Blush -Illamasqua - Katie
ckn23 8/17/2012 3:18:00 AM
Illamasqua's matte blushes are one of the top blush formulas I am yet to come across (and believe me, I have tried *many*!) Katie is a beautiful (very) light cool pink blush. It is very, very pigmented (like all Illa blushes). I use a skunk brush to apply them, because I am very fair and it is *very* easy to overapply. Because of it's pigmentation, I feel like this blush will last an eternity. I don't know how this would suit darker skintones, but if you are fair, you must try this!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Yves Saint Laurent - Rouge Volupte Silky Sensual Radiant Lipstick SPF 15 #11 Rose Culte
ckn23 8/15/2012 7:09:00 AM
This shade is absolutely beautiful - a bright, vibrant fuschia/magenta. I was so in love with it that I had to have it! The packaging is also to die for, YSL RV's have the nicest packaging of any lipstick IMO. However, and this is why I'm giving it a rating of 2, is because the colour just *does not last* on the lips. It fades so fast! I hate having to reapply lipstick all the time, so this is just not for me. I've heard similar things from others regarding the whole range, unfortunately.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Bobbi Brown - Corrector
ckn23 8/15/2012 7:03:00 AM
When I first tried this, I was amazed at the effect. It truly does cover up undereye circles in a way that nothing else had ever done on me before! I was so excited I had finally found my HG after trying dozens of other concealers/correctors that had never worked for my extremely dark, hereditary undereye circles. Unfortunately, after a little while, this started to crease horribly on me, and started to emphasize fine lines that I didn't even know I had! I'm only 21, but at the end of the day wearing this, my eyes looked like they should be on a 50-year-olds face. Not a pretty sight. I tried several different setting powders and application techniques to make this work, but I was not successful. Too bad :(
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Liquid -Bourjois - Healthy Mix Foundation
ckn23 8/15/2012 6:59:00 AM
This is a great foundation for an amazing price! Here is my breakdown of why I love it: Coverage: Medium-buildable Finish: Satin (natural-looking) Long-wearing?: Not bad! Probably not as long-wearing as, say, ELDWL or Lancome TIU24, but it does a great job nevertheless. On my oily/combo skin, it will last about 8 hours looking good, but a bit of shine tends to come through, so I'll need to blot a couple of times. However, this foundation does not try to be hardcore-long-wearing like the other two, so I can't put it down for that. Shades: This is usually the hardest part for me, being extremely pale and warm-toned (lighter than NC15). Shade 51 is slightly too dark for me, but it is close enough to suit me well if I take it down the neck and blend out so that it isn't noticeable. Packaging etc: The pump is really annoying. Maybe I just got a dud, but sometimes it doesn't pump out anything, and sometimes it pumps out too much. Extra bits: Doesn't emphasize flakiness much (on me), looks like healthy skin, never cakey.
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Liquid -Lancome - Teint Idole Ultra 24h
ckn23 8/15/2012 6:52:00 AM
This is a fantastic foundation! Here is my breakdown of why I love it: Coverage: Medium-full (buildable) Finish: Matte Long-wearing?: Extremely! This one really does last on my oily/combo skin, which usually eats up foundation. I'm quite impressed with it because of this, I must say. I've never tested its supposed 24 hour abilities, because I have never had to, so I can't comment on that. Shades: Again, this is where the fall-back is for me. Unfortunately, the palest shades available in Australia (different shade system to the US) are all quite cool-toned (pink). This is unfortunate for those of us who are very fair and warm toned :( Packaging etc: The pump works great, and the packaging feels quite luxurious. I am kinda scared I will drop and shatter it though, since it is made of glass :/ Cons: It can tend to emphasize dry parts/ flakiness, so I wouldn't recommend this to those with dry skin.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Vichy - Normaderm Daily Exfoliating Cleansing Gel
ckn23 8/13/2012 7:57:00 AM
I'm writing this review after finishing an entire tube of this. I love it! At first I wasn't so sure, since it has little micro-beads (and some people say that can be damaging to the skin), but it seems to be the only cleanser that doesn't irritate or break out my extremely sensitive, acne-prone skin! It cleanses very well, and contains ingredients to help exfoliate the skin (glycolic acid). It makes my skin feel very clean - almost a bit on the tight side (which isn't great), but I can deal with that. I don't use it to remove MU since I use it as an AM cleanser, so I can't report on that. I have repurchased after finishing the first tube :)
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Blush -Giorgio Armani - Sheer Blush #5
ckn23 8/13/2012 7:51:00 AM
This is probably my all-time favourite blush (and I am a blush h00r!). In the pan, it looks like a boring and unnappealing nude blush, however, once applied it is like magic on my cheeks. I am very pale (lighter than NC15), and on me this is a pink-nude shade, somewhere between satin and matte finish, that blends into my skin seamlessly without any effort, and makes me look contoured and glowing from within at the same time! It is perfect for a natural MU look, or to pair with a brighter eye or lip. I absolutely love this blush, it is the most used out of my whole collection! It may also be worth to mention that GA has great packaging IMO, very sleek, contains a mirror, and has a magnetic closure which feels luxurious :P
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Liquid -Estee Lauder - Double Wear LIGHT Foundation SPF10
ckn23 8/13/2012 7:47:00 AM
This is probably my favourite foundation out of the *many* I have tried. I will try break it down to make this easy to read. Keep in mind that I have very pale (lighter than NC15) combination oily/dry skin with mild acne. Coverage: Medium-full (buildable) Finish: Semi-matte Long-wearing: Extremely! One of the very few foundations that will actually last on my skin without sliding off/becoming patchy throughout the day. I wear my foundations for around 12 hours a day, so I need something that will last! Shades: This is the disappointing part, there are very few shades. #1 is wayy to dark and orange on me, so I have to mix it with a white foundation (Illamasqua Skin Base), which takes longer. Packaging etc: I quite like the squeezy tube, it is very sanitary and it's easy to control how much comes out.
