Category

Beauty & Skin

January 26, 2006

REVIEW: Conair Satin Finish, Instant Heat Ultra Slim Straightener, 3/4″ CS4CS

For a frame of reference, I also own a Conair Instant Heat large barrel curling iron which is what I have been using to straighten my hair (I know it sounds weird but it can be done – you just run it down your hair instead of rolling your hair up on it.)

Conair Satin Finish, Instant Heat Ultra Slim Straightener, 3/4″ CS4CS
PROS: It heats up quickly for those times when you’re in a rush. I like the slim design because you can easily get up close to the root of your hair. It’s easy to get the ends straight.

CONS: I thought it was going to heat up hotter than it does – the settings on this go up to 25, the setting on my curling iron by Conair goes up to 20 – both seem to heat to about the same level. It takes just as long if not a hint longer to straighten my hair. There is a piece of plastic after the heating plates to keep them from pressing together too hard – it’s easy to close it on your hair accidentally which hurts (I usually don’t notice that this has happened until I start to slide it down my hair sometimes pulling hair out. Big design mistake in the product I think.)

Would I buy it again? No.
Will I continue to use it? Anyone want to buy it from me? I’ll sell it cheap… Probably not since I can straighten my hair to about the same extent with my large barreled curling iron and I don’t pull hair out accidentally with it.
Would I recommend this to anyone else? Probably not – it’s ok but I would probably try a different straightener if I had the chance. I’m still looking for a straightener that will give me that almost unnaturally straight look without having to spend a really long time getting there.

I’ll probably review the Conair large barrel curling iron that I use later in case you’re wondering. 🙂

January 9, 2006

REVIEW: Too Faced Liquif-Eye Smudge & Water Resistant Liquid Liner

I saw this in a magazine at some point and thought it was possibly the best makeup tools I had seen for awhile. I sought it out and initially found it at Sephora.com but then I also found it at beauty.com which was more convenient because I was making a drugstore.com purchase (and they ship together with beauty.com.)

PROS: it does do what it says it will do (though make sure you realize it says WATER RESISTANT not waterproof.)
CONS: very expensive for what you get. The “brush” is really a semi-flexible foam tip, a little rough.

At first I thought this was a really great product BUT then I started playing with my eye shadow and found that I could accomplish the same effect with the proper makeup brush wet down with water! (Use one edge of your eye shadow since you are wetting it down which could make it hard to use without water.)

If it were waterproof instead of just water resistant then it would have the bang for the buck that I was expecting. If you don’t have a steady hand or don’t have some good makeup brushes to work with, this product might still be for you (though I would recommend trying a wet makeup brush – angled or maybe a lip brush if you don’t have one specifically for eyeliner – before you buy this.)

Rimmel makes a really nice deep black eye shadow that I’ve been using for my eyeliner lately.

Would I buy it again? No, definitely not.

December 28, 2005

Great deal from E.L.F. cosmetics

I wanted to post this one on the main page as well as the promos page because it’s such a great deal (because not only would you get $5 off, as of this post, they also have a free lipgloss with any purchase as well!)

Redeem this coupon at checkout using coupon code SLEIGH
and receive $5.00 free towards your purchase.
e.l.f. cosmetics

With all cosmetics at just $1, that’s 5 free new products!!
offer expires 1/1/2006

Se.l.f.ish

December 22, 2005

REVIEW: Vidal Sassoon Professional Ion Select Dryer, 1875W, VS519

It’s no worse and no better than my previous hair dryer in most respects. One thing that I do like is that it has multiple heat settings – cool, warm, hot – which I didn’t have with my previous hair dryer (Revlon New Feel 1875) both have cool shot buttons you can use for a quick burst of cool air (but this one, as I mentioned, has cool as a setting as well.) I’ve been using this for several weeks with the negative ion setting on and I haven’t seen any improvement in the health of my hair. The size of the hair dryers is a bit on the large size but not unmanageable.

If you want it for the multiple heat settings I would recommend it. If you need a new hairdryer in general I would recommend it. But if you’re buying it because of the hype or think it will be a significant upgrade from an existing hairdryer, it doesn’t live up to its claims.

It’s still a good hairdryer by most standards, it just doesn’t perform miracles.

December 3, 2005

Shower Water Filters?

When you live in an apartment you can’t easily add a whole house water filter to your water system.

