Powder -Bare Escentuals - Bare Minerals ALL
Julesbait 12/31/2012 11:43:00 PM
I wish that where we select "Would you buy this product again?", that "oh HELLLLLL no!!!" was an option. After all the infomercials and all the presentations on QVC, I caved and bought one of the sampler sets from QVC that included the foundation, mineral veil, and bronzer. With glee and zest, I cracked that puppy open and swirled, tapped, and buffed my way to an itchy, sparkly face. But it looked ok. At first. Just ok. So I ignored the itch. Fast forward 2 hours. I'm at work. I take a bathroom break. Do my thing and wash my hands. As I'm washing, I look at myself in the mrror. W.T.F?!?!?!?!?! Now, I have large pores and crazy oily skin. Oily breakthrough early in the day is nothing new and not surprising. But this....this was just....not right. This was not just a shiny nose. You could see a drop of oil pooled in every. single. pore. on my nose, and a few on my face. My face was polka-dotted with oil spots. I had never seen anything like this in my life, and it was pretty disgusting. I blotted and touched up. Same thing happened a couple of hours later. At the end of the day, I scrubbed the hell out of my face, repackaged the whole thing, and made my way posthaste to the post office to return the whole mess to QVC. By far and away, the worst foundation I've ever used.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Jordana - Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara
Julesbait 9/27/2012 9:12:00 PM
This is the kind of product that really makes you question the sanity of anyone who insists on buying high-end mascara. I'll be the first to admit that left to my own devices, I never in a million years would have given this a glance at Walgreens, just because of the stupid low price of $2.99. But my mom had been using it and, as a former Benefit mascara user, declared Jordana the best mascara ever and gave me one of the 3 tubes she had stashed. It certainly doesn't look like anything special. A basic, plastic, cheap looking tube. A basic, no-frills brush. But never judge a book by its cover. This stuff is nice and dark, holds a curl forever, doesn't flake or smudge, and it lengthens and volumizes like nothing I've ever tried before. (And I've tried it all, from WnW to Dior.) But the catch is that you've got to work for those great lashes. There's apparently no mechanism in the tube to control the amount of product you get on the brush. And you get A LOT on it. You have to wipe the excess off ever time you pull it out. Also, I find that less is so much more when in comes to application. Using a light hand and only one coat will yield the best results. Otherwise it can get clumpy and gross. So if you have the patience, the steady hand, and the time, you will be GREATLY rewarded with this inexpensive little gem. And you'll find yourself saying, "Diorwhat?" UPDATE 10/27: I just opened a new tube of this, and it reminded me of something I forgot to mention. This is one of those mascaras that start to work better after it's been open for a while. So if you first try it and aren't impressed, set it aside for a while and revisit it in a week or two.
26 out of 26 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Crème -Revlon - ColorStay Whipped Creme Makeup
Julesbait 9/25/2012 10:00:00 PM
The liquid Colorstay is my HG foundation, and the standard by which I judge all others. It lasts all day on my absurdly oily skin, it covers everything I need to cover (some discoloration and a zit every now and then), it doesn't sink into my pores, and I don't need to use a primer to make it look good or last. But, as any good MUAer will understand, just because I have a HG doesn't mean I don't want to keep looking for the next great thing! Lots of raves and good reviews about Colorstay Whipped lead me right to Target to claim a jar for myself. I have light-medium neutral skin, and I'm using shade 240 (natural beige, I believe). Seems a little bit light, but as the summer color fades more, I think it's going to turn out to be fine. I was expecting a lighter texture, more like a mousse. But it's thicker and creamier. It's super easy to blend into the skin, and it seems to afford you more time to work with it than the original Colorstay does. I've seen many people here say that a sponge is best for application. I didn't care for a sponge. I find that using a brush and swirling/buffing the product makes it blend into the skin a little better and really leaves a perfect, airbrushed look. I used a concealer brush for areas that need a little extra coverage. With the original, I always use a sponge, and it's fairly quick to apply and no-fuss. But I don't think I like the look of it quite as much as I do the whipped, even if it does take more time. The original Colorstay always dries down completely and feels and looks more powdery, no matter how much I use. With the whipped version, if I use too much, it never seems to feel dry and makes my face feel kind of slimy. It has a more satin matte finish. Where I can safely skip powder with the original, I prefer to use it with the whipped. Wear time is a little less for me with the whipped version, maybe by an hour or two, on a normal day with no primer. Though in the hottest days of summer, it doesn't hold out nearly as well without primer. I don't think primer effects how it looks. And no breakouts (though I'm not really prone to that, anyway.) So all in all, this is a really, REALLY darn good foundation. Am I prepared to say it's better than the original? Ehhhhhhh....not sure. But I can tell you that since buying this about a month ago, I haven't used the original. UPDATE 10/7/12 - I bought a bottle of the original Colorstay today, and will go back to using it daily. While I do still really like CS Whipped, it just doesn't have the lasting power I need for a full day. But I will keep it and wear it at night or special occasions, as I do prefer the finish.