Lipstick -GOSH - Velvet Touch Lipstick #134 Darling
roodswing 11/17/2009 4:33:00 PM
I'm pretty new to lipstick and I have to say that this is perfect for my beginner every day lipstick. I wear pretty dramatic eyes every day, but until recently could never find a lipstick that looked good on me. This never bothered me until I discovered MUA, which is slowly providing me with education into the makeup world. Now when I have dramatic eyes and bare lips I feel like my FOTD is incomplete - like I got bored and quit application before finishing. Until Darling, every time I put on a lipstick I thought it looked silly and wiped it off almost right away. My mouth is small and I find dramatic red/pink lips just draw too much attention to how small my mouth is, or how big my face is, depending on how you look at it. It probably doesn't help that I'm so pale (think too pale to wear NW15). That being said, this lipstick seems to be a perfect peachy nude shade for me. Obviously, because it's a nude, it makes my lips a light nude shade, which is good for a natural makeup look, but if I want more color to them (ie to balance out my drama eyes) I color my lips in first with a lip liner that is just slightly darker than my natural lips (Annabelle Natural Rose, for reference) and then wear Darling over top and voila...MLBB! Still a very bare look but gives a good finish to the rest of my FOTD so it doesn't look like I got bored and quit in the middle of it. PS I looked on www.goshamericas.com and they show Darling as being purple toned. I don't know if it's just me but I see absolutely no purple in this lipstick...pure peachy nude goodness. It's hard for me to compare this for you as I'm so new to lipsticks, but I find this to have a really nice creamy texture to it that goes on easily and evenly without any fuss. It's moisturizing enough for my lips that they don't dry out. I probably re-apply 2-3 times to get through my work day though, which is ok with me...luckily my lip liner is long wearing enough that I never have to re-apply it, I can just freshen up Darling and keep on going. Product is availabe in Canada at SDM, retail is $12.50. $12.50 is an acceptable price for me, but I was lucky enough to catch this on sale 40% off which I will paying attention for in the future. Hope this helps someone!
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Eyeliner -GOSH - Velvet Touch Eyeliner
roodswing 11/17/2009 4:02:00 PM
This is perfection in a pencil! Until I discovered GOSH Velvet Touch liners I was a devout MAC fluidline user, but a friend recommended I try these and I am so glad I did! They wear almost exactly like my beloved fluidline - soft and creamy on application, you have some time to smudge/blend as you see fit but after a few minutes it SETS. No smearing or smudging even on my oily skin. If anything I would say that these "set" much faster than fluidline, and (for me) it is easier to apply these lightly via pencil than it is (for me) via brush. I usually end up wearing fluidline a little on the heavy side. Other than that I have no problem applying fluidline, but it sure is nice to have a pencil and not have that one more brush to wash each day. (OK, OK so I'm LAZY!) I have used two colors so far: Truly Brown - this is a dark brown, leaning towards black. Just slightly darker than MAC Dipdown fluidline. Bananas - OMG instant love! This is a pale iridescent gold color that gives a lovely POP to the eyes. I would not use this for my upper lash line as I prefer darker eyeliner there, but this is lovely for inner corners or lower waterline/lash line. I have a current obsession with Smashbox Oyster and NYX Barely There eye shadows and this pencil is pretty much the eyeliner version of those eye shadows. My eyes are on the green side of hazel and adore these pale golds, and at my recommendation my BFF with blue eyes also tried this liner and loves it as well. GOSH Velvet Touch liners are available at SDM and retail for $13 each. Well worth that price, but the best part is they have SALES! (Take THAT MAC!). GOSH just recently had a two day 40% off sale at SDM and I picked up these liners for $7.80 each. I dare you to find a comparable eyeliner for that price! :)
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Liquid -mark - Face XPert
roodswing 11/15/2009 9:45:00 PM
Complete and utter packaging FAIL. When I saw this makeup with it's own sponge applicator, I thought this was a GREAT idea. As usual, just because it's a great idea on paper does not make it one in practice. The first few applications were fine, but there is no way to get at the product without going through the aforementioned sponge applicator, so the less product inside the less practical the sponge becomes. When there was about half the product still in the bottle it was becoming very bothersome to get enough product onto my face, and when there was still 1/4 product left I got sick of it and threw it away. The actual product itself was fine, but the packaging makes for way too much work.
