Makeup Brushes -Sigma - E50 Large Fluff
lexijojohnson 5/19/2013 10:46:00 AM
This is now my fave eye brush. For those of us that might just use an all-over the lid shade and run out the door, this is the perfect brush. It's big and fluffy and soft, but flattened a bit in a way where is just goes where you want it to. I know MAC had/has a brush like this, and it is way more expensive. I would definitely recommend this brush. At $12, it is hard to go wrong. Love this!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Maybelline - Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles
lexijojohnson 5/19/2013 10:36:00 AM
The first shade I purchased from this line was the Brightener. I bought that explicitly for my under eye area and am enjoying the effect it gives. It doesn't take much product, and it blends really well. I find that this does not get greasy or smudged or dry during the day. It lasts well and seems to look pretty much the same at the end of the day. The second shade I purchased is the Neutralizer. I bought this with the plan of using it as a way to neutralize the discoloration to my eyelids, for days when I want to neutralize but not wear a primer because I don't want to wear other eye makeup (think: groceries, errands, etc.). I am happy to report that this works really well for this purpose. I dot on a few to the lids, blend, and I'm good to go. I would highly recommend this for omeone that has some red discoloration that they need to neutralize. Now - if Maybelline would just come out with a perfect light peachy color as a brightener, I'll be set!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -FLOWER Beauty - Thistle or That
lexijojohnson 3/30/2013 8:16:00 AM
This color is lovely. It is a light aqua color that has a subtle shimmer. I find that the color lasts for a nice amount of time through the week. I've tried a few other polishes by this brand and have found the same quality in only a select few. Many of the other colors are milky, streaky, difficult to work with. This color takes about two coats after the base coat, whereas others can take 3 plus.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -LUSH - Helping Hands
lexijojohnson 3/22/2013 7:13:00 AM
This is my new go-to hand moisturizer. I wash my hands a lot and this cream was made with people like me in mind. After using this just once my hands felt better, not so dry and cracked. I use this on my hands at bedtime and wake up with soft, moisturized hands. The cost is a bit steep, at $18.95 UDS for 3.5 oz. however, a little goes a long way, so you can give this a shot and have it last a long time!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Suave - Moroccan Infusion Deep Conditioning Shine Mask
lexijojohnson 3/21/2013 7:06:00 AM
This is a nice, cheap thrill that leaves your hair feeling smooth and silky. That being said, when I use this product I leave it on for about a half hour and a shower cap on, with my twisty turban on top. I try to make a warm environment for the product to work best. When I rinse this out, my hair is noticeably smooth, and feels like it has had an expensive salon deep treatment. This smells good but not over-powering, and for around $5 is a cheap investment. If it doesn't work for your hair, maybe you can give it a to as a shaving cream for legs. Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Glycerin, Behentrimoium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Lactic Acid, Amodimethicone, Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Disodium EDTA, Potassium Chloride, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, DMDM Hydantoin, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, PEG-180M, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Suave - Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil
lexijojohnson 3/21/2013 6:47:00 AM
I'm a big fan of this! My stylist has used the brand name Moroccan oil on me in the past with great results. It does wonders to smooth my hair for blow drying. When I saw that Suave had come out with their own - I figured that for $5, I could give it a shot (as I never did splurge on the brand name oil). I am very impressed. I have very long layered hair that has a coarse top layer. I have a tough time finding smoothing balms/creams/oils that do not weigh down my hair or make it feel greasy. This product does neither. It smooths my hair without weighing it down, and leaves results that last (I only wash my hair about twice a week). If you need good, inexpensive smoothing agent, give this a shot!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Top/Base Coats -Butter London - Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat
