Showing posts with label Clinique. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clinique. Show all posts

7 Oct 2013

Products I Regret Buying Part One!!

I often find blogs can concentrate on reviewing products that they love. I have to admit this has been the same for me so far on my blog. I tend to pick things that I like to write about because I find it easier to review them. However, I think that often we get more information from reviews of products that people don't like simply because it will give us an insight into why the product didn't work for that person and maybe make us more cautious of buying the product in the future.

Just a little disclaimer before I begin. This blog post is my honest opinion and the products mentioned are ones which I found didn't work for me or ones that I found a better alternative product for. This doesn't mean that they won't work for you and if you have tried them and loved them please comment below this post as this will also be helpful for other readers to see who the products do work for. This post is not being in any way offensive to the brands, its simply me telling my readers what I would not buy again.

So lets begin....

I am a big fan of the Macadamia Deep Repair Mask. This leaves my hair super soft. However, the same cannot be said about their Rejuvenating Shampoo and Moistuirizing Rinse Conditioner. These products did nothing at all for my hair. They made my hair greasy and I felt like no matter how much I rinsed my hair it always felt like there was still product left on my hair. I couldn't style my hair properly afterwards either. Definitely didn't like these products.


I bought a Mally set from QVC over a year ago and the kit contained a face primer, eye gel and eye primer. I liked the face primer and I used up all the eye gel but I really didn't like the eye primer. It says to apply this under your concealer to make it last longer and keep the skin hydrated. All this did for me was make my concealer crease and eventually disappear from my under-eye. Mally in general is a great brand but this product just did nothing for me.

Another eye product which I bought and didn't feel stood up to the claims was Boots Botanics Hydrating eye cream. As the name suggests this is supposed to hydrate the eyes but it didn't do this for me. I didnt see any difference in my eye area after using this product and I used almost the full tube.


It's all about eyes for me in this post so far and another one to add to the list is Clinique's all about eyes (rich formulation). This claims to help diminish the look of dark circles, fine lines, shadows and puffiness. I have used this for a long time now and really have not seen any of the above improvements.

Now on to some makeup....


Everyone and their mother seems to love the Collection 16 Hour Wear concealer and I did love this for awhile last year but for some reason this year it just isn't doing anything for me. If I apply it under my eyes it makes me look like I have 90 year old wrinked eyes and if I apply it to a spot I feel it just cakes over the spot and makes it look more obvious. For me their are much better products on the market than this one.


For a while everyone in the blogging world raved about the Chanel Soleil tan de Chanel Bronzing Makeup base so of course being the addict that I am off I went to Chanel and spent a ridiculous €40+ on this bronzer. When I got it home I was happy enough with it and did use it. I would have a relatively sallow complexion but this is a little too orangey on me. I also don't like the way it is such a hard consistency. This means you have to really work your brush into it to get some product out and then your brush bristles end up getting stuck in the product.....not a good thing at all. To be honest its not the worst product but for the price I would have expected something amazing. I have found a much cheaper and in my eyes a much better product in the Boujour bronzing primer. You can read my review on this beauty HERE.


I trained as a makeup artist with Makeup Forever and am a massive fan of their products. Their foundations for me are second to none. So on a trip to top up on some kit essentials I decided to try one of their liquid highlighters. I bought the Uplight Face Luminizer Gel in Shade 22. The girl in the shop said it looked great on skin over foundation or mixed in with a foundation. I tried it both ways and when I layered it on top of foundation it was very intense looking and almost glittery looking and when I mixed it with foundation it just made my skin look oily and way too shiny. Also this product seemed to go off very quickly. After awhile it began to smell funny and broke my skin out very bad. This was over €30 so I definitely regret buying it because I didn't get much use out of it.

Bobbi Brown bronzers have been a favourite of mine for over a decade and on my trip to IMATS in June I decided to pick up one. The makeup artist there recommended I bought shade Medium 2. I thought this was fine because I used this shade previously but when I got it home and tried it it was completely the wrong colour for me. It was very dark and had a red tonne of it which is not suitable for my skin tone at all. I was watching a Youtube video and one of the girl I am subscribed to who is much darker than me had the exact same problem as me. So I included this bronzer in this blog, not because the product isn't good but because the shade they recommended for me was totally wrong. I would recommend the bronzers in general but just be very careful what shade they give you.


I love the look of bright undereyes and so was very excited to try the Bare Minerals well-rested eye brightener. The idea of this is that you can use it alone or over concealer under the eyes to make your eyes appear brighter. This really did not work for me and I tried it every way possible. It dried out my under eyes and made my fine lines much more visable. I have heard other people rave about this so it may be worth a  go but I just didn't like it at all.


MUA (Makeup academy) do some really great product at very reasonable prices but one product I have tried that really didn't work for me is the Brush-On Concealer pen. This claims to hide under eye discoloration and blemishes on the face. I tried it for both and it did neither. It is too watery and thin to give any amount of coverage.


Another Makeup Forever product that I wasn't too happy with is the Aqua Eyes pencil in 0L Black. This is a waterproof eyeliner and I have to say it does last all day. My main problem with this eyeliner is the colour, it is almost like a dark grey colour rather than a carbon black colour. Really not what I was expecting from this pencil. I wouldn't purchase this again because I believe there are alot of other much cheaper and much better products on the market.


Another eyeliner that I bought which I was let down on was the infamous Mac Blacktrack Fluidline. Don't get me wrong its not a bad eyeliner but when compared to the likes of Inglot's gel liner in No 77 it really doesn't stand up to the challenge. It is not as long wearing or as dark as the Inglot or other liners on the market. I definitely will use this on myself for everyday use but wouldn't repurchase it because I know there are better alternatives.


