Reviews and Other Stuff

samples of the week

Samples of The Week: Clinique, Boscia, Bite Beauty, Kate Somerville, Lancome, Miu Miu & Tarte

Happy Friday guys! It’s about time to wrap up some samples and share my first impressions about them. This week, I picked a mini lipstick, a sample of some clay foundations, a hybrid makeup remover, a few basic moisturizers, and a very interesting scent.

 

bite beauty amuse bouche lipstick beetroot, kate somerville goat milk moisturizer, clinique moisture surge supercharged, miu miu eau de parfum

 

Shall we begin?

 

Clinique Moisture Surge Hydrating Supercharged Concentrate

Lancome BI-FACIL Double-Action Eye Makeup Remover (1.7 oz: $15, 4.2 oz: $30, 6.7 oz: $39) – One of the best eye makeup removers I’ve ever tried. It erases my liner like a breeze and there’s not a single sting. I even use it on my face and it saves me a lot of time and effort. It’s also not sticky and it comes in different sizes.

Boscia Charcoal MakeUp Melter Cleansing Oil-Balm (3 oz: $32) – This is a blend of charcoal and oil/balm cleanser that you have to apply on your makeup face and massage it all over to get rid of makeup. It has a strong lavender scent, much like the Boscia Detoxifying Black Cleanser. This product becomes foamy and it really removes all your makeup but you’re going to need a spatula (provided if purchasing the full size) in order to scoop the balm. It’s pretty thick and a bit sticky, my fingers had a hard time grabbing the product. Other than that, this is a good alternative to traditional facial cleansers and makeup removers since this product combines the two.

 

Clinique Moisture Surge Hydrating Supercharged Concentrate (0.5 oz: $13.50, 1.6 oz: $39) – This a lightweight gel serum or moisturizer with spheres of antioxidants. It has no distinct scent but it hydrates very well. It’s a great hydrator for the summer and my skin absorbs this quickly. Just like most Clinique serums and moisturizers, you can never go wrong with this.

 

Miu Miu Eau de Parfum (Travel size/0.33 oz: $28, 1 oz: $68, 1.7 oz: $903.4 oz: $118) – A fresh floral scent that will surely catch your attention. I thought this was gonna be more of a sweet scent, but this is actually fresh and delightful, like a blend of something earthy and green with a bit of jasmine. It’s also very long lasting and not boring.

 

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation Spf 15 review swatches

 

 

Bite Beauty Multistick (0.17 oz: $24) – Reviewed the papaya shade thoroughly before, found HERE. This is one of the best multi-taskers I’ve ever tried. Almost all the shades from this collection are all good and wearable. It has a velvety texture upon application, and it glides well on the lids, on the cheeks as a blush, and as a lip color. They’re pretty easy to blend and they’re also well-pigmented. The effect is a matte monochromatic trend. I love this.

bite beauty multistick swatches papaya cashew biscotti

 

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation Spf 15 (1.7 oz: $39) – A natural to mattifying finish full-coverage foundation that’s vegan and oil-free. This foundation really covered my redness and blemishes and it’s pretty long-wearing. It feels whipped but lightweight, and it blends into the skin well. I noticed a bit of pilling but they’re blendable and I love that it comes with an added Spf. My face looks flawless with this.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation Spf 15 swatches

 

Lancome Energie de Vie Smoothing & Plumping Water-Infused Cream

Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturizing Cream (1 oz: $50, 1.7 oz: $65) – This feels like a gentle moisturizer that’s great for sensitive skin or even in any skin type. It has almost no scent but it hydrates the skin well and it’s also very lightweight. There’s a soothing feel to this and it hydrates some dry patches on the face. 

 

Lancome Energie de Vie Smoothing & Plumping Water-Infused Cream (1.7 oz: $55) – Another water-infused cream that smells fresh and slightly like citronella. My skin absorbed this lightweight moisturizer immediately and it does have a plumping effect. Overall, this non-greasy cream hydrates the skin excellently and my skin felt soft after using this. The whole Energie de Vie line seems like a very interesting line to try.

 

Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Beetroot (0.15 oz: $26) – Love this deep berry shade. I’m sure we’re all familiar with this lipstick. This line up has one of the boldest well-pigmented lipsticks ever. It’s extremely creamy and buttery soft, and while it does transfer a lot, the pigment stays put on the lips for a long time. I love that it’s made of au-naturel ingredients and the citrusy flavor is a delight. As to how it compares to the newly-released Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick? stay tuned, because a review of that particular lineup will be coming soon.

amuse bouche beetroot shade

 

Verdict, I almost love all the samples I’ve tried, but if I have to narrow it down, I think I like the ease of using Lancome BI-FACIL Eye Makeup Remover, the scent of Miu Miu Eau de Parfum, the range of shades from Bite Beauty Multistick and Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation, the high-impact colors of Bite’s Amuse Bouche Lipstick and the hydrating effect of Lancome Energie de Vie Water-Infused Cream.

