Fragrances -Tocca - Cleopatra EDP
Vulnavia 12/5/2009 5:27:00 PM
Damn, a whirlwind ride with this fragrance...I tried it out at a Sephora today and loved it, it was subtle, fresh, floral but not sickly, and I've always been interested in Cleopatra the personage so I forked over the $68 (ouch!) for it and bought it as a birthday present to myself. Within an hour I knew that I would have to go back to Sephora to return it. The pretty topnotes had worn off and all that was left was the exact dupe of Philosophy's Inner Grace EDP on me, which I can't wear since it turns so sharp and brittle that it actually makes me nauseated, to say nothing of aggravating my migraines. So disappointed! I went back to the Sephora a couple of hours later and tried out some of the other Tocca offerings they had but all had bizarre drydowns on me so I finally bought myself a full-sized version of Stella by Stella McCartney and am happy with that purchase. Sad about this one, but it truly makes me physically uncomfortable to have it on me; it's about 7.5 hours since I first applied it and despite scrubbing, rubbing alcohol and other fragrances on top of it, Cleopatra is still there and still making me feel pukey. :( Wouldn't rec!
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Lip Gloss -Lancome - Honey Violet
Vulnavia 11/8/2009 7:13:00 PM
Bought this as a birthday treat for myself last December and wore it more faithfully than any of my other glosses all during the winter/early spring (I retired it in the spring because while it would have continued to look gorgeous it *felt* too dark). Went out to a nice dinner tonight and found my tube of Honey Violet, put it back on, and fell instantly in love again. Love the name, the consistency, the lasting power (2-3 hours if I don't eat/drink anything), even love the smell of it. It looks kind of gross in the tube, frankly, a brownish/purple with magenta sparkles. It has some sort of alchemical reaction on my lips, though, and turns into a moist, vampy, but unobtrusive plum with dimension. Looks great on my very pale, high-contrast coloring. Easy to wear. I don't own much Lancome - just this, a Juicy Tube in Pink Icing, and Hypnose perfume - but come to think of it I really like everything I have. Would buy again, and am thinking that I should try to find a pinker spring/summer equivalent. Don't let the tube fool you - it's beautiful!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Philosophy - unconditional love
Vulnavia 10/11/2009 10:09:00 PM
Unconditional Love is Falling in Love's scrumptious drydown. (I've owned and worn FiL for over 6 years, for the record.) The two are not the same and I'll try to explain why. UL's perfectly named, in my opinion. This lacks the sharp fruity blast and heady giddiness of FiL, both literally and figuratively; it's calmer, more introspective, closer to the skin and heart but no less beautiful. FiL is bubbly where UL is settled. FiL is the bottle I've got at my boyfriend's house and UL sits on my desk at home within easy reach. This is what I've worn nearly every day in the 2 months since I've purchased it, and what I will continue to wear as a daily perfume for the forseeable future. Unlike FiL (even the eau de parfum), this actually has better lasting power on me - about 10 hours - and has yet to give me a migraine or any sort of head sensitivity. I absolutely adore this. I've tried just about all of Philosophy's scents and this is far and away my favorite. I have a feeling this may become a permanent scent for them and I sure hope it does.
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -Softsoap - Honeysuckle and Orange Peel Bodywash
Vulnavia 8/4/2009 8:42:00 PM
This smelled beautiful - like honeysuckle and honeysuckle alone to my nose, no orange at all or I wouldn't have bought it - and was very cheap. HOWEVER, after less than 2 weeks of use it brought on nagging dermatitis of the kind I never get in the summer. I've had to go back to my Cetaphil bar. Waste of money for me, but if you don't have atopic dermatits/eczema/really sensitive skin it'd probably be fine.
