elf Lip Exfoliator Mini Review

LOVE IT. My lips are horribly dry and flaky with this arctic weather. They looked awful and felt even worse. The elf Lip Exfoliator makes them fell amazing. You use it by rubbing it in small circles over your lips and the gritty sugar bits rub the dead skin off. It leaves my lips smooth and hydrated. It also doesn't taste too bad thanks to the sugar and aspartame.

Seriously, my lips haven't looked this good in ages. Matte lipstick here I come!

The ingredients are:
Sugar, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Ceresin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopherol, Aspartame, Fragrance.

Tresemme Split Remedy Serum Review

Tresemme Split Remedy Serum is one of several Tresseme products that contain polyquanternium-28 and PVM/MA copolymer which make up the PEC complex.

As we learned from the PEC post (thanks to the Beauty Brains), the PEC complex is a proven winner for sealing split ends.

Despite knowing that the PEC complex works I was hesitant to try this product. I honestly do not have good luck with Tresemme products and I tried the Split Remedy Leave In Conditioning Treatment and HATED it (that product has the PEC complex too but made my hair feel disgusting).

This product was purchased by me at Walmart 

Milani Infinite Liquid Eye Liner in 01 Infinite Review

 

Hmm, I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this product. It promises up to 24 hrs of wear (which is a garbage claim that I'm sick of seeing) and says it is waterproof and wears comfortably.  

Picked this up at Walmart for about $6. There are 4 other shades available: black, bronze, green and purple.

Small Update: Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream

Just a wee update here.

I really am impressed with this BB cream! My nose is typically very red across the bridge and plagued with huge dirty looking freckles after even a smidgen of sun exposure. It has always been something that drove me crazy. I really don't like smothering my nose with thick concealer but it was really the only way to cover that persistent strong redness. Missha Perfect Cover seems to have fixed that for me now! This BB has good sun protection to prevent my giant freckles (I really wouldn't mind them if they weren't the size of a pencil eraser and I had them on my cheeks to match) and it has also eased my redness. It's virtually non existent beyond a broken capillary.

The redness on my cheeks hasn't been reduced, but rosacea is very difficult to treat and I don't expect a BB cream to do anything for it.

Jordana Semi-Permanent Liquid Eyeliner Review

This tiny liquid eyeliner is a personal favorite. I find liquid liner to be hard to use but this one isn't too bad.

I purchased this product in 04 Endless Black with my own money.

Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream Review

I have two tubes of Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream that I purchased with my own money for the purpose of trying this product. I have in the smaller 20 ml travel sized tube, shade 21. In the larger 50 ml full sized tube is shade 13.

Wet n Wild Coverall Cream Foundation Review

Wet n Wild Coverall Cream promises all day wear, medium-to-full coverage, light weight satin-matte finish and claims to reduce the appearance of wrinkles with their trademarked VisiBright complex.

Does it live up to its claims?

I purchased this product in shade 815 Fair with my own money for the purpose of this review.

Revlon Liquid Quick Dry Review

I've had this product for years but never got around to formally reviewing it. Well, here goes...

L'oreal EverCreme Cleansing Conditioner: First Impressions

 L'oreal EverCreme Cleansing Conditioner is an alternative to shampoo. The idea behind washing with conditioner is to strip less moisture from the hair and leave it softer, shinier and less frizzy.

Neutrogena Shine Control Powder Mini Review

This powder claims to instantly reduce shine, last all day, and layer invisibly over makeup with a matte finish.

The compact is sleek and black with a matte finish and comes with a thin foam pad applicator. It's very sturdy and snaps closed securely with out being difficult to open. The mirror is nice and big and will stay in whatever position you angle it in. Aside from the crappy applicator it's nice packaging. Unfortunately the thin piece of junk it comes with is all that will actually fit in the compact. If you want a puff or a brush you'll have to store it separately.

Does it instantly reduce shine? Yup, sure does but unfortunately my skin instantly looks dry and flakey when I put this on. My skin looks really terrible and this alone makes me regret this purchase. My skin isn't dry, it's greasy and well exfoliated. It was quite a shock when I put this on.

Does it last all day? Not even close! In less than an hour my skin is oily and gross because this seems to slide off and clump up.

Does it invisibly layer over makeup? Nope, this gives a ghastly pallor suitable for goth clubs and Halloween shenanigans. While I do dabble in this look quite frequently it's not what I go for while working. It's pretty rare for powders to make me look paler.

Does it have a matte finish? Yes, but again it's more of a "dry lake bed" kind of finish. Not the look I want.

Unfortunately this product doesn't work for me at all. It's uncomfortable to wear and doesn't flatter. I see a lot of rave reviews for this but I don't recommend it in the least.

NOTD- Blue Blood + Pure Ice French Twist Review

Pure Ice French Twist is a beautiful blue glitter in a black jelly base. It's a blue version of Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance/ Revlon Scandalous (previously Facets of Fuchsia).

Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray Review

Urban Decay De-Slick is a setting spray for oil control that promises 16 hours of shine free face! Did it live up to its claims?

L'Oreal Project Runway The Mystic's Kiss Lipstick Review

In short, "MEH".

Yeah... not too impressed with this one. What looks like a deep purple lipstick is actually a dark hot pink on the lips. It's a nice raspberry, kind of sheer, but not at all what it looks like in the tube and not at all what I was expecting.

The formula is the standard L'Oreal lipstick, smooth and soft with a slight vanilla scent. I applies nicely and is creamy and moisturizing.

The Project Runway Collection is limited edition and includes eye shadows, nail polish, nail polish stickers/ covers/ whatever those appliques are called, lip gloss and lipstick and blush (i think). I purchased this lipstick at a mall CVS that had the entire collection available. I believe you can also purchase these at ULTA. 

with flash the berry tones and blue shimmer are more apparent

the blue shimmer doesn't really show on the lips

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment Review

Could that product name be any longer?

This is an argan oil treatment but it also contains apricot oil and carrot oil (and a bunch of other ingredients that are not oil). It comes in a 3.75 fl oz bottle, which is perfect for storing in my purse and half of why I bought it. I need something to tame frizzies on the go because my hair hates me! LOL not really, but my scalp refuses to produce any oil of its own (probably because my forehead has enough to join OPEC) so my hair is very dry.

This product claims to be instantly absorbed and that it will condition with out leaving your hair oily. I agree with those claims, this stuff is absorbed FAST- I have to move quickly to keep my hands from soaking it all up. It also doesn't make my hair feel greasy, just smooth and shiny.

I must note however, this product has enough fragrance to down a horse and kinda smells like "old lady". The scent does fade but not as fast as I'd like it to.

Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream Review

Finally, it's here...

Neutrogena Shine Control Primer Review

I have some oily skin, particularly on my forehead and chin. My cheeks however are as normal as can be. My forehead becomes a completely disgusting oil slick to rival a deep fryer if I spend any time out of air conditioning in the summer and as you can imagine that looks really bad and drives me nuts.

Because of that I decided to give this rice powder based primer a try even though I don't usually wear primer with my BB creams. This primer feels drier than other primers and immediately gives skin a matte look. Out of the tube it's white and maybe a little bit gritty... other reviews have complained about this primer feeling really gritty and giving a heavy white cast to the skin, I haven't had these problems. Even with a tanned face I don't notice any sort of white cast.

SO... DOES IT WORK? Eh... I don't really think so. My face is just a little bit less oily but it's still shiny after 4 hours or so, not the 8 hours claimed by Neutrogena. This primer is supposed to control shine but I don't find that it does that. However, it does make my face feel a bit less oily which is a good thing.

One thing though, I apply this to my face before bed and wake up with out my face looking like I rubbed cooking oil on it. It's still shiny but feels considerably less greasy.

Any way, I guess the bottom line is this primer doesn't do much for shine but at least makes my face feel less gross. I probably won't repurchase because it's $12 for 1 oz

Quick Review- Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat

This product is actually pretty good, but not great. Here's the good, the bad and the so-so...

The good: 
It does a good preventing chipping at the tips for days.
Adds lots and lots of shine.
Dries completely in about 10-15 minutes, sets in a minute or two.
Shrinkage of the polish below is very minimal.

The bad:
Tip wear like crrrrrrazy. It seems to actually increase tip wear!
Chipping at the cuticles is a major problem after 2-3 days.

The so-so:
Doesn't keep the manicure looking fresh for much longer than most other top coats. It really only excels at preventing tip chips.

I have to say, the tip wear is actually kind of infuriating. After having my nails painted for less than 24 hrs and just doing some moderate typing I have extremely noticeable tip wear and it looks like my nails were painted 3 days ago. I have been using this top coat for about 4 weeks and about 8 different manicures and this is a consistent problem. It's worse with opaque glitter polishes like Orly Bubbly Bombshell and not as bad with just plain ol' creme finishes.

Quest For BIG Hair- Not Your Mother's Girl Powder Review

My hair is thin, fine, limp, dry, frizzy and relatively lifeless in its natural state. As a result it has spent most of its life in a pony tail or bun (due to military service), but I am bored with all that. In my quest for big hair I have tried a lot of "volumizing" products and most just don't do anything for me. Volumizing shampoos and conditioner are too drying and make my hair feel like straw.

Using deep conditioner and coconut oil I have conquered the dryness and frizz for the most part. Now I need to turn my hair from limp and blah to at least normal hair volume. Today, this is where Not Your Mother's Girl Powder Volumizing Powder comes in.

Enkelini Violet Soul

Click to read the review

BB Cream Update

Update for this review

After using it since the beginning of February here's what I feel it has done for my skin:
+ My skin is less dry, most of my dry patches are gone
+ It covers my pores really well
- It doesn't do anything for pimples
- It doesn't really help my oily forehead