Beauty Product Reviews | Page 3

Moisturizing, Smooth, Longlasting

I must admit, I never needed a night cream or moisturizer until I had children. Something changed my skin and now if I don't apply a night moisturizer, I wake up with dry, flaky, itchy skin. When I started using the Skinceuticals Renew Overnight Oily moisturizer, I was in real need of a new cream. My previous one ran out and I've been trying out different samples and minis to see which one I wanted to buy next. I've been using this moisturizer every night after my nighttime skincare routine for the past few months. You don't need very much to cover your face, neck and chest, so I just touch the cream with my first three fingers on both hands and the amount of product that picks up is plenty to cover everything. The moisturizer feels incredibly smooth, especially on the nights when my skin is freshly exfoliated and still a bit moist, it just glides on so nicely. My skin usually looks a little shiny after application, but when I wake up it's not oily or dry - it's just moisturized and soft. There are many moisturizers out there that perform and feel similar to this one, but what I love the most about it is how little you need to cover your face, neck and chest. After using this for 3 months or so, it still looks like a brand new product, you can't even tell I've been using it every night. The container is 60ml (a little over 2 oz), so that's about $1 per ml, seems pretty good to me. I've never spent $60 on a moisturizer before, but just based on how relaxed and comfortable this makes my skin feel at night, I've already started saving my dollars to repurchase this when I run out.

Pigmented, Long Lasting, High Shine

This is definitely a lip LACQUER! It's thick, very pigmented and it lasts on the lips for hours. It provides a really high shine finish and wears down to a light stain. The LIPPY has a pretty tacky feeling, but once it warms into your lips it smooths out and that "sticky" feel goes away. I don't personally like this shade on me (I'm not one for neutral or nude colors), but I can see this being a great shade for my nude-lippie-loving readers!

Pigmented, Long Lasting, High Shine

I found this lip gloss to be quite thick, like a lip lacquer (which is kinda the point), very pigmented (almost like a lipstick), the applicator grabs a lot of product, but since it is pretty thick I had to redip the applicator a few times to get a full coverage of color on my lips. My favorite thing about the lip gloss is the staying power, it lasts hours and hours. The heavy formulation just clings to my lips and even with drinking and eating I still have the stain from the very pigmented color. The shine is high when first applied, then it settles down to a medium shine after an hour or two. I absolutely love this LIPPY and at $17 it's definitely a splurge item. Just based on the amazing experience with Primrose Hill Picnic, I'm planning on buying Snog soon!

Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 Masque

I'm a big fan of masks of all kinds, clay, peel off, organic and now I really love this leave on Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 Masque. I did think it was odd to leave a masque on, but the consistency of this product makes it feel more comfortable than it sounds. This clear gel applies and spread smoothly and evenly. While it is drying it feels a little tacky, but once it is completely dry the tackiness is gone. It leaves your skin feel extremely hydrated - as if you've been swimming and your skin just drank up a ton of water. I love how soft my skin feels from this masque. It doesn't really have a scent - which is a huge bonus! Although I love the feel of this product, and the glorious hydration it creates, $52.00 is a bit too much for me to spend on this product. Yes, it is a fantastic product - but I think I can get a similar product at a much lower cost from a drugstore or Sephora/Ulta type store. I don't really have extremely dry skin, so that may be why I don't feel like I need it in my life, but if you battle dry skin - try to get a sample of this because I think it will really help out people that need that super hydrating benefit.

