Moisturizers -Skyn Iceland - The ANTIDOTE
audrey12299 4/1/2008 1:46:00 PM
Words cannot describe how much I love this moisturizer. I have been using Aveeno Ultra Calming moisturizer for years now and noticed that recently it has just been too heavy for my skin. I have acne prone, combination skin. I was on Sephora's website and they had this as recommended under my Beauty Insider Recommendations. It is super pricey at $45 for a 1.76 oz bottle. This comes in a glass bottle with a pump top. A little bit goes a long way. This is not greasy at all, my skin drinks it up almost immediately! My foundation applies like a dream now, just glides right on! It smells minty and when you apply this, it makes your skin tingle with a cooling sensation. I have VERY sensitive skin and I have not been irritated by this. I have to admit, at 7am when I am getting ready for work, the minty scent and sensation is such a pick me up....so refreshing! I have also noticed that this has improved my complexion as well. My skin seems so smooth and even. Definitely less red. I love how this does not have any SPF in it, I have to be careful (it breaks me out). My favorite part: it did not break me out at all! I break out so easily in cystic pimples, especially when I try something new. I will continue to buy this, this is definitely HG material.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Foundations -Elizabeth Arden - Intervene
audrey12299 4/1/2008 1:35:00 PM
Wow, I really thought I had struck gold here! My MUA BFF sent me a generous sample of Intervene in 03 Soft Sunbeige (I am NW20 LLL). Loved the sample so much that I went out and bought the full size bottle. The coverage was medium, but looked and felt so natural. Not heavy at all. Kept my shine at bay for the most part and lasted all day. After using this for almost 2 weeks straight, I noticed my skin was really breaking out, BAD. Cystic pimples. At first I thought it was my new hair product that I have been using....but something made me stop using this foundation. My skin cleared up right away (and I continue to use the hair product lol). This is Oil Free, so I don't know why this broke me out so bad. My skin must be super sensative to an ingredient in this :( I lost my receipt so I had to put this up for swap. Too bad because it covered well and looked great, but the end result was pretty bad!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -MAC - N Collection - 2N
audrey12299 1/20/2008 11:42:00 PM
I am in love! 2N is absolutely stunning! I am NW20 with very pigmented lips and this is now my HG nude lippie! 2N is more creamy and pigmented than any other Lustre I own at the moment. This color is a creamy light beige. Honestly, 2N resembles a concealer color in the tube. On the lips, it is a gorgeous light creamy nude that does a VERY good job at muting my natural rosy lip color. As with any lipstick, you have to make sure you do not have any dry skin on your lips before applying. This color will defintely accentuate the dryness. This color stayed on well and did not settle into the lines in my lips as most creamy colors do! This is not completely opaque, it does allow some of my natural lip color to show through creating the perfect balance. I know some people will say that this looks white and washes them out, but I personally like colors like that, especially with a smokey eye. This is like C-thru Lipglass in lipstick form! I have already picked up two back ups of this color! I have not been this excited over a lip color in a while! Any girl who loves a muted lip look, this is defintely for you!
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Eyeliner -Bare Escentuals - Downtown
audrey12299 1/20/2008 2:09:00 PM
I bought this not to use as an eyeliner, but to use as an eye shadow. This is a gorgeous bronzey gold that looks super shimmery in the container. I am a sucker for any shimmery bronze eye product! I am a NW20, blue eyes, and use MAC Prep + Prime Eye as a base. This went on a little uneven, but I was able to blend it with my 217 brush to perfection. The only reason I knocked off a lippie is due to the lack of shimmer. This looks SUPER shimmery in the container, but it is very very subtle on the eye (and I use a base for it to stick to!). I am going to try to use it as a wet liner (as it is intended to be used!) and see if the shimmer shows up more. Will update.
