Mascara -Guerlain - Maxi Lash Mascara
tagg 5/6/2013 11:51:00 PM
So far, I love this. It gives great volume but doesn't clump AT ALL (every other mascara I've used clumps even when it says it won't) and gives me full, SOFT, separated lashes. Smells nice and the tube is very luxe.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Ren - No. 1 Purity Cleansing Balm
tagg 5/6/2013 11:49:00 PM
This lovely balm falls into the "cleanse and polish" category of facial cleansers. You massage the product in and then "polish" it off with a cloth, cleansing and exfoliating in one. If you give this type of cleanser a chance, over a longer term, your skin will start to look fresher and clearer. For more information, check out articles by the fantastic beauty writer Sali Hughes, who is a big fan of cleanse and polish. This balm smells wonderful and does a great job of cleansing - very similar to the (more expensive) cult favourite Eve Lom. I still prefer my regular, by Liz Earle (it's cheaper and less greasy feeling), but I do like this one a lot and I don't have to order it through the mail.
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Shampoo -Shu Uemura - blue muroto volume shampoo
tagg 3/14/2013 4:11:00 PM
A really nice shampoo (had better be for the exhorbitant price!) but did absolutely nothing for me volume-wise. I'll continue to use it on the "at home" days when I'm just pulling my hair back and don't need volume, but for the rest of the time I'll use something else. L'Oreal's Professional Volume shampoo or Privé Amplifying shampoo both do much, much more to provide volume and cost much, much less.
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Brows -MAC - Fluidline Brow Gelcreme
tagg 2/5/2013 9:04:00 PM
This is a no from me. I like the texture, and I like how long a pot will last (you only need a tiny bit). I like that it seemed to not only colour, but thicken my sparse brows. But there are issues. 1. The "Deep Dark Brunette" isn't all that deep and dark, and worse - it's got orange undertones. I looked like a freak in daylight when I had this on. They really need to make a shade that's more ashy. Too much orange in a very common mistake in brow products (some Anastasia products come to mind). I'm surprised at MAC, since they are all about colour, and their brow pencils (Stud, etc) are very good, shade-wise. 2. I have oily skin and most brow products, after some time, start to look patchy on me (and I wipe with alcohol before I apply so there is NO oil to start with). This lasted about 6 hours - not too bad, but not great either. I had better luck with the MUFA brow gel. Overall though, still prefer Suqqu brow pen (great but hard to get) or Stila All Day Waterproof Brow Colour (easier to find and it's got the right, ashier, tone for me), with a bit of Illamasqua Brow Cake in Gaze over top.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Christian Dior - Diorshow New Look Mascara
tagg 2/29/2012 2:28:00 PM
Hate. The best thing about the original Diorshow mascara is the big fluffy brush. So who knows what they were thinking when they went in the exact opposite direction for this mascara - a tiny, too-flexible, rubbery thing covered with little nubs which aren't long enough (like on the Benefit They're Real applicator) to get in between lashes and separate them. And the whole head of the applicator is too flexible - it just bends against my lashes. Using this isn't like brushing on regular mascara - if you try the "wiggle the brush at the base of your lashes" technique the whole thing just bends and does nothing. Hard to describe but this will only sort of coat the one side of my lashes; it can't get in between them to coat each one individually. And it ends up looking clumpy and weird on me. I've stuck an old wand from Armani's Eyes to Kill mascara in the tube to use instead and that works much better. If I had an old Diorshow fluffy brush wand around I would've used that. The formula seems OK - nothing to write home about - so I'll use it up but I'm so not impressed.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Yves Saint Laurent - Volume Effet Faux Cils Shocking Mascara
tagg 11/2/2011 4:30:00 PM
Have been using this for 2 weeks now and would not purchase again. It's one of those mascaras that is simply too much work to get to look OK (as most Lancome ones are in my experience). The brush comes out loaded with WAY too much product, so I have to wipe most of it off on a tissue before application, which is wasteful. Then, it goes on too thick and clumpy, so I have to comb through lashes with a spooly brush to distribute it evenly and remove clumps. And then I get flakes on my cheeks as I'm doing this; it must dry pretty quickly. The smell is quite perfumey and strong. Not unpleasant but a bit odd. 2 coats results in decent volume but it's just too much hassle, and too expensive, for it to be a repurchase for me.
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Hair Color -L'Oreal - Root Rescue
tagg 10/8/2011 10:59:00 PM
WHY WHY WHY didn't I read the reviews?? I have just used the dark brown and now my roots are a weird orange colour - way lighter than the rest of my (uncoloured) hair. And on top of that the grey strands are all still there. HORRIBLE!!! I did like the applicator but right now I am absolutely despondent at the state of my hair. Edited to say that I used Garnier Nutrisse in Intense Dark Brown to cover up the mess made by the Root Rescue and it's the perfect colour. However as it's faded the orange stripe left by the Root Rescue is showing again. I guess I will have to keep colouring that orange as it grows out and down the length of my hair - grrrr. My hair is really long and so this will be a big hassle. My hatred for Root Rescue knows no bounds.
