This is a light, fresh scent that doesn't give me a headache or break me out. I get lots of compliments when I wear it, and it is not very expensive to buy. What more do you want? I just hope they haven't discontinued it and replaced it with that horrid white tea, which smells like tomcat urine....

Also, I have no qualms whatsoever about wearing this so-called "cheap drugstore Healing Garden stuff". I mean, so what if you can buy it at Wal-Mart? Some of us, that's the only store within a decent distance to shop at. And it smells good. At the price of gas, I'm not going to drive thirty minutes to pick up some overpriced "botanical" scent when this works just as well. (Sorry, folks, carried over from another review I just read on an different product entirely.)

Recently, though, I discovered Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea, and I was surprised! Finally, something I could wear, and it didn't make me feel sick or itchy! I was shocked to see it has been around for quite a while...I'd never heard of it. I guess I don't stay current on things, huh? But my local Wal-Mart had the 1.7 oz spray on sale for $5, and how could I pass it up after I smelled the disc on the outside?

This lasts for a while on me, and I have gotten many compliments on it. I tend to use this when I am more dressed up, and the healing garden's green tea scent for everyday. Definitely a must-have for me!

First of all, I don't mind the wide-mouthed bottle. I would like it if it were made of plastic, but it isn't, so oh well. As far as germs go....well....the world has germs in it and you have to be totally fooling yourself if you think that you won't get germs or bacteria inside a bottle with a pump or in a squeeze bottle. You touch the foundation with your skin, right? Some of that foundation goes back in the bottle, no matter what kind you are using. You just simply open the product, and it is contaminated. I think we get entirely too worked up about things like this. Anyway...I found that I can apply this with my fingers, but it goes on heavier that way....I preferred using a sponge triangle wedge instead for a much lighter application. The foundation went on evenly, for me, and I found that even a thin layer provided medium coverage. It did cake just a bit in my smile lines, but not too badly. I finished it off with a dusting of white rice powder, and I was happy...I appeared suitably matte and my face looked nice and smooth.

After a few hours (where the most strenuous thing I did was eat supper) I decided to check my face. OMG. I was turning into a grease pit! The makeup was starting to look gloopy and cakey and on my nose, it had melted off....other than where it had settled into the pores on my nose. Lovely. Now I had a shiny, polka-dotted nose. I blotted as best I could, and did a quick touch-up job with the foundation and powder. It stayed for about another hour....then it was back to melting nose. By the time I got home (about 8 hours after the original application) my face looked like it was melting away. The foundation was cakey and greasy and I could not WAIT to wash it off. Seeing as how this is only April and the temperatures and/or humidity are marginal compared to what summer will be like, I can't see using this again. Bleah.

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Liquid -Cover Girl - Outlast All Day Liquid Make-up (foundation+primer) [DISCONTINUED]

innamorata 4/14/2005 3:04:00 AM

So I went to the CG website and signed up for the sample and coupon, and then waited with some impatience by the mailbox (which really ticked off the postmistress...but I digress). When my envelope finally arrived, I took it home and opened it...to find that my sample had somehow burst inside the envelope and now a couple of the pages were covered with some white powdery stuff (which totally skeezed me out until I figured out that it was just the dried primer and not Anthrax) and the sample color in Creamy Natural (which was too dark for me anyway, but I didn't have any choice).

(A word about colors....if you go to the website, you can find the color choices, and which ones are cool, warm, and neutral. Don't just assume that the color Ivory is going to be the lightest shade...I've often found that it is darker on MY skin than Natural Ivory, which is what I use [cool PPP]. Ivory makes my skin look dull and muddy and dark....Classic Ivory is entirely too yellow, and also dark....Natural Ivory is a pinky ivory that brightens my skin and matches it well. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's move on.)

I'm not a big fan of the primer. I really don't need to add an extra step to my makeup routine. But, it did go on smoothly and quickly, and I took the time to work it into the pores of my nose and forehead. I didn't notice a smell, unless I stuck my nose right on the bottle, and it dried quickly while I was applying eyeshadow and mascara. The foundation itself was a perfect match for my skin (Natural Ivory, my go-to color in CG foundations), and it went on very creamy and smoothly. I had a little trouble right around my nose, but I think that's just my nose...it always gives me trouble. I powdered down with my usual white rice powder and went about my day.

