Liquid -Neutrogena - Shine Control Makeup
9Chickweed 12/11/2012 3:38:00 PM
This new Neutrogena Shine Control Foundation, like most foundation bottles, doesn't come with a pump. I'm normally not bothered by it, because for most foundations, all you have to do is tilt the bottle to pour some onto the back of your hand. However, for this one, that isn't going to do the job. You literally have to turn it upside down and bang it repeatedly on the back of your hand to get some of the foundation. I was actually ok with the texture when spreading it onto my face with my flat Sigma brush. It reminded me of a thicker Estee Lauder Double Wear.
The coverage was pretty good. I'd say medium to full coverage if you build it up. The smell wasn't off-putting either.
So the deal KILLER? In all my years of wearing makeup, not one foundation has given me a gimungous, whopper ZIT right in the middle of my nose - so bad that 2 months later, the scar of it is still faintly visible. This has never happend before. Small pimples? Check. Itchy rash? Check. But for a company that's supposedly good about skin care, this product is pore clogging crud. I chucked it into the trash after a couple uses. I didn't even want to curse any of my family/friends with it by giving it away to them!
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Shampoo -Unlisted Brand - Swanson Ultra - Neutral pH Tea Tree Oil Shampoo
9Chickweed 12/11/2012 2:05:00 PM
I used to order this shampoo for years (due to the awesome review below!) and it has helped tremendously with my hair loss and general scalp oil balance. However, with my recent order, I don't know if Swanson changed their formulation but it's now extremely runny - almost like water, it smells chemically and disgusting, and even though it didn't lather much before, it barely does now unless I use a GIANT handful and even then, my hair does not feel clean. Even worse, I recommended this to my sister and had no idea I was giving her the new, disappointing formula. Her results have been subpar at best. Please, Swanson, bring the old formula back!
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Palettes -Sigma - Paris Makeup Palette
9Chickweed 6/12/2012 3:48:00 PM
The Paris Palette by Sigma is a collaboration between Sigma and 6 YouTube beauty gurus who were sent to Paris and assigned monuments to use as inspiration to create an eye/face palette. You can find descriptions of each color on YouTube. While the intent was there, the results unfortunately fell short. I’m a sucker for palettes and I liked the thoughtful design of the palette. It’s a pretty mosaic pattern housed in a cute postcard-like sleeve. Yes, it’s bigger than most, but they made it bigger so it can house the 2 brushes that are included. Said brushes are pretty good quality, though the blush/face brush could be more dense because the way it is now, it kind of just flops around the face. The eye brush is decent at picking up and distributing color on the lid. Speaking of color, this is unfortunately where the palette falls flat on its face. At first glance, the colors are vibrant, sparkling things of beauty. However, when you begin actually using it, they become sparkle bombs that hardly hold their pigment. You have to layer and layer and layer while creating crazy amounts of fallout in order to get color close to what you see in the palette. I agree with one review on YouTube – make sure to keep the plastic window sleeve in the palette – you’ll need it to protect from all the fallout from the shadows. After all that work and blending, the colors begin fading within an hour with or without primer. The colors become muddy and brown and even the teal loses its zing.
At almost $60 (even after the discount code) for this Limited Edition palette and the potential from contributions from such talented beauty experts, I would sadly say that your money is better spent elsewhere. I have purchased eyeshadows from MAC, Urban Decay, Dior, Guerlain, Too Face, Smashbox, and even Wet N Wild. Sorry, Sigma. I recommend you stick to brushes.
