Eye Shadow -Jane - Aquaceuticals Aquamousse eye shadow
shalashaska 6/13/2010 1:52:00 PM
This did not burn me, but that could be because it looked so awful that I removed it immediately. My main problem with this is that it had a really different tone on my skin than it did in the packaging. I bought the white one thinking that it could be nice as a gel eyeliner. It looks very opalescent in the case, but it was an absolutely flat, chalky white on my skin. I also didn't care for the consistency, which was much more thick and pasty than I had expected and made it difficult to blend. It was very vibrant, though, so if you're looking for a true white that will really show up, this might be it. I've never had white makeup show up so strongly on my skin before. Unfortunately, I thought it was almost cartoony and would have preferred something a little subtler.
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Hair Removal -Nair - SENSITIVE (blue tube) Bikini Area Cream
shalashaska 6/1/2010 5:39:00 PM
I really think the success of this product depends on how coarse your hair is. Mine is very coarse, and Nair gave me patchy removal with some strands of hair disappearing entirely from view, some leaving little tiny nubs by the surface of my skin, and some looking exactly the same as they did before I'd used it. The smell wasn't strong, and it did not sting or irritate my skin, but in order to get it to be bare, I have to shave after using it, which in my mind, totally defeats the purpose of using Nair. If you have fine, light hairs, then I think this will work pretty well for you. If your hairs are sturdy like mine, however, I'm not sure that this is worth your time. After a few applications, I can get it to look much the way it would if I were to shave minus the razor bumps, which is good, but that is not very cost-effective, and I know I will go through this tube twice as fast as I should need to.
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Lip Gloss -Wet 'n' Wild - Natural Wear Lip Shimmer
shalashaska 5/10/2010 3:23:00 PM
This stuff really surprised me. I picked it up thinking that since it was only $2, it couldn't hurt to try it. I expected it to be very sheer, so I used a little extra force when applying it. I was shocked to see that it was actually quite pigmented. I bought the color "tart" which is sort of a coppery shade in the tube. I thought it might be a little more orangey than what I was used to, but it worked very well with the natural color of my lips, and on me it is very perfectly between a subdued peach and pink. It was just a bit less pigmented than a lipstick, so I think it's pretty perfect for adding some color but still having a natural-looking lip.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Sally Hansen - Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy Fast Fix Concealer
shalashaska 5/4/2010 4:26:00 PM
I cannot attest to whether or not this was as drying on me as it was for others because it looked so awful that I could not leave it on any longer than a few minutes. First of all, this is very light. I have light-medium, olive skin, so I bought the medium, and it was VERY fair on my skin and really difficult to blend. It looks much lighter on than it does in the packaging and in the on-shelf swatch. Also, medium was the darkest color available. The biggest problem with this, however, was that it was too cakey. It was hopelessly ugly and un-blendable on the large pores around my nose. Surprisingly, however, even on the rest of the skin, it made my small-regular sized pores look engorged my settling into them and giving my face a scaly effect. I couldn't wait to wash it off. I prefer something a little smoother and a bit less like paste.
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Foundations -Sally Hansen - Natural Beauty inspired by Carmindy Airbrush Spray Makeup
shalashaska 5/4/2010 4:13:00 PM
I've been meaning to try this for a while, and I really wanted to like it. Unfortunately, I did not. I have light, but olive skin, and I went with the light-medium shade, which is probably the best match for me. It was, however, a little too orange in tint for my mostly yellow skin, and the contrast was just too great. I was able to blend it to the point that the color wasn't noticeable, but that didn't change my issue with the consistency. It was nearly impossible to get rid of the streaky look this foundation gave me. The only way to make my skin look smooth in this foundation was to blend it almost away, to the point where you could see all the imperfections in my skin again. It was also really difficult to use with the Sally Hansen concealer that I bought, and together, they ended up looking very cakey. I think it's because this is a little thicker than the usual liquid foundation. As it oxidizes, it has a tendency to separate a little bit, and when I tried to build it, it started to break apart and form beads on my skin. Eventually, I just gave up with it, and now I will have to return it. I was really hoping that I had found a paraben-free, non-powder foundation that would work for me, but it was not so. I guess I'm better off sticking with my regular, old, 100% synthetic liquid.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -New York Color - Long Wearing Nail Enamel - Classic Coral Creme 130
shalashaska 4/22/2010 2:39:00 PM
This is a beautiful pink! When I first painted my nails, it did appear coral, but it has dried into a feminine pink, and I like it much more than I expected I would. I put on four very thin coats and then applied a clear top coat, and it dried very smoothly with no bubbles at all. I'm giving it a poor rating, though, because it has horrible staying power. I painted my nails at 3pm, and by then time I went to bed at 10, they were all chipped! My index and middle fingers had chipped down to the bottom of the white part, and my thumbs were even worse: you could actually see the flesh-colored part of my nail. I did not do anything that should have worn the polish off such as hand-washing dishes or repairing an engine, so the fact that it looked like I had painted my nails 7 days ago rather than 7 hours ago was surprising. It's too bad because the color was really lovely. It's a 99-cent nail polish, but I'd rather invest a few more dollors in a polish that at least stays around for a few days. I'd recommend this if you have a special event like a prom or wedding, where it won't matter if your polish is gone by the next morning. If you're hoping to have this color around for a few days, however, I regretfully recommend looking elsewhere.
