Treatments -Chanel - Hydramax + Sérum
carita 2/17/2010 5:16:00 AM
I have oily skin, but winter made it pretty dehydrated. I have used the serum on its own and in the conjonction with Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. The serum is lightweight. It spreads very easily and sinks in immediately. It didn’t clog my pores and made my skin more oily. I’ve noticed that it hepled in some degree with dehydration, but I think that the winer and central heating dried out my skin beyond its power to moisturize it. I think it might be good to use during spring or autumn, but this won’t help very dehydrated skin. What I don’t like is that the serum is blue. I don’t think this was necessary. Another bad point is that it has very strong fragrance, that kind of smell that screams that there is more perfume than any other ingredients. I usually don’t have problems vith highly perfumed products, but this was too much even for me. The only good thing is that after five to ten minutes the smell disappears. The product comes in a pump bottle, which is very hygienic. I wouldn’t repurchase it. The serum wasn’t bad, but the fragrance is so strong and overpowering and I’m sure that there are other, less perfumed, but equally good serums.
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Liquid -Chanel - Mat Lumiere Long Lasting Luminous Matte Fluid Makeup SPF 15 
carita 2/11/2010 1:52:00 PM
Ever since I’ve noticed that my Diorskin Fluide is almost finished and since it is unfortunately discontinued, I began a quest for a new foundation. My skin is oily and, while I do not have heavy acne and I am not breakout prone, I can count on one acne per week. My pores are also very expanded. In spite of this I am not a fan of full and medium coverage foundations. What I require from the foundation is minimal coverage – the foundation simply needs to even-out my skin tone, cover slight discolourations and minimize the appearance of the pores. My MAC shade would be NC-20. I’ve never been really a fan of Chanel foundations, mainly because I could never get a proper match – all shades available in my country seemed too dark. The SA gave me a very generous sample which lasted me for two weeks. I got the sample in colour 20, which is the lightest one available here (it sems to me that the shades of Mat Lumiere are slightly lighter than the corresponding shades in other Chanel foundations). The shade is a bit too dark, but right now I’m at the point where I’d buy a shade that doesn’t match me well, as long as the foundation fills my other requests. The foundation is very creamy and goes on very smooth. It is very lightweight (it doesn’t feel heavy on the face), but the coverage is medium and it is possible to build up to fuller coverage. I diluted it with a moisturizer to get lighter coverage. The finish is matte, but it looks very natural. I didn’t find it especially mattifying in the terms of oil-control, so if you are very oily, don’t expect it to mattify. It didn’t break me out. It has SPF 15. It comes in a 30ml pump-bottle. What really made me not want to repurchase this product is the fact that it showed every dry patch, every flake of dry skin on my face. I tried to mix it with a moisturizer, I tried to use various kinds of moisturizer before, I even put Nivea crème before it, I tried it with Clarins instant Smooth primer, but nothing helped. I don’t think I will purchase it. UPDATE: I've figured out how to apply this foundation so that it doesn't emphasize dry patches. You have to stipple it into the previously moisturized skin. I used Sephora Professional Mineral Powder Brush #45 and the result was flawless skin. So I'm updating the grade from 4 to 5.
