Liquid -Kat Von D - Lock-It
luckycatpdx 2/11/2013 5:06:00 AM
I was pretty uninterested in anything by Kat Von D. I loved the shows, think highly of her skills as a tattoo artist, but have a knee jerk bias against celebrities who decide to develop their own beauty lines. I was wrong! So wrong. For reference, I have neutral light-medium skin, which is stupidly sensitive. It reacts to often benign ingredients within hours of contact by turning brilliant red and getting bumpy. I have perioral dermatitis so I am leery of chemical sunscreens and fragrances and any number of other additives. Enter Lock It Tattoo foundation. Finally, someone in the beauty industry got it right. No chemical sunscreen. No unnecessary artificial fragrance. No oil. It isn't impossible to remove- comes off easily with my cleansing cream. Doesn't make my face burn or itch. AND it is truly full coverage, but doesn't give me that tight mask like sensation as it dries. In fact, it feels quite flexible as the hours wear on. I applied this with a damp sponge, sans primer, and the finish was a satin matte that looked polished and airbrushed, perfectly even but not heavy. Obviously, I was wearing makeup...my skin looked too smooth and even not to be, but it is an effect that I happen to like. I am sure there are a number of ways to sheer this out. Actually, I think Lock It Tattoo foundation is so highly pigmented, it could easily serve a number of purposes- either sheered with moisturizer for a lighter foundation or tinted moisturizer or layered as a concealer. There is a smell- a strong smell of....ugh. I don't know. Maybe it is the smell of foundation that so many companies try to cover up with added fragrance. But whatever. It dissipates almost immediately and I prefer over the scent of perfume in my face products. Also. A full pump is almost too much. And I have box car acne scarring and large pores. I still don't need more than half a pump to create a completely blank canvas. If you were a fan of Teint Idole Ultra 14 hrs. or Double Wear before the recent reformulation, you will like Lock It Tattoo better. It is that good. And if you have sensitive, oily skin and have searched high and low for a long wearing matte foundation that won't wreak havoc on your face- you will love this makeup. I am going to stock up every chance I get and pray it is never discontinued or reformulated. Finally, the price point is excellent as far as I am concerned. I have paid far more for less impressive foundations (I am looking at you Kevyn Aucoin- The Sensual Skin Enhancer) and $34 at Sephora feels like a score for all the things this foundation does and simultaneously doesn't do. Like give me hives.
9 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
BB Cream -Smashbox - Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35
luckycatpdx 6/15/2012 10:38:00 PM
Oh, man. I love this stuff. I've been on board with the BB Cream craze for awhile, now, and I've even traipsed through the shelves of Pretty and Cute here in Portland, but I've been hard pressed to commit to BB creams for a couple of reasons. A) Limited shades. I don't care how you market it, grey is not a flattering camouflage for blemishes. Ever. I realize the general consensus is: too many color options defeats the purpose of a bb cream. I completely disagree, but whatever. B) I have extraordinarily sensitive skin, so any multitasking product containing a plethora of polysyllabic ingredients runs the high risk of rendering me a rashy fright. I am definitely a foundation junkie. With roughly high end 40 foundations and a dozen bb creams scattered about my bathroom- I can safely say I've left few stones unturned in the search for a miracle in a bottle. I usually avoid Smashbox foundations all together- they run dark/orange, and some of their formulas have been disgusting, frankly. The Smashbox BB Cream is a complete dream, though. It goes on buttery smooth, dries to a natural matte finish, provides more coverage than many of the BB Creams I've tried (including Skin79 and Dr. Jart, which seem to be the most popular here in the U.S.), never looks chalky or weirdly pink, and it lasts for HOURS. I mean, it really lasts and lasts on my combination skin. Every couple of hours I look in the mirror to see if it has yet to sink into my rather large pores and it never happens! The best part however is, it actually makes my skin feel great. Soft and supple. I had a rashy patch by mouth when I first applied the Camera Ready BB Cream, and the redness was considerably diminished when I washed it off later that night. The bumps felt smaller and my skin seemed smoother overall. This is actually a first as far as bb creams go, since very few truly seem to deliver any obvious skin benefits beyond sun protection. I look forward to applying this product, because I genuinely believe it is improving the condition of my skin. I have yet to experience any irritation or breakouts. I attribute this to the fact that it doesn't contain any of