Conditioner -Unlisted Brand - Just the Basics
georgiasweety 3/18/2013 3:16:00 PM
Please see my review on the matching shampoo. You can get this 32 oz (1 ounce shy of a liter) for around $2.25. It is CVS's signature brand- just the basics. As I noted in the shampoo review- this line for normal hair does not add anything nutritionally to your hair. It does not claim to add shine, bounce, or moisture, it is simply to cleanse & lightly condition. The conditioner is on the runnier side, and it actually smells & works a lot like Tressemme's moisturizing conditioner. It does have some slip so it de-tangled my hair well & gave it a little moisture, but it rinsed clean. It's definitely not thick & goopy, & it doesn't have a cream consistency. The smell is a very light fruit that you can barely detect once your hair is dried. My hair feels excellent when I use the shampoo & conditioner together. It's spring time in here in Florida & I was needing a shampoo & conditioner for just basic gentle cleansing & I found that in these products. My hair feels soft & clean, and because these are not over moisturizing my hair has natural bounce to it. Yes, this was able to make my bleached hair feel soft & conditioned, but not at the expense of it being weighed down & not able to hold a style. I would just say that the just the basics shampoo & conditioner are really gentle & if you have normal hair that doesn't require any special needs, you cant beat the price to try these. This is truly a shampoo & conditioner you can use every day without drying. Again this conditioner is almost identical to Tressemme's moisturizing conditioner in the white bottle if that helps anyone wondering how it feels on the hair.
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Shampoo -Unlisted Brand - Just the Basics
georgiasweety 3/18/2013 3:08:00 PM
This is a cvs brand shampoo. I am reviewing the Normal formula. I have oily root, dry ends, high & low lights hair type. I got 32 oz for $2.25 (an ounce short of a liter!) I really like this shampoo. I have always rotated shampoos. I use both high & low end products. One week I will use all moisturizing products but then my hair doesn't hold a style, so I switch to volumizing... My hair gets volume but gets dried out.. This method always ends up doing a little damage to my hair, so I am continually rotating. Now that spring is here in Florida I will have to wash my hair almost daily so I was looking for something gentle that wasn't geared necessarily towards oily or dry/damaged hair. I also didn't want to buy a high end daily shampoo because it gets old spending so much on overpriced hair care. This is the perfect normal hair shampoo.. Note it gives a nice lather but its not stripping & extra foamy. As the name states- just the basics, it is just a basic shampoo. The color is clear, the scent is a very light fruit with a sweet note, the matching conditioner smells like tressemme's moisturizing conditioner, the shampoo is on the runnier side so it's not a thick & gloppy shampoo that is going to over foam & strip your hair. I would consider this to be like a baby shampoo for adults. Something that probably has a good PH, it's not going to add any vitamins to your hair, it doesn't claim to add bounce, shine, or volume.. but, it gives a nice gentle clean so you can use it on all hair types without having build up on the scalp, residue to weigh the hair down, or extreme lather that strips color & dries you out. The only other shampoo I have ever used like this was fantastic sam's brand that was for daily shampooing. This is exactly what I was looking for. As far as the price & quality, it is super cheap but it absolutely does not dry your hair out like suave or other similar brands. When you rinse a shampoo out of your hair & your hair is in knots & feels like straw I consider that drying. My hair doesn't feel like straw with this. I can say this is much more gentle than the new garnier hydra recharge, aussie moist, tressemme moisturizing. Those dry me out and I have to use tons of conditioner, this one just gives the most gentle clean & feels great when you rinse. So my verdict is it doesn't do anything special but give you a gentle clean that is perfect for those of us who need to wash our hair a lot and are tired of shampoos that go to the extreme- over moisturizing or over volumizing. I will be purchasing the moisturizing formula when my cvs gets it back in stock. The conditioner is great. I will be writing a separate review for that. I am really convinced that the gentleness of this is going to drastically improve my bleached hair. I plan to update my review when I am finished with this big bottle. Try it, its cheap, you have nothing to lose, & CVS accepts returns & exchanges on opened cosmetic items if you don't end up liking it.