One of the IT items floating around in articles on the internet right now is a shower water filter from Jonathan Product available at Sephora http://tinyurl.com/9364v I think part of the reason people are talking is that it’s $95 with $55 replacement filters (that you’re supposed to change out every 3 months.) That’s over $200 per year.

Beauty Addict asks whether the product is real or a gimmick: http://beautyaddict.blogspot.com/2005/12/designer-waterfor-your-hair.html

The story is gimmicky but the product isn’t. It isn’t a new product either.

I bought a shower water filter 5 years ago. Granted I took out the filter at some point when I didn’t have the money to buy a new one but that’s another story. Where I live now I really think it’s time to buy a new filter.

I bought mine from Real Goods http://www.Realgoods.com I beleive they have been bought by Gaim.com for a lot less than the Jonathan one… what they seem to be selling now is a silver version of what I have in white plastic and is $68 with $28 replacement filters.

Looks like Home Depot http://tinyurl.com/bv3dr has one for $20 (the shower head unit) but like the Jonathan version, it doesn’t have a corded sprayer you can spray down your tub with (something I like.) But it looks like you can put the spray-head of your choice on after the filter.

Do water filters really make a difference? YES! I have a pur water filter on my kitchen sink – I put a pot of water on to boil because my house needed the humidity. I did one pot of regular tap water and the hard water left a large amount of minerals once the water boiled down – it was actually white on the pan. Then I tried with the purified water … a LOT less white when it boiled down.

Another trick for stripping the hard water build up out of your hair – dunk or pour apple cider vinegar over your hair. (This may not be a good idea if you have color treated hair – I’m not sure how it affects the color.) Make sure you don’t get any in your eyes (it BURNS.) Go about shaving your legs or whatever and then wash like you would normally afterwards (or twice with shampoo if you think you still smell of vinegar and then your conditioner.)

November 14, 2005

REVIEW CoverGirl DIY makeup palette

http://www.covergirl.com/cgcollection/custom/compact/custom_compacts.jhtml

Here’s the thing, it’s drugstore cheap BUT it’s more expensive than buying a palette that they’ve preselected for you. At around $3 for a case (or $6 with two lipglosses already in it) and around $4 per color, it comes to $14-19.

It’s still about half the cost of buying a department store brand (think MAC).

I like my lipglosses in a tube, thankyouverymuch, so I opted for the blank case and four eyeshadows. I bought: Shimmering Onyx, deep rich black with sparkles; Aubergine Queen, deep burgundy red with the tiniest hint of purple with sparkles; Swiss Chocolate, a milk chocolate-y brown shimmery (no sparkly bits but not matte); and Champagne, a nice light eggshell colorwith a touch of pink (also not matte but with no glittery bits.)

There are 14 shades of eyeshadow to choose from, 7 shades of lipgloss and 21 shades of lipcolor – not bad.

For those of you who are used to using the little eyeshadow or lipgloss brushes being enclosed in the case, this doesn’t have a place for you. I just invested in some good brushes so it doesn’t bother me (some cheap but good quality from e.l.f. for $1 each and one expensive smudge brush from beauty.com.)

I opened up my little packets to plop the trays into the pallet and for a split second I thought “how are these going to stay in? They aren’t a tight fit…” Then after a moment I relized that the trays were metal and the pallet was magnetic. Fine for me because I don’t throw more than my lipgloss in my purse (remember the tubes of lipgloss?) But I’m a little concerned for those of you who want something to throw in your purse … because, raise your hand, how many of you carry electronics in that purse? Cell phone? Palm? Ipod? Digital Camera? Credit Cards? (I’ll rant another time about magnets on purse closures.) So just a word of warning. Maybe someone will do a test on the strength of the magnet and see if it’s not worth worrying about, but until then I wouldn’t risk my electronics.

As for the eyeshadows themselves, I tried them applied dry and in layers and they looked wonderful. I could achieve a light look for daytime or go heavier for a more glamourous or night look. I also tried applying it with a wet brush which gave me an incredible night look since the colors I picked out were mostly pretty dark and wet you can’t apply it as lightly.

PROS:

  • Quality product
  • Reasonable price
  • Good colors
  • Good variety
POSSIBLE CONS:

  • Magentic case
  • No place for a small brush(s)
  • Not as cheap as premade CoverGirl cases

WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN? There are two other eyeshadows I liked, I would buy more if they make a few more shades to choose from so I could fill another palette or if I run out of one of my current shades. So…Yes.

If you’ve tried this product and love it or hate it, feel free to leave a comment. 🙂


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