Mascara -Chanel - Inimitable Mascara Multi-Dimensionnel
SuzanneDee 12/22/2009 2:41:00 PM
My favourite mascara right now. Nice long wand. Smooth consistency of the product. Brush separates and curls beautifully (not much lengthening, but then I don't need it). The overall effect is that the lashes look separated, fanned out and hold their shape for the day. It comes off easily (without melting into a black mess under my eyes when I cleanse). Never flakes into my eye or contact lens. Wonderful. Worth the money, though I still wish it cost less.
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Mascara -Clinique - High Impact Mascara
SuzanneDee 12/22/2009 2:30:00 PM
Brush too thick, formula too gooey, effect too clumpy without curling the lash. It just feels terribly bulky and waxy when it should be light and defining. Thank God I have only a sample. Will not purchase.
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Lip Treatments -MAC - Tinted Lip Conditioner - Gentle Coral
SuzanneDee 12/9/2009 12:31:00 PM
Perhaps the only one of the tinted lip conditioners that actually shows up on my dark-at-the-corners lips and does not clash with my NC 40 skin. I know the product in the pot can look alarmingly bright, but it goes on sheer, only hinting at the colour, which is lovely. I love that it’s not hyper-reflectively glossy. I love that unlike my tube of Dior it’s not so sticky that it traps flyaway hair. I love that it’s a conditioning balm. I love that like all MAC products I have to use so little. I love love love the vanilla scent and the way it brightens up my face without making my lips pop. What I don’t like is that it comes in a pot, so I have to dip my fingers in. I find that too unhygienic (plus exposes more product to dust particles). Also it’s bloody expensive. One lippie off for that. But will still repurchase in the distant future when this one runs out.
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Lotions/ Creams -L'Occitane - 20% Shea Butter Hand Cream
SuzanneDee 11/9/2009 5:02:00 PM
Not cheap, but oh so worth every bit you pay! This little hand-cream tube is great for keeping hands soft, but it's also part of my make-up kit. I use it with powder pigments (preferably deeper, stronger darker shades) to turn some of the shimmer into a wetter, more thorough metallic sheen. The oil brings out the colour, prevents creasing and keeps it on my skin for hours. Great great great for dramatic eyes, crème-blush cheeks and light lip colour. Use equal parts of the cream and pigment powder and blend. I tend to less than a pea’s worth of the mixture at a time so I usually store the rest. The Shea Butter is a better carrier than heavier face creams and lotions I’ve tried. Plus, It doesn’t make me break out and I know it’s doing nice things for my skin no matter where I use it.
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Eyes -Faces - Sparkle Dust
SuzanneDee 10/30/2009 8:38:00 AM
I'm amazed at how cheap these are! The other reviews are absolutely right - they're only a fraction of the price for MAC's pigments. Sure, their range is smaller, but they've got some really nice greens and blues, apart from neutrals (and one scary-bright pink). I got Shade 35, sort of a tan/shimmer. It's decently pigmented - though there's more shimmer in there than colour, and SUPER light reflecting. It's powdery, so there are the usual problems of trying to put it on your eye without it spilling over to cheeks or elsewhere. I'd recommend you mix it with a tiny drop of transparent gel or eye cream if you're going to wear it neat (i.e. no foundation or concealer on the eye) and smudge the thing on. They're also selling them in individual boxes here (Mumbai) so I didn’t have to invest in a whole tower of many shades. But the packaging isn't spill proof. I have a feeling I’m going to waste more product than I will use. UPDATE: Container fine! No Spillage. The only excess product I was complaining about was from the plastic wrapping. Went out and got the Stackables in Earth. Five shades: Deep bronze, tan, orangey peach, yellow and white. All with shimmer. Peach, blended with a cream = great blush. Bronze, blended with a cream = very dramatic metallic eye. Yellow dusts as gold. Tan = brow/cheek highlighter. White dusts as silver. I don't care if you can't carry them separately. I like the whole stack. Best part, they're running some sort of discount deal here so the thing only cost me Rs 350 or US$ 7.5! That deserves another lippie, taking our total to 5. If MUA gave me another lippe, I'd award it in a heartbeat..