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Liquid -Kat Von D - Lock-It
georgiasweety 1/14/2013 5:38:00 PM
Great full coverage foundation. Reviewing shade Light #48. This shade is a tad too dark for NC20/Revlon colorstay sand beige. Claims to be oil, paraben & fragrance free, & long lasting. I really liked this foundation, it truly gives flawless skin with a matte finish. This is not like makeup forever & other brands that offer a luminous finish to reflect imperfections. It is so pigmented I was able to layer it under my eyes as a concealer. The annoying thing about this foundation is its hard to blend when you apply it. It seems to dry so fast. The texture is on the thick side, it's not runny whatsoever, so when you apply it, you have seconds to blend before it stays put & "locks" in place as the name says. It looks beautiful on the skin, think porcelain doll finish and it wears great over pock marks and acne scaring which was really impressive. I am 27 with a few fine lines & I wore this under my entire eye area with no creasing & the product did not settle into my lines. It is a tad masky feeling & a little goes a long way. It's so hard to blend you end up using more than required to cover the entire face, but I use my fingers to apply, this may not happen if you use a damp brush. This is a true streak free foundation, its just as thick & even in coverage where you start to apply as when you rub it across your face & the foundation ends. I do not have any tats to try it on but it did great over all imperfections. I never wear foundation 24 hours but this does stay put during a normal day to night 12 hours. I set this with a translucent powder from nyc. This does make the face shiny midday & you will need to blot, remember it is a full, heavy duty coverage foundation. No break outs so far on my acne prone skin. I think it meets its claims & is a fantastic full coverage foundation so I'm giving it 5 stars.
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Lip Gloss -New York Color - Big bold plumping lip gloss 
georgiasweety 1/5/2013 8:19:00 PM
I am reviewing shade #467 Pleasantly Plump Pink. I would not recommend this gloss . The biggest turn off is it tastes and smells like it went rancid. I was not expecting much out of something that cost only $4.19, but, it was a new item from NYC that was paired with their new apple balm. I thought it might have an apple scent or maybe a neutral flavor. The texture is on the med thickness side, depending on how much you apply, and the finish feels slightly sticky. This gives the weakest tingle out of all the plumping glosses I have ever tried. I do not believe a product has to tingle to plump, but this one didn't plump at all. Like all lip glosses, the sheen to them naturally makes lips look a tad fuller, and this is the only plumping I got with this product. I got the 2nd to lightest shade, and it is a pretty, wearable, rose pink, with the tiniest flecks of shimmer in it. It gives a tinyyyy amount of a cooling sensation to the lips. I do think this company had a genius idea with the applicator on this product. This has hands down, the biggest doe foot applicator I have ever seen on any gloss! The funny thing is, a large applicator is horrible for those of us with thinn-ish lips, because, it distributes way too much product! But, if you had large lips, this big applicator would make applying gloss so much faster and easier! Even the size of the lipgloss is huge compared to normal lip glosses. This is .39 oz for reference. I don't think this lasts 4 hours like it claims either. Awful gloss, tastes horrid, does not plump at all, and the applicator is way too big for those of us who could use the plumping....but amazing idea with the large applicator- IF it was advertised for people with big lips! Pass!!!!!
