Eyeliner -Bloom - Liquid liner in Jet Black
swirlsschmurls 1/31/2010 1:15:00 PM
Best liquid eyeliner I've ever tried and the first thing I can put on my eyes all day without EVER worrying about it. This is a big deal to me, as my other reviews will attest to. I am an eyeliner addict but have had trouble finding something that will stay on all day with minimal smudging. Well, this goes beyond minimal, this has NO smudging. The brush is a little tricky at first, not going to lie, but once mastered, I can do wings without too much trouble. I find the easiest way to go about this is to lay the brush flat against my lid and draw from the inside to outer corner in one motion. Do this for both eyes, and then flick the corners once both lines are even. Once on, it stays completely put, no smudges, no dreaded flakes - through 13 hour work days, through heat and sweat, through swimming (!). Removing it is a tough task, but warm water and some coconut oil gets rid of most of it. Love it so much that I bought a backup after using it just twice, something I have never done for any other product. Now that's love. This is the only thing I've ever used that I would recommend to anyone, no ifs, ands or buts.
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Shampoo -LUSH - BIG
swirlsschmurls 10/21/2009 12:24:00 PM
The reviews here had me feeling leery of trying this shampoo for fear of drying my hair out too much, but the promise of big hair was just too much to resist. I have been using this for about a month now, and am absolutely loving it. I've been getting compliments about my hair's condition and shine, which has never happened to me before. Big has actually elevated my hair from average to 'people-telling-me-my-hair-looks-great' status. I think the texture (salt crystals suspended in a viscuous gel) is actually pretty fun to use, so long as you get your hair very, very wet before lathering up. I wash my hair every other day, but with this, I can get away with washing every 3 days or so if I'm particularly busy. To counteract the dryness, which admittedly is present, I either slather on coconut oil for a couple of minutes before getting in the shower and wash my hair, or use conditioner after. This gives me hair with body but not too much fluff, so it's easy to style. For those who aren't a fan of the scent (I personally don't mind it), I found that putting in a couple of drops of ylang ylang oil or an essential oil of your liking and stirring it up does help. Love this shampoo, will continue to buy and will continue to look forward to using. Oh, and about the screw top in the shower, I've found that you don't HAVE to screw it back on, just put the cover back on top and push downwards. It should pop into place, although this doesn't help with the taking it out part. :)
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -MAC - Matte - Chili
swirlsschmurls 10/21/2009 12:15:00 PM
Like most of the reviewers here, I LOVE this colour. The first day I wore it, it made me feel so happy and fresh that I actually wrote an effusive email to a friend going on about the wonders of this lipstick I just bought. Haha. On me, it's a bright but very wearable red that has that little touch of orange to make it spicier and more interesting than a completely neutral red. I find it works best on me either gently patted on, on top of a balm, or applied straight from the tube on prepped lips. The colour lasts all day on me, with just slight fading on the inside of my lips. The important thing with the MAC mattes, I think, is to let them set, and not touch them for the first minute or so after application. After that, they wear down incredibly well and while your lips might feel a little flakey towards the end of the day, the colour looks just as fresh.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Stila - Major Lash Mascara
swirlsschmurls 8/27/2009 7:33:00 AM
I should preface this review by saying that mascara-wise, I'm not particularly demanding. I'm more of a cheek/lip girl, so I just wanted a reliable mascara that wouldn't make my lashes spidery and crunchy, give reasonable definition and not smudge. In all those respects, Major Lash comes through admirably. I have long, straight (Asian) lashes that tend to clump and tangle when applying most lengthening/volumising mascaras and lose their curl in seconds, but this stuff gives me reasonable volume and believable length, so much so that my eyes just look better and more awake without looking AT ALL like I have any mascara on. I like that the formula is a little runny, and the brush does its job in coating all my lashes, including the lower ones. Importantly, it actually gives me a curl without needing to use a curler. It does tend to smudge a little under my eyes throughout the day (hence the missing lippie), but for basic performance, I haven't found better, especially because I don't want to pay too much for something I'm going to toss in a couple of months.
