Liquid -Revlon - PhotoReady Makeup
darkeyedfran 6/11/2012 8:20:00 PM
Oh my gosh...I hate to hate on this product...but I have to! For the first few weeks, this was bliss in a bottle. It gives me great coverage, it pumps out perfectly, it has nice staying power, it looks great in real life and in photos, it was seriously quite a find! Then disaster struck...I had an allergic reaction that built up over time and my usually smooth face was covered in little bumps! This was not acne, so i can't say this "broke me out"...but I can say that this did terrible things to my skin and I had to stop using it. I'm sure I can use this for special occasions every once in a while but I cannot use this as my everyday foundation. I have since found a replacement, and my heart just melts for the healing powers of Palladio wet/dry foundation! It's a gem and I will not be going back to the photoready foundation.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Powder -Palladio - Wet/Dry foundation
darkeyedfran 6/11/2012 8:12:00 PM
I bought this on a whim at my Ulta a few days ago and I am very impressed! I was looking for something that could help my skin...I used Revlon's photoready foundation for a few weeks straight and my skin developed a horrible allergic reaction from prolonged exposure. I had ugly little bumps everywhere! They were not pimples, I have no idea what they were...but they were itchy. This has actually helped tremendously in clearing them up and i've only been using this for like 2 days! It's amazing! My boyfriend hates the smell of minerals so I can't use any kind of mineral based face products, this takes the cake for a "good for you" foundation. I actually like this stuff better than Photoready, it makes my skin look even more flawless AND it stays put longer! Our car broke down on the side of the road and we were in 100+ texas heat for several hours. I was sweaty and I was expecting to look like a wreck...my skin looked amazing! I decided to give this the true test today and wore it to work out...I was super sweaty and again I was expecting a melty face...but...my face looked perfect! I was sad to take my after-workout shower because my face still looked so pretty! This not only makes my face look great all day, my face feels nice to the touch and this doesn't transfer. This is great used either wet or dry, with the sponge, or with a brush. However you apply, it is just dreamy all over. I hate to say anything negative about the photoready foundation...but this is just so much better. I don't even need primer. I have oily skin by the way! EDIT: 6/30/2012: My skin started to adjust to this makeup from wearing it everyday, and I wasn't getting the amazing results I was used to! This works best if you switch up your foundation routine every couple of days so your skin can't adjust to it! Still love this, just thought this would help!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -L'Oreal - Colour Riche Caresse Lipstick
darkeyedfran 5/30/2012 10:45:00 PM
I have these in Sheer Linen, cherry tulle, and rose taffeta and I love them all! They glide on very smooth and have a nice shine for the first half an hour to hour and then they dry down to a nice satiny color that is very comparable to a stain, it seriously feels like there's nothing on your lips but lo and behold the color is still there! The lighter color, sheer linen, does not last as long but rose taffeta and cherry tulle are surprisingly long lasting and look really natural on the lips...I don't know how to explain it but they don't sit on the lips like a regular lipstick. I would not call these a balm, these have about a medium pigmentation and look very polished and professional. These are not ANYTHING like the sorry excuse for a tinted lipbalm that l'oreal released in the winter, these are actually worth the money. These are sort of like the Revlon lip butters but not as hydrating; the slip in the lipbutters does not dry down like these lipsticks. I love these and they are quite luxurious little additions to my collection!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Revlon - Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - Charm
darkeyedfran 5/19/2012 12:51:00 AM
This is a darling nude peach color! Unlike the previous reviewers I had had this on for multiple hours and have not had a color changing problem. I'm not sure why, but I didn't see anything strange with the color after multiple applications. I love these chubby pencils, the glide is smooth, they feel refreshing on the lips, and the stain lasts long! These are everything I want in a stain, I have 6 of these! I'm a bit addicted to them
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Revlon - Just Bitten Kissable Stain Balm- Sweetheart
darkeyedfran 5/19/2012 12:31:00 AM
I love these stains, I am the biggest fan of them...however...this color is not one that I am fond of! This one stains the best, however, I get an uneven stain everytime I use this specific color. This doesn't happen with any of the other stain balms! It bums me out because this is a perfect bright pink. I am keeping it to pair with sweet tart lip butter, but I have a very hard time working with this color.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Revlon - Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain- Cherish
