Makeup Brushes -Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman - Expert Face Brush
akatrene 1/23/2013 10:38:00 AM
This is hands down the best brush ever! It's the perfect density and incredibly soft to apply liquid foundation. I actually find that I am using less foundation then I was with previous methods (ie. damp sponge, other brushes). I wash this after every use as I do use liquid foundation. I have shed like 3 hairs in the 3 weeks that I've had this brush. I think I'm a little aggressive when washing my brushes though. I've also used this brush to contour/ apply bronzer and it's also great for that. I am ordering 2 more as backups. I would be highly stressed / heartbroken if something were to happen to this brush. I would pay any price for this brush but luckily it's only $8 through iHerb.
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Makeup Brushes -Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman - Brush Collection Core Collection
akatrene 1/19/2013 9:50:00 AM
I've had this set for 3 weeks only and these have replaced most of my brushes that I was using. GREAT price! The buffing brush I use mostly for powder to set my foundation. I use it for liquid foundation as well. Works great for a more sheerer application of liquid foundation. The detailer brush I don't use though. The contour brush is great for getting into the hollows of my cheeks followed with the buffing brush to blend it out. The pointed foundation brush I don't use for foundation though I do use it almost every day. I use it for applying eyeshadow all over my lid. I was using Mac 275 but I find it to scratchy. This brush is sooo soft. They all are! I love the case. Since I use liquid foundation the brush gets washed daily. I use the case as a stand and store washed brushes upside down. The case is perfect for drying brushes. Picked up this trick from a youtuber. Highly recommend these brushes!
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Makeup Brushes -Sonia Kashuk - Bent Eyeliner Brush
akatrene 11/6/2012 9:03:00 AM
I hate to be the downer here but I don't like this brush at all. I found the bristles to be too floppy and long to create a thin line. It didn't give me much control to do a cat eye or even just a flick. I'd prefer bristles a bit shorter and stiffer. I do love the bent angle feature as you can see what you are doing as you are doing it.
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Mascara -Cover Girl - Lash Blast Waterproof
akatrene 7/11/2011 8:27:00 AM
It really seems to be a love/hate relationship with this mascara. I happen to love it. It's not clumpy and it adds great volume. It doesn't really add that much length but I'm fine with the length of my lashes. I like the brush because I don't get any mascara on my eyelid. It is a bit difficult to wash off if you don't use a makeup remover. It doesn't run/smear and it holds my curl (very important to me because I have very straight asian lashes). I've tried other mascaras and keep coming back to this one. I would, and have, definitely purchase this again.
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Cleansers -Bobbi Brown - Cleansing Oil
akatrene 7/6/2011 3:12:00 PM
I'm surprised at the bad reviews for this cleansing oil. I picked it up at the EL warehouse sale 2 for $25, so I'm not even sure what it normally retails for. Anyway, I've switched from Revlon CS to ELDW and my normal facewash wasn't washing off ELDW completely. I massage the oil onto a dry face then rinse and all makeup comes off. Even waterproof mascara. I do follow up with my facewash though. I had a not so pleasant experience with OCM and am skeptical about leaving "oils" on my skin. I also use this to clean my foundation brush after every use. I was using Dawn to rinse Revlon CS out of my brushes which worked fine. But Dawn wasn't washing ELDW out. I use one pump on my brush, swirl, rinse and follow up with Dawn to get the oiliness out of the brush. My brush has never been so clean!!!!! I also love the pump bottle. No wasting of product this way. I would buy this again.
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Loose Powders -Bare Escentuals - Mineral Veil spf 25
akatrene 7/6/2011 3:03:00 PM
I have very oily skin and am in search of a sunscreen. With all sunscreens I've tried, it slides around and ends up in my eyes and it stings! The Sephora SA recommended this as this is a powder with spf 25. This worked well enough as a sunscreen but it made my skin oilier. And the translucent powder was a bit too pink for my asian skin tone. It also irritated my skin. My chin has cystic acne as well as the little red irritation bumps. I will be returning this tonight.
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Mascara -Revlon - Grow Luscious - waterproof
akatrene 5/27/2011 9:59:00 AM
As someone else stated, waterproof mascara is the only thing that will hold a curl. This doesn't hold any curl at all. After a few strokes my eyelashes are straight again after I've curled them. It also feels goopy (if that makes any sense). I can feel it on my eyelashes all day long. It makes my eyelashes feel heavy. I've never experienced that with any other mascara. It really does melt off like others have said. I will have no more mascara on at the end of the workday. Very odd for a "waterproof" mascara. Will have to throw this out even though it's only 2 weeks old.
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Cleansers -Philosophy - Purity Made Simple (Real Purity Cleanser)
akatrene 9/28/2010 2:26:00 PM
This cleanser is my skins saviour. I have very oily skin and this year it has been very problematic. A lot of cystic acne, a lot of spots from the cystic acne, a lot of white heads and just an overall ruddy complexion. It was due to a lot of experimentation on my part. I've tried OCM and oil cleansers and cream cleansers all in the effort of finding a more gentle method of cleaning my face. My face did not tolerate any of those methods. My skin has done a complete turn around. Cystic acne is all but gone. They're just tiny little bumps that are drying up:) I've probably had 5 whiteheads since using Purity for 4 weeks now. That's good considering I was getting 3-5 daily. Even the spots from the cystic acne are fading:) And the ruddiness is gone:) YAY!!! I no longer use a makeup remover because this takes off all my makeup and foundation and I use Revlon Colorstay which isn't the easiest thing to clean off. I use about a quarter size to rub all over my dry skin for about 30 seconds, then I wet my hands a little bit and massage, then I wet my hands again and massage. I rinse then wash my face with a nickel size of cleanser and use by TBS facial brush. I follow with my toner (I mix witch hazel and tea tree oil) and a few spritz of Mac Fix+ or Vitamin Face Mist from TBS and that's it. In the morning I just wash once with about a nickel size of cleanser. My skin is in it's best condition (or close to).
