Mascara -Rimmel - Lash Accelerator
bingbing 9/11/2010 6:51:00 AM
Normal price, it's in line with the rest of the drugstore mascaras out there. It's on promotion at Superdrug at the moment, so £2 less than what will be it's usual price. Nice slim wand for a change - although I don't mind the chunky ones either. The brush itself is back to the traditional sort of brush, no rubber nodules, but it works quite well. Defined my lashes nicely, no super crazy volume, but enough for daytime/work wear. I do the zig-zag side-to-side and twist when applying so my lashes are coated from every angle possible. I've only been using this for a week, so can't comment on its claims that its "grow lash complex" will make your lashes 117% longer after 30 days of continued use, but I'm willing to give it a go. Growth claims aside, it's a fairly wet formula, much like the rest of the mascaras by Rimmel which take a little while to dry after application. So far, this past week it's proven itself as a decent mascara that stays put, and doesn't smudge or flake.
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Treatments -Clairol - Beautiful Ends Mask
bingbing 6/21/2010 6:28:00 PM
It comes in a big red tub, I'd much prefer a tube or a pump - less likely that water will get in.
It's cheap, £3.99 for 200ml, much much cheaper than my beloved Kerastase (which I'm almost scared to use - making up excuses like "but I'm not going to leave it in for a minimum of 10 minutes, it'll be wasted if I put it in now"). At this price, I don't fret about leaving it in for only 2 minutes. :)
They were handing out samples of the conditioner back in Sydney - perfect travel sized bottle so I brought it with me. When I tried it, I loved how soft it made my hair. It had its work cut out too - my hair's been fried by 3 weeks of daily dunkings in chlorine water then sea water.
The smell is quite strong, typical of the Herbal Essences range which is not a problem for me coz I love the smell. According the package, it's "red raspberries and silk extracts".
Overall, I love how smooth and shiny and soft it's left my hair. Will definitely repurchase when I finish this jar.
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Mascara -Shiseido - Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus
bingbing 2/15/2010 1:15:00 PM
I bought mine in Hong Kong from Bonjour or Sasa in Central. Packaging is very cutie-pie-glam. It's a nice size, without being overly bulky or a fat tube, and the brush is excellent - with 2 sides, one side of the comb, the teeth are curved and closer together, the other side: further apart and straight.
The fibres in it are what beef up your lashes and make them look longer and fatter. The same fibres that are a blessing can also be a curse when they don't distribute evenly, leaving you with several super long eyelashes, and then some normal length ones. That's easily fixed with a tweezerman lash comb (btw, I clean mine by pressing it on a cotton pad soaked in eye m/u remover and some dental floss). It's a little fiddly, and takes some practice to put on. Once you get the hang of it, the result is lovely and won't smudge or budge come heat or high humidity.
I find a good bi-phase eye makeup remover is necessary for getting this off easily. L'Oreal, Garnier, and Johnson and Johnson's make some good ones, that are just as good as Lancome's. Don't be impatient, and soak the cotton pad with remover, and hold it there for a few moments to dissolve the mascara before gently wiping away.
Love it, and can't wait to layer this with the new Maybelline The Falsies mascara!
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Mascara -Maybelline - Volum' Express The Falsies
bingbing 2/15/2010 1:03:00 PM
Packaging is a bit on the chunky side, but it's about the same as the turbo range that Maybelline offers, just in a brighter shade which makes it easier to find when you're rummaging through your makeup bag. The brush is slightly curved, and I haven't needed to wipe off excess mascara off the brush before use with this one.
Because it's curved, I can't do my usual twist, wiggle and zigzag motion when brushing it on, but that's forgiven because it looks so pretty on. What I like to do is this: carefully put on some dark eyeshadow only between the roots of my top eyelashes, then when putting this on, make sure the brush bumps against the roots some more, to make it look like I have more eyelashes than I really do.
Seems to stay on all day without any excessive smudging, and even lets me put on extra coats after it's dried even though you're not supposed to do that. Just don't sneeze when your lashes are wet :P
At £6.99, this is on the pricier end for Maybelline, but it's been worth it. That colossal collagen, on the other hand, hasn't been. I still love my Shiseido Majolica Majorca for it's va-va-voom fibres and longevity, but Maybelline's The Falsies is so simple to use - great for i-can't-be-bothered days.
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Eyeliner -Bobbi Brown - Long Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink
bingbing 2/15/2010 12:48:00 PM
Talk about being late to the party! Can't believe I haven't tried this til now. I love this - it creates such a nice opaque line without feathering or creasing or budging. I like to draw a thin line that thickens towards to the outer corner with a slight flick. Price was good, coz I got mine in one of those boxing day bargains at John Lewis for £30 or £35, which included: - gel eyeliner in black ink - eyeliner brush - cream eye shadow in galaxy - travel sized mascara The packaging - not much you can really do to improve it is there? Maybe if it came in a long flat case so you could store the brush inside it for easy travelling, but it's fine the way it is.
