Lip Treatments -Korres - Mandarin Lip Butter Stick
danai 3/12/2011 8:18:00 AM
This product is ok, but nothing to write home about, or in my case, even repurchase. I got it in peach, which is a very nice, natural peachy pink, and because this balm is actually quite pigmented, it's very visible on my lips; almost as if I was wearing a light, moisturizing, semi- matte lipstick, but for a fragment of the price that would cost. So this balm is a great, very convenient alternative to lipstick, when you want subtler but very noticeable color, which can be touched up at the drop of a hat without a mirror or anything. It feels nice and smooth when applied, and has a pleasant, velvety texture. It also has a light cocoa butter/vanilla scent, that reminds me of MAC lip products. For me, it's not very moisturizing though. I have come across balms that do tremendously more for my lips. So far, so good. However, there's a deal breaker for me, and that's the taste and aftertaste of this. I suspect it's the SPF that makes it so unpleasant, because come to think about it, I have similar problems with every lip product with an SPF I own. This balm is the last straw, no more lip SPF for me ever. It tastes somewhat bitter, but the worst part is, using this leaves a very bad, bitter, chemical taste behind which can't be avoided no matter how careful I am not to get any in my mouth. This ruins it for me. To be realistic, a product like this in meant to be used daily as a go-to, so to serve this purpose it should at least not be unpleasant. To sum things up, if your lips are in good shape (meaning they don't need heavy duty hydration) and you're sure you can deal with the taste of SPF, this could even replace your everyday my lips but better lipstick. It's not for me though.
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Mascara -Clinique - High Impact Curling Mascara
danai 3/4/2011 10:04:00 PM
After Lash Power, here's another Clinique mascara that will not go away unless you threaten, beg and give up your whole eyelids for it to take them with it. Well at least Lash Power gave nice results and didn't clump. This one clumps like there's no tomorrow and does nothing unheard of. Lastly, in my experience it's not curling. I regret this sorely, and I actually mean this literally.
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Palettes -Too Faced - Glamour to Go II Palette
danai 3/4/2011 8:13:00 PM
So I came across this palette and bought it on a whim, because the colors were very much my cup of tea and the price for all that stuff it contains was barely believable. Alright, I won't lie, I also got it for the brilliantly cute packaging. While it's very nice to have around, esthetically pleasing and really convenient, I'm afraid the quality let me down a bit. I was expecting much better. This contains eight eyeshadows, four lipglosses and one blush, which people before me have already described so I won't go there. I'm very pleased with the color selection, as I'm fair skinned, and I find that these shades all work very nicely for me. They're all natural, elegant and appropriate for any time and occasion; better suited for soft, clean understated looks, which I prefer over loud and funky anyway. However the fact is, these eyeshadows are very, very sheer. While they're rather soft and smooth (though not the smoothest I've come across), they go on as a light, sheer wash of the color in the pan. The most characteristic example is the steel grey, probably the darkest, deepest shade in the palette, which only appears as light to medium grey on the lid. I'm personally ok with that because I prefer understated, sheer and buildable, but most people expect to get the shade they see in the pan, and reasonably so. To make matters worse, these eyeshadows don't last long, not even over TFSI, which is shocking, because it's the first time I've ever come across eyeshadow that beats Shadow Insurance. I didn't even think this was possible. As for the lipglosses, those are ok and even though I don't like palette lipglosses, I do use them for quick, simple looks and they do the job alright. they don't last either, but that's ok for lipgloss, and the palette is compact enough to carry around for touchups anyway. The blush is a shimmery rose color, which I'm not crazy about, but I do use. All in all, for the price, this palette is a very nice deal and very convenient. I plan to carry this when travelling instead of a bunch of other products I usually take with me. I don't regret it at all, and while I don't think the products in it will thrill many people, they happen to suit my needs for the most part. To be honest I don't think I'd buy again though, and I don't really see myself finishing this anytime soon.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -Korres - Body Butter - Guava
