Cleansers -Dermalogica - Essential Cleansing Solution
junkie_on_prowl 7/4/2011 1:36:00 PM
This was an ok product but I am not won over. Basically it is a very gentle and soft cleanser. If you use a full face of makeup it is probably better to double cleanse your face i.e. use a makeup remover prior to using this. This is probably better for the colder months of the year. It didn't irrirate my dehydrated skin, but I don't feel absolutely clean either. When I use this cleanser I always use toner as well and always check my facial cotton for evidence of dirt! It does come in a very large size though (500ml) but I would not repurchase. It is taking me a long time to finish this bottle...
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Scrubs -Unlisted Brand - Ginvera - Green Tea series - Marvel Gel (with Green Tea)
junkie_on_prowl 3/16/2010 10:44:00 AM
Ginvera Marvel Gel has been around for years in my part of Asia but I was never attracted to it before. I have hopefully recovered from a long bout of pimples and wanted something to remove the scars as quickly as possible. I bought the whitening version (not green tea) and it cost about RM30 (US$8 thereabouts). The instruction says to apply it on your face and exfoliate your skin and then to wash it off with a cleanser. I don't know what happens to the gel but you can see little balls of skin coming off your face. I understand this is the dead skin. The first time I used this product the little balls were dark in colour which meant I had alot of dead skin. I use this on alternate days and now it comes of white like normal dead skin does. I haven't seen the scars fade totally but I do feel my skin is alot brighter and clearer. The only thing that makes me doubtful about this product is the ingredients in it - there is no list of ingredients. If not for that I would repurchase if my scars haven't faded.
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Moisturizers -Shiseido - The Skincare Night Essential Moisturizer
junkie_on_prowl 2/17/2010 6:28:00 AM
I have been happy with previous Shiseido products however I found this to be slightly too light. I wake up in the morning while not with dry skin but not with moisturised skin. Maybe I should try the enriched version. I spent the early part of winter in a dry climate and now that I am in a humid and milder but still wintery climate I have not noticed any improvement. Everything else about this product is excellent - I like the packaging. The heavy feel of the glass bottle and the hygienic application (which makes it a little inconvenient to travel with) gives it a luxurious feel. I would not use this if I have dry or even combi skin if it is on the drier side. I much preferred the White Lucent range which I tried before.
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Lotions/ Creams -Nivea - Nivea Soft Moisturizing Creme
junkie_on_prowl 10/17/2009 6:02:00 PM
I bought a 75ml squeeze tube to bring on my long weekend trip. I used this both as hand cream and body lotion. I really like the scent and find this very moisturising. It is the vitamine E and jojoba oil that makes it super moisturising although I did find that after I washed my hands I had to reapply. I found this much softer in texture to the normal blue nivea and quicker to rub in then body butters because the moisturising ingredient are oils. I subsequently went back and bought loads more, one sits in my office drawer and another in my handbag! And plenty at home. I love this - reasonably priced and a pleasure to use. What's not to love? A definite repurchase for me.
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Treatments -Dermalogica - Skin Hydrating Booster
junkie_on_prowl 8/9/2009 8:34:00 PM
I have been using this for several years and have gone through countless bottles. It is very good stuff, but with Dermalogica increasingly creeping the price up each time I buy, I'm now having second thoughts about buying my next bottle. Even with the online shopping it costs £35 for a 30ml bottle. The main hydrating ingredient is hyaluronic acid and now many other skincare lines have products with this in it. I'm thinking that if I can find a cheaper alternative I will go for it. Having said that, this is the product that helps my dehydrated skin in winter, in air-conditioning, in the desert (Vegas!), strong winds etc. I use this after my toner and before moisturiser. A rule of thumb I learnt from somewhere is always to apply the lighter products first and then the heavier ones last.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Dermalogica - Active Moist
junkie_on_prowl 8/9/2009 10:40:00 AM
I don't know why so many comments are written about how expensive Dermalogica is. I buy it cheaper online with free delivery. This 100ml product (which is twice as much as the dept store brand jars usually are) cost me £22 and I know it will last me for at least six months if not more, now that I use different morning and night creams. I used the skin smoothing cream for years until I realised it was time I switched. After trying jar after jar of moisturisers I think this makes for a perfect summer moisturiser. It is indeed very light weight yet moisturising. The texture is a little too light for my liking however if you massage it in nicely it will sink in properly. What I love about Dermalogica moisturisers is that it fully absorbs into your skin and is very light but gives you that nice moisturised look without a heavy feeling. In my opinion this moisturiser will be perfect for those with oily skin or are below 25. I have dehydrated skin and I use this on top of the skin hydrating booster. And I am now using a heavier moisturiser at night. I am pretty confident that this will last me well until summer is over and I will keep it for the days when my skin is looking like it will breakout. Don't forget your sunscreen on top of this!
