Treatments -Palmers - Scar Serum
AzureTe 4/4/2013 6:50:00 PM
This works REALLY well for me on newish scars. Most recently I used it on a curling iron burn scar on my shoulder and I saw a noticeable difference in less than a week. That scar is now almost gone. I have also seen scabs heal faster when I apply this, probably because of the vitamin E. I have never used this on my face but would be hesitant to because of how thick it is. You only need a little bit at a time so a bottle lasts quite awhile. It does have a strong fishy smell, but in my experience that does fade soon enough. Still, because of that, and because it's so goopy, your clothes could potentially pick up the smell (and the goop), so be careful if you're using it before getting dressed and give it time to absorb. I actually don't ever use it in the morning at all for that reason. It's a minor thing but it IS a bit inconvenient and the main reason I took one lippie off.
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Treatments -Palmers - Palmers Bust Firming Massage Cream
AzureTe 3/29/2013 9:26:00 PM
After reading reviews here (specifically the one that mentioned that this contains peptides) I decided to get this to use for my neck/chest area, and I've been very pleased with it. I have definitely noticed that my skin has become thicker/firmer in these areas with continued use and looks better as well. The improvement did not come overnight but with time I have seen a noticeable difference. I have lately started to use this under my eyes at night, and while it is too soon to say what the results are, I can say that I have had no issues with irritation or milia. This cream is NOT particularly moisturizing, so if you are dry-skinned at all and are using this on the face or under eyes you will probably want to continue using your regular moisturizer in addition to it. As others have mentioned, it has some fragrance. I am not bothered by the fragrance in this (and now that I am single it doesn't matter a whole lot what I smell like when I go to bed), but people who might have a problem should know that it is there and it is a bit strong.
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Moisturizers -L'Oreal - Collagen Moisture Filler
AzureTe 2/10/2013 2:43:00 PM
I bought this basically because winter weather and central heating were killing my skin and I needed something heavier for daytime, and because boswellia was listed in the ingredients. If you don't like fragranced products you should know this does have some. I personally do not care for the fragrance, but it's not so strong that I can't deal with it. Also, if you prefer a moisturizer to be your main SPF you should obviously know that this does not have any. I did not experience any problems at all with clogging or irritation, and even use it under my eyes with no issues. I find that it works well under makeup (no issues with balling and so on) and makeup glides on very well over it, but it is heavy and I felt that it took awhile to absorb, but I suppose one should expect that from a cream like this. If you are someone who likes to put moisturizer on and put makeup on right afterwards you would definitely get impatient with this one. I only marked it as a 3 for packaging, because although I generally like glass packaging (for the look and because it is more easily recyclable), I don't really like dipping my fingers in a jar. Overall, it's not the most amazing skincare product ever but I am happy enough with it. I am no longer dealing with winter issues so will not repurchase when I run out. My skin can be picky, so when I find something that works reasonably well and doesn't freak my skin out I usually stick with it. That is why I marked that I would repurchase, as I probably will pick up another jar next winter. It worked well enough and I had no issues.
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Skincare - Body -Palmers - Cocoa Butter Formula jar
AzureTe 12/17/2009 2:51:00 AM
My work requires constant hand-washing and I have dry skin anyhow, so as you can imagine my hands get wrecked (especially in the winter). Others at my job have asked me how it is that my hands don't look as crocodile-like as theirs, and this is the answer. I have never had any trouble getting it out of the jar and actually it sinks in pretty quickly considering how heavy it is. The only reason I am not giving it a 5 is that the Palmer's scent is a little too powerful for me (I don't find it unpleasant, just too strong and sweet for my taste), but since I mostly use it at night that is not a serious problem.
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Eyeliner -Maybelline - Unstoppable Eyeliner
AzureTe 12/17/2009 2:11:00 AM
Well, the obvious joke here is that this liner is actually pretty stoppable (sorry, I couldn't resist). I used this with UDPP and it was still gone in an hour. I have used non-waterproof liners that lasted longer than that.
