Beauty Product Reviews

Great for very dry winter hands

This is a great natural alternative to Aquafor or Eucerin for treating extremely dry, cracked skin on the hands. Borage oil is very healing, and has long-lasting effects. With one application, my red irritated skin was immediately soothed and softened. The only downside is that smells slightly like clay, but this is easily overlooked as the results are amazing. This even keeps your hands soft after washing!

Kind of like permanent glue on your eyes...

Yes, this does keep my eyeshadow on all day, which is what it's supposed to do. However, I find that it creates a 'pilling' look to eyeshadow applied to my browbone. It drives me crazy! Maybe I'm putting too much on, but I make sure to blend it well before applying eyeshadow. I dunno, I'm just not sold on this.

Moisturizing and smooth

This lipstick is unlike anything I've ever tried before. It's almost like it melts onto my lips when I apply it and leaves a kind of 'painted' texture. I don't know how else to describe it. I wouldn't say it lasts 12 hours, but it is long lasting. I've eaten breakfast after application, and it stayed on through lunch. A lot of the colors are extremely intense, though, which I tend to avoid because I love dark eyeshadow too much! I don't want to overdo my look, so I decided on the color Inspired. It's close to my natural lip color, except with a mauve hint, and goes very well with the maracuja Blushing Bride lipgloss which I reviewed earlier. It is on the pricey side, but because of how long it lasts, I think it's well worth it.

Super exfoliating/moisturizing

Since Korres discontinued their lemon lip scrub, which was amazing and I'm still angry that I can't find it anywhere (not that I'm bitter, or anything), I've been looking for an at least half-way decent replacement. It appears I've found it (and more) from Tarte's maracuja lip exfoliant. While I admit the recent maracuja oil/argan oil explosion in beauty products seems fad-ish, I've always been impressed by Tarte's products, so I figured I'd give this a try. I purchased this using the Tarte's family and friends discount through their website, which brought the cost down considerably. I'll admit when I first purchased this, I was disappointed. I couldn't seem to find anything exfoliating about it, though the packaging claimed it contained raw sugar. However, I discovered that there are actually two layers (thought not very distinct) in this product. The top layer is a lip balm, which is very minty and moisturizing. Great, I thought, but I wanted an exfoliant. Well, after about four uses, and focusing primarily on the center of the tin, I found the second layer. So I applied the sugar crystals, rubbed my lips together a few times, and voila! My lips were super soft, hydrated, and ready for lipstick! Bonus: it costs less, even without the discount, than the Korres scrub did. Double bonus: it comes in a cute tin! Try it!

Natural-looking

I've lately been tired of lip products that are either too bright or too sparkly. I've been craving a natural-looking, but still noticeable lipgloss. When Tarte first came out with these, I had a difficult time deciding on the color I wanted, so I tried on every color at a local Sephora store. I thought by looking at Blushing Bride that the color was too dark, and wouldn't be flattering on me, so I was totally surprised when it was only slightly darker than my natural lip color! It's now my favorite lipgloss. I actually didn't find the consistency to be that sticky. It definitely doesn't feel like a balm, though. Anyway, it does cost more than what I would usually spend, but I think the moisturizing benefits are amazing. I think it was worth what a paid for.

great color selection

I've only ever used this with a primer, so I'm not sure if their 16-hour claim is true, but I love the colors in this palette. They recommend using the darkest color (bottom right pan) for the crease, but I find the look too harsh. Instead, I use it as a liner and it makes a huge difference, and follow the rest of the guide as is. This is my go-to eyeshadow for work as it is inexpensive and stays put all day with no fallout. It's worth a try.

Yes to fewer break-outs!

When I apply moisturizer, my main focus are my cheeks because they tend to get dry, patchy spots on them. I hardly ever put any on my chin or nose, as those are the areas where I'm most prone to break outs. But as I've gotten older, I've noticed those areas have been feeling parched and dry, too. I decided to try a moisturizer specifically for acne-prone skin and eyed this at the drugstore. I'm so glad I bought it! It's got a nice light scent, absorbs well, and hydrates without giving me zits. I totally recommend this.

Great product, lame container and not enough color choices

I love this powder. It provides enough coverage to be a foundation on its own, or you can apply a thin layer over liquid foundation to give it a long lasting matte finish. A little can go a long way, and they give you plenty of product in the container so it's very reasonable. However, I hate the stupid container they put it in. When you first open it, there's a tray which holds a (useless) application brush and acts as a cover for the sifter, which you reach by pulling up on a little tab. Every time I bought one of these, that little tab has broken, and there's nothing stopping the powder from spilling out of the sifter. You end up with more powder than you need, a hard-to-close container...most of the time resulting in a powdery mess. This can be avoided by being extremely careful with the container and properly closing it after use. The brush should just be tossed. It doesn't deposit product well enough and feels brittle on my skin. I use a soft and fluffy Ecotools powder brush instead. Also, the colors they offer range from fair to light/medium at best. Despite this, I still really love this product and I hope they keep making it.

Best for itchy, irritated skin

This is the only natural body wash I've tried that has ingredients specifically formulated for itchy skin. I think it's because it contains borage oil, which I find very soothing. It smells sweet and spicy at the same time, and actually lasts quite awhile if you use 6 pumps or less. It gives me plenty of lather for a whole shower, whereas other natural body washes barely produce any suds. I know it's because they don't contain sodium lauryl sulfate, which is lethal to freshwater fish and a potential skin irritant, so good on them. However, I would still like to feel clean after a shower and not waste a ton of product to do so. This is the best I've found and I'm sticking with it.

Great price for what you get

I also have this in Peach Parfait, which looks natural on my skin tone. Cherry Tart is a bright red with a little pink in it, and looks great with minimal eye makeup. These lip butters definitely have more color than a balm, but feel just as moisturizing. They glide smooth and evenly onto my lips and don't feel sticky. My only issue with this is that it can get kind of chunky in the tube, which can transfer onto your lips. My advice is not to slick on too many coats...I just keep forgetting they aren't lip balms!