Concealers -Maybelline - Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles
amarock 7/10/2012 9:18:00 PM
This is the third version of the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer range - first was the squeeze tube simply called "Instant Age Rewind Undereye Concealer" (discontinued). Second version was the "Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector" with the doe-foot applicator on one end for the concealer, and a brush applicator for the highlighter (recently discontinued in favour of this newest version). In terms of the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind "family" of concealers, I'd rank the Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer second out of the three. My favourite version was the Double Face Perfector in terms of coverage and longevity for my dark undereye circles. The original version had a very thin consistency and worked better as a brightener than a concealer.
I own the Eraser in 3 versions: Medium 130, Neutralizer 150 and Brightener 160. I originally bought Medium to use on its own but found that 1) it was slightly too dark for my NC25 skin tone 2) it didn't conceal my undereye circles completely. So I bought the Neutralizer and Brightener during a BOGO deal. The Neutralizer made all the difference for me - it helped to lighten the Medium concealer shade as well as provide a base to cancel out the darkness prior to the concealing step. I don't much care for the Brightener as it's too cool toned for my skin - I've used it as a highlighter in the inner corners and cheekbones but most days I'm too lazy to do this extra step.
The product itself has a silione-y feel to it and can create a very smoothed appearance in the undereye area (I use this concealer solely for undereyes) but it could appear cakey if applied too heavily. I apply a thin layer of the Neutralizer in a patting motion, then I apply a regular layer of the concealer on top - let it all sit for about 30 seconds before I pat to blend. Sometimes I set it with a loose powder but it's not essential (I use BE Well Rested). I don't find this product to settle into lines or accentuate fine lines. The resulting coverage is very good but the lasting power is not as good as the Double Face Perfector, in my experience.
As mentioned by others below, the packaging is not ideal - the sponge tip on my concealer actually worked loose from the bottle and popped right off. It was quite messy to push it back into the bottle, especially since I'm not supposed to wash it. The little clear cap gets quite messy and there's always the risk of losing it. I don't apply the product directly from the sponge to my eyes - I use my ring finger to get the concealer off the sponge and apply from my finger - not entirely sanitary but I prefer using the warmth of my fingers to apply the product. I didn't experience any issue with product dispensing from the click action dispenser - usually 2 twists does it for me per usage. I quite like the glass bottle - I can see exactly how much product is left.
I'm nearly finished the Medium concealer shade and considered purchasing the next shade down, Light 120, but it is very similar to the Neutralizer shade. When I compare it to the Neutralizer, it's just slightly darker and peachier - I think the Light shade would be too light on its own for me. I find there are big gaps in shades between each step. So I ended up buying another Medium and will continue to pair it with the Neutralizer (I use the concealer vs Neutralizer at a ratio of 2:1) It costs about $12 CAD for 6ml of product - I wait for sales to pick this up.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Kiehls - Coriander Essence
amarock 6/3/2012 5:29:00 PM
I just found out today that this, along with all of Kiehls roll-on essence oils, are being discontinued! I own just 2: Coriander and Pear - but I had my heart set on getting cucumber and then getting another coriander as a back up. Unfortunately, none of the Kiehls stores in my city had either of the scents left. All they had were Chinese flower and Pear left.
The Coriander scent itself is a lovely greeny tropical scent with a tiny bit of muskiness. The notes listed online is coriander, orange and patchouli. I love wearing this in the Spring and Summer on weekends. Since this is an oil, it lasts quite long on my skin - just an application on my wrists and neck in the morning is enough to last all day. It's not an overpowering scent but does linger on the skin and clothing very well.
It's on the pricy side at around $30 CAD for 7ml roll on - but since a tiny bit is all that's required, it's worth it. I'm now going to ration every last drop of my little bottle!
