Lancome Exfoliant Fraichelle, THE BEST

Ok, so I just have have haveeeee to write a post on this product. I actually am not a big purchaser of body scrubs and products of that nature because I have yet to find one that really does what it is supposed to. I ended up getting this as a free gift with purchase at Macy's and absolutely fell in love.   I literally look forward to using it everyday because it is divine. 

So let me start by saying the smell is simply HEAVENLY. I had originally read some reviews about it where people complain about the smell which I just do not understand. It is such a clean scent that reminds me of almost an evergreen smell. It is one of the first body wash type items that actually leaves the scent on my skin all day. 

What Lancome Exfoliant Fraichelle is meant to look like. 

My poor sample size that is no more :(

My next favorite thing about this product is the fact that it legitimately exfoliates skin and gets rid of rough, old cells. I use it after body wash and before shaving and it significantly makes a difference in the smoothness of my skin and closeness of my shave. When you scrub with it it has nice friction to it, not in a painful way, but a way that you can feel it working. 

The only negative thing I can say about this product is that when I ran out today, and immediately went to replace it because I am clearly obsessed, they were sold out at the Lancome counter. Boo Macy's for not having it on hand!! I guess I will just have to manage with some Philosophy Amazing Grace for a few days until my ordered one comes in. First world problems.

Too Faced Primed and Poreless Pure

not my picture

First of all, although I am a bit of a makeup junkie, I have never really been a fan of primer. I have tried all different kinds including the super raved about Smashbox primers (multiple times), yet I have never found one that does its job, or doesn't break my skin out, or send my eyeliner melting down my face by the end of the day, cough cough Primed and Poreless Pure, cough. I thought, you know, the only product I am really missing in my makeup regimen is a good primer so why not buy one. After researching endlessly I decided upon the Too Faced primer above because I have an issue with breaking out from primers and their lovely ingredients and this one specifically is targeted for acne prone skin.
I used this over my moisturizer and under my makeup and I do have to say that I loved the texture because  it went on very similarly to the siliconey Smashbox primers, yet it didn't ball off and pill up, YAY, I thought! I really did want to love this primer but the positives basically end there. It did live up to the fact that it didn't break me out, however, by the end of day 1, my winged out eyeliner was smudged, along with my mascara under my eyes, and there was also no significant difference in the overall look of my makeup. I used this for several more days changing up other items to try and give it every chance possible without any luck. After discontinuing use, my eye makeup magically went back to staying put for hours at a time, interesting. I actually couldn't even take a picture of the product myself because I returned it so quickly and didn't get the chance. I am not one to really return products, I mean you never know when that lime green sparkle eyeliner will come in handy (St. Patrick's Day anyone?), however at $30.00 a pop for this sub par product, I was not ready to allow it to take up space in my makeup bag.

It's a 10 Silk Express

Let me start off by saying I have very thick hair, when it's tamed it looks amazing but it takes a lot of good products and styling to be beautified. This set was suggested to me by one of my hair dresser friends and let me tell you it is simply amazing. The smell of these products is so refreshing, a little more perfumy than other hair products but still wonderful at the same time. The smell doesn't overpower after the hair is styled but it is still there in the end. The set came with three different products; miracle silk shampoo, miracle silk conditioner and miracle silk smoothing balm.

Shampoo
When packages say rinse and repeat, I am actually one of those people that rinses and repeats. Someone once told me that the first wash is to clean your hair and the second one is for shine, and even though it might be an old wives tale I live true to that saying. I find that the first wash with this is somewhat lathering but the second wash over really lathers up. Even after just using the shampoo my hair seems detangled and more smooth.

Conditioner
I think that when you use a great conditioner you will know from the second you put it on your hair. This conditioner is one of those. the package says to leave one 2 to 5 minutes so I do it typically for 4 or 5. This stuff is great, as I said before it not only smells amazing, but it realllllllly smooths the hair. There is a noticeable difference in the texture of my hair when i use this stuff. WONDERFUL.

Smoothing Balm
The package says it does 10 things instantly, in short, it basically claims to cut down drying time detangle hair, protect from heat and tame . I didn't notice a big difference in drying time as compared with other products but as far as the other things it claims to do, this one is a winner. The texture of this formula is not like other smoothing balms, it is more of a gel which I loved because it didn't weigh my hair down and really seemed to add volume while taking care of frizz and other problems. As far as thermal protection goes it seems to be working quite well, seeing as I straighten my hair on 450 degrees regularly and have yet to see damage thus far.

Even though these are three separate products I really think they work extremely well together and make a significant difference in hair look and texture. Running in at about 20 dollars each, these products aren't exactly cheap but in my opinion they are well worth the money.


The picture below is not completely styled but it can give you an idea about the amount of shine this stuff adds.

The result: super shiny hair!!

Battle of the Rouge

It looks good on every skin color, with every eye color, and makes a bold statement without any words being spoken. What is it I am speaking of, red lipstick of course. I actually was afraid of red lipstick until about 6 months ago because of the wonderful things it brings with it; feathering, red teeth, too much color, etc. I picked up a Kate Moss for Rimmel lipstick and instantly fell in love. The color is 01 and it is literally one of the best true reds for every skin tone.

Although I absolutely love the color and moisture level of this lipstick, it does not really hold true to the name that it carries, long lasting. Whenever I go out with this on I have to reapply it at every mirror check. It is very affordable at around $5.00, and easy to find at most drugstores and Ulta as well. 

When I decided that in certain situations staying power is the most important thing, I discovered the Kat Von D's Foiled Love Liquid Lipstick in Hellbent.