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Eye Shadow -Inglot - Matte 349
ckn23 8/1/2012 9:23:00 PM
Let's start off by saying that I think Inglot matte eyeshadows are probably my favourite matte eyeshadow formula out of any brand - high or low end. They are richly pigmented, smooth, easily blendable, and have a beautifully buttery texture. I use this mainly on my brows. I have cool, ashy brows, and it is extremely difficult to find a color that does not turn warm/yellow when applied. This is absolutely perfect for me. However, it also works great as an eyeshadow, specially for using in the crease. It is a cooler and greyer version of MAC Omega (except a thousand times better quality)
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair -Kerastase - Ciment Anti-Usure
ckn23 3/31/2012 2:57:00 AM
Using this, along with Bain de Force, destroyed my hair. I can't be sure which it was, because I stopped using both after a month, at the same time. My hair went stretchy. Seriously. It would break so easily, I couldn't even comb it. I was scared I was going bald. I have very very fine hair, so I guess it was just too drying for my hair type. Never again for me.
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Shampoo -Kerastase - Bain de Force
ckn23 3/31/2012 2:56:00 AM
Using this, along with Ciment Anti-usure, destroyed my hair. I can't be sure which it was, because I stopped using both after a month, at the same time. My hair went stretchy. Seriously. It would break so easily, I couldn't even comb it. I was scared I was going bald. I have very very fine hair, so I guess it was just too drying for my hair type. Never again for me.
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Shampoo -Kerastase - Bain Volumactive Shampoo 
ckn23 3/31/2012 2:52:00 AM
My hair type: Very very very thin hair, lots of it, cut in an angled bob, flat and very easily weighed down by anything, hard to get volume out of it, but I try to get as much as I can! I have been alternating this shampoo with L'Oreal Professionel volume extreme shampoo, to compare both. I don't use conditioner, and use K Masque thermique as a leave-in. These are my findings: L'Oreal gives more volume, but dries out the hair -slightly- more (this, for me, is a good thing, since my scalp is super oily) L'Oreal is better for second day hair (again, because it is drier and my hair gets oily on the second day of K) Kerastase leaves my hair -slightly- healthier and shinier, with less fly-aways L'oreal gives a deeper clean (I feel like I don't need to use a cleansing shampoo as much with it than with K) TBH, there wasn't really that much of a difference I will continue using K until it runs out (because it is so damn expensive!) but I will go back to L'Oreal (cheaper, and I think I prefer it)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Kerastase - Ciment Thermique
ckn23 3/31/2012 2:46:00 AM
First I will tell you about my hair, so you can tell if this review is useful to you or not: Very very very thin hair, lots of it, cut in an angled bob, flat and very easily weighed down by anything, hard to get volume out of it, but I try to get as much as I can! So I love this product. It protects my hair from my GHD, which is great. But more than anything, I can use this instead of conditioner (because ALL conditioners weigh down my hair) and it gets rid of all my knots, but doesn't seem to weigh down my hair! This is amazing to me - you have no idea how many products I've tried to achieve this. I use an almond-sized blob of this after towel-drying shampooed hair, then wait a while, comb my hair, then use my root booster (I use tigi now but might change soon), and then blow dry upside down and then straighten (even though my hair is straight, I get flyaways).
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Top/Base Coats -Essie - Matte About You
ckn23 3/31/2012 2:41:00 AM
This dries SO QUICKLY! I just don't understand, it is ridiculously fast drying. As well as that, as the name suggests, it makes your NP matte. One coat and it works great. What else is there to say? Wish Essie would get wider brushes like OPI though...
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Essie - 3-Way Glaze
ckn23 3/31/2012 2:39:00 AM
This was great, until I got to about half-way on the bottle. Then, somehow, it started to get extremely gloopy all the time. I would thin it, and it would work fine, but then next time I went to use it, it would be gloopy again! So annoying! It is very hard to thin out, I use like 10 drops of thinner each time (usually only have to use 2) and it is still too thick. Something must be wrong with it. I gave it a 2 because it worked well for the first half of the bottle Off to find something better...
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