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Eyeliner -Jordana - Easyliner for Eyes in Smokey
swirlsschmurls 8/27/2009 4:27:00 AM
I love this pencil, it's one of those underrated gems in my makeup arsenal that gets used a lot more often than I really notice. On mornings when I don't have time/ am not sure what else I'm going to put on my face or on weekends when I just want a natural look with a bit of definition, this is my go-to pencil. Speaking as someone on whom pencils AND gel liners smudge and fade, this pencil is a wonder to work with. There is minimal smudging ( I dare not hope for none), and it gives a clean line that can be smoked out slightly. The colour is a very dark grey, as everyone has said...more subtle than black but giving the same amount of definition. Am wearing it today with lashings of mascara and it really does give a wonderful groomed, everyday look, and for price and quality, can't be beat. I used to be leery of grey liners for just looking like faded black, but this one's great.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Laura Mercier - Lip Stain in Mulberry
swirlsschmurls 8/11/2009 3:47:00 AM
I love the colour of this stain, much like everyone else. It works as a light reddish stain that's completely natural and very fetching...it's not a cherry popsicle colour, just a fresh, sophisticated darker red, and also looks fine layered on for a more solid 1940s dark brick red tone. My only problem with it was that while the colour was gorgeous, the texture left much to be desired; the product would dry and adhere to all the lines and dry patches on my lips and eventually flake off entirely, so that I could only enjoy the colour for all of an hour before it became unattractive. Unwilling to just give up, I armed myself with an empty lipbalm pot, and mixed in some Carmex, Bepanthen and a hefty scraping of the product. Mixing it together, I got a balm/stain/gloss that I can apply without a mirror, is plenty moisturising and actually leaves a stain that will stay through one meal and plenty of drinks. You get plenty of product for the price you pay, and I've found that this is the most fool-proof way for me to get full use of this.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Bronzers -The Body Shop - Shimmer Waves in Bronze
swirlsschmurls 6/3/2009 6:03:00 AM
Wearing this today and loving it. In the interest of complete honesty, I have kinda put this one aside for ages because I kept thinking it was just waaaay too shimmery for me. The colour, while quite wonderful, could also sometimes look too dark. Fastforward almost a year later, and a girl armed with better brush skills approach this again, much better prepared this time. :) I swish my brush on it, in a cross-shape, if that makes sense, twice across the top three panels and once vertically downwards, to pick up slightly less of the darker pigment. This leaves me with a subtly bronzed glow with no visible shimmer, more of a sheen. Applied it on the apples of my cheeks and lightly as a contour down my nose and on the sides of my face and I didn't look like a discoball - which is a look I'm very wary of, trust me. I want to try it on eyes next. Glad to have rediscovered this one.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Bobbi Brown - Espresso Ink Long Wear Gel Eyeliner
swirlsschmurls 5/6/2009 12:04:00 PM
When you wear eyeliner every day and have coworkers who for some reason delight in telling you how tragically it's smudged and how tired/messy/generally crap you look due to that, the hunt for the perfect eyeliner is ON. Espresso Ink, of all the gel eyeliners I've tried (BB, Mac, Stila), stays put absolutely all day. Yesterday I had it on from 6 a.m. to 12 a,m. including one workout session, and while it wasn't a perfect line at the end of the day, it was still there with minimal smudging. I wasn't looking for something that would give that precise liquid-liner look, more like something that approximates the subtle definition of kohl without the mess. This cool dark brown accentuates my very dark brown eyes as well as black, and Black Ink is the next on my BB purchase list to round out my perfect trio of Espresso, Ivy and Black. I will say though, that unlike what some other reviewers have said, I find the matte BB gel liners easier to work with and less likely to smudge than the shimmers, having tried both Ivy and Sapphire.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -MAC - Tarnish Eye Kohl
swirlsschmurls 4/5/2009 10:47:00 AM
This is truly one of my favourite liner colours ever. It's perfect for girls who have very dark brown eyes and want something other than black to define them without having it scream 'Look ma, coloured liner!' (which is a look I love, just not everyday. :) ). It's a beautiful blackened-green, and the green sheen really comes out when the line's drawn slightly thicker. Unfortunately, this doesn't just smudge on me, but literally disappears. It begins smudging the minute I get into the car and look at myself in the rearview mirror, which is usually about 3 minutes after I've applied it, no exaggeration. Which is sad because it's a very lovely colour, something I can't say enough. If it lasts on you, appreciate it. And either way, give it a try, just be prepared for possible smudging. EDIT: Have added two lippies because the other day while playing around trying to do a smokey eye, I tried smudging Tarnish all over my lid as a base, and realised that for the lazy and/or those yet to be initiated into the Land of Eyeshadow, Tarnish works SO WELL for this smokey look. I just applied a very thick line to my lid, and blended away, adding the highlights and accents later. Note that I have Asian creaseless eyes, so this method works for me, but I reckon that as a base, this would work for anyone. Try it!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -MAC - Fluidline Eye-Liner Gel in Blacktrack
