Lipstick -NARS - Pure Matte lipstick - Carthage
dreamspice 5/25/2013 12:41:00 AM
After a weird, unpleasant, recent experience with long wear lipsticks (strange texture, metallic after taste, etc), tried this and I LOVE IT. First of all, if you are craving a bright, happy, almost neon pink, this is your baby. Second, I spent my day in the emergency room with my Dad, went for a greasy burger lunch and was SHOCKED to notice this lipstick still looked great without reapplication!!! Want this formula in every color now!!!!
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Polishes -Sephora - Sephora by OPI Gelshine in I'm Wired
dreamspice 1/18/2013 7:45:00 PM
I hesitate to write a review for Sephora's Gelshine products because I haven't totally gotten the hang of gel manicures yet. However, I had to write about I'm Wired because I'm really disappointed. I love the color of the polish, unfortunately, it is not opaque even at two thick coats. Given that everyone tells you how thinly you have to apply the gel polish (something I'm still struggling with), I do not see how I can get the coverage I want from this color without laying it on thickly. If I could, I'd return it.
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Lotions/ Creams -Acure Organics - Lemongrass + Moroccan Argan Oil
dreamspice 8/28/2012 8:23:00 PM
I *wanted* to love this body lotion. It's all-natural and organic and it smells divine. Unfortunately, I found it sort of sticky. It left a film on my skin rather than sinking in and moisturizing it. Perhaps the film is meant to tighten skin? Or make your skin feel as if it's been tightened? But since I was really just looking for moisturization, I wasn't impressed. It's not a bad product, and it might work for someone else, but it didn't really do anything for me. I won't be buying it again.
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Gels/Soaps -Keys - Soap Gallyeon Foaming Soap
dreamspice 5/12/2011 10:35:00 PM
This is a fantastic product totally marred by the way that it smells. I wash my hands frequently and am always on the look out for a gentle but effective hand soap. This product absolutely fits the bill - it's extremely gentle. My hands actually feel softer after I wash them. Unfortunately it has this strong medicinal scent that I find really off-putting. I will use up the product I have but I will not reuse it. I can get a similar effect by using Dr. Bronner's Baby Castile Soap in a foaming soap dispenser and save myself money as well. Really a shame.
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Lotions/ Creams -Keys - Soap Tortuga Lotion
dreamspice 5/12/2011 10:30:00 PM
I sooo wanted to love this! A friend just recently told me about Keys Soap and they seem like a really cool company - dedicated to making all-natural skincare products at an affordable price. The quality of this lotion is excellent - it's very emollient, a little goes a long way, and it sinks right in. Unfortunately, it has a strong medicinal scent and is actually pretty expensive for what you get ($16.95 for 3.4 oz). It's actually more expensive per ounce than Jurlique's Lavender Body Lotion!! It's really unlikely I'll be being this product again which is too bad because it's the perfect size and consistency for a desk hand cream. I'm loving how soft my hands feel after using it. I'm definitely going to use up my bottle, I just won't buy it again.
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Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - Catherine H
dreamspice 12/15/2010 1:57:00 PM
I am an absolute die hard creme girl. I keep trying to step out of my comfort zone but... I can't make it happen. You should definitely keep that in mind, reading my review. Like all RBL polishes, Catherine H applied like a dream. Practically a one coat color (though of course, I applied two). In some lights it looks really violet, in others in looks slate blue, but at the end of the day Wedgwood Blue is probably the best way to describe this color. I *dream* of a Wedgwood Blue polish but I can't get over the micro-glitter. It makes the polish a little thicker to apply and means that the polish doesn't dry to that ultimate shine that RBL polishes usually have. Those two things are simply true of glitter polishes (that I've found) and if that doesn't bother you, then this is an absolutely gorgeous polish. But... it bothered me. (It looks really cool mattified, too.) A great polish, just not for me.
