Primer/ Corrector -Smashbox - PHOTO FINISH HYDRATING FOUNDATION PRIMER
bella418 1/6/2013 2:57:00 PM
This primer is a must have for me in the winter time. My skin gets ridiculously flaky and when I wear this over my olay regenerist serum my liquid foundation looks and wears wonderfully through the day. I have dehydrated oily skin with somewhat large, clogprone pores. This product doesn't give me any reaction and feels so refreshing when it goes on. I tried to wear this without any moisturizer/serum and it didn't keep the flakies away for me, but like I said my skin is ridiculously flaky... yet i cant normally use regulas moisturizers since my skin cant tollerate anything too heavy. The primer is $42 so its more expensive than the origional smashbox primer... but it makes such a significant difference for the look and feel of my makeup that I just might have to over look that
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Conditioner -John Frieda - Full Repair Full Body Conditioner
bella418 6/16/2012 5:19:00 PM
So I loved how this product made my hair feel but by my second bottle my hair started to fall out.... severely. Like from the root so I know it wasn't just due to damage. A year later I've somewhat gained my volume back
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Self Tanners -Unlisted Brand - Malibu - Hemp Golden Glow Bronzing Moisturizer 
bella418 6/10/2012 5:51:00 AM
So most gradual tan lotions work fine for me but th@en my skin gets "addicted" to them so when I try to stop my skin is a horrible flaky mess for at least a week. This is due to patrolium and mineral oils that are in most lotions. The reason I went with this particular bronzing lotion is because it doesn't contain either of those harmful ingredients. It very gradual and can stick to dry parts like elbows, knees, and parts of feet if you don't exfoliate and use other moisturizer. I don't love the smell but I don't hate it either. Does take a few minutes to absorb but not long enough to bother me. Over all its a very affordable bronzing moisturizer that delivers believable color along with good moisturizing to the skin.. I got this product at Walmart for around 6$. I'd like a stronger color so that's why I don't want to give this a full 5
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Pressed Powders -LORAC - porefection
bella418 6/6/2012 2:16:00 AM
I'm so in love with this powder! And the whole lorac line is great acyually. It really does make my skin look great without looking cackey. This is not a full coverage powder so if you have a lot of breaakouts/imperfections to hide, this alone wont do the trick. I use it just over a concealer and get Really natural looking results. I'd immagine this would also work beautifully over a foundation or even a TM/bb cream. I can't say that this gives me an "air-brushed" finish, but with my large pores no makeup has been able to do that to my texture. HOWEVER no product has ever come close to smoothing my skin texture Like this powder and not clog up my pores. Hasn't caused any breakouts on my oily clog prone skin which a lot of powders(even mineral) do. I consider myself a med-light skin tone with yellowish undertones and I could go with either pf3 or pf4... pf4 being slightly darker and pinker, but not to where its a huge problem. Ill probably go with the pf3 in the winter months. I apply it with too faced powder pouf brush and get the best results in comparison to cheaper brushes and I feel like the least amount of product gets wasted. At 32$ a pop I'm going to do whatever I can to make mine last! I feel like this product is actually helping my skin instead of just cover it up and suffocate it like most other makeup seems to do for me (I've tried Mac, clinique, b.e., shiseido,too faced, pur, smashbox, tarte, benefit, and most of the drugstore brands)
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Powder -BeneFit Cosmetics - Hello Flawless!
