Top/Base Coats -Essie - Nourish Me
MsHepburn 8/24/2012 1:33:00 PM
Nourish Me is a base coat that is supposed to care for your nails. I'm a bit torn on this one... I love Essie polishes, and their colours and top coats are great. Also I have been very happy with the wear I got out of my Essie polishes, all of them stayed put and pretty for about a week. So if that's down to this base coat, then great. However, the last time I wore Bordeaux with this underneath, my nails had stained pretty badly from the red... So I guess somehow it had still gotten through. Funnily enough the only reason I could actually SEE the stains was because my nails had grown about 1 mm since putting it on :) which is a sign it truly staid put for quite a while. So I am not really sure about this, I think I need to shop around and see what other base coats are out there. Heard Sally Hansen is good so might try that next, If I DON'T find anything that also provides a week of wear but also prevents staining, then I will buy this again.
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Polishes -Essie - A-List
MsHepburn 8/24/2012 1:25:00 PM
Very Mad Men :) This is like a more upbeat, careless version of Bordeaux. For someone like me it took some nerve to wear a bright red like this to work, but I did and I wasn't fired. Phew. When I wore this, I actually couldn't stop looking at my nails... They were so pretty! It's a very apple-ish red, glossy and juicy and it looked very nice against my sallow skin. For now, I have found the nail colours I am comfortable with: A-list, Bordeaux and for a natural look Mademoiselle. Am going to stick to Essie. For me, the wear has been amazing. All of them have lasted me about a week before any chipping. I'm just thrilled I have found some polishes that are virtually fool-proof, because I had basically given up before I discovered these.
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Blush -Clinique - Blushing Blush Powder Blush - Sunset Glow
MsHepburn 8/22/2012 3:46:00 PM
Guess it depends on what you expect. I was expecting a sort of natural, maybe a bit bronzy blush that I could use to sculpt my cheekbones and provide a healthy, flushed glow at the same time, but this is more of a berry colour that does not work well for that purpose. It is quite a matte blush, no sheen or shimmer from it. I am an NC25/30 and this colour really doesn't suit me. I can see how it would look nice on other skintypes, but the cool, almost purplish tone of it and the matteness make me look old and unhealthy. I was actually looking for a compact version of MAC's Warm Soul (not gonna carry a whole brush and pan around with me) but compared to that this was a real disappointment. It was kind of like biting into a pastry expecting it to be filled with apple only to find it's a savoury one filled with ham and cheese... My own fault for not trying it on before buying.
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Moisturizers -Estee Lauder - Daywear Advanced Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Lotion
MsHepburn 8/14/2012 8:54:00 AM
This stuff is pretty amazing as far as I'm concerned. My skin can barely handle any moisturiser, it always breaks out, it seems like EVERYTHING clogs my pores. Clinique, Shiseido, Clarins, Chanel, Biotherm, Vichy, Lancome, Kanebo, even all the organic stuff from Lush and what not: they ALL make me break out. Especially anything with an SPF in it... So I have been spending waaaaay too much cash on all of these brands trying to find a daily moisturiser with SPF that would not break me out... After all these years (am 31 now) I have finally found it! This stuff feels slightly greasy when I put it on (even though it's a lotion and quite runny) so I was a little worried. But it has not broken me out at all and I've been using it now since about February. I also didn't really realise how this kept the greasies at bay until I ran out recently! My skin is looking really good now, and I used to have serious problem skin. In winter I found that although this is great for daytime, it didn't really get rid of dehydration lines as much as I would like so I added Hydrationist (same packaging, just a different colour) from Estee Lauder to my routine for night time. That has helped tremendously (and also has not caused any zits, hallelujah!). Right now my routine is like this: Morning: cleanse with MAC charged water cleanser on a cotton pad, apply DayWear. Evening: take off makeup + cleanse skin with MAC charged water cleanser on a cotton pad, apply Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum, apply Hydrationist. I am never touching the Clinique 3 step horror or other harsh cleansers and pore-clogging creams and lotions ever again... No more cystic acne for me thanks. After all the money I pumped down the drain and all the years spent looking for something that would work with my skin I never thought I'd actually see the day that I could leave the house without makeup and not feel embarrassed. Gonna stick with MAC and Estee Lauder products for my face from now on. Not cheap, but certainly cheaper than buying stuff that I don't use up because it pisses off my skin ;)
