Lotions/ Creams -Olay - Quench Body Lotion Extra Dry Skin
northdakota84 5/19/2007 12:44:00 AM
Not nearly as good at moisturizing as Nivea Smooth Sensation or Nivea Advanced Firming with Q10. This stuff left me dry and itchy. I do like the subtle shimmer in it though.
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Candles -Yankee Candles - Autumn Leaves
northdakota84 11/19/2006 4:06:00 PM
I have these in the tealights. Wow, do they smell great! I usually burn 2 at a time in my very small college apartment. The Yankee Candle website says it's a blend of birch and maple leaves with pomegranate, juniper berry, and orange blossom. I do smell a little bit of orangey-ness, but the other notes make it a very autumny scent. The throw is amazing too.
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Other -Unlisted Brand - Baking Soda
northdakota84 11/9/2006 11:47:00 PM
I use this on my hair about every other week. I moved to a new town to go to grad school, and I guess my hair doesn't like the water here (I hear there's a lot of calcium in it?). For a while it was just dull and dry, even though I use a clarifying shampoo once a week and deep condition twice a week. I thought maybe I just needed a trim, but even that didn't help. Then my mom told me that our old hairdresser had once told her to just wash her hair with baking soda. It clarifies and balances the pH of your hair. I was a little skeptical, but decided to try it anyway. I have to use kind of a lot because my hair is pretty long and thick. I just put gobs of it in my hair and massage it around, then rinse it out and follow with my regular shampoo and conditioner (JF Brilliant Brunette), although sometimes I do use a deep conditioner instead of my usual. I was really amazed by the results. My hair was soft, shiny, and silky the next day. It did way more than even a good hot oil treatment. Who would have thought? Now I use it about every other week to keep my hair balanced and happy.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -Suave - Cocoa Butter Body Lotion
northdakota84 11/9/2006 11:36:00 PM
The skin on my body started getting drier than usual over the summer (while the skin on my face got oilier, go figure), so I bought this figuring it would be more moisturizing than the Suave Shave Minimizing lotion I was using. This was a little more moisturizing, and the scent is awesome, but it didn't do enough to cure my dry skin.
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Mascara -Max Factor - 2000 Calorie Aqua Lash
northdakota84 10/27/2006 12:12:00 PM
Again, for whatever reason I decided to try something different than my HG Maybelline Full n' Soft Waterproof. The first tube I bought of this was really really dry, so I emailed the company thinking maybe I got a bad tube. They sent me a coupon for a free Max Factor product, and being dumb, I decided to try the mascara again. The second tube was a little less dry, but it was still very difficult to get on. The brush pushed my lashes up onto my skin, so I actually had to close my eye when I applied so I wouldn't get black marks all over. I did thicken, but it just looks way too clumpy for my taste. I'll stick with my Full n' Soft, which thickens just as well as this in addition to lengthening AND making my lashes look healthy and pretty.
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Polishes -Maybelline - Express Finish Nail Polish (any color)
northdakota84 10/26/2006 11:35:00 AM
I have a bunch of Express Finish colors, and I like them all. The Base&Top Coat (#10) is the best top coat I think I've ever used. It dries quickly, stays shiny, and seals the color of the other polish in. I always use it as a top coat on my toes. It even seals in older polish that might be getting a little thick and tacky and keeps it from smudging or getting all messed up when I put socks on. Love it!
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Lip Treatments -Aveeno - Intense Relief Medicated Therapy Lip Protectant
northdakota84 10/16/2006 11:33:00 PM
I like this a lot for a night treatment. It works as well as Carmex, but doesn't give me zits along my lip line. To avoid getting it under my nails, I use the top side of my nail to kind of push and gob of it out of the container.
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Cleansers -Neutrogena - Clear Pore Cleanser Mask
northdakota84 10/13/2006 5:36:00 PM
This works really well. I use it as a mask a few times a week. Generally I use it during the day because you only have to leave it on for 5 minutes. It doesn't dry me out too much (I use a moisturizer afterwards), and it does help heal and prevent pimples. I like to use it before I go out on weekends because it helps control oil production so my makeup stays put.
