Primer/ Corrector -L'Oreal - Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base
xAlleGegenAlle 10/14/2010 3:25:00 PM
WOW! I got a sample of this in Vogue magazine when this first came out and hated it. I found it dried my skin too much and made foundation hard to blend - but I gave it another shot after reading some reviews and I am SO happy with this product! I bought it for about $9 from CVS (usually this retails for about $12 but I had $3 off in coupons, you can find $2 off coupons for this product all the time on the internet and in magazines), which is quite expensive for the size, however I don't mind paying that much for reasons I'll go into below. To give you an idea of what I need from a primer, I have combination skin, mostly normal, but oily through my t-zone and I have some large pores across my nose and the area right around my nose on my cheeks. I also have some redness around my nose which I don't expect a primer to cover, but my concealer ALWAYS slides around and creases there. So I need something that will keep foundation from getting into my pores and keep my concealer from creasing. Now, this product more than makes up for the price, because I only need to use the TINIEST amount, less than half of what I use with other primers. I lightly touch my finger to the surface of the product, and that leaves me with enough for my nose and the surrounding area. Another light touch for my forehead, and an even lighter touch for my chin and around my mouth. Whatever is leftover on my fingers I use on my undereye area. The trick with this that I didn't know the first time is to stipple the product on and then smooth it out, don't try to just smooth this on like a cream or it will go on too thick. When I use this my nose looks 100% smooth and poreless, almost like an airbrushed photo in a magazine. My undereye area also looks MUCH smoother (due to my eye shape I have some creases under my eye which end up being exaggerated alot by concealer/powder). The concealer around my nose stays put MUCH longer (around the 6hr mark I notice a wee bit of creasing, nothing a blotting paper and a bit of powder can't fix) and my forehead stays matte much longer. Overall I love this product and I don't mind paying a bit more for a small amount because I use so much less than I do with other primers. I will definitely repurchase!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -New York Color - Eyeliner Duet
xAlleGegenAlle 7/11/2010 1:15:00 PM
I'm quite pleased to say that the quality of these has vastly improved since I was 13 and the pencils were hard and waxy with no color payoff. I have this in the shade "A Place In The Sun" which has a medium/dark reddish brown shade on one side and black on the other. I use the brown shade as an eyebrow pencil and it works perfectly for me because my hair has a lot of red tones but is also very dark, and this is one of the few pencils in the drugstore I've found that has red tones but is also dark enough to look good with my hair color. it would be perfect for girls with darker auburn or brown hair with strong red tones. Because of that I wish this color was sold in a songle pencil however it's cheap enough that I'm willing to keep buying it in the double-ended form. The pencil's texture is somewhere perfectly between soft and waxy and also helps keep my brow hairs in place. This may be a little soft compared to pencils designed for brows specifically but I don't have any problems with it smudging or fading and I don't need to set it with powder or anything. The black side is just about the perfect black eyeliner pencil for me. I typically prefer liquid or gel eyeliners but this is nice for when I want a softer look. It's soft enough to go on smooth and dark and I can smudge it out with a brush if I want, but it's not soft enough that it melts or slides around my eyelids. However, I do use a bit of primer on my eyelids and run a bit of black eyeshadow to set it just in case, but I haven't had any issues with fading or smudging/creasing throughout the day. For $2 I think this is a great value and worth trying, and I'm looking forward to getting more colors!