danai 2/19/2011 3:54:00 AM
I'm on the fence with this. It's been nice, but once it's gone, I don't think I'll really miss it. The best thing about it (and the only brilliant thing about it, really) is the scent. It feels heavenly. Coconut with a hint of tropical fruit, good enough to eat. The scent is what drew me to another body cream I didn't really need, to be honest. So well done for this; there's no shortage of great smelling creams, but this should take the prize in my book. Anyway. As a moisturizer it didn't impress me, sadly. It's very heavy so it's best suited for winter (although it smells like summer, oh well). However it doesn't go on as smoothly or sink in as well as other creams do. It comes out of the tub with this thick, luxurious feel about it, but on the skin it's not really creamy or easy to spread; it takes an effort to rub it in. If it makes any sense, while it does melt, it doesn't melt into a creamy enough consistency to spread around evenly. It takes some effort to ensure I have covered my body evenly and there's not a lot of this on some places and hardly any on others. Also once I've rubbed it in, it seems to form a slick film that stays there for quite some time. I prefer to use it at night for that reason. All that would be ok if it did a better job moisturizing than other creams, but I don't quite see it. Don't get me wrong, it does moisturize, however there's (maybe even cheaper) stuff out there that does too, in the same way more or less. It doesn't go the extra mile to justify the effort it takes to rub in. All in all, this is definitely a pleasant product to use. If it were somewhat less heavy and could sink faster, I might keep it around for summer, just for the scent. But as it is, I will only ever buy it again if I have plenty of extra cash to spend; I will not pick this over other products though (hence I stated I wouldn't buy again).
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Makeup Remover -Bourjois - Express eye makeup remover
danai 2/18/2011 12:45:00 PM
I was very disappointed with this product. I normally use makeup removing wipes, and I have found a specific type that works perfectly and removes all eye makeup at once. However, my budget has tightened (even more) lately, so I thought things over and figured that using a MU remover might be a cheaper alternative to wipes, which are not very cheap if you consider that they never last me more than a month; even less than this some times. So I picked this one up for the eyes, thinking the rest of my makeup would be taken care of by my facial wash anyway. Alas, it was a huge mistake and I regret it sorely. From the 5 seconds I needed to clean everything with one quick wipe, I've gone to having to devote more than five minutes and a lot of work. I need a lot of product each time, many cotton pads to accomodate it, I rub and rub and rub (which is to be avoided when it comes to eye area) and I still get nowhere. I kid you not, no matter how long I take, how much product I spill out (and here I must add that the bottle lets it pour out rather uncontrollably) or how vigorously I rub, this never takes 100% of my mascara off. Ever. It's so frustrating to actually spend time and effort and not get clean. Also, while it doesn't sting the eyes, it makes them itchy. And I'm talking about my daily makeup here, which consists of (non-waterproof) mascara, concealer and sometimes a little eyeliner. I dread having to take off heavier makeup with this. When I have a lot of product on, I'd much rather say to heck with this and just use plain baby oil; which I should've stuck with from the start to be honest, because it works so much better. Oh, and it doesn't really matter that baby oil is oily, because guess what, this product is oily too, even though it claims not to be. Bottom line: with my wipes, all it took was a couple of seconds, with a non-oily product (that's also suitable for the whole face). With baby oil, you can only do the eyes and it's oily as it gets, but it works rapidly as well. This one...just forget it. Money down the drain when I least needed this.
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Fragrances -Dolce & Gabbana - L'Imperatrice Eau de Toilette
danai 1/22/2011 6:47:00 AM
Perfect scent for the warm months, floral and fruity (I get lots of watermelon from it), but in the right way. Airy and slightly sweet, but not cloying or artificial at all. Also light and discreet. The name points towards something strong, very present and commanding. This is so springy, light and innocent in reality. Perfect alternative to the exotic and coconutty bunch for summer.
