Reviews and Other Stuff

FASHION & BEAUTY

Product Fails Part 1

disappointing haircare products

 

Since we’re now mostly working from home, I managed to spend some time sorting some of my beauty and skincare products. It’s been a long time since I talked about some disappointing beauty/skincare/haircare items. So, I will be mentioning them in this post. However, this post will only be part one as I am still in the process of sorting some stuff. Expect to read several parts of this post in the future.

 

There are four products mentioned in this post. I used to really love one of them, but now I’ve changed my mind. There is also a product here that I thought would work well for me, but it just didn’t. So, here they are.

 

Benefit Cosmetics Foolproof Brow Powder review

 

Benefit Cosmetics Foolproof Brow Powder (0.07 oz: 24 USD) – I had been testing some brow powders because they seem to be easy and quick to use, plus they seem to also give that natural volumized-brow look. So, I thought this Benefit Foolproof Brow Powder would be a good option, however, I was really disappointed at this because of two things. First, the brush applicator just doesn’t pick up any product. Instead, it accumulates oil and transfers it into the powder. Second, the powder itself isn’t pigmented enough and it doesn’t adhere to the brow well. The two supposed to be ombrรฉ tones you see in the compact will not transpire on your brows. Overall, this was a real disappointment. I find the Benefit Brow Styler Eyebrow Pencil & Powder Duo to be much better than this even though it doesn’t have a spoolie because the Benefit Brow Styler gives a natural volumized-brow look provided that you are lighthanded on your application. For a more volumized brow, the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil and the Shiseido Brow Ink Trio Pencil (both seen HERE) are also very good options. They are linked below at the end of this post.

 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz review

 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz (0.003 oz: 23 USD) – I used to really really love this and so are the rest of the ABH brow products. But lately, I have shifted my feelings toward some other brands because this Brow Wiz and the Brow Definer have such unreliable flimsy packaging. I couldn’t count how many times these broke on me during my travels. Worst of all, the breakage happens on the spoolie part which gets stuck at the cap, deeming the spoolie unusable. I prefer the packaging of Hourglass or even Burberry which are more robust and reliable during travels. But, with those being said, I still like and recommend the quality and formula of the ABH brow products, I just wish they’d improve their packaging and design.

 

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Triple Detox Shampoo

 

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Triple Detox Shampoo (2-24 oz: 13-59 USD) – I had high hopes for this product. I thought this was going to be my go-to for greasy hair days, and that this was going to be my most preferred charcoal shampoo. Well, this could have been but if that meant using a ton of this product before I could get rid of the excess oil off my hair, well, that’s going to be very costly. I felt like the 2 oz tube only lasted 3 to 4 usage on me. I had better luck with the Pantene Charcoal Shampoo (reviewed HERE) as well as the Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal Shampoo (seen HERE) which smells so good and so invigorating.

 

Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask (8-32 oz: 36-115 USD) – I like a lot of Briogeo products, but not this one. I have given this product a chance many many times, but it just didn’t work for my hair. This made my hair so greasy and so heavy no matter how much I use. I do have straight hair which makes me so cautious about using thick and heavy hair masks especially the ones with coconut oil in it because those tend to weigh my strands. For hair masks, I love the ones from Christophe Robin, Kรฉrastase, and the good ‘ol Neutrogena Triple Moisture Mask.

 

 

Have you ever tried any of these products before? What are the beauty/skincare/haircare products that disappointed you lately?

 

 

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Armani Power Fabric vs Hourglass Vanish Airbrush vs Pat McGrath Sublime Perfection Concealer Review

top concealer review

 

Hi there, who’s all dressed up and got nowhere to go? ๐Ÿ™‚ Oh, what a time we’re living in right now. I hope you are all doing ok. In this downtime, I’ve been testing three concealers, which are the ones from Armani Beauty, Hourglass, and Pat McGrath Labs. These three are my current concealer faves although I also have some other holy grail concealers in mind and I will mention them to you guys in this post. For these concealers, I will be comparing them against each other and I will tell you which one I think is the best.ย 

 

On a side note, I tend to apply and blend my concealer using the beautyblender most of the time. However, I do have a special liking of the Sephora #80 Pro Contour Highlight Brush which is a small, tapered, rounded, soft brush that is not only great for contouring and highlighting the nose but can also double as an undereye concealer brush. Anyway, check out my three current concealer faves that I’ve tested and compared.

 

Armani Power Fabric Concealer

 

Armani Power Fabric Concealer in 4.5 (0.2 oz: 34 USD) – I first got a sample of this concealer months ago and I really like its consistency and coverage. Per Armani Beauty’s description, this concealer is meant to be long-wearing, color-correcting, and has a high-coverage. Its finish is matte but with a second-skin feel that won’t crease or cake. While those things are all true except for being “high-coverage”. This concealer does cover the redness and blemishes, but only to a certain degree. If you have very dark spots, this won’t do it. However, for good-to-slightly-problematic skin days, you can definitely rely on this concealer. What I really love about this concealer is that this is so easy to blend which is somewhat similar to the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, although this concealer tends to set faster than Nars’. Because this is easy to spread or blend and is very light, I like to put this on my undereyes and this gives a more awake look that seems natural. Also, I love that this never creased on my undereyes, and on top of that, I love that this comes in a lightweight tube with a signature Armani logo on it.ย 

 

Armani Beauty recently released a very interesting concealer, which is the Armani Luminous Silk. I can’t wait to test it and will report to you all soon.