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Tinted Moisturizer -Physicians Formula - Organic Wear - Ivory to Fair
xAlleGegenAlle 5/16/2010 12:32:00 AM
I decided to give this a try when I found it for $2 thinking, what did I have to lose besides $2? I heard alot of great things about the product and have been getting back into wearing liquid makeup after 6 months of powder foundation only. The first two things I noticed when I squeezed some out of the tube were; 1, the consistency. This is EXTREMELY runny. And 2, the SMELL. It smells like bug spray, and then dries down to a lavender scent. This really put me off because the smell of lavender will either give me a headache or make me nauseous 99% of the time, however when I actually wore this I didn't have any issues. That being said, I actually liked this product for the most part when I applied it. It goes on very smoothly (I smooth this on with my fingers and blend out with a foundation brush) and gives very natural looking medium coverage. I did need some spot coverage in a few areas but if you don't have any blemishes or obvious discoloration you could probably get away without concealer. I typically never apply liquid makeup to my nose because I have some small pores and blackheads that end up making my nose look like the surface of the moon when I put anything but powder over it, but this actually looked very smooth and didn't accentuate any pores. The finish is definitely dewey (but not shimmery at all) and the foundation feels very...moist, after it's applied. It doesn't really set and still feels kind of wet to the touch. I added a light dusting of powder and didn't have any issues with this sliding around but I was inside in the AC, if it was very hot or humid or if I was going to be outside I have a feeling the lasting power wouldn't be as good. Now, my only real complaint is the color. I'm extremely pale (I wear "Pale" in NYX foundations and my Silk Naturals mix is about 12 scoops Ivory to 1 scoop Ebony) so I wasn't expecting an exact color match. What bothers me is that the tone of this is ORANGE. It doesn't look bad when I first squeeze it out of the tube, but once it sets, it's orange. I can get around this by using my NYX Twin Cake on top to tone down the orange and lighten it a bit, but it's kind of a hassle. I don't understand at all why companies make foundations with orange tones. Hello, how many people do you know with naturally orange skin? None! Maybe this would work better for someone who's skin is closer to the "light" part of the spectrum than "ivory" or "fair", but if you're downright pale like me, you'll probably want to pass on this.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -AcneFree - Acne and Blackhead Terminator
xAlleGegenAlle 4/24/2010 12:17:00 PM
One of my HG skincare products! I was looking for a spot treatment to take care of the occasional breakout that pops up on my forehead and picked this up (the 10% version) at Walmart for about $4 for a 1oz tube, which is amazingly cheap compared to other spot treatments. Just a dab of this takes even the worst breakouts down to a flat red spot overnight! It also does a good job on blackheads. I use this once or twice a week all over my t-zone and it makes my skin feel really soft and super smooth, I think because of the BP it acts like a mild chemical peel and gets rid of the dull, rough dead skin. I think this can be drying if you use too much, if your skin is normal or oily, a decent moisturizer should take care of any issues you might have, but dry or sensitive skinned people should use this with caution.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Sunscreen -Eucerin - Daily Protection Moisturizing Face Lotion - Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen - 4.0 FL. OZ. 118mL
xAlleGegenAlle 3/26/2010 7:20:00 PM
My new HG! I was looking for a replacement for my Biore Skin Preservation Dual Fusion Moisturizer + SPF30, which, sadly enough, I am not willing to pay $15 for 1.7oz of. So I had a quick look through the skincare aisle at my local WalMart and this was the only moisturizer I saw that seemed comparable and had a decent amount of SPF. Plus, it only costs $9 for 4oz. Score! So I threw a bottle in my cart and took it home with me. I have to say, I got REALLY lucky with this. The consistency and moisturizing power is extremely close to the Biore moisturizer. However, this has a very strong "sunscreen" smell which I really didn't like at first, although it I've gotten used to it so it doesn't bother me so much now, and fades away by the time I put my makeup on anyways so it's not too much of an issue. I don't notice any white cast when I use this, however, my skin is very pale anyways so it may be that the white cast just isn't noticeable on my skin. Overall, this is great if you want something more than SPF15 from your moisturizer and don't have dry skin.
