Mascara -Clinique - High Impact Extreme Volume
thealmightyboots 12/22/2012 2:25:00 AM
I have mixed feelings on this mascara. If Clinique fixed the tube I would definitely repurchase, but in it's current state it's virtually unusable. I LOVE the brush, I've always liked big fat mascara wands (Diorshow, MF false lash effect) but didn't like how they always have a flat surface or point on the end that just ends up with big blobs of mascara that get onto the inside of your eye. This brush solves that by a rounded end covered in spikes, which are just brilliant to work with. Anyway, brush is awesome. The fatal flaw that stops this from even being an 'okay' product is that the little bottle neck part of the tube that regulates the amount of product that ends up on the wand is just waaaay too big. You end up with far far far too much product on the brush, and then aside from taking ages to apply as you attempt to wipe all the excess product from the wand and then comb it out of your lashes to stop your lashes sticking together in one big clumpy mess, the product goes all clumpy in the tube from being wiped all over the edge, and you just end up with a big clumpy disappointing mess that you regret spending $40 on. :-( Really hope Clinique fixes this because I so want to be able to use this wand!
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Misc Beauty Tools -Tweezerman - Mini tweezers
thealmightyboots 12/22/2012 1:42:00 AM
I had the full sized version for a couple of years until I recently lost them, went to buy a replacement pair only to find that they're $49.95 here (welcome to the joys of buying beauty products in australia!) so bought the mini pair (still $27!!!) to keep in my handbag/get me through until a full size pair that I bought online arrives. The Mini tweezers are still above and beyond any of the cheaper tweezers I've ever owned, but not as good as the full sized version. Maybe it's my big hands, but I find them to be just a bit awkward to use - they're fine for just plucking that stray hair, but I wouldn't want to be really doing my eyebrows with them. Still, they're super cute (I got polka dot ones!) and will make a good travel/handbag pair. But if you've never had tweezermans before, fork out the extra money for the full sized pair to get the full effect of their awesomeness!
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Misc Beauty Tools -Tweezerman - tweezers
thealmightyboots 12/22/2012 1:33:00 AM
I have had the classic red ones for a year or two, it's only recently when I lost them (my fault, I carry them with me EVERYWHERE) and went back to cheaper tweezers that I realized how much I freaking love these things! For those of you wondering if they're worth the extra cash, or thinking 'tweezers are tweezers' they are just perfect - they grab even the shortest or finest of hairs first time every time - they don't slip, miss, or break the hair. I purchased my original pair online (I live in Australia, land of sun, surf and waaaay overpriced beauty products so most of my products are purchased online) but didn't want to wait weeks for them to arrive over christmas so thought it would be worth paying a few extra dollars to have them immediately. went to the store, only to find that they're $49.95 here!!! I've purchased the cheaper mini tweezers to tide me over, but will definitely be getting hitting strawberrynet to repurchase a full size pair (around $23). I'll keep the mini pair in my handbag so it's not such a hit if I lose them again!
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Hair Color -Unlisted Brand - Pure Henna Powder - no brand name
thealmightyboots 11/3/2012 9:25:00 PM
I'm sure henna can be brilliant for some people, but I advise caution!!! I have naturally red hair that seems to be getting more dull and brown as I get older. I've used semi permanent rinses in the past to boost the colour a bit, but I've found that once the red fades from them after a month or two you're just left with slightly darker hair. So for me, Henna was a way to boost the brightness of my natural colour with the added benefit of it being chemical free. That was the plan, anyway. I added a dash of vinegar to the mix, as most people/reviews suggested that a little acidity in the mix helps to 'activate' the dyeing process. I also added some clove powder which had been suggested to improve the smell. Normally I love herbal and medicinal kind of smells - but there's no two ways about it - henna smells NASTY. and your hair will retain this smell to some degree for about 2 weeks. Anyway, I just added water after that - no exact amount, just enough to get it to the right consistancy. It's kind of like mixing cornflour with water, until you get it thin enough it's REALLY hard to mix! It ends up being like goopy mud. It's much harder to apply to hair than commercial dye, because it's so gritty you can't just apply to the roots and brush through. it just doesn't work that way, so if possible have someone else apply. I then wrapped my head in cling wrap and went about my business for a few hours. Washing it out is also quite unpleasant. It's like trying to wash a mud helmet off your head. a mud helmet that STINKS and turns everything orange. My results were not good. because I had previously dyed my hair (even though it was semipermanent dye, which wasn't even visible any more) The henna did not seem to stick much to the hair that had been coloured previously, meanwhile, the bottom few inches of my hair turned blindingly, fluorescently ORANGE. It was not a good look. at all. I ransacked my cupboards in a panic looking for something to fix it, and found a box of chocolatey auburn semi permanent, which I promptly applied to the orange roots. After the panicked fix, it ended up looking quite nice. however because henna is very permanent, i'm now getting regrowth and am far too scared to use it again. MY ADVICE: if you have virgin hair and are ready for a drastic change and want to go bright orange red head, then go for it! It is a great color! but be aware that it's very permanent and the results can be very unpredictable on hair that has been colored before!
