Styling Products -L'anza - Beach Spray (Healing Style)
pocky 8/5/2012 3:49:00 PM
I have straight Asian hair and I have purchased this many times. I use it to give my straight hair a little texture, volume, and to make it less silky so I can actually style it. It works on dry or damp hair. Girls with super straight hair know what I'm talking about. Straight hair is really hard to style unless you work some product into it to give it some texture. Beach Spray also gives me volume and hold for whatever style I chose, be it hot rollers, velco rollers, or just a simple bun style. I use this product all the time and can't live without it. I have been using Beach Spray for three years now and I haven't found anything better. Love it!
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Moisturizers -Cerave - Facial Moisturizing Lotion - PM
pocky 8/5/2012 3:41:00 PM
My dermatologist recommended this for me after the Ziana gel she prescribed for me made my skin dry, flaky, and tight. I have since repurchased many times because it really works, and all I need is a simple moisturizer. I've been using Cerave PM for the last year and haven't had any issues. In fact, the only time my skin ever acts up is when I decide to try something fancier and more "high tech" than Cerave PM. This is a great non-greasy moisturizer for those with skin issues who just need a simple moisturizer. It is 100% fragrance free and is completely non-greasy. Despite being marketed as a nighttime moisturizer, it is actually not a very rich moisturizer so it might not work for you if you need something more emollient.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -The Body Shop - Aloe vera gentle cleanser
pocky 8/5/2012 3:27:00 PM
I have a lot of skin issues--rosacea, sensitivity, and acne. Even on the days when I don't wear makeup, I feel that this cleanser doesn't do anything to cleanse my skin. I also don't like that it leaves my skin feeling a little dry, instead of clean and soft.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Living Proof - Full Shampoo
pocky 8/5/2012 1:50:00 PM
I have been using this shampoo for a year now and I love it! It's the best volumizing shampoo I have ever used, and it's sulfate free. I find that my hair does best when I shampoo no more than three times a week. Sometimes I can even get away with twice a week. I have straight, medium thickness hair that's not too fine or coarse. It's prettty easy to manage but I get the volume and texture I like when my hair is dirty so I like to use a dry shampoo in between shampoos. For days when my hair is too dirty, I simply rinse (no shampoo!) and blow dry. On the days when shampoo, Full Shampoo leaves my hair super clean without drying, thick, shiny, and healthy. I don't recommend daily shampooing with this shampoo, not only because it might dry out your hair but also because it's quite expensive and you're basically washing your money down the drain. The scent is perfect for me--clean, light, and not perfumey or food-y. I like to have as little fragrance as possible in my life so I'm happy when my shampoos don't smell obnoxious and overpowering.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Fresh - Fresh Brown Sugar Lip Polish
pocky 7/29/2012 12:05:00 AM
Like all Fresh products, the lip polish is ridiculously expensive. However, the tiny pot will last forever. You only need the tiniest amount and you don't need to use it daily. I wear lipstick every single day (and most days it's a shade of red) so I need my lips to be smooth. Some lipsticks dry out my lips but sometimes my lips just get dry for no reason, and when my lips get dry, they also start to flake. I don't need to tell anyone here that flaky lips is disgusting enough alone, but under lipstick, it's just nasty. NOTHING can get my lips as smooth and soft as Fresh Brown Sugar Lip Polish. My lips are so much smoother afterwards than buffing with a toothbrush or washcloth. This is completely worth the extra money, especially if you love to wear lipstick.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Misc Beauty Tools -beautyblender - the sponge
pocky 7/28/2012 11:53:00 PM
My only comments about the Beautyblender are that it soaks up a ridiculous amount of liquid foundation. Yes, I dampen my sponge. That doesn't do anything to keep the sponge from soaking up too much foundation. It's annoying if your foundation is cheap, but if you're using an expensive foundation, it's intolerable. I find that I get better a better application when I apply the foundation to my face in wide stripes with my fingers and blend the foundation in with the Beautyblender. If I need to layer more foundation, I dab on with my fingers and blend again with the Beautyblender. I've only had good application results with liquid foundations and powder foundations. My Diorskin compact foundation looks flawless when applied with the Beautyblender. Unfortunately, I can't seem to use the Beautyblender to apply loose mineral foundation without it looking cakey and gross. Make it a point to thoroughly wash the foundation out of your Beautyblender after each and every application, let the sponge dry, and it should last you for a good 2 months before it starts to break down. The Beautyblender cleanser is a little too watery for me. Bobbi Brown brush cleanser works the best. I don't recommend baby shampoo since it gets too foamy and you'll have to spend some time trying to get all the suds out of the sponge. Dr. Brommer's Magic soap also works well in a pinch. It's not as good as Bobbi Brown but not as foamy as baby shampoo. Don't bother wasting your money on the Beautyblender cleanser. It's nothing to write home about.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Tarte - Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful
