Styling Products -Living Proof - Straight Making No Frizz Styling Cream for Medium to Thick
SandraWS 7/30/2011 4:00:00 PM
My hair is more medium than thick, wavy/curly and prone to poofing and frizzing. I applied this to wet (not soaking wet) hair after my spray leave-in and used the blow dryer as I usually do with a big round brush.I used my flat iron to touch up areas that were not so perfect. The process was not easier, it was not harder. The results are OK. My hair seems dull and has a texture that is not as smooth or silky as I usally get. On humid days, there may be some over all improvement, but it's not remarkable. For the price, it should be remarkable. So over all, no harm done, but no win either. Will not purchase again.
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Conditioner -Moroccanoil - Moisture Repair Conditioner
SandraWS 4/21/2011 9:16:00 PM
This works for me! My hair is naturally curly about 3a. Over the last couple of years, it has become less curly and more wavy with more frizz. It had become difficult and annoying to style it in a curly way. That was a hard change for me as my curls were always so reliable! I got a keratin treatment and never looked back. The salon I go to uses Moroccan products and thatwas how I discovered them. They make my hair feel great and do not compromise the keratin treatment. My hair has superb shine, feels and looks healthy and stays smooth until it's time to wash it again. I blow dry and sometimes flat iron and sometimes just let it air dry. No matter what I do, the results have been the same .. nice glossy smooth hair. Ilike that the products do not weigh my fine hair down. I use the shampoo and the conditioner followed by a few drops of the oil on towel blotted hair. I use no additional styling products. As a curly, this was incredible to me as I had always used a big cocktail of products to get good curly results. Bottom line, the products are kind to my hair, I rather like the scent, and the results are really good. I'll keep on buying!
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Cleansers -Eve Lom - Cleanser
SandraWS 10/31/2008 1:50:00 PM
This is a colossal waste of your hard earned money! The main ingredients are mineral oil and cocoa butter, both are inexpenive ingredients and can be found in many low cost formulations. Mineral oil will certainly remove makeup etc and coco butter is moisturizing. The good news stops here. This product contains 2 types of parabens and eucalyptus and clove oil, both well known skin irritants. Product also contains lanolin which is something that can be an allergin in those sensitive to wool. Given this set of ingredients and the recommended cleansing procedure, I can't imagine how any one escapes irritations! To use a rough muslin cloth with hot water with the irritating essential oils is hardly a recipe for taking care of your skin. If you want a washable cleansing cream try one of Ponds and save yourself a lot of money.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Bronzers -Laura Mercier - Mineral Foundation Bronzer SPF 15
SandraWS 6/25/2008 10:50:00 AM
This is a great bronzer! It's lightweight on the skin and blends beautifully. The color is warm and natural without an excess of shimme or glitter. Skin has a lovely glow after using. The packaging is great, as with the rest of the mineral line. The holes in the container top allow easy and non-messy usage. I wear this alone over the mineral primer or over the mineral foundation. Either way, it does not settle into lines or imperfections. I use a skunk brush to apply. My coloring is fair-medium. I wear Rich Vanilla LM Mineral Foundation or Becca "Nude".
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Bronzers -Laura Mercier - warm bronze mineral bronzing powder
SandraWS 6/22/2008 8:39:00 PM
This is a great bronzer! It's lightweight on the skin and blends beautifully. The color is warm and natural without an excess of shimmer. Skin has a lovely glow after using. The packaging is great, as with the rest of the mineral line. The holes in the container top allow easy and non-messy usage. I wear this alone over the mineral primer or over the mineral foundation. Either way, it does not settle into lines or imperfections. I use a skunk brush to apply. My coloring is fair-medium. I wear Rich Vanilla LM Mineral Foundation or Becca "Nude". To say that a product is not good because it was too dark for your coloring, does this good product an injustice!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Laura Mercier - Eye Colour Pot - solid gold
SandraWS 5/31/2008 1:41:00 PM
I got this in Solid Gold along with the dual ended brush. I love the color! A light gold that is just shimmery enough. It makes my golden green eyes look even greener. I did a couple of experiments with application. I used my regular shadow brushes (trish mcevoy) with OK results. I felt the application was a little heavy, but the end result was nice. Good depth of color and sheen without being glittery. The next time I used the product, I used the LM brush. It was really easy to get just the right amount of color with this brush and I liked the results more than with my trish brushes. In either case, I did not have any creasing issues. I did apply over a thin layer of Paula Dorf primer both times. The packaging is nice with the complimentary textures all in one place. I like this product and will consider the bronze color should I ever finish this one! ALl in all, I would reccomend this for a summery golden glow.