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Polishes -Chanel - Riva - cote d'azur collection 2010-2011
dreamspice 12/15/2010 1:45:00 PM
I really really wanted to love this. But I didn't. The color itself, is beautiful. Sort of a desaturated Robin's Egg Blue - the exact same color as the porcelain Tiffany's box a friend gave me in high school. (The box has faded in the sunlight and now is a dreamier, dustier version of the Tiffany shade.) And the final product looked beautiful - just not on me. So why am I only giving this three instead of four or five stars? For one thing, the formula was not the beauteous goodness I expect from a high end polish like Chanel or RBL. It was too thick and therefore really difficult to work with. My right hand looked absolutely horrible compared to my left, no matter how meticulous I tried to be. The polish itself was very sheer so not only did it apply thick, I needed three somewhat thick layers to achieve bottle color. And the color has a lot of grey in it so that on my toe nails it just made my toes look dirty (instead of the anticipated happiness I was expecting). Between this and a bad bottle of Vendetta, I'm starting to question my love of Chanel.
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Loose Powders -New York Color - loose translucent powder
dreamspice 12/9/2010 5:44:00 PM
I was looking for an inexpensive replacement for my Laura Mercier translucent loose powder and picked this up based on the great reviews. No doubt the price can NOT be beat. It was on sale when I got it so I paid around $2 - a fraction of the cost of Laura Mercier. Unfortunately, it didn't really do the job for me. For one thing, it's a little chalkier and heavier - not great on my dry skin. For another, something about it irritated my allergies. But the worst thing about it is the container. The Laura Mercier powder has a screw on top. Which is great because my loose powder doesn't just live on my bathroom counter (because I *have* no bathroom counter). The container for this is just an accident waiting to happen. I guess if I loved the product, I'd just use it to refill my Laura Mercier but I don't so I won't.
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Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - Under The Stars nail lacquer
dreamspice 11/27/2010 1:55:00 PM
Under the Stars disappointed me. Based on the online pictures and reviews, I was expecting a deep blue polish with shimmer. But on my nails, the shimmer is barely perceptible. The color itself is a beautiful deep navy color, and undoubtedly the micro-glitter adds dimension to the color, but it wasn't what I was hoping for when I bought the polish. Also, I don't know if I got a bad bottle or if the glitter made the polish a bit thicker, but I found that UTS did not apply with the dreamy ease I'm used to from Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes. Nor was the finish as shiny (it was slightly gritty due to the micro-glitters). For all those reasons I'm labeling this a four, rather than a five, star polish.
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Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - Atame nail lacquer
dreamspice 11/26/2010 8:22:00 PM
Atame is one of RBL's vampy colors (by which I mean, colors which have a similar feel to Chanel's original version of Vamp). I bought Drifter, Atame, Moulin Rouge and Au Chocolat because I thought they would all be very distinct variations on this same theme. I expected to fall in love with at least one of these polishes, but in the end I didn't. Having said that, Atame is a very beautiful color, perfectly described as a dried cherry. It has a rich, warm quality. The polish itself applies beautifully and wears extremely well. It's absolutely a high quality polish and worth the price, but I'm not convinced that this color is 100% unique.
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Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - Teal
dreamspice 11/26/2010 8:17:00 PM
As others have commented, this polish applied beautifully - almost a one-coater! It also lasted six days (with RBL's treatment system) with minimal tipwear (a real record breaker for me). It is, however, very dark. Even though I'd read the reviews, I was still surprised by how dark it was. It isn't so dark it looks black, but close to that. On the one hand, the darkness makes the color very wearable, chic and sophisticated but on the other, it didn't *quite* have the color payoff I was looking for. In many lighting conditions, it just looked dark blue to me. For that reason, I giving this nail polish four lippies, rather than five.