the cyclo-silicones (i.e., cyclomethicone, cyclopentasiloxane). It's also easy to wash off! Many of the bb creams I have tried have been so difficult to remove, even with a proper makeup remover, but this rinses away easily. It's almost impossible to fathom- a product with staying power AND washes off without aggressive scrubbing? For reference, I'm a smidge darker than warm vanilla in Bobbi Brown, closer to a Nars Deauville (probably a NW20ish in MAC, but more on the neutral side), and the light shade is perfect for me. Not too yellow, not too pink. Not too light, not too dark. Just right and really makes my skin look soft and radiant. I'm not sure if there are light reflecting pigments, but it does provide a nice natural glow that seems to take a few years off my age. I love that it never feels greasy, and truly does seem to provide some degree of oil reduction/control. I hope Smashbox never quits making this bb cream! This outperforms most of my foundations and puts every tinted moisturizer I own (Laura Mercier, Urban Decay, Smashbox, Estee Lauder, just about any iconic TM on the market) to shame. LOVE this stuff! Love it! The one, though not completely fatal, flaw is the price. C'mon....$39 for 1 fl. oz? REALLY? For a bb cream, which is essentially a glorified tinted moisturizer? Ugh. It's ridiculous, but I will most likely continue cough up the dough. If it wasn't for the exorbitant price, I would have happily given Camera Ready BB Cream five lippies.
14 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Toners -Clinique - Mild Clarifying Lotion
luckycatpdx 9/12/2011 1:04:00 PM
I haven't written a review since I joined this site. I try A LOT of products and love some of them, hate some of them, but usually can't be bothered to write a review on a one of them. Until this stuff! I have seborrheic dermatitis, perioral dermatitis, mild rosacea AND mild acne. I used Head and Shoulders for years to keep my face almost 100% clear (that stuff really does work on acne, fwiw). When I hit my 30's my face started freaking out. Cystic pimples were appearing in weird places, my skin was feeling parched, everything that could go wrong was going wrong and I decided to change things up, stupidly believing maybe I had simply grown out of the conditions that plagued me in my teens to mid twenties. Uhm, no. After changing my skincare routine, some autoimmune response was triggered and my face REVOLTED when anything came in contact with it. Anything. Olive oil, jojoba oil, mineral makeup, Cetaphil, pHisoderm, Purpose, even water. When I could get my skin moisturized and comfortable, my acne wasn't being treated. I tried the Acne.org system which gave me the WORST acne I have had since puberty. I wish I could underline that- worst. Ever. The cleanser actually glued my hair to my face when it would get trapped under my fingers while washing. It would hurt to peel off. Wth? What is that doing inside my pores? When I tried to resume my old routine of H&S and Avalon Organics- holy hell- I turned beet red and swelled up for a couple of days, then scaled over. This went on for months. Terrible, miserable, embarrassing months. My memories of Clinique were not pleasant. I had used it as a teen and young adult, during its 3-Step Hay Day, but it only seemed to make matters worse. Further more the makeup always oxidized to a sick orange color. Thanks, but no thanks. Fast forward twenty years and I have a little more than two weeks to get my face in some acceptable shape for a trip to see my boyfriend's family. I walked into Nordstrom for a bottle of Nars foundation and notice the famous words at the Clinique counter: Dermatologist developed. Allergy tested. 100% fragrance free. It was the fragrance free part that lured me in and I nervously pondered purchasing yet another bundle of products that would probably ruin my skin and send me into hiding. I snagged the mild liquid soap, mild clarifying lotion, and dramatically different moisturizing lotion. I LOVED it all, but the mild clarifying lotion is really the gem of the line. It's milky, fragrance free, witch hazel free, alcohol free, menthol free (thank God) and it doesn't sting or redden my face at all. Not even a little. The trick I use to make this work is I rinse it off. I apply it with a cotton ball after using the cleanser, let it sit for a minute, then rinse off the slight slick film that is left behind. My skin feels soft, supple, and refreshed, AND I can guarantee that teensy weensy bit of salicylic acid gets into the pores and does its job, because it cleared up my acne pretty much immediately. By the next morning zits were clearing, and now...I have no active pimples. Again. Woo hoo!!! I love the entire three step system- the lotion has received such a bad rap over the years and it is the only lotion I can use on my face without inciting a severe allergic reaction or breaking out. I am so glad I rediscovered this line!!!
13 out of 13 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No