Concealers -Bobbi Brown - Corrector
pulsesync 12/10/2011 7:27:00 PM
UGH WHAT A BATTLE WITH MY CHANGING OPINIONS 12/22/12: It does last for a long time, nevermind. But I do suggest trying to mix them. Another updated review 4/28/12: Same opinion as last time but this really doesn't last that long. You'll end up buying 3 or 4 a year if you have really dark circles. I think I'm going to try Inglot's or just make my own by mixing orange and pink lipstick into concealer. Updated review 3/21/12: I changed my mind! Actually, Bisque is the most natural shade on me. Now that I have Light to Medium Bisque, Bisque, and Peach, I can see that Light to Medium Bisque is a brightening sort of shade for me. I am trying to use it up and I used up a lot of it during the wintertime-springtime so far. It's not weird, but Bisque is more natural and blends into my true skintone. I use that on minimal makeup days. Peach looks good too, though it is really much better with a tan. I guess that the Bisque shades are for pale-lightish-medium tones, and the Peach shades are for light-medium-deeper tones. I go between NC25 and NC30 so that is why I guess I can choose either the peachy ones or pinky ones. You'll see that Benefit Erase paste only has the Bisque type of shades, and for good reason -- they are more foolproof. However, I still really encourage trying out a peach tone especially if you're dark. Original Review: I am NC30 and I have the Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque and Peach. Light to Medium Bisque seems like a pinky toned concealer-corrector or a pinkish nude lipstick, very much like the color of Revlon Colorburst lipstick in Soft Nude (see my review for that). Peach is an orange toned corrector. I had Light to Medium Bisque for a month for my undereyes but it just wasn't working well enough. It kept looking like I always had a slightly bright ring around my eyes. Peach is really what I needed for my undereye circles. Don't let the SA convince you that Bisque or its related shades is what you need for very dark undereye circles, just firmly ask for Peach. I have the Amazing Cosmetics concealer (forgot the name) and it's the same shade as Light To Medium Bisque and it performs the same way -- creamy, stays put, but I look kind of like I have a slightly bright ring around my eyes. This ring isn't scary nor does it make me look garish, it's just not as natural as the Peach colored corrector.. I also have the Benefit Erase Paste in Medium No.2 and while I like its slightly stronger coverage than BB Corrector, it slights around or fades throughout the day no matter if I use or don't use moisturizer or primer or foundation. I prefer the BB Peach Corrector above all of them, and though it's expensive, it lasts a long time.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Jordana - Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara
pulsesync 11/30/2011 8:58:00 PM
A preface - I'm not outrageously picky with my mascaras as long as I can eventually get to the near-eyebrow length and curl, which this helps with. If you're looking to wow people with your lashes, you'll probably have to test each and every mascara out there or wear falsies all the time. I only wear falsies for special occasions though. First thing I noticed - the brush is very similar to L'Oreal Voluminous, which also means it's very similar to YSL Faux Cils. My lashes are best with short-medium length bristled brushes no matter the barrel size. This can get a little clumpy, but I think it's less clumpy than Voluminous. It's not a super wet formula, which I like. It doesn't get on my lids when I apply it and it's buildable if you work fast. It's really a steal for $2.99 because it's just as good as other drugstore mascaras. It's actually really good for curl which I wasn't expecting. However its main strength was volume. I like the simple shape of the packaging because it's easy to carry and it doesn't take up unnecessary space, but in a dark bag you might think you've lost it or you might mistake it for a liquid liner. At least with brighter packaged mascaras I could easily spot them amongst my things. Overall 4/5.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Seche Vite - Rebuild
pulsesync 11/23/2011 11:24:00 PM
I have been a nail-biter for life. When I finally tried to quit the habit, even when my nails grew out, 3 would break at a time within 2 months, most often the ring and pinky fingernails of either hand. My index fingernail and thumbnail almost never broke but I couldn't find a solution to keep any of them from breaking or peeling. It would also take me at least a month to grow 1 or 2 mm of my nails. Enter Seche Rebuild, perhaps the 4th nail strengthening polish I've tried. All other ones were from Sally Hansen -- and I don't like any of them except the one that comes in a lavender bottle but it's still not worth the money. Anyway, I use one coat of Seche Rebuild as a base coat on my thumb, index, and middle fingernails and two coats on my ring and pinky fingernails. This is amazing! I used to have to ALWAYS wear nail polish if I wanted my nails to keep from breaking within a few hours. Nowadays if I'm in between days of doing my nails, nothing will happen to them. I can have them bare for days to "breathe" or to keep from staining from all the other colored polish. I'm really happy with the results and my nails feel really strong. Of course, not acrylic fake nails strong, but I can stand to open a soda can top these days instead of being afraid I'll definitely break a nail and have to grow it out for 2 months AGAIN.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -L'Oreal - Wear Infinite - Lush Raven
