February Empties

Studio 35 Beauty Acetone: works great, cheap, effective. I usually mix in some glycerin and water. I think Sally's has even cheaper acetone, though.

Softsoap Juicy Apple body wash. Good if you like dry, itchy skin and bright pink bubbles. I mixed this with a minty body wash and liked it more that way.

Butter London Hardwear topcoat: The first half of this bottle worked pretty well. The second half got thick and required lots of thinner. Even then, it left brittle strings trailing from my nails to the bottle. An $18 topcoat should not do that.

First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads: These are Holy Grail for me. I tried a cheaper alternative and the jawline acne started to come back. I'll continue with what works, thanks. Now, I'm on my third jar of these.

E.L.F. nail polish remover pads. I still have one more of these sitting unopened. Now that they're two bucks instead of one, I won't be buying more.

L'Óreal miracle blur finishing cream sample - I liked this enough to buy a full size, but I'm starting to question why. I need to work with it some more.

Repechage samples: I actually really liked the mask. Maybe not quite enough to pay full price, but it did seem to decongest and brighten somewhat. The scrub was so-so. I have definitely tried others I liked a lot better.

Random lotion samples: Meh. I am glad they're out of the house!

June Used It!

Alba Botanica Even Deep Sea Mask*
- Buy again? No. I didn't find that this either degunked or soothed enough to really do anything.

Alba Botanica Hawaiian Hibiscus Toner* (not pictured)
- Buy again? Probably not. This was my second round, because I was tempted when it went 50% off at CVS, but like the mask, it didn't really do anything special.

Anthony Logistics for Men Glycolic Cleanser
- Buy again? Maybe. I kind of liked how I could use it as a mini-peel by leaving it on for a few minutes prior to rinsing, so it's good if you don't like foaming and do like multi-use products.

CoverGirl LashBlast Mascara - Very Black*
- Buy again? Most likely. It would be nice if they sold it in smaller sizes so it wouldn't dry out and clump up on me before I'm done, though. 

Ecco Bella Botanicals Long Lasting Lip Crayon - Raspberry Port*
- Buy again? No. This product would have worked so much better in a slimline twist-up tube, and the color was also REALLY DARK on me.

E.L.F. nail polish - Golden Goddess*
- Buy again? No. I'm starting to get really annoyed with most glitter polishes and I end up using them up in crafts projects.

Josie Maran Argan Sun Protection for Body SPF 30 sample
- Buy again? Yes! Stay tuned for next week's Sunday Sunblock feature to learn more!

Korres Mattifying Pomegranate Primer sample
- Buy again? Undecided. I think I might like it as a no-foundation foundation, but it did nothing as a primer and I'm not sure if it's worth the cost.

Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet foundation sample decant
- Buy again? Maybe. I'll have to do a half face test with this (I have another sample, the Sephora lady forgot to write the shade on it the first time!) and Revlon Colorstay first.

Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Pore Scrub*
- Buy again? No. It smells floral, and I don't think it scrubs quite enough.

Nuance Salma Hayek Cooling Eye Gel*
- Buy again? No. It sometimes felt burny, which is not what I want on that delicate skin!

Origins Plantscription Anti-aging eye treatment sample packet (x2)
- I used both of these and did not notice any change to my undereye area, so I will not be buying this.

Pacifica Body Butter - Tuscan Blood Orange (2.5 oz)
- Buy again? Nope, but only because I like the solid perfume format better. This is really quite amazing if you like citrusy scents, which I do. A lot.

Philosophy vitamin C powder sample decant
- Buy again? Maybe? I'm not sure it did enough to be worth the extra cost or extra step in the routine, but it did seem to brighten my face a little.

Philosophy Hope in a Jar SPF 30 sample tube
- Buy again? Probably not, unless it was on sale. See this week's Sunday Sunblock for more!

Philosophy Marshmallows for Toasting 3-in-1 4oz size
- Buy again? Nah. I think I'm over the Philosophy 3-in-1s. They're a lot more drying than I expected.

Real Purity foundation sample
- Buy again? No. It was an ok foundation, but I'm uncomfortable with a water-based product that does not use any preservatives at all. 


Shea Moisture African Black Soap shampoo*
- Buy again? No, but only because my water's too hard to rinse this out properly without an acidic rinse. If you have scalp issues and like herbal scents, you should try this.

Silk Naturals Camellia Moisturizer sample
- Buy again? No. I like my moisturizers either serumy and packed with goodness or creamy and cheap!

Tarte Aqua-Gel eyeliner - brown*
- Buy again? No way. For the price, you get a teensy tiny amount, and the tip breaks off super easily, which I find annoying. It does have a nifty cooling feel when you apply it, though.

Wet'N Wild Gray's Anatomy nail Polish*
- Buy again? No, but only because butter LONDON Knackered is a lot alike but so much nicer, what with the sparkles. 

* - full size product

Better late than never, February's Used it!

Look! I took a picture!

*Alba Botanica Hawaiian sunblock - spf 45 Buy again? No. I'm not happy with the UVA protection - it looks like it doesn't get all the waves.

