Gels/Soaps -Caress - Glowing Touch Beauty Bar
supko 3/11/2009 1:49:00 PM
I adore this soap. I want to marry it and have its yummy-smelling babies. I am usually a body wash user, but I am completely addicted to this one! The scent is more lasting and even more addictive than the classic Caress bar/body wash, and this soap actually seems to leave my skin pretty soft with no film/residue. The bar itself also feels more ergonomically shaped than other bar soaps, which is nice. As far as "glowing", I don't know, but I feel like I feel and smell good - which I'm sure makes me just glow from within ;)
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Unlisted Brand - Save Your World Shampoo in Rainforest
supko 12/2/2008 5:12:00 PM
To preface - I have *very* thin/thinning hair that is fine and wavy. Anything remotely heavy will weigh it down, and it'll be grease city just hours later. So I demand a lot from my hair products, as you might guess.
Save Your World Shampoo in Rainforest manages to get my hair clean, clean-*feeling* (no greasies!), and magically keeps my hair soft and shiny. I received this as a gift because I was obsessed with the scent of the Rainforest soap, and the shampoo will definitely be a re-purchase for me. As I mentioned, the scent is what drew me in: I find it to be lightly spicy, green, and definitely woodsy. The shampoo itself is, well, not that attractive -- it looks like a dark and murky caramel sauce, not anything pearlescent or clear. According to online product descriptions, the scent contains: lime, peppermint and cucumber; jasmine and ylang-ylang; spicy hint of black currant, lavender and chamomile; and the woodiness of sandal, cedar and patchouli. Cost: about $10.50
Where I purchased this:
http://www.kaiahouse.com/save-your-world-rain-forest-shampoo.html
Ingredients:
http://store.saveyourworld.com/Save-Your-Hair-Shampoo-s/32.htm
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Gels/Soaps -Unlisted Brand - Save Your World - Yerba Maté All Natural Bar Soap in Rainforest
supko 3/31/2008 10:52:00 AM
THIS SMELLS SO GOOD. I don't often write in all caps - so you know I really mean it ;) I used the Save Your World soap as a hand soap a couple of times at a friend's place, and I *had* to get some. The Rainforest scent is downright addictive. It's a slightly spicy woodsy scent, but with a soft fruity note to keep it from being too pungent. Even just sniffing the unused bar in its box is a little uplifting. I know, I sound like an Irish Spring ad gone scary, but it's true! It's a fresh scent that doesn't smell too soapy. The soap itself works very well - it's not drying, has teeny exfoliant bits in it, and rinses clean (unlike some other bar soaps that seem to leave more of a residue). The bar is a deep smoky blue-green that grows lighter and more translucent with use. It's a little pricey for soap at $12 per bar, but part of the proceeds do go to charity. Ingredients
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Skincare - Face -Osea - Atmosphere Protection Cream
supko 3/12/2008 11:27:00 AM
This is a light moisturizer that smells great - almost like a french-milled lavender soap! I love the gel-like, non-greasy texture. I hate the feeling of having a sticky or greasy face after moisturizing, and the Osea leaves nothing like that. I took off one point because the product doesn't have a sunscreen, but that's probably what helps this one to have such a great texture. It's definitely great for use at work if you work in an arid corporate environment like I do :P $38 for 2oz. at Kaia House (but they often have codes or sales, sign up to be on the e-mail list). Here's a list of ingredients.
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Polishes -Creative Nail Design - Hyde in the Dark
supko 11/1/2007 9:54:00 AM
CND Hyde in the Dark is a dark gunmetal shimmer. It's not a smooth frost or pearl finish -- it has a blackened grey base with tons of silvery multi-tonal shimmer particles. One of my friends said it looks like graphite, and it does! Application wise, it was a little bit thin/streaky over my Seche Ridgefilling Base Coat. Just a litttle! CND polishes have a reputation for not drying quickly, so I used a fast-dry topcoat by Poshe, then CND Dry'n'Shine. This seemed to work with the drying - I only had one slight fingerprint mark on one nail (hardly visible on this color). The combination of this polish plus the topcoats ended up very shiny, so I was very pleased. The problem is the wear -- I never get chips or peels with my Seche RF and Poshe combination, but this nail polish has shown considerable tip wear, chips and peels within five days. I think it's due to the high shimmer content, perhaps? I would encounter this with other metallic polishes, like my UD Twisted and Sally Hansen Chrome Polishes a lot. I feel bad having to give this a less than stellar review, but the chipping is just surprising to me with this brand! I haven't compared this to Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot, but IIRC, the Lippmann shade is more blackened, and the shimmer is not as dense. I am not sure if I need both, but the dense shimmer of CND is really great.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -NARS - Cyprus (Single Fall 2004)
supko 10/18/2007 11:11:00 AM
I purchased Nars Cyprus because I wanted a golden-toned nude shimmer shade (I'm MMM/GGG, with yellow and red tones). I was especially attracted to this one in the store because it appeared to be a rich but understated sandy, cool gold.