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Shampoo -Unlisted Brand - Renpure Organics Moisturizing Shampoo
shalashaska 2/19/2010 11:25:00 AM
It's so random that I even bought this shampoo. I think it only cost me about $2 after the mail-in rebate that came on the bottle -- which, now that I think of it, I don't think I sent in, so I guess it cost me a whopping $5. I had been using Naked Naturals shampoo before trying this, and I don't think I like this one as much. I still shampoo my hair ever other day, but it looks a little greasier on the second day than it usually did with my old shampoo, so I'm not to crazy about that. I guess it is pretty moisturizing, though. My hair looks smooth. I have very curly hair that I straighten regularly, and this shampoo doesn't stand in the way of my getting it pin-straight, so that's key. It doesn't lather much, so that makes it a little more difficult to work through my hair, which is kind of a pain because it gets knotted very easily as I wash it. The bottle is pretty cute, but the fancy shape makes it a little more difficult than necessary to get the shampoo out as it starts to get low, and the cap really doesn't come off at all, so I'm pretty sure I'll have to throw this out with more left in the bottom than I'd like. I don't think I'd buy it again, but it's good enough to justify using until it runs out.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Sally Hansen - Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy Sheerest Cream Blush in Bloom
shalashaska 2/19/2010 11:09:00 AM
This was my first time trying one of Sally Hansen's cream blushes, and I'm afraid that I bought the wrong shade. I'm an olive skinned person, and this is just too pink for me. My skin is very light, however, for being so olive, so the other shades just looked too dark in the store, and I went with this one. Because of my skin tone, applying it is a very exact science. It can look good if I use just the right amount, but I have to get it especially sheer, because it very easily ends up looking a little unnatural if I use the amount I normally would. As far as cream blushes go, I like it otherwise. It's very light and blendable, and would be natural looking if I'd gotten the right shade, so I think I will buy one of these again in a different color.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Tinted Moisturizer -Wet 'n' Wild - Ultimate Sheer Tinted Moisturizer - Buff
shalashaska 2/19/2010 11:05:00 AM
Considering that this moisturizer only costs about $3, I think it works really well. Deciding which color to buy was a little difficult. The plastic bottle is slightly frosted, so it's really difficult to tell what color it will be on the inside. For this reason, all of the seals had been broken by other customers who had needed to test the product to see the color. Understandable, I suppose, but gross! If you're like me, and you're not into testing products in stores, I think it's cheap enough to justify just buying it and taking a chance. Fortunately, Wet 'n' Wild makes their pressed powder foundations in the same shades as this moisturizer, and it's much easier to tell through the packaging of those what the colors look like, so that's how I knew which to buy. Anyway, I was surprised by how much this really toned down my dark spots for a tinted moisturizer. It hasn't broken me out or clogged my pores, so I'm really happy with it. It does tend to get a little unpleasant looking on any dry patches of skin that I have, however. Overall, I think it's a really good way to get light coverage and maintain a natural glow that's so often lost by using a really matifying foundation.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -NYX - Trio TS1 - White/Gray/Black
shalashaska 2/19/2010 10:55:00 AM
I really love the black eyeshadow in this trio. It's very dark, but it doesn't wear off and look streaky and weird throughout the day as black eyeshadow so often does on my oily eyelids. I use it as an eyeliner. The white and gray, however, barely/don't show up at all. I think I would like the white more if it were a bit more luminescent, but as it is, it goes on looking really unflattering. It blends away to invisibility really easily, but unblended, it looks too matte and doesn't brighten my eye in the way I want to. The gray is completely useless on me because you just can't see it on my olive skin tone. It might be more appealing on someone with porcelain skin. I'd never buy this trio again because it's not worth it to use one out of three shadows, but I'd definitely buy NYX's black shadow, so that's one positive.