10 out of 11 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Revlon - Colorburst Lip Butter
9Chickweed 12/1/2011 10:01:00 AM
I can't describe just how happy I am that this product worked out for me. I generally am allergic to a lot of lipsticks out there and it unfortunately leaves me few options, mainly high end! Though moisturizing, it doesn't make my lips itchy and bumpy. Color payoff is wonderful. Definitely not lip balm color payoff at all. My favorite color so far is Pink Truffle, which on my Asian NC35 skin is a MLBB, though in my insanity, I plan to get all of the colors ;-) My main issues with this product is that though it starts off moisturizing, ironically, it dries my lips out after a while. This may be why it doesn't make my lips itch, actually. However, the big issue for me is the packaging. These things are nearly impossible to open if my hands are even remotely slippery from dryness or from lotion. Revlon needs to bevel the bottom out or something to resolve this issue and this would be the perfect product for me!
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Lotions/ Creams -Bath and Body Works - Twilight Woods Body Butter
9Chickweed 10/6/2011 10:20:00 AM
I'm the type (as most of us are) who is always on the hunt for the perfect fragrance that just screams "me". Suprisingly, I've found it with the Twilight Woods Body Butter. Cheesy, tweenage franchise name aside, this fragrance is a powdery oriental that doesn't pull too powdery or musky like most of these types of fragrances do with my chemistry. It beautifully fades during the day, but never completely. This body butter is thick and almost springy in texture and since the scent is strong, I don't need much. I actually moisturize with my usual Aveeno lotion and use a dime size dollop of this lotion as my perfume and it isn't too strong this way. I probably won't buy the other products since I feel the body butter scent concentration works best for me. I generally shy away from Bath & Body Works scents because they're just too strong for my nose and always send me into sneezing fits. However, this scent evokes a wonderful feeling of being wrapped in a cashmere throw while sipping a hot cup of tea and enjoying a starlit night. Perfect for fall.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -L'Oreal - Full Definition Voluminous
9Chickweed 10/3/2011 11:24:00 AM
Love this mascara...once I scrape off the excess mascara on the sides of the tube and then roll the wand in a paper towel, essentially removing about 90% of the mascara! Such an enormous waste of product when L'oreal can at least make a smaller stopper at the top of the tube that will help the wand come out less gunky. Complaints aside, once all that work is done, this mascara gives my lashes a nice and soft voluminous look without taking the curl out of my lashes. I would buy again.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Eyeshadow in Mystery
9Chickweed 9/27/2011 5:15:00 PM
Mystery and Ricepaper are the ONLY MAC shadows that I will purchase over and over for as long as I live. Rather dramatic statement to make, yes, but they're such staples in my gigantic makeup collection, it's hard to imagine doing a makeup look without them! Mystery is my go to color for my brows. I'm Asian NC35 and it fills my sparse brows in perfectly. I use my Laura Mercier double ended brow brush and I get perfect brows every time. Ricepaper is THE tear duct color I use for almost every look. Love!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Overrich - Museum Bronze Pigment
9Chickweed 9/20/2011 4:34:00 PM
In my vast array of pigments (about 30!), Museum Bronze is hands down my favorite pigment. If I were on a desert island and could only choose one eyeshadow, this would be it. This is a wonderful brown bronze shimmer with a golden, patina sheen to it. The shimmer is smooth and buttery, not chunky at all. I love pairing it with Ricepaper eyeshadow in my inner corner, Brulee on the browbone, Museum Bronze from lashline blended up to the crease, and any color on the outer V. I've used maroon, navy blue, black, green, turquoise eyeshows and they all look amazing. This will be my go-to color for the fall. LOVE!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -TheBalm - Time Balm
9Chickweed 9/19/2011 4:30:00 PM
This is currently my go-to concealer. I just swirl my Tricia Sawyer brush into it (not too much! It'll cake and settle into lines if you do) and sweep it beneath my eyes and voila! My tired "new mommy" eyes look a little brighter and fresher. I'm NC35 and use light/medium and it matches my skintone perfectly. I like the texture because it isn't too creamy, tacky or dry. I don't mind the screw on lid because I can swirl my brush into it easily. The packaging is a little cheap looking, but I'm more willing to pay for a quality product economically packaged than for an impeccably packaged product that contains crap inside. Re-purchase for sure!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Ricepaper Eyeshadow
