Lotions/ Creams -The Body Shop - Passionfruit Body Butter
Daynnie 4/7/2013 11:18:00 PM
I just bought the large size body butter today - but fell in love with it already. I am so into maracuja oil (=passion fruit oil) thanks to Tarte. While the smell of this is quite strong, it is not overly sweet/irritating as in other "fragranced" lotions. Why I am crazy about this is that it kept my wintery hands moisturized for hours! While out shopping and using sanitizing wipes. I can not believe it. Love the consistency, soaked right in. Body Shop has specials for some scents (large packaging for $10) right now. I'm thinking about going back for more :) I put some in small to-go jars to keep in my purse and car. 1 lippie down for couple "unwanted" ingredients high on the list.
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BB Cream -Tarte - BB tinted treatment 12-hour primer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen
Daynnie 4/4/2013 5:12:00 PM
I am absolutely in love with this BB. First off, everything breaks me out. I have been using only mineral makeup in the past 7 months because of it. My BE does not last as long as I would want to (12+hrs) - hence search for BB/primer. I chose this over other "drugstore" products at Ulta despite its price ($34). I swatched it at the store and loved the coverage and how it felt on my hand. Ingredients seemed safe (and turns out, I have surprisingly no problem with this after a month of daily use). It is not moisturizing but not drying. I use Neutrogena night wrinkle serum underneath (every moisturizer I've tried breaks me out) and just a little layer of BE on top. The coverage is medium and can be layered. I apply with BE kabuki brush (dense with short bristles), larger brushes provide sheerer coverage. It is very easy to blend and it does "melt in" your skin while providing coverage. You must exfoliate with this, as it does accentuate dryness!! I sometimes redo my nose because of this but I do not mind. It sets in nicely and does not look dry or powdery, rather silky and very natural. I can't say enough how much I fell in love with this. My makeup stays put all day, add the great physical SPF, no flashback (I do use BE and bronzer on top). I have used it every single day since the day I've bought it. Tarte maracuja oil at night since my skin is dryer in winter months. Otherwise, my skin has not looked better in two years! Great in pictures, I do set undereye and T-zone with setting powder. Do recommend absolutely to anyone, get a tester if worried. I am lighter but opted for the second lightest shade (light, lightest is called fair) just to get more color in my face. I love how it looks, not oily, not unnatural matte. Perfect!! I layer extra makeup on top just for more coverage when I go out of the house, otherwise it would not be needed at all. I have already repurchased because I had a 20%Ulta coupon. Try it with tarte concealer, it's a killer! (testers at Sephora) Good luck! UPDATE: If it broke you out, make sure you really take it off well at night. I had problems about 2 weeks in and realized I was not taking it off completely. It can easily stay in your pores if you are not careful (think super long lasting foundation and spackle to get rid of it). While this is not spackle worthy - thank god - I do use extra toner to rub it off. I do not mind, glad it stays put all day. Extra 2 minutes at night totally worth it :)
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Foundations -NYX - Hd foundation
Daynnie 2/29/2012 4:43:00 PM
I was so excited to try this product (mostly bc I had not seen a bad review and really need a photo friendly foundation). I bought mine at Ulta and picked shade 02 after trying out the samples. I could not make this look flawless. First off, to get fairly good medium-full coverage, I had to use 2 pumps per each side of my face. That would not bother me, as I am willing to use extra product and use it up faster if it works for me. The product creases badly, did not do anything for my pores - and I used Revlon's primer. Setting powder, spray of fix plus, I thought I was gonna look fabulous. Couple hours into it, the foundation broke down so badly that I had to use powder foundation over it to cover the bare spots of my face. I am not that oily, foundation just somehow separated and disappeared from random spots on my face. It ate up my bronzer and blush so I had to reapply. It iis oily looking with enlarged powers after 5hrs wear... :< I am so disappointed! I know NYX does not state that the foundation is long wearing but I expected more than that.I can also feel it on my skin.. As if extra layer is hanging on me. NYX HD primer under eyes did not work with this foundation as it dried out no matter if I applied eye cream or primer first. I must say that if I forget about the poor coverage and terrible lasting power, it made my face look fabulous in a phone flash pic upon application. Unfortunately, if the product fades before I even get to an event, it is a major fail for me. I will buy the HD powder which is supposed to be long wearing and try to put it on top..see what happens. I am going to return the product asap though. 3 lippies for packaging, ok price, and great photo potential On the hunt again..