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Liquid -Chanel - Mat Lumiere Long Lasting Luminous Matte Fluid Makeup SPF 15
carita 2/2/2010 10:34:00 AM
Ever since I’ve noticed that my Diorskin Fluide is almost finished and since it is unfortunately discontinued, I began a quest for a new foundation. My skin is oily and, while I do not have heavy acne and I am not breakout prone, I can count on one acne per week. My pores are also very expanded. In spite of this I am not a fan of full and medium coverage foundations. What I require from the foundation is minimal coverage – the foundation simply needs to even-out my skin tone, cover slight discolourations and minimize the appearance of the pores. My MAC shade would be NC-20. I’ve never been really a fan of Chanel foundations, mainly because I could never get a proper match – all shades available in my country seemed too dark. The SA gave me a very generous sample which lasted me for two weeks. I got the sample in colour 20, which is the lightest one available here (it sems to me that the shades of Mat Lumiere are slightly lighter than the corresponding shades in other Chanel foundations). The shade is a bit too dark, but right now I’m at the point where I’d buy a shade that doesn’t match me well, as long as the foundation fills my other requests. The foundation is very creamy and goes on very smooth. It is very lightweight (it doesn’t feel heavy on the face), but the coverage is medium and it is possible to build up to fuller coverage. I diluted it with a moisturizer to get lighter coverage. The finish is matte, but it looks very natural. I didn’t find it especially mattifying in the terms of oil-control, so if you are very oily, don’t expect it to mattify. It didn’t break me out. It has SPF 15. It comes in a 30ml pump-bottle. What really made me not want to repurchase this product is the fact that it showed every dry patch, every flake of dry skin on my face. I tried to mix it with a moisturizer, I tried to use various kinds of moisturizer before, I even put Nivea crème before it, I tried it with Clarins instant Smooth primer, but nothing helped. I don’t think I will purchase it. UPDATE: I've figured out how to apply this foundation so that it doesn't emphasize dry patches. You have to stipple it into the previously moisturized skin. I used Sephora Professional Mineral Powder Brush #45 and the result was flawless skin. So I'm updating the grade from 4 to 5.
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Palettes -BeneFit Cosmetics - Celebutante [DISCONTINUED]
carita 2/2/2010 10:20:00 AM
I’ve been wanting to try several of Benefit product, but the stores in my country don’t carry Benefit and I’m not a fan of on-line orders. This year, I found these sets at my Sephora and I’ve decided to get it because it seemed like a good opportunity to try out some of Benefit cult products. The set looked really cute (and much bigger) in the store. This set is a great value. It includes mini lipsticks in Lady’s Choice and No Competiton, lipgloss in I’m With the Band, Highbeam illuminator, Benetint, bronzer/blush in Dallas, eyeshadows in Leggy and Dandy Brandy and two brushes (Fluss Shadow/Talent Brush and bronzer brush). All shades are very neutral and I think it could work with almost every skin-tone. A small booklet with lesson is also included. The products come in a pink carboard box with magnetic closing which resembles a clutch and the mirror is on the inside of the cover. Lipstick Lady’s Choice (0,04oz/1,2g) is a classic nude shade. It very much resembles Guerlain Kiss Kiss lipstick in shade Rose Ingenue. No Competiton (0,04oz/1,2g) is a dark red colour. Both lipstick are very silky and they are not drying. I’m With The Band lipgloss (0,09oz/2,5ml) looks like a mixture of Chanel aqualumiere glosses in Candy Glow and Canari, but more shimmery. It is also much stickier than Aqualumieres and therefore much more longlasting. Highbeam (0,09oz/2,5ml) is an illuminator in light pink shade. For me it works wonderful on the brow bone, but it doesn’t look good on my cheeks because it’s too cold for my complexion. I tried to apply Benetint (0,08oz/2,5ml) on my cheeks, but it is very difficult to get the right amount (either there is nothing left on my cheeks after I blend it, or I look like a clown). It works great as a lip stain. I have red lips and this brings out my natural colour without looking too tacky – I put some benetint and when it is dry, I apply lip-balm. Eyeshadow in Leggy(0,04oz/1,2g) is very frosty light beige/pink. Dandy Brandy (0,04oz/1,2g) is warm dark brown. Dallas (0,1oz/3g) is almost similar to my YSL bronzer. It’s just the right shade that it doesn’t look too dark or too orange. It’s perfect as a bronzer for those with light complexion. The two brushes included are nothing special, but can be used for touch-ups. The fluffy side of the two-sided brush works OK when applying eyeshadow in the crease. The other side reminds me more of a concealer brush than eyeshadow brush. Bronzer brush is very soft and picks up a lot of pigment, but it doesn’t distribute it evenly and applies it streaky. I know I’m writing this review a bit late, but if you can get this set, it’s really worth it. I can see myself going on vacation with only this set, because it really has everything necessary. I would only like that they’d included a mini mascara with the set. The pictures of the product and the swatches are in my profile pictures.