*The Body Shop Wild Cherry Body Butter Buy again? No. It smells kind of fake and only moisturizes so-so.

*ELF nail polish remover pads Buy again? I have - it's cheap, portable, works, and fairly easily available. The only downside is that it seems to leave my fingertips a bit sticky, so I have to wash my hands.

*Garnier Nutrisse Anti-Dark Circle Rollerball Buy again? Not a chance. I didn't so much use this up as throw it out in disgust. It looks nice for the first hour or so, then creases. Who needs it? I don't.

*Physicians Formula Brow Definer Buy again? Nope. Formula is slightly too waxy for my taste.

*Silk Naturals Awesome Sauce Buy again? I did! I like it. I'm not sure if it's magic or not, but I like it and it seems to help a little.

*Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara Buy again? Maybe. I like the stuff, I really do. It looks great, makes a good natural but impressively so look, but it's expensive and dries out too soon. This stuff dried out before I wanted it to.

*Wet'N'Wild Rocking Rubies nail polish Buy again? Oh hell no. While pretty, I found that this had the tendency to flake off within a day or two. When I found a thumbnail-shaped flake in my snack bowl, that was the disgust point. I tried lots of top coats, base coats, etc - flake city!

*Evil Shades Gossamer Blush sample Buy again? Complicated question - I like the brand's blushes, but this color was too cool for me.

*Tarte Amazonian Clay powder sample Buy again? Nope. Too expensive for what it is. Glad this was a trial size - it works, but so does anything with that much silica.
 
*Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop sample Buy again? Nope. If my primer's gonna be tinted, it had better double as a cream shadow. This doesn't. Also, it makes my eyelids gray. So there we go! 8 full sizes, 3 samples demolished in February

January Used It!

In January, I finished off eight products; two minis and six full-size items.

Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum*
Buy again? Maybe. I have no idea if it helps with breakage or not, but I did like the way a little made my hair feel. This is definitely a less is more type product - too much will make your hair look stringy.

Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips - Teal with it*
Buy again? Probably not. They're on the expensive side and take too long to apply.

Lumene Sensitive Touch wipes mini pack
Buy again? No. I just bought them because I wanted something and I was on a trip. They're fine, but I don't want to buy anything that's just fine.

Nuance wipes*
Buy again? Probably not - they were this strange rectangular shape - more oblong than I usually like in a wipe, and they had more texture than I prefer.

ELF Studio Complexion Perfection*
Buy again? Probably not. This has its uses - it will lighten the appearance of a too-dark foundation, but it's hard to travel with and you don't get as much as you'd expect - the layer of powder is pretty shallow. It did work fine, but it wasn't awesome.

Silk Naturals Ginny liquid lip gloss*
Nice color, nice formula, but I really don't like wand-style, especially when there are so many natural ingredients. I worry it will go bad, which is why I made the effort to use this one up.

Garden of Wisdom Sulfur Clearing Mask*
I think things with sulfur might help clear teeny pre-zits, but I haven't found that it takes care of the monsters I really want gone.

Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner 3oz size
This is probably one of the two conditioners I've repeatedly bought over the past couple years. It's cheap, works fairly well, and is widely available. I don't love it, but it's convenient and functional enough that it's what I buy when my favorite's hard to come by. (My favorite is Kiss My Face Whenever conditioner - green tea and lime - smells like dessert but not so sweet it's sickly.)

Look of the Day - classic retro

I wanted to do a more retro look.

I used the left-hand side of the WnW Comfort Zone palette and some layered mascara for the eyes - Cover Girl Lash Blast length works well as a base for me - and their eye enhancers for green eyes works nicely over that.

Lips are Raspberry Port lip crayon from Ecco Bella and a lip glaze from HiFi cosmetics that I don't know what it is because the label fell off the tube.

Instead of blush, I used some ELF studio golden bronzer around the edges of my face. Still pale!

Also, I do not apologize for anything about how I look here. (Bloggers really need to quit pointing out their imperfections. Like now.)

used it! (mostly masks)

Quick post:

Used up three more things!
Boscia Luminizing Black Mask sample decant - It seemed to really get out all the gunk, but four hours later my nose pores were exuding oil again. I really don't know what was up with that - I went from being thrilled with it to kind of disappointed, and I'm not sure I'd buy the full size, especially not at high-end prices.

SN Green Goddess mask (tablespoon baggie) - I have one more of these left... Anyway, this is pretty good if you don't add too much water. It smells minty and the herbs feel nice exfoliating when you rinse it off. I like it better than the Aztec clay masks, which always seemed to clog my sink drains and dry out my skin.

ELF clear mascara - I'd used this exclusively for my brows, and it worked for that. I like how it had two sides, so I could keep one side uncontaminated until I was out of the other side. I noticed no difference in the efficacy of the "brows" side vs. the "lash" side. I also don't think this would do anything for lashes. I might buy this again, because a buck is hard to beat.

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Rant against combination palettes

Hiya!

I've been having a fairly good Christmas home with my parents, and it's been really nice to see them again. In a few days, I'm going to visit with the man's friends and family a bit, too, and I'm also looking forward to that.