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Make Up For Ever - Mat Velvet PLUS Matifying Foundation
Julesbait 5/9/2012 11:20:00 PM
I have never found a foundation that works as well for me as Revlon Colorstay. It is the standard by which I judge all other foundations. I'd heard great things about Mat Velvet, I had a Sephora gift card burning a hole, and I have that constant burning desire to find the next "miracle" product. So I got a bottle of MV. And I've gotta tell ya, it is every bit as good as CS. Matte, full coverage, lasts all day, don't need a primer. Great product. But if it's just as good as CS, why would I continue to buy it, when I can buy CS for a third of the price? Thus being the reason I only give it 4 stars and will not buy again. At least I had a gift card for the bottle I did get.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Primer/ Corrector -Korres - Quercetin & Oak Antiageing Face Primer
Julesbait 5/9/2012 11:10:00 PM
Let me start by saying that I am not a primer person. I don't like the extra step in my routine, and I've never found a primer that's really worth the extra time under my primary foundation, Revlon Colorstay, which performs excellent for me on its own. (With the exception of UD Pore Perfection. But even that, I only use around my nose, and I don't use it daily.) But, I got a sample of this Korres stuff from my mom, so I figured I had nothing to lose. It smells fantastic, light and citrusy. It feels nice and cool going on, more like a lotion. But that's really all the positive stuff I can say about this. It did nothing to improve the looks of fine lines or pores, and did even less in terms of making my foundation last longer. It's just too much for my oily face. Maybe someone with normal to dry skin would have better luck with it. It's just not for me.
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Lips -L'Oreal - Colour Riche Balm
Julesbait 5/9/2012 10:56:00 PM
This is a nice product. It's very smooth, feels good on the lips, and applies evenly. Leaves a nice, glossy finish. I prefer sheer colors on my lips, so these fit the bill nicely for me. They're nothing like the Revlon Lip Butters, which are more full-coverage color. I have four of these balms. The nude one is a slightly pinkish nude, and it is truly nude on me. But the color is definitely there, and is great for finishing off an understated, neutral face. The berry looks deeper in color in the tube than on my lips. It leaves a nice light pink flush. The coral is the least pigmented one I have. It barely leaves any color at all, and is pretty much useless. The plum is my favorite. It has very nice color payoff, a YLBB kind of plum. Just gorgeous. I'd definitely buy these again. But I do hope they come out with more colors with a little more color payoff.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Bare Escentuals - Buxom Lashliner in Suede
Julesbait 5/1/2011 11:29:00 AM
Let me start by saying that I did not purchase this liner in hopes of it conditioning my lashes. Seems too gimmicky for something like an eyeliner. (If it did that for you, more power to you.) I bought this just for the color...a nice, dark, rich brown. Just shy of being black. At first, all was well. The texture was thick and like a putty, yet still went on pretty smoothly. Good color payoff. Pretty good wear, though it can smudge a bit if too much is applied and you don't use a primer. I bought this in February. By March, it had dried out a bit. Now, it is almost worthless. I have to practically dig the stuff out of the jar with my brush, and it comes out clumpy. I always close the lid tightly and store the jar upside-down. So I don't know if I got a bad jar or what. Regardless, I won't be repurchasing. Even brand new, it is no better than the Maybelline cream liner, and certainly doesn't hold a candle to MAC.
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Eye Shadow -BeneFit Cosmetics - Cowgirl Eye Shadow in Buckle Bunny
Julesbait 1/31/2011 12:30:00 PM
If it's possible to have a HG e/s color, Buckle Bunny is IT for me! It's a unique, mid-toned rosey taupe color with a soft shimmer. It's perfect for daytime all over the lid. Great pigmentation, soft and blendable...just perfect! It's very, very similar to Laura Mercier Rose e/s, but Buckle Bunny is a little deeper in color, and slightly more shimmery. At $18 a pop, it's a bit pricey for an e/s single, in my opinion. But, I LOVE this shadow, and would repurchase a million times over!! Worth every last penny!