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Masks -Yves Rocher - Lemon zest extract purifying skin mask
danai 1/22/2011 6:39:00 AM
I picked this up on an impulse because it was cheap and, well, I can always use some extra cleansing (I'm unfortunately very prone to clogged pores). Good thing it was cheap, because I never saw any kind of results with this. I didn't feel relaxed or pampered using this either. It smells ok (though a little detergent-y), feels quite nice and cool on, but that's it. After I wash it off, it's like I never used it at all. I see no reason to even think of getting this again, as it just sits on my shelf. Good thing the tube is tiny, because this way I actually have some hope of finishing it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Urban Decay - 24-7 Glide on eyeliner in bourbon
danai 1/18/2011 6:38:00 AM
I simply cannot rave enough about this. It's the best pencil liner I ever came across and undoubtedly my HG and my go-to when I want a perfect line fast. Perfect medium brown shade,perfect amount of sparkle, perfect rich consistency. Soft like butter, slides on almost by itself, makes it effortlessly easy to get a decently straight and even line-and mind you my hand is not what you'd call steady. I refuse to ever be without this,and this will be incovenient, as UD is not sold in my country (I got this as a part of BoSII,which I got in some Sephora in my city which has now closed-it seems they brought a couple of those, and sold them as a "limited edition exclusive" or something, around last Xmas). Which means when I run out I'll have to shop for this online. I don't mind at all though and I also plan to get more from the 24-7 line.
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Fragrances -Carolina Herrera - 212 VIP
danai 1/18/2011 6:10:00 AM
Well, this may not be the most original or lifechanging fragrance I ever came by,but it has already gotten me compliments (which I hardly ever get wearing my usual stuff). What do you know. I received a special Xmas boxset of this as a present by someone who apparently knows my taste in scents very well (I'm into vanilla based fragrances mostly and I appreciate gourmands). As I hadn't sniffed it and I received it in the holidays, I had to wait for the stores to open again so that I could decide whether to open it or not. Torture I tell you:-) It was worth the wait though, because when I did sniff it I knew right away it would be a keeper. This scent is definitely on the oriental side. It's sweet and potent enough, but I'd call it feminine and sexy rather than gourmand. It opens with strong sweet notes, that remind me a lot of Carolina's 212 Sexy frag (which I like a lot but never owned). At times it even brings Flowerbomb to mind; I think I get whiffs of something similar too. Then it dries down to a warm, less sweet but very feminine and sexy scent. I get kind of a NR For Her vibe from the drydown. As you can probably tell, this fragrance screams female. Very sexy, present, sultry and enticing. And as I mentioned it got me compliments. And I feel very confident wearing it. Unless you'll settle for nothing but clean, you can't really go wrong with this scent I think. The bottle's attractive and the box set it came in gorgeous (both clean and geometric, but all mirror shiny gold). With it also came a small version of the matching body lotion, and I have to say, it's even better than the fragrance, as it keeps the delicious scent, but lacks the initial sharpness. It's an even prettier, softer version of it. All in all, I can't say if this will ever be HG for me, but I plan to wear it and enjoy it a lot.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -The Body Shop - Cranberry Shower Gel
danai 1/13/2011 4:47:00 PM
After the Vanilla Spice line which was heavenly, every other Christmas TBS line has disappointed me. This is no exception. I really dislike the scent, which for me is simply plasticky, and even worse sour, fruit. Nothing pleasant about it. Also nothing warm, comforting or festive about it whatsoever. I'll use it up because it's not bad otherwise, but I'm not a fan. For their prices, TBS products better impress me or I'll spend elsewhere.