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Blush -NYX - Rouge Cream Blush - Golden
junkie_on_prowl 6/9/2009 5:08:00 PM
I really like this blush. I bought this and Rose Petal from the Cherry Culture website. Golden is a more natural peach hue with slight shimmer. The shimmer particles are very small and not visible to the eye. I feel the name is slightly misleading as I almost did not purchase this due to its name. Like others have said, this is very pigmented and a touch will for the entire cheek area. I am using this now in the summer as I love cream blushes but in winter all my cream blushes tend to harden and it becomes a little more difficult to blend. I find a trick is to either blow my hairdryer at it or rub it a little between my fingers before application. It is also of a generous size and for the price, a definite buy! I am approximately NC30 for reference.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Top/Base Coats -OPI - Start to Finish Base & Top Coat
junkie_on_prowl 6/6/2009 7:10:00 PM
I have absolutely no good comments to say about this. This is my first OPI purchase and I thought I would start from this and then slowly buy other colours. This cost me £10 which is such a rip off considering the bad quality. It didn't dry to a smooth surface and started chipping within 2-3 days. I had to repurchase Sally Hansen's Double Duty Top and Base coat which costs less and works way better than this does. I've always been wowed by OPI colours... but after this experience I don't know if I will even buy any of their colours! How could they get base/top coats wrong? What makes it worse is that I can't throw this away as it was expensive!!!
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Top/Base Coats -Sally Hansen - Double Duty Base & Top Coat
junkie_on_prowl 6/6/2009 7:06:00 PM
I was pretty happy with my first bottle but then gave it away. I then bought OPI top and base coat and was not impressed. I've heard so much about how great their nail polishes are but trust me the Sally Hansen is waaay better and it cost me 1/3 of the price (bought OPI in London but SH in US). This works wonderfully well for me both as a top and base coat. Even if I haven't applied nail polish well enough, the top coat kind of evens out my unskilled application. It lasts for about 5-6 days which is good, OPI barely lasted 2-3 days without chipping. I love this!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -NYX - Trio TS 14--Highlight/ Brown/ Suede
junkie_on_prowl 6/4/2009 6:42:00 PM
I really wanted to like this eyeshadow trio. I do like the packaging and I even like the little double ended brush that comes with it. I'm rather disappointed with the colours though. The Highlight is fine as a base however I couldn't really differentiate between brown and suede. The difference was too subtle. My skin tone isn't pale, I would say it's fair to medium (got a tan on holiday!). Both brown and suede do not show up very much, but will be ok as colours to wear to the office. My only gripe is that brown and suede, by virtue of being rather similar in shade is not sufficiently dark for me. I normally use a dark brown shade at the edges of my natural crease to increase the illusion of deeper set eyes. With this trio though I feel I will need to use a separate dark brown to achieve this effect. The suede colour has slightly more shimmer than brown does. For the price however I suppose I cannot complain too much. The eyeshadows are very finely milled and soft in texture. I daresay the colour payoff is not fantastic (however bear in mind these are neutral colours) but I do prefer sheer colours to bright and bold colours so this is fine with me. Would I repurchase? Probably not as it wasn't fantastic. But perhaps it will grow on me. Will edit if anything changes.
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Scrubs -Dermalogica - Daily Microfoliant
junkie_on_prowl 6/3/2009 7:01:00 PM
I have been using this for a long long time and am probably on my 3rd or 4th bottle. I have probably been taking the 'daily' in the microfoliant too literally - have been using this daily for many years. There was twice that I have been asked to stop using this but I do love it so. First time was when I got really bad case of spots which lasted for about 9 months. I was told to stop exfoliating so much (even though I thought it helped) as the exfoliation would make my skin even more oily by trying to generate oil to replace the lost moisture and oil. Once I cut down, the spots decreased, although it is hard to pinpoint the cause to the exfoliant as I overhauled my diet as well. The second time this happened was once the spots ended and I started exfoliating again - this time to reduce the scars that the spots left. I was told today by a beautician that I have rather dehydrated skin and the possible cause of this was the exfoliation. So I am now down to 2 times a week (she said 1 but I am going to do 2). As gentle as this is, if you have dry or combination skin, I would not exfoliate daily!! Having rambled on forever above, I must say that I really like this product. I find it really gentle and lovely to use and it always gives me beautiful glowing skin. Hence my attachment to this product! I would definitely rebuy. I know some people have gripes about the packaging but I guess I have come to terms with it!
