Eye Shadow -Sleek - idivine palette
ceradova 3/25/2012 2:16:00 PM
I have this palette in Original, and wish I got the Storm one too before I left the UK. I'll do my review on the Original palette alone. The eyeshadows in this palette are great variety of colors to start out with. They have a great buttery consistency, with very fine shimmer and a great matte black color. Did I mention that these also have great pigmentation? I reach for these a lot when I wear going out/party looks. I think this is a great starter palette for those who want to start experimenting with more adventurous eyeshadow looks.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
BB Cream -Dr. Jart+ - Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25 PA++
ceradova 3/25/2012 2:10:00 PM
I overall really really like this BB Cream for my sensitive, acne prone, dry combination skin. When I use this my skin feels well moisturized and relieved of dryness. This BB cream doesn't irritate my skin or cause breakouts whatsoever. This BB cream brightens my skintone. It has light to medium coverage, and evens out my skintone, but not enough to cover red acne scarring. At the time I used this I my skin was NC25 shade in MAC - which is a fair to light skin tone, and the cream was a bit lighter than my skintone then, but adjusts to my shade after a while. However, now that I'm getting a bit darker I can't really use this BB cream so much because it's too light for my skin, and too moisturizing. I think personally this BB Cream works better for the wintertime, when my skin is more dry and lighter in tone, but doesn't work when my skin is a bit oilier in the summer and darker.
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Eye Shadow -Maybelline - EyeStudio Color Explosion Eyeshadow in Caffeine Rush
ceradova 3/25/2012 1:59:00 PM
I really love this palette for its combination of colors, and for its formulation. The shadows have a creamy consistency, are easy to blend, and buildable in pigmentation. The taupe color on the right is by far my favorite color. I won't give this a 5 though, because I don't like the white, which is very chalky, or the champagne/yellow shadow, which has way too much glitter and fallout. I frequently use the peach color as an all over eyelid wash, the taupe color on the eyelid up to the crease, and the dark brown as a liner. This gives a very beautiful but natural looking smoky taupe eye effect. I love this palette for its color combination, but not a fan of two of its eyeshadows.
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Lipstick -Revlon - Colorburst Lip Butter
ceradova 3/25/2012 1:48:00 PM
I'm going to rate these lip butters based on their formulation. I give it a 4/5 because I'm giving this score to the entire line overall, but for some colors I'd definitely give them a 5. Overall, I own 6 of the colors in the line and they are generally well pigmented and very moisturizing, which I find is a plus. Given that I have super dry lips, and that these lip butters are enough to moisturize it well, I would give these a 6 for its moisturizing properties. In addition to its fabulous pigmentation, which ranges from a sheer wash to a full coverage, these to me are not really lip butters, but more like very moisturizing lipsticks. I really love the formulation of these lip butters. I am NC25-30 in MAC, and my skin undertone really affects the lip butter shades that work for me. From my most favorite to least favorite colors, I have Berry Smoothie, Peach Parfait, Cherry Tart, Candy Apple, Raspberry Pie, and Red Velvet. I'll go over these individually. Berry Smoothie - A neutral mid tone pink. This is my MLBB color, and I think a great color that works for all skin tones. I reach for this color everyday because it's an everyday nude for me. It has a creamy consistency and a moisturizing, matte clean finish. It has medium coverage. Peach Parfait - A very shimmery light peach color. While I didn't like this color at first because it was so shimmery, I find that it works well in the spring, and gives a glossy affect from farther away. The pigment in here is light coverage, and is mostly shimmery and works for my warm undertones. Cherry Tart - A sheer, neutral to warm red color that will add a light reddish tint or wash on your lips. I wear this for a "just bitten" lips look. Light glossy finish. Candy Apple - A bright, red-orange color that is buildable. It's not a very subtle color, but it's definitely a fun one for going out, and a fun spring/summer color. Light glossy finish. Raspberry Pie - A bright, medium purpley pink with a matte glossy finish. It adds a pop of color to my lips. It's a little cool toned, and may work better for lighter or cooler skintones. Red Velvet - A deep, brownish red with a matte glossy finish. It's definitely a very classy color, but too dark to wear on an everyday basis.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Tarte - Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful
ceradova 3/25/2012 11:08:00 AM
I love this blush! Tarte really outdid themselves with these blushes. Of all the shades I love Blissful the most. I orignally got Tipsy, but it was really way to coral on my skin, and so I got this instead. I really love this shade because it looks very natural on my NC25-30 skin. It looks very bright on the pan, but on the skin it is a beautiful matte peachy pink color that looks like a natural flush. It's a shade somewhere in between a pink and coral blush. I can use this during every season because it suits my warm undertones well. This blush is highly pigmented as well as long lasting and it doesn't break out my sensitive, acne prone, dry combination skin.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Powder -Cover FX - Cover Fx - Powder Fx
ceradova 3/24/2012 11:40:00 PM
Cover FX specializes in products for people with problematic skin - and I have acne prone skin. I needed a powder that not only had good coverage and good oil control, but I also needed it to not break me out. This powder did all of these things. I am shade NC25-30 in MAC, and I was matched to M40 in this powder. The compact is very light and comes with a puff, but it's really cheap and useless. After foundation, I apply this powder with a kabuki brush in a rolling motion all over my skin, and it gives extra coverage and oil control while setting the foundation. Even though I have sensitive, acne prone, dry combination skin, this powder didn't dry out my skin or irritate it. My only gripe with this is that I can't use this powder foundation by itself because it doesn't adhere to my skin well and therefore doesn't give much coverage.
