Liquid -L'Oreal - Visible Lift Smooth Absolute
akimbo123 8/15/2012 4:37:00 PM
I'm very happy with this foundation. Not being a morning person, I am usually in a rush getting ready for work, so I bought this specifically to keep in my office for makeup emergencies (in other words, days when I have a meeting but no makeup on and my face is splotchy and uneven). This is perfect for my purposes! The foundation has great coverage over my acne and scarring and gives my skin a nice satin finish. Just be careful the first time you use it: twist very slowly to allow foundation to rise to the bristles. I got impatient and kept twisting away until a glob of foundation splurted on my dresser! The color I have, Buff Beige, is a bit gray on my skin now that I'm tan, so I am going to try another color. I love the soft brush that is attached to the tube. This would be great to carry in your purse or take on vacation because you don't have to bring an applicator with you. I haven't yet washed it but I suppose I will do that the way I wash my other makeup brushes. To me, this is near-perfect packaging.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Neutrogena - Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Cream Cleanser
akimbo123 10/16/2011 1:53:00 AM
I bought this cleanser because I was going on a trip to a hot climate zone and wanted a facial cleanser that came in a non-pump container (easier to travel with) and that could wash off sunscreen well so that my pores would not clog and cause a breakout. This cleanser's packaging fit the bill, but it did NOT wash off my sunscreen well, and my skin was a wreck the entire vacation. It does smell good, but if you need a cleanser for acne-prone skin, this is not it. I recommend giving Avalon Organic's vitamin C gel cleanser a try instead (it comes in a pump bottle so it's my everyday cleanser at home). I am still on the lookout for a good cleanser that comes in a squeeze bottle that I can take on vacations. PM me if you have a recommendation!
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Cleansers -Avalon Organics Botanicals - Vitamin C Facial Cleanser
akimbo123 9/25/2011 11:59:00 PM
I tried this cleanser in my search for a replacement for my favorite but discontinued facial cleanser by Rachel Perry (Tangerine Dream). This is the closest I have come to something that works as well, and I have been trying many cleansers! While Avalon Organics doesn't remove eye makeup as completely as Rachel Perry did, it is MUCH BETTER than anything else I've found on the market currently. It also removes sunscreen well. The scent is a light citrus. The ingredients are mostly natural and do not clog my pores or cause any breakouts. I like that it's paraben-free. I will keep using this product: my search is over!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Tinted Moisturizer -Philosophy - Hope In A Tinted Moisturizer
akimbo123 7/8/2011 2:48:00 PM
I usually use Murad Sheer Tint with SPF 15, which is actually not marketed as a tinted moisturizer but does a wonderful job moisturizing my skin while giving me a bronzed glow and spf protection. I decided to try the Philosophy tinted moisturizer because the spf is a little higher. My take on it is that it feels nice on my oily skin and smells okay. It is cosmetically elegant in application, but once on, you must quickly distribute the product as it tends to sit in place. A few times, I left the house only to later find yellow streaks on my skin - embarassing! It doesn't blend very well. Also, if you have oily eyelids or mistakenly rub your eyes, this will BURN! I like this product enough to finish what I have, but since I have to be careful with application and my eyes, I will not buy it again. With Murad Sheer Tint, I never felt any irritation if the product got near my eyes and it just absorbed into my skin perfectly, no streaks or line of demarcation ever. I'll happily go back to Murad. Update: I took off a lippie because this really breaks me out!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Juice Beauty - Organic Facial Wash
akimbo123 7/5/2010 2:50:00 PM
I wanted desperately to like this because it's organic and has a lot of essential oils in the ingredients list. I am looking for a replacement for my HG (now discontinued) Rachel Perry Tangering Dream Foaming Facial Cleanser. Juice Beauty Organic Facial Wash disappointed me for the following reasons: 1. First impression upon first use: it's very watery. I felt like most of it was dripping through my fingers. But I thought, okay, fine, as long as it works... 2. It stinks! It smelled like bathroom cleaner. Based on the ingredients list, I was expecting something more citrus-y. Unlike my Rachel Perry cleanser, I would dread using this each night based on the smell alone. 3. It caused my mascara to run down my eye area but did not remove it at all. I don't think it would do a great job removing makeup and impurities because it didn't seem to take anything off. Just moved the mascara around. Rachel Perry cleanser would take off all makeup but even other facial cleansers that do not remove makeup do a better job of cleaning up my face. I will stick with L'Oreal Revitalift cleanser for now as I continue to search for a new facial wash. 4. This was about $22 - which is very expensive for stinky, ineffective, watery facial wash.