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Concealers -Hard Candy - Undercover Agent
amarock 4/20/2012 10:38:00 PM
I quite this product actually. The stick concealer is actually not great for the undereye area since it tends to be dry and can accentuate fine lines. It does however, make for a good spot concealer on the face, and is very handily encased in the cap. This product probably should have been marketed differently than it is. However, the real gem of this duo is the eye brightener. It has a serum consistency and its texture and finish rivals that of high end brand serums. The brightener does leave a dewy lightened appearance to the undereye area. I use Biotherm Eye Contour SPF 30 under my eyes which doesn't offer much moisture, so I use the brightener on top of it, which offers light moisturization and creates a great base for my undereye concealer. I also appreciate that the brightener has not caused any milia in my undereye area.
This costs $6 CAD at Wal-mart and I will definitely repurchase - mainly for the brightener. There is 13.5g of brightener in the tube, and 2.1g of concealer contained in the cap area (I think the packaging is great). I'm NC25 and use Medium. I would recommend this with the caveat that the concealer itself is not ideal for the undereye area, but better suited for spots on the face instead.
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Foundations -Garnier - BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector Daily All-In-One 
amarock 4/8/2012 1:09:00 PM
I've had this product for about a month now, wearing it on weekends only. It may be a bit premature to do a full review but I wanted to chime in my 2 cents while this product is still fairly new on the market and people are curious about it. I would not really call this product a true BB cream in comparison to the original Asian BB creams. The texture of this is much lighter and is more reminiscent of a typical tinted moisturizer. With my Asian BB creams, I always have to wear a moisturizer underneath the product since they're much thicker and require some slip to blend. With the Garnier BB cream, I actually have to skip my moisturizer and wear it simply over a light moisturizing serum (I use the Anna Sui's Intensive Moisturizing Serum).
As mentioned, the texture of this is lighter and gives a very luminous look to the skin (unlike Asian BB creams which typically give a more satin / matte finish). I usually set this with my MAC MSFN to lessen the sheen but still look quite natural (I first blot off the excess shine with a layer of tissue). The coverage is very minimal and really just helps to even my skintone. I have only worn this on weekends as I do not think it provides the polished look that I prefer for work. I do like that it has SPF 15 but I do prefer SPF 30 or higher for my face typically (my Asian BB creams provide at least SPF 30). This has not broken me out and I have combo / sensitive skin. The colour match is not exact for me though - I'm around NC20/25 and the light/medium is too dark for me. The colour is a nice neutral beige (no grey cast which is typical of Asian BB creams) and probably better suited for NC35 skintone - but since the coverage is so sheer, I can make this work.
Now the infamous scent. I actually do not mind it. I'm not normally a fan of fragrance in my face products but this one does not bother me very much - in fact, I think it smells like lemon iced tea! The scent does linger a bit (probably for an hour after application) but since I don't hate the scent, it really does not bother me. But I can see how it would bother people and turn them off from using this product. It's totally a personal preference.
One last gripe about this product is the way it's packaged for sale at the store. There is absolutely no safety seal of any sort on this - either on the exterior box or the tube itself. On the shelf (it's found in the skincare aisle), anyone can open the box, flip open the cap and squeeze out the product and create their own "tester" if they want to. I had to double check mine before I purchased it to make sure it hadn't been used. One good thing is, at Shoppers Drug Mart that I bought this from - they had created 2 testers (1 for each shade) which they displayed on the shelf which seemed to discourage people from opening new ones. Garnier, it's not too difficult or expensive to put clear stickers on the box flaps or shrink wrap the tube to protect the product from people's grubby hands, it will lessen your product write-offs at the retail level!
