Liquid -Rimmel - Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation
narwhal4life 12/20/2012 12:10:00 PM
Let me start off by saying I haven't worn foundation in awhile. I usually use BB creams. So when going back to a full coverage foundation is a pretty big switch. This foundation is very matte, which I'm fine with, but the full coverage combined with the matte aspect of this foundation made the skin look very dull and flat. It also very much looks like makeup. I applied with a damp BB and it still appeared heavy and mask like. Its also very sticky and absolutely needs to be set with powder. I can't imagine a super matte formula + powder would work for dry skin but it certainly didn't work with my oily skin either. I couldn't recommend this to anyone with aging skin because it does settle the creases beneath my eye and looks very obvious. I can't imagine this would do well with fine lines. Considering that this foundation appeared very matte on my skin I assumed it would work well with my oily skin. It did not. This foundation completely failed to live up to its 25 hour claim and began to wear off after a few short hours. I was really disappointed. Another problem with this foundation is that the packaging is awful. I thought a squeeze tube would be convenient but instead it just leaks all over the place without being squeezed and makes a big mess. Overall, a rather pricey drugstore foundation that I can't recommend to anyone. No thanks, Rimmel.
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BB Cream -L'Oreal - Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream
narwhal4life 11/7/2012 12:33:00 PM
Bloody love this product. I have tried a couple other BB creams including the Boscia one which cost about $40. This is by far my favourite. Not a lot of colour range but light/medium worked great for me. The 'gritty' texture didn't bother me and the finish is spectacular. It looks pretty natural, which I love and seems to do more than a tinted moisturizer. The coverage I would say is light - medium. I know some people use this as a primer, but I don't particularly see the point, especially when it performs well on its own. My main skin concerns are discoloration, broken capillaries, large pores, prominent veins. For these concerns this product performs. It doesn't look super heavy and just looks like my skin has been improved. It's definitely not full coverage, and if that's what you're used to this product is not for you. It doesn't make my dark circles disappear, but it does reduce their appearance. I like this because it doesn't make my skin look unnatural or flawless - just a bit better. I would recommend applying this with your hands as I can't see a brush being effective in blending this in, the texture makes it very easy to apply and blend in with your fingers. My biggest issue with this product is its longevity. Its not something I can wear in the blazing summer heat because I know I'll melt. In the fall and winter, however, it works amazingly. I set this with NYC smooth skin powder and it works pretty nicely, however my oily skin isn't the most friendly and I'll find that this comes off around my nose by the end of the day. I wish they made a variant formula for oily skin that wan't so focused on hydrating. Yet, overall this is among my favourite drugstore face products at the moment.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Loose Powders -New York Color - loose translucent powder
narwhal4life 11/7/2012 12:15:00 PM
Absolutely love this product. Sure the packaging is dinky, but who cares when the product is phenomenal! You get 20g of product for less than 3 dollars. That's awesome! This product sets any bb cream I'm using and makes me oil free - what's more it makes my skin soft and doesn't cake. I love the way this makes my skin feel. It by no means makes my skin oil free, as I still get oily throughout the day, but it is a great translucent powder that sets my skin and prevents oiliness - at least for a bit.
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Lipstick -Revlon - Super Lustrous
narwhal4life 11/7/2012 12:09:00 PM
Hate this lipstick. I bought the colour black cherry because I thought it was beautiful. Little did I know the formulation of this lipstick was a nightmare. No matter how moisturized my lips were this product always managed to settle into my fine lines in my lips - it applied patchy, and transferred easily. How easily? I couldn't even blot the product without it all coming off. The packaging is nice but the product is awful - its decently moisturizing but that's nothing to write home about, especially while the product is smearing all over your face. Never again.
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Eye Primer -NYX - Eyeshadow Base in Skin Tone
narwhal4life 11/7/2012 12:02:00 PM
I purchased this product from Ulta because I wanted an inexpensive replacement for my urban decay primer. I had heard good things about this and had seen it getting some love on youtube. I like the nyx jumbo pencils and figured this would be similar in different packaging. I hate this as a base. I don't think my lids are exceptionally oily but my eyeshadow would fade like mad throughout the day - from bright to muddy. I know some reviewers are pointing out that this is, after all, a base and should be used over primer, but I can use my maybelline colour tattoos and the NYX jumbo pencils without a primer and the colour holds fine. Although I did experience fading I had no troubles with creasing. This product is very thick consistency which I wan't crazy about and the packaging wasn't the best either. I kept having to dip my fingers in and ended up with more product under my nails than on my finger. I wanted to love this, but It just isn't a great base and caused some supreme fading. The only thing that kept me from giving this product a 1 is that I found an alternative use for it. The consistency reminds me a lot of mac studio finish concealer (I've never tried this concealer so I can't compare) so I tried sweeping it under my eyes for some coverage. It works pretty well! It's opaque and delivered some nice full coverage over my dark circles. Since it did not match my skin at all I had to blend it out quite a bit and layer some foundation over it. However, this did not work on the oiler parts of my skin like my nose, where it came off almost immediately and in patches. I am not thrilled with the overall performance of this product and don't think I would repurchase again simply for the use as an undereye concealer.
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Cleansers -Dermalogica - Special Cleansing Gel
narwhal4life 12/9/2011 12:44:00 AM
Did absolutely nothing for my skin. I splurged for nothing.
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Lipstick -Revlon - Colorburst Lip Butter in Creme Brulee
narwhal4life 11/26/2011 12:37:00 AM
I was disappointed in this product. After using maybelline's baby lips I expected this product to be even better because it was twice the price. Now, admittedly this product is much more moisturizing than any ordinary lipstick, but the colour payoff is streaky and fairly sheer. The product is very buildable, but when it is built up the product becomes messy and bleeds everywhere. I find this product to be extremely messy, and it is more a gloss formula than I would have liked. The glossiness of this product means its much less opaque, and even a bit sticky. Its pretty moisturizing, but still not something that I would apply on chapped lips. Its also worth mentioning that there is not very much product in the tube, and I can not even twist mine up without it breaking. This product is okay at best, but the colour isn't the most flattering on me simply because I find it to be too glossy. The nude itself is quite tan, more skin toned than pink.
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Eyeliner -Maybelline - Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner
narwhal4life 10/1/2011 7:22:00 PM
I have tried liner after liner to no avail. Like many others, I am searching for one that will stay on my waterline. As someone with allergies, my eyes water constantly. I have tried so many different 'waterproof' eyeliners with little success. Even high end brands like Make up forever and mac, which charge twice as much, have faded, smudged and rubbed off despite their longwearing claims. All the drugstore eyeliners I've tried have dried out within a matter of days. Out of all the gel eyeliners I've tried, this is the most longwearing and pigmented. I've had it for 6 months, I still have plenty of product left and it has not dried out. Although the best longwearing eyeliner I've found, it does still come off in the corners. However, I appreciate that this product does not smudge down my face like the make up forever liner, it washes off flaking or smudging. That being said I do set this liner with eyeshadow for extra insurance. Overall, I'm pretty content with this product. I will use it time and time again. Although not perfect, it is the best that i have tried so I gave it a 5.
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