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Styling Products -A/G - Recoil Curl Activator
akimbo123 10/12/2009 4:10:00 PM
I love this stuff! My hair is coarse, with 3a curls that lately have looked more like a frizz collection. AG Recoil mixed with some leave-in conditioner worked wonders on my very long, very thick hair! I got more compliments in the last two days than I have in months! And I say last two days because I had such pretty "next day hair" (all you curly-headed ladies will understand that holy grail of hair aspirations) that I couldn't bear to wash it. Two days of great hair with minimal effort - yay!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Organix - Vanilla Silk
akimbo123 11/6/2008 3:06:00 PM
I bought this conditioner while staying with family and four of us tried it - none of us were impressed. I can't believe they are charging $7 for this stuff - other than smelling good, it has no benefit and even Suave, at a much cheaper price, works better. One of my cousins rarely even needs to use conditioner, and she felt this was not conditioning at all. My sister and other cousin have normal hair and they felt like it did nothing for their hair. I have coarse, dry hair and this did not condition or help with tangles at all. It was useless for all of us.
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Shampoo -ABBA - True Curls
akimbo123 9/22/2008 1:22:00 PM
The reviewer who commented that this makes one's head smell like pizza is absolutely correct. The strong oregano scent is a little off-putting to me - it is not a bad scent, but strong and strange for a hair product - but my husband likes it just fine on me. The only negative out of the way, I have nothing else but raves for this product! My curly, coarse, color-treated hair was becoming so dry and nothing was helping! Even the CG routine was useless for me, but I wasn't ready to go back to sulfates. The Abbat True Curls shampoo and conditioner brought my curls back to life and my hair is shiny again (especially when I use the remnants of my last bottle of my now-DC'ed HG, Paves Red Carpet Mousse)! I would totally buy this shampoo and conditioner again, especially since the scent fades after the first day and I can't wash my hair every day, anyway.
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Fragrances -Sisley - Soir de Lune
akimbo123 9/2/2008 4:07:00 PM
At first, this scent smelled pleasant and I enjoyed experiencing the layers of scent. After about a half hour, I began to smell of chemicals or cleaning products, like someone with bad taste and whose olfactory system no longer senses when too much is too much. And this is just from one light spritz on the wrist. After a while, I began to smell of ammonia. It was honestly horrible! Something about this fragrance did not mix well with my body chemistry. I've never experienced such a negative reaction to a fragrance. I finally had to run into a ladies room and scrubbed my wrist and arm with soap. It still lingered, so I washed again and finally removed most of the scent. The fact that this fragrance was so strong and had such lasting power would be a great thing if this smelled good on you. That's the only good thing I can say about it. It just did not smell nice on me.
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Sunscreen -Lancome - UV Expert DNA Shield SPF50
akimbo123 6/13/2008 1:23:00 PM
I have tried them all, ladies. I got to the point where I only used Murad Sheer Tint year round , even though it's only SPF 15, because it was the only sunscreen that did not irritate my skin. I have finally found my summer sunscreen! I bought this duty free at the airport in Asia, and am so glad I stocked up on three tubes. They are very small tubes, perfect for one's purse or gym bag; however I would like a larger tube to use daily since it's expensive to keep buying them. My skin is very sensitive to chemical sunscreens and many physical blocks leave an unnatural whitish cast on my olive skin. I am slightly oily year round and very oily in the summer, so many sunscreens feel irritating on my skin and don't really absorb. This sunscreen is cosmetically elegant and absorbs right into my skin, unless I apply a very heavy layer. It also does not turn my foundation a strange orange color. I put UV Expert DNA Shield on, wait a minute or two, then apply my foundation. I wore this sunscreen in very hot weather and it stayed put, protected my skin from increased melasma (which worsened in the past with other Mexoryl sunscreens and even Tinosorb) so I am VERY HAPPY to have discovered this.