lexijojohnson 2/23/2013 8:25:00 AM
This is pretty great - it really is like having foundation for your nails. I've even worn this alone and it just gives my nails a buff nude color that can work with anything. Most important, I find that this helps all nail colors to stay put for a longer amount of time than other base coats. This also makes polishes go on more smooth and even. This is probably the best base coat I've ever used.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Pressed Powders -Revlon - Nearly Naked Pressed Powder
lexijojohnson 1/4/2013 6:51:00 AM
I really enjoy this powder. I am NC20-25, and first purchased this in Light. I quickly realized that if I would want to use this to set my foundation, this would end up being just slightly too dark. I went back for Fair, keeping Light for summer skin. I have been using the Fair powder on a daily basis. This is a really nice powder - is the quality of something more like MAC Studio Fix powder - in fact, this may be even smoother and have a creamier consistency than MAC SF powder. I use this after putting on my moisturizer and concealer, applying with a fluffy powder brush. It seems to stay nicely during the day, and hasn't broken me out after wearing it every day for about a week.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Unlisted Brand - NCN Skincare Pumpkin Enzyme Cleanser
lexijojohnson 11/29/2012 6:52:00 AM
I first tried the NCN Skincare by buying the Pro Pumpkin Chemical Peel. I use this once or twice a week and my skin responds really nicely to this (I have a review on this as well). I thought that since my skin looks much better and feels good with that pumpkin product, that I could try the NCN Skincare pumpkin cleanser. This comes in a 4 oz bottle, which seems small, but you don't need much each time you wash. I use a nickle-sized amount and while this is a cream cleanser, it lathers up a bit when you are washing with it. My skin looked better very quickly - there was improvement to tone, clarity, and I haven't had as many noticeable skin imperfections or break outs. My skin responds really well to pumpkin products, and I am really enjoying this cleanser and plan to use if for a long time. The ingredients are listed below: De-Ionized Water/Aqua, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Decyl Glucoside, Sucrose Cocoate, Cocomide MIPA, Pure Pumpkin Extract, Glyceryl MonoStearate, Chamomile Flower Extract, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Cucumber Fruit Extract, Japanese Green Tea Leaf Extract, Emulsifying Wax NF, Phenoxyethanol and Caprylyl Glycol (Optiphen), Proprietary blend of essential oils.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -L'Oreal - Infallible Gel Lacquer Liner in Dark Slate
lexijojohnson 9/9/2012 8:33:00 AM
I really enjoy this color, and have not found another gel eyeliner that is this type of color. I find that all of the grey gel eyeliners are charcoal, or really silvery in color. This one is like a dark grey taupe. I think this looks natural, but defines your eyes as you want it to. I use the EcoTools Bamboo Angled Eyeliner brush, and make a cat-eye type shape (but on the conservative side) and I think this looks great with my green eyes, though it would look great on every eye color I think. As far as the product itself goes, this really does last all day, and doesn't seem to smudge. I have tried other low and high end gel liners, and this one does the best job maybe out of all of the ones I've tried (though I also really like the Buxom Lashliners). I believe I picked this up at Walgreens as a B1G1 50% off. I think these may be cheapest at Target or Walmart if you only want to get one, or don't want to wait for a promo at one of the drug stores.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Unlisted Brand - NCN Professional Skin Care - Pro Pumpkin Chemical Peel
lexijojohnson 8/13/2012 8:30:00 AM
I have purchased this a few times from NCN. This is a strong peel (30%). I had first tried MyChelle's Incredible Pumpkin Peel, and liked that. But as time went on, I found that my skin stopped reacting to it as it had when I first tried it - like the product lost its efficacy. So, I read about this peel and decided to try it. This peel FAR surpasses the effect I get from the MyChelle peel. Also, I feel like I maybe don't use as much of this product as I did with the MyChelle. The jar from NCN lasts me about 10 peels, which is about 10 weeks for me. Since the jar is $25, that's $2.50 a peel, which I think is great for such an excellent product. From their website, this peel is said to: dissolve dead skin cells, firm skin, reduce age spots, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, makes