Hey guys and gals,
I'm going to be starting med school really soon (today in fact), so I won't have a lot of time to review products. I will put up reviews, tips, advice, thoughts, etc, but if I don't put things up very often, please don't blame me. I will have blocks of time where I will literally probably be doing nothing but studying, sleeping, and eating (and perhaps not even the second two? huh). My point is, please don't hate me!
Also, I'm going to be changing this blog up a bit. I'm going to make this blog, vitamincgoodness, primarily focused on skincare, makeup, and in general, beauty-related topics. My other blog, medskolgirl, will focus on the other aspects of my life: my med school life (hence the eponymous title of the blog), my writing, my extracurriculars, my hobbies, etc. So yeah, just a heads up!
<3
Kate Somerville Exfolikate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment Review
The instructions say to take some of the product and likely smoother it over your face and neck. Afterwards, you must let it stay on for 30-60 seconds, shorter if you have sensitive skin.
The first time I used it, I just applied it to my face - not just my trouble spots. Oh my goodness!!! The mechanical work of the tiny beads in the exfoliant was pretty good, through all of the smoothering and spreading over my face, but the enzymes in the ingredients (composition) of the product definitely stung my skin. It was as if I had put on pure lemon juice onto my skin. Painful. Since I have somewhat sensitive skin (it used to be a lot more sensitive when I was younger but has gotten better over the years), I just left it on for around 20 seconds and washed it off.
Afterwards, my skin definitely felt smoother and slightly more refreshed as well. I could smell the product's residual aromas (kind of like a light citrus smell) on my skin, but it was still slightly painful to touch. The product says that one may experience redness for awhile after the product is washed off, but I didn't notice any redness. But still, it felt painful. Seriously.
The next day, I decided to try some of it on the acne on my chest. This time, it was not as painful (very little pain) and the effects were actually pretty good; the acne diminished somewhat significantly afterwards. Cool beans, even though the product did not work in the area it was intended for, it still worked for other functions.
All in all, I've got to say this product is pretty good. It is probably a bit too harsh for people with sensitive skin, even with the reduced timing, but it does work. However, it retails for $85 for 2 oz. That's CRAZY! So little product for such a ginormous price. Would I purchase this? Use your common sense. As of this point in my life, no.
Have you guys and gals every tried this product? Do you know of any exfoliators that you like or dislike? Leave a comment!
<3
Source: 1
New mascara
Yesterday, I was able to have car access, so the first thing I bought was what I've needed for awhile - a new mascara.
Lolz, shouldn't I have gotten groceries instead? (or nutella?)
As you all know, I've been searching forever for a HG mascara. I have super short, stick-straight, East Asian eyelashes that point either straight out or sometimes even downward. (I wasn't endowed with the best eyelashes, right? XD) Thus, Whenever I look for a mascara, I look for a mascara that can do a lot for me.
Usually, I look for a mascara that:
-Volumizes
-Lengthens
-Nourishes
-Preserves a curl (from eyelash curler)
-Does not smear or smudge
-Long staying power
-No flaking
-Gives dramatic results
I know guys, this is a lot. I'm not trying to seem superficial or seem to have too many high expectations for mascaras - I just hope that the mascaras I get will have many of these features.
After reading so many reviews, I decided to try L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Waterproof.
Lolz, shouldn't I have gotten groceries instead? (or nutella?)
As you all know, I've been searching forever for a HG mascara. I have super short, stick-straight, East Asian eyelashes that point either straight out or sometimes even downward. (I wasn't endowed with the best eyelashes, right? XD) Thus, Whenever I look for a mascara, I look for a mascara that can do a lot for me.
Usually, I look for a mascara that:
-Volumizes
-Lengthens
-Nourishes
-Preserves a curl (from eyelash curler)
-Does not smear or smudge
-Long staying power
-No flaking
-Gives dramatic results
I know guys, this is a lot. I'm not trying to seem superficial or seem to have too many high expectations for mascaras - I just hope that the mascaras I get will have many of these features.
After reading so many reviews, I decided to try L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Waterproof.
This mascara has been said to smear or smudge after a few hours, but I chose it because it is quite reputable for its intense black color. I really like mascaras that give dark, dramatic results, so I decided to go for it. The price was $5.84 at Walmart, so I thought it was a pretty good deal - after all, at CVS and Walgreens it runs for about $8 (at least).
I'll be using this mascara for about the next 3 months (the typical life of a mascara). After using it for awhile (perhaps for a few weeks), I'll write a review about it and put in my opinion. Just for past reference, here are the mascaras I've used before this (in reverse chronological order):
1. Maybelline Colossal in Classic Black, Waterproof
2. Maybelline Falsies in Black Drama, Waterproof
3. Almay One Coat Thickening Mascara, Black, Waterproof
4. CoverGirl LashBlast Volume, Black, Waterproof
5. CoverGirl LashBlast Length, Black, Water-resistant
6. CoverGirl VolumeExact, Very Black, Waterproof
7. Estee Lauder MagnaScopic Maximum Volume, Black (not waterproof)
We'll see what happens in the few upcoming weeks!
