Eye Shadow -Chanel - Illusion d'Ombre
feiste 11/14/2012 6:26:00 PM
I do not understand the love that this product has been getting from both bloggers and average users. I only own one colour - fantasme - but I tried all the original colours and they are all horrid, particularly the black one. Pros: the only thing that these have going for them is their cool bouncy texture. Colour-wise, they're dupeable. Chanel already has a lot of these colours in their single eyeshadow collection, though admittedly some of these colours, like taupe grise and vert khaki were limited edition. If you're not fussy about the finish of the colour, there are dozens of makeup brands that have colours of the same nature. Cons: 1) What good would an a great finish do you, though? These are so patchy going on. Fantasme literally goes on in patches for me and it's impossible to blend out. 2) They DO NOT last. At all. Ok, I do have oily eyelids and I spend a lot of my time in Singapore, which is deathly humid. Having said that, Chanel eyeshadows - every formulation from their singles and duos to their quads - last at least 4 hours, though usually 6-8 hours, without a primer. The black illusion d'ombre creases scarily into a black oily sludge in less than two hours on me and it is so ugly, with fallout everywhere. I thought that maybe there was some application trick I hadn't tried so I went down to a Chanel makeup boutique and had a salesperson apply it to me. But no, it's not me. At this price, I would never put up with a product that behaves as badly as this one. 3) Fallout. Fantasme starts falling out from the minute I put it on. Hours later, I can't see it on my eyelids anymore but it's all over my face. In conclusion, it's a horrid product with absolutely no redeeming features. I've tried applying it with their brush, a real makeup brush, with fingers, with powder eyeshadow underneath, by itself... All to no avail. I would have returned it if Singapore had any semblance of a return policy. I think that I'm just going to have a field day squishing it to death one day and then tossing it. Ughhh... Big waste of time of money.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Ellis Faas - Eyeliner in black E501
feiste 2/27/2012 10:31:00 AM
I didn't like anything about this eyeliner. Due to the crummy applicator, too much product would gush out when the pen finally deigned to release the eyeliner. The formula itself is also nothing special: 1) Too wet so it takes too long to dry and if you have tight eyelids like I do, a second black line forms at your crease if you blink while it's drying. 2) Not pigmented enough so you'd need multiple attempts to get an opaque black. 3) The brush is thin so when there's too much product (and there always is), the line becomes uneven, with a streak of liquid liner at the edge. I'm keeping it around just because I can't bear to throw $$ out just yet but if I need space in my makeup drawer, this will be the first thing to go.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Ellis Faas - Concealer
feiste 2/27/2012 10:18:00 AM
Love the formulation of this concealer. It blends like a dream so you don't tug on the delicate skin around your eye area. It stays on all day and covers everything it's supposed to from blemishes to broken capillaries to undereye circles, though the one thing I don't like about it is that it can sometimes look a little cakey. Why sometimes? Because while the concealer itself is beautiful, the application system this product comes sealed in is @#$%$@@. I hope that has aptly conveyed to you how much I dislike the click-pen system. It just doesn't work. Sometimes no product comes out so you start turning the end of the pen with a vengeance and then everything pours out. So if you keep the extra product to use the next time round, it will have dried out a little by the time you get to it. You may be enterprising and think, "Well, I'll just be smarter and more patient then and not click like there's no tomorrow." Oh ho. That's what I thought too. Trust me, this pen tries your patience like no other. The strangest thing is that Ellis Faas uses this packaging for everything but the mascara so you'd have thought that she would make it great. It's not impossible. YSL has done a good job of it with Touch Eclat and so has By Terry and Stila and Faas is priced similarly. So, love the product, hate the applicator but love>hate since Faas has got the colour and formula right (soooo much better than Bobbi Brown, which has too much yellow even for Asians and is thick, cakey and hard to blend) so I will keep using this. The things we do for love (and the illusion of perfect skin)...
