Fragrances -Coty - Adidas moves for her
laru 1/29/2005 11:07:00 PM
I bought this for a pretty cheap price, around $8 on sale so I was pleasantly surprised when the scent turned out to be quite nice. It's clean and a bit fruity on me, but not overly so. Smells fresh and 'light', not heavy or thick, and by now you can tell that I'm not very good at describing fragrances. But I really like it and I wear it on my no-fuss days for a clean, light, and fresh scent. I smell a bit of citrus and melon in it with maybe some green notes, not particularly feminine, but not masculine either. It's very unpretentious and is just perfectly natural, like I just stepped out of a shower with a great smelling shampoo and body wash.
I would buy this again if I saw it, but I haven't been able to find it for a while, and I wish it had better staying power since it lasts like...2-3 hours on me, and I really would prefer not to lug the bottle around.
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Cleansers -Shu Uemura - Cleansing Beauty Oil Premium A/O
laru 1/29/2005 6:21:00 AM
I bought a small sample size of this off of Yahoo Auction, so the packaging is pretty terrible (one of those hotel shampoo pour bottle types) but I gave the packaging a 4 cause I know the average size ones are pump bottles, which are great.
It really does do all that, it removes my waterproof mascara plus coat of sealer (all mascaras smudge on me) effortlessly as well as all my shadow and powder. Amazing stuff. It does feel a bit greasy on my face, but after it emulsifies and I rinse it off with warm water, my super dry skin is soothed and comfortable, and I don't even need a moisturizer afterwards :) My skin felt really 'full' if that makes sense, very...supple? Yes, supple's the word. It did bring up a submerged zit, for which I'm grateful because I was waiting forever for it to come up, and once it did, I squeezed it (yes, bad I know) and it was gone. The scent is quite nice, for some reason, when I use it in the shower, the green tea scent is very noticeable, but when I use it over the sink, it smells more like melon. Maybe the shower's hotter water makes it smell different, but I do like the melon side of it more than green tea.
It was quite pricy for the small amount, but I only use it when I'm wearing more make up than usual, and a small amount goes a long way, so I think the price can be tolerated. So yes, when I run out, I will buy this again.
EDIT**With continued use, I think that this is a tad too greasy for me, or maybe I've become oilier. At any rate, I can't really use this alone anymore since I had that 'filmy' feeling that stays on my skin. Nowadays I only use this on my eye area if I'm wearing heavy eyeliner or waterproof mascara. Still does the trick, but just not 'miracle product' status any more, therefore I docked on lippie. I mean, I'm sure that I'll find a remover that's less greasy and cheaper, but I wouldn't mind buying this again either.
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Lip Gloss -MAC - Viva Glam V Lipglass
laru 1/29/2005 6:10:00 AM
My first Lipglass, and I'm pretty much in love with it. Asian FFF-MMM here, yellow toned, sometimes cool and sometimes warm and it looks pretty nice on me, if I say so myself. It covers up uneven pigment in my lips and makes them a gorgeous browny-pink, I only WISH my lips naturally looked like this. It's hyper shiny, which I sometimes don't want, so I blot it lightly with a tissue and it leaves me believably gorgeous color without the dripping shine. I got the lipstick hoping it would be as good, a less sticky and shiny alternative to this with the same color, but sadly it was less pigmented then the gloss, so I'll stick with the gloss, and if you have pigmented lips like me, then I recommend that you stick with the gloss too. It has some shimmer in it, but it's quite pretty and there's not too much shimmer, it's noticeable but not in an obvious way. I enjoy the vanilla-y scent and it's not very moisturizing, but it doesn't dry out my lips either. I believe I would repurchase if I lost it today.
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Treatments -Burt's Bees - Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream
laru 1/29/2005 6:03:00 AM
I have really dry skin so I thought these might help my cuticles and fingertips out in the winter. So I'll start by describing this product from the outside in.
The price was okay, about $6 for a small 0.6oz tin. The tin which, is adorable and I haven't had any problems opening it at all, so maybe they fixed whatever it was that made them unopenable. While the packaging is really cute, I don't like it much cause when I open it to use it, I need to expose all of it to the air and it's probably teeming with bacteria by now, I wish it had more hygenic packaging.
