Beauty Product Reviews | Page 12

Pros and cons abound, still a fave!

I'm glad I tried these suckers. They're just another product to add to the ever-growing list of Rimmel London products I like!

Pros: I love the shape of the glosses, especially the handle. The applicator is a doe-foot but has more of a flat, spatula-like surface, perfect for applying just the right amount of gloss on. The tip of the applicator comes to a point, so its perfect to get that precise application. I love the range of colors, especially the darker, mauve shades. Unlimited Gold 050 is a great golden pink beige shade that looks gorgeous over my fave nude lip products- the Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee, and Revlon's Colorburst lipstick in Soft Nude. 050 Unlimited Gold, 260 My Eternity, and 720 Endless Night also look great over concealer to create a one-of a kind nude lip. I can't wait to layer them over my Rimmel London Exaggerate lip liners, as well as create a thousand other combos with them, they're that versatile. They have great shine, and are very smooth and look great on bare lips too.

Cons: The smell is a little weird. In theory, I want to love the fake rosey scent, its the epitome of cute and girly. But for a lip product, I'd rather go scentless, or maybe vanilla, fruity, candy, all-natural scented. I've noticed looking at other Rimmel lippies at the drugstore, that their other lipstick lines also have that cloying rose scent. It doesn't nauseate me or give me a head-ache, I just find it a little annoying to always smell it when you put the gloss on. Once you go to apply gloss you need to be careful not too apply too much, as the applicator really grabs a lot of product. Luckily, the mouth of the gloss catches a lot of product when you take the applicator out. And, putting on a ton of product is not a bad idea because, lastly, these are not super pigmented. I looked at the darker shades and thought they looked so mysterious and unique....in the tube! It shows how much of a lipgloss noob I am, that I immediately figured the color in the tube would be the color on your lips. You do get some color pay-off even on naked lips, but not much. I saw an ad for these recently, and they're obvi nothing like the super pigmented pink lips on the model. They are not liquid lipsticks, or lip creams- just glosses. They look great over other products, but they are not as pigmented as I had hoped.

All in all, I still am smitten, but am well aware of the cons, as well the the pros. And you should be too!

Alright Hairspray

I have the same hairspray, although mine has a clear plastic cap and spray pump, unlike the picture. After I use my Pantene Pro-V Fine Hairstyle Mousse I like to top it off with the Garnier Fructis Style Full Control Anti-Humidity Hairspray. I feel like the mousse does a so-so job of keeping my hair in the shape I want it, and the hairspray is also so-so. I'm not sure it holds my style very long and it sorta fades away I feel like in a couple of hours. On the flip side, I like that its not super crunchy and is more natural feeling. Its not in an aerosol can which is a plus, the sent is great (I love nearly all of Garnier's scents) and the scent doesn't clash with that of the mousse I use with it. The last time I used more hair product was in middle school when I grew my hair out til it was more curly, then squeezed gobs of blue gel into it, scrunched the crap out of it, then sprayed, sprayed, sprayed with hair spray. (I also alternated that with stick-thin straightened hair!) I liked the crispy, scrunched curls look, THEN! I haven't styled my hair with many products since, so I'm a bit of a hair noob, and I feel like I'm not using this spray to its max potential. But any more discoveries made will probably edited back into this review. That being said, this hair spray makes for a nice MU setting spray in a pinch!

EDIT* I like this spray better now that I know to use more! :P

Typical Mousse

I kept stealing this from my mom, until she caved and let me have it. She has fine hair- I don't, but I usually don't pay attention to what the shampoo/hair product says what kind of hair it specializes in. The smell is great, I loved the signature Pantene Pro-V scent, growing up as a little girl. I think I always associated Pantene with the "grown up" shampoo. OK, Enough of that nostalgia already!

The product comes in an aerosol can, but its very sleek and modern, as well as skinny and tall- so its easy to store on the sink counter top because its a pretty show-piece and doesn't take up a lot of space. The scent of the mousse is different than some of their shampoos, I really like it. The hold is so-so, but that's sort of a nice feature when you want natural, not crispy textured hair. I think it only holds the intended shape I mold it in for a few hours at the most, plus my hair has grown so fast that my natural middle part already foiled one of my do's. My hair already is wavy/thick/curly and has a mind of its own, so I feel like the mousse is not strong enough to shape my hair, even when its wet.

All in all, this might work great for fine, limp hair, but for my thick, wavy hair, the mousse sorta blends in to my hair's natural way of sitting on my head after an hour or so, and its hard to tell I styled it to begin with. Maybe I need more hairspray/mousse, and I'm certainly no hairdresser/stylist. I'll try to use this up, and maybe ask for another can when my mom gets a new one for herself, but I wouldn't re-purchase right away. Its average, at best. But I like the scent, bottle shape and the fact that its nice to use mousse/hairspray here and there.

EDIT* This works better now that my hair is longer- and it looks really cute if you let your hair get a little greasy and get beadhead. I love the scruffy/grungy look :P

One of the best Vanilla perfumes out there!

