Gels/Soaps -MOR - Bamboo and Sugarcane soap
esque 10/16/2009 6:09:00 AM
Right. Great reputable brand, natural products,big clay-mineral blend soap with a gorgeous packaging (the soap dish thing it comes with looks like a Fabrege egg) and even a dinky rope thing you can hang the soap with. I even think the thing works, it feels like an expensive, dense milled soap. But. Why would I spend $22AUD on a thing that looks, and most importantly, smells, like a slab of concrete? I really bought this for the outer packaging (so pretty! Durable and attractive enough for a decorative box) and the fact that it was reduced to a dollar :)
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Palettes -Stila - Runway
esque 9/20/2009 11:29:00 PM
Loved this, and was bummed to find that they were giving it away after I bought it for full price! The lightest colour, pale matte pink, is pretty dupable, MAC's Yogurt comes to mind. The second - probably one of the most flattering colours . A plummy,bronzy/gold mix, if anyone has seen a dupe for this PLEASE CONTACT ME :) The darkest is a deep brown, shimmery with copper-red undertones. They all go very well together. However, the kajal liner in Smokey Quartz is horrendous. It breaks and smudges, and just snaps when you sharpen it. Packaging is faux black leather with a mirror. Comes with the small sized kajal liner and a leather rose with tie. Cute, but not really worth the price. Briefly, pros: PROS - the two darker e/s shades - packaging - colour combination - overall quality - you can't buy the e/s colours otherwise CONS: - pretty dupable - quality is good, but not great - kajal liner was terrible - cost - you can't buy the e/s colours otherwise - if you want to repurchase singly - the colours aren't named I find with Stila, the LE e/s palettes aren't as good as their usual range. The quality is still good, but not as good as say, their single pans like Kitten etc. I find that their dark colours,and the mattes are not as good as their lighter, sparkly ones, such as Oasis and Kitten, for instance. The matte ones and the darker shades, especially the browns, are easily dupable (but then again most shades of brown are!) and the matte ones are a bit crumbly (well, matte shadows are hard to perfect anyway) But yes, given a choice I'd stick with buying the light, shimmery, goldtoned ones that also double as a highlighter and last for ages. Also what erks me is that they don't name the colours (probably cos they aren't planning to reproduce them) and the very fact in the brackets - that they don't reproduce them and sell them separately! Lastly: please, if anyone knows a dupe for the middle colour, please leave me a message! I was thinking MAC's Style Snob or possible EL's Cinnamon, but have only seen swatches of them.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Biotherm - Sense Matte Foundation SPF 15
esque 8/26/2009 1:49:00 AM
Got this from a swap, though I think it is discontinued. Better than expected, gives quite a flawless finish, matte but not overly so. Coverage is probably medium, and it will need a concealer. Doesn't hydrate as much as it implies. However, this emphasizes flakes, and is probably a 'good skin day' only foundation.
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Lipstick -Rimmel - Lasting Finish - Dare
esque 5/28/2009 8:58:00 PM
Wearable, mid-tone cherry red with a hint of orange and pink and shimmer. Good for moderate look-at-me lips without overdoing it and can be applied lightly for a wash of subtle colour. Rimmel lipsticks are pretty good and this is no exception. Goes on well and staying power is good. However: Smell - like cherry cough mixture. Drying. Got this as a GWP and don't think I'll repurchase as I'm not a lipstick fan and this colour is a bit hard to match as it is quite bold. But a good addition to any make up box.