bella418 5/4/2012 5:31:00 PM
EDIT: ah I spoke too soon.. I got tired of how it rubs off easily so I traded it out for loracs porefection and my skin completely cleared/smoothed within days of the switch . I guess this powder even though didn't cause anything outrageous still was clogging my skin.. This stuff is expensive.. but the more I use it the more I love this powder. What drew me to this product is that people were complaining about the colors.. meaning it would probablyy work for me. I have really strange yellowish light tone and most makeuup ends up making my face look pink compared to my face.I chose the "petal" color and its the most perfect match I think I've ever had. Even if I just use to spot conceal it just blends effortlessly. I don't use any of the applicators that com with it, but a sponge from a shiseido compact I had (I clean my brushes and sponges regularly with anti bacterial soap). The les poduct I use on my face the better this powder looks, covers, and wears through the day. The elimination of products such as moisturizer, primer, and concealer saves me both money and time so the priciness levels out for me. Doesn't break my fussy skin out.. its actually getting better. I'm assuming that's because I don't have as many layers on my face :) Oh and I actually like the packaging! To me its convinient and cute
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Jason Natural Cosmetics - 98% Aloe Vera Super Gel
bella418 4/26/2012 11:43:00 AM
EDIT: eventually this stuff started to irritate an dry my skin out. Even when using just to prevent razor burn I developed itchy red bumps like never before! I do like using this for Flyaway hairs but my skin just can't tolerate this aloe Vera formula anymore... and I'm not sure if I'll be trying other brands I initially wanted to get lily of the desert aloe vera but the store was out so i figured this would be the next best thing. I think the key to this product is to use it very sparingly on freshly washed and damp face. This method locks in moisture, prevents flakies, and doesnt clog my pores. If you use too much it kind of leaves a film, especially if applied on dry skin. I'm not fond of the ingredients but if hasn't given me any bad reactions and my skin is quite fussy and clog prone. Sometimes I'll spot treat but only if I plan to wash it off soon after. It wears really well under makeup for me. I wont be buying it again but only because I want to get lily of the desert aloe Vera once this tube runs out.
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Powder -Tarte - Smooth Operator Micronized Clay Finishing Powder
bella418 4/25/2012 10:50:00 AM
I was so excited about this stuff this that i bought it in both the regular and bronze. It worked decently at first but then ever since I noticed I was getting persistent acne breakouts. I think its the kaolin in it because my skin was never fond of clay masks and the ones I used have that ingredient. I have kind of dry facial skin that gets oily and flaky all at once. I hoped this would somewhat normalize my skin and lessen my pore size but neither happened over the three months of use. Ever since. i stoppwd using it my skins flakiness lessened, acne diminished, and pore size reduced tho? Waste of 60$... for me at least
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Lipstick -Maybelline - Color Sensational - Born With It
bella418 4/23/2012 8:01:00 PM
The color is really sheer on my naturally pigmented lips and while I liked how it looked it does wear quickly. It bled really bad even with a lipliner and the ingredients gave me really bad breakouts around my mouth. Not a repurchace
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Treatments -Philosophy - Turbo Booster C Powder
bella418 4/19/2012 3:15:00 PM
Its true that this stuff is overpriced. Go to a health store and just look for a powder vitamin c (l ascorbic acid) if you're trying to save money. I feel like this stuff made my oily Skin too glowey for my liking. I had this for about 4 months and I noticed that when I take a break my skin clears up. It may be helping the scar fading slightly but then I get other acne to leave new marks behind.. its does help my skin retain moisture though. I have fussy skin so just because this didn't really benifit me doesn't mean it wont help others. I'm just one of those people that try new "miracle" products when in reality i can't tolerat a lot of stuff on my skin.