I noticed that, after a few hours, my T-zone was shiny, although my cheeks were tolerable. I blotted and powdered again, but I still had oil breakthrough after another couple of hours. Now, I realize this stuff isn't advertised specifically as being an oil-control makeup, but it does state that the primer is a "mattifying primer". Maybe it does mattify a little right after application and before the foundation is applied, but not much, and it doesn't seem to stay that way. The ads state, "Up to 10 hours of flawless coverage." Um, no. Maybe a couple of hours, but after that there is shine and oil breakthrough, and the foundation itself starts to break down. Once that happens, you get a splotchy, cakey look, and the makeup rubs right off.

A couple of other things....first, that ad with the model just grates my cheese. She just looks entirely too sappy as she applies her Outlast, ever so gracefully and elegantly. She looks like she's having a religious experience. Bleah. Secondly...what overpaid intern at CG designed that bottle?!? Seriously....there isn't enough patience in my body to deal with that thing. At least make it snap apart so you can actually squeeze the bottle on the side that you want. And what happens if you run out of primer before the foundation, or vice versa? Let me guess...you have to buy a whole new bottle.

But, the kicker for me was that this caused my cheeks and forehead to break out. I didn't change anything else in my routine, so this had to be the culprit. (I use Burt's Bees Tomato Soap and, sometimes, the Orange Cream cleanser and/or the Citrus Facial Scrub.) Once I stopped using this foundation, the breakouts went away. I'm really not happy with this at all.

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Foundations -Wet 'n' Wild - Keep it real [DISCONTINUED]

innamorata 4/8/2005 4:44:00 AM

I'm trying all the foundations that I can, so I went ahead and picked this one up. I bought it in Naked, and it is a good neutral match for my PPP cool-toned skin. It doesn't really brighten it up, but it doesn't turn it orange either. Plus, it was cheap, so I am not out a bunch of money either way.

The bottle could use a little work...I don't think it is so much that the foundation is too thick, but that the opening of the bottle is so small. No air can get in to help the foundation flow out, so you end up shaking it up and down like a ketchup bottle. It's okay, though...I just kept my finger over the end and used whatever came out on my finger.

This went on fairly matte and covered okay, although somewhat sheer. I powdered it down and it looked natural, if kind of flat (no pink tone whatsoever). I didn't have time for powdering and touchups, and after wearing it for seven hours my skin looked greasy...plus, on my forehead and nose, this had just sank right into my pores. The final straw was when I washed my face and noticed several new, small whiteheads on my forehead. This was the only thing new on my face, so I will not use this again...I work too hard to keep my face clear of blemishes. Wet'n'Wild has come out with some great products, but this isn't one of them.

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Liquid -Milani - smooth finish liquid makeup

innamorata 4/3/2005 4:43:00 AM

I wish there were a "Maybe" option when asked if you would buy this product again...I'm just not sure right now. I picked this up on a whim at CVS for $3.99, so it was very reasonably priced. I chose Buff first, but had to return it as it was way too yellow. Natural Beige looks better...it's a tiny bit too dark but at least it is neutral. As soon as CVS gets in some True Beige, I want to see it, because they always seem to be out of it (lots of pale people in my area, so it must be a good color). Meijer has a larger selection of colors and products, but it is a half-hour from me...why can't all stores carry full lines of products?

Anyway...this foundation is surprisingly good. It goes on creamy and smoothly and covers up any discoloration nicely. It can be a bit heavy, so I use a very light touch and a small amount. On a couple of areas, such as under my eyes and a few little red spots on my chin, I can build the coverage and it looks good, so you could go from light to heavy coverage with this. The bottle has a little opening with a little lip around the hole...that annoys me, because foundation gathers around the lip and you can't wipe it off. If the lip were gone, the hole would be flat and it would be easier to keep clean...but that's really a small detail. The plastic bottle itself is very flat, although somewhat large, and it fits well in my purse without taking up a lot of room.

It wears well on my oily skin, although I do notice some shine on my forehead and nose. I use some white rice powder and it helps cut down on shine while maintaining a smooth look. I remove it with Burt's Bees Orange Essence cleanser and BB's Tomato soap, and thus far my skin seems to be tolerating it all right. I even cried a little wearing this one day and it held up. So, perhaps this might be a good go-to foundation when I need something to cover up well.

