Cleansers -Paula's Choice - Skin Balancing Oil-Reducing Cleanser
rthusia 4/14/2005 5:42:00 PM
The packaging for all her products is pretty average, but it works, so I don't complain. I like the One Step better, but this cleanser will wipe away any tough eye make up in a jiffy. I can literally wipe this across my eyes, rub a teensy bit and wash away every bit of makeup. I almost always use this one if I have used mascara or stuborn eyeliners. You know it cleans well if it can manage to get rid of that stuff, leaving not a tell tale sign. It does not seem as gentle as the One Step to me and leaves me a bit tighter (not uncomfortably so.)
I give it a five for being concentrated enough to clean SO well with out causing stinging, burning, or irritation! The price sure helps bump it into a five as well. Very easy to buy one of the travel size items to try out (look for holidays and free shipping.)
Me= oily acne prone retin-A user. Never had any irritation or breakouts caused by this or the One Step. Both are great cleaners. (My favorites to be sure.)
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Lotions/ Creams -Neutrogena - Norwegian Formula Hand Cream
rthusia 4/14/2005 7:00:00 AM
I love how well this absorbs! It doesn't leave my hands sticky or wet feeling at all. It makes a wonderful night time hand moiturizer, but it works just as well for day use. Most hand creams or lotions in general leave me feeling as if I could wipe my hands repeatedly all day and never get the greasy feeling off. I love glycerin! Great stuff!
It's available in Fragrance Free and Scented. Mine did have a noticably fragrant scent to it. Not exactly baby powderish, but maybe a cross between a light talcum and sweet pea with a very faint hint of mint. Very fresh, but not over powering.
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Lip Gloss -Chanel - Cristalle Gloss - Cafe Glace
rthusia 4/10/2005 4:18:00 PM
I shied away from the brilliant appearence of the Cristalle Glosses, but a nice SA talked me into this color. It almost looked plummy raisinish in the bottle, maybe plummy-chestnut would be a better description but on it became a colorful but sheer wine color. It looked perfect with my pale skin and green eyes. I couldn't buy into the hype of Chanel, how much better could a 25$ (US dollar) lipgloss look? This one is fab though, so props to them for convincing me. I haven't been thrilled with the feel of the Glossimers, the Cristalle Gloss is very silky though. This color leaves behind a lovely stain. Couldn't be happier!
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Treatments -Paula's Choice - Redness Relief Treatment (Previously known as Skin Relief Treatment)
rthusia 3/31/2005 5:39:00 PM
I love this product! I bought it immediately after trying out a sample. The bad thing is I feel guilty for continually paying so much for a small amount of Aspirin Water. I also purchased the extra spray pump (1.50$ but only because I wanted to try out some of the pumps.) I think the packaging could use a little adjusting such as being a bigger size and having the spray pump included.
I went through an entire bottle of this while going through a poison ivy out break. It was so soothing, numbed any pain associated with the itching etc, calmed the redness and irritation of the allergic reaction and even offered me light moisturizer (non-drying) when the patches were all healing.
This stuff (the original reason for purchase) makes a really great toner for me (I don't spray it around my eyes.) I have to say it has just done amazing things for my skin. Perhaps that is the reason I continue to pay for it. I just love what it does. Light exfoliation, extremely soothing on blemishes/redness -> (cannot stress this part enough it works really great in this area) in a very light silky moisturizing formula. I would give it a five if it were, say.. 6 oz instead of 4 (for 14$ + shipping) and if it included a spray pump (although I could easily get over that one small infraction.) I find the cost a little silly for what you are getting. Notice I am still willing to pay the price for better skin and convenience though.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -La Prairie - Light Fantastic Cellular Concealing Brightening Eye Treatment
rthusia 3/18/2005 12:27:00 PM
I really wasn't wowed by this product. My color range is inbetween the 10 and 20 (Becca Praline/Banana) I've been trying a large sample of the 20, and although any dark circles I have are barely noticable, I barely get any coverage from this product at all. Maybe I am just spoiled by Becca, or maybe the 10 in La Prairie would work better for me. Perhaps my circles aren't noticable enough for me to see any super dramatic results. Given that, you would think the product could manage to hide the slight darkness that exists, but such was not the case.
