Palettes -Graftobian - Empty 8-Well Magnetic Palette
amymont 9/15/2012 12:16:00 PM
I purchased this online with 3 refills, being the HD Powder Makeup, the eyeshadow and blusher. I really like this palette. The size is so convenient and I just like everything about it. I can't wait to add more products to it. Definitely recommend it.
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Powder -Graftobian - HD Pro Powder Foundation
amymont 9/15/2012 12:08:00 PM
I purchased this in Porcelain Doll based on reviews here on MUA. I was aware it could be a tad too yellow. When I tried it I found I really liked it. I haven't used a powder foundation before as I usually wear liquids. I wanted to try this for use when in a hurry or for a natural look for less formal days. I applied it with the Ecotools powder brush (telescopic) but didn't open the brush much so the surface would be firmer. I opened up the brush afterwards to buff the makeup slightly. It goes on really quickly and looks very natural. The shade is a tad too yellow but not much. (I'm an NC 15 - 20 for reference, neutral tone with no pink, leaning towards yellow undertone). Porcelain Doll adds a subtle warmth to my complexion and I can see this being good for summertime for that added warmth, as I don't ever let my face get tan. I will try Fair Maiden next as another reviewer mentioned it is slighly more neutral than Porcelain Doll but I can see myself repurchasing Porcelain Doll and I imagine I may use both in the future. Applied lightly it looks natural. I haven't tried heavy coverage with it but I imagine it would also look nice. Very good product.
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Gels/Soaps -Unlisted Brand - The Little Bubble Co - Vanilla Biscuit
amymont 9/6/2012 3:52:00 PM
I discovered the Little Bubble Co products today and purchased the Coconut Creme Bath & Shower Gel. When I tried it, the scent was so much nicer than I imagined it would be. Just a wonderful coconut smell. I love the fact it has vegetarian ingredients and is not tested on animals. I love everything about this shower gel and don't have one negative thing to say about it. Fabulous!
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Powder -Laura Geller - Balance n Brighten in Fair
amymont 9/3/2012 5:16:00 PM
After seeing Laura Geller demonstrating this on QVC I decided to purchase it in fair. I’m an NC15-20 and this product was way too dark and orangey on my skin. It went on easily and my skin looked good, although darker than it should. Being summer I could get away with looking like I had a tan. After a week of use I got blackheads, blemishes and then cystic acne. I checked the product ingredients. The fourth ingredient is Isopropyl Palmitate, which I found upon checking is derived from an ester of paltmitic acide (from coconut) and coconut oil is about a 4 or 5 on the comedogenic ratings scale. I thought this might be of interest to anyone wanting to try this product who is acne prone. I found this on checking “There are several side effects when using personal care products that contain Isopropyl palmitate. It has been known to cause acne, black heads and white heads when used excessively.” (http://www.naturalwellbeing.com/learning-center/Isopropyl_Palmitate) Perhaps daily use would be considered “excessive”. I checked other Laura Geller products and they also have isoproply palmitate high up on the ingredient list, so unfortunately I won’t be using any more Laura Geller products. Laura Geller was enthusing about all the “good ingredients” in her products and talking about how much care goes into developing them. Some of her ingredients are good but I wish she had used something other than Isopropyl palmitate as there's a lot of people who get blackheads and blocked pores. Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Isopropyl Palmitate, Dimethicone, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Phenoxyethanol, Jojoba Seed Oil, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), BHT.
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Cleansers -Borghese - Kirkland Signature Pure Moisturizing Cleanser
amymont 7/26/2012 6:41:00 PM
I haven't used this product but had been intending to based on the good reviews. I managed to find an ingredients list and discovered there are several comedogenic ingredients, so I decided, reluctantly, to give it a miss, but I thought others might be interested to see the list of ingredients: Aqua, PEG-8 dilaurate, Isostearyl Neopentanoate, butylene glycol, cocamidopropyl betaine, caprylic/capric triglyceride, acrylates copolyer, triethanolamine, dea-cetyl phosphate, fragrance, hydrolyzed wheat protein, isocetyl stearate, stearyl alcohol, sucrose cocoate, methyl gluceth-20, carbomer, squalane, trisodium edta, glycol stearate, cetyl palmitate, cetylesters, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, proplparaben, butylparaben, isobutyparaben, linalool.