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Moisturizers -Biore - SkinPreservation Dual Fusion Moisturizer+SPF 30 ] [DISCONTINUED]
xAlleGegenAlle 3/26/2010 9:59:00 AM
I was looking for a decent moisturizer and I was lucky to find this for a couple dollars in a discount store. I'm very fair and the usual SPF10 or 15 that's in most moisturizers just doesn't cut it for me, so the fact that this has SPF30 really drew me in. When I first got this, I had issues with the pump, I kept pumping and pumping and only the green side was working. If you get this and have the same problem, take the white "pump" part off completely, you'll see two small tubes. Use your finger to push down each tube individually until each one is working, instead of using the pump to press down on a both and waste a bunch of one side while you're waiting for the other side to work. Anyways, the moisturizer itself works very well for me, however, I think alot of people may need something a little heavier. The texture is a little liquidy and only mildly moisturizing. My skin is more or less normal, maybe leaning towards combo (I have a tendency to be a little oily through the t-zone and sometimes a teensy bit dehydrated in the cheek area), so this gives me a good amount of moisture for my skin. If your skin is dry and you need extra moisture, you'll probably want to pass on this and get something else. This does have a slight scent to it although I personally don't find it offensive, it's sort of a fresh, slightly floral scent, and it does fade away after I put my makeup on. At $15 for 1.7oz I do find this to be a little pricey for a drugstore moisturizer, so when I run out of this I don't think I would buy it again at full price, but if I could get it on sale or something for $10 or less it would be worth picking up.
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Blush -Hard Candy - Blush Crush Baked Blush #127 Honeymoon
xAlleGegenAlle 3/24/2010 2:48:00 PM
I love this. I love this SO much. I had gotten the blush in Living Doll and really didn't like it. The pigment was awful and it was wayyy to shimmery, but kept it because it made a halfway decent highlighter and I liked the packaging. For some reason I decided I needed this in Honeymoon as well, mostly because I like the iridescent blue veining in it. So I arranged a swap for it and when I got it in the mail and finally got to try it out, I was in LOVE. I won't lie, as a blush, this product fails miserably. It's not really very pigmented and too shimmery for a cheek color. But it makes the most BEAUTIFUL, amazing, perfect face highlighter. The shimmer is sooo so finely milled that on the skin it doesn't even look like shimmer, it just shows up as a gorgeous sheen that doesn't accentuate my pores or inperfections. The color is sort of peachy but neutral enough that I can use it on my cool-toned skin, and I think it would also work on warm skin tones. I can't recommend this enough. If you don't have it, RUN to your local WalMart and buy it. Everyone needs it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Bonne Bell - lip smacker 100% natural
xAlleGegenAlle 3/20/2010 11:18:00 PM
Eh. Not really impressed with this. I picked up a tube of the Pink Guava at my local WalMart for $2, not too bad for a lip balm that's all natural I guess. But I'm not impressed with the quality. First of all, when I put this on it feels grainy. It has a slightly fruity-sweet smell but nothing really distinguishable, and there's no actual flavor that I can taste. The moisturizing power is very weak, especially considering how soft the product is. I've applied this probably 4 times today and my lips don't feel moisturized at all. It does give a nice shine to my lips for a chapstick, so I'll probably keep using this until it's gone, but I won't bother to repurchase.
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Eye Shadow -E.L.F. - Studio Line Eye Transformer
xAlleGegenAlle 3/8/2010 11:48:00 AM
I bought this product back in August and was so excited when I got it. Who doesn't love duochrome shadows, right? And with this you can turn any eyeshadow into a duochrome! But for whatever reason this ended up in the recesses of my makeup drawers and hardly got use. I would take it out, swatch it, admire the colors, and then put it back in the drawer to use another day. But recently I've rediscovered this and it has become a staple product! I know the directions and reviews say to use this over black or other dark shadows/liners, but this works amazingly over other colors as well. 95% of the time I wear eyeshadow, it's all or mostly neutrals. But I can use a fluffy shadow brush to dust one of the shades (pink is a fave but green or gold also work nicely) over my shadows to give them a lovely sheen and punch up the color with the slight duochrome effect. You can control how much of the duochrome you get with these depending on how you apply them. A fluffier brush will give a less intense duochrome, if you use a denser brush or a flat brush to sort of pat on the color, it will give a more intense duochrome. These also make great brow highlights, and if you really want to be adventurous, try dusting a little bit of the green over a blemish before you put on concealer or foundation. The sheer green shimmer diffuses the redness and allows the blemish to be easily covered. I think these could also make nice correctors for undereye circles or other skin issues, but it's best to use them UNDER your foundation because of the shimmer. Overall, for $3, this is an amazingly versatile product and worth having in your stash even if you use it only occasionally.