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Blush -Wet 'n' Wild - Silk Finish Blush 831D Pearlescent Pink
bingbing 10/13/2009 10:57:00 AM
This was super cheap – saw it at Tesco’s for £1.xx. The packaging isn’t great – but that’s not what I bought it for. Haven’t noticed a scent, so no comment there. I threw out the brush, but since when do you expect the included brush to be superior to your own?
This colour is perfect for my NC35 skin. I use a skunk brush to apply bronzer along the sides of my face, then an angled blush brush (very carefully roll the brush, then shake off excess) to taptaptap this onto the apples of my cheeks. It’s a lovely peachy pink with gold undertones and just a tad too much shimmer, while it’s quite pigmented, it’s still easily blended. It lasts most of the day on me.
Even though it’s a pressed powder, it’s quite loosely packed so be careful when you dip your brush into the pan coz it easily crumbles and bits flake off which feels wasteful. Although at this price, easily and affordably replaced at a snip!
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Eyeliner -Fyrinnae - Inks Liquid Eyeliner in Dazzling Darkness
bingbing 7/29/2009 1:52:00 PM
Packaging is very convenient - a silver lid with brush built it, or gold now. Every now and then, product builds up on the lid, and on the threads where it screws together. No matter, give it a quick wipe and good to go. This is a gorgeous black with sparkles - I've been using this pretty much every day for the last year or so. It's not waterproof, and can be smudged if you blink hard before it's had a chance to dry. Very easy to apply and you can control the thickness easily too. It lasts all day without much fading. Doesn't irritate my eyes and I remove it with a dual-phase eye makeup remover which takes it off easy as pie. I've already finished one tube, and onto my second!
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Lip Gloss -Rimmel - Twist and Shine-Lip Polish
bingbing 2/3/2009 3:18:00 PM
Mine's in shade 050 Shimmy, a lovely plummy wine colour with the perfect amount of shimmer. If applied sparingly, it looks like a lip stain. This is a good thing as I don't wear dark colours normally - so a stain is a baby step into the world of lip colour. There's a slight fruity scent, but it doesn't bother me at all.
I have no problems with the packaging, although not a fan of the felt pad on the applicator. I generally like twist and click pens - you just need to be patient and click slowly so you don't end with up a big glob of product and not enough lip surface area. It was dirt cheap - £2 for a promo pack of the lip polish and a nail polish. Probably wouldn't buy again as there are so many more lip glosses out there in the world!
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Treatments (Eye) -L'Occitane - Immortelle Very Precious Eye Serum
bingbing 1/21/2009 6:52:00 PM
I received this as a sample sachet. Quite a generous amount in that little paper packet. Didn't notice the scent, so if it had one, must've been inoffensive to me.
Used continuously for a week at night and didn't find anything particularly wow about it. Moisturises enough and sinks in ok, but no real wow factor so I wouldn't buy it. There have got to be more magical eye creams out there!
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Eye Shadow -Sleek - idivine palette
bingbing 1/11/2009 12:29:00 PM
I have the Divine Storm palette - 12 colours - of which 3 are matte, and the rest are shimmery. Browns, bronzes, shimmery gold, and slate grey, a dark green and a navy. The other palette was more jewel toned.
Packaging: nothing fancy. Sturdy black plastic case with decent hinge, and a generously sized (and clear! a good mirror, not one of those streaky plasticky ones) mirror inside it. Portable and slimlin so it slots into your makeup case nicely without taking up too much room. The brush that comes with it is rubbish, and that's normally the case with brushes that come with the makeup, but who cares at this price.
Not sure if I'll ever use all the colours in it, but I'm generally happy with a hit rate of over 40% in a palette. The product itself is incredibly pigmented. They have a texture so soft, it's almost buttery. Blends like a dream. My only gripe is that because of how soft it is, some specks of shadow go astray and fall under my eyes, and rubbing it away causes yukky streaks. No problem - generously dust some translucent powder before applying eye shadow, then sweep away the excess.
Used this for the first time on NYE to do a smokey eye on myself and a friend. Stayed in place the whole night from 10pm right through to 6am! No streaking or budging, and we didn't even use a primer underneath. Awesome!
What's more awesome is the price - it's a tad less than £5. Will have to go back to Superdrug and buy the other palette.
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Polishes -Bourjois - 1 Seconde - 9
bingbing 12/30/2008 8:15:00 PM
I have this in 7 - a ruby red colour.
Love the bottle and the brush design. The lacquer itself is a good viscosity, just thick enough that the brush lines are blurred out, and thin enough that it spreads easily.
Dried nice and fast despite my whacking on 2 coats to get a more intense colour. Downside: It chips within a day or so - or maybe that's coz I'm rough with my nails.
I'm still looking for the perfect red - so I wouldn't buy this again, and it chipped too easily, so maybe another style with greater longevity in a different colour but with the same fan-style brush.