Hellbent

Let me tell you this liquid lipstick/stain/gloss/ whatever you want to call it is the longest lasting color I have ever encountered. I have accidentally fallen asleep with it on and woken up the next morning with it perfectly intact. I am not sure whether that is a scary thing or whether to celebrate but the color is beautiful and if long lasting lipstick is what you're looking for this one takes the cake. I do have to say however, this is a matte finish, so it is very dry on your lips. It dries with an almost gold undertone which makes it a very nice color. If you add any type of lip moisturizer prior to using this it will not stay on your lips.

I totally recommend both of these lipsticks to the fullest extent, just choose which one based on what you're looking to achieve. 

The lipstick on the left is Rimmel's lipstick and the right one is a swatch of Kat Von D's.

Urban Decay Vice Palette

This review is a little late to the game, but hey it's better late than never. Let me just start by saying I have yet to find another brand of shadows as pigmented as Urban Decay. I personally prefer to buy the shadows in palettes because I love to have every color possible just in case. I mean you never know when you're going to need bright pink shadow. This is more of a going out color scheme compared to some other products on the market. A lot of the colors are absolutely gorgeous, and I personally bought the entire palette just for Provocateur because it is unlike any shimmer solid I have ever seen. The fallout of this particular shadow is terrible; it literally crumbles when you dip a brush into it and barely adheres to anything, even with primer on. If you can do it right it looks pretty, but not nearly as nice as in the actual palette itself. The palette comes with a total of 20 shadows, 17 of which are shimmers. 

From left to right: Desperation, Muse, Jagged, Blitz, Penny Lane, Junkie, Chaos, Occupy, Unhinged, Black Market.


From left to right: Laced, Freebird, Anonymous, Echobeach, Nevermind, Armor, Noise, Vice, Rapture, Provocateur.

As you can see from the swatches, the colors are beautiful and very pigmented, especially when paired with a shadow primer. Unhinged is an amazing teal that goes on smooth and stays on for a while. Muse is one of my favorite colors because it is a dark, rich, shimmery brown that can be layered to get a more intense effect. Noise, which is the bright fuchsia, is beautiful but for some crazy reason I have just not had the opportunity to wear it yet. I do not use Anonymous or Laced because both remind me of matte concealer colors aka boring. All in all this is a great palette, and for $65.00 it wasn't a bad buy, as long as you're into the shimmery foils.

Urban Decay All Nighter

Urban Decay

This product is wonderful. I usually use it more than once throughout my makeup regimen. I start out applying my face makeup then spray, and proceed by applying my Makeup Forever HD Powder, eye makeup including brow color and spray again. I don't really know if applying these items and spraying twice actually makes a difference but it's worked for me so far so continue I will. Moving on to the actual product; if you want something to literally hold your makeup in place all night, this.is.it. I have accidentally fallen asleep after a night out without washing my face (EW) and woken up the next day with my makeup PERFECTLY set. I wouldn't go as far as saying this stuff lasts 16 hours but it comes pretty close. This also seems to be pretty good with my somewhat sensitive skin because I have been using it for several weeks now without any breakouts. Ringing in at $30.00 for a 4.oz spray bottle is a little steep but considering the amount you will need to use, and the actual power of the product, it's totally worth it.

Too Faced Candlelight Glow

This stuff is AMAZING. I don't know how I didn't buy it sooner. I was just strolling through Ulta last night and happened to instantly fall in love. It is beautifully packaged, adorable with its little candelabra imprint, and not to mention extremely pigmented and versatile. Here are some photos of it:

The bottom photo doesn't really capture the beauty of this product but gives an idea. By the way this stuff adds a great glow if used correctly in real life, and makes you look even more amazing in pictures. I used a fan brush on my cheek bones and brow bones and my finger for the bridge of my nose, cupid's bow and inner eye corners. I layered it over Benefit's High Beam and it had a wonderful effect, even for daytime. I used it over a primer and it lasted the entire day! Talk about staying power. I really can't express the greatness of this product. As I previously mentioned it is highly pigmented so a little definitely goes a long way.  BUY IT, it's magic!!

Sephora Lash Stash 2012

Since this is a mascara sampler and I haven't used all of the products yet,  I will only be reviewing some of  the different products within the package. Let me start off by saying I have very luscious lashes to begin with but I am extremely picky about what I use. Let's start off by discussing the good:

Tarte Lash Primer.
I have to say that I was surprisingly impressed by this product. I feel like it actually added something to my lashes and helped condition them. Although I don't think it multiplied my lashes like it claims, it definitely helped protect them from some daily abuse. I would totally purchase more when the tube is gone.

Lancome Hypnose Drama.
This is my daily mascara. It is the definition of perfection because it does everything a mascara should do; lengthens, adds volume and curls. I have read reviews about flaking, but I have never experience an issue with it. The following picture is a top view of my lashes with Drama on them:

Benefit They're Real.
Probably one of my top favorite mascaras on the market. It has a unique brush that can lengthen and volumize based on how it is used. This mascara didn't destroy my lashes and added the necessary improvements without clumping.

Clinique High Impact Mascara.
Let me just say that this was a complete shocker to me. I didn't expect to like a mascara from Clinique, however I was pleasantly surprised. It added a nice, dark black color that lasted throughout the day. I would not say this is one of my favorite mascaras but it certainly was a decent one. I guess for the price it might not be worth it and I probably would not purchase a normal size tube but for someone that maybe doesn't like huge dramatic lashes (not me) this might be a good one.

THE BAD:
Smashbox Full Exposure.
Buxom Lash
Tarte Mascara


All of the bad listed basically did NOTHING for my lashes; I basically felt like I was adding a layer of spit to them aka nothing. Would not purchase any of them.

This is kind of quick and I wanted to just briefly review this sampler but in the future I will be reviewing individual products in a more thorough manner