Makeup Brushes -Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman - Stippling Brush
GuerlainAds 9/12/2011 5:45:00 AM
I was attracted to this brush not because of Pixiwoo but because the size of the head and the short tuft for a stipple seems to be more unique for a stipple brush. It's soft and I like it a lot for cream brush . . .
However, the second or third time I washed it, a lot of the darker hairs were pulled out to the level of the white hairs. I have a LOT of stipple brushes in all price ranges, from MAC and Laura Mercier to ELF and Ecotools and none of my stipple brushes ever did that so quickly. Maybe I got a bad lot. Maybe not.
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Makeup Brushes -Sonia Kashuk - Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush
GuerlainAds 9/12/2011 5:18:00 AM
Maybe it's because I have a large face. Or maybe it's because I have a lot of brushes. I like SK black handles brushes in general but was very disappointed in this particular brush.
First of all, it started shedding like a mofo as soon as I got it. Second, if you press on the fibers from the side, you will notice that there is a LOT of room inside the ferrule. That means it's not well-packed.
This brush is expensive for drugstore at $14.95 and I think there are much better options at this price range. If I could return this back to Target, I would, and get the Coastal Scents Bionic Buffer ($13.95) if I wanted another Flat Top. I am not a fan of CS or Crown brushes but this is the one exception.
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Makeup Brushes -Shiseido - Blush brush
GuerlainAds 9/9/2011 11:57:00 PM
Smallish blusher brush with crimped metallic brown ferrule and matte black wood handles. It doesnt say which hair on Shiseido's site but it's pretty soft and I'm gonna assume either all or partly squirrel hair. The hair is lightly packed and picks up pigment lightly.
It's a good looking brush and soft but my main problem with it is that it sheds and the hair breaks off. Unacceptable in a high end brush and I have paid even more for a blusher brush than this one. currently retails for $38 plus tax.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Makeup Brushes -Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman - Brush Collection - Eyes Starter Set
GuerlainAds 9/5/2011 3:26:00 AM
Sorry to ruin the perfect 5.0 rating but I've had this set for 2 months now and really regret my purchase.
First, let me say that I have tiny monolids with no crease so most eyeshadows brushes are too large for my eyes. These e/s brushes are unusual in proportions and sizes and I found most of them kind of useless. I was only able to use 2 of the brushes, hence my rating of 2 for the set.
The Deluxe Crease brush is HUGE. I was only able to use it for blending.
The Brow brush was not stiff enough and it was too thick to use as an eyeliner brush. Pretty much useless.
The Eyeliner brush is weird too. It's a stiff, very long point and did not apply eyeliner with any precision. Someone suggested using it as a concealer brush so that is what I use it for: a spare concealer brush . . . . when my 12 other concealer brushes are all dirty. I also use the other Eyeshadow brush as a spare concealer brush also since it's too big for my eyes. Wow, that's a lot of extra concealer brushes I am getting with this set. Did I mention that I already have 12 concealer brushes already?
8 out of 12 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Lancome - Color design lipstick in all done-up
GuerlainAds 8/17/2011 11:30:00 PM
NC35 here.
The lipstick in the bullet shows a medium-to-dark rosy color. I would call this a fuchsia-mauve with just a tinge of brown in it. On my purplish lips, it looks like a rosy fuchsia-red. Very feminine in that sort of retro way that is popular right now. But I would not call it "pink" nor "fuchsia". It had just a tinge too much brown in it to be called that IMO. It's really obviously when I compare it to my other fuchsia lipsticks.
Creme formula with medium coverage that can built to full. I'm glad to have it to wear it for the times I want a more formal high-maintenance look.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -E.L.F. - Mineral Lip Gloss
GuerlainAds 12/1/2010 1:06:00 PM
NC35 here.
I got this in the color Daring, based on swatches on blogs and the ELF site. If I saw this in a B&M, I would never have bought it because it's a sheer shimmery bright cherry red in the tube. I prefer rose or mauve colors. However, since I knew it was sheer, I decided to keep and use it. On my dark lips, it's sheer with a slight raspberry tone. I am sure on chicks with lighter lips than me, it would look mighty purdy but on me, meh.
Pros: 1. Inexpensive 2. Clean, not cheap looking, MAC Lipglass-like packaging 3. Not too watery (I HATE that in a cheap gloss) and moisturizing 4. You get .21 oz 5. I see that most of the other reviewers say that it has no discernable scent. I agree. Sort of. I think I do detect a slightly sweet cherry(?) scent but I do have a sensitive nose. Anyway, it certainly doesnt have a strong scent whatsoever.
Cons: 1. Sponge wand dispenses little product so you have to apply numerous times to cover the lips. If you ever used Milani gloss, you know what I mean. 2. If this was a $1 gloss, I would rate it better but at $3 plus tax/shipping, I would much rather get a discounted Revlon SL gloss or a Bonne Bell Liplite for the same price. 3. For this shimmery color, I felt the gritty shimmer on my lips as SOON as I applied it. I wiped it off and looked at the napkin and I definitely saw LARGE chunks of sediment. I reapplied again and it did feel less gritty, altho it will dispense a large piece every once in a while. I actually noticed the sediment in the tube at once but thought it was my imagination because the gloss hadnt separated or looked old in the tube. I am not one of those who really complain about gritty feeling gloss but I can see it bothering others. I can deal with the feeling.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Lancome - Color Design -Designer Bloom
GuerlainAds 11/26/2010 3:54:00 PM
NC35 here with dark bicolor lips.
Designer is a pretty, frosty (not blinding frost tho), berry-rose color. It isnt as dark as I am making it sound. I wouldnt call it sheer but it's not fully opaque either. It looked a bit berry red on my lips, dark enough that I would only wear it fall/winter.