Pluses? LOVE the portability of the packaging and the wand. Great for purse/travel usage. It seems to have a very nice light weight gel texture and smoothes out evenly, almost invisibly. Has not accentuated any flaky/dry skin around the eye and feels very comfortable on. Because there are others that I like so much more, I would not repurchase this given its heafty attached price-tag. It also reminded me of the Laura Mercier Eye Basics (I prefered the texture of the La Prairie more)Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Paula's Choice - Soft Matte Eyeshadow in Malt ] [DISCONTINUED]
rthusia 3/10/2005 6:49:00 PM
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this new color! It's a wonderful, albeit basic, neutral brown. It's listed as a medium brown but it goes on fairly light, blended well with my fair skin, and left no noticable coloration marks. Nothing orangy or redish about this brown, it looks to have a taupe under tone when on the lid. It's very easy to use, works great on the lid, crease, or as a lighter eye liner. I prefer the single shadows to the trios, much easier to get the color you want. Classic.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Jane Iredale - PureMoist LipColour SPF 18
rthusia 3/1/2005 6:05:00 PM
A nice lipstick that feels great on. I might try different colors, but I just feel I can get more from the drugstore with my twenty bucks. I liked the gentle rose scent that clung to the shade I tried. (Sarah)
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Powder -Jane Iredale - Pure Pressed Base
rthusia 3/1/2005 5:59:00 PM
I like to order small samples of the pressed powder to keep in my purse if I want to touch up.
I love Aromaleigh, but getting the hang of color selection, type of loose minerals.... it isn't very simple.
Jane Iredale makes this so simple, I give it a five for ease of use! Great colors, that really look good and feel natural on. The pressed version wasn't as shimmery as BE (or the loose version of JI) and didn't suck everybit of moisture out of my face like Aromaleigh tends to do. It also left me with a semi-matte finish.
Light Beige is my favorite color match but I also find bisque is a close match too, it is all pretty forgiving. Light Beige looks a lot different (lighter) in pressed than in the loose form.
I find there isn't as much coverage with the pressed version, but it is more mattifying than loose. It is also easier to start with the pressed to just "get the hang of things. I highly suggest giving it a try, it is one of my favorite mineral makeups to date."
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Primer/ Corrector -Clinique - Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector
rthusia 3/1/2005 5:40:00 PM
I always seem to get some slight irritation with this product. It's pretty good for quick touch ups, in the place of a powder compact. So much silicone in this product. It felt greasy, but did a pretty good job of mattifying the areas I put it on. The only place I can seem to get away with putting this is on my nose though. My skin just reacts badly to it in other areas.
My experience with Clinique products always leaves me shying away from products in their lines that they claim are "sweat resistant". The product inevitably causes stingng, burning and itching where applied, if I do end up sweating a little bit or if the weather is humid.
I don't hate this product, but I don't feel it is any better than other basic silicone primers, or anti-shine makeups. It really seems like an unnecessary step to me (and coming from a girl that will use any primer if it claims to make me look "better" that says a lot.) It did little in making my face look smoother, or as they like to pretend.. give me the look of instantly smaller pores.
Did a decent job of making my nose look powdery soft though!
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Lipstick -Diane Von Furstenberg - Once Bitten
rthusia 2/27/2005 1:57:00 AM
Yuck! The color was okay, but it felt so... well... The others sure aren't exagerating. It was waxy, uneven, and some how managed to burn on my lips. Looked very matte on. Could NOT get the cheap fragrance "taste" out of my mouth. Blicky. Booo Hisss.
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Fragrances -Dessert Beauty - Dreamy Kissable Fragrance
rthusia 2/25/2005 1:00:00 PM
I have a single of Dreamy, and I recieved Pillow Talk as a gift. Not only is Dreamy my favorite, but it is the only one that I would actually buy. Slip and Juicy smell awful and look bad on me. Slide, Creamy, and Luscious all small decent enough but just don't look good in my opinion. They sure don't look twenty dollars good. The packaging is very basic (the stickers on the bottom seem slicky, yuck.)
Dreamy imparts a nice lush nude/slightly brownish glossing. Smells great! I still Like AromaLeighs lipgloss fragrance over any that Dessert Beauty has come out with. I would highly recommend giving Dreamy a try, but only if it were available on sale! I agree that they are really just for play, which is why the price should be cut way down on these. Nothing special!
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Concealers -Becca - Concealer compact
rthusia 2/1/2005 2:48:00 PM
I was lost on the color selection, I'm a PPP/FFF with very slight yellow undertones, mostly neutral. I also use a high percent in the Retin-A so it is possible upon first inspection to pass me off as a girl with pink undertones. Most of the color swatches I saw lead me to believe Malt (yellow/ fair)would be an excelent match for me as I am getting down right winter pale about now! That was not the case though, it was far too light on me! I have found Praline (neutral/ fair) to be a good match, still slightly too light for general imperfection coverage, but grade A on covering any slight dark eye circles I have. The inner corners are where I usually see the majority of darkness.
