Highlighters -LORAC - Perfectly Lit Oil-Free Luminizing Powder in Spotlight
pr0cessa 2/28/2013 3:47:00 PM
I love the color and the dewy, glowy effect of this highlighter. It's a great color for my fair, warm complexion. A little goes a long way and it does impart a sheen without looking glittery like a disco ball. The packaging is sturdy and holds up well in my purse. I also love that it has a mirror. I use a mini kabuki brush with this. The only problem is that it breaks me out. I figured out for sure that it's this highlighter by process of elimination. My skin is not all that sensitive so it's surprising and a shame. I have had to go back to Fresh face luster for now.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Pacifica - Color Quench Lip Tint
pr0cessa 2/20/2013 2:27:00 PM
Just found this at Target for $6.99. I bought it in blood orange. Gorgeous sheer, warm coral color and SO moisturizing. Much better than baby lips or Bite beauty equivalents. The only thing I'm not wild about is the lemony smell, I prefer my balms unscented or to not have such a heavy scent. Highly reccommend.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair -Unlisted Brand - Salon Grafix Citrus Creme Conditioning Cleanser, 12 oz 
pr0cessa 2/13/2013 6:20:00 PM
I have the sugared melon version of this, advertised for oily hair. It's too heavy for my long, wavy, fine, color treated hair. If you love wen cleansing conditioner, this is very similar in texture and effectiveness, so you might want to give it a try. I've tried a lot of cleansing conditioners over the years, and so far my hands down favorite is L'oreal evercurl hydracharge (in the blue.) Sally Hair One didn't moisturize enough for me, wen builds up, and devacurl is somewhere in the middle, but hard to find. This product (salon grafix) has no lather, whereas the l'oreal does lather. This product does leave my hair clean, but coated rather than moisturized, and I still had tangles. the effect is very similar to the wen product.
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Conditioner -L'Oreal - Hydracharge Cleansing Conditioner
pr0cessa 2/4/2013 3:13:00 PM
A true 5-star product. I've tried a lot of cleansing conditioners over the years (including wen, hairOne, devacare, jessicurl and more) and this is the best one for my hair. I have long, fine wavy hair that is color treated and breaks/tangles easily. L'oreal has a similar product in their evercreme line (in the gold bottle) but I like this evercurl version a lot better as it's slightly less heavy, and it smells much better. This product has some lather and leaves the hair feeling really clean. It smells great, like tropical flowers, and does not build up. It is very moisturizing - a true all-in-one product. I don't need to follow this with another conditioner so it really saves me time. I love it and just wish it came in a bigger bottle!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Suave - Moroccan Infusion
pr0cessa 1/28/2013 10:54:00 AM
Smells exactly like MoroccanOil's conditioner and works just as well for a lot less money. Highly recommend if you like MoroccanOil.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -NARS - Vera Cruz
pr0cessa 1/22/2013 1:16:00 PM
I ordered this from the NARS website where it's listed as a "retro" color - perhaps because it was discontinued, then brought back? Either way, I like it, and I do think it's sort of a "90s" color. Remember classics like Revlon's Toast of New York or Clinique Black Honey? This color is reminiscent of those - it's an MLBB color. It's sheer, with very subtle golden sparkle. However it's rather bright, especially when layered on. I like this a lot, but prefer my colors warmer as I have very yellow/olive skin. I much prefer NARS warm reds such as Mindgame, Flamenco & Zanzibar. The description of this color on the website is "sheer cinnamon" but when I think cinnamon, I think brown, and this color is not brown, more of a reddish-plum. This is a nice "safe" color and I'll use it all up, but won't buy again, there are too many other great NARS colors I want to try first (Beautiful Liar, Tzigane)
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Shampoo -L'Oreal - EverCreme Cleansing Conditioner
pr0cessa 1/7/2013 10:29:00 AM
It's nice to see the "cleansing conditioner" trend still going mainstream, at a lower price point. This product is definitely a great option if you're a "first timer" to the whole concept of not using shampoo + conditioner every time you wash. I have long, fine, wavy hair which is oily at the roots, dry at the ends, color treated, damaged, and breaks easily. To preserve my color I have tried many sulfate-free products, and various "conditon only wash" solutions like DevaCurl (aka curly girl) and wen by chaz dean. I actually think this EverCreme version is the best one I've tried so far. This product has just enough lather to make you feel like your hair actually got clean, unlike DevaCare low-poo, or wen cucumber mint which both worked wonders on my overall damage, but built up and left my hair feeling oily and weighted down at the top. If you're skeptical