Conditioner -Suave - Naturals Tropical Coconut Conditioner
astrogoob 3/23/2013 2:36:00 PM
Yep, the good old suave coconut. I love this stuff. I've got waist-length, dry hair, and I use this as a "shield" on the lower 3/4 of my hair. Basically, soak the lower, dry half of your hair in this stuff, then I shampoo (sulfate free, please!) my scalp and top bits of my hair. This conditioner prevents my shampoo from drying out the long, dry part of my hair, and works great to keep it soft. If my hair isn't too dry, I'll also re-condition my whole head and length with this stuff, and cold-rinse to finish my hair-washing. Luckily it's cheap enough that you can afford to use gobs and gobs of it, and my hair is never oily after use. This is my favorite 'light' conditioner, ever. I keep coming back to this, for years. - Even when my hair is super-dry, I still use this as a shampoo-shield. I love the smell (even if it's fake coconut smell) and I know I'm not wasting a more expensive product that does the same thing. After, I just use a different conditioner before my final rinse. No sulfate, no silicone, light protein, just what long, dry hair needs to prevent further dryness and damage. I recommend always cold-rinsing, and touching up after the shower with a very very small amount of coconut oil to tame unruly ends. I can't believe such a valuable product is so damn cheap. Lucky us!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -L'Oreal - EverSleek Reparative Smoothing Conditioner
astrogoob 3/23/2013 2:26:00 PM
For what I bought this conditioner to do, I love it. My hair is waist-length, with extremely damaged/split ends. I recognize that there is NO way to repair split ends once the damage has been done. The only way to "fix" them is to use products with 'cones', which unfortunately can also prevent moisture absorption, and dry out your hair. Since I would rather take care of what good hair I do have instead of possibly making more damage with dryness from silicone conditioners, I choose to avoid them. If you're switching from a conditioner that includes 'cones' like: dimethicone, amodimethicone, etc, you will notice that your hair *feels* more brittle. In actuality, you are removing these foreign chemicals from your hair and revealing damage that has been there for some time already. They don't actually fix your hair, you're just covering up and probably causing more damage. End Rant. - Things I love: - Great, creamy texture! Not at all watery. When it comes out of the tube, it looks like a little ice cream swirl, and stays that way. Oddly bouncy. - No cones/sulfates = no more damage to my already dry hair. Nice! - Great slip in the shower! I can comb this through my hair and feel like it's really sinking in. - Hair feels soft and not plasticky after it's air-dryed. - Neutrals: - Light fragrance. It's not heavy, but I'm not in love with it either. I don't mind it, it's just a bland, boring, kind of neutral smell. Not exciting. - Cons: - A little more expensive than I'd prefer. I bought this for around 6 or 7 dollars. I'd be happy with 5 or 5.50, but I'm also stingy and cheap. - Since I was looking for a conditioner that was a bit "heftier" than my usual Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut, I found this as my (pretty much) only option for sulfate-free, silicone-free, low protein conditioner at the drugstore. Even though I bought this in a half-whim, half-desperate attempt to moisturize my winter-abused hair, I'm pleasantly surprised with this product. I will definitely seek it out in the future, on purpose. I recommend a cold-water rinse at the end, and if you've got tangly ends, a smudge of coconut oil on unruly parts. - I suspect that some of the bad reviews come from people who are used to having silicones or heavy proteins in their conditioner, and are shocked at the damage that heat and silicones are wreaking on their hair. If you're looking for a good moisturizing conditioner that is without silicones, this is a great, great drugstore option. Just don't expect this, or anything else, to mend your already-damaged hair. Only scissors can fix that.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair Removal -Unlisted Brand - Homemade Sugar Wax
astrogoob 2/24/2013 7:47:00 PM
Holy crap, y'all. Homemade sugar wax is the bomb-diggity. Go make yourself some right now, and tell hair-removal products you can buy in stores to go butt a stump. - I don't use cloth for this method. Just play with a small amount of the sugar in your hands until you get it opaque, and rub and rip. Sometimes a light dusting of baby powder helps first, especially in the underarms. I found applying against the grain works and removing with works better in some areas, but there's a necessary amount of trial-and error before you find what works for you. Clean up is tasty, and it washes right off. No more need for oil-based removers like you do with wax. - Seriously, go youtube some videos on how to do this without cloth, like right NOW, and have a night of cooking and hair removal. You'll probably wind up with a bruise or two your first time, but you'll defiantly laugh at your useless razor each time you bounce out of your shower. You'll get so mad that you shaved and bought wax kits for years, so it's probably best you go on now and get it over with.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Korres - Lip Butter - Wild Rose
astrogoob 2/24/2013 7:32:00 PM
Yep, this stuff is nice. I wasn't a fan of the Wild Rose color/flavor at first, but it's a nice way to get a softer "red lip" look in your day without looking over-made up. It's more wine-y than apple-ey, which is a great, natural take on the red lip. All of the Korres lip butters in "pots" keep my lips chap-free. Whoever said the look is "glassy" not "glossy" is a genius. It's not sticky like a lot of gloss-products tend to be. Instead it's creamy or buttery or gel-like, or some magical texture that has yet to have a word assigned to it. Yeah, you have to stick your finger or a brush in there; get over it. The other Korres products for lips suck compared to the classic butters in pots; this is the best way to use them. Yeah, it wears off in like, 2 hours, or even 1. These are travel-sized, and you've always got fingers. Totally worth it. Buy 'em in packs, they're cheaper.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Korres - Wild Rose 24-Hour Cream
astrogoob 2/24/2013 7:02:00 PM