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Blush -BeneFit Cosmetics - Benetint
AzureTe 3/14/2009 4:54:00 PM
I saw someone a few pages down call this an innovative product, which made me smile. Yes, she's clearly younger than I am. I originally picked this up because I was looking for something similar to my late, lamented Rosewater Blush (yes, I used that in my 20s, you could still buy it then). Which was more or less the same color but a much nicer stain than this and wore better on the lips. I have no complaints about this as a blush. You do have to work quickly though, and definitely on moisturized skin only, otherwise it's going to pretty much dry where it is. It wears well though. This is the reason I gave it three lippies. The thing is, this is far from a universal color. I am a pale pink person and it's flattering on me in moderation, but there are a lot of skin tones I imagine this wouldn't suit (I have noticed that about many Benefit products actually). On the lips, on me this tends to dry unevenly and get into every crack and line no matter how well I've exfoliated, balmed, etc. I attribute this somewhat to how thin it is because I don't have this problem with every stain I try (and did not have it with the Rosewater Blush). It also wears unevenly, which is not too pretty. I'll use it up as a blush, I guess, to get my money's worth, but I was really looking for something that could do double duty for me the way Rosewater Blush did.
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Brows -Unlisted Brand - eyebrowz brow stencils
AzureTe 1/26/2009 6:28:00 PM
These are fantastic. But there are a few caveats. It is VITAL to choose something close to your natural eyebrow shape (unless you are someone who wishes to experiment with different looks, of course). I may not necessarily have come in wanting to have eyebrows just like Jewel's (I was thinking a bit more old movie glamorous *g*), but the fact is that Je#4 was by far the closest match to my own browshape. I had no trouble finding stencils I could use. I am perplexed by the comment that "these stencils have high arches". Some do, to be sure, but there are a lot of shapes on offer and I recall seeing quite a few that did not. If you want to go this route it's definitely worth your while to measure your brows and get a stencil that's the right length as well as shape &c. Also, these take some time and practice to use well. I find that positioning them (and getting them to stay in place, even with the little headband thing) is still a bit tricky for me and I have been using them awhile. For me it has been worth the effort though. I'm really fond of my stencils. They have saved me more than one salon visit.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Philosophy - Turbo Booster C Powder
AzureTe 11/28/2008 4:46:00 PM
My skin seems to respond very well to vitamin C, in general. I like this product because it's in powder form. That means I can add it to whatever I choose, but it also means that I don't have to worry about it quickly degrading with exposure to light/air as you would with most vitamin C products. I seem to have the best luck when mixing it with a glycolic product. It just seems to mix a little bit better than it does with a plain moisturizer. Your mileage may vary.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Other -Sephora - Ratings & Reviews Section
AzureTe 9/19/2008 12:37:00 AM
Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus. Is every single thing Sephora carries a five star product? Not in my own experience, but you might get that impression from reading the reviews. This feature is more useful to Sephora than the customer. Drugstore/Beauty.com posts both good and bad reviews and I think that's what you ought to do if you're going to have that feature at all. I like telling people about products that have worked well for me, but by the same token, if the emperor has no clothes I ought to be able to talk about that too. If you can't do that, this isn't a "reviews" feature, it's a "free advertising" feature. Edited to add: I see that people have commented that they have had negative reviews rejected at beauty/drugstore.com. I was not aware that this was happening. I've been a long time customer there and certainly seen a lot of one star ratings and bad reviews. Perhaps not all of them make it onto the site, and sometimes there are great reviews of things I personally hated, but I know I've seen a lot more critical reviews there than on Sephora's site.
13 out of 13 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Neutrogena - Moistureshine Lip Balm in Pure
AzureTe 6/19/2008 7:30:00 PM
Basically, this isn't what I was looking for at all. Like previous reviewers, I was actually looking for something more akin to a tinted chapstick with SPF. This is much more like a lipstick. I wanted something with a little bit of tint that I could just slick on without a mirror. This is definitely not it, this stuff is way too pigmented for that. I don't like the look of lipstick (I'm a gloss and/or balm person) so I won't be repurchasing. The color itself does look good on me even though it's brighter than I like for everyday, so that earns it an extra lippie. I am a person who looks better in pinker colors as opposed to more golden. If that's not you then pass this color by, but if you look good in those sorts of colors and don't have a problem with a lipstick-ish texture, you may like this more than I did.
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Gels/Soaps -Suave - Exhale Alluring Rich + Moisturizing Body Wash in Sandalwood + Cinnamon
AzureTe 6/19/2008 6:55:00 PM
Well, I guess I'm going to have to be the one that spoils the party here. I smell a tiny bit of cinnamon here (and by that I mean tiny, as in almost none, as in like, one part per million) and no sandalwood at all. When I see "sandalwood and cinnamon" on the label I expect a) sandalwood and b) cinnamon. I do not expect said product to smell like fruit punch. I'm very annoyed. I guess as a shower gel it performs fine, a bit too drying for me personally but nothing serious. It's the scent I'm unhappy about. I'll go ahead and use it to shave with, I guess, because I don't like to waste stuff, but I probably won't bother buying a Suave shower gel again. If you were considering buying this because you actually like cinnamon and/or sandalwood, definitely smell this before you buy it. "Slightly spicy Hawaiian Punch" would probably be a more accurate name for it.
