Eye Shadow -Smashbox - Eye Shadow Trio - Viewfinder
KittySkyfish 6/13/2006 3:29:00 PM
Nice trio of colors - a shimmery off-white, muted salmon and a deep greyed golden olive. The salmon goes on sheer, the off-white is a nice highlighter and the deep greyed golden olive is great in the crease or to define the lashline. Because the set is higher in contrast, it's not as slap-on easy as other color combinations. But, all together the shades work and make my eyes look defined and awake. They wear well with a shadow base. I reach for this occasionally, but I can see myself using it more in the fall when I tend to wear bolder colors. Not sure if I'd repurchase because I never tend to use up my products but I'll say 'yes' because it's recommendable. :) Pairs perfectly with the Smashing Image cream eye liner.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Stila - Convertible Color
KittySkyfish 6/12/2006 11:08:00 AM
I have these in Lillium, Gerbera and Gladiola and the colors are beautiful and wear well on my normalish to dry skin. But, my only complaint is the texture. I prefer a cream blush to feel creamy and go on smooth, without any tugging. This has the texture of lipstick and application by finger is not as effective as with a brush because with fingers it goes on too sticky/tacky, and even with a brush there's still that 'tack' factor. And that tacky feeling lasts a while on my skin! What's worse, it seems this product's creamy base makes my face oilier. I prefer cream blushes from Becca, Nars and Fresh. All of these have a smooth, blendable dries-to-a-powder like feel.
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Eye Shadow -NARS - Sophia
KittySkyfish 6/9/2006 11:53:00 PM
Gotta agree with Artbabe - this works perfectly as a brow powder for those with red or auburn hair. When applied lightly, this looks perfectly natural and lasts all day. It lasts longer than my Auburn brow powder duo from Laura Mercier! May be too deep for very pale skin or pale brows.
Update: Lately I've been wearing this a LOT as a crease shade. It's perfect! Works well over frosty/shimmery shadows and blends easily.
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Lip Liners -Lancome - Le Lipstique
KittySkyfish 6/9/2006 11:38:00 PM
I've bought several of these pencils over the years and now my collection consists of Mars, Ideal, Portelle and Bronzelle. My favorites in the spring/summer are Ideal (muted pinky peach - absolutely wearable) and Bronzelle (bronzey peach). Portelle (soft plum) and Mars (warm muted rose) are my favorites for evening or fall/winter. I find these work best when applied over a lip primer, which helps to keep the pencil from absorbing too much into the lip and start to look patchy. Once applied, I can blend it in well with the brush end so that the color is seamless. Now I'm ready for gloss or lipstick!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -Philosophy - The Muffin Man Lemon Custard Lip Shine
KittySkyfish 6/9/2006 11:21:00 PM
I love every single thing about this awesome gloss! The scent is fabulous, it adds real lemon candy sweeetness to my lips and the flavor lasts until the gloss is completely worn off. Also, the texture is great - not too sticky but not slippery either. It stays put and gives me great shine and shimmer without looking pale-frosty. The color is practially nonexistent when it's on my lips, which is fine since the color in the tube is yellow. I love wearing it over lip pencil, lipstick or just by itself for the perfect bare gloss.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Makeup Brushes -Essence of Beauty - Synthetic Fiber Eye Liner Brush
KittySkyfish 6/9/2006 11:13:00 PM
I have both the slanted tip brush and the rounded tip brush. Both work extremely well. In fact, if you are shopping for a Bobbi Brown, Trish, Smashbox or *any* department store liner brush, I highly recommend that you try these first! Anyhow, I have a purpose for each brush. The slant tip is my HG of HG brow brush. It is beyond perfect at applying my brow powder, and I'm sure that it'll apply a gel color just as well since it's a stiff bristle. The round tip brush is what I use to..well..line my eyes. I like it for both damp/dry shadow application and for my cream liners (Smashbox, Bobbi Brown or MAC). I get a precise application and the tip is not too stiff so it's not irritating to use around the delicate eye area. Both brushes are super durable and have tolerated at least a year's daily use with little wear to show. Essence of Beauty...I love you.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Bare Escentuals - Soft Focus True
KittySkyfish 6/9/2006 5:25:00 PM
Soft Focus True keeps the color undertones of True and cuts out a lot of the sparkle. There's still shimmer to it, but now it's much, much more subtle. :) It's one of my favorite blush shades: a muted medium-depth peachy warm pink (tawny pink). The color goes on well pigmented, so start out with sheer layers and add more color if necessary. Looks great brushed across the cheeks, on eyelids and anyplace you want a glow of natural color! I picked this up at a Bare Escentuals store, and it's also available at Sephora and Amazon.com.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Neutrogena - Visibly Even natural look makeup [DISCONTINUED]
KittySkyfish 6/9/2006 5:06:00 PM
I've had the best luck wearing this foundation when it's applied with a foundation brush (Essence of Beauty brand). With fingers I can't seem to get as smooth a finish, so it was initially rejected and tossed into my m/u drawer until I paired it with a foundation brush. Now I love it! The finish is very natural (not matte but not glowy, either) and coverage I'd say would be light to medium, if applied in layers. My skin is in pretty good condition: 35yrs old, mildly combo to dry, almost no blemishes but prone to redness and some oil in the t-zone. Visibly Even smooths out my complexion, doesn't highlight dry areas and stays color true all day long. I usually don't need to add powder to set this, with the exception of a very sheer dusting on my t-zone. I love that the sunscreen is Titanium Dioxide and contains green tea extract along with the soy extract. The downside to Visibly Even is that there's a mild funky scent to it (mine is a fresh bottle, a year from the expiration date) and that it doesn't go on as smooth as I'd like with my fingers. Looks 'okay' if applied with fingers but beautiful if applied with a brush. My problem with this is that I've been successful at creating beautiful finishes with other brands when using my fingers, so IMO this foundation isn't as easy to use as others. Still, those setbacks are somewhat small and I consider this a very good foundation and will repurchase again.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Sunscreen -Neutrogena - Age Shield Sunblock Spf45
KittySkyfish 6/1/2006 5:57:00 PM
I've never had a product ball up on me like Age Shield. Not just a few lil' balls but I'm talking Ball-o-rama! I've tried it on surgically clean skin, moisturized skin, serum'ed skin...all the same. Balls. And I'm not overworking it - it's becoming a sunscreen slurry before it even has a chance to start absorbing. What's worse, is it the sunscreen itself that's balling up (and being brushed off) or are they inactive ingredients? Without my knowing, why bother with this any further? But I have one more issue: I notice that sometimes a clear, stinky, oily residue drips out when I try to dispense the sunscreen, even if I previously shake it up good. Eh. I'll definitely not purchase this again.