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Moisturizers -Neutrogena - Ageless Intensives - Tone Correcting Moisture SPF 30
shalashaska 2/19/2010 10:46:00 AM
I bought this moisturizer hoping that it might help to fade some acne scars on my chin. So far, actually, it seems to have helped in lightening them a bit, more so than I expected, so I'm mostly pleased with this. I've used other Neutrogena moisturizers that have left my skin looking really greasy, and I'm so relieved that this one doesn't. One of the negative aspects of this moisturizer is that I think it's a little bit over priced. It's about $23 or $24, and the bottle is only 1 oz. Also, the way it's constructed, some of the moisturizer inevitably sits in the nozzle after use and gets a bit yellowy and unpleasant looking as it comes into contact with the air. I have very oily, not at all sensitive skin, but this has made my skin get very dry on one cheek. Products with any retinol in them have a tendency to do that, but I didn't expect it to happen with my tough, oily skin, so I think that people with dry or sensitive skin to begin with should use this sparingly.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Sunscreen -Neutrogena - Age Defense Face Shield SPF 90+
shalashaska 2/19/2010 10:33:00 AM
I usually really don't like Neutrogena sunscreen, but I'm glad I decided to give this one a chance anyway. It's very easy to rub in (not as thick as some of their other sunscreens), and it doesn't leave a white cast on my skin, which I really like. When I first apply it, it seems very greasy, but it only takes a few minutes for my skin to absorb it, and then I don't look shiney at all, which is saying something, as I have pretty oily skin! I can wear it under moisturizer and makeup without a problem. Looking at the other reviews it's gotten, it seems to be a pretty hit or miss product. For me, it's definitely my HG daily sunscreen. I recommend buying it at someplace like CVS or Rite Aid -- somewhere that'll allow you to return used products you don't like.
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Polishes -Revlon - Really Rosy
shalashaska 2/19/2010 10:26:00 AM
This nail polish is VERY similar to Revlon's Tuscan sun nail polish, only slightly more pink. Like many Revlon polishes, it goes on ever so slightly darker than it appears in the bottle. It's a very pretty, muted raspberry color, however, and I really do like the way it looks. I think it's a very versatile color which can be worn during any time of the year. It goes on very smooth -- no bubbles -- and is pretty inexpensive.
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Polishes -Revlon - Steel-her Heart
shalashaska 12/28/2009 11:29:00 AM
I love this nail polish. It's smooth and easy to apply -- no bumps or bubbles -- and the little brush makes it easy to be precise. I'm crazy about the color. It's a little darker than silver . . . more of an arsenic, I guess. I think it's a really nice alternative to doing a dark nail. I don't usually wear metallic nail polishes, but this nail polish is pretty enough to convert me. I've gotten many compliments on it so far. It dried pretty quickly, it goes very well with everything I wear, and it hasn't begun chip after several days. It's been gradually fading away at the tips, but at this point, you can't even tell it's begun to wear unless you're studying it really closely. I'm very pleased with this.
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Polishes -OPI - Russian Navy Matte
shalashaska 12/28/2009 11:16:00 AM
I'll start out with the positives: this dries very quickly, goes on smoothly, and it is easy to remove. Unfortunately, I really hate everything else about this polish. The color is a little dark for my taste: it looks nearly black to me, even after only one coat. This is the first true matte nail polish I've used, and I found out the hard way that OPI is serious-as-a-heart-attack when they use the word "matte." I had no idea this polish would be SO flat because I didn't think anyone would want their nails to actually look like this. It's probably the ugliest nailpolish I've ever used, in my opinion. It looked like I painted my nails with the interior wall paint. That's the best way I can describe it. It just looked really cheap and almost childish. It reminded me of what my nails used to look like when I would absent-mindedly color them in with Crayola markers when I was 8-years-old. I guess if you like that "I buy my nail polish at Home Depot" look, then this would be a pretty good choice for you, but I probably wouldn't recommended it to anyone else.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No