swirlsschmurls 4/5/2009 10:40:00 AM
I've wanted to try this for so long, and am so disappointed that when it finally did, it was such a disappointment. My two main criteria in an eyeliner are: one, that the colour be rich enough to define my eyes well and two, that it doesn't smudge ridiculously and make me look sloppy. Well, Blacktrack unfortunately only fulfilled one of those things. After all the wonderful reviews, I had high hopes for this being my HG liner, but nothing can deny the fact that this starts smudging well within 4 hours, no matter how I try to make it last. Tightlining with it was even more of a disaster. The consistency was easy to work with, and the colour beautiful, but if like me, you have creaseless Asian eyes, and if like me you have colleagues that seem to delight in telling you when your eyeliner is smudging, give this one a pass. You're better off with BB gel liners or even Revlon Colourstay.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Kiehls - Lip Balm #1
swirlsschmurls 4/5/2009 9:52:00 AM
I know people for whom this works wonders and am glad for them, but damn if this does absolutely nothing for me. It's really my own fault, I KNOW petrolatum-based products don't work, but I keep getting sucked back in. Applying this works just as well as wetting my lips. It lasts all of 3 minutes and then it's like I did nothing. The 2 lippies are given because the only time this had a semblance of lipbam-esque moisturisation for me was when I was travelling in winter. Since I live in year-long humid Malaysia, it's pretty useless to me, but it did okay in winter, so maybe if you live in a country that has four seasons, this might (and only might) be worth a try.
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Brows -Shu Uemura - Brow Pencil
swirlsschmurls 4/5/2009 9:46:00 AM
Oh, this is so close to being HG. Unfortunately, as everyone's pointed out, this works by grabbing on to the eyebrows you already have. So for someone who really needs to work on filling out a bald spot at the end of my eyebrows, this does tend to take a bit of effort at making the colour catch on and also fades after 7 or so hours. But it is still absolutely the most natural eyebrow pencil I have ever used (I'm using Acorn and have dyed reddish-brown hair) and very difficult to overdo. Worth the price, which is RM 65 in Malaysia.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Stila - Shadow Pots Eye Mousse in Honey
swirlsschmurls 4/5/2009 9:41:00 AM
This rating is really more of a 3.5. I am very new and very timid to the world of eyeshadow, being more of an eyeliner, blush and lipstick girl myself. I usually use Honey as a wash on my lid, and while it doesn't do anything groundbreaking, it does highlight my eyes and brighten them up without much work on my part. (Always a good thing on quick mornings before rushing off to work). On top of that, it helps my pencil liners, particularly my disappointing Shu pencil, last longer and smudge less. However, it fades a lot towards the end of the day and sometimes migrates down to my cheeks, hence the slightly lower rating. It's very pretty though, and makes for a nice shimmery simple look.
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BB Cream -MISSHA - M Perfect Cover BB Cream
swirlsschmurls 4/5/2009 9:35:00 AM
My HG foundation/TM. I am absolutely convinced that I will not need to go hunting any further for one that suits me any better unless my skin suddenly does one of its freak about-turns and starts hating on this. I can't say much for the skin-improving qualities of BB cream except to say that my skin is much softer after removing this as compared to other foundations. I'm using No.21, and am of fair Chinese complexion. One pump of the product is enough to cover my entire face AND use as a concealer, and I end up with a very natural, my-skin-but-better look. The finish is matte enough that I can choose to use either cream or powder blush, and oil control lasts well into the later hours of the evening, and even then, it's not that my skin oils up, more that the finish becomes a little more glowy. I love this and highly recommend it. Just don't apply too much, and give it a minute or two to settle into your skin, as with any BB cream.
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Lipstick -MAC - Craving
swirlsschmurls 4/5/2009 9:29:00 AM
What a cheery colour this is! That's the main thing I love about this lipstick, I must say. It's a fantastic no-brainer to brighten my face and my mood on the way into work on dreary days. On me, it turns out a bright but deep (if that makes sense) raspberry pink, and goes fantastically with most neutral to cool-toned blushes. I like wearing it applied full-force for more of a statement lip, or as others have suggested, just pressed on as a stain. It's girlish but still strong, and pairing this with a simple lined eye creates a nice, pulled-together look without looking too 'done'. EDITED TO ADD: Still love this lipstick, but for a more affordable option, I found Revlon's SL Berry Rich lipstick to offer much the same look, but it's more berry (as the name implies) and more subtle.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No