Makeup addict in Finland

My friend came to visit me in Finland. Knowing her being very interested in makeup and beauty I decided to ask her to write a guest post. Click 'read more' and read her thoughts about products of Finnish brand Lumene, experience with makeup shopping in Finland and thoughts about makeup trends she spotted in Finland. See her blog to read more about beauty related news.


Enter my friend

As a makeup junkie before visiting a new country I always read about local makeup brands worth testing out, as well as some beauty shops to visit. For my visit to Finland I was inspired by the blog post written by Michelle Phan and the Shopping Guide of Beauty Pie to try out some of Lumene products as well as to visit the locations mentioned in the blog.

I went a bit crazy with my Lumene purchases and I bought Lumene Bright Now Vitamin C Blurring Line advised by Michel Phan, Waterproof Eye Make Up Remover from the must haves mentioned by Beauty Pie, Lumene Longwear Blur Foundation, Lumene Arctic Aqua 3D Hydration SPF 15 BB Cream, and Lumene Bright Now Vitamin C BB Cream SPF 20. Even though I had high hopes for these products I got very disappointed with most of them: Lumene Bright Now Vitamin C Blurring Line – had a chemical smell mixed with citrus scent and was not that good in blurring imperfections and most definitely can't be worn alone unless you have a flawless skin. Waterproof Eye Make Up Remover – did not remove the eye makeup, on contrary it smeared it all over the place so I always ended up with raccoon eyes after every use. Lumene Longwear Blur Foundation – did not provide enough coverage or longevity for my liking. Lumene Arctic Aqua 3D Hydration SPF 15 BB Cream – gave weird, unnatural color to my skin and was greasy feeling on the face.

The only product I was impressed with was Lumene Bright Now Vitamin C BB Cream SPF 20, - with its lightweight formula, dissent coverage for a BB cream, dissent wear time and nice smell. (Considering the fact that I’m not a BB cream person since I love some full coverage, this product performed better than MAC’s face and body and NARS’s Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer)

While visiting Sokos in Helsinki at the Urban Decay counter I met a very pleasant young man who was the sales representative of the brand. I was astonished by his knowledge of the products as well as love for the brand which is not the case in Georgia (here in MAC you can meet a sales rep who has no idea about new collections or certain products). I was pleased to meet someone who shared my love for UD and certain products. We had a little discussion about some of the new collections and colors which inspired me to get even more products than I initially planned (which never happens with me in Georgia as I always get discouraged by the lack of basic product knowledge). As a result I left with more than 10 products form UD counter only.

Pricing for UD was more or less close to US prices, I paid 24 Euros for Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer which is 28 dollars, 19 Euros for shadow singles as well as moon dust eye shadows which are priced at 19-21 dollars and 19 Euros for 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil and 21 Euros for Matte Revolution Lipsticks (22 dollars). However I cannot say the same about other higher end brands as Estee Lauder (double wear foundation 38 dollars vs 47 Euros), Dior, YSL which are much higher priced compared to US prices. Not to mention price comparison for MAC products. Furthermore the drugstore brands as Maybelline, L’Oreal, Rimmel etc. are so highly priced that even after the 30-50% discounts they still cost more than the US price.

As for the makeup trends I have noticed that most of the youngsters wear unnaturally long and fluffy false lashes with minimal or no makeup. Yet another trend was girls trying to pull off the look of mix between Khaleesi and Cara Delevingne, with light blond hair, pale skin and extremely dark brows as if painted on with a sharpie. Which for me looks extremely unnatural and weird, even I, being a brunette, wouldn’t be able to pull off such a dark brow look.