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Powder -Laura Mercier - Mineral Powder SPF 15
SandraWS 4/7/2008 4:16:00 PM
This is an excellent mineral foundation. I was curious to try this but reluctant as I had not liked the finish with BE mineral makeup. I found that to have too much "glow" and a heavier look than I would want. My HG foundation for a number of years now has been Becca. It's light and sheer. I do not need heavy coverage. My skin is in good condition, not prone to breakouts, and not extremely sensitive. My overall skintone is pretty even. I like a light foundation to make it look completely even and flawless, while minimizing the look of any small imperfections. I rarely need concealer. So, on to Laura Mercier. This foundation does just wat I need it to do. I open the sliding cover to expose only one hole of the perforated cover and shake a small amount into the lid. That small amount is enough to give my skin an amazingly beautiful finish. Natural, glowy but not shiny and perfectly even. It does not settle into any fine lines or into pores. I do use either MAC Prep & Prime or Laura Mercier Mineral Primer first and I do finish with the Laura Mercier Mineral Finishing powder. I use a Trish McAvoy Large powder brush for application. Kabuki type brushes gave a too heavy coverage for me. If you are looking for a mineral foundation that will give you a subtle glow and a really perfect looking complexion, I would recommend this one any time! Ilove it and will definitely repurchase. I am an NC30, Becca "Nude" and Rich Vanilla is a good color match.
Editted to add: For really perfect & lasting finish, a light spray of Fix+ (or your favorite equivalent) sets everything and makes the makeup flawless. Truly like your skin but better!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Lumene - Lift Touch Rejuvenating Cleansing Oil
SandraWS 12/11/2007 4:22:00 PM
Love! Works as well as any of the higher priced cleasning oils and does an excellent job removing face and eye makeup. My skin is comfortable after using this. Clean but not tight or dry. Has a slight fragrance but it is not offensive and not irritating. Definitely HG for me. My skin type: Normal to slightly dry in the winter. Tends to be a little sensitive.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Paula's Choice - One Step Face Cleanser-Normal to Dry Skin
SandraWS 12/11/2007 3:44:00 PM
My skin type: normal to slighly dry in cold weather. Tends to be somewhat sensitive A mild and low lathering cleanser. Gentle, but my skin does feel rather tight after using it. As for a one step, no it is not. I do not wear heavy or waterproof makeup. The cleanser removes foundation etc, but not mascara. Paula suggests using a washcloth for tougher jobs. That's just too harsh for me!!! Too much rubbing and tugging to get a job done. Gets points for no added scent or color and a reasonable price. I'll stick with Lumene cleansing oil for real makeup removal.
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Treatments -Oscar Blandi - Ancora Colore Color Conditioning System - Rosso
SandraWS 8/19/2006 11:06:00 AM
Sephora's Description:
Ancora Colore is a unique, advanced color conditioning system that deposits color onto the hair to brighten, highlight, and add shine. Prima del Colore is a pre-rinse that prepares the hair for optimal penetration of Colore, a conditioner that refreshes its color. When used in tandem, your color will last longer and your hair will look shinier and more vibrant than ever before.
Each set contains an 8 oz Prima del Colore and an 8 oz Ancora Colore Conditioner, to fit your hair color
$33 for the set of two products
My Review:
Pre Treat: Two step process as described above. The pre-color seems like a light detangler and is supposed to pH balance hair for acceptance of the color step. This comes in a hard plastic genie bottle that is impossible to squeeze making the product impossible to dispense through the tiny hole in the cap. Unscrew entire cap to use. Use a generous amount for mid length, previously colored hair. Smell is slightly perfume-y, but not bad. It did de-tangle and left no coated feeling etc on hair.