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Renee Rouleau - AHA BHA Cleansing Gel
feiste 1/23/2012 7:42:00 PM
I like this product a lot. It comes in a squeezy plastic bottle, which makes it easy for the product to flow out. My only gripe is that the opening tends to get clogged by dried product but oh well... I originally got this face wash as a body wash. I'm wary of trying new products on my face but there was a coupon code for renee rouleau and I needed a good body wash to clear up my clogged back (sorry, that sounds gross). It works beautifully. My face is also prone to clogged pores so I tried the aha/bha wash on it and it's now really smooth. I still get some clogged pores but it's so much better now. I cannot speak for how it works on acne or break-out prone skin because I usually only have once-a-month hormonal breakouts. It has done so much more for my skin than my clarisonic brush, which just sits there because it is so harsh on my skin, I got dry patches. This may be too much for twice-a-day use because my skin started flaking when I did that. I usually use it once a day and it works well enough. The formula is really concentrated and a little goes a long way. It works out to be really cheap since you get a pretty big bottle. I think I can get three months of daily use on my face and body out of it. I'm really glad I got this and I'm already placing an order for another bottle!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Chanel - Vitalumiere Aqua
feiste 9/18/2011 4:36:00 AM
I have this foundation in BO20. It isn't a perfect match for my skin but it was the closest in the very limited range of shades that Vitalumiere Aqua. I was seduced into buying Vitalumiere Aqua by the fresh glowing skin that the model had in the ad posters when it first launched. It looked so natural and beautiful. Plus I have relatively good skin that's combination in nature and I wanted something that had light coverage as anything heavy makes me feel like I'm wearing a mask. I loved the way this foundation blended into my skin. I like to use my fingers first because the warmth literally makes it melt into your complexion; it's also easier to cover the hard-to-reach places like at the edges of your nose. I then swirl a (clean) foundation brush over my face to buff the foundation in and top it off with Chanel's translucent loose powder. It looks a bit unnatural at first but within the hour, it looks beautifully dewy and touchable. Don't expect it to cover spots or other facial imperfections though; it is light coverage after all. Here's the thing about Vitalumiere Aqua though. Don't use it if you live anywhere humid and don't use it if you don't have dry skin. If you live somewhere humid and you don't have dry skin, that's just a recipe for disaster. The thing that absolutely killed this foundation for me is that after wearing it for a few hours, it starts to ball up on me and it looks like my face is sliding off. They claim that there is some plasma thingy going on with this foundation and I truly believe them because my face looks like a melted plasma screen. Not a good look unless it's Halloween. To remedy this, I've tried blotting continuously and I've plastered as much loose power on as I can but to no avail. Therefore, I am never repurchasing and will keep a healthy distance from Vitalumiere Aqua. It could be a nice foundation for someone else though.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -Korres - Yogurt cooling after sun face and body gel
feiste 5/31/2011 12:32:00 PM
I love this product. I don't use it regularly but when I do, I slather it all over my face and body like a moisturiser. It's great for the summer when I want hydration but not the grease, though I have to say that it doesn't absorb immediately. But the cool, tingly sensation that you get from application makes up for it. The best thing about this product is that I love the smell. It just smells so clean and fresh to me. In fact, it would be amazing if they would just make a matching shower gel to this. I would use it ALL the time. Of course, it works great as an after-sun lotion too.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Misc Beauty Tools -Tweezerman - Metal Eye Lash Comb
feiste 1/3/2011 3:32:00 PM
I love this amazing little tool! I hate spidery, clumpy lashes and this ensures that no matter what mascara I use, the resulting lashes are clump free. But since I have oily eyes, most mascaras end up smudging on me plus it also seems that almost every mascara in the market flakes on me. So I use this together with my most favourite mascara in the world: Fresh Supernova. I find that if you put mascara on one eye, then on the other and return to comb the eyelashes on the first eye, you get the best results, since the mascara isn't so runny anymore that you take almost everything off but is still wet enough for you to run the comb through. And then, if you want to add volume, just repeat the steps. I've caked three layers (and by layers, I mean inserting wand back into tube three times) onto the eyelashes of each eye and still ended up with perfect, sooty, defined eyelashes. It's probably the most helpful thing ever for mascara beginners and/or for people who like thicker formulations but don't want