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Polishes -OPI - Cajun Shrimp
Vulnavia 8/4/2009 8:38:00 PM
This just makes me happy to see on my toes, and I think the name is adorable too. :) It probably shouldn't work for me as it's orangey and I'm a blue-based pale girl, but it really brightens up my piggies to the point where the three-year-olds in my preschool class tell me that they like it. If the world's most honest critics give it high marks, so will everyone else. (My boyfriend likes it too.) I love this polish so much - as well as Friar, Friar, Pants on Fire! and to a lesser extent Fireflies - that I am converting into an OPI devotee. Wonderful, fun summer color.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Misc Beauty Tools -DHC - Hinoki Polishing Facial Brush
Vulnavia 4/11/2009 6:24:00 PM
A little gem! Has nearly erased the small bumps under my skin with daily or 2x daily use! Cute, small, good lathering properties, not too expensive (although DHC's shipping is). Will repurchase in a few months when I've worn this one out. I really wish someone had told me about the benefits of using a brush with cleanser years prior to this - I'm hooked and can't wash my face without it. It's just not as clean and smooth unless I use my hinoki brush. :)
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Philosophy - Purity Made Simple (Real Purity Cleanser)
Vulnavia 2/25/2009 9:46:00 PM
My skin had been getting the January blahs - regular Purpose cleanser was keeping it clear-ish but it just didn't look great, if you know what I mean. It was dull and bumpy. I found a (very, I haven't used this regularly since at least 2005) old bottle of this in my closet and decided to give it a go again. I'd used this for a couple of years in college, but being the product junkie I am I abandoned it for the next cleanser that caught my eye whenever I hit the drugstore. Well, going back to Purity was like going back to an old friend. I love the smell and the texture, and have found that I CAN get it to produce a milky foam if I wet both face and hands and emulsify in my hands first before applying. But the biggest surprise of all to me is that my skin looks really, really, REALLY good. Even during a bout of debilitating stomach flu recently, my face looked pale but not the slightly broken-out grab bag it usually is. My pores are looking smaller, and the bumps under my skin are slowly but surely going away. Some of the credit for this probably goes to figuring out that silicones make me break out and switching my moisturizer as well, to be fair, but I am happily surprised by how well Purity is working out for me lately. I look at my skin in the mirror now and smile. Considering less than a year ago I was fighting cystic acne, that ain't bad! Price is too high and the top of my bottle broke, but considering how long a big bottle lasts and the performace, I'll deal. Would rec. to others. Everything breaks my skin out, but this actually improves it. Very happy. :)
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Fragrances -Liz Claiborne - Curve Vintage Soul for Women
Vulnavia 1/27/2009 9:45:00 AM
I picked a bottle of this up (unsniffed, I think) in a Marshall's in late '06. (Perfume addict, liked the name, and it was something like $15, bad combination for me!) Brought it home, sprayed it on me, and really loved it. It does indeed smell like it should have come from another era: it has an earthy, grounded scent which to me is redolent of a lot of patchouli - normally something I hate - with musk, melon, and maybe a bit of rose. On me, it was a close-to-the-skin scent with a fair amount of projection, and I got compliments on it. I really dug it for about 3-4 months and wore it daily, and then stopped . Anyhow, flash forward 2 years, and I decided to pull this one out of the perfume cabinet and give it another wear. Almost instantly after applying it I got a full-blown migraine, and then the penny dropped for me: perhaps wearing Vintage Soul daily was a BIG reason why I was battling intense headaches during the spring of '07. (I'm prone to them anyway, so the connection didn't come to me at the time.) Scrub time, and lots of Motrin, but the headache still lingered. A real shame, because it's a unique scent, funky and comforting, but if it gives me migraines, it's a no-go. I should probably toss the bottle but I like looking at it so it's stayed with me. I would absolutely repurchase if it didn't give me such headaches, but alas, this will be my only bottle. Be advised if you're migraine-prone!
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Skincare - Body -Unlisted Brand - Tea Tree Oil
Vulnavia 11/30/2008 4:31:00 PM
Warning: this might be a little gross. Okay. I'd battled a set of plantar warts on my right foot for over three years which drove me to distraction. I had tried EVERYTHING to get rid of them: salicylic acid, salicylic acid disks, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, duct tape, Vicks Vaporub, black salve, bleach, several rounds of those freezing kits, and other treatments I'm sure I've forgotten. Out of desperation late this summer I told myself that if I didn't find some sort of way to get rid of them I would have to pony up the $ and get them frozen off by a derm, something I've heard is incredibly painful. Needless to say I was reluctant! As a last resort I started applying drops of straight tea tree oil (I used Jason Naturals) with q-tips as well as soaking my foot in white vinegar with about 10 drops of the tea tree oil in it several times a week. For about 2 weeks not much seemed to be happening, and then suddenly: the plantars were shrinking. After about a month, they were gone. GONE. Nearly painlessly and relatively cheaply. I was, and remain, amazed and delighted by my now regular feet, which I hadn't seen in over 3 years! I can't tell you ladies how in love I am with tea tree