 

Have you had samples of these too? Which ones did you like?

 

T.G.I.F Everybody!

 

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Samples of The Week: Kerastase, Tatcha, Aveda, Philosophy, Sisley Paris, Acqua Di Parma & Chanel

Samples of The Week: Kerastase Bain architecte Bain magistral, Tatcha the water cream, Aveda hand relief cream, Philosophy 3 in 1 face eye Cleanser makeup remover, Sisley Paris Black Rose cream mask, Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Mirto Di Panarea Chanel hydra beauty

 

It’s Friday again guys and here are some products that you may want to hunt over the weekend. A lot of these samples are really interesting and some of them are the products I’ve been eyeing for quite a while now, but I wasn’t exactly sure if they’re worth it. Thank God for samples, now I know more or less which product I may want to test. 

 

Tatcha The Water Cream

 

Kerastase Nutritive Bain Magistral (80 ml: $20.50, 250 ml: $41) – A Glamour-awarded shampoo for dry to severely dry hair. It’s meant to make the hair smooth, supple and shiny. Also, it promises to remove impurities and nourish the hair from within. I find this shampoo to be very moisturizing but if your hair is on the fine/straight side, and you don’t wash your hair the next day, well, this might weigh it down. It’s really great if you tend to have dry hair or even dry scalp because this shampoo will make it look shiny and healthy. I also love that the scent is non-irritating and it smells like iris and sunflower seed.

Tatcha The Water Cream (1.7 oz $68) – I’m so excited to try this newly-released gel cream from Tatcha since I love Tatcha beauty and skincare products. They have such innovative and interesting products that will really spark your interest. They also make their packaging look sophisticated and pretty like this moisturizer, which is SO good. It feels really light but it moisturizes very well. The moment I applied this, I felt like all the stress, pain, arthritis, and even the evil spirits went away, lol. This feels cool on the face and the light floral scent is just divine.

Sisley Paris Black Rose Cream Mask (2.1 oz $162) – Been dying to try this mask since this is basically a 5-star cult-favorite in France and in the US. Lots of people are raving about it even if it has a steep price. Even Emma Stone’s makeup artist used this on her when she attended and won the Oscar for Best Actress. I managed to score a sample at my local Nordstrom Sisley Paris counter and immediately tried it upon arriving home. I have mixed feelings about this mask. It doesn’t seem like a mask to me, instead, it’s more like a moisturizer since it’s really creamy. It’s meant to be used on the skin for 2-3 times a week, leaving it on for 10-15 minutes, wiping off excess product thereafter. In my experience, it’s true that my skin did absorb this quickly and there’s not even any excess. It’s really hard to treat this as a mask, but it’s easy to see this as a moisturizer instead, even though Sisley Paris has recently introduced the moisturizer version of this, seen HERE. So I used this as a moisturizer and left this on my skin overnight. My skin indeed looked luminous and well-hydrated, but I feel like any good moisturizer could do that. Even La Mer could do that, and compared to La Mer’s scent, this Sisley Paris Black Rose Mask has a strong rose stem/cucumber scent. A little too much for me. I don’t know, but I feel like it’s kind of hard to be so impressed by this, especially upon seeing how small the regular size is with respect to its price. I do feel like this cream mask is good for traveling or when your face had gone through extremes temperatures and harsh elements because this is really very hydrating.

 

Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Creme review

Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Creme (1.7 oz $98) – Here’s a gel cream that feels great and smells great. It so lightweight that it feels like slightly thickened water and it hydrates the skin like no other. It kept my face hydrated overnight and even the whole day. I also love the Camellia scent which is fresh and very irresistible. This would have been perfect, but the only caveat is the price.

 

Aveda Hand Relief Moisturizing Creme

Kerastase Resistance Bain Force Architecte (80 ml: $20.50, 250 ml: $41, 500 ml: $60) – A reconstructing and repairing shampoo for brittle and damaged hair. This hair care product is meant to rebuild every strand starting from the roots, and it’s supposed to prevent the hair from breakage and split ends. This shampoo lathers very well and it smells like citronella with a bit of tamarind. I love it.