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Polishes -Essie - Mademoiselle
MsHepburn 8/4/2012 5:38:00 PM
This is beautiful. Looks very simple & elegant: like naked nails, only cleaner and more groomed. Great for the office or a low-key weekend look. If you expect an opaque pink, don't get this! I hear Fiji is great if you want no sheerness in your light pink polish. Mademoiselle is sheer (and it's supposed to be). One coat of this does very little compared to a base coat. But add one more layer and your nails will look ever so slightly lighter, fresher, cleaner and healthier... I love the way it makes my hands look a little tanner than usual. The white tips of your nails will still be visible so it looks like a French manicure. I guess the name was a bit of a giveaway. I've heard Ballet Slippers is similar but pinker and streakier. Mademoiselle looks lighter in the bottle than Ballet Slippers and in my experience it doesn't streak. I get about a week's wear out of this, as I do with all Essie polishes so far. I do have to stop at 2 coats though, any more and it starts to pile up so you can see the edges coming loose after a few showers, if that makes sense. I tried a few OPI polishes recently but I definitely prefer the consistency and finish of my favourite Essies :) I love my classics: for now I'm sticking with Mademoiselle, Aperitif, A-list, Bordeaux and Wicked.
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Cleansers -Lancome - Eau Micellaire Douceur - Express Cleansing Water for Face, Eyes, Lips
MsHepburn 7/20/2012 4:16:00 PM
Hm. It's alright, but I think the Avene one is better. If I use this in the morning, my skin is greasy by 17:00 so I suspect it strips my skin of its oils a little and oil glands go into overdrive. Edit 22 December 2012: OK, I changed my mind. This stuff is great. Very mild but effective and it smells lovely, plus the big bottle lasted me forever even when I used it twice a day. This actually makes my makeup and all the grime slide off even more easily than the Avene one and price wise there is not really a big difference, also this is more readily available, so I'm sold. Just repurchased today.
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Polishes -Essie - Bordeaux
MsHepburn 7/13/2012 5:29:00 PM
Love this :) (PLEASE NOTE: the colour is nothing like the one in the picture with this post! It's a lot darker.) I'm a real idiot when it comes to nail polish... I never get it on evenly and it always chips within a day. But this I put on perfectly in one go, which has NEVER happened to me before. I used the 'nourish me' base coat and the high shine top coat with two coats of Bordeaux in between. I put it on on Sunday and it's now Friday and not one chip on it. The colour (with the 2 coats) is a really deep, dark red, but not black red like Rouge Noir from Chanel. The latter was a bit too goth for my taste and also didn't stay on that well. The consistency seems very thick and sort of sticky (jelly-ish I guess?) and the brush is pretty wide, so I could almost get my nail covered in one sweep. It took a while to dry, so application in a hurry might not be a great idea. I really like this and I'm planning to buy a few more Essie colours. The price is reasonable compared to Chanel and MAC and it's definitely better quality. Edit 11 October 2012: This is easily the nicest nailpolish I have ever found. It's glossy, classy and suits every occasion. This is the polish I've been looking for all my life! It's the only proper deep, dark RED I have ever found. Other similar polishes have always proved too black or too purple for my taste. This shade is perfect and I will keep buying it until they discontinue. Lasts about a week with a good topcoat. (Actually I've noticed that some people here are disappointed that this isn't a real wine colour polish. That, for me, was actually the up side to it: it's dark, but definitely still recognisable as red. If you prefer more purply or black-ish colours, I think Wicked might be more to your liking. Or OPI's Mrs O' Leary's BBQ.)