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Concealers -MAC - Studio Sculpt [DISCONTINUED]
SuzanneDee 10/3/2009 7:21:00 PM
My first ever concealer! Yay! I recently went back to contact lenses after about 5 years of wearing glasses. The whole world noticed. They'd comment on how different I looked without my specs and hot on the heels of that one they'd say "Gosh, you have such dark circles!" Circles suck. They suck when you have tan skin and deep set eyes. They suck more when you've woken up from a 12 hour sleepathon and you're still looking like a raccoon. I just decided that social conversations need to move beyond personal comments and went over to MAC. (Mumbai, Altamount Road). The girls there were so nice!!! This one girl tried about 6 concealer shades on me, looking up close and walking back to check if it looked okay from afar. She explained yellow-orange bases (which I'd already figured from hanging around MUA) and talked me though the application process. Turns out I'm an NC50 - that's at least 2 shades darker than my cheeks but disappears under the eyes. I have a MAC brush and I blend it the way I'm supposed to (takes a whole 4 minutes). I also have the compact Select Sheer (i think) in NC 40, strangely. Disappears too! Here's the part where I do my evil laugh: people who noticed the circles before (and kindly commented) now tell me they can't see a thing! That I'm looking all rested! it's such a relief, not having to watch out for that comment when you're talking to someone. I've also just realized that more people wear concealer than I'd ever imagined. I've just stumbled onto the conspiracy and it feels real good. MAC-Mumbai girls, I love y'all!
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Treatments -Unlisted Brand - Honey
SuzanneDee 9/28/2009 7:07:00 PM
It tastes yummy, but as far as putting some on your face goes, it's not for every one. the two times I've used it (as a half-honey, half-lemon juice skin clearing mask) it only made me break out more. I have sensitive skin and live in a tropical climate, so pretty much everything makes me break out. But I add one tablespoon to a jug of water and do a final rinse after I've washed out the conditioner and I find that honey keeps the conditioned feeling going much longer. That and eating it really does make my skin and hair look healthier. Use a single-origin honey if you can. Most commercial brands are artificially sweetened.
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Lotions/ Creams -The Body Shop - Peppermint Foot Lotion
SuzanneDee 9/26/2009 5:54:00 PM
ATTN: This is a review for the Peppermint Cooling Leg Gel. The MUA people don't have a separate category for it. I only bought this because it was on sale at the local BS store, but for me it was still money wasted. I don't know if I got old stock or something, but the gel DOES NOT COOL AT ALL. I had a little sachet thingie of a cooling foot gel from this compnay called Jeunesse and that worked so well, it tingled for hours and my feel really felt woken up afterward. Guess that's what prompted me to pick this one up. Big mistake. Most foot gels leave a thick film on the skin, which can be dangerous when you're walking to the bathroom to wash it off (gets slippery). This one, however, doesn't. But that's no reason to like it. It does nothing!
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Lotions/ Creams -L'Occitane - Lavender Hand Cream
SuzanneDee 9/26/2009 5:43:00 PM
I cannot believe I've never tried this before. Oh my god, it's so light and easily absorbed, without compromising on the fragrance. I have the 30ml travel-size and I'm already looking forward to buying a bigger tube when I use this one up. Tip: L'Occitane stuff is so high-quality (and expensive) I felt awful using it just on my hands, so I used some of the stuff as an under-eye cream as well. Do try. It leaves a nice calming, yet tingly feeling without inflaming the skin. My gift box has the Shea Butter and Verbena variants as well, can't wait to try those!
