Eye Shadow -MAC - Woodwinked - veluxe pearl
lil_kismet 3/6/2008 10:20:00 PM
I have been wearing Woodwinked almost non-stop since the day I purchased it. It is a gorgeous warm rusted antique gold shade. Uniquely striking yet understated at the same time. Texture and application are silky smooth and it has great lasting power. Nearly all my other eyeshadows have been neglected since I picked up this little gem.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Nylon
lil_kismet 3/3/2008 12:34:00 AM
I purchased Nylon a couple of weeks ago and have been using it almost daily. It's a frosty whitened out pale gold shade and it gives my eyes a gorgeous glow. This eyeshadow is VERY pigmented so a small amount picked up on your brush goes a long way. I agree with some reviewers that the texture is a bit on the gritty side but it still looks awesome when applied. I love pairing Nylon with Woodwinked and black liner smudged along top and bottom lashlines, NARS Orgasm blush, NARS Laguna bronzer, and NARS Albatross highlighter atop cheekbones/nose bridge/above browbone. This combination has become my favourite look the past 2 weeks! I can't get enough of Nylon e/s. It's become my favourite base/highlight shadow and I fully intend on repurchasing.
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments (Eye) -Alba Botanica - Green Tea Eye Gel
lil_kismet 2/2/2008 2:57:00 AM
This eye gel, in my opinion, is a solid product. It leaves the skin around my eye area very soft, smooth, and supple. Very cooling and soothing upon application so its great for waking up tired/puffy eyes. Fast-absorbing and extremely light in texture. It can be on the runny side and will definitely sting if it gets in your eyes. I don't have any prominent fine lines or wrinkles, so I can't comment on that aspect. Probably not much of a miracle worker, but it serves well as a basic moisturizing eye gel with soothing properties.
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Eye Shadow -NARS - Star Sailor Duo
lil_kismet 1/18/2008 3:13:00 AM
Star Sailor is a very nice neutral duo. The lighter shadow is a yellow-golden tone, and the darker shadow a deep copperish brown with prominent olive undertones. Both very pigmented with shimmer. Application is very smooth and the two shades compliment eachother nicely. Lasting power is good with a primer underneath and the colours go well with brown eyes. When wearing Star Sailor, I like to pair it with NARS Night Porter e/s as liner to give my brown eyes that extra pop. While not the most unique of shades, this duo is very wearable (especially with neutral-warm skintones) and is of excellent quality.
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Makeup Brushes -Paula Dorf - Bronzing Fan
lil_kismet 1/14/2008 2:34:00 AM
I absolutely love this brush. It is PERFECT for applying a sheer/natural wash of bronzer and would probably work just as well for applying very pigmented blushes. It's my favourite brush to use for subtle contouring of the jawline too. The bristles are extremely soft yet substantial. I have seen no splaying of hairs whatsoever. This is an excellent quality brush that performs well and will last a lifetime.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Powder -Merle Norman - Luxiva Purely Mineral Makeup
lil_kismet 1/13/2008 5:05:00 PM
Although I can't say I've tried as many brands of mineral makeup as some previous reviewers, I can say that between Bare Escentuals, Alima, and Merle Norman, I have seen the BEST results with Merle Norman! BE ($31 CAD/9g) felt rather heavy on the skin, didn't have the best lasting power and made my normal-dry skin oilier than usual. I liked Alima ($18.50US + shipping/10g) because it felt significantly lighter on my skin, gave me nice coverage, but lasting power wasn't the greatest, sometimes it made my skin a little bit oily, and I've had a difficult time finding a satisfying match for my skintone. So, once again, I turned to MN ($38 CAD/14g) after discovering they had somewhat recently come out with mineral makeup of their own. I've always loved MN foundation and found it to be the best out there, but eventually decided to jump onto the MMU bandwagon as I liked the idea of wearing makeup made from more natural ingredients, which MN didn't have at the time. Well, now that they have come out with a MMU line, I've found an amazing colour match with L20 for my light asian complexion with olive undertones. It is very finely milled, looks incredibly natural on, provides EXCELLENT coverage, very buildable without looking like its been overdone, has EXCELLENT lasting power, and is truly WEIGHTLESS in feel (even compared to Alima foundation), and doesn't make my skin feel oily after a few hours of wear (unlike all other MMU I have tried). I am left with a LUMINOUS, flawless, airbrushed-looking complexion. The only downfall is that I do find it to be a bit on the expensive side (although you do get a LOT of product). Regardless, now I *know* that my quest for the PERFECT foundation (be it mineral foundation, liquid foundation, tinted moisturizer, powder foundation...) ends here with the Merle Norman cosmetic line.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -MAC - Plushglass - Wildly Lush
lil_kismet 12/10/2007 12:07:00 AM
This is a must-have basic pale peachy nude. This does seem to make my lips slightly plumper, consistency isn't too sticky, and is surprisingly moisturizing. Out of all my lipglosses, this is the one I get the most use out of. I *love* wearing this over Spice lipliner for perfectly nude lips.
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Makeup Brushes -Lise Watier - Brush Cleanser
lil_kismet 12/5/2007 3:25:00 AM
This is an EXCELLENT brush cleanser for use inbetween deep cleanses, and I much prefer Lise Watier over MAC brush cleanser. It cleans and sanitizes your brushes perfectly without stripping moisture from brush hairs (which is a problem I encounter with MAC's.. I find that MAC brush cleanser tends to be very drying on my brushes -- SO drying to the point that it makes brush hairs brittle at times). Lise Watier's brush cleanser leaves my brushes silky-soft, lush, residue-free, and CLEAN with a light vanilla scent. It's also exceptionally fast-drying. While you do get more bang for your buck with MAC brush cleanser, the quality of Lise Watier brush cleanser speaks volumes for just a few dollars more.
