Concealers -MAC - Studio Finish Concealer
Willowmere 12/26/2010 10:25:00 PM
I am forever on the search for my HG undereye concealer and have yet to find it. However this comes pretty close although I still find it is a little too dry and potentially cakey for my liking, particularly in winter (even with scrupulous moisturisation prior). My concealer colour is NW20. The slight peachiness in studio finish NW20 really does suit and covers my moderate dark circles (I have NC20 skin). It does not slide around my face and lasts well throughout the day. For your information I have tried: Laura Mercier secret concealer (could not find the right colour for me however very emollient with good coverage), Bobbi Brown concealer (on par with MAC. I quite like this. A bit more creamy than MAC but the colour is not quite as good a match), Helena Rubenstein (liquid concealer - staying power just so-so and comparable to MAC Moisture Cover concealer, adequate colour match in #1 but not a good colour range), Benefit Erase Paste (Yuck. This was a greasy mess under my eyes), Benefit Lemon Aid (this is a colour corrector but it was revolting on my eyes. So dry and cakey even when I tried applying the smallest amount), Kevin Beautymaker aqua concealer (I really like this but it can sometimes slide around my eyes unless I put powder underneath - and I don't like to powder under my eyes because that then makes me look cakey). Plus of course drugstore brands (the best of drugstore concealer would have to be Maybelline Age Rewind in my opinion)
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Eyeliner -MAC - Fluidline Eye-Liner Gel in Ostentatious
Willowmere 12/26/2010 10:11:00 PM
This is sadly a Limited Edition product. However I love it so much I searched high and low until I finally found a back-up. This is my HG everyday work gel eyeliner. I am NC20, Asian, black hair without highlights, dark brown eyes. For some reason this gel liner colour is so perfect for when I do not want to draw attention to the fact that I am wearing liner, but instead want to accentuate my lashline and brown eyes. I find black gel liner to be too harsh for daytime wear and makes me look older and too made up. Ostentatious a cool-toned beige brown. There are flecks of blue and green but they really are not visible unless you were to wear this as a cream shadow on your lids (which looks great by the way, but given that this is a limited edition product, I cannot waste it as a shadow). I actually find it to be a misnomer since this colour on the eye is not ostentatious - it is in fact extremely elegant and conservative. LOL The formulation is excellent. I have been using the same pot almost everyday for the past 2 years and it is still as smooth and creamy as when I first purchased it. The line created stays crisp for the whole day and does not slide around my lid (even without primer). Love this!
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Masks -MyChelle - Fruit Fiesta Peel
Willowmere 12/26/2010 10:01:00 PM
This peel is amazing! I think I love it even more than the Mychelle pumpkin peel (which is great, but not as effective). I have sensitive skin but have not encountered any problems with this. Firstly, it smells lovely. Like a fruity jam. Secondly it works so so well. This peel contains AHAs, BHAs and fruit enzymes to gently but effectively exfoliate your skin. I have good skin to begin with but this takes it to a whole new level. My skin just glows! It is so smooth and even. I find that this peel also helps keep blackheads away and helps acne hyperpigmentation scars heal faster! (Do NOT use it on raw skin where your acne/blackhead has been freshly extracted. You need to wait at least 1 to 2 days before exfoliating or else it will sting and potentially worsen your hyperpigmentation). I use this once every 4-5 days. I only need a thin layer all over my face and leave it on for 5 minutes. By the end of the 5 minutes I feel a bit of tingling and my face is warm. When I wash it off my skin is only very slightly pink and very smooth. The results are most obvious however when I wake up the next morning. Thanks to this peel I no longer wear foundation (Just concealer under my eyes, around my nose and mouth). I will definitely buy this again.
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Blush -Bobbi Brown - Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks - Powder Pink
Willowmere 12/26/2010 9:45:00 PM
This is my HG blush. I own four of these (Powder Pink, Pale Pink, Pink Raspberry, Calypso Coral) but the Powder pink is my favourite (I have two - one in my bathroom and one in my bag). I absolutely love this blush. Here are the reasons why: 1) Amazing colour - I think this would suit almost any fairish skintone from NC15-NC30. I am NC20 and this is perfect for me. I have introduced it to so many friends of different ethnic cultures and skintones and it looks great on all of them. Powder Pink a lovely peachy-pink with a hint of beige (but not brown). It is neutral toned and gives you that healthy, flushed, lit from within look. I know NARS Orgasms is touted as a universally flattering powder blush, but in my opinion, for a cream blush (on fair skin) this takes the cake. In comparison, Pale Pink (my second favourite) is a more cool toned baby pink. Pink Raspberry is extremely similar to Pale Pink but is slightly warmer. Calypso Coral looks scary bright orange/pink in the pot but goes on a bright happy coral pink (brighter and with less beige than Powder Pink). 2) Longlasting. This lasts all day on me (12 hours), when all other blushes fail. (ie. Stila convertible, Benefit Posie Tint, powder blushes in NARS and Shu Uemura) 3) Very natural slightly dewy finish. I dislike blushes that look too powdery or shimmery. Makes you look healthy and not obviously like you are wearing blush (unless you pack it on). 4) Extremely pigmented. One pot will last FOREVER. You only need the smallest amount. It spreads easily and does not slide around your face like Stila does on me. NB: I notice that the formulations slightly vary depending on the shade of Pot Rouge. I notice that Powder Pink and Calypso Coral are definitely drier and slightly less sheer than Pale Pink and Pink Raspberry. The only formulation that is moist enough for me to wear on the lips is Pale Pink.
