Scrubs -Dermalogica - Daily Microfoliant
fictionalize 4/25/2013 6:06:00 AM
This is hands down the most skin-changing product I've ever used, and I've used lots. My skin is dehydrated but very congested and acne-prone, and I have a lot of hyperpigmentation and some shallow but extensive acne scarring. I've been using this product for about two months now, and people have been commenting on how good my skin looks! This has never ever happened to me. I use it every two or three days, not every day, as my skin is also very sensitive. My skin looks bright, healthy, and clean, my hyperpigmentation has lightened significantly, I get less acne and the acne I do get clears up faster. Yes, it's an expensive product, but a little goes a very long way--I got a travel-sized container and it is still about 1/3 to half full. I just bought a large size as I got a discount at Dermalogica, and I would recommend it to everyone. Amazing, amazing product.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Clinique - Butter Shine - Pink-a-boo
fictionalize 8/10/2012 10:14:00 AM
The only lipstick I have ever repurchased. Though this is probably quite dupe-able, I just love it and wear it every day and I'm willing to spend the money on something I wear every day. The color is lovely, a warm pink with shimmer, and really lights up my NC/NW 30 (Clinique 03 Fresh Neutral) skin. It is more like a gloss or balm than a lipstick, and though I usually like a "proper" lipstick, this is great for work/school when I want to look cute but not too done/like I didn't try. It is also moisturizing, and doesn't taste or smell like anything, which I love. It doesn't last long at all so I reapply all the time (probably why I have repurchased it), and for this reason I like that the packaging is pretty. It is a bit too sticky for me, but the lack of taste and smell and the color make up for it. If this type of color suits your skin and you want to splurge on an everyday lipstick, definitely go for this.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Clarins - HydraQuench Intensive Serum
fictionalize 8/10/2012 8:37:00 AM
A bit about my skin: Very acne-prone, dehydrated but oily, sensitive. Also quite scarred with some hyper pigmentation from spots as well. And though I'm 19, I have some scary fine lines! I bought this a while ago when suffering from acute dryness. I found it worsened my breakouts, and put it aside. Recently, my skin has been very dehydrated again. I tried this again, and absolutely loved it. I think the problem might have been that I (stupidly) wasn't shaking the bottle. You must, since it's bi-phase, or you won't really be using the serum! I use this every morning and find it hydrates but doesn't leave me greasy, and I don't have to wait too long before applying makeup. It also does really help with oiliness--my skin, when hydrated, produces less oil throughout the day. The reason I would not repurchase this is because though it is a really lovely serum that works quite well for me, it feels extremely sillicone-y, which makes me thing that though it is improving my skin in the short term it's only superficial, and I'd like to find something that is not. I think I will try Rosehip oil once this runs out. Edit: I moved to a dryer (though still sort of humid) climate, and my skin became very sensitive, dry, and inflamed due to a number of factors--stress being a major one. This really aggravated my skin. I chucked it.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Jurlique - Skin Balancing Face Oil
fictionalize 8/10/2012 8:08:00 AM
I bought this a while ago, when my problematic skin was breaking out a bit after a bout of being relatively good. I don't remember how much it was, and I used a coupon, but it was quite expensive. I don't think I usually would have bought it, especially at the time since I was quite broke, but I was really distressed by the breakout I was having and also by how sensitive and almost painful my skin had become. I have problematic and scarred skin but at the time it had improved a bit and become more balanced.I had read all the good reviews and was expecting it to help clear and balance my oily but dehydrated skin. When I first used it, I was pleased--I loved the smell and it felt luxurious. I went to bed. The next day, all hell had broken loose. My pimples had worsened and my skin felt very sensitive. I kept using it and I developed really nasty cystic acne and my skin was super super sensitive and painful, while stile quite oily. I refused to believe the culprit was the Jurlique oil and switched all my skincare back to Cetaphil, and still I was getting these pimples. I was so upset. My skin was really shot to sh*t. My skin was in a relatively good place, but really didn't recover from using this oil for a long time--the pimples took about a month to fade, but the hypersensitivity to the point of pain hasn't quite gone yet. I think I must be allergic to some ingredient in the Jurlique oil, causing a reaction that even though it has long faded, still has my skin worse than before. Also, it's a good example of how "natural" ingredients can still be really terrible for you. If this works for you, great. But it really didn't for me and I'd suggest being quite careful with it.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Sephora - Instant Moisturizer
