Polishes -Orly - Chantilly Peach
melodiesoflife 9/20/2007 5:41:00 AM
I generally stay away from frost polishes because it's just too overwhelming, but this was a pleasant surprise. I was looking for a nice basic shade, and picked this up from Sally's. It is quite frosty, but only under direct lighting. It's the perfect peachy pink to me. It seems to work well with my warm skintone. I took one lippie off for the frost, otherwise it's perfect!
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Primer/ Corrector -BeneFit Cosmetics - Dr Feelgood
melodiesoflife 9/18/2007 6:41:00 AM
Looks like I'm in the minority for this product! Anyway, I love this primer. I've used MAC and Smashbox, and none of them compare. Not only does this help my makeup last, it's also an amazing mattifier. My makeup literally lasts 8+ hours wearing this, and my oily T-zone is kept at bay throughout the day with a light dusting of powder once. It is a little steep at $27, and I wish it came with something other than a sponge (seems rather wasteful), but I either use clean fingers or my foundation brush to apply it. It also has a bit of a funky herbal smell to it, but it doesn't bother me. I don't know who on earth thought to use this OVER makeup, but unless you're extra careful, it'll smear your makeup. I apply this before my makeup, and then touch up with powder mid-day and it lasts forever. I don't know if it clogs pores or not - so far, so good, but I'll come back and edit my review once I use it a bit more.
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Blush -Clinique - Blushing Blush Powder Blush - Smoldering Plum
melodiesoflife 9/14/2007 8:37:00 AM
This is being promoted as part of the Fall 2007 collection. It caught my eye when I was shopping the other day, so I had to try it out. Unfortunately, it's too bright on my skintone (NC25ish), so I had to pass on it. The sparkles are what makes it gorgeous (then again, I'm a big fan of sparkles), but isn't obvious.
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Eyeliner -MAC - Kohl Power - All Colors
melodiesoflife 8/23/2007 9:33:00 PM
When I heard about the Smoke Signals and Blue Storm collection, I knew I had to check out the kohl power liners because I love duochrome effects. The four colors available are:
Raven - black with burgundy/plum/red pearl. It's essentially Beauty Marked in eyeshadow form but more burgundy than black. Macroviolet fluidline is similar, but more purple.
Orpheus - MAC's website describes the pearl as gold, but it's more like a tarnished gold/olive shade. I don't see as much black in this; to me, it was like Rosemary & Thyme eyekohl but less green and more gold.
Mystery - I LOVE this shade! It's exactly as the website describes: a blue and green pearl duochrome.
Feline - This is what can be called as "blackest black". I swiped it on my hand two or three times and got a very rich rich black. I passed on it only because I'm still using up my Engraved powerpoint, but I'll probably pick it up later at some point.
I know people might disagree with me on these, but I find the staying power to be good. Not as good as fluidline, but for the kohl quality in them, they're very lasting. I put Raven on as soon as I got in the car, and 4 hours and a nap later, it's still on...a little smudged, but nothing noticeable. EDIT: Changed my rating to 2 lippies. After trying these out for a week straight, it creases by itself but is fine layered over a more waterproof and lasting eyeliner. For me, it's not worth the effort when I can get the same effect layering an eyeshadow over black liner. I love the duochrome effects, but the lasting power is not good enough to keep them - I returned both pencils that I had purchased.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Powder -Everyday Minerals - foundation semi-matte formula
melodiesoflife 6/28/2007 9:20:00 PM
I really wanted to like this. It's cheaper than Alima (especially if you get the custom kits!), and seemed decent. Unfortunately, I've ordered a few samples and have yet to find a match. I've tried mixing different shades, and still cannot find the perfect one. The formula is not bad - I have combo skin (oily T-zone/normal), and this does not last as long as Alima. By mid-day, I have a slight discoball effect going on with my forehead and nose. The pros of EM is the different formulas - there's 4, whereas Alima only has 1. However, the lack of color and difficulty in matching my skintone definitely takes off a few lippies.
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Blush -Alima - Luminous Shimmer Blush in Dianthus
melodiesoflife 6/10/2007 4:44:00 PM
First and foremost, I LOVE shimmer blushes. I'm not talking about those shimmer blushes that makes you look like a disco ball, I'm talking more of a healthy shimmer/glow (think MAC MSF). The website describes it as a cool rosy pink, which I think is a pretty good match - to me, it looks like NARS Orgasm on my cheeks, but with a little more gold than pink/peach. Overall, I love this blush. I can see it working for almost all skintones. If you don't like too much gold, you can definitely layer it over a pink or peach blush to get more color instead of shimmer.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Dessert Beauty - Dessert Treats Deliciously Kissable Hair & Body Shimmer Mist ALL
melodiesoflife 8/1/2006 7:34:00 PM
Is this cinnamon, or cheap manufactured crap I'm smelling? Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway, I got the cinnamon hearts one, and the initial scent that came across was incredibly sugary and strong. Then after about a minute or two, the scent became nicer...because it was pretty much all faded. The only way I can smell this now is if I stick my nose right up against my arm (my sparkled nose will testify to that). The shimmer, however, is kind of nice. It's not extremely overpowering, and sparkles under the light. Then again, my $1 body glitter from middle school does the exact same thing.