13 out of 13 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Revlon - Colorstay Mineral Eye Shadow
xAlleGegenAlle 2/26/2010 10:04:00 AM
I've seen these in drugstores tons of times and to be honest never really paid much attention to them. Like most Revlon products they seemed a little overpriced for what they are and the whole baked mineral powder gimmick wasn't enough to pull me in. But, when I saw these in an Amish grocery store for $1 each I thought, what do I have to lose besides a dollar? And picked one of each color they had (Sunlit Jade, Smokey Quartz, and Midnight Garnet). Now, these aren't the best shadows. The colors are very sheer and neutral, however, they are advertised as being sheer right on the package so I don't know why that was such a surprise for some people. If I use these with a semi-sticky base like a concealer I can get decent pigmentation out of them, and the darker colors are buildable, so I can apply them lightly or layer them to get a deeper color. Overall, I really like these when I'm looking for a quick, neutral day look to define my eye. For that they're outstanding. If you're looking for very bright, pigmented shadows, pass on these and pick up some HiP duos. I wouldn't pay full price for them but Revlon is one of those brands that's always on BOGO or other sales, so if you like neutrals and you can get them for cheap, they're definitely worth a try.
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Powder -Silk Naturals - Mineral Foundation
xAlleGegenAlle 2/25/2010 1:15:00 PM
WOW. I got sucked into the MMU craze last year after my skin previously acne prone, very oily skin started calming down to a point where I didn't need full coverage liquid foundation all the time anymore. I had almost resigned myself to the idea that in order to use MMU I would have to settle for a poor color match, poor coverage, high prices and touchups every hour until I found this. I ordered two sample kits (medium and heavy coverage) plus a sample of ebony foundation along with some other samples. It didn't take me long to mix up a perfect match for my skin (10 scoops ivory to 1 scoop ebony) although it was a little messy it wasn't anything I couldn't clean up with a damp paper towel (although you could avoid mess altogether by putting down a piece of newspaper or something). Now, when they say heavy coverage, they MEAN heavy coverage. With this foundation I can get the same coverage I get with liquids, minus the hassle of a liquid. I use a flat top brush (ELF Studio powder brush) to sort of pat the powder onto my skin (kind of like the way you would stipple foundation on) and then buff it in circular motions to blend. For lighter coverage, I use the same technique with a kabuki brush. this foundation likes to be layered, because the powder is so fine, if I need very full coverage or need extra coverage in some areas, I just repeat the process. Don't try to pile a bunch on in one layer, it won't all "stick" or blend in and you'll look chalky and powdery. The finish of this product isn't totally matte, it does have a slightly dewey but NOT at all shimmery finish, so I usually top it off with my NYC translucent powder and a little bit of silica to mattify and control oil. It wears really well, it doesn't sink into my pores or slide around my face at all which is a common problem I've had with powder foundations in the past. Overall, this foundation is just about perfect, I can't rave about it enough. If you're thinking of trying it, just do it! Samples + shipping are cheap and generously sized (I used my sample heavy coverage 5 times and wasn't even halfway through it when I ordered a full size), and you won't regret trying it out!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -L'Oreal - Go 360 Clean Deep Cream Cleanser
xAlleGegenAlle 2/14/2010 10:32:00 PM