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Masks -Sisley - Botanical Facial Mask With Tropical Resins
carita 1/24/2010 12:09:00 PM
This is my first diasppointment with Sisley products. It comes in a 60ml tube (typicall packaging for Sisley masks). The mask in itself is not bad – it didn’t break me out or caused any negative reaction, but for something that costs over $100, I’d expect to see some improvment. The mask didn’t clear anything - I apply the mask, keep it on for 10 minutes (sometimes even longer), rinse it off and my skin looks just the same as it was before the mask. The mask is really thick, it doesn’t spread out well and you need a lot of it to cover up your face. According to Sisley, the mask should minimize the appearance of blemishes and blackheads and visibly tighten pores but I see none of it when I remove the mask. The SA told me that another way of using this mask is to use it as a local treatment – just apply a very small amount on the acne in the evening and the next morning the acne would be dried up . I tried doing this too, but I didn’t see any improvment. Decleor’s Ylang Ylang balm showed more result when using it this way. I won’t repurchase it because it is too expensive for what it does – nothing. I gave it two lippies for not causing any negative reaction.
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Concealers -Guerlain - Issima Precious Light Smoothing Illuminator Beige Clair
carita 1/24/2010 12:03:00 PM
I was looking for an undereye concealer/illuminator. I tested La Prairie pen concealer and Guerlain Issima. Although I liked La Prairie slightly better, I didn’t want to pay over $100 for a concealer and since Guerlain was on the sale, I picked the latter. The product comes in a pen style applicator with a brush and you have to twist the pen to get the product on the brush and it it difficult to control how much product comes out. La Prairie concealer is more creamier and seemed to have more coverage, while Guerlain is more like an illuminator. That being said, it covers dark circles a bit and lightens up the undereye area. It doesn’t settle into lines and doesn’t look cakey. It blends in well. I bought it in the shade 10 Beige Clair, although the shade 20, which is a bit darker, would match me too. The shade 00 is too pink. The pen contains very small amount of product (1,5ml), but I’ve been using it every day for three months and there’s still some product in the pen. This product is discontinued and replaced with new Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator. I wouldn’t repurchase it.
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Concealers -Guerlain - Issima Precious Light Smoothing Illuminator [DISCONTINUED]
carita 1/24/2010 12:03:00 PM
I was looking for an undereye concealer/illuminator. I tested La Prairie pen concealer and Guerlain Issima. Although I liked La Prairie slightly better, I didn’t want to pay over $100 for a concealer and since Guerlain was on the sale, I picked the latter. The product comes in a pen style applicator with a brush and you have to twist the pen to get the product on the brush and it it difficult to control how much product comes out. La Prairie concealer is more creamier and seemed to have more coverage, while Guerlain is more like an illuminator. That being said, it covers dark circles a bit and lightens up the undereye area. It doesn’t settle into lines and doesn’t look cakey. It blends in well. I bought it in the shade 10 Beige Clair, although the shade 20, which is a bit darker, would match me too. The shade 00 is too pink. The pen contains very small amount of product (1,5ml), but I’ve been using it every day for three months and there’s still some product in the pen. This product is discontinued and replaced with new Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator. I wouldn’t repurchase it.
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Concealers -Guerlain - Issima Precious Light Smoothing Illuminator Beige Clair 10
carita 1/24/2010 12:02:00 PM
I was looking for an undereye concealer/illuminator. I tested La Prairie pen concealer and Guerlain Issima. Although I liked La Prairie slightly better, I didn’t want to pay over $100 for a concealer and since Guerlain was on the sale, I picked the latter. The product comes in a pen style applicator with a brush and you have to twist the pen to get the product on the brush and it it difficult to control how much product comes out. La Prairie concealer is more creamier and seemed to have more coverage, while Guerlain is more like an illuminator. That being said, it covers dark circles a bit and lightens up the undereye area. It doesn’t settle into lines and doesn’t look cakey. It blends in well. I bought it in the shade 10 Beige Clair, although the shade 20, which is a bit darker, would match me too. The shade 00 is too pink. The pen contains very small amount of product (1,5ml), but I’ve been using it every day for three months and there’s still some product in the pen. This product is discontinued and replaced with new Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator. I wouldn’t repurchase it.