darkeyedfran 5/19/2012 12:28:00 AM
I lOVE this shade! It's a beautiful midtoned blue based pink! This is your everyday, smile brightening pink that is perfect and not too loud. If you have pink lips this might not be for you! Mine are naturally mauvey so this is a great color for me! this leaves your lips a nice pink when the balmy feel wears away and I am simply smitten with the minty smell and refreshing feel on the lips! These are moisturizing enough, they stain so fast that you don't want any slip to them like the tarte lipsurgence or clinique chubby sticks. I highly recommend these, i'm in love and they pair up really nicely with the lip butters
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Revlon - Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - Honey
darkeyedfran 5/19/2012 12:22:00 AM
I have had these for a little over almost two weeks and I LOVE them! This shade is very mauvey and it's a darker MLBB shade. The stain power is great and these have just the right amount of glide and moisture. I love the minty smell and how refreshing they feel on the lips. I've used this multiple times and the tip is still looking great, i've hardly made a dent in any of the 6 that I own! These are wonderful buys, I prefer these to the too-slick lipsurgence pencils.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -TheBalm - Meet Matt(e) Eyeshadow Palette
darkeyedfran 12/16/2011 7:19:00 PM
I love thebalm, their products are very reliable, are safer to use, and are usually on sale somewhere! TJ Maxx and Marshalls have them and thebalm is very generous with their special offers! This palette is portable and perfect! the colors range from standard (brown, highlight, baby pink) to unique egyptian blue and purply-taupe. I have used this palette every day since I received it and I love the blendability of the colors and the pigmentation! You hardly need to tap your brush into these puppies to get great pigmentation. I like to use a stiffer brush with these shadows, especially the dark ones, because Matte shadows do not spread as evenly. The only color I am not crazy about is Matt Chung, this is too close to white for my skintone. I would buy this many times over, it's hard to find good mattes that can also double as cake liners (Matt Ramirez and Matt Batali make excellent liners when used with MAC fix +)! I love you Thebalm!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Tarte - LE - SmolderEyes Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liner Collection
darkeyedfran 11/14/2011 12:51:00 AM
These are amazing! Like all Tarte product that I own (a lot...) this raises the bar or cosmetics! These are so creamy, they glide on eyes like a dream and deliver rich color fast! The liners STAY PUT! The only downside is that they dry so fast and so well that it's hard to blend them so you have to be quick! The colors are fantastic, especially moss, espresso and violet! Smoke is better than I thought it would be as a liner, a little bit on the light side but it's a good alternative to traditional colors! Golden beige works exceptionally well as an inner corner brightener but can be a little bit glittery. Silver black is so great but is too sparkly for work. The sparkly shades are golden beige, silver black, and violet, one thing to note about these is that i you smudge them the sparkles are more intense. Violet has purple micro glitter so it's not as apparent as the silver glitter in the other two shades. I can live with glitter, i'm 22 so it doesn't bother me one bit!
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Lipstick -Revlon - Colorburst Lip Butter
darkeyedfran 11/6/2011 10:24:00 PM
I LOVE THESE SO MUCH! first of all these just don't sit on my lips, they actually moisturize them! My lips were so dry and then ater only one day of wear they feel so much better! I'm pretty much obsessed and need more. These are a combination between the benefit silky finish lipsticks and the tarte lipsurgence products. They are not waxy at all, they just glide on and the color is fabulous! these have much more even color distribution than the lipsurgence and are not gritty like the silky finish lipsticks. I consider these lipsticks and not tinted balms. I cannot describe it! the colors are fabulous! Revlon has always made the most flattering colors (on me at least!) and I eel like these are the same quality as my other revlon products. I own the colors Pink Truffle (a my lips but better color), Candy Apple (a just bitten, sweet red!), and sweet tart (a bright but wearable candy pink!). The lasting power is average for a lipstick and the darker colors kind of stain my lips, these all fade naturally. THE PACKAGING IS GREAT! I love the packaging because I can quickly grab the right shade to throw in my purse for the day, they click in place, glide smoothly, and they look really sleek when open! I love the bright tubes, they don't look cheap at all. All in all this is a fabulous product that I will repurchase time and time again!