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Liquid -Almay - Almay Truly Lasting Color longwear makeup
georgiasweety 8/22/2012 3:42:00 PM
I am going to update my review but wanted to put color matching information on here for those of you who were like me and could not find your color match via search. I wear revlon color stay in sand beige , nc20 in mac , and I chose Naked 03 (160) in Almay TLC.Please note, I saw 2 naked 03s at cvs and both were completely different colors. This foundation likes to separate in the bottle , and it is super hard to shake up and see the true color. I chose the lighter of the two Naked 03s I saw. The first thing I noticed about this foundation was it has a thicker feel like revlon colorstay. The product has sunscreen and you can feel that slippery/thick/greasy sunscreen in it. With so many great reviews saying it keeps you from being shiny, this did not scare me. Upon application I felt it was a little easier to blend than colorstay. The color is a little more pink I would say, and less neutral than color stay but it is natural & it does match my skin. I was able to layer this foundation on areas that needed more coverage, but up close this foundation shows off hair & pores a little more than colorstay or my previous foundation mac studio fix fluid. So far it does great with keeping the shine away. Overall this is a lighter version of colorstay, but the coverage is not quite as full. I am going to update my review weekly to note any breakouts, or how it reacts when I am at the beach or swimming this weekend. Just wanted to give this a quick review & help anyone with color matching. I do know this product has lemon extract which does brighten but it can also dry out your skin. Those of you with dry skin who use this ingredient can actually have a reaction to where it makes you oily because it strips moisture. Will update* upate.. Returned this because it showed up too many of my imperfections and was not as flawless as other foundations I have tried.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments (Eye) -Clinique - Even better eyes dark circle corrector
georgiasweety 8/3/2012 5:46:00 PM
Does this lighten up to 30% Yes! It does work, and it is worth the money. A few things I think people should know about this product- #1 the product is oil free, but it feels like a slippery silicone primer on the skin. You cannot apply your foundation/concealer/powder right away with this product, you must let it dry first. I am able to use concealer on top of this eye treatment without it creasing. #2 the color is a tinted salmon/orange/flesh tone. I first made the mistake of using a grain of rice size amount on my pale skin. It looked obviously orange and I would not have been able to throw this on and walk out of the house without makeup on top to conceal the orange. I have learned to use a pin head size amount for best results. The orange based color really does help to counteract purple/gray/dark circles. If you don't like to wear makeup or you are a man, you may want to experiment with how much you can use without having to apply a neutral concealer on top. If you have light under eye circles you could use this product as a concealer. I am about nc15-nc20 for reference. Those of you with medium skintone may not even notice the orange tint to the product..I think the description from clinique.com is misleading, it says it uses "sheer optics" when it should say a tinted orange or warm tone so people will know there is color pay off with this, not like your average brightener. I have been using this for 20 days now and I can honestly say my under eye area is so much brighter. This product claims to lighten up to 30% in 12 weeks and it works! Please note, I do not have hereditary dark brown circles. I have purple/gray circles from allergies. This product is supposed to build & thicken the under eye skin so the color doesn't show through as much. It works for my allergy induced circles, I cannot comment on its affects on brown discoloration under the eye. The silver metal end of this product is flat and makes it super easy to rub the product on. The metal also makes it feel very cooling to the under eye area. I can say this worked much better than dermadoctor's eye balm that gets great reviews on here, its a few dollars cheaper too. Try a sample. Not only does it temporarily conceal & help your eye look over all, but it physically worked to lighten my under eye circles. I cannot wait to finish my tube, and to repurchase. Buy it! ...This review has been edited a few times since my initial purchase. jan /2013 update I am still loving this product & continue to repurchase it. It did lighten my circles by 30% & it helped a ton with concealing. I do have allergy circles vs hereditary so that may make a difference. It has not lightened beyond 30% with me, but I also rotate it with a moisturizing eye cream. This is strictly for my under eye area, and my other creams I use on my eye lid as well as the under eye area. Clinique is great with refunds, use this faithfully morning & night & let it dry before you wipe your eye area. You should see results!