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Skincare - Face -Estee Lauder - Advanced Night Repair Concentrate
MsHepburn 7/2/2012 4:44:00 PM
Holy crap. I recently ran out of my Avene Micellar water and replaced it with Lancome's version out of curiosity, but unfortunately my skin has been super oily ever since and I've been having some breakouts. Unfortunately I also ran out of my regular ANL serum at the same time. So I went to the shop to get some, but it was sold out! All they had was this concentrated version. I had been meaning to try that anyway, so I decided to go for it... I used it for the first time last night (under my normal moisturiser) and today I woke up with calm, plump skin! Gonna have to see how I fare in the long run because this stuff has silicone in it and I'm very prone to breakouts... Will update later. Edit 20 June 2012: OK, so I'm about to finish the 3 week stint. My skin is definitely back to normal! Looks pretty good again. I'm not sure how much of a difference there really is with the normal ANR serum (which I'm a big fan of) but it does work. Going back to my normal serum now. Will start using this again if I ever upset my skin for some reason.
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Mascara -Lancome - Hypnose Drama
MsHepburn 4/25/2012 2:22:00 PM
This one grew on me... Takes a while to get used to, very clump-prone so you need to take care when applying it. But boy, does it deliver... The only mascara that truly creates the false lash effect that so many others promise. Super volume and length.
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Scrubs -Kanebo - Silk Peeling Powder
MsHepburn 4/14/2012 5:21:00 AM
It's hard to review this baby because it's a stealth fighter, like another reviewer said very accurately. I started using this around my 31st birthday, about 2 months ago. I use it about 3 times a week and my skin has cleared up considerably. The thing is I started using a few new products around that time so it's hard to tell which one I struck gold with, but the combination of them seems to be working a treat so am gonna keep using them all! So my regime now consists of the following: Morning: Avene's micellar lotion for cleansing, followed by MAC's charged water hydrating gel cream Evening: Avene's micellar lotion for cleansing and removing makeup, followed by Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair serum and Estee Lauder's Hydrationist moisturising lotion for combination/oily skin 3 times a week in the shower: Kanebo's silk peeling powder for exfoliating. Seriously, my skin has been pretty troubled since my early twenties but it has never looked this good. It's so good even I can dash out the door now with just a touch of blusher and not feel embarrassed! Never thought I'd see the day :) Don't be fooled by the fact that other reviewers call this a scrub, because it doesn't feel anything like a scrub. I was very disappointed when I first used this, based on the reviews I thought it would turn into a sort of rough paste that I could use to really polish my skin. Instead, it just turns into this creamy, lathered foam! Not the slightest hint of any grains in this, just silky foam, like the instructions actually say. Still, I was surprised and a bit let down. The feeling after using this is kind of weird, it feels like you are stripping your face, after rinsing it is LITERALLY (and I mean literally in the literal way) squeaky clean, you can actually hear it squeak if you rub it. I kind of thought that probably isn't a good thing since stripping my face of its natural oils tends to shock my oil glands into overcompensation mode. However, if I just towel off and moisturise after my face feels super soft. It's not like you see an immediate difference but yesterday my skin was looking and feeling a bit manky from eating too much junk food and not being outside enough, so I had a shower, used this powder, put on my ANR serum and Hydrationist moisturiser, went to bed, and woke up this morning with the few blemishes I had almost completely vanished and my face looking glowy and healthy. Yay! And what the other reviewers said about this lasting ages: I think that's true so it's not that bad value. I used it 3 times a week for the past 2 months and I've barely made a dent in it. Definitely recommended for gentle but seriously effective exfoliating, both for acne-prone girls like myself and for 30-something girls (like myself) ;) Edit 12 December 2012: Well, been using this for almost a year now and I ran out last week. Used it about 3 times a week, sometimes more. It's not like my skin is completely terrible again out of the blue, but I definitely feel like it was smoother when I hadn't ran out yet. It retails for about 60 euro in Europe, which is a lot, admittedly, but if you take into consideration that this lasted me about 10 months with very frequest use it's not bad. Gonna buy it again asap.