I also do not like the e.l.f Cream eyeliners. They are not very strongly pigmented and they dry out super fast. Not my favourite e.l.f product at all.


I always loved Hypnose mascara by Lancome and purcahsed this a few months back. It just didnt give me the same wow factor as before. With this mascara you can build up layers to create more impact. I found with one coat my lashes just looked darker and when I began to build it up it would add slightly more volume but the mascara would clump. Again this won't be a repurchase for me and I have tried many other mascaras which for me work much better.


Another mascara I am just not pushed on is Maybelline's the Falsies. It did nothing for my lashes and really didn't make them look like I was wearing fake lashes. In general I like Maybelline mascara's but this one was not for me.


Some lip glosses which I really do not rate are e.l.f's minty lip gloss or their Luscious Liquid Lipstick. I do love alot of e.l.f products which you can check out in this older blog post.

I adore some of the Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker lip glosses but the shade pink apricot is not for me. It went off very quickly and the shade was in my opinion not the nicest. It isn't a peach nor a nude shade so I didn't think it looked great on the lips.



Last but not least is Stila's Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer. This is supposed to add luminosity to the skin and make it looks fresh but it just made me look overly shiny, greasy and just down right unattractive. This didn't come cheap so I was very disappointed with this purchase.

I think that is enough for now. I have rambled on long enough. I hope you found this useful and I will continue to take note of the products I don't like because I think this would be so useful to my readers as it will save them wasting time on money on buying products that really don't live up to the hype.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and let me know if you found this helpful.

What products do you regret buying? Do you love any of the products I mentioned above, as ever you are welcome to comment below and tell me what you think.

Have a wonderful day xxx


3 May 2013

April 2013 Beauty Favourites



I was loving a heck of alot of things for the month of April but alot of them were towards the end of the month so I think I will leave some of them until May favourites as I have no doubt I will be loving them this month too. Although my April favourites do consist of some fanatastic products that I am obsessed with at the moment




I have to start off with my favourite product of April. Thebalm's Mary Lou Manizer is the best highlighter I have ever tried...period. This gives the most amazing champagney golden highlight to the skin without looking overly sparkly or glittery. Its stunning for skintone and for any occassion. This cost me €18.75 from FeelUnique and I have to say its the best money I have ever spent. I love to apply this to the top of my cheekbones and under my browbone for a real natural but noticable glow to the skin. Let me know if you would like a more indepth review on this.



Dr. Jart+ Waterfuse Beauty Balm is an absolute favourite of mine. This will remain a staple in my makeup collection for a very long time. Check out my full review on this little beauty. 


Oh what can I say about MAC Studio Fix Fluid. This has saved my life (well not literally) in April. I rediscovered this recently and cannot believe how much coverage it gives me and how long it lasts on my skin. I think this is around €31 from any MAC counter. I am shade NC20 without tan or with a light tan. I am having acne breakouts at the moment and people keep telling me how well my skin looks. If only they could see whats under my layer of MAC studio fix fluid!!! I love to pair this with the DR Jart BB Cream for a beautiful fresh face that covers well but doesn't look cakey. 


To set my face of makeup and keep it in place all day I love to use Urban Decay's all nighter spray. A few light sprays gets rid of that powdery look to your skin but yet keeps your foundation locked in all day. I also love to use this during the day to freshen up my makeup. I have definitely noticed a considerable difference in the length my makeup lasted after using this. This product is between €23-€28 depending on where you purchase it from. I find Beautybay is the most reasonable and they offer free shipping. Urban Decay also offer other setting sprays for different skin types including one called De slick which is for oily skin. The all nighter tends to work for my normal/combination skin but I know people who have oily skin and swear by the De slick version so be sure to check out the full range before purchasing.


Daniel Sandler is a well renouned makeup artist with lots of celebrity clients under his belt. I have been a fan of his makeup for many years and his watercolour blushes have to be my favourite. They are a water type blush that is applied to the apples of your cheeks to give a beautiful flushed look to the skin. These blushes are very natural looking but really add that wow factor to any makeup look. I have four of these blushes and plan to buy more soon. If you would like to see a more indepth review on these let me know. You can purchase them from Beautyemporium.


In April I found my favourite mascara of all time (well so far anyway). I was and still am in love with Clinique's High Impact Mascara in Black. This gives my lashes so much volume without clumping or looking spidery. A great mascara that doesn't flake and adds depth and intensity to your eyes, what more can I say!! Oh yes the price, this mascara will set you back €19.50 and is available at any Clinique counter. 




Another Clinique product I am loving is the Chubby Sticks Moisturising Lip colour Balm especially in shade Whoppin' Watermelon. This is a great little lip product that is easy to use and adds a really lovely sheer but noticeable shine to the lips. I love this for everyday use. They are also very moisturising on the lips. This product is €19 from any Clinique counter.


I am still loving the Karora self tan mist. This gives me such a beautiful tan without any streaks and is effortless to use. Check out my review for more details. 



And last up is my favourite haircare product of the moment. Its the cult Moroccanoil Original. I am obsessed with this stuff and start to panic when I forget to put it into my hair as I know my hair just won't be quiet right without it. I apply this to damp hair after I wash my hair or sometimes I use this to defrizz my hair after blowdrying it. It takes the frizz away very easily and doesn't weigh your hair down at all. There are many oils on the market that are trying to outdo this but in my opinion there is nothing that can beat this little beauty. This is an expensive product (around €40 for a 100ml bottle) but its an investment as your hair will definitely be less dry and much healthier looking with this. 

Well that's what I have been loving in April and am still loving today. If you have any favourites that you are loving please let me know as I am always in the market for trying new products.  Also if you want an indepth review on any of the products above please let me know. I hope you found this useful and thank you for taking time out to read this. Big Kisses and have a fantastic LONG weekend.  XXXX