pocky 7/19/2012 7:05:00 PM
Another NC25 here and Tipsy is my absolute favorite of all the Amazonian Clay blushes. The peachy-pinky coral is perfect any time of year, with our without bronzer, and pretty much with all my various everyday eye makeup combos. Blushes are pretty and it's really hard to pass up all the lovely colors, but I've decided that I really only need a couple blushes. I've had my Blissful for over a year and I've barely made a dent in the pan. The relief design and all the hatchmarks are still visible. This blush is densely packed and super pigmented. Staying power is fantastic although it starts to fade towards the end of the day. Still, it's a great blush. My only complaint is that the compact is really hard to open easily without possibly breaking a nail. I
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Lipstick -NARS - Manhunt
pocky 7/18/2012 8:50:00 PM
This is my favorite bright lipstick for everyday wear. On me (yellow-toned NC25), it looks like a pinky, coral red. It's a really hard color to describe but Manhunt does not pull orange on me at all. I love me a true red lippie just as much as the next girl, but I'm not always in the mood for RED LIPS. Manhunt is the perfect color for those days because it's red but not RED RED. I also love that it's not a heavy pigmented lipstick. The finish is a satin and coverage, while opaque, is very buildable. It also has a lovely faint fragrance that's not heavy or perfumey at all, which is a plus since I can't stand heavily fragranced lip products. Manhunt is not drying on my lips at all and lasts for a very long time. This is my HG bright lipstick. Gorgeous!
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Other -Unlisted Brand - Philips Sonicare Toothbrush
pocky 7/18/2012 8:43:00 PM
Best toothbrush ever! I am on my second Sonicare toothbrush. I had the Sonicare Flexcare with UV sanitizer for 5 years and used the heck out of it. I just got a new Flexcare toothbrush and it is awesome. Once you've used a Sonicare toothbrush, you will not be able to go back to any other toothbrush. What I love about my Sonicare is not only how clean it gets my teeth but it's pretty much fool proof. Just select the setting you want (I always use "Sensitive") and brush your teeth until the cycle is completed. Most people don't brush their teeth for long enough to do them any good. I will always find the money to pay for a Sonicare toothbrush. $150 is a lot cheaper than paying for dental work! Oh, also please remember to change your brushhead every 3 months. If you're brushing your teeth twice a day, everyday, you will not be able to go longer than 3 months because those bristles will not be pretty at 4 or 5 or (gross) 6 months. A pack of 3 brushheads is about $30.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Zoya - Professional Lacquer
pocky 7/18/2012 7:20:00 PM
After two years of trial and error and lots of frustration (and a few tears), I finally figured out how to make Zoya polishes last for more than a few hours. I tried every imaginable combination of basecoat and topcoat, including Zoya's Anchor and Armor, with pitiful results. At best, my polish chipped within hours and at worst, my polish bubbled horribly. Not only do Zoya polishes do NOT play nice with the majority of basecoats and topcoats, the application also plays a key part in the outcome of the manicure. The method below is the ONLY method that has ever worked on me. It's a lot more labor intensive and time consuming than other polishes which work with quick dry topcoats, but nearly every Zoya polish I have ever tried applied beautifully with just 2 coats and the brush is perfection itself, so every once in a while I will suffer through this process because the results are worth it. If like me, you have not been able to make Zoya polishes work for you, please give this method a try. The two most important things to remember are to use thin coats and to give each coat enough time to dry before moving on to the next coat. Also, you're better off sticking with Zoya and Qtica brand base and top coats unless you want to spend a couple years experimenting the way I did. 1. Apply 1 thin coat of Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. Let dry for a couple minutes. 2. Apply 1 thin coat of Zoya Anchor. Let dry for a couple of minutes. 3. Apply 2-3 thin coats of color, letting each coat dry in between for 3-5 minutes. The longer you can wait in between coats, the better! 4. Let your last coat of color dry for at least 10 minutes. This is key! If you don't give the polish enough time to dry before applying top coat, the polish will bubble up and all is ruined. 5. Apply 1 coat of Qtica Extending Topcoat. Wait a couple minutes and top off with drying drops. I use OPI, Qtica, and Zoya drying drops with the same excellent results.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Tinted Moisturizer -Bobbi Brown - Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer (Spring 2011)
