Mascara -Jordana - Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara
muppitonastring 2/12/2013 1:53:00 PM
The key thing about this mascara is that it is good for the price. For $2.99 (though I got this online internationally because it isn't sold in the UK, so it wasn't that cheap for me considering postage and customs) it is better than many other more expensive mascaras. Having said that I won't buy it again since I find it clumpy and heavy. Price is somewhat important but I'd rather have a mascara that works for my needs (I like an all-rounder mascara and have regular length/thickness lashes) and that I enjoy using. I have used it for a month so feel that I have given it a fair chance. It weighs my lashes down so there is no curling aspect, length is mildly improved (though I was not expecting much since this is marketed as a volumising mascara), volume is decent but nothing remarkable, colour is as black as you can hope for so that's good. But like I said it clumps very quickly (small dot like clumps), makes my lashes 'sag' and feels crispy. I always have to wipe off the fat glob on the tip of the wand because that makes the clumping worse, often need to use a spoolie on lashes afterwards. Need oil cleanser to get this all off, facial wash alone isn't enough. All just too much work for me. I much prefer other 'drugstore' mascaras like Prestige My Biggest Lashes, Max Factor 2000 Calorie and Covergirl Lash Blast - they cost a little more yes, but they also perform far better IMO, so I'll just stick with those.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -NARS - Angelika
muppitonastring 2/4/2012 2:22:00 PM
Beautiful colour! A slightly warm baby pink which is not pastel and garish looking. Enough pigment to be classified clearly as pink and not a nude pink! It also contains some very fine silver shimmers which are really not obvious or tacky. I have a medium skintone and most light pink lipglosses look weird on me, not this one though. I think the colour is indeed one that would suit everybody, regardless of skintone. Texture is thick, which I like because it stays in place without bleeding and there is no fragrance, which I also like. Some NARS lip products can smell crayon-y but I notice this doesn't. Price is pretty high though, that's the only issue here - in the UK £17 for the 8g full-sized tube (doe foot applicator). I think you could probably find a cheaper dupe somewhere (maybe NYX Mega Shine in La La) but I would repurchase since the colour and formula are perfect.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Burberry - Body
muppitonastring 1/31/2012 11:25:00 PM
I wish I could give you a thorough note breakdown of how this was on me...but I can't, it's very well-blended to the point that I can't tell what it's composed of. However, that doesn't mean I liked it. In fact, I can't stand this fragrance on me (on skin or clothes). I really tried to find some beauty in this - for some reason I thought that there must be something wrong with me - such an anticipated fragrance launch with great advertising & beautiful Rosie as the model...I just thought how could this smell so bad for all the effort they apparently put in? To get to the point, it smells old-school (in a bad way) and cheap. Like skanky rank talcum powder (and I usually like talc-y, soapy fragrances). My brother caught a sniff and was like 'no, that's horrible!', he couldn't find words to describe it either - it's unique that's for sure! Do not blind buy, that's all I'm saying. Burberry describes the fragrance in the following way (I feel they are talking about some other fragrance haha!!): 'An effortlessly sensual, feminine fragrance with an eclectic combination of refined ingredients Top notes of fresh green absinthe, illuminating peach and delicate freesia Floral heart notes of natural rose absolute, iris and warm sandalwood Base notes of woody cashmeran, creamy vanilla, amber and musk.'
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Polishes -Butter London - All Hail the Queen
muppitonastring 10/24/2011 3:29:00 PM
This is lovely colour, but not on me. It's a shimmery neutral (as in doesn't read warm or cool) gold taupe. The holographic aspect is very minimal, if you look in bright sunlight it's still very very slight. This polish requires 2 coats to be noticeable I'd say, you cannot really get away with one. I'm olive (about NC35) and it looks way too similar to my skintone, and not in a good way. The shimmery aspect actually makes this worse because it looks like shiny skin on my nails (eew that sounds horrible!). I think this polish is best for pale and dark skinned ladies, because the contrast is needed. Nice effortless formula (not thick at all), the bottle is good-looking but I dislike the lid/brush - very small and hard to use. The price is about £12 in the UK, which I found rather expensive, but it's worth it if this colour works for you, because it is beautiful. I do understand the hype. A decent close dupe is Nubar Spark (this is more holo-y and maybe just a touch warmer).
