Beauty Product Reviews
WOW
I can finally review this after using it a few times, yay!! So this is a strong scented powder that activates with water. you do not need one part water one part mask, you truly only need a little water. My biggest complaint is the fact that when you open it, no matter what, some is going to get in your nose and it's just uncomfortable. The powder is very fine so it flies everywhere and it has a strong smell. it does kinda smell like cinnamon but it's faint. It just smells "strong" to me if that makes sense??! I bought the brush and bowl and they're definitely handy to have if you don't have one already. You don't specifically need the bowl made to go with this mask :)
This mask is a problem solver, really. When I first used it I was pretty happy that it felt like a deep clean. It also got rid of most of my black heads in one go. I've been having skin problems and it's been acting up. It's irritated, dry, patchy and I'm even breaking out. While this is not strong enough (nor have I been using it long enough) to address all my issues, it definitely does help. It's expensive but you get so much product and you only need a small amount. as soon as you get the hang of how much you need for your face, you should be golden. You also just need enough water for it to turn into a mousse texture.
It does help acne, definitely toned down my redness, and like I said improved my blackheads significantly.
So the first time I applied it I realized I could build it up? Maybe it's the brush but it applied pretty sheer and uneven, which is very annoying. In the end it's okay, because regardless it'll dry and do what it's supposed to, but it can still be ehhh.
At first I made the mask thick and tonight I made it thinner.
Let me put this next part in caps so you all can understand...
IT WILL BURN!!!!!
It will burn, and if you do it thick like I did it's going to feel like you put fire on your face. The weirdest thing is that it's not a terrible burn, and it's not irritating your skin. But you have to know the difference between "allergy on skin" pain to "mask tingles a lot" which you will feel it! The burning is right on the surface and disappears once the mask is dry.
When I did my mask as sheer it helped just as much and burned much less. Just don't freak out when it starts to burn.
Here's what it's done for me: Brightened skin reduced pimples slightly calmed skin from irritation
Like I said, it's not strong enough for what I need but it's a great maintence item or for someone with less serious acne. Overall, 10/10 one of the best products on the market.
I researched it a bit (by that I mean I read reviews) and while most are great some say it's basically Indian healing clay. I don't know what it is as I've never tried it but I guess it's worth trying if you can't spend the cash on this?
(for background info, I am 19 with very dry skin and hormonal acne.)
nothing special
theres nothing special about this brush really.. its just a facial brush. it's pretty hard to clean, it seems no matter how much i rinse it, the water still looks dirty when i squeeze the bristles. however, if you dont want to get your hands dirty and want easier application of a mask, i definitely do recommend it. if you already have one, don't get this one!
i dont know about facial/mask brushes, so i have nothing to compare it to, but this does feel pretty cheap. overall, its good to have one if you don't already.
Color A++
I'm fair with neutral undertones (just found out i am fair skinned... been wearing too dark foundation all my life :( ) and i have had an awful time trying to find a foundation that was light enough, but neutral toned. Not pink or yellow. N10 was perfect for me. It's a TINY bit light but thats because my neck is a tad darker than my face and what im trying to match is my chest. it is 100% fair and neutral. Now.. i applied this really quickly with my fingers at the end of the day with no prep work beforehand, when my skin is normally at its worse! I applied it kinda sloppy because i just wanted to see the color, and I did it with my fingers. First of all... dont apply it with your fingers! This is so thick it's not going to look nice, it'll look like a mask. It's medium coverage on your very first try but it WILL look cakey if you dont buff it out with a sponge or a brush.. im not big on brushes im more of a beautyblender person, so i can't say with certainty a brush will apply well. :) I will say that even though my skin was at its worse, it didn't really cling too too much to my dry patches.. it definitely did a bit, but i expected it due to the application and the fact that i didnt prep my face. I would definitely go easy on this foundation in particular because it's so thick, so keep the layers very thin. Overall great if you want a smooth, even, blank canvas to play with :) But not good for natural looks! I already have an everyday foundation though, so this is exactly what i was looking for.
So..............
I really wanted to wait a little longer because I just got this about 2 or 3 days ago, so I really wanted to wait about a week at least to review but this is honestly incredible. I don't know what's in this stuff, but it works like magic. I dont think my skin has been this hydrated in years. They say you can wear this once or twice a week, but since my skin is SO bad right now, I've been wearing it daily. All my redness has calmed down, and my blemishes are disappearing. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but theres no denying that my skin looks so good. Even my mother commented on it and asked me what I'm using, especially under my eyes. I put it all over including under the eyes and my dark circles are fading. It looks like I don't have problematic skin at all! HA! This is honestly worth every dollar. You truly dont need alot. Because it's a balm, you just swipe lightly on the top and apply that to your face. You dont really need the smaaallleesstttt amount, you still need enough for your whole face (especially if you have a giant head/face like me) but even then I've only disturbed the top, at worst. You should keep in mind this is an oily substance, because it just melts down into an oil when you rub it on your skin. PERSONALLY I'm not a fan of the smell. It doesn't smell great to me but I expected that, because fragrances usually bother me in almost all beauty products. I'm actually very very sensitive to products with fragrance, but this is perfectly fine. It does smell a tiny bit medicinal to me, I can't really explain it. The only way I can really explain it is, there was a cream from Aveeno called "smart essentials nighttime moisture infusion" and it comes in a jar. The smell reminds me alot of that cream, BUT it's WAY less intense and less offensive. I think I'm traumatized though, because that cream gave me an unbelievable allergic reaction. BUT... nevermind that! LOL! Just be aware if you're sensitive to smells this might bother you. You do get used to it eventually, but you can still kinda smell it on your face. I wear it under my moisturizer for extra moisture, but you can just wear it on its own at night. It's not really heavy, but if you're wearing it under your moisturizer it will feel a little heavy. But again, my skin was REALLY bad. Eventually I'm going to stop wearing it every day, but not today ;)
Very gentle, love it.