I was lucky enough to pick this up during a sale at SDM and I actually think this was marked incorrectly - I got this for $9 CAD (regularly it's $22 CAD) but I think this particular SDM marked this as skincare when they were promoting Garnier skincare products. I checked at other SDM locations and their Garnier BB creams weren't $9 that week. Anyway, I'm not sure if I would repurchase this at regular price - likely I would not want to pay more than $10 for this. The tube is fairly large with 75 mL of product (most foundations are 30-50mL). If I really need another tinted moisturizer, I would rather use my Mary Kay or the Marcelle Sheer Tint Fluid Moisturizer (I have yet to try the Marcelle BB cream but it's on my list to try). If you really want to try a true Asian BB cream, they're definitely worth a try - you can find them online at reasonable prices - my personal favourite BB cream is Skin79, either Super Plus Triple Functions BB Cream (hot pink bottle) or VIP Gold Super Plus BB Cream (silver/gold bottle).
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Mascara -Clinique - Lash Building Primer
amarock 4/8/2012 12:19:00 PM
I bought this primer to try out since it's readily available in the North American market. My previous experience with mascara primer / bases was Kanebo (Kate) which was excellent but not easily available - my wish was to find something relatively inexpensive and easy to replace. Unfortunately, the Clinique Lash Building Primer did not live up to the expectations.
My mascara application routine is normally as follows: curl lashes with Shiseido curler, apply mascara base (this part is optional depending on the look I'm going for), let base dry, apply mascara, and then comb through lashes with Tweezerman metal lash comb. This primer has normal bristles and a small brush which does make for easy application, however, as many others have mentioned, this base does not hold a curl at all. As soon as I apply the primer, my lashes start to uncurl themselves, thus wasting the effort of curling them with a lash curler to begin with. I've also tested not allowing the primer to dry before applying my mascara but it made no difference and actually was more of a pain to cover the white colour of the primer while it was still wet. Also, the formula is quite wet and takes a while to dry before I can apply my mascara. I didn't notice a huge difference in length when using this primer, but it did make my lashes look more voluminous. I also did not see a significant improvement in how long my mascara stayed on without smearing / flaking. One good use I found for this primer was layering under waterproof mascaras which tend to irritate my eyes if I wear them alone - when I layer a primer, it helps to lessen the irritation, for some reason.
This cost $17CAD, which isn't exorbitant and I purchased it during a Clinique gwp event along with something else - so I guess all was not lost as I got some nice samples to try out. It does not contain very much product at 4.8g per tube - overall, I would not recommend this product and would not repurchase.
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Treatments (Eye) -Mary Kay - Targeted Action Eye Revitalizer
amarock 2/18/2012 10:31:00 PM
When I first used this, I wanted to re-wash my face to get rid of the stink! It seriously smells like pickled cat pee. I've been wanting to use this quote, so here it is - the smell is equivalent to the review of 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy Estate wine; to quote: Donaghy Estates tastes like the urine of Satan after a hefty portion of asparagus. LOL!
So why the 3 out of 5 rating? Well, it actually works pretty well - but for a very specific task for me. When I first got it, I tried it just for my under eye area for dark circles. It didn't do much so I stopped using it (the smell also deterred me). Then I read a review from the cosmetic cop, calling this product just a combination of film-forming agents (she rated it a sad face). So I thought, maybe this would be good for my eye lids to help with puffiness instead. I don't suffer from puffy under eyes, but I have small eye lid creases and if they get puffy, the creases get all wonky in the mornings. So I gave this a whirl applying this at night, and it does something magical where my eye lids are not puffy and look great in the mornings! The product is a one-trick pony for me though - I just roll the metal roller straight on my eye lids (holding my breath), smooth it out with my ring fingers and that's all I use it for. The smell does dissipate by the time I go to bed (I've never heard a comment from my SO) - and I can detect more of a citrus-y undertone now that I've been using this for close to a year.
The product is a milky gel like consistency with a metal ball applicator that's hassle free. I've not had it leak or not dispense product (I do store it upside down now that I'm getting low on the product). There is a cooling sensation which feels great especially on a hot summer night - the product dries without any residue. Given that I only use this on my eye lids at night, the product has lasted me a good while. At this rate, I'll probably need to buy just once a year which is not bad. It costs $45 CAD for 10ml.