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Treatments -Unlisted Brand - Galderma - Benzac AC 2.5 (benzoyl peroxide water-based gel 2.5%)
bingbing 12/30/2008 7:36:00 PM
When I picked this up from the chemist, he commented that this is the only laboratory proven anti-acne stuff on the market. Hmm. I stuck with the 2.5% because at the rate I use it, any higher concentrations would be too strong. I'm on my 4th tube of this now.
The packaging is a big fat white tube that's nice and hygienic. It's about $15AUD and you can get it from Priceline Chemists or other chemists (like the one downstairs under Myer in Pitt St).
I was plagued with bad skin for sometime - to the point where my cheeks were just masses of bumps with no smooth skin. Then I tried a method I found online (it might have been called Dan's Regime or something like that). It's very simple, but the trick is not to vary from it at all.
Step 1: Wash your face with a gentle cleanser - like Cetaphil then pat dry with a towel and let it dry thoroughly. Wait 5 minutes.
Step 2: Use the 2.5% BP gel generously - squeeze out about 2cm. Apply over the affected areas. Layer if you have to. Let it sit there for 10 minutes or so. You will look chalky, don't worry about it.
Step 3: Put on some plain moisturiser SPF free for at night, or with SPF during the day and follow with makeup if you like.
The problem is that it's very tempting to stray by using toner, or using a serum, you get the idea. Don't stray! It took me about a month or so before my skin cleared up enough that I didn't have to follow such a strict regime and pack it on morning and night. My skin is still not perfect, and probably never will be (genetics - thanks mum), but it's made a big difference. Now, I just put it on a few spots here and there. I've got my flatmate hooked on this stuff too. He's impressed with how quickly it made a zit subside.
Warning: wash your hands after use! This stuff is peroxide after all, and will bleach your clothes/towels/pillow cases if you're not careful! YMMV - this worked for me, and hopefully it works for you too. But if it doesn't, and you're tearing your hair out, go see a dermatologist and see what they can do for you. Good luck!
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Masks -LUSH - Ayesha Face Mask
bingbing 12/30/2008 7:20:00 PM
Turning 30 has made a big difference in skin lustre as well as new wrinkles that macro cameras are most unkind to. Very sad. Been trying all sorts of things to bring back that youthful glow (apart from loading up on water and sleep) and have turned to masks for temporary help... Lush is a brand that I flirt with every now and then - I decide it's over priced, and then am somehow seduced back into the store.
Packaging is ok, nothing special, it's a black plastic tub, and the product lasts longer than the use-by date on the label. This goes on quite nicely, and feels quite soothing as it dries.
Leaves my skin feeling perkier and smoother (although that could be because it's straight from the fridge onto skin). In bright daylight, I was mistaken for being 6 years younger :) I don't enjoy the scent, but it doesn't really bother me either. We might have a winner here! (Actually, for the ultimate glowy cheat: try a yoghurt mask, very moisturising in a good way. Amaaazing! glow factor = high! Seriously!) Until I find something better, I'd buy this again coz it seems to do the trick.
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Masks -LUSH - BB Seaweed Face Mask
bingbing 12/30/2008 7:19:00 PM
Turning 30 has made a big difference in skin lustre. So sad. Been trying lots of different products to bring back that youthful glow (apart from loading up on water and sleep) and have turned to masks for a temporary solution... Lush is a brand that I flirt with every now and then - I decide it's over priced, and then am somehow seduced back into the store. (Try a yoghurt mask - they're incredible for bringing back some oomph and glow into your skin!)
Packaging is ok, it's a tub - it definitely lasts longer than the use-by date. It separated a little, but just mixed it back in before use. Smells quite pleasant actually - not overwhelming. It feels nice and soothing. It's a bit lumpy to spread, and as it dries, flakes of seaweed seem to float off and go all over the place which is a bit ick. According to the SA, the bentonite gel is one of the star ingredients with softening wrinkles: https://www.lush.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15730&catid=52
It leaves my skin feeling refreshed and soft which is always good. Haven't noticed any dramatic improvements, but I enjoy using this mask and reach for it at the end of a long night - feels like it's soothing and toning as it dries. I'm undecided as to whether to buy this again, might try a few others, and if they don't deliver, will come back to this one.
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Masks -LUSH - Love Lettuce Mask
bingbing 12/30/2008 7:18:00 PM
Turning 30 has made a big difference in skin lustre. Very sad. Been trying all sorts of things to bring back that youthful glow (apart from loading up on water and sleep) and have turned to masks for a bit of help for the next few hours... Lush is a brand that I flirt with every now and then - I decide it's over priced, and then am somehow seduced back into the store.
Packaging is ok, it's a tub - but it lasts a lot longer than the use-by date. Scent doesn't bother me. It's a nice gentle exfoliating mask. Not an anti-aging miracle, but it does a good job of polishing my skin gently, which is one way of giving it a bit of a glow. The consistency is good, and easy to spread.
Probably wouldn't buy this again, because I'm happy to separately exfoliate/mask rather than 2 in ones, and also coz there are so many other masks out there to try!
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