Beauty Product Reviews | Page 4

Messy, but love the results!

I’ve been wanting to color my hair black for so long now (and get rid of grays), but I was really hesitant to use chemical dye. After looking through tons of reviews, I figured I would give Lush’s henna a shot. The sales associate at Lush told me to use the whole block for my hair, since it is fairly long, but I chose to use half of it (3 blocks) not wanting to waste the whole thing in one go. I grated it with a cheese grater in a large bowl and added some freshly brewed coffee. I stirred it together until it was the consistency of batter. Applying it was a huge mess…chunks of henna were flying everywhere! And the smell is pretty terrible. After applying it, I wrapped my hair in saran wrap and then again in a towel and chose to leave it on overnight. Rinsing it out wasn’t too bad. Its a very odd feeling though because its so gritty. I was really surprised when I saw the color! I wasn’t expecting to even notice a change since my hair is so dark, but I saw right away that it was a shade darker…a shiny black! Most of the grays I had are gone, and the few that I could see were darkened and blended with my hair nicely. My hair is also extremely soft and shiny, although a bit greasy because of the moisturizing ingridients. All in all, I really love this and think it is a great alternative to chemical dyes...I will definitely be using it again!

Amazing scent!

This shower gel contains the scent of jasmine, ylang, cypress and palmarosa. I love the smell of jasmine, and also the smell of honey…so this is perfect for me. It reminds me very much of the Godiva shampoo bar, which also had a jasmine scent to it. The scent is so relaxing and is great for aromatherapy and stress-relief. What I love most about this shower gel is that you can actually smell it on your skin for a while when you get out of the shower. Usually, that is the main gripe I have with a lot of body wash or soaps that I use…the smell just fades away. Needless to say, I was sniffing my arm a lot after I first used it. haha! Unfortunately, its a little bit pricey (which is the only downside). Its totally worth it though, in my opinion, especially if you love jasmine scents as much as I do!

Doesn't budge!

I must be in the minority here, but I really liked this mascara! It provided me with a good amount of length and great separation, no clumping, and best of all I had absolutely no flaking or smearing by the end of the day! I wore this mascara when I was at the gym and it didn't budge at all. I already have pretty long lashes, so that could be why it worked for me and not for others who really need a lot of length and volume. While I wouldn't wear this everyday, it is definitely a must for me if its raining or if I need my mascara to stick for awhile.

Nothing special

I’ve used this mousse with both wet hair and dry hair, curly hair and straight hair, blow-drying and air-drying. I’d like to say that it adds a lot of volume, but I haven’t found that to be the case. It did add a little bit of volume when I blow-dried it, but nothing that really blew me away. What it did do was define my curls a bit and block out some frizz, which was definitely welcome, but nothing much in the area of volume.

Perfect color!

I was a little concerned this color was going to be too dark on me, but its perfect! The pink color isn’t too bright or pale…it really is a “your lips but better” color, which is exactly the type of color I love. It also makes your lips super glossy and shiny! As for the formula, it is a bit sticky and thicker compared to what I usually wear (which are tinted lip balms), but it does stay on your lips much longer than a tinted balm would. I’ve been putting it on in the morning before I leave for work, and it stays a pretty long time!

Love my Clarisonic Mia!

The Clarisonic Mia is the smallest member of the Clarisonic family. Personally, I think it is the perfect size! To use, just wet the brush head and put a little bit of cleanser on it, then move it gently over the surface of your skin in small, circular motions. A great thing about the Mia is that it is timed for one minute. You spend 20 seconds on your forehead, 10 on each cheek, and 20 on your nose and chin areas. It will automatically shut off after 60 seconds! After using the Clarisonic a couple times, my face felt extremely clean and smooth. I also noticed a slight change in how my complexion looked (there was not as much discoloration). The most noticeable thing it did for my skin, though, was reduce patches of redness. I have always had very blotchy red skin underneath my mouth and around my nose, but looking at it now there is no redness and it no longer looks inflamed. Therefore, I’d say that the Mia should work very well if you have any skin conditions. As for acne, it should work well for that too. I haven’t had a huge breakout in quite a while and my forehead is not as oily as it used to be (a miracle in and of itself). Overall, I would have to say that I am really loving my Clarisonic Mia! Although it is expensive, it is a good investment (much like a good quality flat iron is for your hair).

I have a much more extensive post on the Clarisonic Mia on my blog if you'd like to check it out! <a href='http://beauty.adorability.org/?p=1090' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://beauty.adorability.org/?p=10...</a>

Really nice shine spray!

I’m glad that I received this in my July Birchbox! Although I’m currently using John Frieda’s Shine Shock, it is a product that is to be used on wet hair like many of the other products I have. This, however, is a shine spray that is supposed to be used on dry hair. Since it is a spray, I thought it would be very sticky on my hair and end up making it feel like I had sprayed hairspray, but it didn’t! It leaves my hair remaining soft, and it adds shine as well. Don’t go too spray-happy as I tend to do, though, or it will weigh down your hair.

This is great for acne!

I received a deluxe size sample of this with an online Sephora order. I usually use Clean & Clear’s Persa Gel 10 for acne issues and spots (which contains the same active ingredient, Benzoyl Peroxide) but I really love the consistency of this product as compared to PersaGel. It contains a smaller percentage of BP, so it is less drying than Persa Gel 10 and perfect for applying daily to prevent pimples (the PersaGel is stronger, so it is good for getting rid of a pimple that you already have). I plan on purchasing the full size of this product when my sample runs out!

Its okay

I've received a sample of this primer in my Birchbox, and used it while I was on vacation last week. I really like the way it goes on, but I wouldn’t say this product is very different from other primers that I’ve tried. The only other primer I've used is Tarte’s Clean Slate primer, and this felt almost like that except the formula might have been a little bit thinner (which I prefer). My makeup went on smoothly and as far as I can tell, it helped it last throughout the day. I wouldn’t spend the money on this primer, though, when there are many alternative that are much cheaper and just as effective!

Love the blush but not the packaging!

I hate to start right away with a negative, but when I received the blush, the clear plastic part of the case had completely broken off (I had to tape it back to the lid). Also, all the bubble wrap around it was flat. Either someone didn’t package it correctly, or it had one hell of a ride in the mail! Regardless of how it was mailed, I generally find the plastic and the packaging of this blush to be very cheap quality. Like…the level of gold-painted dollar store plastic toys. Everytime I open this blush (which isn’t very easy), I fear I’m going to break it somehow. =/

But on to the actual blush…I was pleasently surprised by the formula considering I hadn’t had a very good first impression with the packaging. I was expecting it to feel very dry, but its actually super soft and extremely pigmented. The actual blush is definitely great quality! The color I got was “terra sole”, which is a dark pinkish shade. I think this shade is only available on their website, and not in stores. The application is completely matte so there is no shimmer or glitter in this blush, which is actually welcomed since my other two blushes have shimmer. Since it is so pigmented (and I’m not really a fan of very pigmented cheeks), I had to apply this very lightly, barely dusting it on the pan. Doing it this way worked beautifully and gave a nice flush to my cheeks! Overall, I really like the quality of the actual blush but I cannot stand the packaging. If they were to put this in more study packaging, I would probably enjoy using this blush more and might even buy other colors.