pulsesync 11/20/2011 3:56:00 PM
Soft black color. This used to be my go to black eyeshadow, but I bought a NYX Black eyeshadow that I realized was MUCH darker. So if you're looking for a rich black eyeshadow, try a different product. Best use for Lush Raven - filling in your brows if you have black or near black hair. I have near-black dark brown hair that I dye black maybe 3 times a year. The color my hair fades into is soft black and I cannot find a brown eyebrow filling color that looks natural, so this is absolutely perfect for them! I use an angled liner brush to apply this to my brows. This look natural on me, does not look harsh at all, no matter what the rules are about 'never use black to fill in your brows, just shades of brown'. Rules were made for breaking :)
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Cleansers -Neutrogena - Oil-Free Acne Wash
pulsesync 11/20/2011 3:25:00 PM
I don't even know how I managed to use a whole bottle of this. I used to think I had sensitive combination skin and I'd use this in hopes of clearing my acne (because of the salycilic acid) along with a benzoyl peroxide spot cream. I would use this in the morning and the nighttime. Oh my god. It would dry out my skin so bad and remove all of the GOOD natural oils I have, and irritate my skin (especially on my cheeks) enough to cause new pimples and redness. I'd always have a couple red bumps, sometimes a cystic pimple, on my cheeks as though they were freckles. I realized that even though it cleared up some pimples, it CAUSED those pimples in the first place. No wonder I had new pimples coming up all the time no matter what. I had thought this kept my skin at bay when it was really just irritating it for over a year. Ugh. I am so glad my skin cleared up immensely when I stopped using it but I wish I had stopped sooner to avoid embarrassment and frustration.
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Mascara -Maybelline - Volum' Express The Falsies
pulsesync 11/17/2011 11:29:00 PM
I didn't know how good this was the first time I tried it because it was one of my first mascaras, and I didn't know what to compare it to. Originally I thought it was very clumpy -- but I was applying way too much and in the wrong way. I left it alone for a month and decided to use it again. When it dries out a little, it becomes so much easier to use and produces much fewer clumps. I kept using it, and eventually it just dried out so much I couldn't use it without flaking. I tried out 10 other mascaras, even expensive Lancome's Hypnose and Definicils and Dior's DiorShow. I repurchased the Falsies, used it properly, and it was sooo similar to Hypnose that Hypnose did not justify its high price anymore. However I still think the Falsies is best when it's given some time to dry out a little. Tips on application: Don't do that wiggling thing more than once or twice. That = clump city. Try blinking "on" the wand. Place the wand's shorter bristle side towards your lashes, and blink on it. Rotate the wand quickly between your fingers so the longer bristles coat all the lash hairs. Definitely don't do more than three coats ever. Also when the formula dries a bit and becomes more manageable, wait until your last coat dries, and lightly touch and lightly sweep the wand on the tips of your lashes for extra length. EDIT 4/19/13 - I have to add that I love/hate this mascara overall. It gaves amazing, yowza, holy moly, etc volume with some work... but it can really take A LOT more work than I have time for, especially when it gets to 2.5 months opened (with 4-5x/wk use). I also think the waterproof version of this contributed to my lashes falling out more than usual.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -E.L.F. - All Over Cover Stick
pulsesync 11/17/2011 11:12:00 PM
Okay. I could only find the shade Apricot Beige being sold, I thought perhaps I'd try it. It's WAY too light for my skintone. However, that's not a problem for me because I made it work. I used it as an eyeshadow base/primer. I did a swatch test on Wet N Wild's purple crease shade in Dancing In The Clouds. It's just an eyeshadow that normally doesn't get much color payoff. One swatch was eyeshadow over the E.L.F. cover stick. I rubbed it. While just the eyeshadow rubbed off and blended out into my skin, the E.L.F. + eyeshadow stayed on after multiple attempts! It really reminds me of MAC Paint Pots :D I don't know what shade Apricot Beige would be but it's a warm, fair opaque color.
