Polishes -Hard Candy - nail polish
JuliaLee67 9/23/2003 7:03:00 PM
I love Hard Candy's color selection; everything from more conservative pinks to frosty blues and greens with glitter. (Unfortunately, they've discontinued a lot of the colors I liked, such as Earth, Sushi, and Gangsta Booty, three of my favorites, and I have been on a quest ever since to find a source for these discontinued colors or another brand with similar colors, to no avail. Oh, well.) It seems the polish chips a lot more easily than it used to (the polish I have in the old bottles still seems to last a lot longer than the polish in the new, bigger bottles); the cream and frost varieties of this polish chip very easily, no matter what I do, usually after the second or third day of wear, but the glitter polishes do have a longer life span. I also appreciate HC's dropping their prices down to 9 bucks a pop for the polish...but please, bring back the good old colors!
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Blush -L'Occitane - Tinted Shea Butter
JuliaLee67 8/31/2003 6:29:00 PM
I have two of these, Blackberry and Red Currant, and I love them both. They're great as both a blush and a lip gloss or stain, but the two I have are of different consistencies: the Blackberry is lighter in pigment content and almost Vaseline-like in texture, and while it lasts all day on my cheeks, it tends to vanish on my lips after awhile. The Red Currant is much waxier and seems to contain more pigment (a little of this specific color goes a long, long, LONG way), lasting for hours on both my cheeks and lips. One of these days I'll try the other colors in this line (I believe there's even a colorless one which sounds like it'd be great for chapped lips or used as a moisturizer under foundation for drier skin), because I'm pretty happy with them. They do come in a tin so you have to apply the color with either a brush or your fingers (which stains your fingers), but I still love this stuff and will definately buy it again!
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Polishes -Revlon - ColorStay Always On Nail Enamel [DISCONTINUED]
JuliaLee67 8/18/2003 9:00:00 PM
Being a total nail polish junkie and having heard so much about this stuff and how great it was, I finally broke down and gave it a try. I picked the color "Forever Scarlet", a bright cheery red, and took it home to try. I followed the directions on the box, noting the "do not use a base coat" part, which made me leery (my nails will stain yellow even with light colors if I don't use a base coat), and the "do not use any top coat besides the one that comes with the polish" part (again, hmmm). I found the polish to be a bit thicker than most, but it applied smoothly and took two nice even coats without streaking. It also dried pretty quickly, and the top coat made it even shinier and more wet-looking after it was dry. I wore the polish for seven days without a single chip or nick. But the real test came on day 8, when I scrubbed the grout in my bathroom, sans rubber gloves, just to see what would happen to this polish. Once again, no chips at all, just a teensy bit of wear at the tips of my nails that was virtually unnoticeable, even with such a bright color! A-freaking-mazing! This polish didn't stain my nails, and I am one happy woman...but that's not to say there's nothing I would change about this product. First of all, the color selection is very limited; forget it if you're looking for something besides the usual conservative shades. The polish has a certain goopiness after it's been open a couple of minutes, but so far this has not been a real problem. The polish smells strongly of melted plastic, even after it dries, and I noticed that the odor eventually went away but it took a day or so. This is also a hard-to-remove polish: I went through a lot of remover and cotton and had to scrub my fingers and toes awhile to get the residue off! And finally, every bottle of color comes with a bottle of top coat, which seems excessive, since I only used one coat of top coat with both applications of this polish. EDIT: The story of my life: I find a beauty product I absolutely LOVE, and then it gets discontinued or they decide to make it "New and IMPROVED", and ruin it completely, and that's what they've done with this polish. Revlon changed 'Forever Scarlet' to 'Always Starlet', the color is now a blue-red that looks like all the other blue-reds out there. So I'm left scouring eBay for boxes of the old shade. D~:< Boooo.
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Lip Gloss -Urban Decay - Kiss Lipgunk
JuliaLee67 4/21/2003 11:48:00 PM
Lip Gunk is aptly named, as this is quite possibly the thickest, stickiest lip gloss ever made in the history of the universe. But that's a good thing, and UD's Lip Gunk in "Kiss" is a *very* good thing. It's a semi-opaque, slightly sparkly red gloss that smells and tastes like cherry cola and looks great on. I think this would look wonderful on anyone, regardless of skin tone, as it's such a nice clear red with no major warm or cool overtones, and best of all it can be applied in its' natural thick state or applied and then blotted for the perfect lip stain (which makes your lips look like you just ate a cherry popsicle)!
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Lip Gloss -DuWop - Lip Venom
JuliaLee67 4/11/2003 10:26:00 PM
This product will *not* make your lips fuller, but it doesn't claim to do that. What it *does* claim is to enhance the natural coloring of your lips, and it does just that. Apply it to your lips (my vial has a sponge-tipped applicator and not a brush, which made me happy), and the medium-thick oil-based formula (smells kinda like cinnamon and cloves) gives a slight tingly/stingy sensation, which is actually the oils in the gloss irritating your lips. I found the sensation to be very mild and not painful, lasting for about 20 minutes or so, but a little of this stuff goes a long way and I'd say stay away from it if your lips are in any way sensitive. A quick check in the mirror revealed that yes, my lips were much pinker than before I applied it, and the product lasts about as long as regular lip gloss lasts, which means you will have to keep reapplying if you eat, drink, smoke or smooch. Lip Venom is a rather gimmicky product, and you don't get very much of it for your 15 bucks (remember a little goes a long way), but I found it to be as it claimed, and I'll buy it again.
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Tinted Moisturizer -Hard Candy - Hint Tint Tinted Creme [DISCONTINUED]
JuliaLee67 4/11/2003 2:38:00 AM
This is a tinted moisturizer that's very light and sheer, and it also has an SPF of 15. It won't cake or streak on your face, but it does tend to get shiny as the day goes on. This is the foundation/moisturizer that I always wear, and I love it. It works well with either cream or powder blush (though I think cream blush looks more natural), and you can mix it with regular moisturizer to make it even more sheer, or add a bit of regular foundation for more coverage. Good stuff!!!
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Eye Shadow -Stila - Puppy Eyeshadow
JuliaLee67 4/6/2003 3:15:00 AM
A great neutral brown shade, not too light, not too dark, and how could you not love something called "Puppy"?
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Eye Shadow -Stila - Mambo Eyeshadow
JuliaLee67 4/6/2003 3:12:00 AM
Mambo *looks* screaming electric blue-purple in the pan, but when you apply it, it's gorgeous! You can acheive different effects by applying it wet or dry: it works as a liner, as a subtle wash of color, or as a regular shadow. It does great things for my green eyes, so I love it, and would definately buy it again! Don't be afraid of the color!
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Polishes -Bourjois - Bourjois Vernis Anti-Choc Rose Euphorique
JuliaLee67 4/6/2003 1:59:00 AM
Bourjois makes a good nail polish, it will last a week or more if applied properly, and it's less expensive than many other department store brands. Rose Euphorique is the perfect medium pink slightly frosty polish: a very bright, happy pink, and if you like pink polish you should try it!
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