about "2 in 1" products, like I am, then don't worry, because this actually does condition enough on its own, so as not to require a followup separate conditioner. I use a large amount of product, rub it in & lather it as best I can on my very wet hair, wait 30 sec and rinse. Then my hair is left feeling soft, detangled, less frizzy, and most importantly clean. It really is a miracle since it has allowed me to eliminate a lot of other products and save time in the shower. It's also a product that tends to work better the more you use it. I've been using it for a few weeks now and the results are as good or better than when I first used it. I only have 2 gripes here: the packaging is bad. The pump gets stuck a lot and hardly dispenses any product so you have to pump it a million times to get the product out. Also, it has a very strong smell. It's not a bad smell, like a heavy rich vanilla (reminds me vaguely of kerastase elixir ultime.) Although the smell doesn't linger in my hair too terribly, I just wish it was lighter or less "perfumy." This can be found at target for $5.99. Highly recommend if you have color, damage, and/or want to save time!
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Lips -Yves Saint Laurent - Volupte Sheer Candy Glossy Balm
pr0cessa 1/7/2013 10:13:00 AM
I have this in #7, sweet fig. It's a warm, bright, clear red that doesn't "pink up" on my pale yellow toned skin. It's hard to find a really good sheer, warm-toned lipstick (not gloss) that isn't sticky, doesn't smell bad, doesn't turn fuschia, and/or doesn't dry out my lips. The color looks reddish-brown in the tube, but on the lips is a bright, clear, warm apple red. Not at all brown. It's so sheer, that the brightness of the color really works, it adds a dewy pop of color which isn't garish at all. The texture is like butter or carmex - very moisturizing, like the best lipbalms. Though I generally prefer my lipstick to have no taste or smell, I can make an exception for this product. It does have a subtle smell but it's very pleasant and not at all in-your-face. This shade reminds me a lot of my old favorite discontinued lipstick from Clinique, Almost Lipstick in Honey Red. I would also compare it to NARS flamenco, but less bright, and slightly warmer. I'm really happy I found this. It makes my lips look so juicy and fresh, in a nice subtle way, so I can just swipe it on without a mirror. I don't wear much makeup so it's nice to have a color that's both noticeable but extremely comfortable and moisturizing to wear. At $30, it is extremely expensive. But the packaging is absolutely gorgeous. I'm not one to get excited about packaging, being way more interested in product function, but this case is so pretty I think I will keep it after the lipstick is gone... wish I could jam some other l/s in there! So overall, I love this luxurious product, and I think it's worth every penny.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Nature's Gate - Herbal Hair Shampoo
pr0cessa 7/24/2012 3:37:00 PM
This has been reformulated several times since I started using it in the late 1990s. Originally, it was a clear green liquid in a clear bottle - it was all-natural, and very gentle. Then the packaging changed to a white opaque bottle, and the shampoo went from clear green to clear yellowish, and Sodium lauryl sulfate was added to the ingredients. I don't use sulfates, so I stopped using it at that point. Now, more recently, the shampoo was reformulated once again to be sulfate-free. I guess there was a lot of customer backlash when they added the SLS. I was happy to see that the shampoo is sulfate-free once again, so I picked up a bottle the other day at Whole Foods, along with the matching conditioner. This is a nostalgia product for me, mainly due to the smell, which thankfully hasn't changed through all the reformulations. The smell is very strong and it really lingers on your hair. It's an earthy smell, woodsy and warm, rather unusual for a shampoo. The smell is sentimental for me and takes me back to my college years. As for the product performance, it's a garden-variety "natural" shampoo, not too exceptional among the other Whole Foods offerings, except for the smell. It makes my hair feel like I washed it with dish soap, and it builds up over time. I find this to be true of most sulfate-free shampoo, though - Mastey and DermOrganic being the exceptions. I have long, fine, wavy, color treated hair. This definitely should be used along with its companion conditioner. The conditioner has the same smell, but even stronger! The conditioner seems to have remained mostly the same while the shampoo got reformulated, except the conditioner seems slightly less gloopy. I need to use a LOT of the conditioner in order to achieve the detangling and moisturizing that my hair needs. Also, I do a really half-hearted job rinsing it out, so that a little conditioner remains on my hair, or else I can't even get a comb through it. These products are really average in terms of the results I get. I keep buying them because of the smell and the nostalgia factor. Also, they're cheap.