What an awful waste of $7. First of all, the name of this is totally misleading. It is NOT a cream cleanser. It's a gel cleanser with a cream-like consistency, and when you actually use it, it foams up like a gel cleanser. The cleanser itself reeks of menthol and is a bit irritating to use if my skin is even a little dry. I shudder to think of what would happen if I got some of this in my eye! Maybe I'm asking for too much but I think if I'm going to be using a product on my face every day I shouldn't have to worry about whether or not it will burn the mucous membrane right off of my eyeball if I happened to get it in my eye. I guess I'm just really irritated with the fact that I bought this thinking it would be a cream cleanser and I ended up getting a mildly irritating mentholated soap. And the scrublet is a big disappointment as well. It doesn't do anything that I can't do with my hands or a washcloth. It doesn't exfoliate well and I don't notice it adding to the cleansing power of the cleanser or anything. I guess I can use this to take off my makeup when I'm wearing a full face of foundation and concealer but otherwise this is just too harsh for me to use all the time. Maybe it would work better for someone with extremely oily skin but not for me. EDIT: After using this on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with no other changes to my routine, I woke up on Monday morning with two big, painful breakouts on my forehead. There's no way I'm putting this anywhere NEAR my face ever again. EDIT 2: I take back what I said about the "Scrublet". This thing actually is pretty nice. I ended up giving the cleanser to my sister but kept the scrublet and one night decided on a whim to use it to see if it really cleaned better than just my fingers. So, I removed my makeup with a baby wipe like I usually do and then put a cream cleanser (St Ives Makeup Remover & Facial Cleanser) all over my face. I massaged one half of my face with my fingers as I usually do when I wash my face. I didn't see any makeup anywhere on my fingers, in the cleanser, or on my face, which is normal because I'm pretty thorough when removing it during the first step. Then I massaged the other side of my face with the scrublet. It didn't really feel any different, maybe a little bit tingly from all of the little bristles but nothing amazing. However, I noticed that the cleanser on the scrublet was sort of flesh toned instead of white, so I know it managed to remove more makeup, which my fingers alone just couldn't do. Now, my skin is the kind that breaks out if I even think of sleeping in my makeup, so this is great for me. I've been using the scrublet with my normal cleansers to remove my makeup at night and already I'm noticing that I have less clogged pores around my nose. that being said, I don't think I'll be needing a new scrublet any time soon so I won't be repurchasing the cleanser and I won't be adding any lippies, because I've seen that you can buy generic "Scrublets" at Asian markets and most likely online.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Iman - Luxury Blushing Powder - Blood Stone
xAlleGegenAlle 1/23/2010 7:10:00 PM
GORGEOUS blush. I was sucked in by the name, and the fact that I don't have a red blush anyways, so when I found it on eBay for $10 including shipping I thought, "why the hell not?" I know I've described alot of blushes as "natural" but this one truly is. Despite being a dark, maybe even slightly brownish blood red in the pan, when I apply it, it's the exact color of my cheeks when I've been out in the cold. The quality is impeccable, the blush is SO pigmented and feels so smooth. However, this is a bit of a drawback for me because my skin is so fair (although I think that very fair skinned people aren't the target audience for this product), I have to spend a little more time applying this than my other blushes to make sure I don't look clownish, so this isn't a blush I reach for alot when I want something I can sweep on and run out the door.
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Blush -NYX - Angel
xAlleGegenAlle 1/18/2010 10:17:00 PM
This color is a gorgeous light mauve-y pink with some very fine gold shimmer, although on the face it translates to a light natural sheen. Like all other NYX blushes this is very high quality, lots of pigment and it applies smoothly.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -NYX - Pinky
xAlleGegenAlle 1/18/2010 10:12:00 PM
VERY nice blush. Like both of the other NYX blushes I tried, this is a VERY pigmented blush, so a little goes a looong way. The color is a nice cool bright pink with no shimmer. It looks very natural on me when applied, I love wearing it to give my face some color on little to no makeup days.
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