Blush -MAC - Beauty Powder Blush in Tippy (Hello Kitty)
zoey 2/14/2009 2:07:00 AM
I'm NC35/C4 Asian skintoned (leaning more toward olive-toned) & this blush is so flattering on me! I use a fiber optic blush brush to apply it as sheerly as possible though. It is a heavily pigmented cool bright pink color that gives my cheeks such a healthy glow. It lasted well all day too (which is remarkable, as I have oily skin & need to re-apply blush at least once a day). It also lasted well through some rainy downpours where I had to walk out in the rain for two 10 minute-spans with only a hooded poncho. The packaging itself is adorable.... Hello Kitty on the front cover & hot pink glittery speckles all around the black casing.
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Eye Makeup Remover -Lumene - Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover for Eyes and Lips
zoey 12/30/2008 11:17:00 PM
I am a big fan of Lancome's Bifacil but could not continue paying the pricey amount. I tried this Lumene product on a whim while I was trying to spend some almost-expiring CVS bucks and am so glad I did! This product removes my waterproof mascara almost as well as Bifacil..... I would say it removes about 90% of the product (& my cleanser removes the remainder in the shower). I've had no eye sensitivity to this product at all. I've already stocked up on 3 more of these bottles (they were on clearance at CVS so I'm not sure if they're being discontinued). This is the perfect substitute for Bifacil!
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Lipstick -NYX - Lipstick- #529 Thalia
zoey 12/5/2008 11:26:00 PM
I had high hopes for this color. But it ended up looking too purplish on my NC35/C4 Asian skintone. Way too cool for my skintone. As another reviewer said below, it made me look dead.
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Lipstick -NYX - Round Lipstick in Circe #522
zoey 12/5/2008 11:24:00 PM
I am NC35/C4 Asian (medium neutral-olive-slight peachy tones) with pigmented lips. I had yet to find the most perfect nude lipstick that was flattering on me..... until Circe! I was a bit skeptical about whether it would even cover up my pigmented lipcolor or make me look washed out. I ordered this online never having seen it IRL. When it arrived, I felt very disappointed upon visual inspection. It looked like concealor disguised as a lipstick, honestly. However, when I applied it with a light hand, I found that it had enough pigmentation to cover up most of my natural lipcolor while looking incredibly natural & flattering! This lipstick is what I had hoped MAC's Freckletone would look like on me Instead, Freckletone ended up making me look rather sick (mostly because it has quite a bit of peach in it...... I can't wear peaches because of my peach undertones). I like layering MAC Instant Gold lustregloss on top for a finished look. This will be my HG go-to look whenever I'm doing a darker or smokey eye!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Sally Girl - Sally Girl Eye Shadow Connecting Compacts
zoey 11/18/2008 3:14:00 AM
I purchased these 6 colors: Champagne: A frosty neutral beige (almost a bit too frosty, reminiscent of the '80's) Taupe: A brown-based taupe Golden Bronze: A slightly shimmery golden bronze Purple Haze: A lavender-grey Olive: Olive green, just like it's name Blue Marine: A medium blue with slight grey tones & some gold flecks I had high hopes for these cheap little eyeshadows, as I read the reviews before purchasing. Absolutely ALL the colors were incredibly sheer. So sheer that they barely even showed up on my medium Asian toned skin. I even tried layering them under UDPP & Lumene's e/s base but to no avail. Barely even a pop of color with the darker colors & pretty much no color with the 3 neutrals (champagne, taupe & golden bronze). These are all going back to Sally's. What an utter waste of money!
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Cleansers -Unlisted Brand - Oil Cleansing Method OCM
zoey 9/10/2008 9:43:00 PM
I'm 35 years old with oily, acne prone skin. I've had cystic acne since age 13. I use 3:1 EVOO with Castor Oil. It removes all my makeup & then I follow up with my Desert Essences tea tree oil cleanser (in a foaming pump dispenser). My skin has never looked better. It has put my acne under control to the point where I am only getting an occasional bump during my time of the month. I love this method!