18 out of 18 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Dove - Damage Therapy Conditioner Intensive Repair
georgiasweety 6/26/2012 9:47:00 PM
I love this conditioner. I have long oily roots/dry ends high/low lights hair type. First off the smell is amazing, it is a bit perfumey & lingers for anyone wondering. This is ultra moisturizing, it feels like a treatment each time you use it. I rotate my shampoo & conditioners so I do not use this daily. This would be too moisturizing to use every day on long stringy hair, but I love it. It doesn't make my hair feel weighed down, but you can tell it's thicker than your average conditioner and its hard to get voluminous style when you use a therapy treatment conditioner like this one. I don't know if it has helped split ends because I do rotate products, but this really quenches dry, damaged hair. Sometimes I use this conditioner as a deep conditioner and put a bag on my head for 30 min. Leaves your hair soft, moisturized, & helps to tame frizz & flyaways. Love it. You must try! I buy it at dollar general for about $3 a bottle. Rivals high end conditioners for sure.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments (Eye) -Avon - Genics Eye Treatment
georgiasweety 5/16/2012 8:33:00 PM
I'm 26 soon to be 27 with under eye circles, puffiness, & fine lines. I am 1/2 way through with this eye cream, and will update when I finish the jar. Avon claims it can make your eyes look 10 years younger, gives elasticity, smoothness, brightness, & diminish the appearance of fine lines & crows feet. I can say it not only helps to soften lines but also helps with puffy eyes & dark circles even though it does not advertise that. I think this is much better than the other avon eye creams I have tried over the years, none of them have given me results this fast. They all have a great texture & produce results, but this one gives results instantly. I swear by avon eye creams, and this one is my favorite so far. It has a really light cream texture, no scent, & absorbs well. I have no problem wearing this under makeup or with contacts. This doesn't give me milia, but I noticed the first week of using I had small red dots near my outer eye area, and the only other time I got this was when I used a product with retinol. This is a very common skin reaction to anti-wrinkle ingredients, and because it happened before I did not discontinue use, I continued to use this and the bumps went away. So please note for those of you who are not used to anti aging ingredients- this has something in it that works, but it does cause slight eye exfoliation in the crows feet area. Before this I used an entire jar of Dermadoctor wrinkle revenge because of the fantastic review. I think this product is equally as good, for a few dollars less. I have decided to repurchase this eye cream over dermadoctor's wrinkle revenge because it is easier to get. They both give great results though. Will update when I finish & repurchase.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -DHC - Lip Cream
georgiasweety 2/23/2012 4:23:00 PM
A great lip balm. This makes your lips feel like butter. This has the same smooth, non sticky, silky texture at Nivea, Labello, & Soft Lips lip balms. This by far lasts longer on the lips than any of the above mentioned, which is why I would gladly pay full price for it. This could be a uni-sex product as it leaves a slight sheen to the lips but no color. There is a faint smell of petroleum jelly, but I could not smell it on my lips, only out of the tube. Lots of emollient ingredients in this balm, it really is like a treatment. It does not have a thick texture at all, however the beeswax in it gives it just enough texture to stick & stay on the lips, but this is still not sticky if that makes sense? Where as soft lips or nivea slide off within an hour, this one does not. I can eat & drink and this is still on my lips protecting them. This doesn't have spf but I'm wondering if the beeswax & other emollients would protect in the sun? I have not tested this myself. This really nourishes my lips, and I would really recommened for all lip types, especially dry & chapped. So soothing to the lips, glad I caved into this after years of being a DHC fan. So far the Deep cleansing oil & this are my 2 favorite products. Update June 2012, after having this for 6 months the petroleum smell is starting to come out of it, the product works the same but the smell stinks when first applying.