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Brows -Stila - Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color
tagg 10/2/2011 5:10:00 PM
Too much trouble to use!!! It barely shows up so you have to keep going over and over and over to get any colour. It does seem to last quite well on me but it's not worth the price or the hassle. I think this is a good idea in theory - Sephora has a similar product as does Anastasia - but they really need to perfect the formulas before putting them to market. All of these similar products have huge flaws either in colour or quality. EDIT 2013 - I'm revising to say that I've tried this again and I'm now impressed - perhaps they have reformulated? Or maybe I'm just more used to this type of product. I've been using the Suqqu one, which I like but which is hard to get my hands on. Tried the Anastasia one - which was horribly orange on me - and a few others not worth mentioning; all dreadful. Have just tried the new MAC Fluidline Brow, which was a no from me due to colour (again) and decided to purchase this Stila one again having played with it in Sephora. Loving it so far - staying power is good, it seems to show up better now than it did (although I do top with a bit of Illamasqua Brow Cake in Gaze) and best of all the medium is a nice ashy shade - not too orange. I have super oily skin and what I do is wipe my brows with an alcohol/water mix after primer - this seems to leave things totally clear for the product to apply smoothly and stick.
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Treatments -Algenist - Concentrated Reconstructing Serum
tagg 8/8/2011 3:24:00 AM
I like the product - it's a bit more moisturizing than most serums as it's more like a cream/serum hybrid, and it gives my skin a nice glow. Too early to say if it's helping the lines and pigmentation and I'm doing a few other things too so it'll be hard to pin any improvements on one thing. However if the people who discovered this ingredient are such geniuses, why couldn't they come up with better packaging? The eye dropper/bottle combo SUCKS. This would be SO much better in a squeeze bottle or tube. It's much too thick for the dropper.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Primer/ Corrector -Unlisted Brand - Indeed Nanoblur
tagg 10/5/2010 6:41:00 PM
This is NOT meant to be used as a primer. It's supposed to go over your foundation (if you're wearing any), and it doesn't work well with certain types at that. However, over bare skin and some foundations it is quite amazing. I don't know about looking 10 years younger, but it does make a big difference in how I look - just dewier, smoother, softer and glowy, somehow.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Laura Mercier - Eye Basics in Flax
tagg 10/5/2010 2:56:00 PM
Love this! The newer colour formulation is really pretty, with just a bit of pearlescence. It's great under shadow, but really pretty on its own for a "no makeup" look. It makes you look somehow finished and polished all on its own.
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Treatments (Eye) -Promaxyl - Eyelash Renewal serum Rapidlash
tagg 9/3/2010 12:30:00 AM
Pretty great stuff. My lashes are much longer after a month. I haven't had quite as much differerence in the thickness of my brows but my lashes are really responding. You DO need to use it every night to get the results, but then you can back off a bit. I had to take a break while recovering from laser eye surgery and it's not like my lashes all fell out during this time. I have also had less shedding of lashes while using this product. You do need to ensure you're getting it on the base of the lashes and not on the skin, or you may get the discolouration around your eyes that some posters have mentioned. All in all, a pretty amazing product!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Edward Bess - Ultra Luminous Eyeshadow
tagg 3/21/2010 3:29:00 AM
Underwhelming, I'm afraid. I ordered Nude and Dusk. Nude does not show up on me at all - not that I was expecting much colour, but some shimmer or something would have been nice.. Dusk is a dark khaki brown with some gold flecks in it. It looks almost hazel green on me, so basically the same colour as my eyes. I was hoping for a cooler tone. These are nice enough, and I like the packaging, but they are on the pricey side (especially with the shipping charges) and not as nice as Armani or Chanel. I also bought a lipstick, which is very nice, and the All Over Seduction ,which is a shimmer cream. Very little product for the price with that one, and pretty much the same as the Jodie Kidd shimmercream - but with hers you get way more product for less cost.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -Fusion Beauty - Lipfusion Infatuation
tagg 1/2/2010 3:11:00 AM
I LOVE the packaging of this product. The tube is a nice fat, shortish one. The little applicator brush is fantastic - it doesn't flay out like the Bobbi Brown lipgloss brushes, and it doesn't make the top of the tube get all gloopy with product lip like doe foot applicators seem to. I haven't really noticed any amazing plumping after a month of use, but I'd probably repurchase because I like the colour (La Lip Jolie - a sheer slight baby pink) and the fact that this gloss isn't sticky. Not crazy about the grittiness of the little beads but it's not that off-putting.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Brows -Anastasia Of Beverly Hills - Brow Pen
tagg 8/2/2009 2:46:00 PM
I don't understand why a cosmetics company, which should have a basic understanding of colours, insists that orange is a "universal" colour. Even he Universal Dark, which it says is for black or dark brown brows, is too orange. That said, the IDEA of this product is great. It's easy to apply and if the colours were better, it would look very natural. Don't wear it in the rain, or you'll get orange rivulets running down your face. IF they improve the colours and make it more waterproof, I'd buy it again because I do like the ease of application.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No