Skinceuticals Serum 15 AOX+

Ever since I received some vitamin c infused skincare samples in my NewBeauty TestTube last year, I have been aware of it's luxurious powers to help our skin stay strong and healthy. When I'm looking for or at new skincare products, I will always prefer one with vitamin c because I know my skin loves it. The Skinceuticals Serum 15 AOX+ is the very first serum I have ever used, and my god - how I ever went on without a serum before is ridiculous! It's not the type of product where you see results instantaneously, this product took about a month or two for me to believe it's actually doing anything. I'm the type of person who thinks anti-ageing products will help prevent premature ageing signs (ahem... wrinkles, fine lines, sagging, etc.). Yes, I'm only 26, I have very young features and most of the time people assume I'm a teenager - which means when they learn I am in my mid twenties with two kids, they have that jaw dropped reaction. BUT I still love my anti-ageing products! My first impression of this serum, I had a very stubborn attitude. I thought serums didn't really do anything therefore I didn't want to use it. In the first few uses, I remember telling my BF that the product smelled salty, in a weird way it reminded me of bacon - not that it smells like bacon - it has a quite strong salty scent, nothing I've ever smelled in a skincare product before. The directions say to use 4-5 drops all over the face and neck. I first used my hands to spread the 4-5 drops all over, but my fingers absorbed most of the product and I ended up using 8-10 drops. I knew this had to be wrong, so I decided to use a cotton round instead - that way I'm not wasting $100 serum on my fingers that don't need assistance in anti-ageing. Yes, the cotton rounds were a good idea. I currently use 5 drops on one cotton round, press the round on the center of my forehead, each cheek, my nose, chin and neck. Then I go back and smooth the round all over my face, spreading the serum evenly. The serum has a slight tingle to it, but it does not burn or irritate my sensitive skin. I applies moist, and takes about 30 seconds to completely dry. Currently, I do not apply a moisturizer after this serum, mainly because I let it dry and then I forget to go back and apply a moisturizer. The serum feels like it's drying out your face but it isn't. After it dries your skin feels a bit tight for the first few minutes, then it relaxes and for the rest of the day my skin is smooth, supple, never screaming out for moisturizer and by the time I have to do my nighttime skincare routine my skin isn't oily or tired looking. After pushing myself to use the serum regularly, I have noticed that my skin never looks tired! Can you believe it?! I'm so happy with this! I literally get very little sleep, I'm constantly on-the-move with my toddler and baby, plus I never take naps during the day when the kids are napping. How ever this serum is working to keep me looking fresh faced and awake 24/7 is a miracle. Now, the price point of $99.00, is it worth it? While I LOVE my skin looking and feeling so amazing, and to be honest, the best it's ever felt, my heart hurts to think of spend $100 on one product. Let's see. The serum is 30ml (a little over 1 fl oz), I have been using it regularly for 3 months, I only see 1/2 inch missing from the bottle. I'm estimating it will last me another 15 months or so, I think there's about a year and a half worth of use in one bottle. So that's about $5.50 per month, when I break it down to see it's worth, I definitely think I will start to put money aside to repurchase this in a year.

This made me LOVE toners!

This the first toner I have ever used, and to be completely honest, I had to look up what a toner is before I started using it. Toners help to balance your skins pH aka Potential Hydrogen. Some people say toners help pick up the makeup and grime that your cleanser didn't get and others say it doesn't clean your skin at all. I have been using this toner two a day after cleansing my face with the Skinceuticals Foaming Cleanser. At first I didn't really notice anything, it went on like water, had a slight tingle sensation and never made my skin feel dry or oily - my skin just felt like skin. Then I realized that's what it was doing - making my skin happy and content. Just to be sure, I even skipped a week to see if there was a difference in my skin if I didn't use it - and sure enough I noticed my skin wasn't as "happy" as it was when I was regularly using it. It may sound like a toner doesn't do much, but I think that's the point. It makes your skin "normal" and therefore you forget that you used to have issues with it. This toner seems a bit pricey, but I checked out a few other toners online and for the amount of product and a spray top, it's decently priced in comparison to other top toners out there. I'm still on the fence if I will repurchase - but I will definitely have a toner in my skincare routine from now on.