Aveda Hand Relief Moisturizing Creme (1.4 oz: $9.50, 4.2 oz: $24) – This hand cream truly delivers what it’s meant to be, an intense therapy cream for those with seriously dry hands. This really made my hands look like human hands and not Neanderthal’s, lol. The only thing that sort of bothers me is the strong sweet citrus/grapefruit scent. Other than that, this is a great handcream.

Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Mirto Di Panarea Eau de Toilette Spray (2.5 oz: $105, 5 oz: $160) – This scent smells really great at first, like a fresh burst of lemon and bergamot with the smell of the ocean, but it dries into something slightly musky for me and I could sense the faint traces of basil. I definitely think that this is more masculine even though it’s meant to be unisex. I like it though because it reminds me of the sea even if it doesn’t last long.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple, 3-in-1 Cleanser for Face & Eyes a.k.a  Philosophy Eye Cleansing Gel & Makeup Remover (7.5 oz $23) – This is a mild gel cleanser for the eyes and face. It doesn’t irritate and it feels very gentle. I don’t think this completely removes all my makeup, but this seems good as a daily cleanser because this won’t dry your skin, although I feel like I have to wash my face twice with this whenever my skin feels too oily.

 

Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Creme

 

What do you think of these? Is there anything here that sparks your interest?

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone,

 

Follow me on Instagram: @reviewsandotherstuff

 

Rouge Dior Matte Lipsticks Review

Since my last “Samples of The Week” Review, I’ve been testing a few Rouge Dior Matte Finish Lipsticks. But, in order to do that, I needed to try and swatch them in real life and see the colors exactly with my own eyes. I’ve seen these lippies before and I’ve even swatched them several times before, but I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase one because I find the shades to be mostly in the reddish side. I wasn’t bothered by the texture nor the scent, but I wanted more warm neutrals, muted plums, rosewoods and brick tones in it, so I guess I waited a bit more to see if there were more shades being released.

 

Dior Rouge Dior Matte Lipsticks

 

Fortunately, it seems like Dior’s been listening and they’ve released a couple of limited edition shades every season. These shades are somewhat more inclined to my fancy and with my recent Samples of The Week Post (found HERE), I fell in love with the Rouge Dior 772 Classic Matte Shade. This whole lineup of Rouge Dior Matte Finish Lipsticks have more variety of shades now than when it was reformulated and released I think about a year ago. In fact, the whole range of Rouge Dior Lipsticks have been reformulated and enhanced with more shades to choose from. Apart from the popular matte finish, these lipsticks also come in satin finishes and shimmers as well.

 

Dior Rouge Dior Matte Lipsticks Review

 

Packaging is really sleek. These lipsticks come in black/silver tube with a black cap on the outside and red lining inside. I don’t dislike the scent, but some may find it to be too much. At first, I thought they smell a bit like baby powder and cotton candy, but the more I use them, I sensed the hint of musky jasmine in it. The texture can be a bit drying as I’ve said before, but it’s lightweight and pretty much long-lasting. They’re well pigmented too. Mine lasts 4-6 hours of wear with some traces of colors still visible on my lips. The price is perhaps one of the main caveat of these lipsticks. Each costs $35 so you really need to choose wisely. Other than that, I really enjoyed these lippies and I recommend them to each and every one of you.

Dior Rouge Dior Matte Lipsticks swatches

Rouge Dior Matte Lipsticks Review

 

  • 772 Classic Matte – A neutral muted pinkish shade that I first fell in love with upon trying it from a sample. It’s the perfect everyday lip color and it doesn’t look over the top. Definitely a classic shade that works for any skin tone.
  • 745 Terrific Matte – A muted rosewood shade that is probably my most favorite color of all the Rouge Dior Matte Finish lipstick line. This shade might be kinda hard to find because I think this is a limited edition for Spring 2017, so I’d better stock up on this color asap.
  • 951 Absolute Matte – I love red lipsticks, but bright reds don’t love me, lol. Red bricks do. So I went and took this shade with me home. I love muted reds and this shade is the best red I could pull off.

 

Overall, I love these Rouge Dior Matte Lipsticks much. If you can stomach the price, I think they’re reliable and so worth it, just don’t sell your kidney for it, lol! Anyhow, I recommend you try at least one or two perhaps and see it for yourself. Alrighty?

 

Dior. Rouge Dior Matte Lipsticks

 

These Rouge Dior Matte Finish lipsticks are available at Sephora, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Dillard’s, Lord & Taylor & Macy’s.

 

Don’t go anywhere, stay tuned because a review of the newly released Dior Lip Tattoo/Lip Tint will be coming soon.

 

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