their lashes to stick together. To be honest though, now that I am accomplished at mascara application (I know I sound like a braying ass but I am actually quite good at this; I've impressed a lot of makeup counter SAs who were at first shockingly angry when I commandeered the mascara wand), it sometimes seems a little superfluous to use this comb when I only slick on a coat or two of mascara to get a more everyday look. Still, it is a most handy tool and everyone has mascara-applying off days. The only thing is that the teeth are VERY sharp. Plus, it's most efficient when you wash it every time after you use it. I'm on my second comb now but I only replaced the first one because a tooth had dropped out. Not a biggie as it worked ok without one tooth and Tweezerman would probably have replaced it but it was an excuse to get the more snazzy foldable version. This was a very long review so if you only skim reviews, let me summarise in capslock to get your attention: GET THIS!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Primer -Chanel - Eye Shadow Base (Base Ombre a Paupieres)
feiste 10/28/2010 9:13:00 AM
I did not like this primer at all. I got this in beige and it goes on smoothly like it's packed with silicon (which it probably is) and dries to a smooth finish. My main peeves with this product are that: 1) The beige is a little more pigmented than my skin colour and my eyeshadow colours get muddied when I put them over this primer. 2) To add insult to injury, my eyeshadow doesn't stay on any longer than usual. I got this primer after trying it on at Barney's in LA where it's pretty dry. The MA did her magic and I was so impressed with the overall look that I bought this but after trying it out a couple of times, I found that it wasn't doing what it's supposed to be doing. Then I moved to Singapore, which is very humid, and tried it again just in case and it's become even less impressive! I'm currently using NARS's eyeshadow base, which dries transparent and actually helps my eyeshadow last. It's also US$8 cheaper than this waste of space. The greatest irony is that most Chanel eyeshadows I've tried are so finely milled and pigmented that they're perfectly fine on their own. Maybe that's why Chanel hasn't felt the need to develop an eyeshadow primer that actually works.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Kerastase - Kerastase Reflection Chroma Reflect Rich Radiance-Enhancing Masque
feiste 8/28/2009 8:07:00 PM
I like this product because it makes my hair so shiny. However, I have to use it sparingly or it starts to weigh down my medium-fine asian hair. This becomes a problem as it doesn't hydrate that well so I have to use quite a bit. Cue Chroma Riche, Chroma Reflect's lesser-known sister. Chroma Riche has a richer texture and makes my hair feel extra hydrated. My hair literally feels like velvet both in and out of the shower. It also smells divine, like Belle du Jour moisturiser from Kenzoki. Of course, it still weighs my hair down if I use too much of it but I don't need as much of Chroma Riche as I do Chroma Reflect since it hydrates better. Bottom-line, if you're looking for a mask to give you shine, stick to Chroma Reflect. Otherwise, switch to Chroma Riche, if only for the smell...
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Unlisted Brand - ila - face oil for glowing radiance
feiste 8/8/2009 11:54:00 PM
This product really hydrates my sensitive skin, which is prone to breakouts and dry patches but is also pretty oily generally, especially when I'm home in Singapore. My pores aren't clogged but the dry patches are gone. It smells more of sandalwood than I thought it would; I was expecting a rosy concoction but the incense-like note in this oil is on par with the rose scent. It still smells great though, just not what I was expecting. A little goes a long way with this product. I use this in conjunction with the hydrolat toner and I only need a drop of this oil everytime I use it. The toner helps to smooth the oil on over my entire face. The oil will probably last me 6 months, if not more, at the rate I'm going so even though it's expensive, I think that it'll last me a long time. It comes in a glass bottle, with a dropper that sucks up the product everytime you depress a button. I really like this efficient and mess-free bottle so full points for packaging quality. I definitely recommend this product, especially if you've got sensitive skin that does not take well to products with lots of synthetic materials.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Unlisted Brand - Peter Lamas Citrus C Cleanser
feiste 8/1/2009 9:19:00 AM