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Treatments -It's a 10 - Miracle Leave in Product
pr0cessa 4/24/2012 11:07:00 AM
My stylist used this on my hair last time I got my roots colored. I noticed the difference in texture immediately - my hair was much softer, sleeker and easier to comb. I have long, fine, wavy hair that is damaged from too much color. I try to avoid harsh products, and try not to rough my hair up too much, but it seems like no matter what I do, I always get some breakage. This product provides excellent detangling without weight. I can't really comment on its effectiveness as a heat protector, since I very rarely use a dryer or iron. I am not crazy about the smell, it's generic and strong. But at least the smell doesn't linger all day on my long hair. it's an expensive product, but ultimately cost-effective, since it's an all-in-one type of product and will allow me to pare down my usage of other products. It does contain silicones and feels a bit like it's coating the hair, so a little goes a long way. It doesn't build-up over time, though, or weigh down my fine hair, even though I use sulfate-free shampoo. i would highly recommend this product, even after trying countless other similar products, this is the one that works best for me so far.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -NARS - Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Hopi
pr0cessa 4/23/2012 10:45:00 AM
For me this is a 3.5 star product, rounded up to 4. I love the color: it's a peachy, nonshimmery earthy nude with a touch of brick red. I think NARS does fabulous warm reds & neutrals and this is no exception. The color works well on my pale, warm toned complexion. Color reminds me of my HG NARS lipstick, Mindgame. Actually that's why I purchased this... the local sephora was sold out of Mindgame, and this looked like the closest replacement. A little of this goes a long way, and it has decent staying power for a gloss. But this will never be a staple, or even a true 4-star product for me, for two reasons: #1, it's a bit sticky for my taste, and #2, the packaging is really bad. The formula is glossy and nondrying, but just a bit too sticky to be comfortable on my lips. it's less sticky than a mac lipglass or the NARS potted glosses, but still I find the tacky texture distracting. Secondly, the pencil requires frequent sharpening, leading to wasted product and a big hassle. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, it melts easily even when the temperature is only a little warm. As it stands, I wouldn't repurchase it for those reasons - i will stick with NARS sheer lipstick. But this is a great color and if they repackaged it in a swivel tube, I would love it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -DermOrganic - Masque Intensive Hair
pr0cessa 4/17/2012 10:47:00 AM
This is an amazing conditioner, especially when used together with the matching DermOrganic sulfate-free shampoo. Both the shampoo and conditioner remind me a lot of Mastey's products. Mastey's Traite shampoo is an HG product for me. I did some digging online and sure enough, Mastey and DermOrganic are sister companies. Both brands are sold at very reasonable prices on sleekhair.com. I found the DermOrganic shampoo & masque for $20 each for a liter at TJ Maxx. You can purchase the same bottles on the sleekhair site for around $25 each plus shipping, not a huge price difference, to be sure you're getting the "real thing." I'm only mentioning this because I was sold a fake Jonathan hair product at TJ Maxx in the past so I know they do sell some fakes. Anyway - this masque is awesome. it's actually a pretty light texture for something called a 'masque.' I have very long, fine, wavy & color treated hair. This really moisturizes without adding weight. it's like a somewhat heavier version of Mastey's frehair conditioner. This is all-organic and contains argan oil, unlike the Mastey line. Usually I avoid argan oil because I find that over time, it weighs my fine hair down, but so far I haven't had that issue with this product and I've been using it daily. The directions say to leave it on for 3-5 minutes but I don't have time to do that in the morning, so I just rinse it out immediately, but it still provides more than enough detangling and conditioning power for my hair. This is a keep, along with the matching shampoo. I actually prefer this product over any of the Mastey conditioners. Highly recommend if you like gentle, organic products or just generally if you have fine hair that's been chemically treated or processed. Also, it smells amazingly fresh and light unlike a lot of other products that are argan oil-based.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -DermOrganic - Sulfate-Free Conditioning Shampoo