I've gotten the majority of my body sprays/perfumes from Bath and Body works, albeit many years ago, as a pree-teen. That being said I am sooo totally behind on their new lines and scents! But, Warm Vanilla Sugar is a classic, IMO. Growing up, so many of my fellow tweens loved the scent of vanilla. (Maybe I wanted something unique to stand out from the crowd). Its super duper girly, flirty, but also innocent. Its certainly not my favorite ever scent, for I prefer vanilla laced into other scents, but its great when you don't know what to spray or spritz. If you can't find your current faves, need a new one, or you're sick of whatever spray/perfume you're using, you can never go wrong with this vanilla scent. I think its one of the better vanilla scents out there.

There are so many cheaper versions out there, that smell cheaper. This doesn't smell chemical-y or cheap, it smells pretty much like what it says on the bottle. I've had mine for eons and it still smells great. This one is also great for the holiday season, as its scrumptious and a little sexy. Once sprayed it leaves a rich, but light smell. Its thankfully not too strong, nor does it induce a headache...which if I'm not careful the Chanel Allure perfume will. I got this in the fragrance mist, which comes in a cute, curvy plastic bottle. It was 12 bucks when I got it. My beloved and most favored scent, Mango Mandarin, is bottled in the same bottle as the picture above- its the perfume/parfum, not the fragrance spray/body mist. I also used to have a Mango Mandarin in the body spray bottle as well. Sadly, I'm unsure if they still make that scent. I'll have to do some snooping!

All in all, no matter if its the spray or the fragrance, Warm Vanilla Sugar is awesome, and Sensual Amber fragrance Mist, is even better, also by Bath and Body Works. :D

Pretty Good

This is my other setting powder when I don't feel like using the messier Maybelline translucent finishing powder. I like that this comes in a pan- its thin and sleek, but is still a little clunky in my train case, the packaging is super cheap and I feel like the lid doesn't close tightly/or is broken. I think I would also have liked this powder more if I had gotten it in a shade other than transparent. I think I wanted something with more coverage. I also forgot this is more of a matte powder, which I don't need as much because my skin is not oily- but its good for cutting down shimmery face products or shiny bb creams. I like the smooth texture and its compressed pan feel, and this applies well with the Elf Powder Brush. This is a good setting powder to rotate with the other one, but in the future I'm looking for a setting powder with more coverage/ MSF dupe. Glad to have this around but I don't need it/use it for oil control. Love that its Rimmel London because that's one of my fave drugstore brands! :D

Glad to finally find a nude lipstick I like!

Alleluia! Glad to finally find a nude lippie I like and that looks good in a variety of looks.

I heard great things about this on Beautylish and hungered for this lippie. I've been getting so lucky with nude lip products lately so I was going out on a limb hoping this one would be a winner. I was worried Soft Nude would be too warm on me- but I'm gifted with coloring that's cool but still slightly warm toned- so I can pull off warm browns, greens and peaches. It looked great on all the lovelies wearing it, so I took a chance and it looks great! It makes me think of a milkier version of Relvon's Rose Velvet from the Super Lustrous Lipstick line, which is an old fave. Soft Nude is a lovely pink/peach beige color. At first the texture seemed dryer than other lipsticks I have tried but once broken in its pretty creamy. I've always been fidgety with lippies and I've found nude lippies and glosses have helped me feel more comfy in lipsticks/lip products. Plus this shade looks great with my fave nude gloss Rimmel London's Stay Glossy lipgloss in 05 Unlimited Gold on top for extra shine.

Not only do I love the formula of the Super Lustrous line, the Colourburst line is just as good and I'm sad I hadn't looked there sooner! I think Revlon is definitely a go to for great lippies, although there are other great drugstore rivals! :D

Ok, better as a primer

I got this BB during my BB craze over the summer. I thought it was a little expensive for such a skinny tube (around twelve buckaroonies) but in their defense there are plenty of applications packed within. The packaging is cute (although the letters are flaking off) but the product is good to sub-par. It immediately made me think of the not so fabulous Wet N Wild Intuitive Blend foundation with its white beads that once rubbed in burst and change to the color selection you picked. I like the little nozzle and find it pretty unique- its mess-free and very precise with its needle like applicator, perfect for squeezing out the product in a more controlled way. How many times have you gotten a great product but the applicator is a mess and annoying to deal with? Not this one. I initially wasn't pleased with this though. It mutes the look of my pores but will not cover redness/blemishes, etc. so concealer and color corrector might be needed. It also seems to turn an orange/peach shade if not rubbed in well enough- it accumulates and looks orange on my T-Zone and jaw line. I naturally just started using it as a primer because the coverage alone wasn't cutting it and I needed to cover those orangey areas. I liked using this in combo with the Garnier BB Cream and it works well as a primer with other face products because its smooth and silky. So, I was a little disenchanted at first but tinkered with it to work for me, problems and all. I've grown to like it more now, but its not a must have or repurchase for me.