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Makeup Brushes -Sonia Kashuk - Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush
akatrene 9/21/2010 11:35:00 AM
I love this brush!!! Incredibly soft and perfectly dense. I use this to apply liquid foundation - right now colorstay. I was worried about this because it is on the small side and some reviewers listed that as a con because it takes longer to apply foundation. That really hasn't been an issue for me. I use this to stipple on the foundation and it provides the smoothest application. I tried the swirling motion but it provided too sheer a coverage. I wash this with baby shampoo after every use, so at least 5 times a week, and I think I've shed only 1 hair. And I've had this for more than a few months now. I love this brush - did I mention that? A tip, when picking up the product just lightly dab the brush into it. The brush will pick up a fair bit of the foundation.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Pressed Powders -Maybelline - Dream Matte Pressed Powder
akatrene 8/10/2010 11:47:00 AM
I've been using this Revlon CS and it's pretty good. Not great but good. After my first touch up of the day my face stays pretty matte. It doesn't look cakey or add too much colour to your face so it doesn't alter your foundation colour. It wears pretty well on it's own for those days I don't use foundation. The only thing that keeps it from getting 5 lippies is that it really dulls my face at the end of the day. So I'm kind of torn as to whether or not I'd repurchase. I like the mattifying aspects of this powder but the appearance of dull ruddy skin is really starting to make me rethink about purchasing this again. I think I'll save my pennies for Mac Blot Powder LOL!!! I'll repurchase only if Mac is not in my budget when I'm done with this powder.
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Liquid -Revlon - ColorStay Makeup with SoftFlex SPF 6 for Combination/Oily Skin
akatrene 8/4/2010 11:54:00 AM
I've been using this a few weeks now. I like it but it's not perfect. I must have oilier skin than most people because this does not keep oil away at all. I still have to do my 9am touch up - 3 hours after application - which is the norm for me. I was hoping that with this I could go a lot longer between touchups. Plus side is that VERY little comes off when I blot. So I still have foundation on at the end of the day. That being said the colour match is PERFECT (natural tan). I posted on the board before that I couldn't stop looking at myself in the mirror because my face and neck matched perfectly. That never happens even with no makeup because I have redness in the nose cheek areas. I prefer applying with the Sonia Kashuk flat top brush which does a great job. I've tried dry and wet sponge, and using fingers for application but it was always too cakey looking for my taste. The smell was quite strong the first time I opened the bottle but it literally lasts less than 10 seconds after applying so no big deal. The pump issue - I never understood why people complained about having no pump (I used to be powder foundation only). I get it now. What a pain in the arse to get product out. My bottle is still new so it's fairly easy to get it out but I am not looking forward to when I get to the bottom of the bottle. It's going to take forever for the product to drizzle out of the bottle. Will I buy this again? Most likely. I still want to try EL DW and Clarins Everlasting (??) though.
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Cleansers -L'Oreal - Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser
akatrene 7/21/2010 10:50:00 AM
This is a good cleanser for me. It takes off my makeup with no residue left behind. It doesn't sting my eyes. My face is SLIGHTLY dry when I'm done which is fine. I find the scrublet useless though. I need something a little more abrasive. So if you have sensitive skin the scrublet would probably work better for you. I use the TBS Facial Brush (love that little thing). The product itself is a little runny. There were a quite a few I times squeezed out too much product especially when the bottle is almost done and I store it upside down. I've learned to lay it down on its side rather than upside down:) I will definitely repurchase.
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Cleansers -L'Oreal - Skin Genesis Pore Minimizing Gel Cleanser [DISCONTINUED]
akatrene 7/21/2010 10:43:00 AM
The first week I used this, it SERIOUSLY dried out my skin and I have very oily skin. It dried it so much that my face hurt. I've never had that happen before. I literally had to slather on 3x the amount of moisturizer I normally use and then had to slather jojoba oil on top because my face still felt dry and tight. But I kept using this cleanser because it didn't break me out. Thankfully my skin has adjusted to this it's not as drying as the first week. I still have to put moisturizer on but not nearly as much. It does a good at removing makeup without leaving any residue. One pump is actually too much product I find so this will last me quite awhile. I like the pump though the piping is shorter than the bottle so I know when I get to the end it's going to be a pain to get the last bit of this out. Why do companies do this??? Such a pet peeve of mine. Will I repurchase? Probably not, I like the L'Oreal 360 better because it's not as drying.
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Conditioner -LUSH - American Cream
akatrene 7/19/2010 8:58:00 AM
I needed A LOT of conditioner to get this to condition my hair. All the other reviewers that said that you don't feel it working in the shower but notice the difference after towelling off the hair is true. But I literally needed a handful of conditioner to soften the hair especially using it with the New shampoo. I had to add jojoba oil to make a decent conditioner. Considering the price and how long it last, it's just way too expensive for a conditioner that does a less then mediocre job.
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Shampoo -LUSH - NEW! Hair
akatrene 7/19/2010 8:52:00 AM
Cleans hair well enough and has a nice cinnamon scent. It's claim to help new hair growth or reduce hair breakage - not true in my case. I saw absolutely no difference in the amount of hair breakage I was getting. And I REALLY needed an emolient conditioner because it left my hair dry.
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