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Lip Gloss -Sally Hansen - Comfort Shine Lip Glaze-Chocolate Cherry
zoey 9/5/2008 3:51:00 PM
I picked this up at Longs for $3 (it was 50% off). I had a hard time deciding between Chocolate Cherry & Chocolate Truffles. I have pigmented rosy lips & was a bit skeptical about the pigmentation of this product, so those 2 were the darkest colors. I ended up picking Chocolate Cherry because it looked like a browned-down red while Chocolate Truffles appeared to be a brownish berry/purplish color. I didn't read any reviews on this, so I was surprised to see what the pot & applicator looked like under the lid. As others have said, it is a bit awkward to use when outside of the house. I was pleasantly surprised at the pigmentation. It's sheer yet pigmented browny red at the same time. Very satiny smooth & not sticky at all. Lasting power is average, considering it is a lipgloss. I'm a lover of chocolate cherries & while I found the scent to be similar enough to chocolate cherries, there was an artificial Play-doh ish scent to it as well (which didn't bother me). The scent was gone after a couple minutes. There is no noticeable taste at all. I'm not sure how the applicator will work out with long-term use. The gloss looks almost jelly-like in the pot & I'm not sure if the applicator will be able to grab the remainder of the gloss in the pot after a number of uses. We shall see.
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Treatments -Burt's Bees - Naturally Ageless Serum
zoey 9/3/2008 10:15:00 PM
I'm 35 years old & have oily, acne prone skin. I used to love using BB's Attar of Rose serum (very sparingly though). I've been using the Naturally Ageless Serum for 3 months now & am loving it! I only use 2 drops & it absorbs in fully within a few minutes. No breakouts, no greasy residue. I love the scent too. I used my CVS bucks to purchase this product but would probably look on eBay next time around. I prefer using this product at bedtime & during the day, I like Dr. Hauschka's Normalizing Day Oil better. It's a thinner consistency & works well with my loose mineral foundation.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Scrubs -Alba Botanica - Hawaiian Sea Salt Body Scrub
zoey 8/4/2008 2:02:00 PM
I purchased this in a variety pack @ Costco & would have never purchased it separately. There is only one word to describe this scrub: OUCH!!!! The sea salt is incredibly coarse & very painful to use. I'm accustomed to using scrubs regularly (but mostly sugar-based scrubs) & this scrub felt like glass shards being rubbed on my skin. The scent is fantastic & the oil-slick factor is comparable to most other scrubs. But the coarse sea salt is just way too painful to use (even on the spots that aren't quite as tender, where I like to scrub hard on: my legs & arms). I have no idea what I'm going to use the remainder of this tub on, as it's definitely *not* going on my skin again!!!! Maybe to scrub the shower???
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Lip Gloss -L'Oreal - Bare Naturale Gentle Lip Conditioner
zoey 7/7/2008 8:00:00 PM
I wasn't sure how pigmented this was going to be when I picked it up, as the display said the color is "subtle" (which on my rosy pigmented lips = clear). I chose one of the darker colors, Soft Mauve, which reminds me of MAC VG VI lipgloss except sheerer & with smaller shimmer particles. The color actually does show up on me (although I could tell that most of their color selection would appear clear on my lips) & is quite flattering on my medium olive-yellow golden-peachy Asian skintone. I wholeheartedly agree with previous reviewers when they say this product is like a cross between a balm & a gloss. I had some dry flaky skin on my lips before applying this & within 5 minutes, my lips had softened tremendously & all the flakes had come off. I would only purchase this again as a BOGOF as I personally find this pricey for a drugstore gloss at $10.50. The applicator is a bit unique. You take the clear cap off & there is a very soft, slightly flexible plastic slant tip. Instead of squeezing the product out, you rotate a silver band to the left & it dispenses the gloss out onto the slant tip. It doesn't take too many rotations to prime the gloss for the initial application. There is no discernible taste or scent either, which some people may prefer.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Loose Powders -Everyday Minerals - Natural Reflection Finishing Powder
zoey 7/7/2008 7:55:00 PM
I have oily, acne prone skin. I normally use either Silk Dust or Start to Finish or Finishing Dust as my finishing powder, as they all work much better to mattify my face & control the oil. However, I do use Natural Reflection mainly as a sunscreen. Here are my reviews for my EM Light Olive toned skin: NR Fair: Even though this is lighter than my skintone, I can still get away with using it because it appears translucent on me. NR Light: Same review as NR Fair. NR Medium Bronzer: This is a beige color that actually has pink tones to it, so I really can't wear it alone on my Light Olive skin. But blended with NR Golden Tan and/or Fair and/or Light, it works just fine. But I won't be repurchasing this color again because I can't wear it alone & while the mixing makes it more wearable, it's still not a very desirable color for my skintone. NR Golden Tan: I expected this to be darker than it appeared on their website, but it isn't. I actually has an almost greyish cast to it, which means I can't wear it alone on my Light Olive skin. I'll mix it with NR Medium bronzer and/or Fair and/or Light & it works well. But I won't be repurchasing this color again because I can't wear it alone & while the mixing makes it more wearable, it's still not a very desirable color for my skintone. I will probably stick with NR Light as my best match so far. But I'd like to try NR Summer Bronze & mix it with the Fair or Light.