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Lotions/ Creams -The Body Shop - Body Butter Shea
danai 12/26/2010 8:59:00 AM
If you're familiar with the TBS butters, you will know that the scent is the least of their differences; each and every one of them has a different consistency.Hence they all work differently. This is one of the most hardcore ones I've tried, in the sense that it's one of the really moisturizing ones. It gets down to business and it's more to the point than some other, pretty smelling but less efficient ones. I would recommend this to anyone complaining about dry skin that is not easily healed by other creams. It's not as creamy as other butters and it comes out almost solid, but in fact as other reviewers have also said, if you warm it for a second rubbing your hands, it turns into creamy heaven immidiately. It's very easy to spread, goes on smooth and generally does sink in for such a rich product. Now the scent. Well I'm one of the people that were weirded out by it. It's a strange, unusual mix of perfume and nuts; like you mixed a drop of a strong generic fragrance into a cocoa butter cream product. It's not unpleasant to me at all. In fact it can be nice once you get used to it and it's very winter-cozy. I couldn't stand it in hot weather, but then again I wouldn't use this product in hot weather. In a nutshell, this is a rich product that really does what it promises, with a scent that's distinctive and present (and therefore not for everyone). If you have dry skin that desperately needs moisture, I wholeheartedly recommend this.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Korres - Yogurt Cream (Yoghurt Cream)
danai 12/26/2010 8:40:00 AM
This was a complete let down. Sounded like it was made exactly for my skin type, which is oily with dry patches and sensitive to a lot of things. Truth be told cosmetic companies assume that oiliness excludes sensitivity and don't really cater to my skintype. This cream feels very heavy and thick on. It's the opposite of light and fluffy; it's runny but very heavy and it doesn't feel like it ever sinks in. It also seems to be promoting shine instead of eliminating it. Last but not least, and worst of all probably, it noticeably contributed to breakouts. Shame because I really wanted this cream to work.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -L'Oreal - Elvive Colour Protect Conditioning Protect Spray
danai 12/19/2010 2:35:00 PM
I've tried tons of leave in conditioners. Cream, spray, and everything in between. This is the best I've some across so far. I have thin, wavy color treated hair that i want to keep long, but find it very hard because the ends tend to get very dry and coarse, although my roots tend to get oily rather fast. I gave this spray a go because of the positive reviews here, as I have no problems with my color so far, and I found a gem. Cream leave in conditioners would form an oily film on top of my hair and/or weigh it down, while spray ones somehow always manage to make my ends coarser than they already are and do very little to help detangle it. This one though does what I need it to: it detangles, it makes hair soft, shiny and silky and it helps tremendously with drying/styling it, as it makes it much more manageable. My ends never looked better and now I don't need the anti-frizz products anymore either. This one does it all. And it's also cheap. To sum things up, this is the one and only product I need and use nowadays. I'd recommend it to anyone.
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Fragrances -Chanel - Coco Mademoiselle
danai 12/17/2010 9:24:00 AM
While this is not entirely my thing, I must admit it's worth its reputation. For me, this scent is a mix of expensive soap and candy. An MUAer on the boards once said it's similar to Flowerbomb but I'll have to politely disagree here. Flowerbomb is pure sugary warmth, while CM is sweet for sure but with a strong element of preppiness and class. The first time I tried it, it immidiately occured to me that it's what you'd get if you sprayed Flowerbomb on and then washed it off with high end soap. So this is a scent that's sweet, young and feminine while managing to smell really chic and expensive. I can imagine this on a Gossip Girl character. I would very gladly wear it. When it comes to chic with an aura of expensive, Chanel seems to always deliver.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Korres - Vanilla Freesia Lychee
danai 12/11/2010 1:32:00 PM
I'm quite surprised and baffled. I first saw this fragrance in the store today, along with the rest of the new Korres fragrances, and, being in a hurry, I tried only this one on because it had the most promising notes (at least for my taste). The truth is, I'm not sure how to rate this fragrance, as it seems it's the exact dupe of my current favorite, Flowerbomb. I was taken aback and amused because I remember seeing people on the fragrance board asking if there's a dupe for Flowerbomb numerous times, and I never imagined the day would come when I would actually have a real, valid answer to this. I feel like I've discovered new land somehow. But how do you rate a fragrance that you love not for itself, but because it's a dupe for something you really love? How can you say you really love and appreciate a man, when the reason you got with him in the first place is that he reminds you of someone else? As you can see, trying this scent has brought up serious existentional questions :-D In any case, I'll give it a 4 because I cannot give something I really like less than that, but I also can't give it a 5 because, well, that wouldn't be fair. Would I actually buy this? I'm on the fence. Truth be told it's a cheaper alternative to my HG. So yes, I might buy it indeed. After all, lasting power seems good too and Korres make quality stuff. To be honest, I wonder where Korres were going with this, and whether if the similarity was intentional (which I certainly hope not), or they just found they'd made a pretty delicious scent and put it out for what it is, a delicious scent, Flowerbomb aside. So ladies:you were looking for a cheaper Flowerbomb dupe. I give to you, Korres VFL. For those of you that love FB but not its patchouli, don't miss this one. This was a revelation,what do you know.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No