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Loose Powders -Christian Dior - Dior Diorskin Nude Fresh Glow Powder SPF 10
carita 1/24/2010 11:59:00 AM
Ever since I’ve noticed that my Diorskin Fluide is almost finished and since it is unfortunately discontinued, I began a quest for a new foundation. My skin is oily and, while I do not have heavy acne and I am not breakout prone, I can count on one acne per week. My pores are also very expanded. In spite of this I am not a fan of full and medium coverage foundations. What I require from the foundation is minimal coverage – the foundation simply needs to even-out my skin tone, cover slight discolourations and minimize the appearance of the pores. My MAC shade would be NC-20. I’ve decided to try new Dior’s mineral make-up. A very nice SA transfered almost 1/6 of the full size container in my jar when I asked her for a sample. I’ve been using this for two weeks and I have to say that this is the best powder foundation I’ve ever tried. What I like most about it is that it doesn’t have that powdery finish when applied (you know, that one when it is obvious that you are wearing loose powder because your skin looks as if you applied flour on it). The powder is very finely milled. As far as the coverage goes, it is very slight, almost non-existent, but the powder manages to even-out skin tone and cover some redness. I don’t have the problem with light coverage, because that is what I prefer. The powder didn’t emphasize my pores, rather it managed to minimize their appearance. It didn’t emphasize dry patches and flakey skin. It also works great as a setting powder over another foundation. It didn’t break me out. It didn’t dried out my skin (which is a common occurrence with the other loose powders). I have to mention that the shades of this loose powder are lighter than shades of other Dior foundations. I’m usually 010 in Dior’s foundations and the SA gave me Diorskin Nude mineral Powder foundation in 020 which is a great match during winter, but 030 matched me as well, albeit it was a bit too dark. It doesn’t oxidize. Also, those with oily skin must be aware that this powder won’t mattify - I have oily skin and the powder did nothing to control the oil. I’m not sure whether I would (re)purchase it, because the price tag is prety high for a tiny amount of product. While this is wonderful foundation, I still want to test some cheaper alternatives, like Sephora mineral powders before making the final decision.
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Powder -Christian Dior - Diorskin Nude Fresh Glow Makeup
carita 1/24/2010 11:59:00 AM
Ever since I’ve noticed that my Diorskin Fluide is almost finished and since it is unfortunately discontinued, I began a quest for a new foundation. My skin is oily and, while I do not have heavy acne and I am not breakout prone, I can count on one acne per week. My pores are also very expanded. In spite of this I am not a fan of full and medium coverage foundations. What I require from the foundation is minimal coverage – the foundation simply needs to even-out my skin tone, cover slight discolourations and minimize the appearance of the pores. My MAC shade would be NC-20. I’ve decided to try new Dior’s mineral make-up. A very nice SA transfered almost 1/6 of the full size container in my jar when I asked her for a sample. I’ve been using this for two weeks and I have to say that this is the best powder foundation I’ve ever tried. What I like most about it is that it doesn’t have that powdery finish when applied (you know, that one when it is obvious that you are wearing loose powder because your skin looks as if you applied flour on it). The powder is very finely milled. As far as the coverage goes, it is very slight, almost non-existent, but the powder manages to even-out skin tone and cover some redness. I don’t have the problem with light coverage, because that is what I prefer. The powder didn’t emphasize my pores, rather it managed to minimize their appearance. It didn’t emphasize dry patches and flakey skin. It also works great as a setting powder over another foundation. It didn’t break me out. It didn’t dried out my skin (which is a common occurrence with the other loose powders). I have to mention that the shades of this loose powder are lighter than shades of other Dior foundations. I’m usually 010 in Dior’s foundations and the SA gave me Diorskin Nude mineral Powder foundation in 020 which is a great match during winter, but 030 matched me as well, albeit it was a bit too dark. It doesn’t oxidize. Also, those with oily skin must be aware that this powder won’t mattify - I have oily skin and the powder did nothing to control the oil. I’m not sure whether I would (re)purchase it, because the price tag is prety high for a tiny amount of product. While this is wonderful foundation, I still want to test some cheaper alternatives, like Sephora mineral powders before making the final decision.