Color step: Attempt to dispense incredibly thick product with pump dispenser. Will not come up through the pump. Unscrew entire pump mechanism and try to shake product into hand. Time consuming and difficult. Once again, a fairly large quantity it needed. Same perfume-y scent. Slippery hands caused bottle to fly out of hand many times during dispensing project. I used a heat cap and let this process for 5 minutes.
Results: Negligible. I did not notice any particular brightening of my current color (now 6 weeks old). My hair felt OK. I did need to use my usual leave in after the treatment.
End game: A lot of time and effort for extremely subtle results. I will be returning this to Sephora. Everyone's mileage varies with any product, of course, but I can not recommmend and would definitely not repurchase. Gets a 1 for at least causing no harm.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -NARS - Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bahama
SandraWS 7/26/2006 4:24:00 PM
This is an HG product for me. Described as Pinkish Brown, the description fits it well. For my (FFF-MMM) neutral-warm coloring, this is a perfect everyday, natural color. I like this when I wear more true neutral colors and I like TOrtola when I'm wearing warmer tones. I find these to be long lasting. I like that they are quick and easy to apply and I actually get a lot of mileage out of these pencils. They have no strong scent or flavor. I've already re-purchased once, and I'm sure I'll keep replacing.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -NARS - Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Tortola
SandraWS 7/26/2006 4:22:00 PM
This is an HG product for me. Described as Warm Spice, the description fits it well. For my (FFF-MMM) neutral-warm coloring, this is a perfect everyday, natural color. I find these to be long lasting. I like that they are quick and easy to apply and I actually get a lot of mileage out of these pencils. They have no strong scent or flavor. I've already re-purchased once, and I'm sure I'll keep replacing.
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Blush -Shu Uemura - Glow on Brown 76
SandraWS 7/21/2006 9:52:00 AM
Got this in a swap, lucky me!! This review is for Glow On P Brown 76 (assuming that's this one!)
It's a wonderful warm peach/brown (very pigmented) blush with a subtle shimmer. The texture is silky and blendable. Could be used as a bronzer as well as a blush. I prefer it for blush since I don't like all over shimmer. It gives such a healthy glow! Dress it up with warm eyes and lips or wear simply with just mascara and coral gloss. Perfect no matter how you choose to wear it. If I ever use this up, I would certainly get another.
For reference, I'm FFF-MMM, neutral to warm, green eyes, auburn hair.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Unlisted Brand - Katie B faux lashes
SandraWS 7/20/2006 8:36:00 PM
$12.50 + $2.50 shipping.
.46 oz
Tried this based on board recs and I'm glad I did! It is a great mascara for close to drugstore prices.
Coneshaped brush is not too big, holds the right amount of product, and does not have to be wiped or scraped off.
It adds terrific length and volume. Does not clump even with multiple coats. Lashes are well defined and soft looking. No spider legs!
Did not flake, smudge or make raccoon eyes for the entire day! Water resistant and best removed with an oil based mascara remover, but not overly difficult to remove.
Nice and black and truly, truly holds a curl! I'll definitely re-purchase.
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Palettes -Bobbi Brown - Chocolate Eye Palette
SandraWS 7/3/2006 7:19:00 PM
New for Fall 2006. Comes in a chocolate colored case with a double ended shadow liner brush. $48.00
As always, the texture and blendability of the shadows is silky smooth.
Colors are:
Champagne Truffle Shimmer Wash: Medium Beige w/soft pink undertones
Caramel Toffee Shimmer Wash: Light Golden Beige
Frappe: Light Tan (matte)
Cacao Shimmer Wash: Chocolate Brown
Stone: Deep Brown (matte)
Chocolate: Milk Chocolate Brown (matte)
Bone: Off White (matte)
It's a great palette for me. I love neutrals and I like shimmer that's as subtle as BB's. The mix of colors is nice. The browns go from the inevitable bone, to yellowed browns and on to true chocolate. The pigmentation is a little sheer, but I prefer it that way. I'd rather build color up a little than get a dark application right out of the gate. It's nice to create your own color gradations.
However, if you're someone who has a lot of BB, or just a lot of neutrals in general, you could probably pass on this easily. If you are new to BB, it's a great way to try her version of neutrals. I'm happy with it!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No