9Chickweed 9/19/2011 4:22:00 PM
Being a makeup junkie, I own hundreds of eyeshadows ranging from Wet N Wild to MAC, Dior, Guerlain, you name it. Ricepaper is one of the only eyeshadows I have ever hit pan on and reordered, so that says a lot! On my Asian NC35ish skin, Ricepaper is a shimmery, buttery golden champagne color that is the perfect highlight for the inner corners of my eyes. Because of its coloring, it perfectly complements almost any eye look I'm doing so it's very versatile. It doesn't lean too warm or too cool, though it leans more towards the warm spectrum. Its texture is as smooth and buttery as the color itself. I will to repurchase this for as long as MAC keeps making it (hopefully forever)!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Guerlain - Ombre Eclat 4 Couleurs - 05 Les Gris
9Chickweed 9/14/2011 10:44:00 AM
This quad is part of Guerlain's Fall 2011 Collection though I understand that the quads introduced will be part of the permanent collection. The first thing that comes to mind (well...after thinking "OMG I can't believe I spent that much") is SOFT. The shadows are soft and buttery in texture (no fallout though!), blend like a dream, and give way to an amazingly soft smokey eye. The compact itself is hefty in weight and definitely feels high quality. There is a matte taupey gray, a shimmery silvered gray, a slightly more pigmented shimmery taupey gray and the color that attracted me to the palette the most a darker teal/blue. Karla Sugar's blog has some great swatches of all the palettes so definitely check those out. The look is beautiful, and I think it would suit people who prefer a softer, smokey look perfectly. I personally think they could have done away with one of the grays or silvers and added a black or even a dark brown so that the palette could be more versatile. I ended up using one of the darker colors on my Wet N Wild palette to add a little more oomph to my eyes. I much prefer the less expensive, punch you in the eye pigmentation of my MAC, UD or Tarte eyeshadows so I wouldn't purchase this again.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Paint Pot in Soft Ochre
9Chickweed 9/9/2011 12:01:00 PM
I'd buy this again in a heartbeat. I've had mine for well over a year now and fortunately it hasn't dried out at all. I use this everyday before my eye makeup to even out my eyelid skintone and primer. For reference, I'm NC35. A little bit goes a long way!
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Blush -MAC - Just A Pinch Gel Blush
9Chickweed 9/4/2011 10:07:00 PM
Love love love this product. Like everyone has said, MAC should make this a permanent item, and in more colors. The formula is fantastic. I use my 188 to buff and blend this blush and I get a beautiful, natural flush to my cheeks. Highly recommend!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Milani - Liquif'eye Metallic eye liner pencil -black
9Chickweed 8/30/2011 4:18:00 PM
Very sad that this product didn't work out for me, but I'm not going to give it a negative review because of it. I got this in the black and brown color. Black is VERY pigmented. Make sure to use a light hand because it really packs a punch! These Milani pencils are the only suckers that actually last all day on my waterline. I'm talking Loreal, MAC, MUFE, UD 24/7...the list goes on. However, towards the end of the day, my eyes react to it - the only time my eyes have ever reacted to an eyeliner. It feels like I have sand in my eyes and then they begin to burn a little like I'd accidentally rubbed oil of some kind into them. So boo :-( For those who don't have a reaction, these are excellent pencils with great staying power! I got mine at target for $6 each.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Wet 'n' Wild - Silk Finish - #502A - Dark Pink Frost
9Chickweed 8/9/2011 1:13:00 PM
I absolutely love this lipstick. My lips are extremely sensitive and easily get irritated (bumpy rash followed by dry leathery lips) with most lip balms, lipsticks or lipglosses out there (both high and low end), so I approached this dirt cheap lipstick with some trepidation. Luckily, this doesn't break me out at all! Alone, it's a little too frosty "I'm still living in the 80s", but my favorite use is layering over a plum lipstick. It creates the most beautiful finish and it glides right on. Highly recommended!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No