Replaced my previous #1 cleanser, gentle, effective

I've been using this cleanser for the past few months and it has easily become a skincare favorite of mine! I have never used a foaming cleanser before, or even one that says to use on dry skin - I usually do my skincare routines in the shower. When I first started using the Skinceuticals Foaming Cleanser, I was worried that my skin would feel dried out after rinsing it off (a common issue I have with cleansers - which is why I'm so picky about them), but it was actually hydrating for my skin! The foaming cleanser is gentle and feels soft, kind of weird to say about a foam, but it really does feel soft on your skin. When massaging it onto my face and neck, the foam creates a nice lather and spreads really far - I normally use one pump if I have a bare face, but if I have makeup on I will use two pumps. The cleanser doesn't dry away on its own, so you don't feel rushed to rinse it out. Rinse off is quick and easy because the cleanser is light. This cleanser leaves my skin feeling hydrated, smooth, glowing, even toned and best of all clean! For being such a lightweight product and so gentle on the skin it does a really great job at cleansing the skin. I don't normally get breakouts, but I am prone to blackheads. With using this cleanser, I have noticed my blackheads are cleared up, my pores are not as big as they used to be and overall my skin just looks healthier. In the past I have named Juice Beauty's Cleansing Milk my #1 cleanser, but after spending the last few months using Skinceuticals Foaming Cleanser, I have reassigned the #1 spot to this Skinceuticals cleanser. It's a bit pricier, but I use half as much as I did with the Juice Beauty cleanser. Overall, I will definitely be repurchasing this cleanser. If you have combination skin (mine is oily in the center and dry around my face), have issues with blackheads, larger pores, and are sensitive to alcohols or find that most cleansers "burn" or "irritate" your skin - I would recommend you try this out.

Great quality and money saver!

This has been a very popular powder for the past year or so in the beauty community on blogs and in YouTube videos, and I can honestly say it's been a very popular powder in my personal beauty routines. I won't jump into it too much, as I'm sure you can find a million reviews on this product by now. I will say that this powder is smooth, translucent, perfect for setting mineral and liquid foundations, doesn't leave a white cast, doesn't reflect light during photography AND it's crazy affordable! At $6.00, you get 8 grams of product, and it lasts for what seems like forever. I've owned mine for a little over a year and it's still got a lot left. It comes with a puff applicator, which I used at first, but since you can't clean it or even buy a replacement from ELF, I just use a powder brush or short handled kabuki brush to apply it now. ELF does sell thinner puff-like pads, but they are a bit too thin for my liking - at least for this product anyways.

My go-to blot powder!

The ELF Studio Translucent Matifying Powder has been my go-to blot powder for over a year now. I've repurchased this twice already, and even bought an extra for my professional kit. I love that this powder is translucent because it never adds more coverage than I need, which means when I'm touching up my makeup, it won't make my face look cakey. I don't use the sponge applicator that it comes with because I don't find it works very well on me. I tend to use either a puff applicator or a tiny kabuki brush to dust my skin when I need to reduce some shine. The packaging is very sleek and the large mirror inside is very useful. I would recommend this to everyone because we all could use a little matifying sometime in our day. I've also used this on BF in the past when we take photos, men don't care if they are shiny, but if we're taking a nice photo, I want him to look fresh too :)

Great powder for every skintone!

I first bought this powder about a year ago for my professional makeup kit. At the time I hadn't heard or read any reviews on it, so I didn't exactly know what to expect from it. I soon found out that it's a really good powder to have in your collection. Mostly I have used this to set makeup; liquid foundation, mineral foundation, tinted moisturizer, concealer. I believe it does a great job at correcting and setting makeup, although if you use it alone it won't really do much (other than make your skin look a little powdery). You can either use the colored powders individually on specific areas that need correcting, or you can swirl your powder brush and use all four shades combined to have an overall, evened-out coverage. On days when I only wear tinted moisturizer and concealer, I will dust the 4-shade-combo all over my face and be on my way. Yes, it can come off powdery, but if you use a little at a time, you won't pick up as much powder and you can buff it into the skin much easier. This can be layered as well; apply one layer, let it set in, then apply another layer, etc. I would recommend this to everyone, because we all have uneven skin tones and areas that need a little more attention than others - this product is perfect for getting that natural look we all strive to achieve.