Beauty Product Reviews
It never sets!
I went back and forth about buying this product because A) my face is oily and B) the color selection had me confused about which color would actually suit me. I went with 240-Natural Beige and the color is almost flawless, as is the coverage. Color-wise, I end up with a perfect canvas for highlighting, contouring, and color. Or... I *would* if the stuff ever set! It says it goes from cream to liquid, but that's proving to be a negative aspect for me. I put a fan on my face for a few minutes and it still doesn't completely dry because when I go to set it with powder my kabuki ends up with foundation all over it. I blot after *that* and there's foundation on it! I go to answer a phone an hour later, THERE IS FOUNDATION ON THAT TOO. If your facial skin is even remotely oily (or you live in a hot/humid climate) I would give this a pass.
Best smelling thing you'll ever finish your hair with!
You blow dry, your straighten, you curl, and just when you think you're done you see that the shine is all out of your hair and on top of that you're already frizzing up again! That was my issue and my stylist recommended After Party to tame down the small frizzies, add the shine back, and give the girly bonus of awesome smelling hair (which is much needed after all that heat-treating)! A *must* for girls with wavy/frizzy hair they regularly straighten.
Great product, terrible packaging
The colors are great and the shimmer effect is super pretty, but the value in this is ruined by that terrible brush! Mine came with it bent out of shape and completely useless, so I use another brush to apply. Gonna take the advice of others and depot this for better ease of use.
You get what you pay for!
While I had been pleased with this line's eye brushes, this particular one was just a big disappointment. The bristles aren't packed tightly and are flimsy as a result; not good for anything more than light dusting. While I might've still found use for it as a flimsy brush, the bristles are course and the tips are so rough that it's not at all a nice experience. I'd say pass this up for the Studio line.
Shade Medium/Deep
I'm liking this product for those days when I really don't want to work at fully covering my face. Once I've concealed where I need to, I just run the puff sponge all over my face to buff in the loose powder and I'm good to go! My particular shade isn't actually "deep" it's more of a mid-yellow beige which is perfect for tan skin with red undertones that need cancelling out.
"Bronze" is relative
The Golden Bronzer is lovely and definitely shimmery, but overall the palette is light. Just looking at it in the pan I knew it was perfect for highlighting but was never going to be a bronzer for me. For this price, you can't beat the amount of product!
ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED!
On a whim I decided to try this (in the sample jar without SPF) and I'm so glad I did! Just a little bit of the cream covered and moisturized my whole face without ever feeling greasy or sticky. In addition to serious moisture softening up my skin, it also brightened it. I've never seen my face look so healthy and even!
Works great on dark hair
Whenever I straighten my hair it tends to get oily by the end of that same day, so dry shampoo is a must. Talc is great at absorption but white powder on dark brown hair is a big DIRTY!! flag and this product saved the day. The packaging is sleek, the aerosol works great (and after a month hasn't mysteriously depressurized) and the mineral clay really does absorb oil, give a little volume, and disappear.
My only complaint is that the fragrance is too strong. I might not have minded so much if it was a scent I could tolerate, but I'm sensitive to citrus and this is some incredibly potent freshly-peeled-tangerine that I get a big whiff of every time I turn my head!
For the price and the effectiveness I'll definitely continue to use it, but I'm always going to want a different (even just less-potent) scent.
Fantastic packaging/concept!
I was so excited to win this in the contest that Beautylish had! This is in a price bracket that I usually can't touch, so it was quite a treat to get to try something this nice.
The quality of the shadows is superb; they're so finely milled that you have to be a little careful about how hard you dip your brush, but it makes blending almost unnecessary. All the colors are lovely in the pan but I had the hardest time making it all work together using their layering technique. I'm *still* trying to make that work a month later! Also, my skin is tan with a reddish undertone, so even with a lighter primer the gold just kinda vanished.
Overall, I liked the palette but I couldn't make these shadows work together with my skin tone. I'll definitely still be using them in conjunction with other shadows or just individually as they're amazing color and quality.
If your skin texture is the only thing you want to improve on, then this is definitely for you! It's a lightweight (lovely smelling) balm that smooths the surface of your skin, filling large pores and fine lines. Unfortunately, it does not do well under liquid foundation because I've experienced it both pilling up the foundation and making it slip right off and settle under my chin and down my neck. If my skin were clear enough to go sans foundation, I would've kept this.