But when I ordered my own, the color turned out to be frosty and one-dimensional on my skintone. I think Cyprus just has a bit too much silvery/white pigment in the formula. The texture was very smooth, but alas -- I could not justify keeping this blah-on-me color for the price.
I might try Cairo next because it's supposed to be slightly deeper.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -MAC - Lipglass in Pas de Deux
supko 1/25/2007 4:56:00 PM
Pas de Deux is a sheer pink/silver shimmer gloss. It is like the silvery counterpart to MAC's Luminary Lustreglass (pink/gold shimmer). On the lips Pas de Deux is more tonal than an actual color -- the shimmer tones my brown/mauve pigmented lips to a lighter, cooler pink. Some may prefer Pas de Deux to wear over lip colors for a dimensional shine. I'm a neutralish MMM/GGG (I've been matched to NC35/NW40/C30) and prefer cool/neutral-toned lip colors.
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Polishes -OPI - Lincoln Park at Midnight
supko 12/27/2006 4:46:00 PM
Lincoln Park At Midnight is deepest purple with a satin-like shimmery ribbon/pearl finish. It's a luscious and rich color, and I can imagine the fervor for Chanel Black Satin if that color is anything like OPI's LPAM.
LPAM applies smoothly, especially with the Pro-Wide brush though it can be tricky for people with narrower nail shapes or flared nail shapes. It can apply thickly also, so I'd be careful to use thin coats. The color lasted a few days for me with minimal tip wear.
Lincoln Park At Midnight appears to be slightly lighter and warmer in tone than its older sister Lincoln Park After Dark. In the bottle the shimmer/pearl appears to be slightly silvery and plummy. Would I re-purchase? I already have. I bought a back-up and won't be giving it up anytime soon.
I purchased this on aveyou.com ($1 shipping!) which is certainly easier and less nerve-wracking for me than checking the mall each day. Discount sites like Head2Toe or 8ty8beauty may have this color in stock in January 2007 but no date has been rumored yet.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Maybelline - Wet Shine Diamonds- Clear Cut Diamond
supko 12/27/2006 4:20:00 PM
LOVE this color. Clear-Cut Diamond is sheerest white with iridescent microglitter that flashes white, silver, pink, gold and blue. It's a pretty subtle color so you only see a brief flash of sparkle, but up close you can see all the different colors when you turn your nails to and fro.
This would be a great color for layering over a nude polish. The only issue is that the formula is not that shiny, and the finish is slightly gritty because of the glitter (Maybelline Cold As Ice Colorama is shiny and smooth even with its microglitter, hence the "4" rating for this formula). Both faults are easily fixed with a glossy topcoat like INM Out the Door or Seche Vite or Poshe.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -FingerPaints - Yes you Can-vas
supko 12/20/2006 9:56:00 AM
NB: This review is for color and application only, right now.
Overall I would say this is a very unique and great color which is well-suited for layering because it is hard to apply and not at all true to what the bottle may promise.
In the bottle, Yes You Can-vas is a sparkly deep red-violet, a vampy magenta with multi-color shimmer. It's the reddish version of Fingerpaints Be A Pal-ette. The polish applies very sheerly though, like a "jelly-finish", only it's a little streaky for me.
It takes 3-4 coats to make this color opaque, and it's still not as dark as the shade appears in the bottle. However you do end up with a fuchsia-purple shimmer which is similar in depth to OPI DS Exclusive.
What saves Yes You Can-vas is its truly unique shimmer -- you can pick out red, gold and BLUE microglitter in this color. It has this really pretty, subtle confetti effect. I think this will be a winner over black or dark plum (like its violet sister Be A Pal-ette).
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Eye Shadow -Ben Nye - Lumiere Grande Colour in Amethyst
supko 8/15/2006 9:41:00 AM
Another great shade in the awesome Grande Lumiere line! (I can't recall if it's Grande Lumiere or Lumiere Grande right now, hmm.....)