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Fragrances -Chloe - Lavande
Willowmere 12/23/2010 3:28:00 AM
I purchased this fragrance (unsniffed
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Masks -Montagne Jeunesse - Masks
Willowmere 9/23/2006 9:16:00 PM
The only one I use in this is the Dead Sea Mud Mask as it is a personal favourite of mine. I am not too fond of the smell and it does sting a little when first applied, but the results are superb! My skin is firm, glowing and the pores are so tight! It soothes my skin and makes me look refreshed, even though I had been working amazingly long hours and felt exhausted. I hate the packaging and would rather get a huge tub/bottle instead of these little sachets, but otherwise it's a great product. P.S. The cucumber peel mask is an absolute waste of money and smells revolting, like glue, by the time you go to peel it off. My skin is too sensitive to use the heated masks, but if yours isn't you might want to give it a try. I've heard good things about the strawberry mask, but sadly my local stores don't stock it. Therefore my verdict rests in favour of the Dead Sea Mud mask.
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Lips -Vaseline - Vaseline
Willowmere 9/23/2006 9:00:00 PM
I have been using this since I was 6. We have always had a jar of it somewhere in the house and I usually go through one mini jar a year. This is fantastic at moisturising and exfoliating the lips and I love how it is not sticky. I usually apply it generously at night and take a tissue to wipe it off the next morning. In the process, the old layer of skin on my lips rolls off and I am left with perfectly smooth full lips. Nothing is worse than applying lipstick to chapped/flaky dry lips and with this product, there is really no excuse for that happening. Amazing value and an absolute staple.
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Lipstick -Shiseido - Sheer Gloss Lipstick in Coralline
Willowmere 9/23/2006 8:52:00 PM
This is my favourite MLBB lipstick colour of all time. The name is rather a misnomer since it is actually not coral but a beautiful, natural pink. It goes on sheer, which is great because a) this reinforces the "natural" look that I adore and b) I look a nightmare in matt or heavier textured lipsticks (the lipstick overwhelms me and makes me look hard). When I apply, I do not press the lipstick hard to my lips but instead gently dab it on so I get a lovely stain that enhances my normally pink pigmented lips. The effect is soft and truly gorgeous - I seriously recommend you try it. I get so many compliments on this colour and it really makes my skin look more delicate. I would recommend this for the more fair Asian and Caucasian ladies personally, since it is rather sheer and the colour which is relatively subtle when applied, may not show up so well on darker/more tanned skin. The texture is not particularly moisturising, however this is not a problem as I moisturise my lips and exfoliate with Vaseline overnight. But honestly, the gorgeous colour more than compensates.
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Liquid -Prescriptives - Virtual Skin
Willowmere 9/23/2006 8:23:00 PM
This is as close to HG as it is probably going to get. I am a huge fan of the 'no make-up, just natural perfection' look and this foundation provides it for me. I apply it sheerly over well moisturised skin (see Cetaphil review for more info) and the effect is slightly dewy, flawless skin that I am told resembles porcelain. Ladies, if I can achieve this, so can you. This foundation is amazing - people cannot tell I am wearing any foundation. Not just men, but women (much more perceptive about make-up than the former) cannot detect its presence on my skin. Colour selection is great, but even so, I have to combine the Real Cream with the Real Vellum to get a perfect match. I am NOT a fan of the bottles, but as I use a Q-Tip (Cotton bud) to dip in and get what I want, I am not too bothered. It doesn't roll/rub off like non-matt Chanel foundations do and it doesn't turn me into an orange Oompa-Loompa, like Dior does. The formulation is fantastic and the result: lasting pure perfection.
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Moisturizers -Cetaphil - Moisturizing Cream
Willowmere 9/23/2006 8:10:00 PM
This cream is wonderful! As I found out the hard way, the key to beautiful make-up application is beautiful skin. You can pile on the most expensive, super-new-technology foundation on the market, but it is not going to perform miracles if the underlying problem is your skin. Well moisturised skin provides a lovely canvas for the foundation to go on and avoids the dreaded caked-on-makeup-that-you-can-scrape-away-with-a-spoon look that so many women still sadly adopt. Sorry, I digress. I am 23 and have combination skin. The flakes that appeared after I applied foundation (even though I applied moisturiser before) always drove me crazy. It made me feel like some kind of fish whose scales were flaking off. Yuck! Since I have been using this generously as a night cream (it is too heavy and greasy-feeling for a day cream, except for a little on my cheekbones to give a polished look), this problem is non-existent. I apply it at night (or an hour before I go out, if I know in advance), wash it off and apply a sheer coat of foundation (Px Virtual skin) immediately. The result is dewy, flawless skin that looks literally airbrushed and stays that way all day. My skin is constantly being compared to porcelain and strangers approach me to give compliments (nice, but a little weird) or to touch it (much weirder). For the amazing price and the massive quantity you get for it, every woman should have this as a back-up moisturiser.
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