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Foundations -Maybelline - Dream Matte Mousse
northdakota84 10/12/2006 11:56:00 PM
This product was wonderful the first 2-3 days I used it. I always use a moisturizer first, and I applied this with disposable makeup sponges to be hygenic. It covered up my post-acne marks and any other imperfections perfectly and no shine came through even at the end of the day. I thought I'd found my HG. Then after using it a few days I started to notice some pimples forming. I had a really really bad breakout out of the blue 2 summers ago that lasted about a year. Even though I got a prescription after about 5 months and got it under control, I got some scars from it, so I get super freaked out now at the first sign of any zits. However, I thought it might just be a freak coincidence, so I used the makeup for another day. After that day I noticed another pimple forming, AND I had dry, flaking spots near my nose. Can I just say how weird this was? I'm always looking for products to help dry my normal/oily combo skin, but I don't appreciate the flaking effect so much.
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Lotions/ Creams -Nivea - Body Smooth Sensation Daily Lotion for Dry Skin
northdakota84 10/12/2006 8:02:00 PM
Wow. I'm in love with this. The skin on my body has been drier than usual lately, so I was looking for a more moisturizing lotion. This is perfect. I put it on at night after I shower, and my skin is soft, pretty, and moisturized all throughout the next day. I also like the fact that you can close the pump on this for traveling.
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Lotions/ Creams -Bath and Body Works - Moisturizing Antibacterial Lotion- all
northdakota84 10/12/2006 7:57:00 PM
I have a tube of this in Warm Vanilla Sugar at work and I use it pretty often since us three grad assistants rotate between the two desks. I like it better than normal antibacterial gels because my hands tend to get dry from handling a lot of paper and whatnot. This keeps my hands soft and moisturized in addition to reducing bacteria. The only qualm I have is that it says it "reduces" bacteria...not that it kills 99.9% of it like Purell. But I guess you can't have everything.
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Liquid -Cover Girl - TruBlend 
northdakota84 10/10/2006 11:33:00 PM
I like this foundation a lot. It really does blend well, and provides good coverage for my post acne marks. I love the smooth way it glides on (I use disposable makeup sponges). The only downside is that my skin is fairly oily in the summer, and this foundation I think contributes to shinyness. I've found that a great way to combat this is to put down a "primer" coat of Cover Girl Clean Oil-Control foundation. That doesn't provide as much coverage on its own as I'd like, but combined with the TruBlend on top my face looks great all day.
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Eye Shadow -Almay - Intense i-Color powder shadow Trio for Browns
northdakota84 10/9/2006 10:56:00 PM
I have these in Bring Out the Brown (lighter shades) and Play Up the Brown (darker shades). I love the Bring Out for summer and the Play Up for the rest of the year. The only complaint that I have is that they give you equal amounts of all three shades in the package, when you have to use a lot more of the purple shade. I always run out of purple before I've even made a noticeable dent in the browns. Really they should give you twice as much purple and half as much of the browns...but then you wouldn't have to repurchase as often. Smart people.
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Treatments -Alberto Vo5 - Hot Oil Treatment
northdakota84 10/8/2006 11:29:00 PM
I just used this for the first time the other night in the moisturizing formula. I can't say it made my hair any shinier, but it did feel a lot softer today...so I'd say that's pretty good for under $4. I'll use it again next week and see how that goes...and I think I'll try the strengthening formula too just for the heck of it. :-) **UPDATE** I've been using this weekly for at least a month now, and I've found that the Strengthening formula gives better shine than the Moisturinzing (could be why there's never any Strengthening left on store shelves, but there's always a bunch of the Moisturizing). Also, I seems to work best if the oil is almost too hot to touch. I just squirt it over my hair, concentrating on the ends, and then smooth it in so I don't have to put it directly in my hands.
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Gels/Soaps -Bath and Body Works - Antibacterial Hand Soap Crisp Citrus Herb
northdakota84 10/8/2006 10:13:00 PM
This smells like an orangesicle. Sooo yummy.
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