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Misc Beauty Tools -Unlisted Brand - Home-made Refresher Spray (Fix + Dupe)
Daynnie 8/18/2011 2:33:00 PM
Oh My Ladies! Look no further. Creating Fix+ dupe could not been easier! Frankly, I have NEVER purchased the real MAC magic thing. I researched some blogs and videos, looked at the ingredients list and used some creativity. First I started with pure glycerin + rosewater/lavender essential oil mix (lavender is antibacterial antifungus great for skin - avoid eyes!). Loved it. But I heard that this solution would be more of a Mixing Medium mix and that I'm missing on some goodie extracts that Fix+ has. - THE TRICK?? - Go to your health food store/drugstore (I went to Whole Foods - your best choice) and looked at ingredients of natural toners. They have cucumber, chamomile, vitamin C, glycerin, most have NO fragrance and are 99% alcohol free; plus ORGANIC products. Because glycerin is listed farther in the list, I added about 1:8 of pure glycerin in my beautiful sparkly purse-size atomizer (fr sephora) and I could not be happier!!!!! - Burt's Bees has a Tomato toner (which I skipped because of high content of alcohol..I do not want to dry out!) and also sells rosewater+glycerin toner (for those who do not want to mix at home) each for about $10! - I recommend Avalon toners. Mostly organic, affordable ($10-13 at Whole Foods) for a 250ml/8.5fl oz bottle. For my Fix+ dupe I picked up "Avalon Organics - Everyday Renewal nourishing facial toner" Ingredients: Purified water, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, panthenol, echinacea purpurea extract, camellia sinensis (GREEN TEA) leaf extract, cucumis sativus (CUCUMBER) fruit extract, carica papaya fruit extract, lavandula angustifolia (LAVENDER) flower extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) flower/leaf extract, camellia sinensis (WHITE TEA) leaf extract, arnica montana flower extract, calendula officinalis flower extract, magnesium ascorbylphosphate, melatonin, bioflavonoids, allantoin, glycerin, sodium PCA, citric acid (VIT C), salicylic acid, polysorbate 20, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin, benzyl alcohol. - Basically, I'm getting MORE goodies in the bottle and while missing fragrance and caffeine (found in Fix+) in it - both of which are actually not that good for you. - Because some of us can get irritation from various ingredients, making a dupe using natural toners is the easiest and safest way for those who can't handle lot of alcohol/fragrance/additives in cosmetics. I recommend you checking natural alcohol-free toners out (Avalon has several) and choose which one you think would be best for you. I am thinking of purchasing pure vit E oil at CVS and adding a drop into my potion. Atomizers/spritzers are sold everywhere. I love the little perfume ones - so easy to carry around and spray anytime, small batch makes the whole experience quite bacteria free as well... They are sold in different shapes, sizes, and colors (found anywhere from Bed Bath and Beyond to Sephora). - I actually believe that I am using something that is great for my skin! Plus I feel great justification in creating it myself, organically.. at home. - Try it and let me know how you like it! Also, Whole Foods has a great return policy (think Nordstrom lol), don't be scared to try it out... ;) = = IMPORTANT: beware of adding oils such as lemon/bergamot/grapefruit/orange etc as those are photosensitive and can cause discoloration on your skin if exposed to sunlight. If you do want to add essential oils to your skin routine, make sure you know how to use them (look up dilution charts) and NEVER use on your skin photosensitive oils. You will be safe with lavender and tea tree but make sure you do your research first :) Google-> aromatherapy.
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