Blush -NYX - Taupe
samiiyo 4/20/2013 9:52:00 PM
I've already repurchased this product, which is saying something because it's really hard for me to use up a blush/bronzer. I even bought a backup because I don't want to be without this ever. It's PERFECT to contour my super pale skin. I tried many many bronzers, but all of them looked like I was wiping orange dirt on my face. This one is perfect. I buy it online (I can't find it in stores) and it's only around $4-5. It's a brown/gray color instead of brown/orange, which works really well for pale skin. Highly recommended.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Essence - Quattro Eyeshadow To Die For
samiiyo 4/9/2013 9:51:00 PM
I'm surprised at the lack of reviews for this. People need to know about this product! It's amazingly good for the price and it's something you can wear everyday as the colors are all very neutral. They are shimmery, but they're not overbearing like many of the Urban Decay eyeshadows are. They're very pigmented and not chalky. It looks lovely on my blue eyes, and I'm sure it'd look great on other eye colors as well! They stay a long time, but I do use UDPP, so I can't really say how they work alone. All in all, I would repurchase this next time I'm in the market for a small, everyday, neutral eyeshadow palette!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Essie - Sand Tropez
samiiyo 4/8/2013 7:59:00 PM
I've been lemming over this for quite a while now. I tend to be disappointed with "nude" nail polish shades as they usually take five million coats to make them opaque and then it never dries and it's just a big mess and you can't pee for five hours at the risk of messing up your nails. You could probably get away with three coats for this, but for me it took four thin coats. They dried really quickly and thoroughly. This is a lovely beige color. I surprisingly have nothing close to this color in my enormous box of nail polish, but I'm sure there are dupes. This is the perfect color if you're feeling very simple and classic. I love wearing nude colors because it goes with everything you wear and I'm the kind of person who can't handle when their nails clash with their clothing. It's a problem. Anyway, I love that this matches everything, I love that it's not too in your face (although I do love bright nail polishes), and I love that it's easy to apply. The end.
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Shampoo -ABBA - Pure Volume shampoo
samiiyo 4/8/2013 1:59:00 AM
I didn't actually purchase this, I got it as an ulta reward. To be blunt, this stuff sucks. It says it helps with volume, but actually it makes your hair greasy as all get out. Which... for me... doesn't equal volume. It equals flat against my head and terrible looking.
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Lipstick -Revlon - Juicy Papaya Lip Butter
samiiyo 4/3/2013 4:18:00 PM
I almost didn't buy this because the color of the packaging made it seem like it would be super orange. Despite that, I went for it because I was feeling springy/summery and I basically wanted to buy anything in the orange/coral color family. This color is very flattering with my coloring. I'm very pale, freckly, with natural reddish-brown hair. You can really control the sheerness easily, which I enjoy since I like just a sheer pop of color on my lips on a daily basis, but a little more bold for a night out or for a fun day of shopping or whatever! I have a lot of Revlon Lip Butters, but this is my favorite. I liked Peach Parfait, but I hated the glitter chunks in it so I was very pleased when I tried Juicy Papaya and it had no shimmer or glitter!
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Cleansers -LUSH - Dark Angels
samiiyo 4/3/2013 4:06:00 PM
Well, don't use this with your Clarisonic. It will destroy the brush. Not sure if that's a no brainer for everyone else! I can't use this in the sink as it makes a complete mess. I can't use this in the shower as it leaves a mess that is really difficult to clean. It stained my shower black and now I have to go back in and clean it every time I use it. Definitely not worth it considering I didn't see a difference in my skin. It also expires fairly quickly for the big price tag.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Too Faced - Boudoir Eyes
samiiyo 3/22/2013 7:30:00 PM
I was really excited about this palette when I saw it at the store. The colors were neutral but seemed unique. I especially adored "Voulez-Vous" and "Lap Dance". I swatched all of the colors in the store and they were all pigmented and true to the color in the pan. I bought this and used it the next day and it just looked awful! They weren't pigmented, they were all very very sheer even on my pale skin. I use UDPP so there's no excuse for a color to not look amazing on my eyelids, unless the shadow itself sucks. It looked really muddy on my eyes and ugh. I'm going to try to play around with this tonight and tomorrow morning just to see if I was having a bad makeup day, but I'm glad I kept the receipt and I'll be returning this tomorrow if it doesn't work out.
