Hair Color -Revlon - Colorsilk Luminista 
tempescape 5/20/2013 10:04:00 AM
Within a few minutes of applying this dye my head felt like it was on fire. Washed it out. Definitely way too strong for my head.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -EO - Everyone lotion unscented
tempescape 5/7/2013 11:22:00 PM
This is for the soap and the lotion. Not bad for a quick wash. Definitely not for extremely dry skin but still better than Dr. Bronners for showering as db is UBER drying. The bottle doesn't seem to last long. It doesn't lather so you feel you need to use more product. I'm sure thete's better out there. The lotion is crap. It's pretty much the same stuff you can get cheaply with any brand except the ingredients are better. It's thin, doesn't moisturize. In fact, it does absolutely nada for skin. For dry skin you're better off bjying Cetaphil ultra hydrating lotion or Burt Bees richly replenishing lotion with cacoa and capuacu butter.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -Alaffia - super hydrating body lotion
tempescape 5/7/2013 11:18:00 PM
O.k...No No, No. How did this company go so right with thier shea body wash and so WRONG with this skin coated like plastic feeling lotion? I'd be very surprised if everyone who tried it, no matter what their skin type, broke out. As soon as I put it on it was like my skin was suffocating. On y hands too. I didn't dare to try it on my body. Not only did it feel like liquid crisco as it went on but 5 mi utes later I looked in the mirror and my face looked as dry as ever. Felt coated, looked dry. Dissapointing. Returning this tomorrow.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -Tom's of Maine - Natural unscented sensitive beauty bar with chamomile
tempescape 4/20/2013 8:48:00 AM
Excellent soap. I get absolutely no break outs and no dry patches on my sensitive skin. Even more srange is that I can wash with it and not need lotion afterwards whch is absolutely unheard of with my eternally parched dry looking skin. It also helped clear up my skin from patchiness from old spots. I discovered that not only were a lot of these drug store creams/lotions breaking me out but soaps such as Dove were also the culprit. This soap has a really light scent which you can smell when the bar is dry but not when it's wet. This version is pretty hard to find in stores also.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Gels/Soaps -Alaffia - Everyday Shea Moisturizing Body Wash
tempescape 4/7/2013 12:57:00 PM
Bought it to use as body wash but it gave my chest a few spots after only two days use which is strange (and sad) as it acted as a really good moisturizer for my super dry skin. Started using it as hand soap and it moisturized amazingly. No need to use lotion afterwards. If you're the kind of person who wants that squeeky clean feel though this product isn't it. It washed great but leaves what I feel is a shea butter film. Ran out of shampoo and tried it out on my 4c naturally afro hair and GA-DAMN! My hair felt softer than any shampoo I've used since the now discontinued (sob) Creme of Nature (green top/cream colored bottle) moisturizing shampoo that every ethnic person alive still cries over. It makes your hair THAT soft). Soooo, it's now my only shampoo/conditioner and hand soap. It's so good i'm not going to buy the same brand singular shampoo/conditioner versions. It's lasted a crazy long time also, about 3 months so far and there's still a quarter of the bottle left. Like I said though, if you have oily skin stay well away. If you have dry hair though run to it. It'll cut down your curly hair product and possible cut out your need for conditoner forever.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Skincare - Body -Coastal Scents - Unrefined Shea Butter
tempescape 2/22/2013 5:02:00 PM
I want to agree with others and rave about their Shea butter but honestly I can't. I have dry skin. I need something that is moisturizing. This wasn't it. I've tried various natural Shea butters from Muslim stores in my location, from Nasaab and other popular stores and now from this company. None of them did anything for my skin. They would go on, fuel all creamy and moisturizing for like 5 minutes then fade and leave behind my dry skin. It's bad enough that it smells awful but to not actually do anything too. I used it on my hair. Obviously it was going to touch my scalp. It made my scalp dry, flake and itch. Note that all of these versions I bought were the cream or greysish white Shea butter. This time though out of desperation cars no drug store lotion seemed to be doing jack for my winter extra dry skin I ventured into a black hair supply store and purchased a yellow Shea butter by Kuza. On the front of the tub it says Kuza %100 African Shea butter (chunky not the smooth version). Now THIS version didn't dry my skin out or clog my pores. It's creamier than the tan versions, smells milder and my skin loves it. So being curious as to why this version works for me and the others didn't I ran numerous web searches and discovered that this is either pure Shea butter with herbs/roots added to Give it a bright yellow color or it is from the nut of another tree called the African nut tree that produces a similar butter to Shea. Needless to say my Coastal Scents Shea was thrown away. If you have extra dry skin or acne prone then Coastal Scents, like the terribly fake scents they sell on their website, will not be for you. All Shea is not the same.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -MAC - Sheen Supreme Lipstick - Full Speed
