Crème -Laura Mercier - Silk Creme Foundation
joy18 7/6/2010 9:28:00 AM
This is a really good foundation but it's not the best. It gives great coverage but still manages to look natural. It feels nice and light and not like you're wearing a mask or anything. On the days when I don't need as much coverage I use this as a concealer because I find it blends better and looks more natural, at least for me. I didn't have any issues with this fading even after a 12 hour day, though I did have to touch up with powder a bit. I have quite sensitve skin that breaks out alot but I didn't have any problems whatsoever with this foundation. And the reason it's not the best? If I so much as touch my face the foundation rubs off (Yes, I do set it with LM translucent setting powder). Right now since it's summer it's not that much of an issue, but if I want to wear this in winter with say a fur coat that's all fluffy around my face or a turtleneck I can see foundation staining it! :( Maybe by then I'll have found a better foundation though. It also costs 6,615yen (@$70!!!) here in Japan so that will make me think long and hard when it comes time to decide whether to buy it again or not.
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Tinted Moisturizer -Laura Mercier - Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 - Illuminating
joy18 7/6/2010 9:02:00 AM
I love this tinted moisturizer!! I'm not so sure about the moisturizing part though since I still use a regular moisturizer underneath but other than that this is a great product for my dry/combination skin! On my good skin days I moisturize, apply this, and then top it off with a matte finishing powder to tone down the illumination a little. :p On normal days I mix this with my regular liquid foundation for a dewy, glowing finish. On very bad skin days I mix a couple drops of this with Laura Mercier's silk creme foundation. All three combinations give me beautiful, glowing skin that looks natural and not too made up. If I have time or am going out at night I sometimes use this by itself as a highlighter for my cheekbones, brow bones, etc. It is little expensive but it lasts for a long time and I will buy it again when I run out. Oh, about the tube packaging, for the first few uses I found quite a bit of product squeezed out into the cap and went to waste. :( Now that I've been using if for a while it doesn't happen anymore, but just something to keep in mind.
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Moisturizers -Paula's Choice - RESIST Barrier Repair Moisturizer
joy18 7/6/2010 8:20:00 AM
I use this at night along with the RESIST antioxidant concentrate. I love the airtight packaging and haven't had any issues with the pump like some others have had. It feels very light and not super moisturizing, but along with the antioxidant concentrate it's enough for me during the summer months. In the winter my skin gets drier so I might need something a little more moisturizing but for now this is great!
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Treatments -Paula's Choice - RESIST Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum
joy18 7/6/2010 8:15:00 AM
I use this at night along with the RESIST moisturizer. It feels quite thick but dries to a nice finish in about five minutes. I have dry/combination skin and my cheeks can get dry sometimes so I use this as a makeup primer and it helps my foundation go on smoothly. Since I've been using this as a primer I don't have problems with dry, patchy spots anymore! I can't say much for it's antioxidant benefits though since I can't really see a difference.
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Treatments -Paula's Choice - Skin Perfecting 1% BHA Lotion Exfoliant [REFORMULATED]
joy18 6/21/2010 12:24:00 PM
Before when I only used facial scrubs and masks I had perfectly clear skin that didn't need to be covered with foundation at all. Then one day a couple months ago I decided that perfectly clear should become even better and so I looked into BHAs and AHAs. First I used Clinique's turnaround concentrate...which only made me break out. And then I turned to this BHA lotion. After using it every night for a month my skin has pimples, blemishes, and patchy uneven dry spots. When talking to the PC online expert she said that it was my skin getting used to it (!!!) and suggested I try using it twice a day. Even though they may call themselves experts I don't see how using this twice a day is going to help my skin any so I stopped using it. That was a week ago and now my skin has cleared up considerably with just a few acne scars left. Sigh. I'm moving on to AHAs and if my skin doesn't get better I am going back to facial scrubs and masks.
