Lotions/ Creams -C.O. Bigelow - Chapped Hand Remedy
tobywoo 10/7/2010 11:06:00 PM
This is my favorite winter hand remedy. It does smell a bit like a cough drop at first but that goes away as soon as it sinks in. The main ingredient is glycerin which is key to getting chapped skin to go away. It's thick without being greasy. I watch for BBW sales to buy it because it's regular price is $14 for 1.7 oz.
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Top/Base Coats -Unlisted Brand - Olan Labs Quick & Slick
tobywoo 3/16/2010 3:11:00 PM
Olan Labs Quick & Slick is a fast drying Formaldehyde, Toluene and DBP Free topcoat. It's a thinner quick dry then Poshe or SV. It self-leveled a bit but didn't provide a nice thick glossy coat of glass like I'm used to with the other topcoats out there. I tried it over the new formula OPI Jade is the New Black. I know sometimes (not everytime) B3F/NON B3F polishes and topcoats don't play nice together so I wanted to make sure i gave it a fair try and used a B3F polish. It stayed tacky to the touch after application for 20 minutes and 90 minutes after application it was still a little sticky. In the morning I noticed bubbles and sheetmarks and the finish wasn't as shiny as it should be. The price was nice at $8 shipped from ebay. I plan on trying it at least once more and if the results are better I'll be sure to update.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Illamasqua - Muse
tobywoo 8/25/2009 2:24:00 PM
Gorgeous teal nail lacquer. I would describe it as teal leaning slightly towards peacock blue. I have a substantial collection of teal blue cremes and this color is unique in my collection.
Gorgeous and shiny. Dreamy Hand of God application.
Nice wear with barielle camo base and poshe topcoat. I will rebuy if I ever use it up.
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Polishes -Illamasqua - Boosh
tobywoo 8/25/2009 2:20:00 PM
Best glossy black creme polish ever made. It has no visible or "invisible" shimmer. It is dark as night.
It has a fantastic application. It goes on opaque in 1 coat. I had good wear with barielle camo base and poshe topcoat. I will be repurchase again and again.
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Illamasqua - unnatural
tobywoo 8/25/2009 2:10:00 PM
Unnatural is Illamasqua's answer to Chanel Rouge Noir. essie wicked. Orly Naughty. nails inc victoria. Zoya Paris.
Unnatural is just a tad more brown then the above mentioned. It's the color of dried blood. A bit rusty red and a bit milk chocolate. I had issues with the formula. Out of the 6 Illamasquas I own so far this one was the thinnest and hardest to get even/opaque.
I wouldn't repurchase it because it's not completely unique and the formula isn't worth the price tag when there are other colors so close that I have better application with. I do get nice wear from this brand though. I use barielle camo for a base and poshe fast dry topcoat.
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -Bliss Labs - Blood Orange + White Pepper Body Butter
tobywoo 12/19/2008 7:14:00 PM
This was my first Bliss body butter. I love the scent. Very citrusy and the pepper isn't spicy...it seems to just make the scent smell cleaner, or sharper. Like when you zest an orange and it has that fantastic fresh orange scent. The body butter part is just ok. I don't find it to be luxurious like Bliss implies. I use it over a layer of my HG Aveeno to add to the moisturizing factor. I will repurchase for the scent though....I love it. I hope Bliss adds it to the core line and it doesn't stay LE.
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Polishes -OPI - Parlez-Vous OPI?
tobywoo 11/19/2008 12:09:00 PM
OPI really locked in the formula with the French Collection. Smooth application. Easy to work with.
I did not care for the color. It's pretty just too purple and not smoky enough for what I wanted. It also started chipping within 24 hours. Boo. I am blaming the OPI because it is the same basecoat and topcoat I have good luck with normally.
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Treatments -Barielle - Natural Nail Camouflage
tobywoo 11/18/2008 3:34:00 PM
I have put off reviewing Camo for the longest time...because I love it so much I worry my review won't do it justice. It is hands down my favorite basecoat ever. It makes an excellent nude treatment as well. It applies easily and covers up a myriad of sins. It is an excellent foundation because it is almost tacky when it first dries which helps when applying color over it. I have had fewer chips and peelies since sticking with camo exclusively. I get at least 4 days of wear out of it. I might get more but i have a short polish attention span. You can find it at Marshalls for cheaper then the $16 price tag elsewhere. The bottle and the cheapy plastic lid are annoying but I would use wooden tools to apply even if I had to make them myself. I have tried all sorts of other basecoats. Some I like (poshe 4n1) and some I hate (essie this means you). I keep trying others out because I am afraid what I would do if I couldn't find camo anymore. For me this is my one true HG.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Top/Base Coats -Lippmann Collection - Addicted to Speed
tobywoo 11/18/2008 12:24:00 PM
Ok, so I am a devoted Poshe fan....but I admit it, I love this topcoat. It's got just about everything going for it. It dries amazingly fast. Like record speed fast. It flows onto the nail really nice and thick and dries in seconds. You can't go over it a second time because it has already set up. You only get the 3 swipes and it's done. According to the Lippmann site, this will not adhere to natural nails. Only to the paint. That explains why when I tried to wrap the tips it pulled up in weird patchy spots. Another trick is to not go above the top of the polish line because it will pull there as well. If you just follow your mani line it gives the smoothest result. I have had really excellent wear from this too. I've been using it with barielle camo and I have had 4 days easily before I see any start of chipping/wear. The one thing that makes me not adore it, is that it doesn't cover ridges/flaws in the nail like Poshe will. I have a couple nails with ridges and I prefer not to buff them because it causes tears. Usually with the camo as a base and 2 coats of color, Poshe hides anything else. Not the case with Addicted to Speed. I can still see ridges. Not a problem if you wear alot of shimmers of glitters but since I mostly wear cremes it can be annoying. So ...yet again I have a great fast dry topcoat with a flaw. I can't say I'll switch over to AtS completely (Poshe that means you are on notice) but I do prefer it to the others - even at the $20 price tag.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - Revamp nail lacquer
tobywoo 10/23/2008 1:52:00 PM
Ok. So Revamp is now Black Russian. Apparently RBL decided to freshen up the name? Anyway, on to the polish.
