud tooteid ikka veel pole. Järelepärimiseks sain pealiskaudse vastuse, et saadetis hilineb, kuna telliti palju. Ütleme nii, et ma olen selle olukorraga väga rahulolematu ja Quum.ee poodi enam soovitada ei julge.

NB! NB! Nüüdseks olen oodanud juba neli kuud, aga mu tooteid ikka pole. Samuti pole teada, millal need saabuda võiks. Palusin oma raha tagastada, mida ettevõtte juht Sven Palm ka teha lubas, ehkki ta arvas, et võtku ma parem mingeid asendustooteid nende lehelt. Tänan, ei! Ehk pean neid jälle mitu kuud ootama. Vaatame siis, kas ja millal ma raha tagasi saan :S Kindlasti annan teilegi teada!

Don't panic, it's organic! Tigi Love Peace and the Planet Freak Of Nature Volumiser and Thickener review

I have been planning to do this post for a really long time, because I was asked for it when I told about buying some Tigi products last year.

Tigi is by far my favourite hair products company. I have been a loyal Tigi fan since I bought a shampoo and conditioner from them more than ten years ago (they were ridiculouslty expensive for me back then!) and have hardly ever used other products since. A Tigi fan – yes, I am!

When something new comes out from Tigi, I'm just dying to try it. I always seem to fall for the design and concept of their products and haven't been disappointed the results don't disappoint me. To be fair, most of my hair stuff is by Tigi: they have a lot to choose from and I'm not hard to seduce :)

Love Peace and The Planet is not a very new series from Tigi. If I remember correctly, it came out about two years ago or so. What's important about it, it's Tigi's first “eco” series. It's motto is, go green and look good doing it. Tigi promises that Love, Peace and the Planet products are:

• free of parabens, laurel and laureth sulfates;
•  rich with renewable, organic and biodegradable ingredients;' with 80-90 % organic content;
•  use no artificial colourings or fragrances or animal byproducts (except beeswax, caution, not OK for vegans);
•  bottled in containers that have been made using 50 % of post consumer recycled material and are fully recycleable;
• I must add, Love, Peace and the Planet are having witty names  as it's usual with Tigi.

On to the Freak of Nature. It's a 250 ml blow-dry styling lotion, meant to add volume and thickness, while not leaving your hair feeling clean. It contains lavender, citrus, eucalyptus, japanese green tea leaf, pomegranate, aloe vera, nettle and chamomile extracts. The quite thin white milky fluid is housed in stubby lime green bottle and comes out through black plastic cap.

Or should I say, it should come out through black plastic c(r)ap. Because when I was using this for second or third time, I dropped it from my wet and slippery hand to the tiled bathroom floor and the cap broke. Fortunately I was able to use a cap taken from an empty Tigi bottle to prevent the product from drying out. Now Freak of Nature sits in my bathroom like a true Frankenstein. I think the cap broke far too easily and am not happy with that, as I expect more quality from a brand like Tigi.

Otherwise, Freak of Nature is great. It gives my hair noticeably more volume and shine, makes it look healthy and doesn't weigh the hair down or make it dirty. I'd recommend it to finer hair, because I think it might not be enough for thick and coarse hair. I haven't applied it to dry hair, as I don't feel the need to. It has a funny lavender-based smell that you'd expect from a foot cream, but it vanishes fast and I happen to like it.

As it's quite fluid, it goes fast. I bought it in October and I have already gone through half a bottle. I use it two or three times a week to the max as I have other hair products too. Normally I need a half of teaspoonful or an one euro coin sized puddle of it for my shoulder length hair. It's quite a lot of a hair product to use at once.

The other bad thing is, Freak of Nature has 85 % organc contents, but it still contains some silicones like dimethicone, phenyl trimethicone and cyclopentasiloxane and then some more. Luckily they are at the bottom of the ingredients list and I'm not too concerned about them. If you are, this product might not be for you. A more educational program here. 

Tigi products are available worldwide from hair salons and also online. Personally, I bought Freak of Nature along with some other Love Peace and the Planet products from SalonPlus at Estonian beauty trade show on sale and paid 8 euros for it. Normal price should be around 16 or 17 euros. The good news are that Quum.ee has Love Peace and the Planet on sale right now at half price, check it out!

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Tigi Love Peace and the Planet on tuntud juuksehooldusvahendite valmistaja Tigi esimene ökosari. Toreda nimega Freak of Nature on selle sarja volüümikreem/vedelik ja rohkelt volüümi see lavendlilõhnaline 85 % orgaanilise koostisega vedelik juustele annab ka. Jei!

Lubasin kunagi Miss L-ile selle toote arvustust ja ma arvan, et nüüd on see lubadus lõpuks ometi täidetud :)

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

Empties: December

Here it is: part two of my empties project. The aim is to use up as many half-used beauty products as I can in a month's time, in order to discipline myself and free some space for new things. See, even more empty bottles, jars and tubes than last time. So far the project has been a great success -- just look how many things I managed to finish in the month of December only!