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Moisturizers -Kanebo - Sensai Silk Emulsion 1 (Light)
MsHepburn 4/13/2012 6:27:00 PM
This moisturiser is pleasant enough but it doesn't really appear to do anything for me. I got a very generous sample, so I am glad I got to try it out before deciding whether to buy. One thing I do want to say about this product is don't be deceived by the price: it seems ridiculously expensive, but the pump holds 200 ml so that's twice the amount most moisturisers hold. With that in mind, this is actually the same price as my favourite Estee Lauder Hydrationist moisturising lotion. This moisturiser is targeted at combination skin but I found it makes my skin very oily after a few hours. I actually much prefer the feel of my skin after using Hydrationist: soft and plump but not greasy.
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Styling Products -Bumble & Bumble - Thickening Spray
MsHepburn 4/11/2012 7:27:00 PM
After reading another celebrity stylist raving about this in a magazine I decided to try it out. My hair is poker straight, very glossy but also very limp. I have tried so many volumising products over the years but nothing really works. This stuff unfortunately makes my hair into a sticky, tangled mess. Can't say it added much volume or thickness either to be honest. Pretty disappointing for a product that's getting such a great rap all around. But oh well.
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Shampoo -Kanebo - Volumizing Shampoo 
MsHepburn 4/11/2012 6:28:00 PM
Although of course i would love a miracle shampoo that makes my limp, flat hair bounce with body, this shampoo isn't it. However, it does add body: I can feel my hair is thicker and fuller after using this. I also think it looks a bit more airy and has a little more oomph to it than when I use other shampoos. Normally volumising shampoos do absolutely nothing for me except make my scalp itch. But with this one I see (or at least feel) some definite added body (however little) and it doesn't make my hair dry or dull. It looks and feels super silky, actually. I really like this shampoo. Not sure if I would repurchase since it's very expensive and I doubt anyone but me will notice the difference in my hair, but it does make my locks feel more luxurious so I guess that's what you pay for.
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Mascara -Lancome - Hypnose Doll Lashes
MsHepburn 4/11/2012 12:02:00 PM
Looks very pretty... the second photo is me wearing it. I actually bought this because the sales girl had beautiful lashes so I asked her which mascara she was wearing herself and it turned out to be this one. Doll eyes is a very accurate description: gives a wide-eyed and innocent look, more pretty than sexy, I think. I just don't understand why a mascara needs to smell so strongly of perfume! It's a good mascara but I think I prefer Diorshow. This one does really open up your eyes and curls the eyelashes up, whereas Diorshow seems to be a bit more sultry and appears to add more volume, which I like. Edit 16 April 2012: Today I put my Diorshow on one eye and this one on the other. It's now nearly 11 pm here and Hypnose Doll Eyes still looks gorgeous, whereas Diorshow looks kinda clumpy and not as lush as I thought. Hm. I also like that this mascara seems to make my lash line look denser somehow... as if I am wearing eyeliner almost. Downside was that this one stung my eye a little and Diorshow never did that, but the feeling passed really quickly, as did the horrible chemical 'rose' smell. Anyone interested in seeing the difference, I uploaded a pic to my profile. Left eye = Doll eyes, right eye = Diorshow (viewer's perspective)
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -L'Occitane - 20% Shea Butter Hand Cream
MsHepburn 4/9/2012 1:17:00 PM
This is the only hand cream I have ever come across that actually works. (Well, possibly Burt's Bees also would have worked if I would have gotten over the stench but I couldn't bring myself to give that one a proper trial) It's expensive but I only ever use it if I have really dry hands, which isn't that often. It turns them back around in no time. I have used other hand creams before when your hands feel kind of soft for an hour or so but then you have to reapply to get the same effect. This actually seems to help my hands help themselves, so to speak.
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