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Palettes -Sleek - Au Naturel
thealmightyboots 10/6/2012 4:04:00 AM
Contrary to some of the other reviews, I love Sleek's packaging. I do remember having trouble opening the first blush I bought, but I now have many Sleek products and don't have any trouble at all, so I guess you just need to get used to it. I love how their packaging doesn't feel flimsy and plasticky in any way, I can throw it in my handbag with full confidence that it won't break or pop open and create a mess, and I love that the mirrors on the inside of the palettes are a decent size unlike the token coin sized mirrors provided in many others. I love Sleek's blushes, so I was very excited to get my hands on one of the much hyped idivine palettes. I've also wanted a good neutrals palette for a while now, as I always find myself carrying around a horrible assortment of half empty pans and wanted to simplify things with a range of usable colours in one palette. There are a few nice colours in here, the matte black is wonderful to work with and very pigmented, 'regal' is a lovely deep plum that looks neutral but compliments green eyes beautifully, and 'bark' is a great all rounder for both eyes and brows. However I'm unimpressed with most of the colours. The entire top row of highlight or base colours is virtually unpigpmented and therefore useless with the exception of 'taupe' which isn't anything special and highlights every little wrinkle, and of the browns, the two shimmers 'conker' and 'mineral earth' are the most horrible chalky powders I've ever come across. So...will I be carrying around a 12 pan palette for four useable crease/liner shades? I think I'll keep looking for my perfect neutral palette.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Sleek - Suede
thealmightyboots 10/6/2012 3:46:00 AM
As usual, I love Sleek's packaging - sturdy, practical and compact. I bought this with the intention of using it as a bronzer, as being very pale, most bronzers look too orange on my skin tone. While this matte blush looks like a pinky tinged brown in the pan, on my pale skin it comes up as a muted peachy pink. It would be a great blush if you were after something very neutral. I can't complain about it not being a bronzer, as it isn't... but this one just didn't 'wow' me like my other sleek blushes. If I was after a peach, I would go for the incredibly brightening 'Life's a Peach'. This one is nicely pigmented, not so much that it's difficult to work with but not so little that you need to pack it on, it also seems to be a little chalkier than the rest of Sleek's blushes. Kudos to Sleek for offering such a great variety of matte blushes (I'm not a big fan of sparkles!), and this is by no means a bad blush - but this one's my least favorite of the four that I have from their range!
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Blush -Sleek - Flamingo Blush
thealmightyboots 10/6/2012 3:30:00 AM
The packaging of this blush is the usual Sleek quality - very sturdy and compact with a large usable mirror. Flamingo is a hot pink matte blush that is insanely pigmented. I literally touch the very end of my brush onto this blush, do a light swipe on the back of my hand to spread the tiny amount over more of the bristles, and using a VERY light touch blend over the cheeks. I have very light skin, so it is quite strong on me and I have to be VERY careful not to overdo it. Because this product is so bright and so pigmented, I probably wouldn't recommend for other pale girls, but I have used this on some of my friends with more 'normal' skin tones and it looks amazing. It also lasts all day. With the tiny amount I need to use to get good color, this pan will last me for ever!
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Blush -Sleek - Life’s a Peach
thealmightyboots 10/6/2012 3:21:00 AM
I've been a little obsessed with blushes lately, particularly those outside my comfort zone of earthy neutral pinks, so decided to experiment with peach, and chose 'Life's a peach'. Sleek isn't available in Australia, so this was a blind buy online. The packaging is the usual sleek quality - very sturdy, compact and with a very usable mirror that takes up the whole lid. I was a bit startled when I opened the lid to see a frightening shade of bright orange, but decided to give it a go. It's matte, which I love, and not anywhere near as pigmented as any other Sleek blush that I have used, so you need to use a fair bit of product, but nevertheless VERY pretty on. It gives a very natural peachy glow, and just brightens the face incredibly - makes me look very awake and fresh. It also has much better staying power than my previous MAC blush, and when it does eventually wear off, it seems to just slowly fade a bit rather than streaking off where you've touched your face! My new everyday blush.