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Treatments -Sally Hansen - Creme Hair Remover for Face
AzureTe 6/19/2008 6:15:00 PM
If there were an option for "absolutely no f'n way" in "would you buy this again?", then I would have checked that. Seriously....I followed the directions, didn't do it until a few hours after I washed my face, didn't leave it on too long, didn't do multiple applications, &c.....and.... I've got burned skin and hives above my lip right now, and that's a whole lot uglier than the bit of peach fuzz I was trying to remove. Thanks be to all that's sacred I have a few days off from work, so this will probably heal up before I go back. I will say that it did effectively remove the hair, but really, it was very fine, almost unnoticeable hair which I maybe should have left alone rather than try this (I usually just shave it now and again). I do have somewhat sensitive skin, but I've actually never had this bad a reaction to a hair removal product before. Mostly they just burn a little (and don't remove what I want removed, but that's another issue). I see that several other people had a similar problem with this product, and I wish I'd looked here before taking a flyer on it.
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Fragrances -Aquolina - Pink Sugar
AzureTe 6/14/2008 7:47:00 PM
Now, you might ask why on earth I even tried this, given that I tend to favor spicy/woody orientals or chypres and really sweet perfumes are not my thing at all. I guess all the talk about it piqued my curiosity and looking at the notes, I thought it could possibly be interesting, so I gave it a go. There's sandalwood in this? You could have fooled me! Mostly what I smell is......sugar. And maybe a tiny touch of musk. But mainly it's Sugar capital S. The anise-y note is somewhat interesting, but that's about all I like about it. I'm glad I was skeptical enough not to spring for a full size.
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Fragrances -Guerlain - Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca
AzureTe 6/12/2008 10:22:00 PM
My favorite "it's too hot to wear anything else" perfume. I'm not normally a green scent person, but when the thermometer goes way up and the weather is sizzling hot....that's when I break this one out. It's refreshing and fairly light, so light that I actually spray it on myself (normally I favor oriental scents that require a much lighter hand, and just dab a little bit on pulse points). The lasting power is probably the only complaint I have, as I've even owned Demeters that stuck around longer. This seems to last a few hours, tops. To me this is actually more complex than many people seem to give it credit for. I don't find the mint overpowering at all, to my nose it blends very well with the grasses and citrus.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Yves Saint Laurent - Opium
AzureTe 6/12/2008 2:37:00 PM
I'm not sure what to say about this perfume that hasn't been said already (but I won't let that stop me *g*). I love Opium, but I don't wear it very often. There are a variety of reasons, including the fact that where I live, it's simply too hot to wear such a heavy perfume a lot of the time, even lightly. Another is that I do get tired of people telling me I smell like their mom. I'd like to not care about that, but the truth is, that's not something you necessarily want to hear even if their mom is their favorite person ever. That's always a danger with older perfumes, and really, this perfume's heyday was 25-30 years ago, so you will smell it on older women often. If it conjures up images of Joan Collins and shoulder pads, well, that's certainly understandable (although for me, the perfume that REALLY evokes that is Giorgio, which I still have an ungodly hate for to this day- to me Giorgio is like being knocked upside the head with a hundred pound bouquet). That being said, stripped of those connotations, I don't find it old-ladyish at all, unless that lady is some gorgeous, glamorous older woman like perhaps Marlene Dietrich in her 80s. It's really quite sensual and sexy, and (on me, anyway), men seem to like it a lot. Incidentally, due to what must be a fortunate accident of body chemistry, it's the resins and spices, the clove in particular, that tend to hang around on my skin. After a few hours of wear this smells lovely (and dare I say, more intimate than loud). It just needs a light hand and I myself would say cold weather only. It's not for anyone who likes cotton candy perfumes or the aforementioned cucumber-melon body sprays. In my opinion you need to be a grown woman to pull this off. And I say hurrah for that. The only reason I said I wouldn't buy it again is because I don't/can't wear it very often, but I'm very fond of it. If you're looking for something in the same vein, but lighter (and also less complex), "Nohiba" by E. Coudray could be worth a try.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No