Eyeliner -NYX - Liquid Eye Liner
TheBexExpress 5/10/2011 5:49:00 AM
I love nyx, but this is a bit rubbish. I've got the brown, which is more of a brown-black, and on the plus side it's nice and opaque. It does take far too long to dry, and I end up having to correct it every time- but it flakes off throughout the day, which is inexcusable. This is what I get for being a cheapskate.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -MAC - Love Alert- Dazzleglass
TheBexExpress 4/15/2011 9:05:00 AM
This is the first Dazzleglass I've ever owned, and by far the shimmeriest make-up item, baring eyeshadows. Even with shadows, I usually prefer a matte finish, and matte or creme on lips and nails, so this is a big departure. I wouldn't wear this on its own, but I LOVE it over lipstick, especially reds- I wear red l/s almost every day, and if I want to dress it up for nights, a coat of this has serious punch. I've worn it over Ruby Woo, and Illamasqua Encounter. It's a bit sticky, like all MAC glass, but I find that helps with the longevity.
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Lipstick -Illamasqua - Encounter
TheBexExpress 4/15/2011 8:36:00 AM
I can't believe people aren't digging this. I'm a long-time MAC matte red user, and I got this on sale- I am really enjoying it. I own Russian Red and Ruby Woo- the former is a tiny bit too dark on my skin, and comes out a bit gothic, and the latter is the perfect colour. But even though I don't usually care too much about drying formulas, Ruby Woo's 'retro matte' formula is actually making my lips flake right off my face- I pretty much wear it every day. I find that Encounter is a very very similar colour to Ruby Woo, but is much more similar in formula to Russian Red- creamier, less drying, and with that slightest sheen. While I still want to wear Ruby Woo, I can use this on days where my lips are in worse shape and get more or less the same result, and it's a great lipstick in its own right. The reason why this is getting a 4 rather than a 5 is my unchallenged preference for Ruby Woo- this won't be my everyday red. But it's gorgeous.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Revlon - Black Lingerie
TheBexExpress 1/31/2011 3:12:00 AM
I own about 7 Revlon polishes (people just keep buying them for me) and I cannot fathom people who say they like them. They are almost invariably thin, watery, streaky, slow-drying and short-lived. The best luck I've had with them was with glittery ones, so the black creme one didn't stand much of a chance. Revlon has a really good colour range, and this really is an amazing creme black finish. It started to chip and peel of in DRAMATIC quantities- the day after application. Not exaggerating, I couldn't believe it. And it takes too many coats to get to the finish in the first place. Seriously, I love Revlon products but the polishes just SUCK.
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Eye Shadow -NYX - Mellow Yellow
TheBexExpress 1/7/2011 8:13:00 AM
Love this! I paid roughly AU$5 for this shadow and it's great. Got it to do a Beyonce-in-Telephone look, applied this wet first then dry over, just over Lemon Aid and foundation, and it was definitely true to pan. Nice, matte, slightly warmer bright yellow. Applied really nicely wet, a little uneven but nice with the dry over top. I got a lot of compliments and immediately bought more. I also like the quilted surface of the pan (four raised squares) because it helps me keep track of where I used a wet brush and where I didn't! I was considering some pretty expensive bright shadows (not experienced in this area, need basics), but I'm sticking with these.