I love this, it's not harsh on the skin like an exfoliating scrub is, and it's just a little gel. You don't have to really rub your skin, just kind of apply this lightly in circular motions, and keep doing that, and the dry skin will just start flaking up. It doesn't make your skin actually peel or anything, so it's not like you'll have peeling skin the whole day. It makes little flakes of your dry skin I guess, that you just wash off with warm water and pat your face dry. My face feels alot smoother. The instructions say not to rub hard and they're right, you really don't need to. I was surprised how I put hardly any pressure. It's quick and didn't irritate me. You're advised to use this once to twice a week, which seems reasonable to me. I actually feel it's so gentle you can get away with maybe 3 or 4. But, perhaps if your skin is sensitive, it's best to stick to 1-2. I like it alot!
There's potential!
So this is a whipped texture foundation. It's kinda like a mousse, and you pump it out. The pump does not come with a long tube like a lot of pumped foundations do, it's just supposed to come up because it's air tight and when you pump it a bunch of times it comes up.
I tried to look up this foundation but there isn't much about it so I'll try to be as detailed as possible..
I think I'm biased, because this foundation made me angry from the start. I contacted customer service because after pumping so much, it wasn't coming out and I thought it was defective! That's when I was told that's how it's supposed to be, and how it works. It's a cool concept, meant to keep bacteria out. I like that this is a "green" foundation, there's a lot of potential here.
I've never tried mousse foundation, so I didn't know much about it or how it would react against my skin. I have very very dry skin, but I'm working on it! I prepped my skin, moisturized and everything before applying this. Waited for it to set. My intentions at first were to try it without a primer and with a primer, because I have huge pores on my nose so foundations always set into it. However I forgot to put on primer because I was so busy trying to get the foundation out. I figured something out though. You must shake it up well first, then start pumping. I shook it somewhat but I don't think it was enough. Shake it until you don't hear it moving around anymore!
Another tip... the colors are off. I ordered GOBI F2 which is supposed to be light with neutral undertone, because I figured Tularosa was much too light for me. I would probably be Tularosa, because Gobi is extremely.. orange. It looks totally orange on me.
This foundation isn't for dry skin. It will cling to the patches, it clung to mine and wouldn't blend out. Which brings me to my next con.. It's hard to blend out, because it's a mousse not liquid. I'm not used to mousse so if you are, you might have an easier time with that. I was using a beauty blender to blend it out on my skin. As for the coverage, I didn't try building it up, but it isn't heavy. It's very light, so I imagine you could build it without looking cakey. It's got pretty good coverage, but not full. It's more on the sheer side, but like I said, I didn't build it up.
Overall, it has potential! Just didn't work for me. :(
LOOOOVE
L O V E this color. It is a beautiful red that isn't really blue-toned. It's a very universal red, fit for everyone, but it has a tiny bit of pink shimmer. It really hardly shows, but it gives a beautiful slightly "highlighted" effect on the lips that shows mostly when the light hits it. I put a photo I took a while back when I did my makeup, with flash on, so you can maybe see it? . It looks great on EVERYONE. These lipsticks only come off if you eat oil-based foods, so as long as you stay clear of those you should be okay! Also, if you talk a lot, like me, it'll start rubbing off on the inside. But the good thing about them is since you only need a thin layer in the first place, you can just apply another layer on top. It's super thin, you don't need much, and it won't look caked on.
TRUE CHOCOLATE
This is a true chocolate color! I actually bought it for my mother and she didn't really like it on her (she's about one or two shades darker than me... shes on the lighest end of medium skin tone, with a neutral undertone) but on a friend of hers it looked great. The friend is medium skin with a warm undertone.
LOVE IT
I love matte lipsticks, and I had a few Lime Crime liquid to matte lipsticks so I knew what I was getting myself into. They're kind of tricky, and you're not supposed to wear lip liner with them because.. well you don't have to! You can do it all with just the brush and personally I love the applicator. Easy to maneuver- the only thing you should be careful about is that it applies quite alot quickly! Take your time, don't throw it on like you would a lipstick. Normally you'd press a lipstick against your lips with some pressure but not with this! It dries very quickly as well. The colors are crazy but beautiful. Personally, on me, i love Queen Supreme. It's a bright pink but fairly light. Not quite pastel, though. I'm currently lusting after Redrum and I'm nude! (pardon the not so great application in the photo!)
It's a good powder- BUT HUGE
If you are not a makeup artist, you wont need the 10 ounce!! HOLY smokes I underestimated the size... ITS SO BIG. Great powder, good for baking. I bought it as a git for my mom so.. We're just going to both use it. It's enough to last us both a year, using it daily.