your skin glow, clears acne, and adds more than 100 nutrients to your skin. I can't really speak on the age spots or fine lines and wrinkles since I don't have too many yet, but I do feel that this is great for dissolving dead skin cells, firming skin, making my skin glow, and helping to clear acne. Here are the ingredients: Water, Lactic Acid, Cucurbita Peop (Pumpkin which is high in Salicylic Acid), Sodium Lactate, Glycolic Acid, Galactoarabinan, Propylene Glycol, Vaccinium Myrtillus Extract, Sugar Cane Extract, Sugar Maple Extract, Orange Fruit Extract, Lemon Extract, Xanthan Gum, Cinnamomum Cassia Bark, Ginger Root Powder, Nutmeg Powder, Allspice, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Diazolidinyl Urea, Fragrance.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -OPI - Servin' Up Sparkle
lexijojohnson 8/12/2012 9:57:00 AM
I am new to the sparkle polishes. I haven't been living under a rock, I just thought that they would be difficult to remove (and they are!), and that maybe I couldn't get away with it at work. I decided to try a few and really love the effect. This is one of the few that I recently got in a swap. I really like the colors and sparkle effect in this one. It is a very silver-tinsel type of color and there is a bit of purple and other colors to the sparkle. The large sparkles that are in this one can be a bit few and far between if you don't shake the bottle a lot. You would end up with a lot of bald spots that only have the "background" sparkle, or base sparkle (the fine sparkle). This means that you may have to be a bit more patient with this polish, but the payoff is great! I used three coats of this and had to re-shake a bit to get at the big sparkles, but I am very please with how this looks! (the photo I have posted with this is not mine - just got it from a google image search)
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Styling Products -Suave - Professionals Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse
lexijojohnson 8/4/2012 11:27:00 AM
I don't know what could be done to improve this mousse- because it is really awesome. It is like a whipped mousse - creamy but effective. It has a very light scent that isn't too fruity or floral - just kind a fresh and clean. I enjoy the texture this gives me. This stuff makes my natural waves look finished/polished, without being too styled. I tried to follow the directions on the bottle; I squeezed the product into my hair and then ran a towel to squeeze out any excess product or moisture. In the summer I don't really use heat style appliances on my hair. So, this is a great product to use to make your hair still look finished without being crunch or stiff. My waves are free to move and are not hard or crunchy - it looks and feels very natural. I have long (past middle of my back) layered hair that has a more coarse top layer. EDIT: I have used this a second time now and have to say that you must follow the direction to apply this to very wet hair and then squeeze excess water and product out with a towel after applying this. I didn't do that step the second time, and had very different results.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -L'Oreal - Colour Riche Caresse- US shades
lexijojohnson 7/22/2012 10:23:00 AM
I was excited to try these. There are a lot of colors, and I was interested in a few. I purchased: Sheer Linen, Rose Taffeta, and Merino Mauve. Sheer Linen was a little too grey in color to be a MLBB color for me. This color is a slightly plummy-grey neutral nude color on me. Rose Taffeta is a lovely color for me. I'm NC20-25 with green eyes. This is a slightly blue-toned light-medium tone rose pink, and really makes my eyes stand out. I think that Rose Taffeta is like a cross between MAC Syrup and MAC Sweetie. Merino Mauve is more like a light MLBB color for me that also brightens my lips a little. It is a blue-neutral toned lighter pink shade. I got these for $7.99/ea at Target. They are $9.99 at Walgreens and other drugstores, I believe, although they may have the B1G1 50% off deals. I would recommend waiting for those types of deals to give a few of these a try.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -L'Oreal - Infallible Eyeshadow - Bronzed Taupe
lexijojohnson 7/7/2012 9:13:00 AM
This is a color that reminds me of MAC Satin Taupe, but has a lot more gold, and less red to it. this color is pretty frosty, but has great pigment. I always apply these shadows with my finger. They really do stay on all day and don't really wear or wash away during the day. I wasn't quick to believe the hype on these, but they really are great!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No