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Treatments (Eye) -Mary Kay - Timewise Firming Eye Cream
amarock 2/18/2012 10:05:00 PM
I bought this cream to help combat the dry Canadian winters which brings out fine lines under my eyes. This was for night time use only since it was more emollient and I preferred something lighter with SPF for the day time. The consistency of this cream is quite nice - not oily but not too light - it had an airy whipped quality that made application easy and it absorbed quickly. It's also fragrance free. I also found that it really hydrated the skin and made the eye area look and feel more supple and soft in the morning. It did not cause milia for me. The convenience of the pump made this product easy to travel with, and quite sanitary - it pumped out just enough product with 1 pump-full.
Where this product really failed for me was that it stung my eyes! Like other have noted, if I applied it anywhere too close where it may get near my lash line, it would feel like I got alcohol in my eyes - not good! I tried to use this on and off for a few months and finally gave up - the times I was extra careful not to go 1cm around my eye I felt like I wasn't applying to the areas I really needed hydration (I have fine lines just near my tear duct), and most times I'd just deal with the stinging.
I really don't understand why they wouldn't test this to see if it would irritate the eye since it's a product meant for the eye area! My MK consultant (just as others who posted below) advised me not to apply it so close to my eyes, just around the orbital bone. But really? It's an eye cream, it will inevitably get near the lash line even if I didn't apply it directly there, it could migrate or transfer. It's not user application error, it's a problem with the product itself. I ended up using the rest of the cream on my neck - as far away from my eyes as possible! At $40 CAD for 14g, it's not the most expensive eye cream out there, but it is on the expensive side. I wouldn't repurchase simply because of the stinging. There are plenty of eye creams out there that do not sting when applied near the eye area.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Yves Rocher - Micellar Cleansing Water
amarock 12/11/2011 9:23:00 AM
This is an excellent micellar cleanser. My skin is combo and sensitive, with some dry patches and this cleanser does not leave a tight feeling on my skin (I used BIoderma in the past) but removes every last trace of makeup. I primarily use this as a finishing step after I deep cleanse with cleansing oil, but I have also used this as the sole makeup cleanser when in a rush, with superb results. I did a comparison between Bioderma and Yves Rocher on my skin over a few days, and the cotton pad picked up more residue makeup traces on the Yves Rocker side. I also really like the light fresh natural fragrance.
The regular price of this is around $19 for a 200ml bottle, however, I've never purchased this at regular price as Yves Rocher puts this item on sale at 40-50% off all the time. With nightly use a bottle will last me about 4 months, so it's not too expensive. It's a shame that not more people have tried Yves Rocher products (I'm in Canada), as I've found a lot of little gems from this brand. I think in part Yves Rocher have themselves to blame for all of their confusing marketing tactics and constant sales. Who knew so many of their products are still made in France and such high quality? The Micellar Cleansing Water is my favourite Yves Rocher item that I've tried so far - highly recommended.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Rimmel - Match Perfection Concealer
amarock 11/22/2011 2:54:00 PM