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -Stila - Raisin Lip Glaze
muppitonastring 9/12/2011 12:58:00 AM
Beautiful lipgloss! And this is coming from a non-lipgloss wearing girl! A generous MUAer sent this to me - I would never have thought to buy it myself because I had always thought that Stila Lip Glazes were virtually colourless and blah (that's what I'd heard)...plus the mention of 'Raisin' makes me think brown, and brown lipgloss is fug on me! BUT this is a beautiful warm, earthy pink with fine rose-gold shimmer shot through. Very flattering and I can imagine it'd suit all skin tones. The texture is quite thick, sticky and dense but it's quite nice because it's not particularly drying (compared to some glosses) and lasts at least 6 hours on me if I don't eat or drink. The click-y twist dispensing tube it quite good too, not too unhygienic (hate doe-foot applicators), since you can just take the product off the brush with a clean finger (or you can just use the brush and clean it afterwards). I checked out the price and well, not cheap, but for this shade, definitely worth it!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -TheBalm - Hot Mama
muppitonastring 9/11/2011 6:30:00 PM
I love this blusher! It's so extremely pigmented and flattering on me. Not entirely similar to NARS Orgasm (which is more pinky on me, I'm olive NC35) since this comes up more orange (in a good way). The gold shimmer/sheen is not too much I find (unlike the shimmer in Benefit Coralista, which is weird and unflattering!) and doesn't emphasise flaws...but if you hate shimmer then this isn't for you. Lovely soft texture and almost foolproof to apply. No skin troubles to report! Got it through a swap thinking meh but I'm so glad I found this gem. I think the packaging is very unique and cute!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -NYX - Black Label Lipstick in Opium
muppitonastring 2/24/2011 10:16:00 PM
Great colour. It's a deep watermelon red coral pink on me. I know that ends up sounding vague but that's what it is and it's really hard to say which tone dominates. I will say it was not what what I expected from the name and official swatches but at this stage I think if you know anything about NYX, you'll know that their swatches and names are almost random and out of sync with the actual colours. The texture is very smooth, almost perfect to me. It does settle into lines on initial application but strangely, after a few minutes it melts into lips it looks smooth, shiny (not overly) and even. Wears well for about 3 hours which is reasonable to me since it's not matte and wears off evenly leaving a nice tint. I don't use lip pencil with this but if you are oily skinned around your mouth it is likely to bleed (like any red), NYX Plush Red pencil would go well with this but of course you can use whatever to push the tone in a particular direction. Very glad I got this lipstick though. Do not turn your nose up at these 'low-end' lipsticks, they're actually good stuff!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Urban Decay - 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Perversion
muppitonastring 2/23/2011 10:41:00 PM
Right now this is an exclusive shade that came in the 24/7 15 Year Anniversary Set. Hopefully it will be added to the permanent collection in the future. It's been highly rated on several blogs as one of the darkest black eyeliner pencils around. This colour is why I bought the set. It has been compared to MAC Feline and obviously to the well-known 24/7 pencil in Zero. My experience of this pencil is that it is on a par with Feline but not particularly better, thus I was slightly disappointed. The formula is a matte deep black and I can't see any tones like blue or green in it, so it is a true black. The colour is as deep as Feline to me and there is no difference to my eye in the intensity and shade between the two colours. However, Feline smudges a little more easily - Perversion lasts about two hours on my waterline before wearing off, whilst Feline takes about an hour. Perversion wears off quite evenly on the waterline but still you will have to check constantly for smudges, no escaping from that chore. On the top eyelid though, Perversion wins against Feline - it does not budge as much (mind you, Feline is more of a traditional kohl type formula, quite smudgy and this can actually be a desirable thing for some), but still, Perversion does eventually smudge like all the other 24/7 eyeliners I've tried. Zero is lighter than Perversion and wears off even more easily so the latter wins hands down in that contest, assuming you want a really dark black liner and not a soft black. If you only want Perversion for use on the upper eyelid then get Prestige Total Intensity Deepest Black because that is a cheaper, exact dupe. But similar to Perversion, the Prestige pencil does not work well on the waterline at all. A couple of things to note, this pencil does burn my eyes a little and I'm not usually sensitive to eyeliner on the waterline. It's not unbearable but something I noticed. Perversion is full size (1.2g) just like the other 24/7 pencils, however, the pencil is about 0.5cm shorter than the other 24/7 pencils, which suggests that the formula for this is denser. Be careful of the lid on this pencil (just like the other 24/7s) since it really gets stuck on and can be hard to take off - I squished the tip when trying to get the lid off at first. Overall, I'm glad that I have it, though it is not the perfect deep black eyeliner that I was hoping for because it doesn't last on the waterline. I would actually repurchase since it is a great black colour. But I would not go to great lengths or cost to get it since MAC Feline and Prestige Deepest Black are very very close dupes. EDITED to add: As of early 2012, this pencil will be part of the permanent range and will no longer be hard to get a hold of!
14 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Dandizette Mega Metal Shadow
muppitonastring 2/17/2011 6:34:00 PM
A great blue eyeshadow if you don't have an extensive collection of blues. It is a cool mid blue but not jewel toned, maybe dusty/creamy is a better way to describe it. I don't find it very similar to Deep Truth since that is more deep and jewel toned to me. On my eyes this comes out softer than it looks in the pan and it looks slightly grey, which non-bright blues tend to do I think. This colour actually reminds me of MAC Knight Divine. It is a very versatile colour though and will go with pretty much everything but it will probably work best with with taupes/browns and purples. The texture is very smooth, even and creamy and so it is quite effortless to apply and blend. However, without a base it does crease on me but I expected this because of the creamy soft texture. The colour is not incredibly unique so could probably be duped for cheaper but it'll be harder to find the same texture in the same colour. It would have been better for the shadow to be smaller and of a lower price (this was quite expensive, £15.50 - UK) since the pot has way too much product (3.4g).