pr0cessa 4/15/2012 2:26:00 PM
This is a good dupe of one of my Holy Grail products, Mastey Traité cream shampoo. I found this at TJ Maxx for $20 for a liter bottle. By comparison, the Mastey product can be found for $24 + shipping online for a liter, but is very hard to find in stores. This is a creamy, white shampoo with a whipped texture. The scent is a fresh, light coconut. It lathers up a lot for a sulfate-free formula. The main difference between this product and Mastey Traité is that this has argan oil so it's a bit more moisturizing. it rinses clean, but it does hydrate well which is why I think it's called a 'conditioning' shampoo. I use this daily on my long, wavy, fine, color-treated hair. It does NOT strip my color at ALL which is a major requirement for me. Also, usually anything with argan oil weighs my hair down a lot, but this product doesn't. I would definitely recommend giving this a try, OR try Mastey Traité, you can't go wrong! I keep coming back to these products no matter what else I try.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Garnier - Pure-Clean
pr0cessa 4/12/2012 9:43:00 AM
***EDITED 4/13/2012 to add: I think I now understand why people are complaining about the smell of this product. The berry smell does not 'age' well on my hair. By the end of the day, it smells a bit 'off;' not pleasant. The issue with the scent is noticeably worse when I put any styling product in my hair... it's as if this conditioner does not 'mingle' nicely with styling products of any kind. This is not a dealbreaker, but I'm taking the rating down from 3 to 2 because I am sensitive about smells. I still would buy again because even though this is a bit drying, I like the squeaky clean feeling in warm weather, and the fact that this makes my long hair dry faster*** I walked into Rite-Aid looking for Pantene Aqua Light conditioner which I've been using, but that was sold out. An employee recommended this product as being similar. She also mentioned that they had just gotten it in stock last week. This is my first time using a Garnier hair product. After quickly smelling several of the shampoos and conditioners on the shelf, it seems like all the Garnier products smell the same, and this product was no exception. Thankfully I did not notice any unusual/rancid smell during or after use, as some other reviewers did. I did not buy the matching Pure Clean shampoo, as I do not use sulfates on my hair, which I color every 3-4 weeks to cover gray roots. I've got long, wavy hair which is brittle from all that color, but also fine and gets weighed down easily. So I need a conditioner which is light but also has enough slip to detangle my long hair, and also at least light moisturizing for my color damage. For me this is a very light product - I did not experience any build-up or residue like some other reviewers. The problem is, it's just a little too light. It's got a little slip - better than the average "natural" product from Whole Foods, actually - but I still need to use a serum or leave-in spray afterward to get all the tangles out & avoid breakage. This would be great for the lucky ladies who have fine hair, oily scalp, and normal (undamaged, not overly dry) hair. If your hair is healthy enough that you can just "wash and wear," I think this would be a great product. It rinses clean quickly. It reminds me a bit of the old Redken "flash wash"/"express wash" line from awhile back - great if you're in a hurry. I'll use it up, and might even buy again during warmer months, but for me Pantene Aqua Light is a better product, with a bit more slip & moisturization. I am thinking that based on the number of negative reviews (seemingly too many to be the result of isolated "bad batches") perhaps this product was just recently reformulated. As I said, the rite-aid employee mentioned they had just restocked the product so I know I got a "new" batch. So glad I didn't experience the residue etc. This was not awful, just average and more to the point, not the best match for my hair type.
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Lips -Revlon - Colorburst Lip Butter in Red Velvet
pr0cessa 2/17/2012 2:12:00 PM
Other reviewers described this as a brick red, but for me the color is burgundy. A better name would be "chocolate cherry." The texture is not really a lip balm; it's a full-fledged lipstick. I don't do pinks - I only can wear warm colors - so this is not for me. Also I like my lip color sheerer, more moisturizing, and less pigmented. The clinique butter shine lipstick is, in my opinion, a way better formulation. Putting this up for swap.
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