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Moisturizers -Clinique - Superdefense SPF 25 Age Defense Moisturizer
joy18 6/21/2010 9:57:00 AM
I got this as a GWP and used it every day for about a month. It's moisturizing but still feels light on my skin (dry combination). Plus it doesn't break me out at all. The only reason why I wouldn't repurchase it is the jar packaging...I don't think it's good for the antioxidants in this. :( When they put it in a tube I will be the first to buy it!
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Treatments -Clinique - Turnaround Concentrate [DISCONTINUED]
joy18 5/11/2010 9:10:00 AM
I have very mixed feelings about this. I used it once a day and for the first week my skin felt soft and smooth every morning. I loved it! Then after a week I started breaking out and it hasn't stopped since then. And I only break out when new products don't agree with me. I did use the Clinique toner #2 *once* around the same time and that also made me break out and gave me weird burn marks, so that might be part of the problem. But I've been using this every night for two months and my skin hasn't cleared up. It looked much better before I started using this product. Sadly I've decided to stop using this for now and have switched to Paula's Choice 1% BHA lotion instead. I will update after a while but for now I strongly recommend trying out a sample first before shelling out the $$$ for this.
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Sunscreen -Paula's Choice - Skin Recovery Daily Moisturizing Lotion SPF 15 & Antioxidants
joy18 5/10/2010 5:39:00 AM
I ordered a sample packet of this and I'm glad I did! I'm giving it two lippies for the good ingredients but that's it. It's really hard to spread and even though it's so thick and sticky it leaves my skin feeling dry in a weird way. Plus it has that white cast that's common to many SS. I tried mixing it with my liquid foundation and found that it was much better that way, but I don't want the trouble of mixing two separate products and I don't want to be wearing foundation every day. Maybe I'm just picky but for now I'm sticking with Clinique's City Block which is slightly colored to offset the white cast.
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Lotions/ Creams -Paula's Choice - RESIST Skin Revealing 10% AHA Lotion
joy18 5/10/2010 5:31:00 AM
I'm having mixed feelings about this one. After reading all the reviews I decided to just order a sample first. After opening the packet the first thing I thought was that the smell that everyone was talking about is definitely there! I know Paula doesn't believe in added fragrances and stuff but I really wish she would put in some ingredients that have natural fragrance like the body butter or that other one with the vanilla smell. Anyway...it felt light and spread easily however the smell lasted a long time and after a while made me feel slightly nauseated! Now for the good part: I finally fell asleep and when I woke up the smell was mostly gone and my skin felt so soft and smooth! If it wasn't for the smell I would order a full bottle right away, but I know that if I do I will only be reaching for this occasionally. It's a shame really! For now I have a little stash of sample packets that I use once in a while. Oh, and if anyone has samples that they can swap please contact me! :) The results are fab but the smell...maybe I'm just too picky!
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Shampoo -Paula's Choice - All Over Hair & Body Shampoo
joy18 5/10/2010 5:22:00 AM
I love this as a shampoo for my seven month old!!! She had eczema on her head and it was always cracked and oozing(!!) plus her scratching didn't make things any better. After using this for two weeks her head has almost completely healed and she hardly scratches it anymore! I use the body butter and body lotion along with this so I'm not sure if this is helping or not, but it's not irritating my babies' eczema and that's good enough for me. I did try using this on my own hair once and I found that it didn't lather nicely at all. I know that lather doesn't play any part in how clean your hair gets, but I personally like having it there. Plus my hair didn't feel any cleaner or softer than when I used my regular shampoos. But since I didn't buy this for myself it's not that big of a deal and I'm giving it five lippies anyway. If I were to use it, I would only use it as a body wash but that's just my personal preference as I know some have had great results from using this as a shampoo as well. As for the problems with the pump...after reading all the comments and reviews on it I decided against ordering it. Instead I use a Body Shop pump (the one you can buy separately) and it works beautifully.