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Liquid -Estee Lauder - Double Wear
thealmightyboots 10/1/2012 8:13:00 AM
I have a love/hate relationship with this foundation. There are things that I hate about it, but for all that I will repurchase when my bottle runs out (soon) for reference, I'm quite pale with combination skin, and have this in Ecru. THE GOOD -The best staying power of any foundation. ever. you can dance the night away, go swimming, this stuff will. not. budge. -Very high coverage, looks impeccable. -Good for oily skin - I actually use a tiny amount just as a base for my nose if I'm wearing one of those dewy foundations that is loved by the rest of my skin, but will turn my nose into an oil slick by lunchtime. THE BAD -smells like paint...dulux? -can look a bit heavy/cakey, ok for night wear, but I don't think I'd use this for day wear. -makes it hard to blend other products put on top of it - ie. blush, powder shadow, bronzer. -horrible bottle. just awful. wastes a huge amount of product because you have to pour it out of a wide glass bottle neck. seriously, how hard would it be to have a pump pack? THE UGLY -my very acne resilient skin would break out if I used this on a regular basis. - and this is what prevents me from using this more...now, given the high coverage, porcelain like finish, and incredible staying power, one would think it would make a good 'special occasion' foundation...right? that's what I thought - I looked beautifully made up and flawless at a wedding, until I saw the photos...In which I was an enormous white ghostly head floating floating around the celebrations...no...it doesn't photograph well. so, I'll keep it in the collection as a sort of concealer/primer/halloween makeup just for the sheer (sorry, matte) mightiness of the staying power, but if you're looking for an everyday or versatile foundation, keep looking!
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Illamasqua - Skin Base foundation
thealmightyboots 10/1/2012 7:47:00 AM
I'm surprised this hasn't received better reviews...It's the best foundation I've ever found! When I first bought it and opened the packaging I felt a bit ripped off, as it seemed like such a small amount in such a flimsy little plastic bottle. However it contains 30ml of product, which is the same as...well, every other foundation I own. And the packaging has grown on me - it's very light weight, I can't smash it if I drop it, and the lid is secure, which makes it the perfect traveling companion. I also find it easy to get the right amount of product without slipping and wasting half the product (pay attention Estee Lauder!) I wouldn't call it a full coverage foundation as some of the previous reviewers have - I'd call it a very buildable light to medium coverage. It's extremely versatile, as it's a light to medium coverage if you use a very small amount and really buff it lightly across the skin for a natural look, or you can really work it in and layer it on to get a perfectly flawless - but not cakey - look. Their shade selection is brilliant - from WHITE through to very dark, and with every imaginable tone in between - I really struggle to match my skin normally as I am very pale, and very few of the available pale shades seem to be a good match for me - however 3.5 is lovely on my skin. Once it settles in it gives the most beautiful natural glow without being shiny, and it contains no SPF so it photographs beautifully, and it lasts very well through a long day of work. The one negative that I can think of is that I wouldn't recommend it for oily skin. I have fairly dry skin except on my nose and eyelids where I can get quite oily and on my nose if I have applied no primer and not powdered it shines up rather quickly and is gone after about 4 hours. I combat this by applying a tiny amount of either Estee Lauder double wear or primer just on my nose before applying my Skin Base. This is a desert Island product for me (as long as I remember to pack the SPF!), I truly love it! And just want to add how grateful I am to Illamasqua for dropping their prices in Australia to be on par with the rest of the world. Makeup is horrifically expensive here in Aus, just to give you an idea, our australian dollar is usually around the same as the american dollar, and a Benefit blush is $51, Diorshow mascara $65, YSL eyeshadow quad $90. The 'cheap' drugstore brands are $20-30 for a mascara and $30-40 for a foundation. This price drop has put Illamasqua products at around the same price as what we have to pay for Revlon or Max Factor - I know what I'll be buying! Thanks Illamasqua!