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Foundations -Dolce & Gabbana - Perfect Finish Creamy Foundation
amymont 7/19/2012 8:10:00 AM
EDIT: Just want to add that although this foundation did burn on application, it caused no lasting problems. I ordered this online and when it arrived I couldn't wait to put it on. My skin is drier than normal as it’s still recovering from a Decleor cream I tried a couple of months ago. When I applied the D&G foundation it immediately caused my skin to tingle and start burning. I cleansed it off within a couple of minutes and my skin continued to tingle and burn for an hour and my cheeks were flushed red. I then put some D&G foundation on the top of my hand to see what it looked like there and even my hand started tingling. I don’t have super sensitive skin, just sensitivity if I use a product with too many chemicals or other irritants and then it can take some time to normalize again. But by putting this foundation on my hand - which is definitely not sensitive in any way - and experiencing burning there, I can only assume there are some major irritants in this foundation. My combination skin is drier than usual at the moment and surprisingly to me, the D&G foundation highlighted the dryness. I had assumed that because of its rich, creamy texture it would be the perfect foundation for my currently dry skin. I was wrong. All in all, this foundation was a huge disappointment. The jar looks nice, as everyone says, and is heavy. The shade (Classic) was lovely. It’s a lighter color on the skin than it looks in the jar. It’s a pale neutral tone and not at all pinky and it was the perfect color match for me. For reference I am NC 15-20. My skin only needs light to medium coverage as I have an even skintone except for a few broken capiliaries on my cheeks. I am sorry to say the D&G foundation did not provide much cover and looked indescribably awful. It applied OK to my nose but the foundation would not adhere to the rest of my skin properly (I had put it on one side of my face over a moisturizer and on the other side over a primer) but it just would not adhere to my skin in the way foundations normally do. The texture feels lovely. The color was perfect. It might perform better on oiler skins and/or non-sensitive skins, but for me it was a huge disappointment. EDIT: I found the ingredients on this website and they also give warnings to stop use if irritation occurs, proving there are irritants in the foundation: (http://www.drugs.com/otc/104907/dolce-and-gabbana-the-foundation-all-shades.html) WATER, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, GLYCERIN, SORBITAN ISOSTEARATE, MICA, MYRISTYL TRISILOXANE, CAPRYLYL DIMETHICONE ETHOXY GLUCOSIDE, ZINC STEARATE, SILICA, DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, SODIUM CHLORIDE, ALUMINUM/MAGNESIUM HYDROXIDE STEARATE, SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, DIMETHICONE, CHLORPHENESIN, ETHYLENE BRASSYLATE, METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL, YOGURT POWDER, ASCORBYL PALMITATE, TOCOPHEROL, PENTAPEPTIDE-3, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, MAY CONTAIN: IRON OXIDES, TITANIUM DIOXIDE
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Blush -Laura Mercier - Cheek Colour to Go
amymont 7/16/2012 10:42:00 AM
I have this blush in Raisin. I love the color and it's my favorite blush ever. I am pale with blue eyes but this blush looks so natural on me. It's like the color of naturally flushed cheeks. I only have a third left and it seems it has been discontinued, as it's not featured on the LM site anymore. I've googled for it with no luck. Would love to get hold of some old stock and/or find a dupe for it! It's always the favorites that get discontinued : (
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Moisturizers -Decleor - Expérience de l'age Triple Action Rich Cream
amymont 5/30/2012 9:46:00 AM
I purchased Experience de L'age from QVC with a couple of other products. When it arrived I put it on one side of my face and am so glad I did because I immediately felt a burning sensation which was both hot and cold at the same time. The side of my face with the product on it got red blotches which were still evident next day. I immediately cleaned it off but the damage was done and it will take my skin perhaps a week or maybe more to calm down. EDIT: 3 months later I still have red markings on my left cheek, caused by this product and I’ve had to be very careful what moisturizers and cleansers I used because this product really upset my skin. This is my first review here although I've been reading reviews for 5+ years and I wanted to post it as a warning to others with sensitive skin. I did write a review on QVC, which is where I purchased the products but it was rejected. I know this product works well for some, and simply wanted to warn