Anyway, I haven't used up or bought anything new lately (SN order did come through, yay! And I also have a new luminzer!) but I have been looking at a lot of makeup.

Every November, gift sets and palettes come out from brands of all prices, and even from brands whose sole purpose is cheapie makeup kits. Invariably, no matter what the price, these palettes suck for me.

The very first allergic reaction to makeup I ever had was to a Color Workshop kit that I bought at Wegmans when I was fifteen or sixteen. The stuff turned my eyelids and lips into a dry, red, flaky mess. On principle, I will not buy from that brand again. Ever. I have no idea what ingredient caused the reaction as I've looked at the kits they sell now, read the lists, and not found anything that usually bothers me - so all I can assume is that they're so cheap that something nasty snuck in. I don't remember the stuff being of super great quality, anyway.

In my mid-twenties, I developed an allergy to beeswax that I talk about incessantly in hopes that it might spare someone else the medical trauma I went through before I figured that out. This rules out most palettes that include lip glosses or cream shadows because if it's from a brand I recognize, it's usually got that ingredient; and if it isn't, it's usually cheap as hell and I don't trust it. ELF might be the exception, but I talked about my ELF hate in my last post. Most of their lip products skeeve me out because they're essentially a gooey mess of dyed petrochemicals, and gooey messes of dyed petrochemicals like that only come off on everything I eat, drink, or kiss; dry my lips out because they seal moisture OUT, and don't even last that long. I don't mind one or two petroleum-based ingredients in a product where the bulk is natural oils and butters - but if there's nothing from a plant that didn't die in the Cretaceous in there, I don't want it.

Plus, allow me to point out the sheer idiocy of packaging cream and powder products in the same container - you drop that and not only are your shadows broken, but you also have to dig them out/off of the cream products. And lip products are the only thing I reapply throughout the day, so not being able to take that color with me would be very irksome.

Some companies make palettes that look awesome, then package them with a bunch of stuff I can't use. Tarte is terrible at this - they either include beeswaxy eyeliners or mascara in the palette/set or they include lip gunk. I got halfway through a deluxe tube of their lipgloss before I got sick and had to throw it out, and it was ok - but not really enjoyable.

Urban Decay seems better at sticking with eyeshadows in their palettes, which I prefer (a coordinating blush is ok, though, and blush/eyeshadow palettes are the only combo I find acceptable).

All in all, I despise these palettes that everyone seems to want so bad.

Used it! oil, ELF, lotion, thoughts on ELF in general.

1. Trial size citrus body lotion from whole foods. Alright, nothing special.

2. No-name brand Vitamin E oil. I like to oil my legs in the winter after shaving. There are better, cheaper oils I could use, and I never use Vitamin E for its intended purpose.

3. ELF Mineral Blemish Kit. I might buy this again. On sale. And keep it around in case of breakouts - I ended up applying it my whole face with a cotton powder puff - the round kind with the short little furs. It wasn't a miracle product, but it seemed to help a little (Damm you Evian lotion!).

4. ELF nail polish remover pads. Could be stronger, but pretty good for what they are - I use them on my toenails and they work. They also smell ok, which for nail polish remover is good because most of it smells terrible.

That said, I can't quite get behind the ELF love the way many people do. Most of the dollar items and Studio line seem to be full of petrochemicals and other crap fillers, their concealer pencil that was supposed to help heal my zits made them huger and more painful, their mineral powders ALL have bismuth oxychloride pretty far up on the ingredients list, and a liquid liner I bought smelled so terrible I threw it away immediately. There are very few ELF products that I actually like: the blemish powder, the Studio body kabuki, the mineral lipstick (but only if it's a good color, and so many of them aren't - ripe rose is the only one I've tried that I really liked), and the nail polish remover pads. I see people posting huge ELF hauls when they have sales and can't imagine wanting all that stuff!



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A couple quick things:

I have a cold and don't feel much up to anything besides the Internet, but I had a couple quick things to share:

1. Yesterday, I used my Fyrinnae eye primer on one lid and my E.L.F. mineral primer on the other lid under EM's 11:59 shadow. At the end of the day, there were fewer sparkles on the Fyrinnae side, but the E.L.F. side had had some shadow migration. I think I vote for sparkle loss over loss of evenness. At least the Fyrinnae lid looked consistent, and I can use their Pixie Epoxy to cement the sparkles on.

2. I also ordered some tiny hauls from Aromaleigh and adorned with Grace Minerals. From Aromaleigh, I'm getting three Opulent Lustre samples, two Rocks! sonic samples, two Gothic Lolita eye samples, and a sample of their lightest warm shade in each foundation formula. From adorned with Grace, I'm getting foundation samples in Love 3.0 and Faith 3.0, samples of Beautiful and Wonderful blushes, and a full-size clearance set of three eyeshadows - all blues mixed with browns and silvers. Total damage? $18.29. awG offers free shipping domestically on everything, and Aromaleigh offers free shipping on samples-only orders, plus the ability to pick three free eye color samples per order.