Revamp is a beautiful blackened brown with red glitter. The effect is almost a blackened red. The glitter is not garish and the black is not harsh. The polish is opaque in 2 coats and the wear is fantastic. Application is nice and smooth. I do have one issue with it. It shrinks. At least on me. I'm sure it's the polish because I changed basecoats and topcoats. I wrapped the tips with the polish and the topcoat. I waited between coats to see if drying would allow for less shrinkage. Sadly nothing helped. I have other RBL's and this isn't an issue for those colors.
Would I buy it again. No. Not for the kind of money it costs and the application. Would I buy other RBL's...Yes.
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Polishes -Sephora - Sephora by OPI Meet for Drinks
tobywoo 10/20/2008 12:29:00 AM
Another flawless Sephora by OPI color. Deep gorgeous wine shimmer. It has everything it needs to be your go-to fall vamp. Easy to apply and flattering to all skin tones. I don't know of another exact duplicate of this color. It reminds me of a bolder OPI Bogota Blackberry or a more feminine EA Kew Gardens Wine
Smooth application and long wearing. I love the 'normal' sized brush and the fact that OPI seems to have saved it's good formula for Sephora!
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Sephora - Sephora by OPI: I'm With Brad
tobywoo 10/20/2008 12:21:00 AM
Fantastic color from my new favorite brand. I have had such good luck with the Sephora by OPI colors. I want them all!
I'm with Brad is a gorgeous vampy blackened red. It never looks just black and when the sun hits it lights up to a gorgeous velvety red. Deep rich shimmer makes it more then your average almost black. I have had Sally Hansen Glossy and China Glze X but I had application issues with them so I swapped them. IWB went on smooth and I had complete coverage in 2 coats. I'm 3 days into a mani and wear is good. No chips so far with Barielle Camo and Poshe topcoat.
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Polishes -Essie - Groovy Grape
tobywoo 9/14/2008 12:17:00 AM
Part of the 3 color LE Fall 2008 release at ULTA. Retro red (classic red creme), plumski (mid-tone plum creme), and Groovy Grape. Groovy Grape is a very dark vampy almost black deep wine color with shimmer. The shimmer is a magenta/berry and isn't noticable in low light. The nailboard had a debate on why it wasn't showing purple when a color named groovy grape seems as though it should be purple. I think that they were going for the kind of purple in a glass of wine.....you know how wine looks almost black and then held up to the light you can see the bright color that was hidden.
Application was fantastic and wear was great for the 3 days I kept it on. When essie gets it right they really get it right.
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Deodorants -Jason Natural Cosmetics - Lavender Deodorant Stick
tobywoo 9/12/2008 8:42:00 PM
I really wanted to make the leap to a natural deodorant. This is Organic and used Tea tree oil to kill bacteria that causes odor. Aluminum Free, Paraben Free, and no animal testing. All great things. However, it's effectiveness at keeping odor away was awful. It made me stink worse then I do when I go deodorant free. That bad? Yes. I hated it. I couldn't stand the sour stench it created on me after a couple of hours without even getting sweaty. In the trash it goes. So much for saving the environment jason.
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Polishes -NARS - Rebel Yell
tobywoo 9/3/2008 1:05:00 PM
Beautiful color even if it is a bit boring. It is a dark red mostly. It can seem plummy in cool lighting and brickish in warm light. Sephora described it as a dusty pomegrante and I see what they mean. It has that dusty aspect that seems very popular this fall. It doesn't seem completely unique to me even though I don't have another color like it. If you don't have many Deep creme reds in your stash then invest. Otherwise you could skip it and not be horribly sad.
It was crap application. I had pull and a little gloopyness. I will add thinner if I ever try it again. The NARS cap is always a bit of an effort to work with because it is square and bulky. The should consider the Chanel pop top.
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No