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Lip Gloss -Rimmel - Vinyl Lip - Snog

innamorata 4/1/2005 3:53:00 AM

Wow...I really like this gloss! I was initally leery of Vinyl Lip glosses, because Kate Moss' lips in the ads just looked frighteningly shiny...like vinyl seat covers or something. But I received two of these in a swap (the other being Eastend Snob) and they're wonderful!

A note about the scent. I love the smell of this...it's a rather vanillaish-fruity-sweet sort of smell. It reminds me of something, although I can't remember just what...I'll update if I ever remember. (UPDATE 4/3/05: I finally figured it out...the scent reminds me of an Orange Julius, or the V8 Splash Smoothie in Orange Creme...I knew it smelled familiar!) Plus, after this has been on your lips for about five or ten minutes, you can't smell it any more. This lasts a couple of hours without touchups, but less if you're eating or doing a lot of talking. One thing that I don't like is as it wears off, it gets a little "grainy"...at least, it does on my lips. I can usually nibble at it until it goes away, or just wipe it off and reapply. I think it gets "grainy" if you apply too many coats. I wouldn't say it is overly tacky, but perhaps a tiny bit...it's got more of a smoove texture. Even as it wears off, the color does stay somewhat and while the shine gets less noticable it is still there. And the price is right...around four bucks at Wally World. I am a very pale cool-toned PPP (pink/blue undertones), with reddish-brown hair that is white in streaks, and my lips are very full and somewhat pigmented to begin with.

For me, this isn't an "every day" lip staple, but I do wear it when I want to look nice yet not overly made-up. Snog adds a nice burst of color to my lips...not rose, not red, not fuschia, not pink, not wine, but a sort of shimmery, shiny, mauvey color that isn't too far from my regular lip color. It's sort of the color lips might get after a good, long, passionate snog (which is probably where it got its name). You know, where all the blood rushes to your lips and they get that just-been-kissed-to-within-an-inch-of-your-life look...like the kiss Rhett Butler gave to Scarlett as he carried her up the stairs in "Gone With The Wind". Yeah. THAT kind of kiss. MMMMM-hmm.......

.......where was I?

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Mascara -Cover Girl - Professional Waterproof Mascara

innamorata 4/1/2005 3:10:00 AM

I picked this up on a mascara crawl one day...I'm looking for a replacement for my discontinued Lashfinity (stupid Max Factor bastages). I remember using this a long, long time ago, so I bought it again thinking that I'd just use it once or twice and it'd end up in the back of my makeup drawer.
Surprisingly enough, this has been the one mascara I've reached for time and time again, as the other mascaras let me down. I bought Brown Black, and it is a nice dark color on me without looking too harsh. It has a straight brush (thank God...I hate curved brushes with a passion) that is neither too big nor too small. It comes in a nice blue tube, with a cap that clicks when you open and close it. The mascara itself goes on evenly, but it CAN clump if you try to apply too much at once. A couple of light coats looks fine, but any more than that and it starts looking funky. This doesn't lengthen, thicken, curl, stretch, seperate, or make your lashes its bitch...it just coats your lashes with mascara so that they can be seen. Since I have naturally long lashes anyway, that stick pretty much straight out, I'm satisfied with the look this gives me.
Plus, this stuff lasts all day, even through humidity, errands, and tears. Maybe a little flakes off, but not a tremendous amount, and it doesn't tint my undereye area black like some mascaras can. I remove this at night with Burt's Bees Apricot Baby Oil, and then go over my entire face (including eye area) with Burt's Tomato Soap. I've never had a problem removing this or losing lashes during removal using that system. I've had this about a month, and I'm noticing that it is starting to get a bit thick and "aged"...but since I paid less than four bucks for this, I don't mind buying another one if I need to. Surprisingly enough, I'm pretty happy with this...maybe this isn't HG material, but who knows...maybe it is.
9/12/07: Okay, so here it is all this time later, and I'm still coming back to this (not the same tube, of course). It lasts all day, even through heat and tears, it's cheap, and it is easily found at just about any store. I still wander off every once in a while to other mascaras, just because I like to try new things, and if I want huge dramatic lashes I have to find something else, but this is a good stand-by mascara that doesn't let me down as long as I don't let the tube age too much. About a month is good, then it's time to splurge on a new one. And it's still under four bucks.