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Eye Shadow -Stila - Baked Eyeshadow Trio - Gold Glow
esque 5/14/2009 11:33:00 AM
Very very finely milled dust (surprising for Stila) with excellent intense colour payoff and staying power. Very sparkly but subtle. The colours are a bit of a dupe, or vice versa, of the bronze Fall In Love trio in Cedar Grove, except for the finer consistency, gold instead of bronze and colour variations in the cream and dark brown. Not saying that they are copies of each other, far from it, but are similar. Which is good because they are both excellent. I too got this in My Mother, My Hero pack. I suppose you can pair it with either the plum Natalie lipcolour or the (rosey) Bronze Illuminating powder in the same pack but it would be a bit too rich. I find that one swipe is not enough; however a second dab in the tin give a beautiful, liquid smooth finish with bright colour. It looks quite sparkly but the particles are tiny so its not over-doing anything. I can imagine this hefty baked set lasting for yonks. Though am not sure if it is LE. I wouldn't say it is a very casual combination, but is a very natural and pretty looking cream/gold/brown.
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Mascara -Estee Lauder - Sumptuous
esque 5/14/2009 11:24:00 AM
Sumptous indeed! Hands down one of the best mascaras I've used. I got this GWP size in a swap and am tempted to get the full size. Creates curl in seconds and holds it quite well, builds up without clumping, does not flake. Lashes are so long! Gives noticeably long lashes but looks very natural. Thickness could be desired though but then you can't have everything. With most EL stuff I'd expect this too be quite expensive, however it is worth it. Especially if you wait for the GWP offer :D
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Scrubs -Natio - Natio Spa one minute miracle body polish
esque 5/14/2009 11:20:00 AM
They may be discontinuing this. It was half price at the store I bought it from. I'm not fond of oily scrubs, so am biased against this. Yes it is a very good scrub but the amount of oil in the tub and on your skin once you apply it. The smell is a plesant herbal citrus. Sloughs of skin quite well though I didn't go the whole minute. Consistency is like densely packed sand, which feels and performs well. It should last you quite a while. As with must scrubs it's in a tub; it would be better in a tube but hardly any scrubs are.
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Foundations -Bourjois - Matt Lovely
esque 5/14/2009 11:15:00 AM
Yes, this was very matt and quite lovely. Great finish, tube lasts forever. I'd say this is medium to high coverage. Smells like chocolate mousse! Problems are the lack of shades, the prevalence of pink tones and the runnyness. I bought two tubes of this and would repurchase again IF they broguht out more colours and tones.
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Lips -Eyeko - Strawberry Fat Balm
esque 5/2/2009 11:34:00 PM
Yes, this is indeed a fat little balm. It looks and smells very cute, if not a little kitsch. A synthetic strawberry, reminiscent of The Body Shop’s one. The colour goes on a pinky-red with gold shimmer. It’s not a glossy/shiny finish - a slightly matte one but the glitter compensates. Lasting power is ok. I got this as a GWP but I would have bought it anyway. I would not repurchase though, it should last me a good while and there are other better balms out there. The Nivea Starfruits in Grapefruit, for instance, provides a similar pink (but a little more pinky) with a lovely sheen. Being a fatbalm, it is a bit unwieldy to use and you can end up with red outside the lips. For 5 pounds approx $10 US or AUD with post you can’t really go wrong (I bought two products and got this as a gift, as buying just the one 5 pound item alone would have taken up almost all the cost to post it and the GWP), and this is the current GWP offer with any purchase. You need the code though (I have the one for this one which should be around May 2009. Not sure if I can write it here but you can PM me)
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Mascara -Maybelline - Sky High Curves Extreme Length and Curl WaterProof [DISCONTINUED]
esque 5/2/2009 11:28:00 PM
This is my second purchase. A bit hmmm actually at first, but am warming up to it. It is quite waterproof, and the curling power is good. Lashes are denser, darker, curled and longer. I find either the bristles come loose or my eyelashes come off and get entangled in the brush – not sure which is the case. This lasts for ages and frankly I’m getting a little bored with it! It is a good mascara though, and I do recommend it for daily wear.
