Treatments -Neutrogena - Ageless Intensives Tone Correcting Moisture SPF 30
domlam 5/29/2011 4:22:00 AM
Have been using this for 3 weeks now. This is how it's working for me: THE GOOD - SPF 30 - absorbs pretty quickly and dries matte - renews skin on acne scars fast and fades them THE BAD (that didn't subside over time) - itches with slight burns and hence some random red patches - flaking on T-zone, worst on chin and then nose - drying especially on T-zone, need to follow with regular moisturizer - little red bumps beside wings of nose and below mouth on corners - strong smell and fragrance I'm not sure if I'm reacting to the retinol or the sunscreen or both, but given the red patches, I can't say it is tone correcting. It's too bad it helps with my bad areas but irritates the good. Will continue to use it as spot treatment for scars but won't be buying again once it's used up.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Burt's Bees - Tinted Lip Balm
domlam 5/17/2011 7:13:00 PM
I bought all colours except for Honeysuckle and Tiger Lily knowing that those would not show on my medium pigmented lips. I'm Asian with NC20 skin and berry hued lips. Red Dahlia - Wine red with brown and slight purply undertones. It doesn't look like the deep red in the tube but comes out more like a subtle red wine stain. I find it close in colour to Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. Black Honey has more staying power in colour and is a tad more rusty red. Red Dahlia is more brown and subtle but less waxy and more moisturizing. Rose - A neutral pinkish red, very sheer and healthy flush of colour like after a run, similar to Fresh Sugar Rose. Would work with all skin tones. Mixing one layer of Rose and one layer of Red Dahlia would give you another very nice colour. Hibiscus - Warm pink that appears peachy/coral on cool skin. Works nicely on me even with my cool skin because it appears somewhat nudish pink over my natural colour. Pink Blossom - Cool pink with bluish undertones, similar to Clinique Chubby Stick in Woppin' Watermelon. It's a bit brighter than Hibiscus and definitely deeper than the pale pink on its packaging. May appear too bright/neon on warm skin. This one is my favourite as it neutralizes and lightens my natural colour to a very natural medium pink. If your lips are anything more than lightly pigmented like mine, you'd have to experiment with the different shades to see how they interact with your natural colour. It is expensive for a drugstore product, but as the quality and ingredients are comparable to department store brands, I still consider it quite a bargain (check out similar balms by Clinique, Tarte, NARS, Fresh Sugar). Love the sheer natural colours (can be built up by adding layers), texture, moisture and the fact that it has no glitters. Will keep buying as long as Burt's Bees keeps making them.
20 out of 21 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Physicians Formula - Circle Rx
domlam 5/10/2011 1:23:00 PM
The thing I like most about this product is the shade (I'm using soft yellow). I have never been able to find a concealer that's not either too pale or too pink for my NC20 Asian skin, high end or low end products. This one matches my skin so well that I'm using it all over my face and not just under the eyes. I agree with other posters that the squeeze tube is not the best for dispensing the correct amount of product and the snap on lid is a bit awkward as well. However, I did find that the top can actually be twisted open at the silver neck and then you can use a regular concealer wand / Q-tip to get at the product. The consistency is a bit creamier and thicker than most concealers that I've used but nothing that can't be overcome with a few practice runs. Will definitely repurchase based on the shade alone but it's not that easy to find. Most retailers that carry Physician's Formula don't seem to carry this particular concealer and when they do, they don't carry this shade.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Olay - Regenerist Daily Thermal Mini-Peel
domlam 5/5/2011 12:13:00 AM
I received 2 sample tubes from P&G and decided to give it a try. The warming effect was pleasant but I'm not sure it's doing anything for my skin and it sort of worries me that it heats up on contact with water. I remember from my chemistry classes way back that anything that produces heat on contact with water or the air are usually quite caustic. The grains are fine in texture, which is nice and gentle, but there is too few of them to really exfoliate properly. I didn't find my skin to be different from before I used this product. Definitely won't be buying.
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Scrubs -St. Ives - Elements Microdermabrasion
domlam 5/4/2011 11:37:00 PM
I've been using the Apricot Scrub for some years now but wanted to switch to something that is not as rough and decided to give this product a try. The grains are much finer but don't be fooled. They work very well to remove dead skin and the finer texture allows me to use it even on my lips, which is something that I wasn't able to do with the Apricot Scrub because of its roughness. I love how my skin doesn't feel like it's gone through sand paper but still feel fresh and exfoliated. I don't use it daily, at most twice a week and the results are still very good. Hope this one has the longevity of the Apricot Scrub and not be discontinued as I find not as many retailers carry it.
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Lips -Burt's Bees - Tinted Lip Balm Red Dahlia
domlam 5/2/2011 4:05:00 PM
Red Dahlia is very close in colour to Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey that I normally use (Black Honey is a tad more red) but smoother in texture and more moisturizing. I've seen many comments on the price of this product being high for a balm, but compared to department store tinted balms, this is truly a bargain in terms of quality and ingredients. The Clinique Chubby Stick which is a similar product is $15 in the US and $19 in Canada, and I'm not even going to go into brands like NARS. Also, I don't think it's totally fair to compare the tinted balm to other Burt's Bees balms because the formulation isn't exactly the same, at least the regular balms do not contain Shea Butter. I definitely find the tinted balms less waxy and more moisturing. However, I do agree that they might have jacked up the price more than necessary trying to position this product as more cosmetics than balm judging from the packaging. I may not go back to Black Honey.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Burt's Bees - Tinted Lip Balm - Pink Blossom
domlam 5/2/2011 2:49:00 PM
I had originally wanted to try Hibiscus but opted for Pink Blossom after reading a few reviews that Hibiscus comes out peachy/coral on cool skin. On the Burt's Bees site, they've actually classified Pink Blossom as a cool tone and Hibiscus as a warm tone (I guess that explains the peachiness). So, being NC20, I ordered Pink Blossom. I'm Asian and have medium pigmented lips that are sort of berry hued. Looking into the tube, the shade is definitely darker than what's on the packaging but still quite bright, not really sure how that's gonna mix with deeper lips. One layer of the product and it neutralizes my natural lip colour into a very natural medium pink, a colour that I've been trying to get but always failed to achieve with lipstick or gloss (they look like a fake layer of paint). I didn't think a sheer colour balm would actually be able to lighten/tone down my deeper natural colour, very nice surprise!! Not to mention what everybody else has talked about, the texture, the moisture, the natural sheen (I hate glitters). The only minor con for me was the bubble gum smell, but it dissipates within seconds of application and it also seems to disappear from the tube over time (I've had mine for a few days now). One word of caution, this shade looks kinda "electric" pink if you put too many layers on.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No