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Powder -L'Oreal - Bare Naturale Powdered Mineral Foundation
akimbo123 5/4/2007 1:42:00 PM
This product is my first foray into the world of mineral foundation. I have oily, acneic skin with some old acne scars. I need a product that has some coverage, but I don't like that heavy, foundation-y look. I tried this at first on my bare skin, and while it looked *okay* I felt like I had a weird layer of colored dust on my face. I attributed this to my being a novice at "buffing" the mineral foundation on my skin. I started buffing the powder more and more, but I didn't really start to like this product much until I used it over my Murad Sheer Tint SPF 15 sunscreen one day, which feels more like a tinted moisturizer and happens to be the perfect tone for my skin. Over the Murad Sheer Tint, L'Oreal Bare Naturale Powdered Mineral Foundation looks very natural and evens out my skin tone. After a few hours, it looks like I don't have makeup on, but have glowy, bronzed skin. It doesn't give complete coverage (maybe if someone layered it on and really knew how to buff it out, it would) but it makes my skin look like I have a nice tan and a glow. The brush it comes with is not as soft as I would like, so I'm contemplating getting a nicer kabuki brush. But it has done it's job so far and I could live with it. I like the packaging, as it has enabled me to travel with this powder, and I usually would never think of packing a powder! The top is pretty secure, and this product has lasted me several months so far, since a little goes a long way, especially on top of the Murad sunscreen, which has a bit of a tint itself.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Sunscreen -Murad - Oil-Free Sunblock SPF15 Sheer Tint
akimbo123 1/19/2007 5:46:00 PM
UPDATE: DISCONTINUED! WHY, MURAD, WHYYYYYYY???? :( I CRY. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Wow. Many of my previous reviews have disappeared. Weird. Anyways, this product is good enough that I'm bothering to rewrite my review, to share the gold. I have very oily, acneic skin with large pores. Most sunscreens break me out, so I finally decided to use this, which has more of a very light moisturizer consistency. I have rosy olive skin, and the sheer tint color gives me a perfect bronze look. It doesn't cover blemishes, but like a tinted moisturizer, evens out my skin a bit. I never break out from this, which is the best part!! And it doesn't feel like a sticky, filmy mask, like most sunblocks. It feels like it's not even there, and doesn't make my skin look oily. The only problem is that the UV protection is pretty light, so in the summer, I'm going to have to search again for a good sunblock. This is my favorite daily block for the rest of the year, however, and I'm on my third bottle after trying samples early last year. EDIT: Now on my 4th or 5th bottle, I have practically given up finding a summer replacement. I use the Murad Sheer Tint every single day, unless I'm at the beach or in direct sunlight for several hours. I love the sheer tint and the bit of glow it imparts. I have light olive skin with pink cheeks and yellow undertones everywhere else, and this imparts a bit of a JLo glow. Lately, I've been foregoing the foundation and just wearing this on my face!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Masks -Fresh - Rose Mask
akimbo123 12/26/2006 1:11:00 PM
I got this as a free sample with a Sephora purchase, but my understanding is that it's pretty expensive. I found the experience of using this mask very pleasurable but it did not affect my skin much. The scent is a true rose (smells exactly like "golahb," which is a distilled rose water used in Persian baking) and there are some rose petal particles suspended in a a jelly-like consistency. Because of the consistency, the mask smooths on the skin very easily (and is suprisingly not too sticky like many gel masks are). I left it on for about a 1/2 hour and didn't experience any stinging. I washed it off in the shower and my skin felt nice and smooth afterwards. I enjoyed the experience, particularly due to the scent and the texture of the product, but I am still not sure what this mask is intended to *do.* I guess I am used to harsher products (being a regular user of AHA's, BHA's, and Tazorac) so maybe I expect some pain and dramatic results from a product. This mask was refreshingly gentle, so I will definitely use up my sample with pleasure. I'm not sure if I would repurchase, simple due to the price. But I definitely would choose it again as a sample with my next Sephora.com order.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Back to Basics - Blue Lavender Color Protecting
akimbo123 11/27/2006 6:15:00 PM
This stuff was horrid! I was excited since it is sulfate-free (so it should be gentle) and I thought the scent was not bad. I used it after extending a blow out for as long as I could, so by the time I finally shampooed, my thick curls would normally be sooo soft and bouncy. But this shampoo actually sat on my head, and instantly made my hair feel dry and strawlike even though it was still wet!! I've never experienced anything like that before. It's as if I put the most astringent, drying chemical on my hair. I had to triple up on my conditioner use and I ended up doing a separate, very vigorous conditioner rinse to get this shampoo out of my hair. There is no point in repurchasing; I wouldn't use it if it was given to me by free and I was on my way home from Burning Man and DESPERATE to wash my hair. I am at a loss for what to do with the rest of this bottle. Maybe I can return it. Or use it to clean my dishes.
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Styling Products -Redken - OUTSHINE
akimbo123 11/9/2006 1:16:00 PM
I have been generally happy with Redken products, and this is no exception. It's a nice hair cream that adds a little definition to my extremely thick, long, curly/wavy hair. I don't use much, but I do notice that it works well with my Paves Red Carpet Foaming Mousse. Other leave-in's and hair creams tend to diminish the holding properties of the styling products I use, but this one just softens my hair a little and keeps the curls smooth. One problem for my highly acneic skin is that I will break out a bit if this product touches my face too much, so I'm careful about concentrating the application to the top layer of my hair and less around the face.
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