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Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - Drifter nail lacquer
dreamspice 11/19/2010 5:13:00 PM
Drifter is a rich, warm plum color. Three coats makes it dark and vampy, two coats gives you a brighter look, more like the bottle. It's not a pink or red, it's plum. (Which to me means, somewhere between a red and a purple.) It is a beautiful color. Very rich and luscious. The polish itself applies like a dream and it wears really well (minimal tip-wear and chipping, no shrinkage). The only reason why I didn't give this five stars is because the warm tones in the product made it difficult for this cool-toned, olive-skinned girl to wear. So, for me, it's not a keeper. And of the range of wine colored polishes RBL offers, this isn't my favorite (I prefer Atame or Moulin Rouge). But if you're looking for the perfect warm-toned fall plum, I don't think you could go wrong with Drifter.
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Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - Au Chocolat
dreamspice 11/19/2010 5:05:00 PM
Au Chocolat is a beautiful chocolate colored creme polish - it's exactly the color of melted chocolate, or chocolate syrup. It's on the warm side, with red undertones. Like all Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes, this applies beautifully (like buttah), lasts really well (minimal shrinking or tipwear) and has a really shiny finish. I hate to say it (because RBL are really expensive) but I think RBL have the best formula out there. I love that the company is privately owned and that the products are developed and produced in America. So it's not like I'm giving my money to some evil big business that tests on animals. Plus, the polish smells good. It's Big Four free, so it's lacking many of the chemicals that burn my nose hairs off and make my eyes water. The reason I'm giving this polish a four rather than a five is that, at the end of the day, the chocolate color was a little too warm and red-toned for my cool-toned olive skin. But if the color works for you, you won't regret buying this polish.
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Polishes -Essie - Sew Psyched
dreamspice 11/16/2010 12:45:00 AM
Spend any amount of time on the nail board and it very quickly becomes clear that there are girls who love Essie, and girls who do not. I have to admit, I fall in the latter category. For some reason, the color applies really unevenly on me. I think it's a combination of the thin texture of the polish combined with the thin brush. Literally I will get bald patches. However, once I've got the polish applied to my satisfaction, it does wear better than anything else, with minimal tip wear. Other than a chip on the second day (which was probably due to a "thin patch" of color), this polish lasted six days on my nails. Honestly, I could have worn it longer with a little touch up because the chips I did get on the sixth day were pretty minor. So I'll definitely buy more Essies. The color itself is absolutely gorgeous, and is well-represented by pictures online and here. I'm a cool-toned girl and finding a military-inspired green that doesn't make my skin look ghastly was a challenge - most of this season's greens were too olive to work on me. So even though this polish was a little bit temperamental to work with, I still think it's a keeper.
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Tinted Moisturizer -Tarte - Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Mosturizer (Smooth Operator)
dreamspice 11/3/2010 4:39:00 PM
I recently developed "mask of pregnancy" hyper-pigmentation due to the hormones I'm taking. I wanted something that would smooth out the hyper-pigmentation without looking "heavy" on my skin. I literally tried every top rated foundation at Sephora (including several MUFE formulas) and couldn't find a formula that didn't feel heavy or look noticeable on my skin. So I thought I'd give tinted moisturizer a try. To my surprise, Tarte's Smooth Operator, the first one I tried, was a perfect match for my skin. It does exactly what I want it to - smoothes out the imperfections while feeling light and easy on my skin. I compared it to Laura Mercier (which is what I *thought* I was going to buy) and found that the color of Smooth Operator worked better for me. I also love the fact that this TM is free of the chemicals I try to avoid (i.e. parabens, perfumes, phthalates). I found the coverage to be buildable - after spreading a few drops over my whole face, I could add slightly more in the areas that need it. The squeezy bottle really helps you to control how much product you use, another thing I like. As a plus, it has sunscreen (something I *have* to wear to reduce my hyper-pigmentation). Granted, I still wear a layer of La Roche Posay underneath, but it doesn't hurt to have more protection. At $36, this TM is really expensive (I was hoping to spend closer to $20 than $40) but I will definitely buy it again.
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