 

Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Concealer

 

Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer in Sepia (light-medium, neutral undertone 0.2 oz: 34 USD) – This concealer comes in a beautifully-designed sleek tube complete with an H-logo on top. I like that this also feels lightweight like the Armani Power Fabric and that one side of this concealer is flat, so you can store this horizontally, which prevents the product from rolling and falling on the floor. The coverage of this concealer is meant to be full and the finish is natural. This does have a weightless feel and is definitely waterproof and totally crease-resistant as well. Also, this concealer is made of clean ingredients. When it comes to the coverage, I find that this is also great for good skin days and for those days with mild to moderate breakouts, but just like the Armani Power Fabric Concealer above, this won’t do well for dark spots. I also think that this sets a bit faster than the Armani Power Fabric which makes this concealer a bit difficult to blend. However, this does feel like a real second-skin and is definitely pigmented but for dark spots, you’ll have to look into the next concealer I’m about to review below.

 

Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Concealer in LM8 swatch

 

Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Concealer in LM8 (light-medium with yellow undertones 0.16 oz: 32 USD) – This Paraben-free concealer has a natural finish that looks quite radiant and with a creamy consistency. This also has a full-coverage, which means this will really cover your age :-). Although this doesn’t feel as lightweight as the Armani Power Fabric and Hourglass Vanish Concealer above, this doesn’t feel heavy either. I would describe the feel of this as similar to the Tarte Shape Tape and perhaps the It Cosmetics Anti-Aging Concealer which are both my holy grail concealers. What I also love about this concealer is the way it adheres to the skin, which has that sort of sticky and flexible property that you only need a little bit of it and you’ll be good to go. Furthermore, this concealer won’t crease, won’t break, and is very reliable overall. I may not like its heavy glass tube packaging which feels like it could fall and shatter anytime soon, but it hasn’t happened yet.

 

Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer

 

TLDR: If you ask me which of these three concealers I prefer, I would say that it depends on your current skin situation. Personally, on a good skin day with minimal blemishes and marks, I typically use the Armani Power Fabric or the Hourglass Vanish Airbrush. These two are really quite very similar to each other, and so is the Nars Creamy Concealer which is still one of my favorite concealers out there and it still holds as the creamiest overall well-performing concealer in my opinion. However, on problematic-skin days, I like to use the Pat McGrath Sublime Perfection Concealer. I did have a hard time finding the shade match with this concealer, compared to the Armani and the Hourglass ones where I could pretty much fit with almost any tones in their light-medium spectrum. Other than that, if you’re looking for a concealer that will cover your blemishes, post-acne marks/scars, dark spots, and will not only cover your age but will also cover your sins and possibly skeletons in your closet (kidding), then you will enjoy this PMG Sublime Perfection Concealer.

 

Have you tried any of these concealers before? What are your holy grail concealers?

 

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Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick Review + Swatches

 

Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick

 

How are you all my virtual friends? This is Day 2 of Pandemic Blogging. How have you been adjusting to life in a quarantined world? I hope you are all doing fine. Let’s keep our spirits up and let’s hang in there. In the meantime, let me distract you with a few goodies from Kaja Beauty.ย 

 

In this post, we’ll be reviewing the Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick (0.049 oz: 17 USD). A lot of you are wondering how this particular Kaja lip product performs, and I gotta say that I’m really amazed by this product so far. As you all know, I’m not quite a fan of shiny lip products, especially glosses and shimmers, since I’m more of a matte lipstick-lover type. But I do love a few high-performing and hydrating lip glosses, one of them is from Chanel Coco Rouge Glossimer (seen here), and I think I may have found another holy grail lip gloss in the name of Kaja Heart Melter.

 

Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick in sweet talk

 

The Kaja Heart Melter is a heart-shaped slim lip gloss stick that is formulated with Argan Oil and Plum-Seed Oil. It’s meant to be hydrating and nourishing on the lips while delivering shine at the same time. There are no harsh ingredients in this lip product and this is definitely non-sticky.ย 

 

To apply this lip gloss stick, you have to click on its bottom part twice or thrice to release enough product. The product itself will melt on the lips easily and since it is heart-shaped, it conforms well on the cupid’s bow upon application.

 

Kaja Beauty sent me three shades to try.

 

Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick review

 

Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick hunny bun, crazy 4u, sweet talk swatches

 

02 Sweet Talk – Bubblegum pink.ย 

 

03 Crazy 4U – Soft rosy mauve. A mid-mauve rose.

 

05 Hunny Bun – Described as Pink Nude, but it looks more like spiced-cinnamon to me.

Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick lip swatchI find the packaging of this Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss to be so cute and colorful. I also think that this is very easy to use or apply. When it comes to the finish, I don’t find this lip gloss to be very shiny or overly glossy. I think the shine is just enough and this even looks velvety after a few minutes of application. What I really love about this gloss is the way it feels on the lips, which is very balmy and smooth. Also, for being a gloss, this is very pigmented and staining, which can last for a couple of hours on the lips. With that being said, this lip gloss is definitely now on my holy grail list.

 

Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick in hunny bun

 

Have you ever tried any of Kaja Beauty’s lip products? What is your favorite lip gloss?

 

*Thanks to Kaja Beauty(Memebox/Sephora) for sending these glosses. As always, all opinions are solely mine. Stay tuned for more Kaja Beauty reviews.

 

Sending you all virtual hugs and love. Take Care.

 

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