<3
Source: 1
SIUP/TTUP (Normally Project X Pan?)
This weird title
= Stuff I've Used Up/Trying To Use Up
I know the title of this series is usually called Project X Pan, where X = the number of products one wants to use up. However, I'm not too creative with these titles, and also, a lot of these products don't actually have pans, so I'm just going to call it this for now.
I know the title of this series is usually called Project X Pan, where X = the number of products one wants to use up. However, I'm not too creative with these titles, and also, a lot of these products don't actually have pans, so I'm just going to call it this for now.
Anyways, eponymous to
the title of the post, here are the products. I've also provided several
mini-reviews for the products as well.
The products above are:
1.
Fresh's
Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Duo -
this is a duo pack of miniature lip balms that is this year's birthday gift
from Sephora. One of the products is not tinted, and is the original Sugar Lip
Treatment in SPF 15. The other product is tinted a slight reddish/pinkish
color, and is the Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Balm. I've used up the original Sugar
Lip Treatment (it only took me ~5 weeks), but I'm still working on the Rose
(the tinted one). These lip balms are actually pretty good! They smell really
sweet, are very moisturizing, and do not make my lips feel really sticky,
especially compared to lip glosses. They also have SPF, which is really nice
protection for your lips - your lips need sun protection as well!
2.
ELF
Brightening Eyeliner in Coffee - I bought this brown colored eyeliner in a pack of 5 items
(3 liquid eyeliners in coffee, black, and plum, as well as a Brightening
Eyeliner in Black) as a gift set from Target.com. I tried the liquid eyeliners
(see my review here) and gave the black eyeliner to one of my
friends as part of a bigger set of various makeup products from different
brands. The concept of this eyeliner is pretty cool; it's supposed to,
eponymous to its name, brighten the eye, and comes with its own pencil
sharpener as well. However, I don't think it actually lives up to its
expectations; the pencil sharpener does not work well (it is not good at
sharpening) and it doesn't really brighten up my eye as an eyeliner. It provides
only a slight brown color, and is not very vibrant. I currently use it on my
brows, because its light brownish color provides some leeway for me to fill in
my sparse brows. However, at the same time, I don't really like it on my brows
because it feels really cakey, if you get what I mean. I'm trying to use up
this product as quickly as I can in order to, literally, get rid of it. At the
beginning, when I first tried ELF products, I really liked them, especially for
their price (this eyeliner retails for only $1 on the ELF website) but their products are super
hit-and-miss. I think the one product I've liked consistently is their eyelash
curler (also $1 on the ELF website). this will definitely not
be a repurchase for me.
3.
Wet
N' Wild ColorIcon Brow & Eyeliner in Dark Brown - I bought this eyeliner at a Walgreens
about 2 years ago. These eyeliners also cost only $1, but they are a lot longer
than ELF's eyeliners (I think the Wet N' Wild ones are about 7-9 inches long,
while the ELF ones are shorter, perhaps around 5 inches. So thus, per dollar,
you get a lot more product. Also, this eyeliner is fantastic in color - it is
super dark, and can be super creamy and smooth, especially if you heat it up
with a blow dryer or something. The only problem I have with this eyeliner is
that it smudges a lot, and smears a lot. It is not known to be a kohl eyeliner,
which I know is supposed to smudge, but this eyeliner still
smears. Usually, when I wear this eyeliner, I have to set it with powdered
eyeshadow or something. Thus, I'm trying to just use it up. Do you see how much
of it I've actually already used up? It's gotten to the point that it's
actually shorter than the ELF eyeliner. I bought a Sephora Flashy Waterproof Brown eyeliner with
a Sephora gift card that I got from a friend for Christmas ($8), so I will be
testing it out after I finish both of these brown eyeliners, and see how that
works.
4.
Maybelline
Dream Mousse Concealer in Cream (Light 4-5 shade) - this concealer is actually a repurchase
for me. I originally bought one at Walgreens when it was going on sale (the
product was just about to be discontinued) for about $4, and I
absolutely loved it. It worked really well, was really smooth and creamy, did
not show my fine wrinkle lines, and stayed put throughout the day. I liked it
so much that about a year after I bought my first one, after it was
discontinued, I bought another one on Amazon for about $6. I think it's more
expensive now on Amazon, because the supply of it is less, now that more people
have bought and used up the discontinued stock (see this link for current Amazon prices). I
still really do like it, but I think I want to try other brands of concealer
after I finish this jar of it. I really do recommend it. However, I have some
other concealer products, such as Maybelline's FitMe concealer in shade 25 and
Sheer Cover Concealer Duo in Light/Medium that I got at Target and January's
MyGlam bag, respectively, that I want to try out. Thus, I'm trying to finish
this product off.