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Polishes -OPI - lucky lucky lavender
TheBexExpress 12/22/2010 7:24:00 AM
I just got this done in a manicure, and it's a lot more pink than lavender as suggested by the name and the in-bottle colour. It's very much a tan person colour too and I do not like to look tan at all, I cultivate my paleness a bit. So it's not the kind of colour I like and I definitely won't be buying it, but if you like to look a little more tan, this is probably more for you. Rumple's Wigglin' is my OPI light purpley colour.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Tartan Tale: Smokey Thrillseekers Pigment Tin
TheBexExpress 12/13/2010 4:17:00 AM
I picked up Smokey Thrillseekers because I have never had MAC pigments before! This is such an adventure! I really recommend this to a pigment beginner, because it's a nice range of pigments that can go day or night. I'll break it down: > Naked is a nice sparkly beige-y shade, the sparkle is goldish and while this wouldn't show up at all on darker-but-caucasian skintones, on a pale girl (NW15) this is lovely as a highlighter or just on the lids. This has become a regular daily colour on it's own already, gorgeous but not too obvious. >Jigs and Jives is the only LE product in here, and it's a pretty, cool, shimmery taupe. All I've done with this so far is popping it in the crease over naked for a day look, and that looked great. I think I'll get a fair bit of use out of it. >Blue Brown is this crazy brick red-brown with a blue shimmer. I've only brushed it over some sheer lip gloss so far, which gave me a really neat vampy brown red look. On my eyes I'll be wearing this over dark bases to bring out the blue I think. I'll probably also use Dark Soul then too, which is a charcoal-black pigment. >Blackened Red glitter is pretty, although I'm a bit nervous about using it on my eyes. I think I'll wear this on my lips too. Everyone knows that the pigments are high quality. They are a little tricky to work with at first though. Half the time when I use naked on my lids it looks great, and the other half it looks patchy and awful. But that's just me! I'm so happy with this purchace, as it's a very economical way to try out the pigments.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Lancome - Hypnose
TheBexExpress 12/13/2010 3:57:00 AM
I went and got Hypnose after having used waterproof L'Extreme for a tube. I was looking at a counter and mentioned that I was using it, and the SA was all well HYPNOSE is lengthening AND volumising. So I thought what the heck. Firstly, this hell of holds a curl. No doubting that. I put this on at about 9 am, it's 6pm now and they're still looking great. Also stays put, obviously. I just don't like this as much as I do L'extreme, although I feel that it may have more to do with what I like in a mascara. I feel that if my lashes look clumpy, it looks clumsy and less graceful. And Hypnose, unless I wipe the brush in a big way, looks that way to me. It's not clumpy exactly, but it looks like MASCARA. I was asked if I were wearing fake lashes sometimes while wearing L'Extreme, and that's the look I like. So perhaps I prefer lengthening, darkening and a tad of thickness rather than this. If I wipe the brush I get a better amount of thickness, but it's not as lengthening or fluttery. So I won't be buying this again. I'm still giving it 4 lippies though, because I just happen to like another one better- this is certainly a good mascara, just not HG.
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Lip Gloss -Illamasqua - Temper
TheBexExpress 10/31/2010 6:42:00 AM
I really, really love this gloss. As previously mentioned it is a blood orange-esque shade, a bright orange with a fair bit of red. This is the best lipgloss I own- it's super-opaque, and really looks more like a really glossy lipstick when first applied. The glossiness fades out after a while, but the colour is very long lasting. It doesn't hold op to eating or drinking, and I didn't really expect it to, but it also transfers REALLY badly, which is more of a problem than if it were more transparent. This loses a lippy for two pretty minor reasons. Firstly, while the packaging looks really cool, it's a complete pain in the ass. I rarely have the time to do anything other than apply it from the tube, which just sort of pushes it around your lips and makes a mess. I suppose it was designed to be applied with a brush, but that's no good for speedy lunch break top-ups. I'm having to use my fingers, and it makes a huge orange mess. The other problem is that when this fades, it generally fades out nicely, but it leaves this really gross rubbery orange ring on the inside of my lips. I didn't notice it at first, and when I looked in the mirror I had this line of gross orange gunk! It's the kind of weirdness you get from bad long-lasting lipsticks. But it comes straight off of course, so it's not major. Still pretty much HG for me- I've been wearing it about every second day!
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Polishes -OPI - Cajun Shrimp
TheBexExpress 10/28/2010 8:48:00 AM
What a completely fabulous colour! I picked this out when I was getting a manicure, and immediately hunted it down. It's a great pinky-corally red (It reminds me of Revlon Matte Strawberry Suede lipstick, which was magnificent and is now discontinued). I love red nails, and this is perfect as a summery equivalent. The formula has been great so far, with no chipping yet (two days), great opacity, everything you expect from OPI. LOVE IT.