Now onto the good stuff, the insides. Inside it's pale yellow and about the consistency of a waxier lip balm, like chapstick. It's fairly easy to apply to the finger tips, it sinks in quickly and doesn't leave me feeling overly greasy. It's moisture lasts on me for maybe a few hours, and after those few hours are up, it's like I never put anything on my fingers, and I need to reapply. However, if you don't have super dry skin like me, this would probably work wonderfully on you. I LOVE the scent though, it's a sunny, bright lemon scent that I just can't get enough of. If that were bottled as a perfume, I would buy it in a heartbeat. It's lemony fresh without being all cleaning agent like, just the perfect lemon.
Since it's moisturizing properties are merely average, if a bit below for me, I could probably get better results with plain ol' Vaseline for way cheaper. But the scent alone makes it a joy to apply and it's a great pick me up. So maybe if I run out of it, I'll repurchase, for now, I think I will, if only for the awesome scent. (I love citrusy scents by the way)
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Lipstick -MAC - Viva Glam V
laru 1/28/2005 9:11:00 AM
I found that the lipstick was less pigmented than the gloss version and merely deposited shimmer on my pigmented lips and nothing more whereas the gloss actually evened out my lips in terms of color and made them a pretty browny pink. So if you have pigmented lips, I suggest the lipglass over the lipstick
That aside, I love the formula. It's moisturizing on my super dry lips and I don't need to wear a balm underneath (amazing!). It's not matte, but a bit glossy, which I like since half the time I don't like to walk around with hyper shiny lips that things can get stuck in.
So all in all, I love the formula, but the color (or lack thereof) just didn't cut it for me and my dark pink Asian lips. I'd buy MAC lipsticks in the Lustre formula, but just not this color again.
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Concealers -New York Color - Cover Stick in Medium
laru 1/4/2005 8:08:00 AM
My first concealor so it does have a bit of sentimental value :P I got this in Medium because the Light looked well, too light for my MMM/GGG Asian skin. I find that this concealor does cover up zits and the like up decently, but as it's in stick form, it's too dry for under eye circles. The color match could have been better, but it did a fairly good job at camoflouging my occasional zit, but it got a bit cakey/worn off halfway through the day, but then again, I have dry skin. It was dirt cheap, so I don't consider it a great loss, and I probably will use it up even though it still is a tad light for me, but I will not repurchase in the future because I think there must be better alternatives out there.
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Lip Gloss -GAP Beauty - Lipshines - various flavors
laru 12/19/2004 9:45:00 AM
I have this in a Grape flavor and it's a swirled light purple and dark purple design which is quite pretty and I felt bad about swiping my finger across. But onto the gloss. It goes on smooth and clearish looking with some blue-toned shimmer, but if I put on too much, my very pigmented lips take on a bluish tint which isn't that attractive. The scent is a very strong artificial grape scent that isn't too cloying or sweet, but kind of fun in a kiddish way :) It doesn't dry out my chapped lips and it lasts for a decent amount of time. I'll probably use this up eventually, and I may try out these again, but probably in a different color.
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Moisturizers -Cetaphil - Moisturizing Cream
laru 12/19/2004 9:33:00 AM
I LOVE THIS! This is the only cream that I have ever found to keep my parched skin from flaking for an entire day. I have possibly the driest skin in the world, and this at least keeps it decent looking. With this and regular exfoliation, my skin is smooth and soft, unlike the scaly and rough skin before I found this product. Did I mention that I love this and would cry if it was EVER discontinued? Yes, this can be a bit greasy, so I don't know how this will work out for oilier skinned ladies, but if you have dry skin like me, I'm sure you'll love it! Somedays I find this a bit thick and hard to spread, so I mix it with a bit of Pond's Moisture Replenishing Cream to thin it out so it's easier to spread and that works great too.
It's quite cheap considering you're buying 16 oz of it at once, so if you get it at Costco (like I did) it's only $9.99 and less than a dollar per ounce. But they seriously need to do something about the tub, I don't like how the opening is so huge and I need to dip my fingers in there every day so I transferred it to a smaller jar so I don't have to contaminate the big tub every day and hopefully it'll stay 'good' longer.
I'll be buying this for the rest of my life. Literally.
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Moisturizers -Ponds - Replenishing Moisturizer Lotion with Spf 15 [DISCONTINUED]
laru 12/19/2004 9:24:00 AM
I LOVE how this cream doesn't leave any greasy residue on my face and just sinks right in leaving my face really smooth. The thing is, I don't think this is enough for my dry skin, and within an hour, my skin is getting flaky again. Not a pretty look. Although this doesn't really work for me, I'll still give it a 3 because I can see this working out really well on ladies with less dry skin.