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Crème -Cover Girl - Advanced Radiance Restorative Cream [DISCONTINUED]
audrey12299 1/11/2008 10:25:00 PM
I was very disappointed in this foundation. I bought this due to the fact that it is supposed to be full coverage. Couldn't wait to try it. I am NW20 and bought the shade 110 Classic Ivory. Put it on at 7am, not bad, creamy coverage (went on feeling oily though) and spread evenly. Coverage was great, I would say medium. This has a very strong fragrance to it, almost like florally detergent scent to it. I smelled it all day! By 1pm, forget it, I was a shiny mess, and noticed that it oxidized big time. I don't have super oily skin either! I also noticed that the color seemed to be fading unevenly. I have never had this happen with a foundation before! I felt like I had to blot my face every half hour! This is coming from a girl that needs 2 powder touch ups a day. By 3pm I just couldn't wait to leave work and wash this stuff off my face! I felt very self conscious with this on! With that being said, I hated this product :(
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Lancome - Cils Booster
audrey12299 1/11/2008 10:15:00 PM
This is a wonderful lash primer. I use this along with my L'Oreal Telescopic mascara . Telescopic is great for length, but I needed something that added volume. Cils Booster XL does just that! I apply this and then immediately apply my mascara. I find that when you apply your mascara while this is still wet, there are less clumps and its easier to get achieve dramatic lashes. A little bit goes a long way, for me at least. Definitely adds thickness to my lashes. By using this primer with my Telescopic, I think I may have found my perfect "lash look"!
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Eye Primer -MAC - Prep + Prime Eye
audrey12299 1/11/2008 10:06:00 PM
First off, let me start by saying that my eye shadow for some reason never creases...that said, I absolutely love this eye primer!! It comes in a small flat jar type container with a pretty sparkly black cap. I am NW20 so I chose the shade called Light. This looks exactly like a concealer. If you run your finger across it, it feel very oily. Smooth it onto your eyelid and it instantly becomes a velvety, powder-like texture. My eye shadow shows up with such intensity now. You can take an eye shadow that has very little pigmentation and this will make it show up. This lasts all day on me, it is amazing! My eye shadow never fades, even after 15 hours of wear! Thats incredible! I was very surprised at how much I love this stuff. It is now a staple in my makeup collection!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Primer -MAC - Prep + Prime Eye
audrey12299 1/11/2008 10:04:00 PM
First off, let me start by saying that my eye shadow for some reason never creases...that said, I absolutely love this eye primer!! It comes in a small flat jar type container with a pretty sparkly black cap. I am NW20 so I chose the shade called Light. This looks exactly like a concealer. If you run your finger across it, it feel very oily. Smooth it onto your eyelid and it instantly becomes a velvety, powder-like texture. My eye shadow shows up with such intensity now. You can take an eye shadow that has very little pigmentation and this will make it show up. This lasts all day on me, it is amazing! My eye shadow never fades, even after 15 hours of wear! Thats incredible! I was very surprised at how much I love this stuff. It is now a staple in my makeup collection!
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Lips -Lancome - Baume Baiser (Rose Marshmallow lip balm)
audrey12299 7/31/2007 4:36:00 PM
I was placing a Lancome.com order and decided to throw this into my order last minute....and I regret it! This balm was getting rave reviews on the boards so I had to try it. The packaging is VERY bulky. It is a 8g/0.28 oz jar like container with a screw off top. When you open it, you will be able to smell the marshmallow scent (which reminds me of the old BBW Cherry Vanilla lip balm scent back in high school, yuck!). Very sweet smelling, and the scent lasts on my lips for a while. When applying this, the directions state "Kiss the pillow-balm and gently massage your lips....". You cannot kiss this thing and expect it to moisturize your lips. You have to rub this on back and forth a million times to get this stuff on! This did not moisturize my lips well at all :( Since this is a lip balm, there is no color payoff (but this is not advertised as being tinted). Another thing I did not like is that while this is a domed lip balm in a small jar, once you get to the bottom, you may have to scoop some out since there is no twist up option on this (and I am no way near the bottom, just an assumption). If you like to collect makeup items, this is fun (for a minute), but for $25, it was a complete waste of money for me. I like my .97 cent Carmex much better!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Laura Geller - Baked Marble Shadow - Unearthed
audrey12299 7/12/2007 1:42:00 AM