This is a pretty darn good undereye concealer at any price range, and to find it at the drugstore is just icing on the cake. I only use this for my undereye area since it has light reflective properties and a slicker texture (I prefer dryer, more pigmented concealers, or even mineral makeup for spots) and it really gives me a rested appearance even though I have fairly dark undereye circles. The colour I have is 030 Classic Beige which matches my NC20 complexion very well. I find the texture to be slightly thicker than a normal liquid concealer, but it smooths over the delicate undereye area easily and blends in well (I pat with my ring finger) and does not crease. There are 2 reasons why this product is getting a 4 instead of 5. Firstly, as a lot of people have mentioned, the stupid brush applicator is not very hygienic (however, I do not apply the concealer straight from the brush to my skin, I dab it onto my ring finger and apply from my finger). I also find the brush / squeeze tube combo wastes a lot of product - I'm nearly out of this concealer and I have only had it for a few of months, and not with daily use either. Secondly, I find this concealer does tend to fade after about 6 hrs of wear - in this regard, this concealer reminds me a bit of MUFE Lift Concealer - they both conceal quite well, provide a luminosity to my undereye area, but are not long very wearing. I have played around with the Rimmel one to layer over more pigmented conealers and it's worked fairly well. Overall, a great concealer for the undereye area.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Wet 'n' Wild - Color Icon #252B Nutty
amarock 11/14/2011 7:41:00 PM
I wrote that I wouldn't buy this product again - actually, I have purchased this item 2 times because I wasn't getting the "Satin Taupe-sque" shade that everyone else was raving about. I purchased my first Nutty about a year ago, and while the texture was soft and smooth, the colour showed up as a one dimensional silver on me (NC20 skintone). I wasn't too impressed and tried layering it over various coloured bases to attempt to bring out the taupe, but it was more trouble than it was worth. Some time passed and a few months ago I decided to buy another one to give it another whirl (since they're $2 CAD a pop here) and this time around, the colour was a slightly more warmed toned taupe (ie it wasn't pure silver) and had more multi-dimensional shimmer. When swatched side by side, I can definitely see the difference between the 2 versions of Nutty I bought - I guess the shade can differ by batches in manufacturing! I find this colour (2nd Nutty) to be fairly universally flattering and easy to wear as a one colour lid look, however, the pigmentation is somewhat lacking, and the staying power isn't great. Overall, a good inexpensive drugstore alternative, but not a shade I reach for too often. The packaging is quite compact and no frills which I appreciate.
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Eye Shadow -BeneFit Cosmetics - Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner - Skinny Jeans
amarock 10/30/2011 8:32:00 PM
Such a disappointment! This "creaseless" product creases on me. I've used many kinds of cream based eye shadows and this ranks amongst my bottom two (Shu Uemura being the other). Not only does this crease through the day, it also does not hold up to any sort of moisture at ALL - one of my eyes waters from time to time and this thing disappears as soon as water hits it. I give this product a 2 for nice colour and texture - very easy to blend (compare to say, MUFE Aqua Cream) and this particular colour looks great alone or as a base for a neutral smokey eye that's day time appropriate. Just such a shame it doesn't work for me, but it's a very individual thing (as apparent by so many rave reviews, which was the reason why I decided to give this a whirl). For reference, the cream eye shadows that do stay on me are: MAC Paint Pot, Shisiedo Hydro-Powder and MUFE Aqua Cream. I normally wear cream eye shadows over an eye shadow base like TFSI or LORAC Behind the Scenes eye primer. I paid $23 CAD for this item and there is 4.5g of product in the pot (compare to $21 CAD for MAC Paint Pot with 5.0g of product).