5.
CoverGirl's Eye Enhancer's
1-Kit Shadows in Pink Chiffon - this is the product that is in the little white
jar. I know, the jar is not actually CoverGirl; in fact, it's actually a
department store brand called Omorovicza (from Hungary). It originally held
some sample of day eyecream, but after I used it up, I just cleaned it out with
alcohol, just in case, so that it could be used to hold other products if
needed. One day, I actually dropped the Eye Enhancer, and it broke apart into
pieces. So, I just put the pieces of broken eyeshadow into the Omorovicza jar,
smashed it into pieces, and am currently using the rest of it as a pigment.
Don't believe me? Here's a picture of the inside of the jar:
Anyway, as you can see, there’s very little
product left inside the jar. I’m trying to use it up so that I can move on and
try other highlight products. BTW, this serves as an excellent highlighting
eyeshadow – for your brow bone and your inner eye corner and stuff. I think
this was actually featured for a Selena Gomez look on some Seventeen/Cosmopolitan/other
superstar magazine or something!
Oh yeah, and one of these Eye Enhancers costs about $3 at Target and the like. Pretty good deal.
The Studio 27 Piece Mini Makeup Collection includes:
9 Eyeshadow Shades
1 Cream Eyeshadow Shade
1 Blush
1 Bronzer
10 Lip Gloss Shades
1 Brow Powder
1 Eye Liner Pencil
1 Dual-ended Eyeshadow Applicator
1 Face Brush
1 Small Precision Lip Brush
Oh yeah, and one of these Eye Enhancers costs about $3 at Target and the like. Pretty good deal.
6. Santee’s Shimmer EyeStick in Blue – I think this is a dupe for some of NYX’s Jumbo Eyeliners.
Santee’s eye sticks can serve as eyeshadows, eyeliners, etc, and can also serve
as great primers. They also are smudgable, and don’t need any sharpening,
because they are twisted upwards from the bottom. I am trying to use this product up because, well, I have used it for quite a long time, and have actually barely made a dent in it. It sort of feels like I'm in a makeup rut, if that is what it's called. I took a break from using it for a few months, and now, I think I'm going to start using it again in an effort to finish it. Hmm... perhaps 5 years down the line, I'll finally finish it?
I got this eye stick, along with several other ones, from Amazon for about $17. If you were to get 8 NYX jumbo eyeliners, it would cost you about $36 - more than twice the cost of these eyesticks. Pretty cool, huh?
7. There is one last thing, a palette, that I have been trying to finish for quite awhile:
This product is ELF's 27-piece Shimmer Palette. It is a limited edition palette, but ELF sells a similar one on its website for $15.
According to the website, this palette has:
9 Eyeshadow Shades
1 Cream Eyeshadow Shade
1 Blush
1 Bronzer
10 Lip Gloss Shades
1 Brow Powder
1 Eye Liner Pencil
1 Dual-ended Eyeshadow Applicator
1 Face Brush
1 Small Precision Lip Brush
When I first started looking into ELF products, I thought the concept of such a palette was pretty cool. After all, all of these products combined into one package! However, after tons and tons of use, I think that the novelty of this palette is starting to wear out. I depotted and got rid of the cream eyeshadow shade, and one lip gloss shade, because they were getting really sticky and gross from the powder eyeshadows. Since I don't use bronzer, I started using the bronzer as a neutral eyeshadow, and it is pretty good as an eyeshadow, especially with a primer. I used some of the blush to make a DIY lip gloss as well (just take some of Carmex's lip balm and mix it with the blush, so that it makes a nice pinkish color; put the product in a clean contact lens case or a small jar). I think the eyeshadows are pretty good, but they are pretty crumbly by themselves, so in order for them to not fall out, you need to put on a good primer underneath. The lipstick colors - let's just say they are OK, but I don't like their feeling, and they don't have a very good texture. I want to actually depot the eyeshadow, blush, and bronzer shades, but (a) I don't really know how and (b) I don't actually have an empty palette to put them into. So thus, I'm just trying to use up all of the eyeshadow colors, as well as the eyeliner, and as soon as I do that, I'm just going to chuck it out.
BTW, the brushes and applicators? They don't really work well. The eyeliner is actually pretty good, except it's really hard to maneuver because it is so short. Even with my small hands.
Anyways, that's all I have for now. Whew! That was a long post. Thanks for bearing with me this long. Have a great day everyone!
<3