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Moisturizers -Unlisted Brand - Argan oil
bella418 4/19/2012 1:17:00 PM
I got the 100% pure Argan oil at a vitamin store and I absolutely love it. It cost me about 16$ for 2oz bottle but you need so little that it really is a fair price. I read on here that its a good moisturizer for the facial skin so to be safe I just put it my dry spots rather than my entire face. The next day I noticed white head clogs in the areas applied so unfortunately it didn't work for me but that is simply because of the oleic acid in Argan oil (oleic acid is found also in the oil your skin produces naturally ) I immagine this would be a fabulous oil for someone with truely dry skin though! I use it around my eyes and the skin is so supple now. Also I like the oil all over my body and hair. I put a tiny drop in my hands and run it through damp hair. My hair is long and fine and its very easy to use too much of the oil but through trial and error I know the perfect amount thatvworks for me. Love to add this to body moisturizer too! This is just a wonderful oil that you can customize to your specific needs.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Neutrogena - Oil-Free Moisture Sensitive Skin
bella418 4/18/2012 11:39:00 AM
So with me having oily but flaky facial skin I figured this would be the perfect basic moisturizer for my temperamental skin. I recently discovered that this was the culprit to my clogged pores over the years. It is not a good moisturizer if you skin is oily because it contained several pore clogging ingredients despite the non comedogenic claims.. for my skin all it did was clog my pores without any long term moisturization. The reason I kept using it over the years was because a dermotologist recommended this one to me so I just assumed this could in no way be contributing to my enlarged clogged pores... I always just ditched other products/cosmetics with temporary improvement. Finally I did my research of actual ingredients in everything i put on my skin (it was long and tedious but sooo worth it) and ever since I discontinued my use of this product my pores are shrinking and my skin has actually normalized.
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BB Cream -Too Faced - Tinted Beauty Balm Multi-Benefit Skin Care Makeup
bella418 4/12/2012 9:30:00 PM
I have fussy skin o it didn't work for me. It does make skin look pretty, but i had to take several steps to achieve an even look and it made me shiny instead of luminous after a while. I don't think this would work for either really dry or oily skin types because it brought out both of those issues in mine. It looked old and dry if I didn't put a moisturizer before but then it defeats the simplisity of a tinted moisturizer to me. I bought it for the purpose of just simplifying my routine but this was not it. I can definitely see how people with somewhat normal skin love this TM tho. Its also a great base for Concealer IMO! Its just no agreeing with my skin. I would recommend getting a sample of this before purchacing the full size like I did to save yourself 30$ in case it doesn't turn out to be a staple for you either.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Laura Geller - Real Deal Full Coverage Cream Concealer
bella418 4/12/2012 8:43:00 PM
So the color selection sucks but I found a way to make it work for me. On clean skin it is totally obvious but if you apply some sort of base it seems to blend well. And I would probably not recommend this Concealer for those with lines/wrinkles because it does settle. You really do need very little, like the littlest amount phisically possible per spot. I haven't had any irritations from this product and my skin is very clog prone. I also have been mixing a little dab of this Concealer with my regular moisturizer and got a great, clean and natural looking coverage all over my face without any irritation (I absolutely loath tms and BB creams because they seem to all have some sort of shimmer and while it looks nice it also causes my skin to get bumpy clogs over time)
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Philosophy - Purity Made Simple (Real Purity Cleanser)
bella418 2/6/2012 1:59:00 PM
Edit: I found a cheaper cleanser that I think works much better and faster than the purity.. oh and I don't like a lot of the ingredients in this product... a lot of them are actually pore clogging and irritating and I noticed the side effects months later. I used to think that all cleansers are going to make me dry if I really want clean skin, but this stuff has actually helped my skin normalize. I use a tiny bit everytime so even though this is pricey to me its worth it. I find when I wear makeup I feel better when I do a double cleanse method and my skin stays clear. It doesn't mess with my hormonal skin at all and I just love it. One thing is that you really do want to massage it in for a good minute for it to really cleanse thoroughly.
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Fragrances -Victoria's Secret - PINK with a Splash- Soft and Dreamy
bella418 2/6/2012 1:27:00 PM
I'm not one of those people that really cares about the complexity of a fragrance, as long as it smells pleasant and has no funky notes its good to my nose. This fragrance is a wonderful sweet candy smell that's not overpowering. Yes its extremely close to pink sugar but doesn't have the bitter licorice bite that I initially smell in the pink sugar. On my skin it just turns into an incredibly sweet and fun candy smell. This isnt whar you would call sophisticated or sultrt, but it makes ME feel sexy. You just got to have a taste for candy like fragrances to like this one
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No