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Lip Gloss -Chanel - Aqualumiere Gloss Furious
carita 12/26/2009 3:43:00 AM
This lipgloss is a part of Les Noirs Obscurs collection (which also contains Les Folies Noirs eyeshadow quad, eye pencil in Diabolic, Rouge Allure in 3 new shades: Maniac, Hysteria and Obscure; mascaras and nailpolishes in Vendetta, Imperial, Django). I adore Aqualumiere glosses, they are my definite HG and the only thing I hate about them is that most of the shades are not something special. The only shades I liked so far are Party Red, Candy Glow and Ironic Tonic. It comes with a brush applicator. The lipgloss in Furious has all good characteristics of aqualumiere glosses – it is not sticky and not drying, although the staying power is average. The shade is the only reason I’m giving it 3. Although the colour looks like a very dark bordeaux shade, the lipgloss is actualy transparent with a lot of dark red and brown shiny particles. On my lips it looks transparent, even when I swatched it on the inner side of my wrist (where my skin it the palest) I could barely perceive some very transparent reddish-brown. I’ve realized that this gloss works best when put over the lipsticks from the same collection. I haven’t purchased the lipsticks (their finish on my llips is almost matte) because such dark shades don’t work for me, but for fun I tried every combination in the store and my favourite is the combination of Furious paired with Maniac. This combination looks so good that I almost purchased the lipstick too, but I really can’t afford to buy a lipstick I’d probably wear only once. I’m still not sure whether I want to keep the gloss.
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Liquid -Givenchy - Photo'Perfexion 100% Natural Complexion 0 Flaw
carita 12/20/2009 4:30:00 PM
Ever since I’ve noticed that my Diorskin Fluide is almost finished and since it is unfortunately discontinued, I began a quest for a new foundation. My skin is oily and, while I do not have heavy acne and I am not breakout prone, I can count on one acne per week. My pores are also very expanded. In spite of this I am not a fan of full and medium coverage foundations. What I require from the foundation is minimal coverage – the foundation simply needs to even-out my skin tone, cover slight discolourations and minimize the appearance of the pores. I’ve been seriously considering this foundations ever since it has been launched and since I’ve heard many raves about this foundations on the various boards in my country, I almost bought it without even trying it. Luckily, a very generous SA gave me four 5ml samples of this foundations in 04 Perfect Vanilla and 06 Perfect Honey. Considering the fact that the full-size bottle of foundation contains 25ml, I can only thank the SA for providing me with so much samples and saving me some money. The foundation is medium coverage, although it is possible to build it up to full coverage. It covers imperfections well, it doesn’t emphasize pores. The good coverage doesn’t bother me, because I mix the foundation with moisturizer and that way the coverage is much lighter. The finish is natural and the face indeed looks photoshoped. It blends well into the skin. It is pretty longlasting and won’t disappear from the skin. It doesn’t control oil and I think it is most suitable for those with normal/combination skin. It is lightly fragranced, I can barely feel the smell and it disappears after you’ve put the foundation on. It doesn’t oxidize. It has SPF 20 PA+++ (titanium dioxide 3.16%, octinoxate (ethylhexil methoxycinnamate) 2.997%) which means that I can get away with no sunscreen during winter, but during summer I would use sunscreen. Givenchy has a good range of shades, especially for fair skin ladies. I usually wear Dior 010 during winter and Dior 020 during summer and the shades that would match me in this foundation are 04, 05 and 06, although I get the perfect shade if I mix 04 and 06. 04 is light neutral while 05 has more yellowish tone. 06 is slightly darker and not as neutral as 04 neither yellow as 05. There are several even lighter shades, although their availability depends upon the country (in Croatia 03 is the lightest). Now, what I really dislike about this foundation (and this is what put me off of buying the full-size) is that it feels heavy.Although it blends in pretty well and I can’t see that I’m wearing a foundation if I look in the mirror, but I feel it sitting on my face and I don’t like it when I can feel that I have a foundation on. I tried to “dilute” it by mixing it with Estee Lauder Spotlight, but even then the foundation felt heavy. If I pay so much for the foundation I expect it to be a perfection and this, sadly, isn’t. The foundation comes in a pump bottle, and it retails for around 40 euros, but keep in mind that the bottle contains only 25ml of the foundation, whereas the standard foundation packaging contains 30ml. My actual grade would be more around 3.5, but I’m giving it 4 because this is a good foundation; it’s just not for me. The swatches of 04 and 06 can be found in my profile pictures. http://img.makeupalley.com/2/0/6/8/1488082.BMP