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Blush -NYX - Rouge Cream Blush - Rose Petal
junkie_on_prowl 6/2/2009 6:00:00 PM
Bought online at cherrycouture.com. This is a very pigmented pinkish blush. It is a deeper pink (not baby doll or bubblegum pink) suitable for lightly tanned skin. For MAC references this is NC30. A little product goes a long way. I tap my finger into the pan, smile and dab lightly. Remember to blend thoroughly so that you cannot see where the blush starts and ends! A cheap product that I would be more than happy to repurchase... I can see myself hitting pan at some point with this! :) I really feel that this is comparable to the Bobbi Brown Powder Pink Lips and Rouge pot that I bought earlier. The colour differs slightly (this is more pinkish) while BB is more tawny but quality wise it is the same. Oh, and BB is much more expensive!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Toners -Boots - No7 Soft & Soothed Gentle Toner
junkie_on_prowl 6/1/2009 5:35:00 PM
This is a pretty decent toner for the price. I can't remember exactly how much it cost. It was between £5-10. I had a £5 voucher for Boots products and ended up paying less than £5 for this. It does its job pretty well - cleaning off excess dirt and giving your face a little moisture in preparation for moisturiser. It was relatively fragrance free and is light pink in colour. I think the best part about this toner is the packaging - it comes in a pump bottle with a cover. The cover is rather big and annoying so I threw it away. The pump bottle is sufficient on its own as it is lockable and I was able to bring it on my holiday with no disastrous results. I have not had much faith in toners - I have used the more expensive Dermalogica one and not been impressed either. If I were to get another voucher, I might repurchase this. If not, then I might shop around. Based on my limited experience with Boots products I think they are priced a little higher than their worth! I would hesitate to pay full price for this unless out of desparation.
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Concealers -Sephora - Concealer palette
junkie_on_prowl 6/1/2009 5:24:00 PM
Overall, I would purchase this again. I bought this together with the Sephora foundation (separately reviewed) on a whim during a trip to the States. This cost $20 before tax and is the first concealer that I like (not that I have tried that many). The shop assistant gave me the following advice: Mint green - for redness esp around the nose area and pimples. Lavender purple - for uneven skin patches like scars or pigmentation spots after you have squeezed pimples! Two skin tone shades - for mix and match for undereye concealer. I use my fingers to apply this. I then apply foundation, blending carefully where the undereye area sits ( I do not apply foundation there). Then I pat loose powder to set the makeup. I realise that after lunchtime the concealer under my eyes has disappeared, so maybe I need to put more on. Having said that it is summer so the oil could have made it worse. However I don't have very oily skin. Will update if cause is discovered. I was torn between buying the much more expensive Make Up For Ever concealer set or this and I chose this mainly on the price difference. The MUFE set contains many more skin tone shades however I wondered whether I would actually use them all. As far as I am concerned, I would only use possibly 2 on a daily basis. I feel that that palette is created for make up artists who would make people up with many different skin tones and therefore this palette would come in handy. The packaging is not great - the box is pretty difficult to open and I am constantly afraid the brush will come flying out. I do not use the brush as I feel my fingers are good enough :) All in all, a pretty good palette to purchase given the reasonable price. If you are not a makeup maestro like me, it will be sufficient for daily use.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Sephora - Hydrating & Smoothing Foundation
junkie_on_prowl 6/1/2009 5:16:00 PM
I bought this on a whim during my trip to the States. It costs $20 before tax, which is pretty cheap compared to other big brands (although Sephora isn't a big brand). I feel this is reasonably good. The coverage is quite light so I use concealer first and then apply this on top - it works to be a beautiful combination! I find the texture quite light, however it does not sink in to my skin easily using a foundation brush and I have taken to using my fingers instead. I feel that the finger application and concealer use has minimised the amount of foundation I use. This is packaged in the normal pump bottle, so it is easy to use. For its price I would say this is worth a buy (especially with concealer) . There is a huge range of shades available. I use this with the Sephora concealer which I will separately review. Would I buy this again? Maybe, if I was on a tight budget and needed a new bottle of foundation. Otherwise I might shop around for more. I guess you could say this is not my HG, but I haven't found my HG foundation yet.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No