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Crème -Cover Girl - AquaSmooth SPF15 Make-up
esque 5/2/2009 11:14:00 PM
Love this. Medium to high coverage and looks flawless, though of the I-can-tell-you-are-wearing-makeup-kind-but-it-looks-great, if you use a bit too much to build up. Covers most imperfections but is not good on flaky or excessively oily skin. Very easy to put on and takes seconds to cover the whole face – the sponge is sufficient. You might need a concealer for darker imperfections though. This is my second compact. The price is excellent, though the product quantity isn’t much and this may only last a month, especially as you tend to put on a lot with the sponge. Cons: Colour range. I was advised by the SA that it suits pink skin tones and should look elsewhere for yellow based. It was excellent advice – my current Sand Beige gives me an obvious pink cast. I try to remedy this by mixing with Eyeko tinted cream (the bronze one, and finally I know what I can use it for!) or by not pairing this with pink make-up to make it look more obvious and use bronzer instead. Though of course if it suits your skin tone it is fantastic. But the range of shades (I think there are around 5?) are hardly a large number. Would I repurchase? I already have, but would do so again if they brought out more shades and cater to more undertones.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Tinted Moisturizer -Stila - Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15
esque 5/2/2009 11:12:00 PM
Oh oily. Slides off my face by the end of the day and so hard to put on! It’s very slippery and so sheer this really doesn’t cover any imperfections. I have this in medium and find it looks muddy and dirty – and I have yellow undertones already so it really shouldn’t be this obvious. The price is not worth it – for 69 AUD could have bought a decent foundation! I suppose it is a rather large quantity though. In Australia they have covered almost all the blurb and title on both box and tube so all it says is “Stila Sheer Colour,” not even tinted moisturiser. And this was purchased instore at an authorised seller. I was advised by a fellow purchaser that this is probably due to Australia’s stringent sun protection standards, and that it may not have been tested to see if it does match SPF15 here yet.
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Moisturizers -Garnier - Skin Naturals Soft 24-Hour Nourishing Day Cream
esque 5/2/2009 11:11:00 PM
A pretty good day cream, with a velvety feel and smells divine. A bit like roses and baby cream. It does not have an SPF factor so it might be best to use this at home (which I do, and was on the hunt for a moisturiser without sun protection) It's not heavy duty but offers a normal level of moisture. I agree that it is not an effective base for make up; tends to slide off. I bought this on special for $5 but the non-sale price is decent too. EDIT: Errr, my tube says 'apply in the evening' though it is supposed to be a day cream. Any help?
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Moisturizers -Dove - Energy Glow Night Cream
esque 5/2/2009 10:59:00 PM
I’m sorry to pull down the rankings but this did nothing for me. Bought this on special and I think it is being discontinued. Slippery, greasy and hard to put on. To me it seemed like a standard, cheap drug store house brand with a bit of glitter thrown in which is really unnecessary, it being a night cream. I broke out in more black and white heads with this and it didn’t help my flaky skin at all. Being in a pot was not a good idea and I couldn’t help but think I was putting oil and germs back into the pot.
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Lipstick -Stila - Natalie [DISCONTINUED]
esque 5/2/2009 10:08:00 AM
I totally agree with the reviewer below. I too got this as part of the My Mother, My Hero pack and think it was quite silly if they intended that you wear all the products at one go. (the bronze illuminating powder and gold glow trio might go well together if applied lightly, but Natalie is a plum - would be overkill to wear with either or both.) Natalie is a nice plum, a purple and not very red. Quite a nice sheer. I was hesitant when I saw it but reading the reviews here I think I'll keep it. It doesn't go on as dense as what it looks like in the tube and is a good wash of translucent colour. A bit hard to work with as it is rather purple and dark. I don't like it as much as Clinique Almost Lipstick in terms of glossiness and moisture. What a cute story, if it's true, that it was created for Miss Portman. Come to think of it I've seen her with plummy lips similar! I think I have an older version (forgive me if I'm wrong) the plain aluminium tube. It's alright if a litlle plain and there is not much space between the tip of the lipstick and the top of the tube. I have some trouble winding it down to the bottom sometimes.
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