Beauty Product Reviews | Page 2

I have to admit, I have never used a cuticle oil before in my life. This is definitely a product I would have overlooked, but received as a gift. After googling how to use it (sorry, guys! I'm still sort of a nail-noob), I snapped this baby open and applied it to freshly-manicured hands.

Let me just say, this DEFINITELY smells like a holiday in a bottle! It smells distinctly like pina coladas, and the scent lingers for quite a while. Applied around my cuticles and massaged in, I could still smell the coconut-pineapple combo five to six hours later, long after the oil had seeped into my skin.

Honestly, I'm not sure if it has made any difference on my nails or cuticles. I don't actively push my cuticles back, but they tend to stay where they're supposed to and don't interfere often with my manicures. Either way, this smells delightful and makes for a very luxurious experience. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, go for it.

At last, a basecoat that lives up to its claims!

I probably would not have purchased this product on my own, but received it as a particularly thoughtful gift. I have incredibly thin nails and use tons of strengthening products so I often forget to use a base coat when applying polish and generally don't buy them unless they're on sale. No more. I don't think I will ever live without this product again.

What makes butter LONDON's basecoat really stand out is the finish. Instead of drying down to the same shiny, clear finish of every other basecoat I have ever used, it dries to more of a matte satin, allowing the polish to really grip the nail. It's also a sort of sheer beige colour, evening out the tone of the nails so the colour applies evenly across the nail. It's actually quite pretty on its own, and I'll admit I've gone out without putting a lacquer on top.

It is a bit pricey at $18 for .6 fl oz, but it's worth every penny.

Worth every penny!

I actually heard about this brand through this site when they came out with their No More Waity, Katie lacquer and was intrigued: I'm a firm believer in non-toxic, 3-free polishes, particularly with all the time my fingers inadvertently spend in my mouth. Problem? I couldn't find it ANYWHERE! I have no problem ordering online, but sometimes a girl just needs a nail fix.

ULTA finally started carrying butter LONDON and I ran out to grab as many as I could. I particularly love the names of their colours--as something of an anglophile, I get a kick out of the slang they use. But the real magic is in the formula. It's rich and opaque, absolutely no streaking. In the photo below, I used three coats of Blagger, though it was completely opaque in two. Mind you, the photo shows five days of wear: not a chip in sight! Ultimately, I can wear these polishes for a full week before I start to notice light wear. I use a computer extensively and work with my hands quite often--I'm also admittedly a nail-biter. I can't imagine how long this manicure would have lasted if I wasn't!

Bottom line, if you see a butter LONDON colour you like, go for it. It will be the best polish purchase you ever make.

Growing up, I always used to joke about my skintone. My mother has deep olive skin, and my father has very a fair Eastern European complexion, and I sort of got this strange, dull, sickly-looking colour that leans green in comparison with others. I don't really lean warm or cool, and that alone makes it impossible to buy foundation that looks "right." Everything comes off as too pink, too orange, too yellow--even Bare Minerals looked cakey when applied over my strangely-toned skin.

Apparently, I am not the only woman in the world with this problem. Enter Meow Cosmetics--they stock more than 80 shades of foundation! They're an internet-only company, so you can't really test drive the shades in store before buying, but they offer very conveniently sized samples as well as an active forum with colour-match experts to help you find your shade. Each tone is broken down comprehensively into colour, undertone, and depth, which is on a scale of 0-6. For example, I wear my foundation in Frisky Korat--which is beige, leaning warm, on a depth of 2 (light). They also offer suggestions to sample buyers--if you buy this shade, you might also want to try this and this. Incredibly helpful to pin-point that exact match!

The formula itself is nice--I wear Pampered Puss, which is the "sensitive skin" option and medium coverage level. The ingredients are simple, no more than three or four in the entire product. It applies smoothly, though if you have a lot of hyperpigmentation you might either opt for a higher coverage level or use a concealer since I feel that even at a medium, it's rather sheer. With Bare Minerals, I always needed a setting powder to keep it from getting oily, despite the fact that I have dry skin--Meow's foundations really don't need to be set, though you can feel free to do so if you want. They look natural, stay put, and don't get shiny. Plus, the full-sized product is HUGE. I believe the website states that you are getting 1/4 CUP of product. Honestly, after seeing it, I feel like it's even more (I'm pretty good with my eyeball measures--I think I could squeeze a half cup of flour in that same jar comfortably)!

I am really glad I gave Meow's foundations a shot. Not only do I have a better understanding of my colour and tones, but my skin really loves this stuff.

Despite the fact that my mother sells this stuff, I bought this product at the recommendation of one of her fellow reps. My skin maintains a delicate balance, at best, and I was told this line was great for people like me.

Both the cleanser and the moisturizer have the same distinct scent. I like the Velocity fragrance (it's sort of a fruity fresh floral), but I generally don't like scented skincare. It usually tells me that there's too much going on chemically, and my skin doesn't like that. It's not bothersome to apply and it doesn't linger, but I feel like it did irritate my skin if I had any all-ready-irritated areas.

People assume that blemish-prone skin is always oily. This is not the case. In the heat of the summer, my skin is combination. Otherwise, I am as dry as dry can be. This moisturizer is SO LIGHT that I actually started to flake after a week or so. It's just too light for me. If you have more combination-leaning-oily skin, this might be great for you, especially under makeup. It absorbs so quickly I hardly even knew I still had it on, and needless to say there was absolutely no residue left in its wake.