As of now, I'm using up my jar by mixing it with Cetaphil cream (as that is a bit too thick) to make a cream that's light and sufficiently moisturizing for me. So I would purchase this lotion again if only to use as a mixing base for my Cetaphil.
EDIT: After switching over to a gentler facial wash, I find that this stuff is perfect for me. As I said before, it leaves absolutely no greasy residue on my skin and moisturizes well enough. I can't believe Pond's discontinued such a gem :(
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Lip Gloss -Wet 'n' Wild - Glassy Gloss- Sugar Glaze
laru 12/17/2004 11:19:00 PM
I picked up this gloss at a whim since it was only $2.99 so I figured I didn't have much to lose. First off, the gloss I got was very very scented, like a sort of artificial cherry medicine sort of scent. It's scented to the point that things I put next to the gloss in my makeup bag are starting to smell like it too, which is not very desirable.
The color is quite pretty, it's a medium-pale cool toned pink with shimmers that works pretty well on my MMM Asian skin. This gloss gives me fairly glossy lips for around 2 hours if I don't eat, but when it starts to wear off, it doesn't wear off evenly and sometimes pigment and shimmers get gunked up in unsightly bunches at the corners of my lips/wrinkles (and I don't even have that many wrinkles in my lips!) I would reach for this gloss more often if I didn't have to worry about checking up on my gloss to make sure it wasn't getting all gunky as it is a very pretty color on me. I should also mention that this gloss is VERY sticky so you shouldn't wear it if you're going to have your hair down and it's windy or if you're planning on having some major lip action with someone.
A slant tip applicator would also be preferable to the round tipped one that this has. Overall, it's an okay gloss that I'll use up and use from time to time, but I wouldn't repurchase as there are just too many glosses out there to stick with one that's forgettable.
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Highlighters -Wet 'n' Wild - Silk Finish Blush in All Over Shimmer - 832D [DISCONTINUED]
laru 12/17/2004 11:05:00 PM
For $3.99, you can't lose THAT much. That said, I love this as a highlighter but I wouldn't dream of using this as a blush as it's just pure shimmer and no color at all (on my MMM/GGG Asian skin). The shimmers are numerous and tiny in size, so it gives me a 'glow' rather than full out sparkles, if you're looking for large glitters, this isn't for you, but I love how it make my skin look luminous and livens it up. The first time I used it though, I picked up way too much with my powder brush (the brush that is included is crap by the way, it sheds like crazy, is too small and the hairs are scratchy) and I ended up with far too much shimmer on my face, I looked like I was one step short of becoming a pixie or fairy. Of course, that's not a bad look, but it was just too much for a school day look. It can be layered for some very, very subtle brightening or piled on for noticeable shimmer, for regular days, I usually sweep a minimal amount on my cheeks, chin, lids, and forehead but for 'special occasions' I put on a bit more for more drama :P The shimmers last all day on my face and don't rub off, I've also tried using this on my body (collarbone, shoulders, neck etc) and it works great as well but I think you need to give it a few moments to 'set' or something because if I don't wait a little while, it can rub onto my clothes. I've used it daily for a month now, and while I admit that I use very little, I can imagine it lasting years for most people unless you're shimmering your entire body every day. The compact is functional I guess but ugly with a small mirror and as I mentioned earlier, the brush is useless. The ugliness is no big deal though since I never need touch ups so I don't need to carry it out, I haven't tried traveling with it yet, so I don't know how well it holds up. All in all, I love this shimmer compact as it makes me look so much more 'alive' when my skin is looking sallow/dull and if I were to suddenly lose it tomorrow (knock on wood) I would cry and beg for a CP since I'm not in the US right now. So yes, I would most definitely purchase it again if I ever ran out.
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Lips -The Body Shop - Sugar & Spice lip balm
laru 12/6/2004 3:12:00 AM
Overall, I give this a 3. The smell is to DIE FOR, I love it. It's absolutely scrumptious and yummy. So good that from time to time, I even open the pot just to take a sniff. It's a warm, sweet, spicy smell...kind of reminds me of a sugary sort of spiced fruit or candy. Very very good smelling. But unfortunately, like the rest of the Body Shop lip 'balms' that I've tried, it does nothing to moisturize my chronically chapped lips. In fact, I think it might even dry them out a bit and make them a bit flakier. I've tried layering a good, moisturizing balm underneath, but that doesn't help at all.