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Lip Gloss -Bon Bons - flavored lip juicer- -all flavors

innamorata 4/1/2005 2:49:00 AM

This is Bon Bon's entry into the "Juicy" lip look that seems to be so popular right now. This comes in several different flavors...I have Cherry, which is a sheer, true red, and Grape, which is a sheer purple.

These smell nice, kind of like grape and cherry Kool-Aid, but I really can't detect much of a taste once they are applied...the Cherry does have a slight taste immediately after application, but it lasts about all of thirty seconds, and the Grape doesn't have any taste at all that I can detect. The little plastic squeeze tube is about three inches long and about ¾ inches wide, just the right size for a pocket or tiny little purse. The applicator is a slanted tip, which I LOVE...instead of those dang fool rounded tips that some juicers have.

This gives a juicy, very wet look once applied, with a sheer wash of color. I wore the Cherry one day, and got a look in the rear-view mirror in direct sunlight...wow, my lips looked gaw-juss! Luscious and juicy and yummy! But, they only looked that way for about fifteen minutes...after which, this started to fade off and feel grainy. I wiped it off and reapplied...and again, about fifteen to thirty minutes later, this had faded signifigantly and felt grainy (I don't know where the grainy feel came from, but there it was). I love the look, and the portability is great, and they ARE only 88 cents...but I can't be reapplying every half-hour. I guess younger girls and teenagers, who don't mind doing touchups constantly, would really like this...I know I am giving my two tubes to my ten-year-old daughter (who already has an Orange tube).

UPDATE 4/3/05: I went ahead and bought this in Vanilla, which is really the last of the flavors I wanted to try. It has a nice sort of milky-glittery look once applied, and it smells nice, although I still can't detect a taste. However, the problem still is that this wears off after about fifteen minutes of breathing. All these tubes are going to my daughter...she should have fun playing with them.

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Mascara -Cover Girl - Remarkable Washable Waterproof Mascara

innamorata 4/1/2005 2:35:00 AM

I used to wear this back in high school...I remember that I bought it because I didn't want to mess with using a seperate makeup remover for my mascara. Gawd, was I lazy or what? I bought this out of pure nostalgia, and because I'm looking for something to replace my now discontinued Lashfinity (stupid Max Factor bastages).

Well...this ain't it. I don't know why I stuck with this in high school for so long, other than the ease in washing it off. It was rather clumpy and thick to apply...gave me some rather unattractive unilashes. It was smudgy and flaky during the day, with just normal wear. And it wasn't "waterproof" at all...it ran at the first hint of water coming near it. Not all of it came off, but enough came off that it made ugly black streaks under my eyes and my lashes clumped together even more. But, it did wash off with just my usual Burt's face soap. I'd say this is a nice mascara for someone who doesn't want to take a lot of time in makeup removal, or perhaps for a teenager or active adult who doesn't have a lot of time to wash and fix their face during the course of a day. But it just doesn't last, for me.

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Liquid -Almay - Skin Stays Clean [DISCONTINUED]

innamorata 3/24/2005 2:15:00 AM

I have been eyeing this foundation for what seems like forever, but I was put off by the almost ten-dollar price tag and by the fact that I thought this might be just another "plain" foundation. But when I saw it on sale at Kroger for five bucks, I figured, why not?

First, I don't notice the menthol in this at all, not even in the scent. But...Kroger always has their makeup so overpriced, that it would not surprise me if this hasn't been sitting on the shelf for the past three years and all the menthol in it has dried up. I opened a bottle at Wal-Mart and not only was the product inside "seperated", but it smelled strongly of menthol. The one I have just smells like foundation. Anyway...I bought Pale, and it matches my skin well (PPP, cool). It applied smoothly, just using my fingers for application. I don't mind the wide-mouthed bottle...makes it easy to reach the foundation inside. This is a bit runnier than I expected, but it still goes on evenly. I was surprised...it dried to a nice matte finish that looked well once I set it with some powder. One thing I did notice...once this has dried on your face, you can't mess with it. Don't try applying more, or it will get goopy.