oil. Not only did it get rid of the plantars, but I also use it on my face and my complexion has improved unbelievably as well. (I was getting cystic acne so bad this spring that even the acne.org regimen did nothing; going back to Dove soap and toning with tea tree oil has brought me back to a complexion so clear I get compliments on it.) I was mixing it with Dickinson's witch hazel for awhile but I got sick of the smell of it so now I merely wet a cotton round with water, apply 4-5 drops of tea tree oil, and use it as a toner whenever my skin is stressed. (If I have a blemish I will also dab tea tree oil on it neat and it helps to eradicate the zit more quickly.) Tea tree oil has literally changed my life. I don't care much for the smell of it but I'm used to it by now. It's also a bit difficult to find around me but, again, worth it. If you've got plantars: try it. If your skin doesn't seem to be improving no matter what you do: try it. I only wish I had started using it years earlier!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -Dove - Nutrium Moisturizing Bar
Vulnavia 11/1/2008 8:00:00 PM
There's nothing wrong with this - I just preferred it back when it was still the white and pink stripy version with the very distinctive scent. Now it's just another one of ever-increasing number of Dove knockoffs: I'm in the minority but I believe Dove does better when it does less. This is fine, but it's basically mauve Dove with a beefed-up scent. I miss the old kind. :(
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Other -Earth Therapeutics - Dream Zone Pillow Mist
Vulnavia 10/19/2008 6:48:00 PM
I bought this in a gift set a few months ago along with the Dream Cream or whatever it's called as well as a gel eye mask and a satin sleep mask - I bought the set more for the sleep mask than anything else. Guess what: this spray really does help me sleep better! It smells very fresh, similar to Origins Peace of Mind. I was worried initially that the orange oil in it would trigger migraines for me (fresh oranges do) but this has never happen. I don't use it every night as I am a bit concerned that the strong fragrance might cause a reaction on my face, but on nights when I know sleep will be an issue I spray a few mists on my pillow and can feel myself relax right away. This is a great product! Give it a shot if you're a problematic sleeper, as I am. If nothing else, your pillows will smell lovely: I don't get a chemical scent off of this at all.
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Fragrances -Philosophy - Baby Grace
Vulnavia 10/18/2008 12:29:00 PM
This does NOT smell like Desitin or baby powder: c'mon ladies, I think many of you are being influenced by the name of this rather than the actual scent. It's more of a soft floral with a creamy base rather than anything else. I bought the non-alcohol version of this years ago: it may be my favorite everyday fragrance of all time, but I was pissed that the scent lingered maybe 20 minutes on me. This spring I decided to give the spray fragrance a try, and the lasting power is better: if I give a couple of squirts to the back of my neck, apparently it's detectable via hug at the end of the day. (My grandmother told me she loved this on me but I bought her Amazing Grace 4 years ago and she's a total addict so she's a bit biased!) I only just realized that there's an eau de parfum and I think I may ask for that for my birthday, as the staying power of the spray is still not that great. Like many of you, I love the concept of Philosophy, the actual fragrances themselves (I also have Falling in Love, which I enjoy, Inner Grace, which can go sharp, and the Tea Party set), but not the staying power: they have the staying power of a BBW splash at double or even triple the price. Still, though, for a fresh, soft clean scent that actually agrees with my chemistry (Amazing Grace doesn't, though is smells lovely on Gram) and doesn't give me a migraine, Baby Grace is wonderful.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Suave - Orchid Petal Conditioner
Vulnavia 10/11/2008 6:08:00 PM
Editing this review. This gives me inconsistent results: great, full hair with little frizz one day, a tangly mess another. Still, though, for the price it's worth a try for anyone looking for a mega-cheap CO-wash. Also, the scent remains very pretty!
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Lipstick -Stila - Ava Lipstick
Vulnavia 9/10/2008 8:39:00 PM
This lipstick is exactly, and I do mean exactly, the color of my lips, so it's a MLBB shade for me only because it's slightly more pigmented than my natural color: it's like doubling my lips' natural coloration when I put this on. I really love it. There is no off taste or smell and I think the metal tubes look elegant. If I use it up (I have to be honest here, I can count on one hand the makeup items I've ever used up all the way and I am a true junkie), I'll repurchase. It's so pretty on me because it's as natural as can get! :P
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Burt's Bees - Honey Lip Balm
Vulnavia 9/6/2008 7:37:00 PM
I am in complete agreement with rediska below! I am a lipbalm whore, truly; I probably have about 30 of them around my house, my car, and in various bags. Yet this is the one I put on every night and I even bought a backup for my purse. I will admit to the fact that I first bought this right when it came out about 3 years ago and disliked it intensely - the texture was awful, gritty and bumpy. It must have been reformulated since then as the new one I bought about a year ago is smooth and honey-perfect. I'm into honey in a big way and this fits the bill, super moisturizing and and with a great taste. I much prefer it to the original, which is okay but can irritate. This does nothing but soothe. Will rebuy and rebuy and rebuy. HG balm.
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