I marked that I would not re-buy because I dont care for shimmery lipsticks and I prefer more opaque colors because of my bicolor lips.
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Eye Shadow -Guerlain - violette du soir
GuerlainAds 11/23/2010 1:24:00 AM
NC35 here.
Gorgeous cool-toned purple quad. The colors are well coordinated. They are:
1. Satin lavender with fine sparkles 2. Matte light grey 3. Matte medium purple 4. Shimmery darkish taupey brown
I dont find the pans as creamy and pigmented as some of the other quads and singles but still gorgeous and very lux. Comes in a shiny gold curvy compact with bronze metallic interior and mirror which is very prone to fingerprints. Also, I know from experience that the gold metal is prone to scratches and showing the gunmetal material under the gold plating. Kind of a waste that you pay all this money for PACKAGING and the packaging doesnt wear well.
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Lip Gloss -Beaute Cosmetics - Luminous Volume Gloss
GuerlainAds 11/21/2010 4:49:00 AM
This is a review of the color If: a peach cream with no shimmer. It's a good gloss with good coverage. I find the application a bit goopy with the brush. The packaging is long and sleek; it's about the size of a Glossimer and I personally dont care for the longer size since I dont have as much control with application with a long wand.
I notice from the other reviews that this is fragrance-free. I dont necessarily think that is a good thing because that means that there is no masking of its true chemical fragrance. It's very faint but it's there. It reminds me of the Clinique and other "fragrance-free" glosses. Yes, "fragrance-free" still has a smell. I voted No about repurchasing after I finish with this. I am really fussy about glosses that cost over $20 and generally as a rule dont think most are worth it. This one certainly didnt change my mind.
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Blush -Christian Dior - DiorBlush Passion Fruit 533
GuerlainAds 11/18/2010 9:05:00 PM
NC35 here.
This is a finely milled, shimmery peach color but it's very SHEER. After much work, the darker shade gave my cheeks more of a glow than a blush look. It was nice but a bit too subtle for my taste. Something like Nars's Orgasm shows up much better. I am sure that it's more suited for light skintones only, not a MMM like myself.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Toners -Bobbi Brown - SOOTHING FACE TONIC
GuerlainAds 11/16/2010 4:55:00 PM
I just my third bottle of this and got a slight sticker shock from the $28 price tag. I tried $10 toners (as well as $60 toners) and theoretically toners shouldnt be an item that you have to spend a lot on but very few toners do not dry out my very dry skin while being strong enough to clean up any leftover dirt. This is one of the few and one of the best which is why I keep coming back to it. After I use it, my skin is always feels clean and no icky residue and prepped for moisturizer. I also love the soft lavender scent and I am not usually a fan of lavender.
The one Pro I can think of besides the price tag is that BB still use that darn heavy THICK glass bottle. I dropped it once and about 15% of the toner spilled to waste. Grrrr.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Shiseido - Benefiance Creamy Cleansing Foam
GuerlainAds 11/16/2010 4:46:00 PM
I have dry skin and like a foaming cleanser the best. Unfortunately, foaming usually means drying. This is one of the very few foaming cleansers that doesnt dry me out and I have been using this one and off for 20 yrs. I would use this all the time but sometimes I am poor and cant afford the $34 price tag. Like all Shiseido foaming cleansers, you just need the tiniest amount since this foams up a TON. Because of that, each tube does last a LONG time.
IMO, the whole Benefiance line is fab if you have dry skin and do not mind the very STRONG scent of their products. Especially their best-selling Benefiance Eye Cream.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Toners -Origins - make a difference skin rejuvenating treatment lotion
GuerlainAds 11/16/2010 4:37:00 PM
I have dry skin and prefer a moisturizing toner. Compared to other moisturizing toners like Lancome's Confort, La Prairie, and Nivea's which still pick up leftover makeup/dirt while not drying me out, this sucks. I NEVER got the feeling that my face was completely clean after using this as I do with most toners. Waste of my $21. I tried a bunch of Origins face and body products and was unimpressed with everything I got.
I did like the flip-top but it's a moot point. 5 fl. oz./150 ml $21.00 retail.
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Lip Gloss -Rimmel - Vinyl Lip
GuerlainAds 11/16/2010 4:18:00 PM
Overall, I think these are substandard glosses, even for drugstore, and that you can find much better glosses in the same price range or less (Revlon, Sally Hansen).
One reason why is that these are thin and watery. Yes, that means that it's non-sticky but it also usually means that it evaporate much faster. This is the type of gloss that you need to re-apply every five minutes. That isn't a problem by itself since most women like applying gloss but most dont have the time to stop what they are doing every 5 min. to keep re-applying. I certainly forgot to do so since I was used to thicker, more gel-like glosses and I got a small crack on my lips for the first time in like a yr since my lips had dried out. NOT GOOD.
Then there is the scent/taste. It has an artificial orangey strong smell that reminds of childhood drinks like Sunny Delight and Tang. That seems pleasant at the beginning but the scent is so strong that it becomes nauseating after a while. Way too STRONG for a gloss IMO.
I threw the 2 that I have in the garbage where they belong.
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Lip Gloss -L'Oreal - HIP Shine Struck Liquid Lip Color Euphoric
GuerlainAds 11/11/2010 7:16:00 PM
This retails for $14.29 at my local CVS before the sale, which is redonk. It's a slightly cheaper ($14 vs. $22?) dupe of Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Baby Doll. They are both a sheer peachy shimmery pink with a STRONG CARAMEL SCENT. The LM has slightly more sparkles. The LM also has a more gel-like texture and turns bad faster. On my NC35 face, they look pretty much the same tho.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No