[mandolyn]

welcome back, babydrool ... so nice to see you!
and thanks for the recommendations. raves from you are high praise indeed!

i finally used my $50 gift card at sephora last night, and bought two things. and still had to shell out an additional $20. and yes, i was in desperate need of said two items (chanel chance eau de toilette and clinique pore minimizer t-zone shine control), but jeez ... i wish i had less expensive taste. i'm a little pouty.

maybe the siblings and mamasan will actually read and utilize my gift registry this xmas, though.

[babydrool]

Its (((Babydrool)))! Yay!

Hi, (((Dusty)))! Nice to see some familiar busties!

[dusty]

Its (((Babydrool)))! Yay!

[babydrool]

Hi, Lounge! Haven't been here in a LONG while... never seem to be able to consistently post but never able to stay away from this site entirely either.

Favorite products:

Eyeliner - Mark (Avon) eyemarker in Jet -- great staying power, pure black color, glides on smoothly - only $5 -- better than all the brand name eyeliners I've tried.

Hair Product -- Phytodefrisant - apply to towel-dried hair before blowdrying -- leaves my dry, overprocessed, superfrizzy hair soooo soft. Definitely worth the $24 -- Have tried all the hyped-up products but usually never impressed-- This is the only hair product that I was pleasantly surprised by and will buy till the day I drop dead

Mascara -- Lancome Fatale - wierd plastic wand/"brush" but definitely piles on a thick amount of pigment and makes lashes look fuller

Blush -- MAC blush in "Margin" -- a orangey/coral color with gold flecks that looks good on my yellow/olive skin and on my palest friends. Besides this blush will probably not buy MAC products -- everyone I know, including me, breaks out from it. Loved the coverage of StudioFix powder foundation but noticed my face developing pimples often ( never had this problem before -- only rare breakouts).

Bronzer -- Nars bronzer in "laguna" -- not a wierd orangey color like most and not too much shiny stuff -- looks like a believable mild tan

Eyeshadow Primer - Urban Decay Eyeshadow Potion -- no fuss product that keeps eyeshadow looking like it was just-applied all night long -- only need a little dab so it will last long. very impressed with it.

Lipstick Sealant -- LipChic -- the only lipstick sealer that worked pretty decently, a european product --bought it online. Disappointed by a bunch of others I'd tried in the past.

Travel-size item -- Benetint tint for cheeks and lip with clear gloss on other end -- really handy!

Body Product -- Fresh Brown Sugar Body Scrub -- super expensive but the jar is fairly large and you only need a tiny amount with each use. The almond oil in it leaves your skin super moisturized -- I don't use lotion -- can last long unless you eat it (couldn't help but try it -- it's super sweet !). Boyfriend loved the light scent it leaves and wouldn't stop feeling my legs. *Mrrrrwwwrrr*

Also love Neutrogena Rainbath in Citrus Marine scent.

Facial Cleanser - Aveeno Ultra-calming Cleanser -- stops irritation that leads to tiny little bumps around forehead and evens the texture of my skin (I tend to have combination/slightly oily). Sometimes feels itchy and it works great for it.

Shampoo/Regular Conditioner -- Dove -- gentle but cleans well, does the job -- don't see any reason to pay a lot.


Need to find another medium coverage foundation that won't irritate my skin, has a good color selection, and of course gives a flawless airbrushed look -- asking for too much? Any recommendations?

[blakcherry]

Mandolyn- I prefer the original Max Factor 2000 calorie mascara. I don't think the new plastic wand does much of anything other than making it hard to get thick lashes. I tried it when it first came out and after looking for it everywhere I was not a bit impressed. I prefer to "blot" the excess mascara off by putting my index finger under my eyelashes and blinking. As a bonus, this also curls the lashes if done while the mascara is still wet. I've also been blotting off the extra castor oil off my lashes.