pocky 7/16/2012 1:24:00 PM
This tinted moisturizer gives a really nice medium coverage with a satiny, almost matte finish. I find that it gives more coverage than my longtime favorite TM, Laura Mercier. It also seems to last longer in warm weather when my skin is oilier and sweatier. That said, the shades are really weird and there isn’t much selection. Tinted moisturizers tend to not come in a lot of shades because the idea is that a tinted moisturizer is on the sheer side so the shades are more forgiving. Unfortunately, with the higher pigmentation of BB TM, an off shade is glaringly obvious. I ended up mixing Extra Light Tint with Light to Medium Tint for a shade that would work on my NC25 skintone. I’m not thrilled with the customized shade since it’s still too peach and beige for my skin, but fortunately it’s not very noticeable after I add bronzer. I will not be wearing this tinted moisturizer in the winter time when I go easy on the bronzer and my skin is paler. I will use up what I have but I’m not sure I will repurchase. Mixing colors is far too much work, especially given the less than perfect results and the price of this product. I will stick with Laura Mercier TM in the winter and my other foundations in the summer.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair -Klorane - Dry shampoo
pocky 7/15/2012 9:31:00 PM
This was my HG dry shampoo for years until I started having problems with the can. Klorane was the best dry shampoo I found and I loved it. Unfortunately, sometime last year I got a defective can and I had the same problem with all the subsequent cans I purchased so I finally said goodbye to Klorane. What seemed to have happened was after the initial use, the compressed air would slowly seep out of the can over time. I remember hearing a hissing sound after using the can but there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the escaping air. Eventually, after all the air is gone, the bottle is completely useless. You can't get any product out of an aerosol can without compressed air, right? After a couple uses, my practically brand new can of Klorane was rendered completely useless and had to be tossed. Stupid me, I went through this same scenario four more times before calling it a day and moving on to another dry shampoo. I did not try the non aerosol Klorane because I was just so fed up with Korane by this point. Also, I had to admit to myself that Klorane always left white residue on my hair that required a lot of brushing out to remove. Sometimes if I wasn't careful, I would miss a spot and later in the day I would find an ashy spot on my hair. I have since found my new HG, blowpro faux dry shampoo.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Makeup Brushes -Alima - Foundation Brush 25
pocky 7/15/2012 9:20:00 PM
I have the original #25 brush and as much as I tried to convince myself I liked it, I finally had to change my original review from 2008. While the bristles are silky soft and the price can't be beat, the bristles are too densely packed for me. Every single time I have used the #25 brush to apply mineral foundation, I ended up with caked on foundation that I had to reblend with a sponge. The densely packed bristles pack on too much foundation. Believe me I've tried everything to make it work and it just doesn't. I much prefer my Eco retractable kabuki brush for mineral foundation.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Oscar Blandi - Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo Spray
pocky 7/15/2012 9:16:00 PM
This does absolutely nothing to absorb excess oils and dry clean my hair in between shampoos. The only good thing is that it's invisible, but then after I spray onto my roots, my hair looks very greasy. The product doesn't ever seem to dry or brush out. I've gotten much better results with blowpro faux dry shampoo. It's fabulous and does not make my hair look ashy or greasy. Sorry, Oscar Blandi.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Unlisted Brand - Blow - Faux Dry Shampoo
pocky 7/15/2012 9:11:00 PM
I found this after my Klorane dry shampoo kept crapping out on me (manufacturing defect with the aerosol bottle maybe?). It was a folica.com top 10 so I bought it during a top 10 sale and what do you know, it's now my HG dry shampoo. I think I'm done with aerosol dry shampoos forever. This little bottle is ingenious. Unlike the Oscar Blandi Pronto dry shampoo that I had to squeeze onto my roots with a squeeze bottle, I squeeze the BlowPro dry shampoo bottle and the dry shampoo shoots out in a fine mist through a nozzle. I love that it doesn't have an fragrance or added ingredients that make my hair sticky. I just flip my hair over and brush the dry shampoo through my roots. It's amazing! I can now get by with shampooing my hair about twice a week. I rinse the sweat and styling products out of my hair if it gets too dirty, but I find that not shampooing so often is making my hair easier to style (dirty hair has more texture) but my hair is also a lot healthier. The little bottle lasts for a long time, and certainly a lot longer than those darn aerosol bottles, which is mostly compressed air.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No