tempescape 1/28/2013 10:39:00 PM
I said to the guy at the MAC counter "give me something that will make me look like Rupaul in drag" and BAM, after trying some neon red traffic light looking color on me and me telling him I looked like I was auditioning for an adult movie he put this on me and Ifell in love. It's as bright as the fires of hell but when it fades or you put it on lightly it still manages to look so pretty in a 'kissable juicy pink lips' kind of way. Add gloss over it like Inglot AMC lip paint in color 52 or Lancome Juicy Tube Smoothie (not promoting MAC lip glass and their rip off 1mm of product in a tube) and BAM again, all of the other females in the room may as well just bow down and worship your cute looking self.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Pressed Powders -Inglot - AMC pressed powder
tempescape 1/28/2013 10:23:00 PM
I'm the shade of tootsie rolls. Nc50 in Mac studio fix powder and color 63 in Inglot AMC powder. I went to Macys and tried every brand of powder in my shade and none of them felt as silky as covered well without drying like his one. I had to stop using Mac studio fix powder because it dried out my skin beyond belief. It was so bad that I started getting wrinkles under my eyes from it. Once I stopped using it the wrinkles dissapeared! The AMC powder is really good. I love the way it doesn't oxidize on my skin and doesn't make my dry skin any dryer. I gave it one star off because there is clearly enough space in the container to add more product, but of course, all cosmetic companies give you the least they can for your money. 9 MONTH UPDATE. For some reason I bought this, used it for a few days and then stopped. I rediscovered it in the bottom of my drawer this week and used it along with Inglot foundation and wow! My skin didn't look flawless but the shade made it look so healthy. It also didn't dry out my skin at all. I love that it doesn't have that grey tint most foundations/powders for darker skin tones have. I only applied it once in the morning and it still looked good at 7pm at night. I used the sponge included not a brush.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Foundations -Elizabeth Arden - Intervene
tempescape 1/10/2013 10:10:00 PM
Since Estee Lauder changed their doublewear foundation so it now looks greyish (i'm nc50 in MAC) and thin on me I have been on a search to find a good foundation. I found it in a dis ount cosmetics store for $14 a bottle. I didn't hold out hope as it seemed thin when I tesed it on the back of my hand but the coclor matched me perfectly so I bought it, expecting to cut my losses if it didn't work. Damn this product is AMAZING. Think Revlon Colorstay medium/full coverage but in more colors. It doesn't make me face look flat. Doesn't oxidize but I would re ommmend that if yiu have dry skin to grease your face well first. It hid my black marks (healing spots) on my face better that any other foundation I own. To check for the white cast I took a photo of myself and WOW, I looked like a model (unlike with Mac). The shade I bought, Soft Toffee 15, is neither red or too yellow. As it was in the discounted stre i'm wondering if it's now been discontinued.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Unlisted Brand - One & Only vitamin e lipstick
tempescape 12/24/2012 6:24:00 PM
This mini sized lipstick is sold in about 5 colors and is found in most beauty supply stores at the counter. I bought color #403 French Toast. I used to wear the pinkish color of this brand until I discovered a Mac shade called Vegas Volt which suited me better. The color isn't bad and the lipstick is really moisturizing. The only fault I have with it is that when you use a lip liner this lipstick melts into it and messes up the line. On it's own it's o.k though.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Unlisted Brand - Source Naturals Wellness Colloidal silver
tempescape 12/24/2012 4:52:00 PM
I bought this because I had been using Uncle Harry's tooth mineralizing products, one of which contains colloidal silver, and discovered that if I bought the ingredients and made it myself I'd save a ton of money. I'm not sure how my own concoction is going to work but Uncle Harry's worked great.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Unlisted Brand - sundown vitamin e oil