This didn't irritate my skin or make me break out...but it didn't do anything as far as staying matte went. After a couple of hours, my nose and forehead were shiny, and my nose had that "perforated" look where some had settled into the pores but wore off the skin. By this point, this just felt heavy and greasy, and I could not wait to wash it off. It didn't feel like it should be named "Skin Stays Clean"....maybe "Skin Gets Yucky" would be more appropriate. It just didn't work for me, and I'm going to get my five bucks back.

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Foundations -Maybelline - 3 in 1 express makeup antishine

innamorata 3/23/2005 5:34:00 PM

Bad, bad foundation. I bought this because I thought the stick application would be quick and easy. It is, but that just means I get to the shiny face part of my day that much faster and didn't waste extra steps doing it. Ivory matched well, but that doesn't make up for the fact that this makes my face into an oil slick after an hour or two, even with powder. Glad I saved my receipt with this one.

What else is there to say? Don't waste your money.

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Tinted Moisturizer -Burt's Bees - Burt's Tinted Facial Moisturizer [DISCONTINUED]

innamorata 3/23/2005 5:07:00 PM

Okay, I know you all were waiting to see if there was a Burt's product I didn't care for, and your wait is over. This is it. I'd received a sample of this years ago, and at the time I thought it worked well for me....but, I just wore it once or twice. I swapped for it again, just to see if it would work for me now that I'm "older".

The shade Light was a good match for me...not pinky at all, just a neutral light ivory. I was surprised that this came in a metal tube...it made it rather difficult to squeeze out with any degree of accuracy. Hopefully, they'll start using the recycled plastic tubes in all their squeezable products, like they've started to with products such as the Orange Essence Facial Cleanser. I was also surprised that this seemed to not be mixed...you squeeze it, and the "color" part comes out, and then there is this watery/oily stuff that comes out too. I tried mixing it in my palm before applying, but that didn't work at all...I just had to apply it to my face and blend extremely well. It did eventually mix together on my face.

Burt suggests setting this with powder, and yeah...you DEFINITELY need to powder this down in a big way. This feels more like a regular foundation than a TM, to me. I thought, even though I have oily skin, that I could make this work with a liberal application of powder. I also reasoned that since my skin IS so oily, that I wouldn't be causing extra creation of oil (like sometimes happens with oil-control products) and my skin would be soft and smooth. Wrong...this soaked into my skin and really made it incredibly oily. Even powdering it down and blotting regularly during the day didn't help.

But the worst part is that it actually MADE zits, instead of keeping my face clear. Even washing with the Burt's products didn't help...this just took refuge in my pores and stayed there. IF Burt would make an oil-free foundation, maybe with clay and chalk to help absorb oil, I would consider buying that...but this just was not for me. I gave it to a friend of mine who has drier skin, and she likes it fine.

One nice thing...I think this smells good.

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Powder -L'Oreal - AirWear Powder Foundation

innamorata 3/23/2005 4:11:00 PM

I wanted to like this. I really, really, really wanted to like this. I'd looked at it forever, but put off buying it because it was twelve dollars, for cryin' out loud...however, one day, I just lost my head and made a total impulse purchase. I'll just say this...I'm glad I kept my receipt.

I don't know about the display in your store, but in mine the colors jumped from the lightest, Ivory, to some really dark shades of beige which I didn't think would work for me. Ivory turned out to be a good match, although very pinky...I happen to like pinky-toned foundations (PPP, blue/pink undertones), but if you are warm then it might not match for you.

When I first applied this, I was surprised...I looked so pale! It gave me a nice, light, matte coverage, and it hid the pores on my nose nicely, but still...I looked like a pink ghost! After about ten minutes, it "settled" and looked quite natural....however, that became part of the problem. It "settled", and kept settling, right into my skin and disappeared. After a few hours you couldn't even tell I had anything on, and my skin was very shiny. Well, I reasoned, this IS a wet/dry foundation, so I'll just apply it wet. Same thing...it went on kind of chalky, settled down into a natural-looking finish after a few minutes (with an application of powder atop), and then disappeared after a few hours, leaving my face naked and shiny.

This does have a couple of things going for it....it smells nice, it didn't break me out, and Ivory is a good match. I love the gold compact that it comes in...I don't mind the size and the full-sized mirror inside is fabulous! The sponge is sturdy and the plastic flap over the powder is a great idea. But, all those things can't cover up the fact that this, for me, just does not work. And twelve bucks, for drugstore foundation that disappears? Oh yeah, so going back to the store.

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