fictionalize 7/22/2012 3:42:00 PM
I don't love it but I don't hate it, either. I bought this about two months ago and have been using it on my crazy, acne-prone, sensitive skin. My skin really is crazy--I originally bought this because though it is normally oily, it sometimes becomes super dry and weird. Since it was summer and really sweaty weather, I didn't want to use my usual heavy moisturizer (Olay). I didn't know anything about this when I bought it, and at first I was pleasantly surprised. It moisturized well, smelled a little too strong but not bad, left my skin smooth and soft and didn't aggravate my acne. However, after about a month of using it I started to notice my pores were becoming more clogged, and they did become better once I used it less. Though I still use this when I want a little more moisture but not a heavy finish, especially in the morning (it definitely primes well--I find it has a very silicone-y feel), and I find it holds up to more expensive and fancier moisturizers I have tried, I don't think it's really that exceptional and I will keep trying other stuff.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Masks -Unlisted Brand - Yogurt Mask
fictionalize 7/22/2012 2:42:00 PM
I've only just taken my first yogurt mask off, and I have to say--I'm impressed. Really impressed. I have a lot of acne scars, some spots, and pretty awful pores. The mask, which I left on for about 20 minutes, has made my skin noticeably smoother and tighter. I have sensitive skin and I didn't notice any unpleasantness or rashes. It feels, and looks, for lack of a better expression, more "hd". It seems to have calmed my spots a little but I don't see much difference to my scars yet. I will definitely use this tomorrow and will try and update again after consist use. Edit on 10/08/2012 My skin is sensitive, dehydrated but oily, acne-prone and scarred from acne. This mask has helped improve my skin's condition enormously. I've used this every few days since I first tried it, and though it didn't really help a hormonal cystic breakout I had, it is *really* helping the hyper pigmentation from that breakout! This is amazing stuff. I use full-fat homemade yogurt because that's what I have in the house, and if it's a bit too runny I just add a quarter of a banana to help it stick. I leave it on for a while, probably usually between 20 and 40 minutes, and it makes an amazing difference. It leaves a bit of a residue but I don't scrub it off because I feel it is good for my dehydrated skin. If you don't like it, though, I'm sure it's possible to get rid of it. My mother (53) has very oily skin that is beautiful in texture but has some pretty bad hyperpigmentation. She has also used it a few times (less often than me, because she's not nearly as vain), and it has improved her skin's pigmentation issues and she says it tightens her pores a lot! I've read a bunch of reviews here that are quite finicky about the type of yogurt to use, and frankly, I think any plain yogurt will do. My skin is oily but I still use full-fat and it works fine. Part of the beauty of this mask is that you can do it without going to any trouble if you have yogurt in the house, which I always do. It's messy but there is no fuss, and it's super cheap! And it really improves the condition of your skin. It tingles a bit when first applied and sometimes I'm worried it will irritate my sensitive skin, but so far it hasn't at all. This mask is cheap, easy, diy, and very effective. You should really try it.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -Dove - Beauty Bar
fictionalize 7/20/2012 8:59:00 AM