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Cleansers -Biore - Clean Things Up Gel Cleanser
thealmightyboots 5/29/2012 8:31:00 AM
I bought this because I was desperate for a cleanser and the store I was in didn't have my usual cleanser, and I have been very impressed with the Biore scrub that I have been using. It has a nice subtle fresh scent, and does a reasonable job of cleaning away oil and makeup without drying or irritating my sensitive skin. I love the bottle, nice and solid, very easy to switch to the 'off' position for travel, and it's lasting REALLY well. Having said that, I don't feel like it cleans as well as my neutrogena wash, and I think I've been getting more blackheads since I've been using this instead. Not a bad product, and if I just had dry sensitive skin it would be great. However my couple of oily, blackhead prone areas just need a little more 'oomph' in a cleanser.
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Cleansers -Neutrogena - Extra Gentle Cleanser
thealmightyboots 5/29/2012 7:40:00 AM
I'm a big fan of Neutrogena products, particularly their sensitive and unscented range, as I have combination, sensitive, eczema prone skin and I have very few products to work for me, but many of the ones that do are from Neutrogena, including the extra gentle moisturizer which I have been using for many many years now. Unfortunately this isn't one of the good ones for me. On the plus side, it's extremely gentle. If you're looking for a product that will NOT irritate or dry but don't have many other requirements like makeup or oil removal, this may be ok. However it didn't seem to actually do much at all. After washing with this, I still felt oily and grimy around my nose and chin (my oily areas) and it really didn't do much to remove make up. TO SUMMARIZE: an extremely soothing, gentle cleanser - which doesn't actually cleanse...
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Eyeliner -Maybelline - Eye Studio Master Precise Ink Pen Liner
thealmightyboots 5/29/2012 6:52:00 AM
I was recommended this product by a friend (a fellow liquid eyeliner officionado!) The first time I used this, it didn't even last long enough for me to leave the house!!! (granted, I applied it towards the end of the day, so my lids may already have been a little oily) This morning however, I applied a dab of eye primer, followed by this liner - and in a dazzling display of proof that eye primers are awesome, my liner hasn't budged over 12 hours later - through sweating, work, and even peeling onions!!! (I use Too Faced shadow insurance) This liner is very easy to use, the fine brush tip is wonderful to work with and much more precise than the 'felt tip' types. Mess free, and when used with a primer lasts very well. can't say I'd recommend it without primer, but overall I'm very happy and will purchase again.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Palettes -Too Faced - Eye Shadow Insurance Policy, High Impact Eye Shadow Collection
thealmightyboots 5/22/2012 9:37:00 AM
I got this because I wanted the Shadow Insurance eye primer, and it was actually cheaper to buy it with the eye shadows! The primer's fantastic, but that's another story. I'm kind of glad I got this palette, because it's so unlike anything I would actually buy, but for the same reason I haven't used it much because it's not really my thing. The shadows are all nicely textured, very easy to work with. The neutrals in the palette are perhaps a little on the warm side for me. I think I would wear them more if they weren't so shimmery. Glamazon is a lovely nude colour, but has glitter to the max, so is only really suitable for night time wear. The one thing I have used it for a lot, is layering 'full frontal' and 'lucky charms' together to get this lovely deep brown with irridescent flashes of green. Looks amazing and I've gotten lots of compliments. My only complaints are that I don't really use 3 of the colours, and they're REALLY shimmery - but that's down to personal preference. And I like palettes to close properly instead of the whole paper and magnet thing, as it can get messy if you want to travel with it. But if you like shimmery shadows and want to experiment with some really nice brights, I highly recommend.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Primer -Too Faced - Shadow Insurance, Anti-Crease Eye Shadow Primer
thealmightyboots 5/22/2012 9:24:00 AM
I have really oily eyelids, so eyeshadows just kind of disappear, and there's no point applying different shades, as they all just smudge together after an hour or two, and my eyeliner ends up everywhere - by lunch time I tend to have a horrific blend of eyeliner and shadow in a big smudgey circle all around my eyes! If I use shadow insurance, my eyeshadow stays nicely in place for most of the day, and while I still get some smudging from my eyeliner, it's certainly better than when I don't use shadow insurance. Doesn't irritate my eyes, the tube will last a long time as you only need to use a tiny dot for both eyes, and I love that the packaging is hygeinic and unlike UD primer potion, you don't get left with heaps of unaccessable product left over in the tube. As a previous reviewer said, it's very pricey in Australia, but as long as I'm able to get it cheaper online I'll repurchase.
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