Cheap and Pigmented- What Could be Better?

Once I heard about these little babies on Beautylish, I knew I had to snatch one up. Pigmented and cheap? Wet n Wild is hitting home run after home run lately- it seems the success of the shadows has rubbed off on the blushes! I picked Mellow Wine because it was more familiar- but now I wished I had gotten more! And because they are so cheap, picking up a few more won't break the bank!

Mellow Wine is similar to a red-toned blush in my Sephora Collection Makeup Studio Blockbuster- L.E. Holiday 2011 kit and also looks a bit like my newly re-discovered and other fave reddish blush- the discontinued Revlon Golden Affair blush in 430 Rose Rapture, which is great for adding contour with a color kick. Mellow Wine is mostly matte with a faint micro-shimmer and as with the shadows, its super soft and easy to kick up powder. I think this shade would work great as an eyeshadow as well. The brush is crap so I ditched it, but the blush is awesome! If W n W keeps this up, ALL their products will be re-formulated and even better!

Stellar White Liner Pencil!

This is your standard liner pencil. But its awesome, so it can't be "standard". I needed a white liner pencil for my MU looks so I opted for this, probably based on BL reviews. My last white liner pencil was nice, but this one feels better. Its super creamy, very opaque, is easy to run on the waterline, and is still stiff enough to stay on the water line and not get goopy white globs on the bases of the lower lashes. Its a very bright white and is also great to use as an eye base for white shadows, especially to brighten up the tear duct area. Based on the outstanding performance of 071 Pure White, the black pencil is also pretty good and would be great to try. We'll see how this holds up to the sharpener, but in the mean time here's ANOTHER hit from Rimmel London!

Can't believe this is drugstore!

I'm not afraid to admit it- I'm a foundation noob through and through. I edged my way into face products via TMs and BBs and it was time to take the plunge into foundation. I can't pinpoint my slight aversion to foundation but now I'm mostly fine with it- and now that I've found an awesome one I feel better scouting out other ones. Not only am I more comfy with the thought of foundation but my skin has slightly worsened- so I have more need to cover my pores and pesky spots! This is only my second foundation too- my first being more of a practice one- my makeup school kit included Sorme Mineral Illusion liquid mineral foundation. Its very hydrating and smooth but takes forever to build up coverage- your best bet is a brush, buffing on many layers.

Anyway- I can't believe this is in the drugstore! For me, its perfect. I scouted out the reviews for this and they were overall good- something I always try to do before I get something. I think my inner foundation phobe liked the squeezey tube- so much like the TMs and BBs ( American) I had gotten used to. But as I said their coverage wasn't cutting it.

Although its only 1 oz there seems to be a ton of product packed in the little tube. I've only used it a handful of times and used quite a bit each time, so it might be on its last legs before I know it- which is fine because its cheap! ( And I'll cut that tube in half and get every last bit out:D). The whole on the squeezey tube is a little big so make sure you don't spill out too much. I like the texture- super creamy but with some drip, so it will slide a bit on the back of your hand as you use it as a palette. This seems to work best with the ELF powder brush (or the Sonia Kashuk Flat Blusher Brush) - you can easily pick up as much product as you need and buff it on. I like to take brush-fulls and spackle it on to each area of my face, blending the edges into one another. I'm aware that is a bit wasteful because the coverage is so good I might not even need to use that much, but whatevs. I'm still getting the hang of things and it works for me. Its such a satisfying feeling to, with one or two swipes, erase my annoying chin spots and obnoxious pores. I feel like I'm donning a mask- but this doesn't feel like one. It immediately dries down and leaves skin smooth and since I have dry skin and I usually exfoliate and moisturize as my prep step before foundation, no flaky patches show through- which has sometimes happened even when I've taken steps to prevent that from happening. I think this is great for dry skin as it moisturizes initially and for oily because it dries with an almost matte finish. 100 Ivory seems to match me well enough. It says it has an Aqua Primer built in but I like using the Rimmel London Fix and Perfect primer underneath, which I had basically deserted, and it seems to work just fine, and its a great way to use up a product you initially weren't amazed by. The foundation smells a little like sunscreen, which is fine with me. The one caveat I'm finding with Rimmel L. is the rose scent that is in a lot of the lip products- I'm glad its not in here. On second thought this does sting my face a tad- but it dissipates and I know this is crazy- I don't care if I'm a teensy bit allergic because I've found a pretty amazing drug store foundation- and that can be hard to find. Plus, I don't wear makeup on a regular basis so I am always giving my face a break from foundation, etc

Lastly, I have to mention that Rimmel London is consistently impressing me. I've gotten so many things from them across the board that have performed so well. Its fast becoming my go-to for mascara, liners, powders, glosses, lippies and so much more. I'm thinking they have improved their formulas to compete with other MU brands and if so, awesome! The quality is there, and you don't have to pay an arm and a leg to get some great products!