I got my package from Strawberrynet! I didn't realize that they were shipping it from Hong Kong! It came in like 4 days which is much less than I've had to wait for more local deliveries. I'm trying the phyto hair and nail vitams and the mavala eyelash stuff for the first time today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for giraffe lashes and Rapunzel hair (eventhough my current 'do is more like Twiggy or Mia Farrow).

[mandolyn]

i am far too much of an oilslick to even consider putting any kind of oil on my face or lashes. but i don't doubt the magik!

speaking of sensitive eyes, has anyone tried max factor's lash perfection mascara? my sister swears by it, but she can wear anything. i can only handle clinique, l'oreal, lorac and paula dorf mascaras at this point. but i don't like any of their wands - most of them wind up far too spikey. i'm intrigued by the lash perfection plastic wand. i've given up on length, but i'm pouty i can't seem to get seperation too.

[godslioness]

Yeah, it's a scary prospect! I used very little oil, and very light oil at that. I've now switched to removing it with ultra-mild soap, and that works well.

[blakcherry]

I use a backing soda+cetaphil scrub. I've tried the asprin mask as well; I even mixed it with a hydracortisone cream (only tried this once,so I can't vouch for it). I used an aloe vera gel but it still felt too greasy for my naturally oily skin. I've read about the Oil Cleansing Method as well, but although it explicitly says it won't make you break out I just can't get comfortable with the idea of putting oil on my face, I'm just too pimple prone.

[godslioness]

Blakcherry – glad it worked! Do stick with it, it really, really does the trick. I learned about castor oil at the Long Hair Community, and lots of people there do the "Oil Cleansing Method" which is a sort of internet beauty "cult product". It pays to do a lot of research though. I did it for a while using a few drops of castor oil and a few of almond oil, which is a much lighter weight than olive oil so didn't get my skin too greasy.
I'll probably go back to using it in the winter, but it works really well fulltime for a lot of people. You can also try doing a kind of scrub for blackheads using castor oil and baking soda.

And that's before we get into aspirin masks and aloe vera and all the other internet skincare stuff!

[blakcherry]

I tried the castor oil again (applied less and with a mascara wand) and it worked out ok this time. I think I may have either put too much on or maybe some of the other million and one things I had on my face may have migrated into my eyes with the help of the oil? I also bleached my eyebrows that day,so maybe my eyes were already extra sensitive. In any case, I will continue to use it (at least until my mavala stuff comes).

Has anyone ever tried the Phyto hair and skin vitamins? If so, any good? As always, thanks for all your imput.

Godslioness, I am still grateful for your suggestion...I would have never thought to use castor oil. I did some outside research and discovered that castor oil is used for a lot of non-constipation related things. I read, and I dont know how true this is, but plastic surgents use it on their patients. It's also supposed to be a good moisturizer. Olive oil is also great for the skin and hair, I've used it as a leave-in conditioner after bleaching my hair and it worked really well.

[chachaheels]

Castor oil does have the ability to "draw" things out of the tissues--oil and dirt from pores, for example (and and it can go even deeper than that). The most important thing to keep in mind when buying castor oil is to buy the purest you can find--organic and cold pressed using an expeller, not caustic and toxic chemicals for the oil extraction. A lot of those trace materials can cause a reaction, so that may be the problem.

[curioushair]

I'm back to wearing Prescriptives Virtual Skin (I'm assuming they still make it). I like Bare Escentuals, et al, but they cake a little on my dry skin. The only problem is that I wear a weird color: Pure Petal. It's a light pink-ivory, and with the trend toward yellow-toned foundation (I have not one iota of yellow pigment in my skin, I swear), I'm afraid it might be discontinued.

[godslioness]

That's weird. I have very sensitive eyes too and am allergic to almost everything but I've never had a problem. I've got two theories:

1) you put too much on?
2) you haven't got pure castor oil, but something that's blended with something else.

Ouch though, sorry!