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Clairol - Natural Instincts Shine Happy clear shine treatment
darkeyedfran 10/27/2011 12:05:00 AM
THIS LIGHTENED MY HAIR NOTICEABLY! I was so upset because this is not suppoed to be a dye! Now my natural hair color that I LOVE is more of an average brown and it brought out these red undertones that I didn't know that I had. Thanks Shine happy for making me mad.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Palettes -Tarte - Tarte The Starlet Limited-Edition Makeup Vanity
darkeyedfran 10/1/2011 9:41:00 PM
I had to add this palette since no one has put up a review yet! It's so amazing I can hardly stand it! Let's break this into a couple of paragraphs: The packaging, The shadows as a whole, the top palettes, the 2nd drawer, and the 3rd drawer. The packaging: I love how classy and sturdy this baby is! Its lightweight but looks like it weighs a ton. The drawers are good quality plastic and the knobs feel cold so I assume they are real glass. I love that the mirror stands up in this palette (unlike the trueblood palette) and that this can be re-used as a jewelry box when the sad day comes when you use up your makeup. The shadows as a whole: these shadows are each 4oz which is almost a full sized eyeshadow. A full sized Urban Decay shadow is 5oz. The price breakdown is almost 12 dollars per shadow which is around 288 dollars worth of eyeshadow. You can't even buy 24 drugstore eyeshadows for 52 bucks, this is a great deal. I'm a big fan of Tarte eyeshadows, they last on my eyes forever and a half, they are very smooth, they are buildable (but not in a bad way) so you amp up your daytime look for night, and the colors are always very classic and effortlessly pretty. They never release anything garish or trashy looking. I love that! These are all new colors that are broken down into 6 different quads inspired by old hollywood glamour! How can you not love something classy or the holiday season??? Top palettes: Traditional Smoky Eye: Celebrity (deep shimmering gray), Superstar (deep shimmering silver), Luminary (silver frost), Opening night (sparkling black) I love a traditional smokey eye, especially one with shimmer! These colors are pigmented and perfect for that weekend smokey goodness. Opening night is so buttery and it's actually a matte black. This works great to seal in pencil eyeliner and intensify the black! This is insanely black, I just love it! Luminary and superstar are the more shimmery shades in this quad Earthy: Talent (shimmering peach), Idol (matte taupe), Cameo (matte beige), Virtuoso (sparkling forest green) I really love cameo to blend out harsh lines and to use on my browbone and in my inner corners when I don't want anything shimmery . Talent and Idol are both gorgeous shades! Virtuoso is a unique green that has iridescence and glitters. Plum Smokey Eye: Stardom (blackened plum), Icon (warm lilac), Major (shimmering plum), Siren (shimmering deep mauve) I love purples, I have many but Tarte makes such unique ones! Icon is a gem! I loooovvvveeee this! This looks great as a lid color on my medium skin! This might look bland on pale skin, but i'm absolutely in love. This works so well with major for a work appropriate way to do color! Major is not a shimmer shade, it's pretty matte to me! I've been wanting a darker matte purple forever so I was so excited when I found out this wasn't shimmery! Siren is disappointing. The pigment is lacking and it shows up as mainly sparkles :( I looooovvvveeee stardom, it works so well when you want to create a purple smokey eye! Blues: Fame (shimmering cobalt), Big Break (shimmering ice blue), V.I.P. (shimmering blue-silver), Toast (shimmering toasted beige) Oh my goodness, let's not even get into how beautiful VIP is! It's so gorgeous and shimmery!!! It's the perfect metallic blue! Fame is pigmented and so beautiful as well! wonderful wonderful blues that look modern and classy. Thats hard to find! I haven't incorporated big break into any of my looks yet but its a nice baby blue! Toast is a shimmery beige that does not disappoint. This will look lovely on lighter skinned ladies! 2nd drawer: Browns: Popular (shimmering golden beige), Timeless (shimmering cocoa), Prestige (matte ochre), Trophy (shimmering golden brown) I really hate popular, it's chalky, not pigmented, and shows up as shimmers...ew. The other colors in the quad are great, however! I especially love Prestige because it's my exact lid color! this will look wonderful for days where I want my liner to take center stage! Trophy and timeless are beautiful shimmer shades. This look is everyday chic! Pinks: Ingénue (matte baby pink), Prima Donna (shimmering cinnamon), Leading Lady (shimmering nude pink), Diva (shimmering dusty rose) I love these pinks! Ingenue is a great pink for medium skin tones but I think it might look funny on women with light skin and pink undertones. This has a white base so it's very whitish pink but I love it for brightening up my eyes as a lid shade. I put leading lady and diva both into my crease to deepen the pink and then add prima donna to the outer V and sweep it up into the outer part of the crease. Its such a beautiful look! Multipleye primer: This is a great primer to make mascara even more dramatic! I'm saving this for special occasions, however. Lights, camera, lashes! I have