Bottom line, if you're combination-to-oily and don't want a heavy moisturizer, this might be a good line for you. If you like scented skincare products, this might be a good option. But it's not one-size-fits-all-blemish-prone-skintypes, and if you're looking for something more moisturizing, this probably isn't your product.

As a brand, I feel like Mary Kay is a little inaccessible. I understand the concept of buying through a representative, but I would personally rather go to a store and buy it myself, or read up online and order it through the site. Mary Kay doesn't let you do that. It's a big reason I haven't tried a lot of their products.

But my mother always has tons of it laying around since she's a sales rep, so when I'm in a pinch I grab at her stash. I was in the midst of a horrible allergic reaction to another product when I grabbed the Serum+C, a product my mother loves for her eye area. The four vials are meant to be used one per week, and I suppose if you use this all over your face it would work exactly as stated. If you only use on eyes, or spot-treat, these will go way further. Like most serums I've tried, this is a bit loose--not runny or drippy, but more liquid than solid. A little goes a very long way (one squirt did both my eyes with more to spare) and it absorbs quickly, leaving skin feeling fresh.

On irritated areas, this might sting a little. Only a little, I promise. That said, it's probably not recommended for irritated areas anyway. However, it cleared up my allergies in just a few days with twice-a-day use, followed at night by the Age Fighting Eye Cream, which is much richer.

This was my go-to fragrance for autumn--it's deep, sophisticated, and just a little bit delicious! I've always loved gourmand perfumes, but honestly it's a little hard to walk around smelling like a cookie or chocolate bar all day. When I worked as a pastry chef it was fine--people assume you smell like whatever you were baking that day--but as anything else, it's a little hard to pull off. Vanillary does not have that problem.

I fell in love with Vanillary when LUSH put out their Vanilla Fountains bath bomb. A pretty little flan-shaped bath bomb with a real vanilla pod in the center, it was my favourite bath-time indulgence. When they released the massage bar and the body powder, I was in vanilla heaven! But the perfume, I'd say, is more complex than any of them: this does not smell like vanilla pudding. It has a base of real, true vanilla--if you've ever split and scraped a vanilla bean, you know the smell, it's heaven! But LUSH adds woody notes like tonka and a bit of caramelized sugar and tropical flowers to round it all out and make sure you don't smell like a cookie.

If you're afraid of florals, this is a great perfume for you. If you're afraid of gourmand scents, this is a great perfume for you. It's very warm, making it a great F/W scent.

I can't tell you how disappointed I was to discover I was allergic to this product! I used this on and off to help my sore eyes during the driest months of winter and at first, all was good. I wouldn't exactly say it brightened any dark circles, but I don't have any darkness to my eyes anyway. Puffiness was definitely reduced, but the main reason I loved it was the cooling effect it had. My eyes are extremely sensitive, and the least little thing can bother them--no matter what they had been through at the end of the day, this gel was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. My eyes loved it. I didn't just use it under my eyes, I smeared it over my lids, my lashes, sometimes even on my cheeks over my sinuses.

I stopped using this about a week and when I started using it again, I found myself with strange flaky patches under my eyes. I blamed a new foundation and discontinued use. Patches got worse, until the skin under my eyes roughly resembled an elephant--clearly, this was not the foundation. I broke out a heavier eye cream (Mary Kay's Age-Fighting Eye Creme--my mother's rec) and within two days, the patches were gone.

It's since been determined that I'm allergic to cucumber. So this eye gel has found a good home with a friend of mine who has no adverse reaction to vegetables, and has normal human skin.

I feel like I was gipped out of a good fragrance here. Jasmine is one of my favourite notes, and sandalwood and strawberry just sounded delicious. Normally, I smell and try in store before buying anything, but I was on my way out of work and just grabbed. Ohhh what a mistake!

This has the potential to be amazing, very sweet and fruity while still maintaining a very delicate floral quality. Unfortunately, I'm either HIGHLY allergic to something in it, or the combination of scents is just too overwhelming for me. One spray, and my sinuses start to burn and my head starts to pound. This is one of my sister's fragrances of choice and I have to avoid her like the plague when she's wearing it, lest I suffer a full-day migraine.

Just a warning to those who might be scent-sensitive: this is a VERY strong, very complex fragrance. You might want to stay clear. :C

I had heard so much about this product that there was no way I couldn't buy it. I normally wear mascara on my lower lashes and cannot tell you how many times I feel a good look has been ruined by smudged mascara or clumped lower lashes.

First, let me admit that I held off on buying this for a very long time because the promo picture confused me. It looked to me like the wand had a strange little attachment that looked like falsies and I had no clue how I would use that. Sorry, sometimes I think the peroxide has seeped into my brain. When I went to Sephora in search of mascaras, I noticed that no! The wand does NOT have a crazy lash-attachment! It's just super-small. The brush itself is shaped like a cone, very small on the tip and growing slightly wider at the base, perfect for getting to those tiny corner lashes and really popping those middle lashes!

The formula, like other Clinique mascaras, goes on smooth, does not budge, and removes with only slight coaxing. I remove my makeup with jojoba oil and need to focus a little more on my lashes to get everything off (and still sometimes wake up with a teensie bit of smudge under my eyes), but for the most part it's no problem.

The ONLY reason I take off half a star is because it's still very possible to smudge during application. Once it's on, it's on and won't budge, but if your hand is a bit shaky or you aren't paying any attention whatsoever, it can smear.

I will totally be buying this again, since I don't feel the $10 price tag is extravagant in the least. It does what it promises, and I absolutely love it. Not to mention, it's simply adorable!