[blakcherry]

Ok...tried the castor oil and it was fine for a while but as soon as I tried going to bed, that shit made my eyes water more than my ex-boyfriend. Maybe I put too much on? I haven't been sensitive to anything before...I've applied vaseline to my eyelashes and countless mascaras. I wonder what it could be. I'm going to try to mix it with vaseline and apply it with a mascara wond, being the masochistic bitch that I am =P.

[blakcherry]

Thanks for the tip, godslioness! I will have to give castor oil a try! In case anyone was wondering, the Claudia Stevens stuff seems to be working as well but it might just be psychosomatic. This would be better in the old busty business bureau thread,but since that's gone,I will post this here for anyone who tends to buy products over the net. I have made a HUGE purchase at fragrancenet.com (a bunch of Peter Thomas Roth skincare products) and not only do they wait an entire week just to process the order, but one of the items I purchased came sealed with f'en masking tape while the others were hermetically sealed. They were fairly prompt in responding to my email and sending me a return shipping label at their expense but returning the item and then purchasing a new one sounds like such a pain in the ass that I'm just taking the risk to my health and using the product as is. In case anyone is curious, its the Maximum Correction Complexion Pads. If any of you have this,is it supposed to have a very heavy medicine smell or am I slowly killing myself with poison?

[godslioness]

The best thing for long fat eyelashes is putting castor oil on them every night – I shit you not. I picked up the tip from another forum and it works. Lots of cosmetics have castor oil in them any way. I just smoothe a drop on with with fingers; some people use clean mascara wands. But yes, it really does work. Cheap as chips too.

[freckleface2727]

anoushh,
I bought the loreal mineral foundation and broke out from the brush.
apparently, it's made of goat hair (fairly common now that I am learning more about brushes sinse then) but the company was really great about refunding my full purchase price right away.
due to the reaction, I haven't been able to really guage the actual makeup itself, tho I do still have it and need to figure out a way to seperate it from it's brush on top. as much as I'm liking the Afterglow minerals I ordered the sample set of ( still using it, all these weeks later! either I don't wear much makeup or it really goes a looong way) I'd not be against finding a mineral line I didn't have to Order.

probably haven't helped you at all sorry!


fyi, tho I think this goes in the hair thread, Sally's has a great henna shampoo for brunette-redhead that is totally affordable, and also comes in a silver- blond formula (not henna obviously) too.

[blakcherry]

Anoushh- I have the L'oreal mineral makeup although I've yet to make up my mind about it entirely. I can certainly say it's not bad or unworthy of the price it costs. I don't usually wear foundation, so some of the issues I have might just be my own. For instance, you know those lines that some people have when they smile? Not wrinkles, per say (I've had them since age 8). Well, I've found that if I accidently apply too much on my cheeks, it tends to accenuate them. But I think that's true of all mineral makeup to a degree. The mineral makeup has a matt texture and is relatively easy to apply. I think it's a good buy just as long as one knows how to apply it properly.

Thank you all for the Talika-related advice. I would really like to improve my eyelashes but I definately lack the diligence to apply it twice a day. I don't even wash my makeup off before I go to bed every night (and,on a more gross note,I've even "forgotten" to brush my teeth before bed) so it would probably be a waste of money in my hands. Sally's has this "Claudia Steven's eyelash thickner" or something like that. I'm pretty sure it won't work, but it's probably cheap enough to be used as just a clear mascara/brow gel if all else fails. I've read that Talika has a drippy consistency, is that true? I've also read that if you stop using it after having used it for the recomended time,your lashes go back to the way they were.

[anoushh]

I'm sorry for being lazy--I'm sure someone has covered this before--but I was wondering if anyone has tried the L'oreal mineral makeup and if so, what they thought of it.

Basically I was hoping to save some money, but if it's crap, then there's no point.

Also, mascara recommendations anyone?

[mandolyn]

i bought the Talika Eyelash Lipocils, but also didn't have the patience to apply it twice daily. plus it irritated my contacts. i also remember a bustie saying they'd used the cream and it worked. but again, you have to follow the directions faithfully.