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Fragrances -MAC - MAC Creations Fragrance Blend Variation Parfumee MV2
melodiesoflife 8/1/2006 7:25:00 PM
The first time I sprayed this on my wrist, I had a hard time pinpointing the scent. Then I realized that it kind of smelled like a mixture of vanilla and grass. Not very pleasant, right? However, this dries down to a really sweet vanilla scent that's pleasant. I think the initial scent takes a little getting used to, but other than that, it's a nice fragrance. The only reason I wouldn't buy this again is because I have several bottles of perfume already, and it takes a while to use up a bottle.
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Eye Shadow -Urban Decay - Cream Eyeshadow in Gotham
melodiesoflife 8/11/2005 1:25:00 AM
This is a nice black cream eyeshadow that can be used to do a smoky eye, or as a base. It's light, and blendable. I find that the secret to making sure that it doesn't come out too sheer is to dab it on with the sponge, and when it's semi-dry, then blend. I don't know the lasting power of this, but so far, it seems to be lasting well.
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Highlighters -Urban Decay - Peppermint Body Powder
melodiesoflife 8/2/2005 8:46:00 PM
I prefer this packaging against the other ones in the line - it's flat and round, versus the long and tall. The leopard puff is always a nice accessory. The scent, however, leaves much to be desired. It's not unpleasant, per se, but it could use a whole lot of sugary scent to it. While it is nice to have a scent that's spot-on for peppermint, if I wanted somebody to lick this off of me, I'd want them to taste something sweeter. It's a nice shimmery baby pink, so if nobody's planning on licking this off of you, it's a great highlighter.
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Highlighters -Urban Decay - Gimlet Body Powder
melodiesoflife 8/2/2005 8:43:00 PM
Did I just buy crack? Because for the amount that I paid, it seems like almost nothing. The actual powder container is about 1/4 (or 1/3) the length of the actual tube, which you don't actually find out until you take it home and open it. That aside, this has a nice lime scent, and contains green sparkles, which is pretty on the skin. But no matter how nice smelling or how pretty this looks, I refuse to get over the fact that UD just ripped me off. I'm not surprised they're being discontinued - I can get three times the amount of Gimlet with another flavored UD powder for the same price.
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Lip Gloss -DuWop - Venom Gloss - Firethorn
melodiesoflife 7/29/2005 2:10:00 AM
DuWop describes this shade as "orange popsicle." It looks like it in the tube, but on my lips, it's a sheer somewhat milky peachy color with no visible shimmer. It has the same DuWop tingle (which many find to be somewhat paintful), which I love. I don't buy this specifically for the lip plumping effect, but I do notice a slight change a few minutes after application. At $16, it's not the cheapest, but it is a fun product to have.
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Crème -MAC - Studio Tech
melodiesoflife 4/22/2005 1:23:00 AM
This looked great when I first put it on. In fact, walking away from the MAC counter, I had many people saying how flawless my skin looked. Then I got to my car, looked in my mirror, and holy macaroni, I looked like an extra from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". Somehow, in the period of one hour, my face had gone from looking flawless to looking like an oompa-loompa. For $26.50, I expected something better. I guess I'll have to stick with my good ol' Almay foundation!
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Lipstick -MAC - Rosalee
melodiesoflife 4/19/2005 6:51:00 PM
Rosalee is a beautiful pink/coral lipstick that's more on the pink side. It's a gorgeous color for summer! It's part of the Beau collection available exclusively at Nordstrom's. I picked this up with my Back-to-MAC empties, and boy, am I glad!
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Lip Treatments -Clinique - Superbalm Raspberry Tint
melodiesoflife 4/11/2005 1:14:00 AM
This was a nice, barely there red lipgloss (think Lancome Berry Bold JT). Superbalm? Nah, not really. I squeezed out about half a tube of air before the actual product came out (this was right after I bought it). It's very thick, and a bit difficult to apply, although the slant tip is a plus. I find it ridiculously overpriced at $11.50 for half a tube of air, and half a tube of product.
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