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Liquid -Clinique - Superbalanced Foundation
TheBexExpress 10/22/2010 5:21:00 AM
I didn't actually purchase this- my sister bought it, and ended up giving it to me because although she felt it matched at the counter, it was the wrong colour. For reference I'm wearing NW15 now, and she's way paler than I am. This is actually a shade too dark for me in alabaster, and I've only just found out that this is the LIGHTEST SHADE? Not good, Clinique. I am hardly the palest lady, and this made me look muddy. I'm admittedly really fussy about foundations being too dark, but this definitely was. The formula of this was okay. I've got combination skin, it's not super dry and it never gets noticably oily, but it's a bit breakouty. It gave kind of medium coverage, it didn't cover ANY of my breakouts at all but did look quite natural and nice on the rest, not too matte and not too dewy. I do prefer a foundation that has an effect on my blemishes. I also dislike the bottle. I actually like the way it looks, with the frosted glass. But I hate trying to get the stuff out of the damn bottle. It's sure not hygenic and really slow. Overall I'm pretty glad to see the back of it, but because of personal dislikes- it's okay foundation if you want light-medium coverage that looks nice and natural on dry/combination. AND IF YOU ARE NOT FAIR.
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Lips -Revlon - Just Bitten Lipstain - Flame
TheBexExpress 10/18/2010 8:35:00 AM
There is good and bad here, so I'll start with the good: > I've had this sort of lipstain before- it was a covergirl one, with the same felt-tip applicator but without the balm, and I was disappointed to find that it had no staying power whatsoever. This one actually does stain my lips- the colour is long-lasting and the balm keeps it looking fresh. > I did not find that this colour went pink at all. Actually, when I swatched it on my hand in the store, It looked like more of a warm pink than a coral, and I was surprised at the amount of coral it threw. On my lips, which are fairly pigmented (and I'm quite fair), this was a reddish coral, and divine. So no complaints about the colour. The bad: > This is DRYING. I know Revlon colours tend to be a bit that way, but this was really bad- and although the balm is a great idea, it doesn't compensate quite enough. I'm pretty tolerant about lip products that aren't moisturizing, but this actually worsened the condition of my lips and made them a bit sore. > The felt-tip applicator is something I struggle with a bit- I find it hard to get even coverage with it. It sort of pushes the colour around. It's not great to work with. > This IS fairly long lasting, but when it begins to fade out, it fades out really gross, leaving a ring of dark colour on the outer edges of the lips. So this is definitely not perfect, but to be honest I'd probably get it again, because this colour is great on me, looks great while it lasts, and does last.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Sephora - Sephora waterproof mascara
TheBexExpress 10/15/2010 9:24:00 AM
I got this in a sephora pack and I quite like it, actually. I usually use lancome l'extreme waterproof mascara which is, well, extreme- and I never thought I'd say this, but sometimes I want something subtler. So this is nice- it adds colour, doesn't budge until you want it to, and I find it does lengthen a bit and gives my lashes a little flutteryness which I really like. It does what it says on the tin and doesn't work miracles, but I like it just fine.
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Lip Treatments -Clinique - Superbalm Raspberry Tint
TheBexExpress 10/13/2010 11:55:00 PM
This is pretty much my HG lip moisturising product, AND it's a great lipgloss. I never expected this to be so hydrating, and I'm finding myself wearing it both whenever I'm not wearing any lip colour, and over lip colour. The downsides to this are its transparency- it never exactly CLAIMED to add colour to the lips but the colour of it in the tube really suggests more colour pay-off. It's pretty much just a clear gloss- I've got grapefruit and raspberry and see no difference between the two on my lips. I also really wish this was scented or flavoured- it wasn't something I expected, obviously, but I happen to like scented/flavoured products and I wish my favourite lip moisturising product had that to it. But I'll still buy again and again.
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Blush -MAC - Matte Blush - Bite Of An Apple (Venomous Villains)
TheBexExpress 10/13/2010 7:45:00 AM
I picked this up just because of how pretty it looked in the pan, to be honest. I wanted to try a MAC blush and this one looked too neat to pass up- and I've been very into coral colours lately in a lot of areas. I got the second last one at the counter, score! This is a really, really pigmented matte coral. I have quite pale skin- don't know the number but it's pale without being crazy-pale- and this could easilly overwhelm me. But if I make sure to only get the tiniest amount on my brush this is a beautiful, long-lasting coral flush. It's not the most natural blush I've used on my skin but it's got a little drama, which I like, and it's great for day wear. Love it!
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