others with sensitive skin what to be aware of, so hopefully others can avoid a reaction like mine. I read that one ingredient in this product, which Decleor don't acknowledge, is Mica and a little research indicated that Mica can be an irritant to some skin types and causes the "glow" referred to by Decleor. From now on I am avoiding all products that promise a "glow" because the ingredients that trigger it can be hard to tolerate on a sensitive skin. There are many other irritants in the cream. Applying the cream has caused previously invisible thread veins to become very noticeable. EDIT 2: After submitting several reviews to QVC (all of which were rejected) I complained to QVC and told them how disappointed I was that they won’t allow any negative reviews. Bottom line is….QVC finally did publishing my review on this product although it was edited. They removed the bit where I said the Decleor rep advised this product was suitable for ALL skin types. I have used wipe off Decleor cleansers and found them very effective with no bad effects, so I know many of Decleor's products are good. What did bother me about this purchase was the fact the Decleor rep on QVC stated the product was suitable for all skin types when clearly it isn't suitable for sensitive skins. Included with the purchase was the Aromessence Iris oil and I had very high hopes for this. This was the product I really wanted and the reason for purchasing the set. The first time I used it I had no ill effects. Second time nothing. Third time when I applied it next morning before putting on makeup, my skin started tingling and burning, although not as badly as with the Experience de L'age, and I got red blotches over my entire face. I cleansed my face and put Argan oil on it to soothe it. Clearly the Iris products are not good for sensitive skin. I will not be purchasing any other Decleor products. I found a link to some information on essential oils and Decleor: http://www.beautypedia.com/Brand/Decleor/96.aspx I am sure this product will suit many people. It just didn't suit my sensitive skin. I wanted to add some comments. 5 days later I have even worse skin problems. The side of my face where I applied this cream is burning all the time. My cheek is scarlet. It's painful and looks bad. I've put calamine lotion on it to help with the burning and argan oil. The other cheek that I used Aromessence Iris oil on (but not Experience de L'age) burned almost as badly and is just as red. But the worst damage was caused by Experience de L'age. (EDIT: That damage lasted months). The fact it gets worse by the day shows me how bad the ingredients are for sensitive skins and I am hoping it wont take too long for the damage to be undone. It's the irritants (and perfume) in the Experience de L'age that have done the most damage. The essential oils in the Aromessence Iris were stimulating rather than soothing so totally inappropriate for sensitive skin, hence the problems. I tried posting 3 reviews on QVC but all have been rejected. Obviously this product doesn't have this effect on everyone, but it has caused a seriously bad reaction on my sensitive skin and no doubt would on others. Decleor's website only lists a handful of ingredients, as is their practice. After some intense searching I found the ingredients list. I posted the ingredients under "ingredients" at the top of the post and saved them but they didn't save. So here they are... Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Prunus Domestica Fruit Extract Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Methylsilanol Hydroxyproline Aspartate, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Beheneth-25, Behenyl Alcohol, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Cyclohexasiloxane, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Zea Mays (Corn) Kernel Extract, Iris Florentina Root Extract, Bupleurum Falcatum Root Extract, Hydrolyzed Lepidium Meyenii Root, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Corylus Avellana (Hazel) Seed Oil, Algae Extract, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Acacia Senegal Gum, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Mica, Stearyl Heptanoate, Stearyl Caprylate, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Butylene Glycol, Silica, Aluminum Hydroxide, Fragrance (Parfum), Pullulan, Phospholipids, Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate, Biosaccharide Gum-4, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Algin, BHT, Tetrasodium EDTA, Propylene Glycol, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Xanthan Gum, Serine, Tin Oxide, Citronellol, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Coumarin, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Benzyl Benzoate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben.
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