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Maybelline - Mineral Power Lipcolor ] [DISCONTINUED]
zoey 7/4/2008 1:35:00 AM
Longs Drugs was offering a great deal on these today. So I made an impulse purchase. Seeing as I have nearly 100 lipcolors, I can be very hard to please when it comes to lipsticks & lipglosses. But I wanted to give these a try. They were regularly priced at $6.79. But Longs had an in-ad coupon for BOGOF on all Maybelline lipcolors. And then they accepted two $1 off coupons, plus Longs has a mail-in rebate of $2 per mineral lipcolor for a total of $4. So after rebate, I'll be paying 79 cents for both! (Which I why I chose "dirt cheap" for the price.) Anyways, I have to say I was initially unimpressed by their color selection. I had a difficult time picking out 2 lipsticks but ended up liking both. I ended up purchasing Healthy Rose (a pretty medium pink) & Chestnut (a nice neutral brown which I thought was going to be too dark but is actually quite wearable on my medium olive-golden yellow-peachy Asian toned skin). The pigmentation itself is average. They weren't super pigmented but they weren't so sheer either that they wouldn't show up on my naturally rosy pigmented lips. The texture is very silky & incredibly moisturizing. In fact, they're so moisturizing that they practically function as a colored balm IMO (which says a lot, as my lips get quite dry & flaky in hot SoCal weather). I prefer to wear gloss on top of most lipsticks because I feel they look too "thick" on their own. However, these are light enough to look fantastic alone I would purchase these again if they expanded their color selection. Again, I found the selection to be quite dismal. Colors were either too light for me or shades that were too orange-toned. I was lucky to have picked out 2 shades that work for me but I doubt I'd be able to wear any of the remaining shades they have out at the moment.
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Palladio - Liquid Eyeliner
zoey 7/1/2008 2:24:00 AM
I am a liquid eyeliner idiot. So I gave up on liquid liners for a long time. On a whim, I tested out a Palladio display at Longs Drugs with these marker-type liners (not the same liners in the pics on the right). I couldn't believe how easy it was to use & they had a fabulous selection of colors. I purchased dark brown & have been using it every day now for 2 weeks. The design makes it so easy to apply. It wears all day on my oily lids (with UDPP as a base). No flaking or fading, even after some of my 16 hour days. I purchased the eggplant liner yesterday & plan on eventually buying all their colors. FYI, these are designed exactly the same as CG's marker liquid eyeliners (Line Exact), but the CG ones fade & flake on me. Anyways, I am incredibly impressed by the quality of these. Only $6 too.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Soba (Satin)
zoey 6/25/2008 6:56:00 PM
I had heard so much about this color here on MUA but never swatched it in person. So last time I was at the MAC store, I asked to try out Soba. My first impression was that it was a boring, dirty, unflattering brown. Rather blah. But then I tried it on my hand & saw such a beautiful golden brown shade. Needless to say, I purchased it & have been wearing it almost daily. Wonderfully paired with MAC Shroom. A great neutral color when I'm overwhelmed with life & want simplicity!
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Lipstick -Revlon - Colorstay Mineral Lipglaze
zoey 6/19/2008 11:26:00 PM
I was pleasantly impressed by this gloss. When I purchased it, I expected them to wear rather sheerly (especially with so many neutral colors available). I didn't purchase these for the (supposed) 8 hour staying power, as I know no gloss can really do that! These wear more like a liquid lipstick. Although not quite as pigmented as Avon's Glazewears but they are awfully close in terms of pigmentation. Other reviewers have described this gloss as sticky. But I think they are more creamy than sticky. (For reference, sticky to me = MAC Lipglasses. Now *those* are sticky!!! But very long-wearing.) I find their creamy texture is rather moisturizing to my perpetually dry lips. The colors I got were: Forever Fig: A nice light-to-medium neutral brown, but my skintone brings out quite a bit of orange in it. Neverending Nude: A true neutral beigey-pink nude that doesn't wash me out & actually shows up on me! I have naturally rosy lips & this does give a nice neutral wash of nude over my lips to tone them down when I'm wearing a more dramatic eye look. Everlasting Blush: A gorgeous pinky-peach with a bit more frost than I'd prefer. I have to use a light hand with this or end up looking like an '80's jr. high frosty lipgloss version of myself! Works best on top of Nars Dolce Vita lipstick. Used alone is a bit scary (reminiscent of my MAC Prrr experience). Perpetual Plum: Have yet to try this. Appears as a burgundy-ish plum from the tube. Will have to see how the color translates into real-life. I would definitely repurchase these again but wait for a BOGOF sale (as I did with the 4 above).
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No