Treatments -Frederic Fekkai - Golden Shimmer Gelee Mist
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 10:23:00 AM
Love the concept of this product and I hoped that this purchase would save me from having to spend significantly more for the Guerlain Eclat Imperial Sublime Radiant Powder. However, Fekkai's Golden Shimmer Gelee Mist was a FAIL for me. I have mousy brown hair that needs all the help it can get. This mist just made me look like I have golden sparkly dandruff. The particles are a bit big. I tried it a few different ways. I tried light sprays and then I even tried saturating my hair with the product. It was very inefficient and not noticable enough even when I had saturated my hair. I did prefer using it only below the ear as higher up produced too much of a dandruffy effect. The mist's golden sparkle brushes out very easily, too, so you cannot style/restyle after using the mist. As a plus, it does look OK as a body spray. It adheres better to skin than to hair. Guerlain's Sublime Radiant Powder is much more expensive and is only available in October/November every year. However, it is a truly remarkable product and it produces a fine mist that is drier than the Fekkai mist. The Guerlain particles are dusty and smaller and more concentrated. The Guerlain product works on my hair and looks more attractive on my skin. Check it out if you dare to splurge.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Phyto - Phytojoba - Intense Hydrating Mask
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 10:07:00 AM
This is one product that I would never have considered had I not received a deluxe sample of it from Neiman Marcus. I love the Neiman Marcus samples, they seem to end up being things that I love. This is a rich treatment. The tub is pricey but it lasts me forever as I only use this treatment about every ten days. I only wash my hair every two or three days. I rotate my treatments each time I shampoo - - Fekkai Salon Glaze one time, Phytojoba Mask one time, and Fekkai Color Care Technician Mask one time, then the cycle starts all over again. My hair is soft and luxurious when I use this Phytojoba mask. I'd like to try other things from the line sometime too.
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Treatments -Frederic Fekkai - Salon Glaze
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 10:01:00 AM
I love this Salon Glaze! I use it about once a week to every ten days. I can't use it more than that because frequent use causes my hair to not be able to hold a curl. This is a cream that comes in a squeeze bottle. I apply it as a treatment after shampooing and conditioning. Then, I rinse it out. My hair is mousy brown and lifeless without Salon Glaze. WIth the Glaze, there is an attractive sheen. If your hair is already shiny, you don't need this product. Do not use it every time you wash your hair. Overusage of silicone products will make your hair crispy. I use other Fekkai products successfully, too. I am very happy with the brand. I strip my hair before I go in for coloring services. I worry that a build up of this and my other products will interfere with color adhesion. To strip, I use Redken Cleansing Cream followed by the Fekkai Protein RX Treatment Mask. I've had nothing but success with the product using it in this way.
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Shampoo -Redken - Hair Cleansing Cream
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 9:55:00 AM
I use this product once every five weeks, the night before I go for salon coloring services. It strips my hair of all my build up and makes my hair more receptive to coloring. My stylist noticed a difference when I first started doing this even without telling her I had done something new. Now, she tells all her clients to use it the night before coloring. After I use the cleansing cream, I use the Fekkai Protein RX Treatment Mask. It is lovely. Highly recommend.
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Treatments -Frederic Fekkai - Protein RX Anti-Breakage Treatment Mask
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 9:51:00 AM
I use this product once every five weeks, so the tub seems to last me forever. What I do: the night before I get my hair colored at the salon, I strip my hair with Redken Clarifying Creme Shampoo. Then, I do this treatment mask. My hair is more responsive to coloring when I do this. My stylist notices the difference. I also recommend the Fekkai Technician Shampoo and Conditioner for color treated hair, Phyto's Phytojoba Mask, Fekkai Salon Glaze, and Fekkai Technician Color Care Mask. I also use the Fekkai hair spray and the Kenra glossing mist.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Frederic Fekkai - Technician Color Care Mask 
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 9:45:00 AM
My hair has gone from boring to impressively shiny thanks to Frederic Fekkai products. I have used higher end products for years, but Fekkai works great for me. I go to the salon for coloring services every 5 weeks, just like clockwork. The health of my hair has improved so much that my stylist has noted that my hair texture has changed favorably and coloring results are better. This is my current routine: I use Fekkai Technician Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner as my basic hair products, washing every two or three days. Each time I wash, I rotate one of these products in as a perk: Fekkai Technician Color Care Mask, Fekkai Salon Glaze, Phyto Phytojoba Mask. The night before I go for coloring at the salon, I strip my hair with Redken Hair Cleansing Cream Shampoo and do a Fekkai Protein RX Reparative Treatment Mask. This tub lasts me almost a year with this routine. I highly recommend it.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Pigment in Vanilla
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 2:26:00 AM
First off, I doubt I will need more of this product any time in the next decade even though I use it 5 days a week as an inner corner highlighter. I love a touch of this on the inner corners and it helps me look alive - - yeah - - it is a risk- - some days I just don't look alive enough! I hate the container. I have already spilled pigments more than once. I am thinking about putting a small amount in a little container for daily use so I won't risk spilling the whole vial. The things I have to do to counteract clumsiness! Buy one and split it with a friend. There is plenty for both of you in here.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Naked Lunch
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 2:21:00 AM
This is a great nude lid color for me at NC-25ish. Love it. Kitten has better texture and is not the same payoff on me. Kitten is more shimmery and highlights better, but it also shows lines on my wrinkly 45 year old lids more. Naked Lunch is flatter, has less payoff, is darker and is more flattering to my aging lids. It is less of a highlighter. I like to pair this with Espresso in the crease/outer V.