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Treatments -La Roche Posay - Effaclar Duo
ceradova 3/24/2012 11:28:00 PM
This stuff effectively treated and got rid of my acne. After seeing several dermatologists for rounds of oral antibiotics and retinoids and seeing my acne not improve, I finally bought this after several samples convinced my skin to improve. I have been acne free since, and six months later, I'm on my second tube. When I first started using this, the cream burned a little on my skin, but it faded after a few days. After using this cream at night for a week, my skin improved dramatically. Nowadays, I apply a thin layer of this cream all over my face every other night and wait for it to soak into my skin before applying moisturizer. My skin hasn't been this clear for over a decade.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Foundations -Make Up For Ever - HD High Definition Foundation
ceradova 3/24/2012 11:18:00 PM
After hearing so much about this foundation, I decided to settle and actually buy it. I am NC25-30 in MAC, and after testing and trying out the shades 120,123,125, and 127, I finally settled on 120. I am Chinese with light-medium skin tone, and redness from acne scarring and medication. I have sensitive, acne prone, dry combination skin that tends to be oily combination in the summer. The texture is runny and can be applied with a stippling brush, sponge, or a foundation brush. However, I like to use my fingers. It feels lightweight and gives medium coverage, enough to cover my redness and acne scars. I like this product because it gives a natural looking coverage. However, this foundation tends to oxidize a bit and dry out and irritate my skin, causing acne. I wear this foundation for going out at night and for photos, but I can't wear this everyday or else my skin would deteriorate. Not a fan of this as an everyday product, but great for photos.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Bourjois - Healthy Mix Foundation
ceradova 3/24/2012 11:04:00 PM
I am NC30 in MAC and got this in shade #53, which is a perfect match. I got it at Superdrug for £9.99, and it comes in a plastic bottle and cap. But don't let the price tag and the bottle fool you - the liquid inside is gold. There's a lot of things that I love about this foundation, the first being that it doesn't break me out. This has a light liquidy consistency that is easy to spread and blend with fingers. It gives light to medium coverage and a natural glowing finish while covering my reddish acne scars. It makes my skin look well moisturized, plump, and healthy - and it most of all looks like my skin. The only thing that I don't like about this foundation is that it doesn't last very long, but that is fixed when I set it with my Cover FX Powder FX powder. I can see why this foundation would not work for some people. Because I'm Chinese, the yellow undertones in this foundation work on my skin, but may not work for those with cool undertones. Also, I have dry/combination skin, but I find that this doesn't hold up well to hot weather, when my face gets really oily, so I don't really recommend it for oily skins. Overall though, I really like this stuff, and I've asked a friend to help me buy more when she visits Europe.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
BB Cream -MISSHA - M Signature Real Complete B.B. Cream SPF 25 PA++
ceradova 3/24/2012 10:44:00 PM
I'm not really in love with this product, but I don't hate it either. I have this product in #21, which suits my winter skin tone (NC25) and #23, which suits my summer skin tone (NC25). In some cases I mix them. Pros: I really like that this BB Cream has a runny texture that's easily spreadable. Its light to medium coverage is natural looking and easily covers my reddish acne scars while evening out my skin tone. Cons: I really don't like that there is a slight grey undertone in the BB Cream because it makes my complexion look a bit dull after I apply it - I usually have to apply bronzer and highlighter to make up for it. I also don't like that it's easily transferable, even with setting powder on. It isn't very long lasting either.