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Moisturizers -Clinique - Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel
carita 12/20/2009 4:27:00 PM
I didn’t expect to like this as much as I do. I didn’t use it as a part of three steps system – rather I used it on its own. The texture is gel-like and the product is yellow-coloured. It smells like medicine. A litle goes a long way and a minimal amount is sufficient. After you apply this the face looks very matte, but the matte effect doesn’t last for very long. After 3-4hrs I can feel my sking getting oily. Although it doesn’t dry out the skin, it could be a bit more moisturizing. Since recently, my skin has been very dehydrated so I even tried to wear it together with Chanel Hydramax+ serum, hoping that it would helped with providing more moisture, but unfortunately I haven’t notice if my skin is more moisturized. I liked it best when I used it under foundation – it kept oil at bay much longer than it would be the case had I only wore foundation. I didn’t experience any breakouts.
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Moisturizers -Avene - Clean-Ac
carita 12/20/2009 4:01:00 AM
This product is supposed to be used with harsh acne treatments, to counteract the dryness such treatments cause. I’ve been using it on its own. It’s Ok moisturizer, although it feels a bit heavy, the texture is thicker than Cleanance creams, and my face felt slightly oily after putting this. It didn’t cause breakouts. It comes in a tube. Overall, I think it’s worthy to consider this moisturizer as an addition to acne treatments, but I still prefer something lighter. It retails for around 12 euros for 40ml. INGREDIENTS: Avene aqua, caprylic/capric trygliceride, carthamus tinctorius, butylene glycol, sucrose stearate, butyrosperm parkil, glycerin, simmondsia chinesis, sucrose distearate, stearyl alcohol, acrylates/c10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, bht, bisabolol, butylparaben, cyclomethicone, dimethicone crosspolymer, disodium edta, parfum, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, phenoxyethanol, triethanolamine, xanthan gum, zinc gluconate
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Polishes -Unlisted Brand - L.A. Girl Professional Salon Nail Lacquer
carita 11/26/2009 5:18:00 AM
I desperatelly wanted to get Chanel’s Tulipe Noir, but since I usually don’t wear such dark shades very often, I didn’t want to shell out such amount of money on a nailpolish I would use only once or twice. So, I ran into L.A. Girl nailpolishes in a store, and the shade Garnet (NL215) caught my attention because it seemed very similar to Tulipe Noir, and since this nailpolish was five times cheaper than Chanel, I decided to give it a try. The shade itself is not a perfect alternative to Tulipe Noir, because I find it is a bit warmer than Tulipe Noir. At first, I was thinking of giving it 2 lippies, because when I applied it on my nails without a base coat, the polish wasn’t very pigmented and it took me three coats to make it look like in the bottle. Luckily, the next time, I decided to put it over a base coat and this time even one coat looked nice. I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of this nailpolish, because my Chanel nailpolishes (even if I put Seche Vite over them) usualy barely manage to last full two days without chipping (and this only happens if I don’t do any housework). The only bad point I could find about this nailpolish is that the brush is a bit awkward to work with, and since the naipolish is new, the texture is a bit thin and runny, so I must be extra careful when doing my manicure. I don’t know how long it takes for the nailpolish to dry because after 2 minutes I simply put Seche Vite over it. This nailpolish is very cheap and you get 14ml and I’m thinking of quitting Chanel nailpolishes for good. It’s a shame that I don’t have very good choice of colours in my country, because I’d certainly repurchase this.
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