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Crème -Lacura - Beauty Foundation
Julesbait 12/11/2010 12:04:00 PM
Yet another product I would have never tried if not for MUA. This is a true gem! I have neutral, light-medium skin, and I got it in 20 Beige. PERFECT match. No strong pink/yellow tones that I can detect, so I think this will work for a wide variety of skin tones. It's very creamy, blends easily, medium coverage, and leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth with a natural velvety finish. Really, really lovely. The wear is pretty good. I have normal/combo skin, slightly oily in the T-zone, and it will hold up through a full workday. Though much longer than that, and it will start to look splotchy a bit. For a measly $3.49 at Aldi, it's worth every penny and then some!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Wet 'n' Wild - Color Icon Blush - Berry Shimmer
Julesbait 12/11/2010 11:45:00 AM
I wouldn't normally have given Berry Shimmer a second look in the store. In the pan, it looks like an unremarkable dusty brick red with enough gold shimmer to give it a slightly orange cast. Certainly nothing I would call "berry" and I figured it would turn muddy. But after seeing the reviews here, and given how cheap WnW is, I bought it anyway. Good choice. This blush is fan-freakin'-tastic! To say that it's very pigmented is a bit of an understatement, really. It's ridiculously CRAZY pigmented. I barely touch my brush to the surface, and the amount is perfect for my light-medium neutral skin. If you're very, very fair, you might want to pass on this one. But I think most anyone else could make it work. It gives such a gorgeous reddish-pink flush to the cheeks. I especially like to wear it with my Clinique Black Honey l/s and very little on the eye. Great natural look! The only bad thing about it is that the packaging is cheap (it's WnW, after all) and the blush itself is very powdery and soft, so I imagine this will be quite prone to breakage. Perhaps that's by design. The blush is so pigmented and there's so much of it, the only reason you'd need to buy another in your lifetime is if you broke it. And if that happens, I will buy another. Happily.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Revlon - PhotoReady Makeup
Julesbait 12/27/2009 4:41:00 PM
After reading so much about this foundation on the m/u board, I was once again sucked in by the hype and paid full price for this stuff at CVS (along with the powder, $13.99 each...ouch). And though the hype has been crazy with this product, I still didn't have very high hopes for it, to be honest. I'm pretty oily and figured that this would make my face an oil slick within two hours. But what the hell, it's only money, right? I have neutral, light-medium skin, and I wear Colorstay (the gold standard by which I judge all other foundations) in 180 Sand Beige. I chose PhotoReady in 003 Shell. It's probably a tad bit on the light side, but it's okay. I love that it has a pump. Wish more companies would do this. The foundation is very thin and liquidy, and it also dries very quickly. So I find it best to work in small areas. And I haven't had problems with it caking or anything like that. At best, this is a medium coverage foundation. It evens everything out and will cover blemishes just enough to have them not glare obnoxiously at the world. My main skin problem is big pores in my T-zone and old acne scarring on the sides of my face (the ice pick kind). On its own, PhotoReady did nothing to hide those problems. If anything, they were emphasized. So at first, I hated this foundation just for that reason. But I tried it again with my favorite primer (UD Pore Perfecting) and it looked flawless. (A bigger testament to the primer, I guess.) As for the luminosity and shimmer, the main reason I was afraid of this, this stuff works a hell of a lot better on my skin than I was expecting. I've looked at my face in every kind of light, and haven't seen the shimmer. (Maybe a fleck every now and then, but nothing obnoxious.) It does have more of a "glow" than Colorstay, but it's not an oil slick glow, either. It actually works pretty well with my oily skin. It does cling to dry spots, so I can't imagine this working very well for people with chronically dry skin. For anyone who wears it, I would suggest good exfoliation and moisturizing first. It wears through the day pretty well, too. Though it's not as long-wearing as Colorstay, it's holds its own through a solid 8 hour day. Basically, the better and more "normal" your skin is, the better PhotoReady will work for you. As for me, Colorstay will remain my #1, because of the coverage and because I don't have to have a primer with it. But I'll keep PR around for sure.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Maybelline - SuperStay Makeup - New Version
Julesbait 11/23/2009 5:46:00 PM