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Spice Curls
SuzanneDee 8/15/2009 5:52:00 PM
I'll come out and admit I was sold on the scent. Spice curls smells warm, cinammony and very spicy, quite unlike other lush products, or - come to think of it - other soaps in general. But I find that it doesn't quite work as a soap. For some reason the soap bar tends to get more scratchy and less soapy as you use it, probably because the soap dissolves faster than the ground-up bits can break free of the bar. This means it's no fun after a few uses and even stops smelling good half-way through. I'm always wary of Lush soaps that have built in exfoliation - particularly when the top layer is different from the rest of the soap (like with Sandstone and I should Coco). They just NEVER work out quite right and I'm left with a barely used top layer with a completely used up bottom. Spice curls is like a whole soap made of those top layer bits. I've started breaking up my bar and tossing it into the pedicure tub, where it still fails to lather and perfume, but at least gives me a foot scrub.
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Masks -LUSH - The Sacred Truth biofresh mask
SuzanneDee 6/22/2009 4:08:00 PM
I was waiting to go through the whole pack before i wrote the review, but it turns out that the damn product expires before you can use it all up. It was done with me before i was done with it - that sort of thing. So here goes: The Sacred Truth is kind of a refreshing mask for older skins (which i am not, but i thought i'd try it anyway). It smells nice - with the smell of honey overpowering everything else, a good thing since the recipe says there's raw egg in there. You're supposed to store it in the fridge, which is nice too since it goes all cold and gooey on the face. Lush masks don't crack like other ones I’ve used so it's nice and elastic even when it's all dried up. It takes a bit long to get off your face but it really does make a difference. My skin looked less tired and dewy around the eyes. I just wish it didn’t leave my skin so waxy. I have to wash up with mudflats to get my face clean of the waxy buildup, which defeats the point of the mask. Still – the masks are probably the best things in Lush, despite their price. I'm waiting to try out more. I just wish they sold smaller quantities.
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Porridge Soap
SuzanneDee 3/14/2009 4:29:00 PM
Oh man. I gave this soap to a friend without using it! Major regret!
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Mud Flats Soap [DISCONTINUED]
SuzanneDee 2/24/2009 3:17:00 PM
I bought Mudflats, for the same reason I make most purchases at Lush. I knew I was going to have a rough rough week at work and I wanted to wash off the day with something nice. I figured since mudfalts is so soft it would melt easily, so I cut it in half. cut the halves again and used only 25 per cent of what i'v bought. Man, was that a good plan! It gets soft in the shower and melts quickly, but it does do a great wash up job. I was using B Electro last (yes, yes another hard week at work) and Mudflats seemed to clean better, without leaving my skin waxy. Plus it lathers just a little so i'm not stuck washing away foam under the shower. I didn't think something that looked like a bar of unbaked potter's clay would be good for my face. But it's not bad for a quick wash if you've just come home from a day out in the city. I'm gonna free the rest of the soap and use it straight from the freezer next. yayyy!
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Cleansers -LUSH - Aqua Marina Cleansing Roll
SuzanneDee 2/1/2009 11:23:00 AM
Just switched to Aqua Marina after going through two satisfying tubs of Angels on Bare Skin. Nice change. Aqua Marina smells nicer than Angels and washes off easier as well. I've found it cleans my sweaty skin much better than Angels in the summer. I have a table-top steam cleanser machine at home and usually steam my face when it's covered in the pink gunk. Works fabulous. Zits clear (even the bitty under-the-skin ones) and there's no waxy after-feel. Now if only Lush found a way to add some exfoliation to the mix...
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - I should Coco Soap [DISCONTINUED]
SuzanneDee 12/7/2008 5:21:00 PM
Not my favourite Lush product. This one is scratchy. The coconuty top layer lasts longer than the pink soap beneath so half-way through a bath I'm left with no soap but something scrubby in my hands. The coconut bits take AGES to wash off and showering's just no fun. But mmmm it smells yummy, which means everytime I think of I Should Coco, I'm just gonna buy me actual coconut cake instead.
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