Reviews in Fifty Words or Less

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I got this idea from the wonderful Makeup Withdrawal, and I'm going to give it a shot. It will be a challenge for someone as wordy as I am, but I don't think I have a lot to say about these products, so here we go!

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiance Perfecting Pen in Luminous Ivory

Sheer, slightly luminous concealer that I use on lazy days. Makes me look less dead but doesn’t cover my dark circles completely. Faint lavender fragrance. Came from a Sephora Favorites set, but I wouldn’t buy it at full price. Lots of cheap equivalents work exactly the same way.

            

Maybelline The Falsies Volum'Express Mascara

Decent volume and length without clumping. The curved brush and length of the bristles work well.

I've been liking this better in month two as it gets drier. Too much flaking for me to repurchase, though.

Wet N Wild Mattifying Powder

Does the job: mattifies, invisible on my skin, fine texture. The main problem is that it contains very little product. I've used it only a couple dozen times.

It looks thick because there’s a sponge in the bottom compartment, but the pan is shallow.

For less than $5 you can get more product from Essence.

Bobbie Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick in Golden Pink

Got this in a Sephora Play! box. Not really pink--I'd call it peachy-beige. It's a nice, all-over-the-lid eyeshadow, and it lasts better than any other cream eyeshadow I've used, even without primer. Could make a good highlighter, too.

Swatched:

Blended out:

Neutrogena Ultra Light Cleansing Oil

It's ok. I bought it for double cleansing, but it's a little drying, so I only use it combined with gentle micellar water. It removes most of my makeup. The generic fruity-floral scent is a bit strong--and I always end up tasting it after I've rinsed my face. Blech.

Success! Of course, if you have questions about any of these products, I'd be happy to fill in the blanks. I'm also interested to hear your experiences with them, or recommendations for alternatives, as always. 

Do I Need This? Oil Cleansing (and Double Cleansing)

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I've finally returned to my Do I Need This? series, which had been on a year-long hiatus. In these posts, I offer my experience and opinion about whether or not I think a trendy product or technique is worth it. Obviously, you don't really need ANY beauty products, so the answer to the question is always going to be no, to some extent. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to offer a starting point, at least.

Oil cleansing is nothing new, and oil in skin care has been a big thing for a while now. We used to always check to make sure our products were labeled "oil-free" (at least those of us with oily or acne-prone skin), but now we're being told to embrace the magical, precious oil, regardless of skin type. Especially if it's "natural." So were we mistaken all that time? Is oil the new everything? Can I actually clean my oily face with oil? Wha?

As usual, I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Lots of oils have positive properties for various skin types. Some will work for some people and not for others. Adding oil isn't necessarily going to clog your pores or make your skin produce more oil - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. The trick, as always, is to experiment and find out what works for you.

I'm going to talk about my experience with cleansing using oils here. Facial oils that are supposed to treat skin issues are another thing (I'm partial to rosehip oil, myself), so I'll leave those out. This is about washing your damn face.

Do I need this?

Short answer: Oil is effective for removing makeup, but don't expect miracles (and you don't need to spend a ton of money on fancy oil cleansers).

I found a use for a detestable product

Remember when I reviewed the Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Miracle Dry Oil? And I hated it, oh my god, so much. What useless shit that was. You would think I would have thrown it away, since it was pointless, stupid, and horrible. I certainly thought I had. But no. Somehow my hoarding tendencies took over (big surprise) and I found it in a box with some other crap a few weeks ago. 

So did I immediately throw it in the garbage like any reasonable person would do? Um, no. 

I figured out a use for it! It actually works really well for cleaning makeup swatches off of my arms, even long-wearing eyeliner and lip stain. Spritz it on, wipe it off, voila. I mean, probably any oil would work, but this way I'm not using an oil that is actually functional in some other way to do this. 

Okay, most people aren't swatching shit on their arms on a regular basis. I also tried it as a facial cleansing oil, and it works quite well for that purpose as well. I always follow up cleansing oil with regular cleanser. I find that oil breaks down my makeup better and ensures that everything is gone, so I don't break out. That's important for me, particularly if I am wearing foundation. Unless you inexplicably like the smell of this Garnier oil, you'll want to give your face an extra wash in order to rid it of the cloying odor anyway. I'm not sure you'd want to spend a lot of time massaging it into the eye area, since it is so highly perfumed, but I don't really do that with cleanser anyway. 

So there you go. If you are unfortunate enough to possess some of this crap, you can use it to remove makeup. If you actually like it . . . no judgement, no judgement. In that case, here is yet another use for this wonderfully versatile miracle product. Or maybe you'll find this shit on sale, and you've wanted to try a cleansing oil, but they are overpriced. They are. This is a very lightweight oil that has some decent ingredients, so it might be worth a shot. Especially since you are going to rinse it off immediately and not give the irritants it contains any time to irritate you.