I was hesitant at first to try this foundation for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I remember the Superstay Silky stuff that had the primer, and it was an awful, greasy mess on me. Also, I've had problems getting good color matches with Maybelline foundations. They've all seemed to be way too pink or too yellow for my very neutral skin. But being the sucker that I am, I grabbed a bottle anyway. I got 03 Classic Ivory, which is what I usually get in the other foundations, though they've all been a tad too pink. But this one is a MUCH better match. The consistency is fairly thick, but it's pretty easy to blend as long as you don't dawdle. It dries pretty quickly. I LOVE the coverage this gives...more than just medium, but not so heavy that it looks caked on. (Well, unless you DO cake it on, I guess. I use a fairly light hand with it.) I really love that it smoothes over my pores, even without a primer. It has a nice, matte finish that doesn't really need powder. I do have two big gripes about this foundation that keep me from giving it a full 5 lippies. First of all, this is NOWHERE NEAR transfer-resistant and definitely WILL NOT last 24 hours. At the end of a regular work day, there's certainly still makeup on my face, but it's starting to get blotchy and in need of some serious touching up. And second, the packaging. Now normally I don't dock a product points just because I don't like the packaging. But seriously, some clueless man who's never used makeup in his life HAD to have designed this bottle. It's pretty tall and thin. And given how thick the makeup is, there's going to come a point where it's going to be a giant PITA to get the stuff out. If ever there was a product that needed a pump, this is it! So overall, I give Maybelline an "A" for effort with this foundation. I like it enough to finish the bottle and maybe even repurchase in the future. But it surely wouldn't break my heart if it was reformulated to last longer, and was repackaged into something more practical.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Primer/ Corrector -Urban Decay - Complexion Primer Potion - Pore Perfecting
Julesbait 11/15/2009 8:55:00 AM
Wow, I cannot believe the poor reviews for this product! This stuff is like GOLD for me! I'm 35 with oily skin and ginormous pores on and around my nose...well, in my entire T-zone really, but especially the nose. I got a sample of this primer from Sephora about 2 months ago, and I'm STILL using it. It takes so little of this product to be effective, and I'm wondering if the reason some folks here haven't liked it is because they're using way too much. The consistency is thick and sticky like a glue, and it will look white if you use too much. I take a tiny amount on my fingertip, and I pat/rub it into my skin. (More patting than rubbing.) Then I let it dry completely before applying foundation. My makeup looks smooth and flawless, not a pore to be found! And it stays that way pretty much all day. (I do still need a powder touch-up midday.) It's worked with all of my foundations so far...TMs, liquids, and powders...excpet for my mineral foundations, for whatever reason. (But then again, I've fallen out of love with minerals anyway, so take this for what it's worth.) At $30 a tube, this stuff is pricey. But for as little product as you need, it will last for-freakin'-EVER, so it will be money well spent. I'm definitely going for the full-size when my sample finally runs out!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Cover Girl - Lash Blast Length
Julesbait 11/10/2009 12:32:00 PM
I love a good lengthening mascara, so I thought for sure this would be a winner. Yeah, not so much. I really have to pile the stuff on and work with it a long time to get any significant length. At best, the end result is lashes that look like long natural lashes. Which is good for some people, I guess. But personally, I want a little more "oomph". The original Lash Blast will give you just as much length as this one will, only with that "oomph". On the plus side, this stuff doesn't flake or smudge, and the packaging is much more sleek and easier to handle than the original LB. But that's not near enough to make me want to repurchase.
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Eyeliner -Sonia Kashuk - Dramatically Defining Long Wear Gel Liner
Julesbait 6/11/2009 11:09:00 PM
I was thrilled to see that SK is now offering a gel liner. It's the only type I wear, and I've not been thrilled with the drugstore offerings so far. The price isn't bad...$9.99, which is about on par with the L'Oreal HIP ones (if not a bit cheaper). I picked it up in Cocoa, a dark rich matte brown. The color payoff is excellent. The formula is very smooth and creamy and it glides right on, no problem. I've been wearing this liner all week in the awful heat and humidity, working in a non-air conditioned environment, and there's not been a smear or a smudge. Wears like a champ. So far, I'm completely sold on this stuff. I'll just have to see how long it takes to dry out in the pot, which has been the downfall for me with other drugstore brands. I also hope SK adds more colors. The only other ones I saw were black and indigo. So if you're a gel liner junkie like me, run out to Target and get your hands on one of these little gems. You'll be quite pleased!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No