Amethyst is a medium-deep vibrant pink-tinged purple. It's more on the red/pink side of grape than the blue side. I love this color with golds & ambers -- I paired this with Urban Decay Rust (soft gold/peach/green iridescent shade) for a soft-smoky look. It would also look great with cooler shades like fuchsia, sapphire or black.
The Grande Lumieres are all a soft shimmer/frost finish, and super-blendable. And mad cheap too! :)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Prestige - Caribe - single
supko 7/26/2006 2:03:00 PM
I'm always on the lookout for a good smoky, non-reddish, shimmery dark brown. I am brown myself (MMM/GGG), so finding one that actually reads as smoky is a challenge for me.
Anyway, Prestige Caribe is one such brown, though it's softly smoky on me. If Milani Java Bean or MAC Sable were too plum/rose toned for you, and/or if Stila Espresso was too greyed for you -- try Caribe! It's a muted deep brown with a hint of gold/bronze, but still neutral. It's great for a soft daytime smoky eye on me, and I can even use it to fill in my dark brows when I have a tweezing mishap.
Prestige has excellent colors and the texture and pigmentation are great. I also like the sturdy feeling flip-top pots and the embossed texture on the newer e/s.
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Polishes -OPI - Can't A Berry Have Some Fun?
supko 6/19/2006 4:49:00 PM
I am so sad this polish has a low rating so far! I am guessing the purple tone of this polish might be a surprise or hard to wear for most? Anyway, that is the main reason I'm in love with it!
I was very fortunate to receive an RAOK of this, and it's the creamy-velvety deep red-violet I've been craving. It's like a blackberry smoothie color :) It's not vampy by my standards (I reserve that adjective for more blackened shades), but rather just has enough depth to be a rich dark shade on me (I'm GGG w/ red tones).
It's a bit muted in regular light and looks like a creme shade, but in sunlight or bright artificial light you see a rich deep pink shimmer which is gorgeous. The base color has a cool-toned brick red look in some lights. Gah, I so want a lipstick in this color (will have to check OPI's listings to see if they made one).
This polish has been discontinued for a few (?) years but mine applied very smoothly, and I usually have no trouble with the wear of OPI (I change n/p every few days anyhow).
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Polishes -Maybelline - Colorama - 5-day Color - Cocoa Motion
supko 6/5/2006 1:05:00 PM
Maybelline Cocoa Motion is deepest purple-brown (definitely "raisin" as the reviewer below says) with pink shimmer/sparkle. This looks like a creme with a subtle glimmer in indoor light, and only shows as metallic/frost in brighter lights. The tone is a little muted, and I would categorize it in the 'cool' range. I haven't seen a color like this yet in drugstore or common salon brands -- it might be closest to Essie Martini Cocoa, or at least in the same color family.
The base color is pretty similar to the dark brown M&Ms, which are that cool dark chocolate brown -- those are my favorite so maybe that's why I like this color so much :P
The color applies pretty smoothly, but the brush for this polish is just too wide. That's usually OK for sheer colors, but for this vampy tone it's too inconvenient to work with.
4-5 days later and I only have some wear on the tips (granted, I'm not that hard on my hands lately). I applied this over Revlon Top Speed Base Coat and under Sally Hansen Mega Shine topcoat.
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Eye Shadow -Iman - Luxury Eye Shadow - African Violet
supko 5/21/2006 8:59:00 PM
Rave and rant for Iman African Violet e/s.
It's a gorgeous color - deepest, blackened violet with a frost texture and little bits of glitter (which don't show up, they're useless but cute). This is a more neutral/blue-toned violet than the usual blackened plum e/s you see everywhere, it's like purple-ized navy blue. Great pigmentation and texture, esp. for drugstore e/s. Like with lots of blackened colors, it shows up best when used wet or on a sticky base.
Well, the first time I saw this in Duane Reade all the e/s were broken (not unlike many Wild & Crazy displays) so I should have had a clue these are sorta delicate. Well I fumbled a bit w/ my e/s today and while I didn't drop it, I turned it upside down and the freaking e/s cake fell out of the metal pan and into my hand. And broke. Waaaaaaah. I mushed it back with some alcohol but I hate doing that :/ On top of this, Iman is pricy for drugstore - this one cost $8.44 with NY tax. I only bought it because the color is pretty unique, even for high-end brands IMO. *sigh*
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