Blush -Josie Maran Cosmetics - Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee
Nancygia 6/15/2013 6:39:00 PM
I bought this in Poppy Paradise and Honeymoon Honey. I was concerned about the latter on my fair skin, but it is very pretty. I had previously tried many different cream blushes--NARS multiples, bobbi brown, tarte, stila, YSL, but these are definitely my favorites. The colors are beautiful and they feel cool going on. I dot and blend, dot and blend, until I have the color saturation I want. Can't wait to try more colors.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
BB Cream -Clinique - Moisture Surge CC Cream SPF 30
Nancygia 6/15/2013 4:02:00 PM
I was excited to try this but was nervous about finding the right color. A lovely Clinique rep at a department store told me to get the light-medium. I am pretty fair and do not sit in the sun, but I figured she should know and purchased it. The color is too dark and a little too orangy, but possibly not enough to return it. But I will be returning it for a different reason. It accentuates dry patches, even though I make sure to exfoliate thoroughly while prepping my skin, and the oily areas have breakthrough oil in less than 2 hours.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -NARS - Pure Matte - Bangkok
Nancygia 6/1/2013 10:14:00 AM
I really like NARS. I think their products are good quality. However, this color looks horrible on me. My natural lip color is not pretty--very pale pink with a whitish cast, so I have to be careful when choosing a lipcolor. This one is too light and accentuated dry patches. It is very matte and I don't find it comfortable to wear. It has good staying power, which is why I didn't give it a 1. Colorwise, I find it to be a nudish peach, not pink, but that could just be how it looks on me.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Masks -Skinn Cosmetics - "Purify and Replenish" Mask Duo
Nancygia 5/21/2013 2:38:00 PM
This comes as a set of two masks, to be used one after the other. The instructions are the same for both--apply a thick layer of the mask, leave on 10-15 minutes, rinse. The first mask is called the vacuum deep pore cleansing mask, and is the reason that I bought the set. It is yellow, and has the texture of frosting mixed with gritty pieces. I have many, many blackheads on my nose and was hoping this would help to remove them. To say the least, I was disappointed. It doesn't do a blessed thing. All of the blackheads that I started with are still there after I wash this off. It doesn't even make them easier to extract. The second mask is called the wrinkle soak age-defying hydrating mask. This one is pink, smells like watermelons, and has more of a typical mask texture. Is it me or is that is just a weird name? Why would I want to soak my wrinkles (assuming I had any?) I like the fragrance, but this one burns. The first time I used it, I expected my face to be bright red. It fortunately wasn't, but it doesn't do anything either. So the bottom line is that having to use two masks back to back is too time-consuming, the masks themselves are very messy, and though they don't do anything terrible like break me out, they don't do anything positive either.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Ole Henriksen - Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil
Nancygia 5/16/2013 10:30:00 AM
I have to admit that I'm surprised by the positive reviews. First, the smell is revolting, like fish with a hint of citrus, and it doesn't fade. I can't honestly say I would have been able to get past the smell if that was the only problem. I have sensitive skin and it gets very red--it has been diagnosed as mild rosacea but I don't actually get any pimples or a rash, just bright red. And this made my face beet red every time I used it. I even used it just on one side of my face as a test, and that side of my face was beet red and the other side looked normal.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments (Eye) -Shiseido - Benefiance Concentrated Anti-wrinkle Eye Cream
Nancygia 4/18/2013 4:41:00 PM
I have had this for several months, and thought I liked it. Liked, didn't love. So I made a travel-friendly jar of it and took it with me on a short trip to Florida. I came back with what I thought was a milia, but turned out to be a pimple, along my top lash line. Hurt like heck extracting it, but at least it wasn't a milia. I was frustrated, because I didn't know what I had used to cause it--was it eye primer, shadow, etc.? So I used the eye cream again to start eliminating the potential culprits and got another pimple on my eyelid. So I won't be using this up or purchasing it again. It didn't do much anyway.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -MAC - Cream Soda
Nancygia 4/18/2013 3:03:00 PM
I bought this on ebay and did very well on my purchase price, despite the fact that this limited edition blush is now completely sold out. I wish I could say, don't bother, but I can't. It's amazing, but I would say if your skin tone is even medium, I wouldn't bother. It won't show up at all. But for those of us who are fair to light, it is beautiful and subtle.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Bumble & Bumble - Bumble and Bumble Creme de Coco Masque
Nancygia 4/14/2013 7:47:00 PM
I bought this because it had better reviews than the mending masque or the quenching masque. I love the coconut smell of this masque. It doesn’t work miracles but my hair is definitely softer after I use it so I recommend it and will most likely purchase it again.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Bumble & Bumble - Quenching Complex
Nancygia 4/14/2013 7:45:00 PM
I only use this on Mondays and Fridays, and use mending complex on the other days. Quenching complex smells amazing, and seems to be thicker and more concentrated than the mending complex, which is why I only use it twice a week. It can leave a noticeable residue on my hair which makes it difficult to style so I make sure to use it sparingly.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Bumble & Bumble - Mending Complex
Nancygia 4/14/2013 7:42:00 PM