Update: I've stopped using this cleanser because I realised that it was clogging my skin. I didn't do a very thorough read of the ingredients list when I first started using it and this actually contains dimethicone. There is very little dimethicone though and I thought that it shouldn't sit on the skin because the facial wash gets washed off so I experimented by isolating it and keeping the rest of my facial regimen the same, just changing cleansers, and yes, it's the cleanser. I stopped using it for a while and my skin got better. If you have skin that's ambivalent to silicone though, this would probably be a great cleanser for you. Breaks my heart a little because I've used this for so many years but it had to go... Original review: The Citrus C cleanser is my favourite cleanser. It smells pleasant, sort of a mix between floral and citrus. It foams very well and you only need a little of it, even when using hard water. This cleanser leaves my face feeling soft and clean. Other cleansers that I have tried have either broken me out, left my face feeling uncleansed or left my face feeling tight and dry. There have been a few that have achieved the amazing feat of making my face feel both dry and oily at the same time. Price-wise, I have been able to find it for less than $10 a bottle, which is an abosolute steal, considering that a bottle can last me 4-6 months, even with daily use and trust me, I don't skimp on cleanser; I sometimes even use this as body wash. Amazing!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Unlisted Brand - Eminence Citrus Lip Balm
feiste 5/30/2008 1:16:00 AM
I love this lipbalm! It has a citrusy, minty scent to it and feels just a little tingly on the lips. It has a natural plumping effect, as stated on its packaging but I didn't read the packaging so it came as a nice surprise one month after I started using the lip balm when I noticed my lips were plumper. It won't give you Angelina Jolie's lips, mind you, but it will make your lips slightly fuller. I use it many times a day and it does a great job of keeping my lips moisturised. It retails for $24 at the spa that I go to (with tax, it's a little more than $25). Not dirt cheap but not going to break the bank either, considering that only a few lip balms work on me. Most lip glosses and lip balms tend to make my lips peel so it's really hard for me to find balms that I like. Also, I have had expensive lip balms not work for me too, so it's really not a price issue. I have two tubs of it now; one to put in my room and the other to carry around in my bag. :)
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Chanel - Inimitable Mascara Multi-Dimensionnel (Waterproof Version)
feiste 11/18/2007 10:44:00 AM
I got this mascara in black. It lengthens and volumises wonderfully without clumping and the separation is great. My lashes are curly by nature so I can't say how it measures up in that area. The brush is so easy to use and makes multiple-coat application that much easier so I'm able to achieve oomph without spidery lashes full of clumps. The tube itself is black and gold, with typical Chanel understated elegance. That said, this is supposed to be a waterproof mascara but I have found that at the end of the day, the underside of my eyes smudge like crazy and I literally look like a panda. I'm currently in Singapore, where it's humid, and my undereyes do have a tendency to be oily but it's supposed to be a waterproof mascara and for the price, I expect it to deliver. I probably would purchase again but only because I'm going back to college in Cali soon, where it's drier and my skin isn't quite as oily. An overall lovely mascara, but for all that it doesn't clump and is one of the best, if not the best, mascaras that does everything - length, separation, volume and curl - the fact that it smudges terribly by the end of the day keeps it from being holy grail material.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Annick Goutal - Petite Cherie
feiste 8/2/2006 12:54:00 PM
This is my favourite perfume. It's lightly sweet and makes me think of child-like innocence. It lasts for half-a-day on me, which is as long as, if not longer, than any other perfume I've tried. Petite Cherie is expensive, but a bottle lasts me ever so long. I save a bit by buying it in a bigger size. It's really funny how I discovered this perfume. I had tried it on earlier one day and thought that it smelt perfectly nasty. I took a bus home that day and a really really really stinky person came and sat by me; I think that he must not have showered for the past month. So I discretely rested my head on my arm and placed my nose in the crook of my arm, where I had tried on Petite Cherie previously. And then I smelt this wonderful, wonderful fragrance and I couldn't have stopped sniffing at my arm if my life depended on it. It took a little while for the perfume to work with my body chemistry but now, I wouldn't have any other perfume.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Phyto - Phytorhum shampoo
feiste 7/28/2006 9:25:00 AM
I'm still trying to make up my mind about this product. I actually like the glass bottle, though I am deathly afraid that I'll drop it. It's not that cheap price-wise, but still cheaper than in the US as I get mine in Singapore (where it seems to have recently exploded; it's everywhere now). It isn't that moisturizing in the shower, with my wet hair really tangly, but once my hair dries, it's ok. However, I have flyaway hair and frizzies where I had none before, even with the humidity in Singapore, probably due to more hairs breaking as I comb through my hair after washing. However, my hair is shinier and feels stronger than before so it does have its merits. I'm trying this with phytobaume tonight to see if it works better with conditioner. :) Will update in a week's time.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No