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Lotions/ Creams -Paula's Choice - Slip Into Silk Body Lotion
joy18 5/10/2010 5:10:00 AM
I first bought the beautiful body butter for my two babies who have eczema. However I found that it was too thick to use all over their bodies and I switched to this instead. It spreads easily and leaves their skin feeling smooth and moisturized without that heavy feeling. It doesn't have any noticable smell like the body butter but I personally don't mind either way.
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Lotions/ Creams -Paula's Choice - Beautiful Body Butter
joy18 5/10/2010 5:06:00 AM
I bought this for my two babies who have eczema and for about a week I used it for their whole bodies after their bath. It has a light cocoa smell which isn't unpleasant at all. The butter needs to be warmed up in my hands for a couple seconds or I have a hard time applying it. Since it's very thick I found that I used up about half a tube in one week!! I It has a thick waxy feeling which lasts quite a while and I don't want my poor babies to be coated with it in the hot summer months. Combining all of the above plus the fact that I don't want to be buying two tubes of butter a month, I've bought the slip into silk body lotion which I find works better for the whole body (and lasts much longer!). I now only use the butter for my babies' wrists and ankles and any other places that are cracked and bleeding and it works wonders! I think that this is great for dry areas (hands and feet!) but not as a body butter unless you have very, very dry skin!
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Toners -Clinique - Clarifying Lotion #2
joy18 4/15/2010 6:27:00 AM
This has got to be the most horrible thing I have ever used!! I received a sample of this at a Clinique counter and was told that it would help moisturizer to sink in better. I don't use toners in general because I don't see the need, but I decided to try this out. It had really strong alcohol smell when I wiped it on with a cotton pad, but if felt cool and sort of nice. I then applied my usual moisturizer and within minutes my face and neck started itching and felt hot. I was already in bed and I figured it was just the toner doing its thing so I didn't wash it off. When I woke up in the morning I had weird red bumps on my face plus two burn marks (I wish I was joking!) that are still here three days later. And if that were not bad enough a couple hours later I broke out with five pimples!! I have not had pimples since I was thirteen, seriously! And even then only one or two. Plus I don't use concealer so I had nothing to cover up with when going out. I just hope all these weird marks fade and that the itching goes away. I have sensitive skin so I thought Clinique would be a good choice for me. The moisturizers are great, but I would stay away from the harsh bar soaps and irritating toners! UPDATE (6/22). Burns marks on my neck still have not faded away and it still itches sometimes. :( Those with sensitive skin run the other way as fast as you can, lol!
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Styling Products -Frederic Fekkai - Glossing Cream with Olive Oil
joy18 4/7/2010 6:58:00 AM
First off, yay for the tube packaging!! It's a pet peeve of mine (and probably many others) that such good products are ruined by being in jar packaging. Now if only FF would consider putting his masks in tubes as well. One can only hope... Anyway, I have very long damaged hair so I use about four or five peas and it makes my hair so soft and shiny. I found that it doesn't work as well when applied to wet hair, but maybe it's just me. I'm not crazy about the smell but it disappears quickly so it's not an issue at all. There are quite a few mixed reviews about it so I would reccomend trying out a sample first before buying.
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Treatments -Frederic Fekkai - Technician Color Care Mask
joy18 4/7/2010 6:41:00 AM
I have wanted to try this out forever and it was CP'd for me by a lovely MUA'er. This was worth the wait! After shampooing I squeeze out all the excess water and comb my hair out before applying this mask. I try to leave it on as long as possible before rinsing it off and the results are fantastic! Once when I didn't have time I only left it on for about three minutes and the results were not very impressive. I would reccomend leaving this on for at least five minutes, if not more. Someone mentioned putting on a shower cap and a hot towel after applying the mask and I'm looking forward to trying that out when I have the time. I'm not crazy about the jar packaging (why oh WHY do most products come in jars??), but I'm willing to look past it because in all other respects this mask is amazing! It might seem a bit expensive at first, but considering that I pay that much for a single deep conditioning treatment at the salon I'm more than willing to purchase again.
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