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Clinique - Butter Shine Lipstick - Delovely
amarock 10/29/2011 6:42:00 PM
This review has been a long time coming... since I've owned this lipstick when the Butter Shine line launched. I purchased this colour, Delovely, along with Raspberry Rush at that time and they are both still my top 10 lipsticks ever. Delovely probably is in the top 3 range. The colour is so easy to wear for a neutral lip that makes my lips look alive and fresh. The Butter Shine formula is really comfortable to wear and provides just enough moisture so it doesn't dry out my lips, but isn't so slippery that it causes colour transfer or that slimy feeling. I'm super impressed at the perfect blend of rich colour pay-off and wearability of this lipstick. The silver bamboo look tube is a real improvement on the old Clinique plastic light sage tube - I definitely recommend this and would repurchase!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -L'Oreal - Extra Volume Collagen mascara
amarock 9/3/2011 9:28:00 PM
I had high hopes this mascara would at least be on par with Voluminous (which I would rate 4 out of 5) but unfortunately, this mascara was a big mess. The packaging is nice and sleek, and the bristles looked promising - thick criss-crossing bristles that look like they'd reach every lash. However, what fails for me is that this mascara not only applies clumpy (I can deal with that - metal lash comb does the trick) but the formula also flakes and smears on me during the day. Not an attractive look. The formula does clean off easily with my normal eye makeup remover, and doesn't irritate my eyes. I purchased this mascara on sale for 50% off, but it's regular quite pricey here in Canada, selling for around $16 CAD. I wouldn't repurchase, given that there are much better mascaras out there at a fraction of the cost (see my reviews on Cover Girl mascaras!)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Rimmel - Glameyes Day2Night mascara
amarock 8/27/2011 10:56:00 PM
A bit disappointed with this mascara given that Rimmel's mascaras are generally decent - I especially liked the formula of Sexy Curves and Extra Super Lash, both of which offer good length and flake-free lashes with gel-like formulas. Glameyes Day2Night offers ok length, but flakes a lot on me, and it also smears and disappears off my lashes by the end of the day. The formula has a dry clumpy texture and doesn't adhere well to the lashes - I had to make more of an effort to run the wand over my lashes multiple times to coat them. The double wand delivery system works fine - very similar to MAC's Haute & Naughty mascara and Bourjois' Volumizer mascara - I've tried Bourjois' version which was decent, but for everyday needs, only the smaller "Length" wand is usable unless you want to spend 10 minutes with a metal eyelash comb combing out clumps. I actually quite like the smaller "Length" wand because there is some flex in the wand, and the smaller bristles could get into the outer corners of my eyes. I bought the Rimmel Glameyes Day2Night mascara on sale for $5 CAD - I think it normally retails for $9 CAD. Not impressed and wouldn't repurchase (I tossed this out after only 3 weeks of use and trying to make it work). I'd only recommend this mascara if you're curious about double wand system - but the novelty factor wears off quickly, I assure you.
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Eye Shadow -L'Oreal - Color Infallible Eyeshadow Burning Black 13
amarock 8/25/2011 6:40:00 PM
I was really excited for this item to arrive in Canada! This is supposedly a reasonable dupe for the Armani Eyes To Kill eyeshadow concept. Although I've not tried the Armani ones in person, I can see from online photos that they offer a sophisticated selection of complex colours. But at about 4 times the price of the L'Oreal version, I decided to wait for the drugstore option. The regular price of this eyeshadow is $13 CAD, and I waited until they were on sale for $10 CAD before I took the plunge (I saw recently that they've lowered the regular price to $11 CAD, and there was a sale on for about $8.50 CAD). The pot holds 3.5g of product, and the product is made in Italy.
This particular colour, Burning Black, is a dark burgundy with a purple sheen. It applies quite dark on the lid, but can be blended down for a wearable smokey eye look. Today I paired this with MAC All That Glitters (peachy beige frost) which blended into the Burning Black and created a cool taupey colour that was very pretty. I'm really impressed with the wear of this eye shadow - over my regular primer and base (Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer & MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre), it lasted all day with absolutely no creasing or fading. The powder feels very smooth and mousse-like - it is highly pigmented with almost no fall out. I apply this eyeshadow with a clean dry finger and then blend it out with a crease brush. For a more intense look, it can be used wet and patted onto the eyelid (I have not tried this yet).
I do wish there was a better selection of neutral colours - the current colour selection includes a white, champagne, warm brown and a silver... but I wish there was a true taupe or a cool brown. However, the available colours are quite impressive and at least one colour in the mix would appeal to anyone. The colours available in Canada are: Time Resist White, Hourglass Beige, Forever Pink, Purple Obsession, All Night Blue, Unlimited Sky, Permanent Kaki, Endless Chocolat, Burning Black (this review), Eternal Black, Flash Back Silver (search online for swatches). I recommend this product and would purchase more - most likely the next colour for me would be "Endless Chocolate".
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No