5 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Primer/ Corrector -Clarins - Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 2:14:00 AM
I am on the hunt for my HG primer. Right now, my fave is Too Faced Primed and Poreless. Primer samples seem abundant right now. I've also tried full sizes of several. Let's see - - there's Chanel's Base Lumiere: Gorgeous product, no break outs, sanitary container, high price. Then there's Prime Time: clear color is a little less pleasant than the fleshy Too Faced product but it is silky and nice. I bought this Clarins product after I saw amazing pictures that showed ice pick scars vanishing with Clarins primer. False advertising. I have had no such experience, and, believe me, I have tried to build up the product in my deep pits. So, it fails on that count. Then, I hate the pot format. I feel like the primers that are in pumps or squeeze containers stay cleaner. I lost the little spatula right away and now have to use my own implement to dig into the little tub. It seems like I need more of the Clarins product to do my face than I do of the Chanel primer, Too Face's Primed and Poreless, and Prime Time. This guy, Clarins primer, is pretty much a Fail for me and it is going to go to the next Cash for Clunkers program.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Stila - Kitten
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 2:00:00 AM
Kitten is fine, but be forewarned that it comes loose in a pan only - -no holder. It does NOT fit into MAC 15 palettes either. You have to buy a separate holder for it. This adds substantially to the price and, in my opinion, makes it overpriced. My kitten pan fit into a sample jar so I can keep it sanitary. I do not want to buy a Stila holder right now and really I am not so impressed with Kitten that I will buy the other Stila's that are interesting. Kitten is useful for a nice wash over the whole lid area. It gives an attractive and long lasting finish, rather neutral. I wear it over Urban Decay Primer Potion.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Woodwinked - veluxe pearl
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 1:54:00 AM
I am not sure about Woodwinked some days, and I love it on other days. Sometimes, it picks up too much orange for my taste. My skin is NC25ish with faded freckles. I feel confident when I wear it, not self conscious at all, but it does not generate compliments for me as much as colors do. I'll continue to play with it. It does last well and I can see why girls with blue eyes love it - - blue and orange work on the color spectrum, - - but my hazelish-green eyes seem to clash with the orange it pulls. The veluxe pearl finish is gorgeous, however. Worth a try as it is a classic. See for yourself if it lives up to its reputation.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - All That Glitters
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 1:49:00 AM
This is a nice, go-to, daily color for me. I am NC25ish with faded freckles and some starts to lid wrinkles. It is not too glitzy for me to wear in the day time. I wear it on the lid with a nice brown, like Espresso, in the crease. Wears all day.
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Eyeliner -Bobbi Brown - Gel Eyeliner
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 1:46:00 AM
Love Gel Eyeliners from Bobbi Brown. I find that many of the colors look roughly the same on me when tightlined, so I am careful to not overindulge in seasonal colors. I use Gel Eyeliners exclusively for tightlining. My favorite color is Espresso. Not too dark, not too light, very rich. I use a push eyeliner brush from Laura Mercier - - it is flat. Then, I pull up my eyelid and push the gel liner into the lash line. It makes a big difference and makes me look awake. A little bit goes a long way. I always carefully clean this product off the brush when I am done so that the brush stays clean, sanitized and unstained. I usually use Smashbox brush cleaner - - I like that it is in a pump spray bottle. A couple of squirts on my white bleachable washcloth provides a handy wet spot to wipe my brushes clean on.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Paint Pot in Painterly
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 1:39:00 AM
I like MAC Painterly Paint Pot. I find that it is different from UDPP though they are often compared. I use them together though I probably could use them separately. First I put on UDPP then I put on Painterly. I always use Urban Decay Primer Potion (UDPP) but I only sometimes use Painterly. Painterly is much better at making my eyelid neutralized. UDPP does not do that. All the unevenness disappears with Painterly. I am not wild about the texture of Painterly- it is kind of tacky. When Painterly is gone (it will take a long time), I'll probably opt for a paint pot that has just a touch more color in it for my NC25ish skin. Painterly does not add any color and I think I could use a little more life on my lids.
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Bronzers -NARS - Laguna
ChristmasMom 10/24/2009 1:34:00 AM
Tried this twice. Both times it made me look dirty. I might be failing to apply it correctly, but bronzers are really hard to match on my skin. I have an NC25ish complexion with faded freckles and acne scars. Bronzers just seem to accentuate my complexion's unevenness. I find illuminators to be much better as an add on to improve my attractiveness. My current favorite is Guerlain Meteorites Illuminating Pressed Powder in Rose Frais.
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