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Treatments (Eye) -Origins - Eye Doctor
samiiyo 2/16/2013 10:20:00 PM
I did a lot of research before I shelled out $34 for this product. It's suppose to fade dark shadows, counter crow's feet, and de-puff. Well, I'm not really wrinkly yet and I don't have big problems with dark circles. I mainly wanted this as a preventative thing, to moisturize my area, and hopefully help with my de-puffing problem and the few wrinkles I see forming. Well, it really didn't do anything. My eye area looks exactly the same. I didn't notice any de-puffing action, I didn't notice the two fine lines under each of my eyes fade at all. I also absolutely HATE THE SMELL. At first I could smell the cucumber but then suddenly I realized it smelled much more like old cigarettes. Once I noticed this I couldn't handle using it because it just grossed me out (plus the product didn't do anything for me for the price) so I decided to return it to Sephora after a month of using it.
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Mascara -Maybelline - Lash Discovery Mascara
samiiyo 2/1/2013 8:31:00 PM
I would use this solely for my bottom lashes. It's such a small brush it's really easy to work with. I often use it for the corners of my upper lashes too because it can easily reach that area without getting black everywhere. I only gave it a four because I wouldn't reach for this for my upper lashes. I have used it when I'm in a rush and it works fine, it's just nothing special for those lashes. I buy this in the waterproof version.
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Mascara -L'Oreal - Double Extend Mascara
samiiyo 2/1/2013 8:25:00 PM
I'm one of those people who tries new mascaras every time I need a new one. I never really stick to one, at least never one right after another! I tried this through recommendation from a friend and I bought it for about $9.99, which was kind of expensive. I bought the waterproof version. This mascara is alright, however I've realized that I just hate putting on the white portion. It's just an extra step that takes too much time in the morning so I find I never reach for this. I've tried the black by itself and it's absolutely nothing special. When you use both ends it does come out looking nice, but I've had mascara where it's much less work to make your eyelashes look great! I think the fact that I bought the waterproof one has a lot to do with how it looks too, it definitely holds a curl which is common with waterproof mascara. I haven't found that this smudges or anything. This is just kind of a middle of the road mascara for me, it isn't awful, just tedious. It isn't great though. Wouldn't buy again.
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Moisturizers -Josie Maran Cosmetics - Argan oil
samiiyo 2/1/2013 2:35:00 AM
Just for reference, I have oily skin that's acne-prone as well as sensitive. I bought the smaller size of this at Sephora in December and I've been using this as a night moisturizer since then. At first I was scared to put an oil on my face considering my face is oily, but I read so many reviews that I decided to go for it. I use 2-3 drops on my face. I have a big-ish face though! You want just enough so that you feel a kind of resistance when you're rubbing it around your face, that way you won't feel oil-slick for the rest of the evening. I'd start with an even smaller amount and work your way up until you find what's right for you personally. Moving on. This moisturizes very well. I don't find it breaks me out at all, which amazes me. Someone below was talking about a purging period but I didn't have any of that. This doesn't have any offensive, artificial smell, which is pretty nice because you don't want to go to sleep with heavily perfumed products all up on your face. Well, at least I don't. I haven't noticed a giant difference when it comes to my skin, but I'm young so I don't really have any serious wrinkles to treat. I just think this is a nice, simple moisturizer that's good for night-time and works for oily skin. I'd imagine this would be good to use to prevent future wrinkles. Another thing I really love about this is that, while it is sort of expensive ($14 for a little bottle), a little goes a very long way. I've been using this for around a month and I've barely made a dent.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Palettes -LORAC - PRO Palette
samiiyo 2/1/2013 1:03:00 AM
The only reason I wouldn't buy this again is because it takes me forever to go through palettes, plus when I finish this one I'll want to try something new! I got this for Christmas this year from my sister and it's probably my favorite thing I received. I think the consistency is great and not too powdery like some have said. It's quite pigmented! They have mostly neutral colors which I like, but the pink and purple in the palette are extremely wearable. My favorite shade in this is definitely Garnet. It's absolutely lovely on blue eyes. If you're new to high end makeup I definitely recommend this palette. I also have the Naked and Naked 2 palettes, which some people compare to this palette. Perhaps due to the fact that the majority of the shadows are neutral. Now, if you have either one of these palettes or both you can definitely still justify buying the Lorac PRO palette because half of the eyeshadows are matte, which is definitely lacking in the Naked palettes. One major con for me is the packaging. Like, really? Someone's going to pay $49 for eyeshadow that's packaged in some cheap feeling/looking cardboard material? I think that's kind of ridiculous. Other than that I love this. I just wish the packaging was better.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Bioderma - Sensibio H2O (aka Crealine H20 Solution micellaire)