I bought mending complex as well as mending shampoo, mending conditioner, quenching complex and the crème de coco masque. I was at the point of finally accepting that my oily scalp just didn't make me a candidate for "co-washing" my hair, notwithstanding how dry the ends of my hair are, and I was ready to take charge. This definitely is thin, so I shake it before pouring a dime size amount into my hands. I run it through the bottom 50% of my hair only. I think it is a good overall leave in conditioner: it doesn’t leave a waxy residue or make my hair look flat.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Bumble & Bumble - Mending Conditioner
Nancygia 4/14/2013 3:42:00 PM
I recently bought the mending shampoo, mending conditioner, mending complex, quenching complex and the crème de coco masque. The first two were difficult for me because I wash my hair every day, and kept believing I would find a drugstore brand that would do the job well. That never happened, so I finally realized that as expensive as these products are, you get what you pay for. The conditioner is my least favorite of my B&B haul. I put it on, let it soak in for a couple of minutes, comb through, then rinse carefully. I have lots of hair, but it is fine, which makes it very prone to tangles. This only does a decent job of detangling, but it doesn’t weigh my hair down and has a pleasant fragrance so I am happy with it.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Bumble & Bumble - Mending Shampoo
Nancygia 4/14/2013 3:00:00 PM
I recently bought the mending shampoo, mending conditioner, mending complex, quenching complex and the crème de coco masque. The first two were difficult for me because I wash my hair every day, and kept believing I would find a drugstore brand that would do the job well. That never happened, so I finally realized that as expensive as these products are, you get what you pay for. The shampoo does a good job removing the daily dirt and grime from my scalp but doesn’t suck the life out of it like a clarifying shampoo would. It smells nice, but the fragrance does not linger. Overall, it is a very good quality shampoo. I bought the liter bottle from B&B's website. They have free, fast shipping. Beware of purchasing elsewhere--between the shampoo and the conditioner, I almost made the mistake of purchasing it from a website that charged almost $30 more for the two products!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Unlisted Brand - priti NYC nail polish in California Bluebell
Nancygia 4/12/2013 4:25:00 PM
OK, so this is my third review of a product from Priti NYC, all of them negative. You may think I have an axe to grind against them, or they did something to anger me, but that is not the case. They were actually very friendly and polite and kept me apprised of the status of my order, which I received in around 5 days. I just wasn't happy with anything I bought and spent a lot of money ( I purchased nail polish remover, base/top coat, and 3 polishes) and there were only 3 reviews of their products on MUA so I thought it was my responsiblity to share my impressions. So back to the nail polish. I had been looking for a periwinkle blue nail color, and thought this one would fit the bill. The color is actually very pretty. But the polish was impossible to apply. I would be painting a toenail, and the brush would have polish on it, and only part of the area I just painted actually had polish on it. It took so long to polish each toenail that 3 blobs of polish wound up on my tile floor. So after taking forever to apply 3 coats, I almost gave up and took it off, but I decided to put top coat on so that all of my time wouldn't have been for nothing. I can't say it looks good, but I suppose it looks better than my bare toenails. However, it definitely wasn't worth the effort and I will be throwing the polish out, notwithstanding the $13.50 pricetag.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Top/Base Coats -Unlisted Brand - priti NYC nail polish 2 in 1 base coat
Nancygia 4/12/2013 4:11:00 PM
First of all, despite the name, this is a 2 in 1 base and top coat. I had to keep checking the company's website to make sure. (Their website is absolutely horrible--very bare bones, searches usually don't work, almost no information). Anyway, I suppose I am spoiled by my favorite Seche Vite top coat, but I only used 1 coat of polish, and it took 1 hour and 20 minutes for it to even feel surface dry. That night, which was easily 6 hours later, I felt my sheets kind of mush against my nails, and thought, oh no. When I looked in the morning, all of my nails had fabric imprints on them. That was $13.50 down the drain! Clearly the 4 positive reviews for it are from employees or their families. This stuff is crap.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Nails -Unlisted Brand - priti NYC soy nail polish remover
Nancygia 4/12/2013 4:05:00 PM
My purchase on the priti NYC website started with my desire to purchase this nail polish remover. I bought a bunch of other items (reviews to follow), thinking this was an eco-friendly company, so how can I go wrong? I have problems with regular nail polish remover--it feels like someone punched me in the fingers after using it, so I sucked up the ridiculous $22.50 pricetag for a 4 oz. bottle in the lemongrass scent. I can definitely say that, after using this, my fingers did not hurt, though it doesn't really smell like lemongrass (or nail polish remover for that matter). However, the polish remover is extremely oily and it does not remove some polishes well, though it might just be the polishes and isn't a reflection on the remover. It is also difficult to tell whether the polish is coming off because it is so oily. The residue was even there after washing my hands thoroughly, so I really couldn't polish them again right away. I am really not sure if I would buy this again because of the negatives but the positives do outweigh the negatives for those of us who are sensitive to regular (even acetone-free) removers. I will definitely use this right before a shower in the future as well.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No