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Palettes -Stila - Fall Fantasy 2007 in Madagascar agate
lil_kismet 10/29/2007 5:50:00 AM
I am quite impressed with this pallette, and although the colours aren't totally unique, it happens to be my favourite of the 3. The base/highlight shade is a very pretty champagne with a pale hint of peachy-pink with a bit of a frosty finish. The lid tone is a peachy-copper with a rather shimmery finish. The crease/liner colour is a dark bark (slightly blackened) shade with a matte finish. And the blush is a satiny light peachy pink shimmer -- worn together makes for a really beautiful neutral look, be it for day or evening! While I agree that this combo can easily be duplicated by other cosmetic lines, sometimes it is just nice to have everything you need in a single pallette. It is SO wearable and would be GREAT for travel. I like that the packaging is compact too. This pallette may not be the most unique, but ALL the shades compliment eachother amazingly well for a flawless neutral look.
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Lotions/ Creams -Aveeno - Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion with Cooling Menthol
lil_kismet 10/14/2007 5:40:00 PM
I've been in search for cheaper (but effective) alternative to rotate with my expensive Lush Dream Cream and had high hopes for this product. Very disappointing. Not all that moisturizing, doesn't absorb well at all, and it just sits on the surface of your skin. While the menthol is nicely soothing for the initial 10 minutes after application, the end result is a weird and very uncomfortable tacky/waxy feel on my skin. Like a few other reviewers, I experienced the 'balling off' of the lotion too whenever I were to rub my arms. I will never repurchase.
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Blush -BeneFit Cosmetics - Dandelion
lil_kismet 10/4/2007 1:33:00 AM
I agree that these powders are for the purpose of face brightening (referring to Dandelion and Georgia), but kudos to those who are able to use this as blush! :) Unfortunately, this does nothing for me in way of brightening my complexion, and is definitely far too pale to act as a blush. I also question how well this would work for those with pink/reddish undertones. I can, however, see it working nicely for porcelain/extremely pale/cool skintones. I also have Georgia, and for me, Georgia works a thousand times better for face brightening of my light olive NC30 asian complexion.
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Eye Shadow -Bobbi Brown - Velvet Plum Metallics Palette
lil_kismet 10/3/2007 10:27:00 PM
I am absolutely in LOVE with this trio! It is the very first time I have ever had the urge to purchase a backup of, but I've restrained myself from doing that. I was hesitant when the MA reached for this to try on me as I was afraid the pallette would be far too cool-toned for my neutral-warm light olive asian complexion. But was I ever wrong! I think this pallette works with both cool and warm tones! "Velvet Plum" is a medium taupey brown tone with just a hint of plum in it; Champagne Quartz is a beautiful champagne shade infused with very pale hints of gold and peach; and Raisin is a dark brownish purple -- all 3 have shimmer. The colours compliment one another gorgeously and look stunning whether you're wearing them with less intensity for daywear, or with a heavier application for a glam, yet understated and sophistocated, evening look. Excellent pigmentation, smooth texture, and long-lasting to boot! Really expensive, but it has quickly become one of my most coveted makeup items!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Tarte - Cheek Stain in Tipsy
lil_kismet 9/16/2007 1:44:00 AM
This cheekstain really lives up to it's description -- it truly DOES give my cheeks a beautifully INTOXICATING glow from within! Tipsy gives a natural pop of peach colour to cheeks with an ever-so-slightly dewy finish. One of my favourite spring/summertime blushes, but great for all seasons, really :) I especially love pairing this cheekstain with a subtly smokey soft mossey-green eyemakeup look (ie. MAC Juxt on lids, Velvet Moss softly blended into outer corners/creases, and Forever Green powerpoint liner on top & bottom eyerims). This is a QUALITY product! It is on the expensive side, but one of these will last a LONG time and I don't know if I'll ever use up an entire tube. I also love how sheer and buildable these cheekstains are and the fact that they have excellent staying power.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Dream Wash
lil_kismet 9/1/2007 1:45:00 AM
I'm on the fence about this bodywash. I give it 5 lippies for the product itself. It is an extremely gentle yet effective cleanser, and it works incredibly well at soothing my skin when I have eczema flairups. It doesn't strip your skin of its natural oils like many body cleansers would, yet it cleanses my skin extremely well. However, it is REALLY expensive for what it is and I find you need to use up quite a bit of product with each use. It certainly is *not* cost-effective. Also, the packaging is TERRIBLE. The black dye on the packaging runs all over the place when wet -- not good when the interior of your bathroom is white. So be sure to wipe the container dry as soon as you get out of the shower. I will continue to purchase this bodywash, but unfortunately, my budget does not allow me to repurchase on a regular enough basis. I will have to resort to buying it only when my eczema is at its worse. Dream Wash combined with using Dream Cream works wonders for those times when my skin condition flairs up.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -LUSH - Dream Cream
lil_kismet 9/1/2007 1:24:00 AM
Lush's Dream Cream PERFORMS! The most effective body lotion I have come across to date. It really sinks into your skin and is truly moisturizing (unlike virtually every other lotion I have tried that just sits on the surface of your skin with only superficial moisturizing effects). I have eczema-ridden skin year-round (which comes and goes depending on stress levels and weather fluctuations) and this cream moisturizes and soothes those areas like nothing else I've tried. It won't cure it, but with consistent use, it definitely helps keep the dryness and eczema at bay. I love the soothing scents of lavendar and calomine, so I don't at all mind the scent of this product. What I dislike is the expensive price and packaging. Nevertheless, I will continue to purchase this product because it is the best body moisturizer I have ever used.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No