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Lipstick -Revlon - ColorBurst in 070 Soft Nude [DISCONTINUED]
pulsesync 11/14/2011 12:09:00 AM
Alright, I really love this lipstick for its use as a lipstick but did you know it works decently as an undereye concealer/corrector? I couldn't find my normal correctors for some reason (benefit erase paste or bobbi brown corrector) and I happened to also put on soft nude. It looked really similar to my bobbi brown corrector (because mine's a shade too light, but it still looks normal and matches well enough). Lo and behold it was actually good to use in a pinch as a corrector. Its creme finish has a "brightening" effect and the slight stickiness of it made my yellow undereye concealer stick to it :D It's not perfect but if you absolutely need a corrector quick and you want to use 1 product for 2 things, it's fine :)
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Wet 'n' Wild - Color Icon Single - #255B Penny [DISCONTINUED]
pulsesync 11/12/2011 10:39:00 PM
I really wished this shadow would look wonderful on me, but all it did was made my eyes look irritated. Other than the color looking horrendous on me in any way I ever put it on, the texture is buttery smooth (which is a trend amongst Wet N Wild's eyeshadows nowadays) and it blends very well. Not too upset about this because it was so cheap. The one thing that I do use it for is to very very lightly dust it over a matte pink blush to make it more interesting. With this method, I'll probably never ever have to repurchase so no for repurchasing.
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Eye Makeup Remover -Neutrogena - Oil Free eye makeup remover
pulsesync 11/7/2011 11:49:00 PM
I'm iffy on this. I give it an overall 4/5 because it takes makeup off averagely well, but I'm annoyed by the packaging. I hate screw off cap tops anyway. This doesn't sting my eyes, but if I use too much it becomes unpleasant to open my eyes, and I have to rinse off with a lot of water, which is what actually finishes the job in removing my makeup. I think using regular ol' olive oil on a cotton pad/ball wins for me in makeup removal (then cleansing and rinsing with water). I don't know if I'd repurchase, solely because it performs a little worse than cheap oils, and costs much more per oz.
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Mascara -Revlon - Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara
pulsesync 11/7/2011 11:40:00 PM
I've realized a couple major differences between this and DiorShow (since this is a supposed dupe for Diorshow) - while Diorshow lengthens, volumizes, and separates my lashes all at once, Revlon GrowLuscious barely lengthens my lashes, and mostly seems to clump them while coloring them a rich black. That's the one positive -- the very black color is great for me since I have nearly black hair. The brush's bristles are much farther spaced apart than DiorShow's and they're in a spiral pattern which I have noticed is an absolute no-no for my my lashes. Think original Maybelline Great Lash: those evil wide spaced, spiral bristles. I'm not saying this is as bad as Great Lash, it's just that for me, it wasn't much better than GL. Also, when I first used it, the formula was very dry and I was surprised that it seemed that this unopened mascara tube had the texture of a 6 month old tube. Later on though, the dry texture went away and it became more wet/normal ... weird..
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair -L'Oreal - Elnett Hairspray
pulsesync 10/16/2011 11:47:00 PM
Honestly you guys complain too much. The smell isn't that bad. Spray it in a different room or a different part of the same room, then go to the other room/other part. I live in NYC where it is rarely below 30% humidity (it jumps all over the place between 50-90%), and I have medium textured very curly hair. This keeps it straight between 3 and 7 hours after I flatiron it (depending on the humidity). Then I just touch it up the next day or wash my hair or whatever.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Revlon - va va violet
pulsesync 10/16/2011 2:55:00 PM
This is very sheer despite being dark in the tube. On its own it's poop -- goes on blotchy, hard to layer, and "travels" to the outside of your lips so the middle looks like you didn't apply it there at all, and you have a purple Chola ring around your lips. You have to layer it over a nude or clear gloss, or a nude lipstick. Suddenly it's the shade it's supposed to be. What I find it useful for is for dotting it one or two times on my lips, darkening an already applied lipstick that I realize is too light for me. At the same time though, darkening a lipstick with purple doesn't always look good on me. It might look good on others with cooler tones.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -NARS - Orgasm
pulsesync 10/2/2011 11:29:00 PM
I don't own this polish but if you really want it and don't want to pay a high price, there is an extremely similar one made by forever 21's beauty brand, love & beauty, called "Blush" on my bottle but on the site it is called "Lush Blush." I can't compare them side by side but Blush seems like it would be ever so slightly lighter with a similar gold sheen/shimmer. Also takes about 2-3 coats for full opacity.
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