Liquid -Make Up For Ever - Face & Body Foundation 
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:54:00 PM
Brilliant stuff. Although my rating is closer to 4.5 lippies, but the darn thing won't let me give half-lippy ratings. :-P
An extremely natural finish. The gel texture is easy to work with, easy to blend and plays nicely with my concealers. The coverage is sheer, but you can build it up to pretty much whatever you want which is brilliant. It's incredibly long-lasting which is great in summer months (my face 'eats' foundations for lunch, but this one seems to last pretty darn well).
The price is great too - almost double the amount you get in my high-end foundations for nowhere near the price.
I'm a Chanel #20, Stila 20-30 watts/C, GA #4-4.5, Becca Nude with neutral-leaning-towards-yellow undertones. I wear #22 Sand in this foundation. When I saw it in the bottle I went, 'No way! That's too dark for me!' but once the MUA applied it, it was a perfect match.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -NARS - Balanced Foundation [DISCONTINUED]
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:50:00 PM
This is a very, very nice foundation. Not perfect (but foundations rarely are), but pretty darn good.
The finish is natural - not matte, not dewy. The consistency of the foundation is thicker than most liquid foundations, but that's hardly something to complain about, really. I'd describe the coverage as being 'medium' but buildable.
Doesn't break me out and looks nice enough on. My face has a tendency to 'eat' foundations during the day though and no matter which primer and powder I use with this, it tends to be gone not long after midday.
For reference, I am a Chanel #20, slightly lighter than a Dior #200, GA #4-4.5, Becca Nude, Stila 20-30 watts/C with neutral-leaning-towards-yellow undertones. I use Fuji in this foundation.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -NARS - Oilfree foundation
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:45:00 PM
I accidentally got sent this instead of the Balanced Foundation, but I thought I'd try it anyway...
It's not a bad foundation. It's just not something that I'd want to proclaim my love for by shouting it from the rooftops. The coverage is medium, perhaps leaning towards full-coverage. The finish is matte, but a satin matte as opposed to a powdery matte. It didn't look entirely natural on me though - not mask-like, but you could probably tell that I'm wearing it if I wore it all over (hence, when I do wear it, I restrict it to my t-zone area only which looks much better).
You have to be extremely quick when you apply this. It dries very, very quickly. Quick blending is the key. This can be a tad annoying as the application can look a little uneven if you don't!
The upside is that it doesn't break me out, the smell is not offensive and it doesn't feel too heavy when you're wearing it.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Styling Products -Modern Organic Products (MOP) - Glisten volumizing spray
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:41:00 PM
I luff this stuff. I have the finest, limpest hair ever. My hairdresser used to always have to pump a heap of volumising product into my hair every time I visit her. I spray just a little of this at my roots and comb it through before I blow-dry my hair/leave it to dry naturally (if I do the latter, I usually do another comb through before it dries completely). People (including my hairdresser) have been commenting on how lovely and full-of-volume my hair is. I've tried the Bumble & Bumble equivalent and whilst it produces much the same results, the scent is more prominent, it only works if you blow dry your hair and it costs more. :-P
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Jurlique - Elderflower Cream
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:36:00 PM
I bought this to use for pigmentation and on the odd dying blemish. God Almighty it smells strange! A bit like pickled onions. I'm not sure if it's actually producing any results in regards to the pigmentation, but I am persisting with it anyway, just in case something happens eventually...
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Jane Iredale - Liquid Minerals
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:33:00 PM
Lovely foundation. The coverage is nice - sheer to medium, but leaning more towards medium. The finish is fabulously natural - probably my favourite thing about it. It's not matte, but it's not dewy either. It just looks to me like how skin should look.
I like to think that all the minerals, etc in the foundation actually helps my skin to improve whilst I'm wearing it and I think that it might, but I'm in the habit of wearing different foundations everyday so it's hard to tell.
I have an oily t-zone which is prone to congestion. In terms of break-outs, there have been none which is always good. In terms of oil control, it seems to do the job well enough for about two hours. However, once my face is oily, the foundation has a habit of just wiping straight off my face. Hence, one lippy off.
It doesn't tend to catch on flakies either, which is a definite plus. It doesn't feel particularly heavy on and I'll admit that seeing the little mineral balls get squished as they get pumped out amuses me. :-P
However, as I already have so many foundations on the go at the moment, I'm unlikely to repurchase it right away, but I would should the day come when I'm running out of foundation!
For reference, I'm a Chanel #20, lighter than a Dior #200, GA #4-4.5, Becca Nude, NARS Fiji, etc with neutral-leaning-towards-yellow undertones and I wear Warm Silk in the Jane Iredale.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Shu Uemura - Pro Spots Concealer
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:26:00 PM
Love, love, love this stuff. The best blemish concealer that I've come across yet. Conceals beautifully without looking unnatural or cakey. Almost completely budgeproof (more often than not lasts longer than my foundation!). Can't even tell that I'm wearing concealer.
I'm a Chanel #20, GA #4-4.5, Becca Nude, Dior #200 (slightly lighter), NARS Fuji, etc and I use 5-YR Medium Light (which looks absolutely nothing like the colour swatch on the Shu Uemura website).
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -NARS - Sin
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:19:00 PM
This is a beautiful, beautiful berry colour with a just a hint of shimmer. Quite possibly my HG blush. I always reach for it when I can't be bothered thinking about which blush I should wear.