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Prestige - Total Intensity Eyeliner Deepest Black
muppitonastring 10/11/2009 8:18:00 PM
The other reviews have mentioned it all but I will repeat, this is a really deep black, a wonderful black that is not blue looking. But I bought this colour specifically for the lower waterline not the upper and it failed for this purpose. It smeared really badly in a short time. I put it on and went shopping and when, four hours later, I caught my reflection in a shop mirror (like you do lol) I was shocked because I had convinced myself that this would not budge and it had. And it doesn't wear off evenly but comes off in patches. I love all the other colours in this Total Intensity formula because I wear those on my top lid and they work perfectly there...so I will use this on my top lid from now on but my warning is that you will be disappointed if you are buying this for the waterline. I would however buy again, since it's a great black to do top lid eyeliner.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -MAC - Phone Number eye kohl
muppitonastring 6/14/2009 2:07:00 AM
Phone Number is an underrated pencil. It’s a very deep, smoky grey with subtle and cool toned shimmer/sheen (not glittery). It's very gothic and 'Batman' looking to me. A great alternative for those that want something a touch lighter & less harsh than black. I love MAC kohls, they are very smudgy but that is what makes them so easy to apply and smoke out/blend. If you don’t like smudge, I’d look elsewhere.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Shale Eyeshadow
muppitonastring 6/11/2009 12:18:00 AM
This shadow was the first I ever purchased from MAC several years ago, I wasn't a huge e/s nut back then but I was drawn to the beautiful complex grey/purple/taupe mix in the pan. I remember hating and swapping it away. Since I am more experienced with makeup now I thought I'd give it a shot again, but I was right the first time. No matter the tools or application I cannot make this work for me (olive NC35), one of those colours that makes me look tired and bruise-y. I've seen it on other people and it looks great, I think it's one of those morphing shades that you just have to try, but it's definitely not a universal colour.
10 out of 12 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Badger - Lavender and Orange Lip Balm
muppitonastring 5/26/2009 7:23:00 PM
The review below echoes my views on this, the combination of Lavender and Orange is so pleasant and comforting! It's not overwhelmingly scented though and it doesn't tingle, it's just simple and effective. This my favourite 'flavour' in these stick form Badger balms (I also like the Cocoa Butter Lip Balms that Badger makes). I find the texture of this comparable to Vaseline but with ingredients that I prefer. It is quite slippery and emollient which is perfect for using on lips at night when I need the extra moisture...during the day I find this a bit too slippery as it interferes with my foundation around my lips but for me it is perfect for use at home and at night. I love Badger's cute packaging, ethics and ingredients. It's quite hard to find in the UK at reasonable cost so I get mine in bulk from uncommonscents.com. Ingredients: Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Beeswax, Castor Oil, Extracts of Aloe Vera, Rose Hip & Sea Buckthorn Berry, and Pure Essential Oils of Lavender, Sweet Orange & Sicilian Orange.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Attar Bazaar - Tunisian Myrrh
muppitonastring 4/20/2009 10:27:00 PM
This starts off very sweet, pure sweetness in fact but softens quickly to a foody fragrance. I'm pretty sure it's coconut that it smells like, it reminds me of that drink Coca Pina I think it's called...it's a mix of coconut and pineapple. Very cliche tropical smelling to me, not at all what you would expect from something called Tunisian Myrrh...though I'm not that familiar with Myrrh fragrances so I don't know how this compares to the usual. It's not really my thing since I don't like foody scents but it's not awful either.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Attar Bazaar Sumatra Vetivert
muppitonastring 4/20/2009 10:14:00 PM
When I opened the vial of this I was shocked by how odd this fragrance is. I have no knowledge of Vetivert, Sumatran or otherwise so really didn't know what to expect or what to compare it to. It is a very strong and bitter fragrance to start with, with a tiny tiny bit of sweetness. I think it smells like a bittersweet ashtray to start with. It got better after a couple of hours, softer, woodsy and maybe intriguing? My sister agreed with my views on this fragrance but said that it would be good for layering with a very sweet musky or ambery fragrance, to add some depth and dimension. The lasting power is pretty good with this, not as good as mainstream EDPs and EDTs but better than other AB fragrances (like African Violet). It's not as bad as I initially thought but I wouldn't repurchase since it's not pretty or feminine enough on its own and I can't really be bothered to layer it with something else. It certainly is unique though and worth trying if you like complex woodsy fragrances.
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