samiiyo 2/1/2013 12:39:00 AM
My French roommate introduced me to this and I gave her $10 for her to buy me one when she went back to visit her family. That's a pretty good deal! But now that I don't live with her I have to order it off of Amazon and it's a bit pricey. I bought two 500ml bottles for $48. $15.99 of that was shipping, which is quite unfortunate. But what can you do when you love a product?! I use this as a makeup remover rather than a cleanser. At first I was quite leery of this considering it is SO much like water that it's almost suspicious. I have sensitive, acne-prone, oily skin. This doesn't irritate my face and it doesn't break me out which has been a HUGE issue for me when it comes to skin care. It doesn't have an irritating smell, it's not oily, it doesn't burn my face or my eye area. The one negative thing that I can think of with this is that it doesn't remove every bit of waterproof mascara. I've tried letting it sit for a minute to see if it would break down but the majority of the mascara is still there. I usually go back in with my Sonia Kashuk makeup remover that I buy from Target and I'm set. It is kind of irritating, but it's just a minor issue that I think that people should be aware of since it claims to be able remove all makeup. It removes ALL of my makeup except waterproof mascara. I've noticed that my face seems much clearer now that I've been using this product too.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -LUSH - BIG
samiiyo 1/27/2013 2:28:00 PM
I was very hesitant to buy this for two reasons. One, that it is kind of a weird hair product and I've never ventured away from "regular" shampoo. Two, the price is absolutely insane. I've never bought a shampoo for more than $15, so at $26.95 my wallet was hurting. I bit the bullet since I'd heard great things about the product online. For reference, I have very straight, medium-thin hair that goes a few inches past my shoulder blades. I do have some split ends due to the process of growing out my hair, but I've never dyed my hair and I don't use a lot of heat. My scalp gets oily quite quickly. When I used it later that night, I took a small amount and massaged my scalp with it only, and gently of course. I don't massage it into the length of my hair at all except for the root area since I can't really avoid it! I then rinsed it out and used the small sample of the solid Big Conditioner that I got on the "pony-tail" region of my hair. When I came out of the shower I didn't use any other products on my hair because I wanted to see how both of the products worked by themselves. I combed through my hair very easily with maybe one or two small tangles. Nice! I let it air dry and my hair was just SO shiny, the ends even looked beautiful, which is saying something because I have long hair that I don't cut as often as most people. Now for the cons. I didn't notice any ridiculous volume, but my hair is constantly battling volume of any kind anyways so it's not surprising. Judging by the name, this hair is basically suppose to defy gravity, so that was a negative for me. Maybe if I blow dry it? Another con is that Lush touts being all natural and whatever, and, well, there's sodium laureth sulfate in this, which I didn't notice until I got home. Now, I don't have an issue with that generally, but when I think I'm getting an all-natural product that only has amazing ingredients in it then it kind of bothers me. Just a bit. Another issue is the packaging. I felt like I was juggling the tub as I was applying the product to my hair and trying not to get any water in the tub. But, what can you do? It's suppose to be better for the environment so I can deal with that. So, to sum it up. I probably would buy this again along with a regular size of the solid conditioner. I probably wouldn't use this EVERY day as you are basically exfoliating your scalp with the salt. If you have an issue with sulfates, then don't buy this.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Maybelline - Barely Branded Color Tattoo
samiiyo 1/16/2013 5:08:00 PM
Since I missed out on the other color similar to this in the fall (I think it was called Barely Beige?) I went into bloodhound mode for this one. The second I heard about it I jumped into my car and hit the drug store. I checked multiple places and finally found it at Walmart in a giant display with just ONE of these left. I grabbed it greedily. It was $5 and something cents, very cheap for something so good. This doesn't crease on me and it's a gorgeous color.Very neutral and very nice to just pat on the lid, put on some mascara and run to class or work or whatever if you're in a hurry. I have about six of these color tattoos just because I'm CONSTANTLY oversleeping and these are extremely easy to use without much effort or time. This is probably my favorite one tied with Bad to the Bronze for that particular reason. I'm pretty sure they're making Barely Branded part of the permanent line, but I couldn't risk it considering how much I use colors like this on my lids. This is very similar to Stila Kitten smudge pot, which I also have. So, if you're on a budget and you want something at least similar to that then I'd go with this. Plus, the Stila smudge pots crease on me and the color tattoos do not! I also got the color tattoo Inked in Pink from this collection, and I'm really excited to use it for like Valentine's Day or something!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No