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Styling Products -Paul Mitchell - Super Skinny Serum
georgiasweety 1/6/2012 4:57:00 PM
This works really well to smooth & soften the ends of your hair. The smell is a wonderful fresh watermelon, I love it! The packaging is clear, green & cute with an easy to use pump that doesn't clog up. The serum itself is clear and feels a little greasy but it doesn't weight my hair down. I use 1 pump of the small travel size bottle (.85 oz) on the left side of my hair and 1 pump for the right. This absorbs quickly into hair, makes my hair feel like silk when I blow dry but not weighed down. This really tames my bleached ends and goes beyond what conditioner does for me. I always use this on damp hair before I blow dry as my heat protectant & smoother. Even if I don't blow dry I make sure to use a little of this on my ends. It really is fantastic. I have fine hair type but normal as far as thickness. I really prefer this over my holy grail joico restorative oil which is an argan based oil. This one is a thinner serum, and makes my hair feels softer. I have not used an entire bottle so I can't comment on how good of shape it keeps hair ends. When I get my next hair cut I will see how my ends look and update my review. Worth a try! May 2012 update. While this softens & smooths my hair more than my argan oil products do, this performs a different function for me. This is great for quenching dry hair, making it baby soft & smooth. The argan oils do more nutritionally for my hair. I alternate this with my joico oil. This product is amazing at what it does, it makes the outside of your hair great, makes your comb slide easily through damp hair, & tames flyaways. Argan oil helps the inside of my hair cuticle and gives it nutrients. The only down side to this is I have to use more product when I use this verses my regular argan oil. I still love this, I will still alternate with this, and while it doesn't do anything nutritionally or long term beneficial to my hair, it's still a great serum that I highly recommend, and is loved by thousands.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Rusk - bright
georgiasweety 1/5/2012 9:10:00 PM
This dried my hair out extremely, making it feel like straw. I have long bleached, oily roots dry ends hair type for reference. It does brighten a little, but clairol shimmer lights and Aveda blue Malva work better for brightening. Most all of the purple shampoos for brightening blonde hair are very dry shampoos: Joico color endure violet, clairol shimmer lights, aveda blue malva, arctec, jhirmack. Also Rusk as a brand has very drying shampoos. I think this is because they are super concentrated and have a lot of natural ingredients, this one being no exception. I think rusk shampoos work best on super fine, short hair. If you have dehydrated, or dry ends to your bleached hair I would skip this shampoo or use once in a blue moon for color maintanence. When I used my regular conditioner it softened and helped to undo what this shampoo did, but I had to use a lot of detangler. I would not use this daily at all. I got this at pro price of only $4 and would not pay anything over that price because this strips your hair & the detangling you have to do will cause damage. Because it dried me out, it did give a really good clean almost like a clarifyer, but I had to load my hair with serum to get a brush through it so instead of volume from a deep clean I end up with weighed down hair. The best thing about this shampoo besides its cute purple packaging is the smell! It has the most sweet watermelon/bubble gum scent. I wish they made this in body products!
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Mascara -Cover Girl - Lash Blast 24 HR Mascara
georgiasweety 1/2/2012 10:01:00 PM
I like the original lash blast the best, however I think this would be lots of peoples dream mascara. The minute you put this on it literally curls your lashes for you! The fact it can curl your lashes makes it genius. It not only holds a curl from a lash curler, it physically curls them with it's formula. When you take it off at night, your eyelashes are still curled even the next day. This really doesn't give me any volume as far as thickness, but it defines the lashes and isn't clumpy at all. The regular version in the orange tube gives me fatter lashes, but this curls my lashes to look lifted, and the lift stays all day just like the 24hr name states. If you have short lashes that need to be curled, this is the mascara for you! With that being said, its a good mascara over all. Not as dramatic as the original. I would say it gives length but I have long lashes and this just curls them so they look shorter. If you have short lashes this may make them appear longer so it depends on your lash type. I find this mascara doesn't stay on my bottom lashes as long, like the tips of my lashes are bare at the end of the day. This has a smell that the original doesn't but I can't smell it on my eyes only directly from the tube or wand. Also, it does not burn my eyes like others have noted. This is a pain to get off, I believe it is a waterproof formula even though it does not say so on the packaging. Price was over $10 with tax, compared to the orignal which you can get from $6-8