Now if you don't have chapped lips, then this will probably be lovely for you since the texture is smooth, there's a bit of pretty gold shimmer in it (that manages to settle into lip wrinkles and refuse to come out) and if it weren't drying, it would be a fabulous product. I'm not too fond of the pot packaging though as it's quite unsanitary and I don't like dipping my fingers in anything. Even though this balm's moisturizing properties are nil, I still gave it a three for the texture and scent alone, but I wouldn't buy it again as it's a bit more than I pay for my regular balms (that work) and moisturizes less than glosses that don't claim to moisturize.
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Moisturizers -Clean & Clear - morning glow spf 15
laru 11/7/2004 5:22:00 AM
I got this for around $6 so it wasn't expensive, and for the price it's a pretty good moisturizer for it's price. The pump keeps it germ-free, and as far as I've had it, the pump hasn't clogged up yet. It has SPF so that's a plus, there's little shimmer particles in it which make my face nice and glowy without being obvious. The texture is smooth and creamy, the scent is faint and unobtrusive. It leaves my face nicely moisturized, soft, and dewy. I like it for the summer when my dry skin doesn't need as much moisture, but for the winter months I think I'm going to need something more emolliant. But it's good stuff and I would buy it again :D
EDIT: I've docked off a lippie since I've decided that I don't like the shimmer all that much. I want to be able to use a moisturizer all over my face, but I don't want to deposit shimmer all over my face. This was also not moisturizing enough for me in the long run, even in the summer.
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Fragrances -The Body Shop - Satsuma Fragrance Oil
laru 9/24/2004 9:54:00 AM
Okay, so based on the glowing reviews of the shower gel, I checked this out at TBS. When I got there, I sniffed the little tester bottle, put some on my wrist, and all seemed okay. Smelled fruity and sweet, just like the descriptions, so I bought it. For around $17 if you're curious and that's not too bad of a price to pay for 1 oz of fragrance oil. Quite happy with myself, I leave the mall and go home. The next day, I dab a bit on my wrist and it still smells fine, but about an hour later, I smell this putrid, sour, rotting smell and I can't figure out what it is. Until I sniff my wrist. It's gone completely wanko on my skin and I smell nearly as bad as a public toilet. Not the clean type of public toilet, but the type that a million people frequent a day with no janitor. Yes, it is THAT BAD. And it just kept on getting worse throughout the day. Why is it that every scent that goes bad on me lasts forever?
I suppose if it works on your skin, then by all means, buy it. But I for one, am not EVER going to buy this again.
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Mascara -L'Oreal - Voluminous mascara
laru 8/1/2004 10:36:00 PM
Sorry to be a party pooper here, but I really didn't like this. The formula was too wet, it clumped like crazy and just made me look horrible in general. I looked like one of those over made up Clinique ladies! (no offense to very well made up Clinique ladies). My lashes are Asian, therefore thin, short and puny, and Voluminous just emphasized their smallness. When I tried to add multiple layers, it just got really messy and gross. Even after multiple combings, it just didn't get any better. Sorry girls, this is one raved about product that I won't be buying again. It was cheap, I bought it at Target for $4, so it wasn't too big of a waste of money.
EDIT: Alright, alright, I take back all the nasty things that I've said about this mascara. When I first used this, it didn't occur to me that I should wipe off the wand, so I tried that last week (wiping almost all of the mascara off the wand) and then tried it again. This time the results were very nice, long, curled lashes that didn't smudge for a long, long time. So I really like this mascara now, but I wish that the neck opening of the tube could be smaller so that it scraped off more of the mascara inside instead of me having to wipe it off on a tissue (and wasting like 75% of it). I'll use this mascara up since it's nice, but it requires a bit too much trouble for lazy me. I would prefer to just brush on a coat of mascara, comb through and go. But with this I need to try scraping it off on the inside of the tube, blot most of it off on a tissue, brush on, comb through. That's a bit too much trouble for me everyday, so I'll use this occasionally and I'm not sure if I'll buy this again. If I see it for $4 again I will, but any more, then I don't think I will.
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