Moisturizers -Trader Joe's - SPA Regenerating Antioxidant Moisturizing Face Lotion
curare 1/12/2011 9:16:00 PM
This lotion works the best of all of them, on my skin, and it's my go-to lotion right now. My skin is oily and dry at the same time, and very sensitive. This lotion is light enough for the oily bits and moisturizing enough for the dry, flaky bits. I can't give it 5 stars because the fragrance sometimes makes me queasy, not because I dislike it, but because it is a bit strong for a face lotion. I absolutely have to avoid getting any on my upper lip. My best friend has started borrowing it from me, even though he hates the smell more than I do. He's one of those people who always had beautiful perfect skin up until two years ago, when it started to get drier. Age, I guess. The only two lotions that don't make him break out are this one and Cetaphil. As a side note, I was at Whole Foods today looking for a lotion with similar qualities and ingredients with less fragrance when I found the exact same lotion (fragrance, color, and exact ingredients) under a different branding, at over $18 a bottle. I guess it's a steal from Trader Joe's.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -LORAC - Publicity Stunt Lashes
curare 9/29/2008 12:35:00 PM
I bought this, and was really unhappy with the way it looked when I combed out my lashes (while still wet) with the included lash comb. So I went back and bought a really fine metal lash comb, and now this is my favorite mascara. It's perfect for daytime wear, because it emphasizes the lashes without looking fake, and I like my lashes to look natural during the day. You always have to make sure to comb out the lashes immediately, while the product is still wet, or they get glued together. This stuff is strong; it doesn't come off accidentally and it never smudges. It holds a curl very well. My application goes like this: Apply 1st coat to top lashes of one eye, then comb out quick like a bunny. Apply 2nd coat to top lashes of that eye, then comb out super fast. Then one coat on the bottom lashes on that eye and comb out. Then repeat on other eye. Lots of combing.
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Lip Treatments -Too Faced - Lip Injection Extreme
curare 7/12/2007 11:32:00 PM
This stuff burns like hell, the packaging leaks, and while it did make my lips HUGE... it also turned them dark dark red and it inflamed the skin around my lips so that it turned pink. I looked like I had been punched in the mouth. After a few days of using it, this effect died down somewhat. I kept using it because the little booklet that came with this stuff said that it would boost the collagen in my lips and make them plumper over time. I never found out if that was true though, because after two weeks it had peeled all the skin off my lips so that they were bleeding everywhere. And granted, my lips are normally dry and chapped, but I have never seen them bleed like they did after I'd been using this stuff for two weeks. I might use a teeny tiny dab of it over the wonderful LipFusion XL that I use now, just on special occasions when I want a little extra oomph, but I'd never buy it again. This stuff is not for chapped lips! I'm giving it a 2 because it does actually plump, and quite dramatically in fact. I took a photo of myself after I put it on for the first time, after the redness around my mouth died down, and I sent the picture to my friend without saying anything about it, just to see if she'd notice. She asked me if I'd gotten collagen injections!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Fusion Beauty - LipFusion XL 2X Micro-Injected Collagen and HA Lip Plumping Therapy
curare 7/12/2007 11:20:00 PM
I have really dry, chapped lips. Before this, I had tried so many products, from chapsticks to plumpers, and while some seemed as though they were hydrating, after two weeks the skin on my lips always ended up peeling off and bleeding. It seemed like my lips just got used to anything I put on them. Enter LipFusion XL. I tried it because it seemed like a technology I hadn't tried before. Something about collagen and hyaluronic acid. I bought a Xmas package of one full-sized tube of LipFusion XL with a free full-sized tube of regular LipFusion in some wacky pink color that looks totally strange with my skin tone (half Asian). I expected it to die after 2 weeks like everything else, but I was desperate, so I bought it anyway, despite the price. It was really lovely when I put it on at first, not sticky and no burn. Just kind of numbing and tingly. It moisturized my lips well, but didn't seem to plump right away. In the morning my lips did seem maybe slightly plumper, but I mainly attributed that to the fact that they were still hydrated (a feat in itself). When I kissed my boyfriend after putting it on, he freaked out and started wiping his lips frantically while saying "what is that on your lips???", but calmed down somewhat when I explained that it was a conditioner for lips that I was hoping would treat my dryness. He went away for the weekend and when he called me that Monday he said "that stuff you had on your lips... my lips are so much softer than usual, and have been like that for the past three days ever since I kissed you!" I thought that was pretty strange, but his lips are always big and beautiful and soft and pillowy, so I figured that whatever happened to his lips had no relevance to anything that might happen with mine. Two weeks later he said "Are your lips bigger?" so I went and took a good look at myself in the mirror, and, in fact, they were visibly more plump than they ever had been in my life. It wasn't a dramatic difference, but it was definitely visible. I'm still using it, months later, and it's still keeping my lips soft and moist and plump. I've read the other reviews, and it seems not to work quite so well for other people, so I'm definitely not saying it will work for you, but for me it's been the best thing ever.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - Lightning
curare 7/12/2007 10:25:00 PM
This is one of my favorites. I bought an Imp, and then I bought a 5oz. I haven't been wearing it much lately because it's more of a fall/winter scent to me. It smells like standing in a garden during a rain storm under an umbrella with a nice-smelling girl.
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Fragrances -Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - Euphrosyne
curare 7/12/2007 10:08:00 PM
I bought an Imp of this, and it's my new favorite. I've been wearing it all week. It's a lovely warm floral. Sweet, but not too sweet, and not at all powdery on me, which is fantastic because many fragrances from bpal turn disgustingly powdery on my skin. Smells like summery happiness! Cookies, roses and sunshine.
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Fragrances -Demeter - Laundromat Pick Me Up Spray
curare 10/6/2005 3:29:00 PM
My favorite Demeter fragrance. I have gone through several bottles, as I wear this every summer. Clean, fresh, yet feminine and warm. Exactly like sticking your head in hot just-out-of-the-dryer clothes. Not sheets, clothes. (Although my friend said it smelled lovely on me and when pressed to say exactly what it smelled like, she said it smelled like a navy woman walking down a pier. Which smells almost entirely unlike laundry, in my experience.) My only complaint is that it lasts no more than an hour.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No