In the pan it looks a bit bleh. A slightly muddy pink colour. But when you put it on - ooh la la! It actually looks like my cheeks are naturally that gorgeously pink and rosy. Not like I'm wearing blush at all. Very much like when you naturally blush a bit or if you've been for a brisk walk. That 'just in from the cold' look.
My favourite NARS blush by far.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -NARS - Chihuahua
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:16:00 PM
One of my few HG lip glosses (I'm too afraid to count how many glosses I have, but I have a lot, so this is saying something :-P). This is my foolproof, fall-back-on-when-I-can't-decide-what-colour-to-wear lip gloss.
The scent, I'll admit, is a tad plasticky and unpleasant, but you notice it less and less. The colour is a beautiful, subtle peachy-guava colour. I'd probably class it as a YLBB colour. It's not a thick, sticky texture (a la Juicy Tubes, so your hair is less likely to get stuck to your mouth), but it's not watery/slippery either. Just a nice, smooth, balanced texture. And it lasts beautifully, so I've never had to reapply it too often. As it wears off, it doesn't give you that horrible 'extreme lip dandruff' look either. It wears off evenly, leaving your lips feeling moisturised.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments (Eye) -La Prairie - Cellular Eye Contour Cream
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:11:00 PM
I had been living off a very generous sample of this cream, which I finally finished. It does seem to actually moisturise the eye area, which is nice. Most eye creams just seem to sit on the surface and do very little. However, it does nothing special to justify its hefty price tag, so it's only getting three lippies, as I'm sure I can find something cheaper which does much the same job.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Deodorants -LUSH - Aromarant Deodorant
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:08:00 PM
This does sweet-bugger-all as far as I'm concerned. If you don't sweat much and you want lightly-scented armpits, then this is for you. But then again, if you didn't sweat much, you probably wouldn't be looking at deodorants in the first place! :-P
I know that it's not supposed to impair the natural sweating function and just keep your armpits smelling pleasant...but really, I'd just perfume my underarms if I wanted that. And come to think of it, it really doesn't do that for long either.
One of the very few Lush products that I've ever been disappointed in.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Toners -LUSH - Tea Tree Water
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:05:00 PM
This is a lovely, soothing toner. No alcohol, no stingy ingredients. Lovely for oily-combination skin like me. It has a very light tea tree oil scent (hardly noticeable, really!). I'm not actually convinced that it does anything in particular, but it's a very refreshing follow up to whatever cleanser I happen to be using and I love using it to dampen my face before I put my Clarins Lotus Oil on. It doesn't irritate my skin at all.
I'm probably on my third or fourth bottle of this and I've got two more waiting to be cracked open. Lovely stuff. <3
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -LUSH - Enzymion
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 7:01:00 PM
This is a lovely moisturiser. It actually moisturises (which is a nice change from some of the other brands of moisturiser I've tried). A good start.
However, if you have terribly dry skin, it's probably not for you. (But come to think of it, I don't think that Lush would have recommended it to you in the first place. :-P). Very good for everyday moisturising and I use it as a morning moisturiser (I use Crème de La Mer at night and on exceedingly dry patches. I'd describe my skin as being combination with a rather oily t-zone, prone to the odd blemish and with occasional flakies on my cheeks). It does mattify for a very, very short time but don't expect it to keep the oilies at bay for much longer than half an hour.
It has a pleasantly light fruity smell and the lack of over-chemically ingredients is a big plus. I'm on my third or fourth tub of this - and don't think that I haven't noticed you slowly bumping up the price of this, Lush! *waggles finger disapprovingly*. It's currently AUD$34.95 for a reasonably small tub, but then I find that I don't really need that much to moisturise my entire face.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -La Mer - Creme de la mer moisturizer
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 6:55:00 PM
I had to try this eventually. I had to. Even though the stuff is decadently expensive. (Somewhere around AUD$250 for the 30 mL pot).
It is fabulous. I have oily-combination skin prone to congestion around the t-zone area. I use this mostly on my cheeks, the tip of my nose and on any particularly dry patches. I've noticed that my skin is softer (okay, it was pretty soft to begin with, but it IS softer! :-P), smoother and I have far less flakies and dry patches than I used to.
I use this primarly as a night-time moisturiser because it's simply too heavy for day time usage. Although if I still have a super dry patch on my face, I'll dab the tiniest amount of this on before I apply a foundation to enable smoother application.
I don't have to use much - I know some people go through pots and pots of this stuff like there's no tomorrow because their skin is so dry, but mine isn't quite so bad so I only use the tiniest bit. In fact, even sharing a 60mL tub and with daily usage it took me well over seven months to finish it. (On my second tub now).
But yes, it is ridiculously expensive. As much as I love it, I question whether it was really worth shelling out all that dough for a night-time moisturiser. But it works so well and as long as I can afford it, I'll keep on using it.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Korres - Grape lip care
midgetcoconut 11/7/2006 6:46:00 PM
I bought this in the 'Light' shade from eBay. This is a lovely, lovely lip treatment. I am a self-confessed lip balm addict and this has to be one of the nicest ones I own. Soothes sore, flaky lips beautifully. Not heavily scented and not too emollient.
My only qualm is with the colour. It looks just a tad too 'brown' (actually, it's more of a purpley-pinky-brown) on me upon initial application. Just a tad. It does seem to settle down to become a little less brown, but it's still brown enough it annoy me.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No