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Sally Hansen - Gem Crush 01 Showgirl Chic
georgiasweety 12/31/2011 9:25:00 PM
The good thing about this polish is the color & extreme glitter you see in the bottle is exactly what you get on your finger nails in only 1 coat. This polish is not sheer at all, it gives a full base of silver glitter, with larger blue glitter pieces. The Gem Crush line has a very weird formula, it dries almost instantly on the nails and on the brush. If I swipe my nails too slowly on one side and try to polish the other side of my nail with remaining polish on the bristles- nothing comes off, I have to re-dip. I generally use 2 coats with this polish, but 1 coat will give you full coverage. The glitter effect is wonderful, my nails looks so blingy, like I have dipped them in glitter. The down side is you feel the chunky glitter on your nails, its very scratchy & rough. This is the scratchiest polish I have ever used, even more so then adding glitter to regular polish. The polish also feels a little heavier on the nails vs regular polish. Even when I use a base coat, and a good top coat like Seche Vite, my nails still chip with this. Because the formula is so thick & quick dry, its a very chip prone polish. I have only used this on my hands & feet twice yet the cap is already thickening with polish, I am curious as to if this polish will be as good half way through the bottle as it is now. This lasts a few days before peeling or chipping, but it is beautiful to look at. I said I would never buy another bottle because of the horrible rough texture that feels worse than sand paper on your nails, but the glitter effect is so beautiful, I think I need to try the red. Please note this is the worst polish in the world when it comes to removing. This stuff sticks like glue. I have to almost damage my nails removing this with nail polish remover, file, buffer, & metal cuticle pusher. This was about $8 at CVS. I could get 2 china glaze polishes for that price at Sallys.. I am torn with this polish, bad formula but it dries fast & looks awesome. :/
7 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Revlon - Colorburst in Pink Sugar
georgiasweety 12/17/2011 11:40:00 PM
I got this on sale for $2.50, I would not pay the normal price of $8.99 for this particular shade. Like everyone says, the cap shows a pale, opaque, baby pink shade, but on your lips it barely shows up at all. I have to scrape this on my lips for any kind of color pay off, and when I put layers on my lip to get color, I feel a lot of gritty glitter pieces which I do not like. Pink sugar is ultra sheer, frosty/shimmery with glitter. A great pink/natural shade but more on the lines of chapstick or the look of lipstick once it has faded off a few hours after applying. The base pink/natural shade is muted, but the slight sheen it has, on top of the silver glitter pieces do make your lips look moist and fuller which I do love. This formula feels moist at first but dry 10 minutes later because you feel the glitter crusty pieces when you put your lips together. I think Pink Sugar is a good name for this being a pale pink, and silver glitter representing the sugar. Sadly, there is just not much to this lipstick, and not worth full price. I was expecting a full color cream lipstick from the cap. These lipsticks are taped on one side so you can't open them up in store to peak at the color. Staying power is average of other Revlon lipsticks. If you want something identical in color, frost, & glitter but more moisturizing try- Lip Smackers in Strawberry Kiwi. Get the tube with the silver & pink metallic wrapper, or try Burt's bees shimmer chapsticks they are exact pale pink with frosty silver shimmer :)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -Alba Botanica - Very Emollient body lotion Unscented
georgiasweety 12/6/2011 9:57:00 PM
Reviewing the unscented version. A great light weight body lotion. This is not super hydrating even though it says "very emollient" on the bottle. It is still a wonderful product. I use this on myself, and on my nail clients because it is natural & unscented it works on anyone including babies. It has enough slip it can be used to massage, (I only use on legs & arms cant comment on body massage) I have not read up on the health benefits of this lotion or the oils in like other reviewers so I can't comment on them. But I have not had any complaints from anyone. If I use this at night on my feet I might wake up a few hours later and have to reapply. This doesn't have a runny texture, and it isn't greasy. It has a bit of tackiness or stickiness to it until it dries. I didn't like it at first for that reason, but it has grown on me this winter and I appreciate it because its natural. My bottle says "new improved formula" . Hypo-allergenic, no parabens, or artificial things. Love the pump top on my bottle, that is why I purchased. I am now an Alba fan. :)
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