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Moisturizers -Cerave - Moisturizing Lotion
ceradova 11/3/2011 9:35:00 AM
I LOVE this lotion! After years of acne and several dermatologists who prescribed me Cetaphil lotion and cream and Cerave cream, I found that this moisturizer is the best one out of all of them, and more importantly, it doesn't break me out! It has a consistency that differs from these previous three - it's light, it's not greasy or oily, and it absorbs quickly without feeling heavy. This moisturizer has a watery gel-like consistency that is easily soaked up by the skin. It feels almost as if water is being put back into my skin, while creating a barrier against dryness. The texture reminds me of Asian serums and essences that add moisture. This is hands down the best moisturizer I've used. Also, since it's a huge bottle It'll last me a good 4-6 months. I primarily use this on my face, which tends to be combination/dry in the winter and combination/oily in the summer. I'd really recommend this for all skin types because it's also hypoallergenic and noncomedogenic,
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Eyeliner -MAC - Fluidline Eye-Liner Gel in Blacktrack
ceradova 11/3/2011 9:21:00 AM
I love this eyeliner! I've been using this one consistently for the past 2 years. I'm Chinese and have monolids - making it harder for eyeliners to stay on me without smudging or disappearing - pencil eyeliners don't stay, and liquid ones flake off. I started trying gel eyeliners from Bobbi Brown and MUFE, but MAC stays on. The only little problem that I have with it is that it will only stay on for the whole day if I apply my Urban Decay Primer Potion underneath it first. By itself it will flake off. However, I wear eyeshadow with UDPP everyday, so I don't have much of a problem when I apply MAC Fluidline.
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Powder -Bare Escentuals - Bare Minerals ALL
ceradova 8/1/2011 11:19:00 PM
I remember trying this when I was a teenager, and at first I loved the coverage it gave me but it broke me out so badly. I first bought the starter kit, and I wore the foundation for a few weeks before I realized that not only did make my skin itch, but it also clogged my pores. I never went back to using this product again. It was later that I realized that the Bismuth Oxychloride in the foundation was what gave me such a bad reaction to the foundation and since then, I've been careful to use mineral makeup that doesn't have that ingredient in it. If you have a bismuth oxychloride sensitivity or have sensitive skin in general and have acne prone skin, I wouldn't recommend this for you. Otherwise, it has great coverage and provides an even finish.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Foundations -Vichy - Dermablend Corrective Foundation
ceradova 2/12/2011 6:40:00 PM
I got this for $28 at CVS, and around £15 in the UK, where I currently am. Shade: I'm Asian with light-medium skintone, with a MAC NW25 shade in the winter and NC30-35 in the summer. I'm currently also a Sunny Beige in Laura Mercier's Oil Free Foundation. I have this foundation in Nude 25. Overall: I'm very impressed by this foundation. It's the winter and I currently have dry combination skin that's acne prone (and is being abused by prescription acne medication aka Retin-A Micro that dries it out even more). Pros: This is an excellent full coverage foundation - one pea sized amount is enough to cover the entire face and to spot conceal blemishes. In fact it's so full coverage that it looks a tad bit unnaturally matte and powdery if you apply with the fingers, but I've learned to apply it with a damp sponge and it'll look just like skin but better. I set it with my Laura Mercier Mineral Foundation Powder and it stays put all day. Because this foundation requires so little, it will really last - and also because it has 25% more pigment than most other foundations, you definitely get more than what you pay for. I have also not broken out or reacted from this foundation, despite having sensitive, acne prone and dry skin, which is a major plus, since I break out from everything. Cons: This foundation WILL highlight dry skin, so I highly recommend moisturizing well before applying. Also, the shade selection is extremely limited. When I bought it at the time, shade 25 was too light, and 35 was too dark. I got the lighter shade thinking that I could use bronzer to darken it to my skintone, but my face just looked pasty after the bronzer was applied. Despite that I would highly recommend this for anyone with acne-prone and sensitive skin. This product sounds like a godsend - high coverage, oil free, non-comedogenic, fragrance free, tested on sensitive skin... and for me it is a godsend. I hope my review helps!
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Makeup Brushes -Ecotools - Bamboo Bronzer Brush
ceradova 6/22/2010 7:04:00 AM
This has replaced my Bareminerals brushes for applying powder. I LOVE this brush! It picks up powder very well and gives a an even, medium to full coverage. In addition, this is a really soft brush, and not scratchy like the BM ones. This to me seems more of a long handled kabuki brush with excellent quality, especially for its price. I've washed this brush a few times already and it has not shed nor lost its softness. I got this at Rite Aid on an Ecotools buy one get one free sale and got this and retractable powder brush.
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