Before I start my review, let me tell you about my skin. It's generally pretty bad, on my face and my body. I've always had eczema and it worsened when I hit puberty (I'm 19 now) and was really really difficult to keep under control, constantly itchy and after about a year I had scratched so badly that my arms, legs, back, and sometimes neck and face were perpetually covered in open raw sores and wounds. I also got keratosis pilaris and granuloma annulare. Pretty gross, I know, bear with me. Additionally, I had really gross acne and oily skin. Also around the time I hit puberty, a whole menagerie of mental diseases reared their ugly heads, which I tell you because I developed obsessive compulsive tendencies that manifested themselves in the form of skin scratching and picking. ... Let's just say Middle School wasn't the most fun. Somewhere along the line I went to a dermatologist and had my skin blasted with corticosteroids, which helped enormously. I also slowly started getting my anxiety under control, which definitely helped the condition of my skin. The skin on my face is still pretty bad and scarred, but the condition of my body skin, though far from perfect, is exponentially better. I'm almost 20 now. During the process of trying to heal my skin, I tried lots and lots of soaps and body washes to find one that would work for my skin. I always scrubbed at my skin intensely, being a little fixated on getting it clean. At some point, I tried Dove. I like the smell a lot but at first found it slightly drying. Then I figured something out which has been an absolute blessing to my skin: it doesn't need as much washing as one might think! I use Dove to clean "key areas" and wash dirt of at the end of my long workday & commute / schoolday, and I find that it has actually improved my skin's condition, leaving it clean but not too dry and it never irritates. I sometimes also use it on my face, but not always. It's ok and it doesn't make my acne worse, but I'm too fickle/too much of a skincare addict to stick to one thing. However, I haven't stopped using Dove on my body every day since I started using it, and have repurchased at least 4 times. It's cheap, it smells good but doesn't linger, and something about using it makes me feel good about myself, a little old-school and not exactly sexy but clean and "wholesome". I can't credit Dove alone with turning my skin around (and it really did turn around), but using Dove soap was definitely part of it. If you have skin that sounds like mine, I have two pieces of advice. The first is definitely to see a dermatologist as soon as you possibly can. It's worth it, trust me. The second is to be kind to your skin--being kind to your skin is a step towards being kind to yourself. For me, this involves using Dove. Dove isn't a miracle product, but used in a way that's right for you, it can come pretty damn close.
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -NARS - Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella
fictionalize 7/2/2012 4:34:00 AM
As other reviewers have noted, the shade is very flattering on my fair-medium, roughy NC30 skin. I find it very similar to MAC's Russian Red, my first proper red lipstick and a color I truly love. The formula is definitely better than MAC's--it's still matte, and therefore drying and a little difficult to apply, but it emphasizes flakes much less than Russian Red IMO. It doesn't bleed and really lasts ages, and survives snacking/tea drinking on me but not a full meal. I'm not a huge fan of the pencil-like packaging. Though it does make application a bit easier on the go, I tend to use a lip brush for greater precision anyway. What I don't like about it is having to sharpen it quite often, which wastes a lot of the product :( I like this a lot, but because of the high price for a small amount of product, of which a lot is wasted, I don't think I would repurchase. It's a gorgeous, glamorous shade, but undoubtedly dupe-able and I think I'll explore other options once I'm done with this.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Shiseido - Perfect Rouge Tender Sheer
fictionalize 6/27/2012 3:43:00 AM
Bottom Line: Fucking fantastic! A favorite. My aunt Vera is really glamorous. I don't mean in a platinum-blonde "old hollywood" way at all--she always looks polished and sexy in an indefinable, subtle way, and, most importantly, always looks completely and beautifully herself. I loved rummaging through her makeup as a kid; I still do. She wears Shiseido lipsticks. Thinking of her, I got the shade RD629, a gorgeous wine-red, in duty-free on a whim. I'm so glad I did! This shade looks great on my ~NC30 skin. It is quite glossy and has a lot of slip, but wears down to a lovely stain. I can't say it's long lasting, but I tend to create a stain with NARS Cruella underneath it and that extends its wear quite a bit. I wear it all the time, both on its own and with Cruella. It looks great with a subtle eye (mascara, NARS Coconut Grove as an eyeliner) and a good, natural base. Wearing this lipstick in RD 629 makes me feel a little more grown-up and glam without being too much of a statement; I like to think I look a little like Vera with it on.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No