I don't know why this stuff ever receives anything less than 4 or 5 lippies. It's perfect. - I waited for over a month to review. I've been using this product every day, morning and night, and I can absolutely attribute its use to the complete eradication of my periodic, mild acne breakouts. Then my boyfriend stole my travel-size and started using it. It got rid of his blackheads that he's complained about since the day I met him. So this stuff works for dry/combination as well as oily-man complexions. - Things I like: -Texture is light, more on the liquid than cream side, and what I consider ideal. -Smell is soft, but not overwhelming. You have to get within half a foot of someone's face before you can start to smell it immediately after use. Good deal. -It doesn't stick on you face like a mask forever. You put it on, and the "I've got crap on my face" feeling goes away after no more than 5 minutes. -My face doesn't feel tight after washing anymore. Slap this stuff on straight afterward and say goodbye to stinging or tightness, peeling or flaking. - Things I kind of don't like: -It's not cheap. - Not that I care. I don't have chin-acne or cheek-acne or side-of-face-acne any more. That crap's freakin stubborn! My boyfriend and I and anyone else who will listen to me will be sticking with Korres and have good-smelling, clean, moisturized and not gunkified faces.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Maybelline - Great Lash Mascara
astrogoob 11/26/2012 11:52:00 PM
Drug store mascara I've used for years. I say it's only worthwhile if you run the bottle under hot water for about a minute before application - the formula doesn't clump and can be more convincingly layered. It doesn't have bells or whistles, growth formulas or lengthening fibers, but if you've already got good lashes and are looking to make them darker and more noticeable, this is your mascara. If you're looking for lengthening or crazy volume, that's not what this mascara is for. EDIT: downscaled on the overall rating, just because I got tired of using this stuff after trying more products. It's been relegated to long-term storage in favor of lashblast fusion.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Tools -Urban Decay - Grind House (sharpener)
astrogoob 11/23/2012 9:30:00 PM
I nearly bought the Grindhouse at Sephora for around ten bucks! Yes, I use UD eye pencils, and they do require a specific kind of sharpener to not muck up the core like crazy. However, the Grindhouse is not unique! Make up Forever sells the same model in black for three dollars cheaper, and I'm fairly certain Sephora sells one from the same mould for around 5. I hate how Urban Decay rips people off for something that obviously cost them far less to make than they charge. Check out sharpeners made by others before you buy into the hype UD tries to overcharge you for. Edit: I recently found an UD sharpener with a different shape. This could be a different Grindhouse: it's got a square top instead of the clear dome-bodied one I've seen so often before. Frankly, I think they just changed the shape because they knew people caught on to their overpricing antics. If you want a cute, UD branded, overpriced sharpener, this is what you want. If you just want what works, go find one of the other brands' version that's reasonably priced. I still use mine made by MUF, and it's still working like a champ on UD pencils.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -Badger - Cuticle Care
astrogoob 11/23/2012 9:22:00 PM
Used this product until I was scraping the inner rim of the tin - then I lost it. Since I lost it, my cuticles are a disaster. I never knew my obsessive cuticle oil applications at work were doing such good until I lost my tin. I always get oil everywhere when I apply, although it does absorb much faster than other treatments I've tried. I'm buying more next week. Great product; everything else for cuticles sucks in comparison.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Misc Beauty Tools -Tweezerman - tweezers
astrogoob 6/16/2012 11:23:00 AM
Yep, I'd buy this product again. Luckily I won't have to since they seem to last forever. I've got the pink glitter two-set, and I'm more than pleased. They always grip, and never break, the hair. Slanted tip and pointed tip versions are both great, although the pointed tip version is a bit more difficult to use. Still, they're great for those individual brow-hairs that need a precision job. Love my tweezers, never going back to cheap drugstore manglers ever again.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Nivea - A Kiss of Milk and Honey
astrogoob 6/16/2012 1:08:00 AM
I'm extremely sensitive to menthol, so lip balms that have mint in them always make my lips chapped and shredded and bleeding in days. If you've got a similar problem, you'll know that this includes about 80% of all products out there. Here's my impression of this balm after two months of steady use: This is the lip balm I've (we've) been searching for all my (our) life (lives). It's butter-smooth, but not oily or sticky. It actually sinks into my lips instead of rubbing off or disappearing to who-knows-where-but-definitely-not-my-lips. It takes effect almost immediately, leaving my lips moisturized and feeling full. It doesn't chap at all, and actually increases recovery time from damage done by other, pricer brands of balm. The longer lid is great for me, since it's much easier to keep track of. I also like seeing how much of my balm I've used without wondering if I'll be able to screw the product back into the tube. Call me OCD, but it matters. Also a good thing - it's near impossible to get mysterious purse grit on your balm with this package design. Neato. All other lip balms are the crappy ex-boyfriends you've had in the past that treated you wrong. This is prince charming. I never knew lip balms could actually do any good; previously I thought of them similar to bloodletting in terms of effectiveness, and waited and dealt with disappointment until science came up with something better. I actually looked forward to seeing this stuff *work*, as opposed to the old feeling of dread and impending disappointment as I watch the wreckage other balms leave in their wake. If this lip balm were a man, I'd take him home, introduce him to my mom, and have 17 of his children without complaint. I'm not even slightly tempted to try something better. This is the absolute best.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Aveeno - Nourish + Condition Leave-In Treatment
astrogoob 6/10/2012 9:12:00 PM
After using this product for three or four months, I noticed that my hair was dry and crunchy. I quit using it, and found out after that it was loaded with silicones. My hair evidently hates those. I quit using and started conditioning with cone free conditioner instead, and now I've had long shiny tresses with $1.50 Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner. Now three lippies for those ladies who are cone-friendly. I am not, though.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No