made the switch to this mascarsa after I fell in love with it in my trueblood palette! it goes on so fast, does not clump, and literally covers every lash. I can't think of parting with this mascara now! I love it so much and i'm glad I have another travel size! 3rd DRAWER: Park Avenue Princess Bronzer: This bronzer is great! It's a light enough shade to not look horrible on me and the shimmer is minimal once you sweep it on. Amazonian Clay Blush in Glory: I love the shade but this is a very light color on my medium skin. It still shows up but it looks almost too natural, but it's great for a smokey eye! Amazonian Clay Blush in Starlet: perfect perfect rosy blush! I love how pigmented this is and how you just need a tiny bit to liven up your cheeks. Its beautiful! Highlighter in Rose: shut the front door. This is the best highlight i've ever used. I was a big fan of benefit's highbeam but that's since retired since stumbling upon this highlighter! The color works so well for me and it really does look like a natural candle-lit glow. I cannot gush enough about this product. Fabulous Job Tarte! All in all i'm in love, it's wor
6 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Palettes -Tarte - Soft & Smokey 5-piece Color Collection
darkeyedfran 9/8/2011 9:45:00 PM
This is amazing, the price, the quality....everything. Tarte maskes the best cosmetics i've ever worn...MAC, Urban Decay, Stila, none of them are comprable to Tarte's high performance naturals. Their shadows are silky, non creasing and generally lovely. The colors are wearable even in the trueblood palette. I always wear shadows with a primer and I always wear colored shadows with a white base, just thought it was important to note. This kit has the most fabulous shimmery taupe color!!!! It's hard finding good taupes and this one is amazing! the highlight shade goes on so smooth and the shimmery brown and matte brown are devine and look great with my skin. I actually don't look washed out for once. The brush is my favorite! Its so easy to get full life coverage in one sweep and even easier to apply the outer V shade and crease shade with the small end. I've never been able to do my makeup so fast, that is my new favorite brush. Tarte's brushes are my favorite and I love that Maureen gives you the tools you need. The blush....oh my gosh....I am in love! Never has a color been so flattering or a blush last so long! Blush disappears on me after 2 hours and this stayed on the whole day, from 6 to 6. My jaw dropped. I look so gorgeous now that I own this! I'm a big fan of this liner, goes on smooth, fast, and has great staying power! even when I went to humid NC for labor day this did not budge. I'm not a fan of lipgloss but I actually like this one for layering my pink lipstick on top of, it really helps it stay and the color looks great with my skin. i'm a huge LCL fan! This coats every lash and coats them evenly and FAST! With covergirl lashblast I spent 2 minutes on each eye due to clumps! not with this mascara! So happy yo have a full sized one! Thanks Tarte for another killer deal!
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Eyeliner -Maybelline - master drama eyeliner
darkeyedfran 8/9/2011 5:34:00 PM
I was pleasantly surprised by this product! I LOVE matbelline line stylist but I really wanted to get this in coal commander because a grey eyeliner is something that's hard to come across! This is a wonderful color! It has shimmers that are apparent when you swatch it but don't really show up on your lids. Its kind of odd! anyways this product stays on so long!!!!!!! This is just as good as my Line Stylist in terms of staying power (i.e. you really have to scrub this off) but goes on much creamier. I love the way this glides, it reminds me of the Tarte gel eyeliner pencil. This color is so perfect, its not too light which I love but it's clearly not black either. I really really really want this in black! For those of you looking for something to go on your waterline this is NOT A GOOD OPTION! You should only ever use pencils that you can sharpen on your waterline and you should also sharpen that pencil every time you do your waterline. A twist up is not a healthy option unless risking being blind is what you're after. The model isn't even wearing it in her waterline on the posters or the commercial. overall this is a great, creamy, long wearing product if you wear it properly.
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Eyeliner -Maybelline - Line Stylist
darkeyedfran 8/7/2011 4:57:00 PM
I really really love this product and I can't believe i'm just now writing a review. I was on the fence with this because my shimmery shadows would prevent it from going on sometimes but since i've been using it with my tarte shadows I have not had this problem! The line is nice and black and this STAYS put unless you do some scrubbing, which I really dont mind. This also works really well if you want to transform a shadow into a liner, this makes it stick and the shadow will wear as a liner all day! I hate using water or my studio fix to transform shadows to liners so this is absolutely perfect! The pencil is nice and skinny too so its good for tighlining! I want to get this in other colors since i've discovered this works wonders over matte or tarte shadows!
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