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Conditioner -Neutrogena - Triple Mositure Silk Touch Leave-in Cream
KittySkyfish 5/30/2006 7:20:00 PM
Works great as a conditioning grooming cream - conditions well with just a tiny touch of hold. I have short layers and this allows me to do a great blow-out and get lots of shiny, soft hair. Doesn't weigh my hair down too much. Even my in-between days feel pretty nice! The scent is annoyingly strong at first (apple?) but it dies down soon enough. This replaces my Frederic Fekkai Glossing Cream, which smells better but weighs my hair down more. I'm on my 2nd bottle and will definitely repurchase. :)
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Conditioner -TRESemme - COLOR THRIVE
KittySkyfish 5/30/2006 7:08:00 PM
I started using this with the Color Thrive shampoo about 3-4 weeks ago and it has great conditioning properties IMO for a drugstore product. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give its moisturization power a score of 7. It's hydrating, but not too heavy for a daily-use conditioner. The scent is a clean herbal floral, nothing overpowering. When paired with the shampoo, I noticed a slight improvement in my color retention but nothing that spoke of "up to 5x". So, as a daily conditioner it's excellent but because Color Thrive can't exactly live up to its promise of being a fabulous color care line, I'll give it a 4/5.
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Shampoo -TRESemme - COLOR THRIVE
KittySkyfish 5/30/2006 3:51:00 PM
Great shampoo! I've been using this 3-4 weeks and it cleanses without drying or creating poofiness. The color protection factor is mild, though. I'm using semi-permanent colors and it does seem to stretch the color freshness a bit but I still have experienced fading. Even so, my hair looks great, the scent is not overpowering and the lather is rich. And like every TRESemme shampoo, you get a lot for your money. FWIW: I bought it while visiting my mom, and when I got home I repurchased it because it worked better than anything I had at the house! All in all a great shampoo but because it can't totally live up to it's superior color-care claim, I'll rate it a 4/5.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Sunscreen -Neutrogena - Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF45
KittySkyfish 4/29/2006 10:35:00 PM
I really, really wanted to love this one. My foundation looks flawless when I use this suncreen! I don't get the shiny greaseball glow that I get with other high SPF products and it even makes my foundation go on smoother. But, it made my eyes tear like crazy, even if I applied it nowhere near the eye area and it caused immediate stinging and redness around my nose and mouth. And little teeny pimples. I never break out and during the two weeks I used this product I would have at least three of these on my face at any given point. It still feels and smells great so now it's going to be used up on my arms and legs. NOTE: On more than one occasion I've seen this sunblock sitting on drugstore shelves while PAST THE PRODUCT'S EXPIRATION DATE. When shopping, make sure that you buy a tube with plenty to time to use it up!
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Treatments -DHC - Renewing AHA Cream
KittySkyfish 4/25/2006 6:32:00 PM
I had to go through three sample packets before I broke down and bought it. Part of my hesitation was that I'm a fan of Olay's Microdermabrasion kit and I didn't feel a need for another exfoliating product. But after I ran out of Olay I began to use up those packets...and I'm glad I did! This gives me the same softening/smoothing benefits without the redness or increased sensitivity. DHC recommends using this 1-2x weekly, but during the warm months my skin really seems to like this as an every-other-night treatment, alternating with an antioxidant-rich cream. Conversely, if the humidity is low and my skin becomes dry, I have to go back to 1-2x per week or my face will become irritated. I've been doing this for two weeks and so far my skin looks smoother (cheeks/forehead) and more even-toned. The pores on my nose are less clogged, too. There is an initial stinging after application, but it disappears after an hour. It also has a sticky finish that almost, but not quite, sinks in. Fine for me but it might feel like too much for the oil/moisture-phobic. However, when I wake up in the morning there is no greasiness, redness or irritation and my skin feels so soft and revitalized. Highly recommended!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -NARS - Bali
KittySkyfish 4/14/2006 3:29:00 PM
This is a perfect matte grey/brown that works well as a liner or a brow definer. I prefer Bali over MAC Charcoal Brown as an eyeliner because it goes on a bit smokier and deeper. There are no yellow/red/orange tones to this brown, and in fact it won't look like a brown liner on but instead will look like the natural shadow of your lashes. Excellent for those who suffer eye redness, because the lack of warmth in the brown will tone down the look of irritation. I use this dry and applied with a fine blending brush to the outside corners of my lashline and the results are natural, defined and eye enhancing without being obvious.
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No