I stumbled upon this beauty at my local Sephora store. I have a weakness for pretty bronze shadows, so I just had to have this one. Even though I only wanted the shadow, I had to buy this as part of the set called Baked Earth Duo (which includes Unearthed Baked Marble Eye Shadow and Golddigger lipstick). The set was $29.50 (yes, I know, I basically paid $30 for an eye shadow!!!) I am NW20/blue eyes. Unearthed is a GORGEOUS swirl of bronze, silver and gold. In my opinion, this is the perfect bronze e/s for summer. The shadow I bought is mostly on the cool side due to a lot of silver embedded throughout the bronze. No two shadows are alike since they are baked (think of MAC MSF's). This goes on somewhat sheer, so I think your best bet is to use a good base beforehand to grab the color. Since buying this, I have been using it everyday as a sheer wash. Looks great and fresh for the summer! The shimmer is pretty, not over the top, or chunky at all. The only thing I do not care for is the bulky case this comes in. It is a black square with a flip lid. Just so bulky for a shadow! I also wish that LG would sell this shadow on its own instead of part of a set :( It is very pricey that way. Overall, I am very pleased with this shadow and will definitely buy this again! Update: 08/27/10 Still loving this 3 years later! I am on my 2nd one and this one is more of a chocolate brown with a shimmery champagne swirled into it. No silver in this one at all. I have more brown than champagne so this has minimal shimmer. LG must have changed the formulation somewhat, this new one is more pigmented. The new casing is round also. I bought this by itself (yay!) off of QVC for $23. Love it!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Bobbi Brown - Tinted Lip Balm
audrey12299 6/26/2007 11:59:00 PM
Bought 2 of these: Baby Pink and Champagne. I am NW20 and have rosy pigmented lips. I was very excited to try these out since a lot of people on the boards said that these colors actually show up on pigmented lips....well, they were clear on mine :( Literally clear, no color at all. The colors looked gorgeous in the tube. Baby Pink is a pale pearly pink and Champagne looked to be a golden beige color. Loved the metal tubing case! They really moisturized my lips and felt great on. But at $17 each, these were not worth it for a clear lip balm! Sadly, these are going back to Nordstroms :(
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Lipstick -MAC - Out to Shock [DISCONTINUED]
audrey12299 6/13/2007 4:54:00 PM
Out to Shock is part of the June 2007 C-Shock collection. I am NW20, dark blond hair, blue eyes. Out to Shock is a gorgeous bubble gum, pale pink color on my pigmented lips. This does have a white sheen to it on my lips (I guess due to the frost formula). And my, this color is very pigmented! I have to use a light hand or this can look too "Porn Star-ish". This is a frost formula that goes on very smoothly, not dry at all. This is perfect for that mod-look and great for the summer! UPDATE: 07-21-07 Sadly, this is up for swap, the color is just too bright for me :(
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Bronzers -Guerlain - Terracotta Light Sheer Bronzing Powder-Blondes 01
audrey12299 5/30/2007 6:30:00 PM
This stuff is a great product for me! I was a huge fan of Tarte's Park Ave. Princess bronzer, but that was breaking me out. I was reading alot of raves about this on the boards and had to swap for one. I am a NW20 and this works as both a blush and a bronzer for me. Blondes is a beautiful mosaic of light pink, light tan and a shimmery bronze color. I use my Flirt skunk brush to apply. When swirled together and applied to the face, you get a beautiful sheer healthy flush, a sunkissed look. It looks like a spent a couple of hours in the sun :) Not orangey or brown at all, just a sheer flush of color. This really makes my complexion look healthy, not fake or muddy! This can be built up for a more intense flush of color. This is a rather small compact, 10g .35 oz, but this will last a long time for me. While this does not give a bronze color like my Tarte, this gives a pink healthy color to the face. This will even be perfect for the winter as well! This is one of those products that no matter what the price is, I will gladly pay it :) UPDATE: Had to knock a lippie off due to the shimmer/sparkles. Sometimes it just looks too much. This is still my favorite bronzer though :)
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -MAC - Kei Lipglass - Asia Exclusive
audrey12299 5/22/2007 2:47:00 AM
I was lucky enough to have someone CP this for me! Kei is an exact dupe of one of my favorite l/g: Flash of Flesh. I am NW20/LLL/blue eyes and this color is stunning on the lips. It is a shimmery pinky peach nude color.....looks very shimmery in the tube, but don't worry, this is not gritty at all. I can see this flattering every skin tone :)
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Lips -Fusion Beauty - Lipfusion Color Shine in Flirt
audrey12299 5/22/2007 2:41:00 AM
I received a sample of LipFusion and was impressed with the results. As soon as I saw the color Flirt, I knew I had to buy the full sized version! Flirt is a light baby pink enhanced with silver shimmer. I have pigmented lips, so this was very sheer on me. At first this went on as a light pink color, but within minutes, it mostly just blended in with the shade of my lips. Very shimmery and very shiny! As with all LipFusion glosses, this plumps my lips, and gives them a numb tingle (not a painful or stinging sensation though). If you have lightly or barely pigmented lips, you may get some color payoff with this!
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