Beauty Product Reviews

Thank you Aveeno

I have a new coveted Holy Grail item to add to my small list of products that deliver on their promises. [I know my reviews tend to run long so I will try my best to keep this as concise as possible...maybe ;p]

As an severe allergy sufferer there isn't a day that goes by where I don't break out into annoyingly itchy, but tolerable, hives and rashes (long story). Anyway one morning about 2 weeks ago I suffered a particularly severe reaction to a combination of something I was using/consumed/etc and ladies and gents this was not a good sight to wake up to. Not only did I have unsightly bloody scabs on my legs from the amount of scratching I had done the days prior, but every (and I am seriously not exaggerating) EVERY tiny pore on my face "bubbled" to the surface leaving beautiful tiny pus-filled pimples on every square inch of my already blemished complexion. Honestly, it was something I had never seen before in my entire life.

Panic was an understatement to how I felt in that moment. My face was as red as MAC's Ruby Woo, the texture of my skin was as soft as sand paper, and the sheer ITCHING was unlike anything I had ever felt before. (I was THIS close to having to put oven mitts on my hands.) I was utterly miserable.

Long story short, I ended up purchasing the Aveeno Eczema Therapy cream because the claims appealed to what I felt like I needed. I knew oatmeal was a good moisturizer and I further read that the cream "relieves dry, itchy, irritated skin due to eczema" (For the record I don't think I have eczema) and I also found the "steroid-free, fragrance-free" claims appealing.

The cream is a nice, truly fragrance-free product that feels like the perfect combination of a balm and lotion. It is not greasy or sticky on the skin after about 5-10 minutes and I felt I could wear my clothes without worrying about potentially damaging them. I felt my skin start to regain its moisture and resilience within the first 24 hours and I looked forward to putting the cream on because I knew relief from the dryness and itchiness would soon follow. After about a week my legs felt so smooth I swear I have never felt them this soft in all of my adulthood. After about 4 days my face started to return back to normal and I credit this cream for bringing it to an even softer texture than it was before.

Prices vary, but at my Target a 5 oz. tube runs for around $10. Some what expensive, but well worth it for the final results. I'm never going back to my old lotions again, my allergy breakouts have met their new match ;)

Simple, Genius, & Pink.

10 minutes after purchasing my 1st Beauty Blender my first thought was, "Did I really just spend 20 bucks on a !@#@$* sponge?!" FACT: Replace "sponge" in the first sentence with either "Nars Orgasm" or the "UD Naked Palette" (Yes, I said it) and that for me is the all too familiar feeling of another expensive disappointment. As Make Up connoisseurs (*cough* addicts *cough*) we all know that once a product is hyped your admirable efforts to resist buying into its too-good-to-be-true promises of cosmetic perfection becomes as useless as the American version of a BB Cream. It's weak & just sad... And it's not like we're talking about a blush or palette here. Nope, we are talking about a sponge... A $20 SPONGE. So imagine my delight after the W.O.S out of the store when the Beauty Blender delivered. This honestly might be one of the few "says what it does & does it well" products I've ever used. All I could think was, "the claims are...true?! and the results are...beautiful?!" The clouds parted, the angels sang, and the Make Up GODS themselves said my normally large pores weren't even visible. The application is simple, no need to worry about brush strokes or putting your grimy foundation covered hands all over your face (Editor's Note: Ew.) In 3 minutes my skin, which is an insecurity for me (redness, cystic acne, large pores etc), is stunning. I FEEL beautiful. My skin looks like those pudgy half-naked people in a Renaissance painting; my face glows, my skin is supple, and the finish is flawless...Yes I am still talking about a sponge.

Okay Jenny, let's reeeeel it on in a bit. I will say that a person that knows & frequently wears Make Up will appreciate the Beauty Blender MUCH more than some one who rarely ventures past a tinted moisturizer. That is not meant to sound condescending (damn you for only needing tinted moisturizer!) I'm saying that as someone who has experimented A LOT with make up. I recognize the slightest hint of "cake face," "uneven application," "brush strokes," etc. I know the results I want & I would repurchase the BB in a heart beat to achieve them, as opposed to someone who is reading this and thinks I need to get out more.

After all we are just talking about a sponge right? ;)

An Essay: Great Marketing. Blah Product.

I really wanted to like this strangely packaged lip balm. After seeing countless YouTube reviews of, "Oh it's SO CUTE...and moisturizing I guess- IT. LOOKS. LIKE. AN. EGG!" Whatever. I figured I'd give the most talked about chapstick since "I Kissed A Girl" a shot. I purchased the lemon & strawberry flavored ones (side note: the strawberry scent was nauseating, the lemon scent was pleasant) and it was less than EGGcellent (sorry). Alas, the YouTube community hypes up a product like it's the cure for cellulite and I fall for it... Every.Damn.Time. Okay, the balm itself is blah, it hydrates fine until you unconsciously lick your lips/eat/drink/talk- so give or take 20 minutes? No biggie, I don't mind reapplying, but this debunks for me the claims that this is some sort of "Holy Grail" lip moisturizing treatment. To me it just felt like the million year old "ChapStick" brand (that you can buy a cheap 3-pack of) in an utterly inconvenient package. Yes, the stupid adorable egg packaging. How can something so small be such a nightmare. I carry a flat pocket book type purse so of course this creates a strange bump and it truly is space consuming. What is the opposite of sleek & convenient? Bumbling & obnoxious? I also found that the "grippy" texture of the egg started to get gnarly dirty and just felt sticky. UGH. THEN there is that awkward stage when the balm eventually wears down and becomes flat to the point where [close your eyes and picture this ladies & gents] I'm straight up SHOVING my lips in this mediocre product and the plastic is scratching my already chapped lips and the balm is being just being scraped off and I am standing there while people are turning in the other direction. You guys, I'm beating a dead horse here, but this is a great example of how 'the power of persuasion', hype, and yes packaging can end up costing you (ok this @#$% is like 4 bucks but you know what I mean). In the end the cons FAR FAR AND AWAY out weigh the 1(?) pro. EOS, let's kick this rotten egg...to the...I'm over it. [insert egg pun here]

[Disclaimer: My distaste for eggs did not sway my opinions on the product.]