Would I buy and use something from this sad bunch again? (That is, if I wasn't such a product junkie and always on the quest for something new and exciting, of course.) Yup, here they are, the good stuff I would use myself and recommend to others.

My special irreplacable favourites from this pile are:

• China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat  --  the best fast-dry top coat I've ever used; 
• Garnier Color Naturals hair dye -- cheap but fool-proof hair dye that gives great results every time; 
• Delia Good Foot tired legs lotion -- cheap foot cream from supermarket that has fantastic smell as well as fantastic moisturizing properties and an ability to sink in a blink of an eye;
• Decleor Rasage Express shaving foam -- a great shaving foam that is actually meant for men, but is good for lady shaving too. It really helps the razor to glide more smoothly and lasts for a really long time.

And by the way, did you notice the anti-hangover shower gel, LOL? I wish that hangovers could be cured by shower gels :)

Actually, I'm really glad about the the empties project, as I'm getting a better vision of what products I have and how long it takes to use them up. Plus, the extra motivation to take better care of myself. It is a strange satisfaction to see all these used-up bottles. The month of January looks really promising too!

My only regret is that there are not many make-up products among the empties. I hope to do better next time.

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Minu tühjade potsikute projekti teine postitus ehk kolmas kuu. Senini on projekt olnud väga edukas, sest olen suutnud ära kasutada paljud riiuleil seisnud "jäägid" ja kogu projekt on andnud mulle parema arusaama, mida ma igapäevaselt kasutan ja kui palju tooteid päriselt kulub. Soovitan!

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

Estonian beauty trade show haul, part 2

It's time for Black Friday hauls already, but I still haven't posted the other part of my big Estonian beauty trade fair haul – haircare and makeup items. Shame on me, I know … I'll try to fix the problem now.

Tigi Love Peace The Planet is Tigi's eco-friendly line free of parabens, sulphates, artificial colours and fragrances. Unfortunately the shampoos from that line were sold out, so I got two conditioners – Walking On Sunshine meant for daily use and Eco Awesome that should be a bit more moisturising. I haven't tried these yet, so I can't really tell about the effects. We'll see, but the green tubes look very promising and fit well to the color scene of my bathroom. I think they were eur 5 each.

I had more luck with the Some Like It Hot heat and humidity resistant line and got both the shampoo and conditioner. I've been wanting these for some time now and could have really used them at summer. The SA was a bit ironic and asked whether I was going to a tropic vacation soon. As far as I know of, I'm not, but no worries, I shall use them next spring and summer. Tigi discontinues their products quite quickly, so there's a fair chance that these might not be on sale any more next summer. It was only wise to buy them in advance with such a discount, right? Don't remember the exact price, but I think the discount was 50 % from the regular price.

On to the styling products. I have tried Freak of Nature volumizer and thickener a lot already. It's great! Another review to come! I havent't tried Save The Earth Straightener and Defrizzer yet, but I expect it to be as good as Freak of Nature. Control Freak Straightener is an old friend of mine and a repurchase, so naturally I have a high opinion of this. These products were 50 % off, so eur 8 each. This is a total bargain, because Love Peace & the Planets are eur 16.50 and Control Freak is eur 17.90 normally.

Eco Freako Texturizer was THE bargain of the fair. It was only eur 2 a pot, while it's normally eur 16.50! I got two, planning to use the other in a giveaway or as a gift to a friend. I have tried mine and this is good too.

Finally, the make up I got from the fair – Palladio products from Tradehouse. These are Baked Shadow Trio in Pop Idol and eye shadow quad in Tantalizing Taupe. These seemed very pigmented and promising when I swatched them in store. I think the quad was 5 euros instead of regular 8 euros and baked shadows had some kind of discount too.

Palladio Shadow & Liner pencils are my old favourites. They are easy to use, waterproof and stay on very well. So I collected some new shades: Olive, Black Pearl, Silver Bells and Eclipse. I wish there were more shades in the range. 5 euros instead of 7 each.

In case anyone missed my first post about Ilu Sõnum haul, I must say that it is a really good spot for discounted beauty products. You can see the first part of my epic haul here.

Sincerely Yours,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies: 

Teie ees on hiiglasliku ilumessi-hauli teine osa. Siirad vabandused, et pole viitsinud seda varem üles panna. Kõiki tooteid pole veel jõudnud proovida, aga olen leidnud uue lemmiku Tigi Love Peace The Planet ökosarjast: Freak of Nature volüümikreemi. Loodan, et sarja ülejäänud tooted on sama head. 

Viimasel pildil on ka natuke meiki Palladio toodete näol. Shadow & Liner pliiatsid on ammused lemmikud oma hea püsivuse poolest. Lauvärvid on alles katsetamisel.

Siiralt Teie,

Tolmu Rull