For a good skin color coverage (ie scars, freckles, blemishes) Banana (neutral/fair-medium) makes a superb and very blendable color. Although no one has ever called me a medium in any shade! I really like to use the Praline to blend down any redness, and then smooth with the Banana. The difference betwen the two shades is very marginal, and even with constant every day use the product lasts forever.
So what I really wish is that the Becca website would allow you (as a treat for paying ungodly shipping through their personal website) to pick separate colors on each side. Half heavy concealer in Banana and half sheerer coverage in Praline would be my ideal pick! I also wish that they would place a slight space between the two concealers in which to hold a very small brush for on the go touch ups. Right now I just use a small Sonia Kashuk brush, and blend with clean fingers, that works just fine.
I think Becca's color selection is amazing and I would use their products just because they are so intelligent and considerate in offering up such a superb variety (not to mention the great quality)!
I recieved my first experimental colors from wonderul Mua'ers and purchased full sized products once I decided the coloring was a good enough match. Several other colors "work" on my skin, some just seemed to work better. The pigmentation and the smooth application of the product is in a formulation that really just works so well for my oily skin. It never looks cakey, over done, flakey, and it sure doesn't sink into my pores (which I think is really gross) It covers with flawless prescision and looks very natural. Very few I have found can compare to this concealer!
So selecting a color can be a trial, the initial price can be a purse pincher for some, and maybe there are a few things I would like to add to the packaging... all in all I reach for this all the time, and love it to death. !
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Paula's Choice - Skin Balancing Moisture Gel
rthusia 1/26/2005 2:00:00 PM
This product makes for a really excelent primer!
It lacks SPF, and that is really the only reason I would bother putting on this moisturizer compared to something that contained sun protection. So with the lack of SPF it seems relegated to "night time use," but I find this product is *made* for mineral makeups!! Combining the two gives you a wonderfully smooth and light weight moisturizer that acts as a priming agent, and the mineral makeup adds the much needed SPF to bump this into my "day use" category! It feels light, absorbs quick enough for me, and there is absolutely none of that super irritating balling of the product when I put other things on top of it or rub it! It really excels in smoothing out any patchy skin from over exfoliation, high Retin-A use, and general irritation. It also has a TON of antioxidants! It's a very nice product once you get past the lack of SPF. I have found that it works really well around my sensitive eyes, again due in part to the quick absorption and smoothing element. I have yet to encounter a problem with burning or irritation from this product. It's silky smooth and I just love it. Wish a product could be made JUST like this, with SPF.2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Paula's Choice - Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Lotion Exfoliant
rthusia 1/26/2005 1:03:00 PM
I started with the travel sized containers and they ran about 5 bucks for 2 oz. (60 ml). A super way to try some of these products!
A pretty good deal. My favorite right now is the liquid solution. I can just put some on a cotton ball and swab it over my face. It doesn't feel sticky, tacky, or as if it has left some residual film on my face to me at all. I really ejoy this product, and combined with my Retin-A at night, it just works beautifully. It also does an excellent job of not bringing out any excess irritation in my skin!
A super compliment to the Retin-A routine, and the travel sizes make a simple trial time very easy and non-commital!Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Paula's Choice - Hydralight One Step Face Cleanser - Normal to Oily/Combination Skin
rthusia 1/17/2005 9:47:00 PM
I should have reviewed this a long time ago. This was how I started on this product: I really wanted to try PC's BHA products, and since she was having a sale on travel sized items I grabbed a couple of the face washes too. I wasn't really in the market for a new face wash since I absolutely loved Sage's Regular facial shampoo, but I have to admit I was curious! This was my favorite of the cleansers (The other one was the Balancing cleanser).
I really love this cleanser! This was very similar to my favorite (the Sage), easy on the eye area, non stinging and does a good job of removing make up! It is also cheaper than Sage's. I like it a lot and totally plan on purchasing a larger size! Thanks for another great product Paula Begoun!
Update: I STILL love using this cleanser. I use cleansing oils first and follow up with this. A 16 oz bottle lasts me about 7+ months, that is with at least two washings a day. I have found it very difficult to remove PC very own mascaras with this. They are the only mascaras I have this problem with. I am not sure if that is a testament to the mascaras or a negative for the wash. I still love it very much though and have repurchased time and time again, during the free shipping promotionals!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No