tempescape 12/24/2012 4:46:00 PM
Sundown Naturals vitamin e oil, 70,000 ITU. It's extremely thick and extremely moisturizing. The trick is to mix it into your other lotions/creams/hair products. During the winter months my face is as dry as wallpapers. I mix this in with everything i'm using and my skin is relieved. 3 EEK UPDATE Still orking amazingly. I guess it would do seeing as vitamin E is used as a preservative. I mix it with Cetaphil. When i'm really dry I use it on its own. I don't find that it's healing my scars though. It's basically moisturizing my dry skin.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Skincare - Face -Coastal Scents - African Black Soap
tempescape 12/24/2012 4:34:00 PM
This 'version' is not for everyone. I usually get my pure back soap from a Muslim store where I live. It looks and smells like pure African black soap that you get anywhere else. My store version is the only version that I have used that does not sting when I use it and it's from one store. I've tried other stores around the area (there are a LOT of Muslim stores where I buy it) but I've come to realize that they are not all selling the same stuff even though it looks and ghey caim it is just the same. The soap I buy is much softer and crumblier and super gentle on the skin without drying it out. Coastal Scents stung like a mofo, so much so that the skin on my face was BURNT and started to peel off excessively as soon as I washed it off as if I had a sunburn or like the skin or your scalp does when you keep a perm on for too long (chemical burn). A week later the skin on my lips and hairline was still peeling off. I couldn't even wear lip gloss. In it's defense though I have tried other stores versions such as Nasaab in Brooklyn and Madina and they too had the same effect, Madinas more so, which had specks of something red in it. If you do find that this soap doesn't agree with you instead of throwing it out grate it, boil or leave it sitting in hot water until it melts and use 2-3 cups in a large load of your washing. It's amazing washing detergent. It washed just as good as laundry liquid and leaves no trace of that 'earthy' scent when the wash is done. Only the black soap that's harsh on your skin works well though. I tried it with my better black soap and it left the clothes soft but didn't wash them too well. I predict from my one pound of harsh black soap that I'll be using it until next January as it lasts such a long time. That's a great deal for $15 when I go through a $15 bottle of laundry detergent in 2 months.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Lancome - Teint Miracle
tempescape 12/23/2012 12:29:00 AM
Don't like. The color was perfect on me but it didn;t cover up any marks, after about 3 hours it almost looked as if I had nothing on. After 6 hours it had all worn off. After strong foundations like Revlon Colorstay this is not good enough. This is actually so much like Revlon Colorstay liquid foundation that you ma as well save $30 and buy that instead. Colorstay lasts longer too but neither one gives full coverage.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Styling Products -Unlisted Brand - Madina Shea & Aloe butter
tempescape 10/25/2012 12:33:00 PM
I went to this store after reading the reviews on Yelp and discovering that in every black hair store I went in had some Madina soaps there. The store has many more products which can also be purchased online. I was looking for some kind of moisturizer for my hair that was unscented and walked around opening jars and sniffing things. They had a jar of aloe versa butter. I'd never come across that before and it smelled almost scentless so instead of buying it alone I bought the 1lb tub for $10 that said Shea butter and aloe. I can't stand the smell of pure unprocessed Shea butter. This product has been processed and it white. I came home and braided my hair into corn rows using it and it's totally amazing for my hair. It softened my hair, didn't leave a greasy look. I'm using it to grease my skin also. Its been 5 days and I haven't broken out or anything like I do with almost everything I've ever used on my skin besides Cetaphil. I love that I don't smell of anything. I love that I can wash my hair with herbal shampoo and the smell doesn't clash or anything. I love how it keeps my lips moisturized. I also bought some avocado oil from Madina to make the product a little more liquid but have found dthat I don't need it. See my review on Miss Jessie's baby butter cream for a comparison of how they both measure up. Needless to say I'd rather spend $10 for 1lb of product that I'm not going to get sick of the smell of that over $40 for something like 6 oz of products consisting of 10 different ingredients.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No