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Crème -Boots - No7 Stay Perfect Compact Foundation
roodswing 10/19/2009 4:41:00 PM
I had a very hard time rating this product. This was yet another impulse buy that I randomly picked up at the drugstore one day. I'd never even heard of the Boots. Firstly, the packaging is very strange. It looks like a standard compact from the outside but when you open it up you see that instead of a full size round application sponge there is a little cresent moon shaped one with actual foundation in the other half of the moon. It was very annoying to try to apply and blend the foundation with such a small application sponge. As I used the product I noticed that although it looks like it's a smaller amount of foundation it is actually deeper so probably has the same about of product as other drugstore cream foundations. The actual product is fine...not extrordinary by any means but pretty much what I expected from the other cream foundations I've used...slightly heavy, opaque texture, but easily blended out for lighter coverage. HOWEVER While I find this to be a mediocre foundation, I find this an EXCELLENT travelling concealor for those longer days where you can't get home to touch up/re-apply. Because it's opaque it covers dark circles/blemishes very well and as mentioned above it blends out to sheer quite easily. I tossed out the silly little cresent sponge and started carrying a 217se, which I find blends this prodcut out very well. I can just apply my Stuidio Fix over the concealer and I look good as new.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Powder -Cover Girl - TRUblend Pressed Powder
roodswing 10/19/2009 4:17:00 PM
This product has a very disappointing chalky texture. I was looking for a pressed powder for in my purse for touch ups throughout the day, but I prefer something more finely milled than this product. Also, I am too pale for MAC NW15 foundations so I pretty much always try the palest shade available first....01 Translucent/Fair in TRUblend is extremely pale, definitely more pale than I am.
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Cleansers -St. Ives - Olive Cleanser
roodswing 10/19/2009 2:50:00 PM
For reference, I have oily/combo skin and a rosacea-like skin issue with redness and dry skin patches. I use medical soap (like SpectroGel or Cetaphyl) normally, as well the Clinique face wash for oily/combo skin but none of that removes Revlon Colorstay very well. I impulse bought this because it was on sale for $4 and I have been desperately trying to find a face soap that will completely remove my foundation without using an oil cleanser. BINGO! This product was it. Absolutely perfect soap for removing heavy make up, and at a great price too. I still keep my other face soaps for in the shower, etc, but I use St Ives Olive Cleanser every day when I get home to remove my FOTD.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Maybelline - Lash Stiletto
roodswing 9/11/2009 5:03:00 PM
This is probably my least favorite mascara I have purchased. It didn't really give me any length, and if anything made my lashes look thinner than they do without anything on. Not sure how that's even possible, but needless to say I was unhappy with how it looked. Also, the wand has really short bristles on it, and I prefer longer ones, I find they do a more even job of applying the product.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Cocomotion Pigment (Rushmetal)
roodswing 9/11/2009 4:55:00 PM
This is a beautiful pigment! Light application and it goes on like a shimmery warm taupe color, heavier application and it can lean more towards a bronze shade. So beautiful, blendable, workable...just in general awesome!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Fyrinnae - Lip Lustre: Bloodstains
roodswing 9/11/2009 4:47:00 PM
Same texture as all the other Lip Lustres I have tried: silky and smooth. Not sticky in the least, and not as heavy as a regular lipstick. Bloodstains is a shade true to name...it really does look like blood to me. Deep almost-brick type red color. Very nice!
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Mascara -Maybelline - Full 'N Soft Mascara Waterproof
roodswing 9/11/2009 4:45:00 PM
I wanted to love this but after a week's use I am definitely underwhelmed with this product. I don't find that it gives me any volume or length at all. Obviously it does work at darkening my natural lashes, so if I was looking for a "my lashes but better" type mascara, I would reach for this one. But really, let's face it, everyone wants to improve either the length or fullness of their lashes, and many want both!
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Mascara -Maybelline - Volum' Express The Colossal
roodswing 9/11/2009 4:39:00 PM
This is probably my favorite drug store mascara I have found so far. If you take enough swipes with the wand it gives both length and volume. Does cause lashes to clump together if you apply that heavily though, so you will need an eye lash comb. If you apply lightly I find this actually gives more length than volume, but that could be just me.
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Eyeliner -Fyrinnae - Inks Liquid Eyeliner in Violet Vendetta
roodswing 9/11/2009 4:34:00 PM
Fyrinnae Inks are one of my favorite liquid eye liners. They do have a more runny texture to begin with, but they dry pretty quickly. It took me a couple of tries before to learn how to apply them with the right amount of product. Too much product and it will bleed in your skin's natural texture or wrinkles. Violet Vendetta is an awesome royal purple shade. More of a blue toned than red toned purple.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -Fyrinnae - Lip Lustre - Flavor of the Day
roodswing 9/11/2009 4:28:00 PM
I love the textures of Fyrinnae Lip Lustres! They have a really nice silky feel on. Not sticky like gloss and lighter than a normal lipstick. Flavor of the Day is a great peachy pink color with gold shimmer in it.
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Makeup Brushes -Quo - Blush Brush
roodswing 9/11/2009 3:58:00 PM
Like all Quo brushes, they are pretty good quality for the price, but better to wait for a sale. These go on sale for 40% a few times a year at SDM, and that all of mine were bought during these sales. The blush brush is nice and soft and has a great dome shape. I actually use it ot apply finishing type powders more often than blush, but only because I don't wear a lot of blush.
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Eyeliner -Fyrinnae - Inks Liquid Eyeliner in Ninja
roodswing 9/11/2009 3:54:00 PM
Inks seem to have a unique consistency as far as other liquid eye liners. I find them to go on very runny, and therefore I have had *some* instances of bleeding in skin texture/wrinkles. It took me a couple tries to get the hang of application and not have this issue. They do dry fairly quickly, and I love Ninja...it dries to an absoluste matte black finish. I also like how the wand is longer than most other liquid eye liners, it works well for me.
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