LORAC Visual Effects mascara was a Nordstrom Rack find a few months back, and it was my first mascara I’ve tried from the brand. I hadn’t heard a thing about it when I saw it, but with the price discounted as it was I thought it’d be worth a try. Visual Effects is described as a curling, separating, and lengthening mascara and has a four-sided plastic comb wand. The wand can be a little tricky, but I think it gives lashes a striking look!
I’ll go ahead and unofficially dub this the green edition of facial cleansing towelette reviews, not because they’re all environmentally kind (though several of them are!) but because they all happen to have green packaging! Well, green-ish. For much of my life I’ve been a huge fan of cleansing wipes. I’m lazy, what can I say. They’re some of my favorite ways to remove makeup, and are great for sticking in a gym bag or for travelling.
Just a few words on how I use cleansing wipes and what qualities I look for when I’m purchasing them. Over the years, I’ve tried a wide variety of them, and mostly stick to options that are under $8 or so for a pack of 20-30 (all the towelettes in this set of reviews are in the $5-6 range). Something else that’s developed in the last year or so is that I specifically am looking wipes that aren’t completely soaked in harsh alcohols. Lots of the cheaper wipes rely on alcohol and aren’t great for the skin, so more recently I’ve been looking for options that rely on gentler ingredients. One more thing I’d like to note is that I don’t completely rely on wipes for full facial cleansing. I use them mostly for makeup removal, and then follow up with a facial cleanser. I wear makeup and SPF during the day and don’t fully trust a wipe to remove all of that plus offer a full skin cleansing.
That all being said, I basically want a wipe that effectively removes makeup and doesn’t leave any off-putting residue on my skin. Pretty simple, right? So let’s get to it. In this edition, I’ll provide brief, straightforward thoughts on the Yes to Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes, Pacifica Purify Coconut Water Cleansing Wipes, Absolute! Makeup Cleansing Tissues with Green Tea Extract, Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes, and Alba Botanica Hawaiian 3-in-1 Clean Towelettes.
Summer’s on its way out, and I just wanted to say a few quick words about a sun protection product I loved using over the past few months. Sun Defense SPF 30 by B. Kamins Laboratories was one of the sun protection products I received over the summer in my Sample Society subscription boxes, and it wins the prize for being my favorite sun protection product that I used throughout the season.
Two products I received over the summer in my Sample Society subscription boxes (you can read about all of the products I received here) were the Jane Iredale Longest Lash Mascara as well as the Jane Iredale PureLash Extender & Conditioner. I’ve been wearing them off and on for the past few weeks, and have discovered that they make a pretty good team. Each one on their own (or in the case of the conditioner, paired with a different mascara) left me a little disappointed, but they seem to be formulated to complement each other and I really like wearing them together.
Earlier this summer, I was breezing through stores looking for more bath products and landed in The Body Shop. Due to muscle aches, I take hot baths nearly every night before I go to bed. It’s pretty rough on my skin, so I’m always on the hunt for products that will help keep my skin hydrated and soft. The Body Shop was running a pretty good sale on selected items and when I spoke with the sales associate and indicated that I was looking for moisturizing bath products, she pointed me towards three Spa Japan products that were included in the sale. I walked away with the yuzu & green tea bathing salts, yuzu & rice body milk, and the adzuki bean & rice washing grains.
Smashbox’s new foundation, Liquid Halo HD SPF 15, was one that I received a sample of when I was checked for my Sephora +Pantone Color IQ (you can read about my experience here). This foundation was recommended to me after I answered a few questions about my foundation preferences: I have combination skin, I need a foundation that I don’t have to touch up during the day, I’m generally looking for medium coverage, and I like having SPF included. I had previously tried out Smashbox’s HD Healthy FX SPF 15 foundation and had really enjoyed the look it gave me, but it unfortunately faded away way too early in the day to be of much use to me. So, I was definitely interested to see if this one might perform better.
The other day, I was walking through the drugstore cosmetics and something caught my eye: a promotional display of some new Rimmel mascaras, one of which was boasting an image of a wand that looks pretty similar to Benefit’s They’re Real! mascara wand. They’re Real! is one of my favorites, and it would definitely be nice to find a comparable product for a drugstore price. I even have a They’re Real! mini tube on hand to compare it to, so I brought the Rimmel home with me to see how it stacks up.
This is the second palette from Wet n Wild’s Pop Art Craze collection that I’ve had the opportunity to try. Compared to Hard Being the It Girl (review), I expected this one to even brighter, but it’s actually well suited for a softer look. The colors themselves are very pretty, but none of them can live up to that vibrant blue in Hard Being the It Girl in pigmentation and intensity.
Just a quick review of a product I’ve been using for the past two weeks, the Très Pure Face Tonic. I’ve been working through a 0.33 fl. oz. sample of this from my July Sample Society subscription box, and a 4 fl. oz. bottle costs $65. Actually, I had been using this for almost a week before I took a look at the product online and the price really surprised me. I hadn’t realized this was such a high-end item. This is a really interesting formula with just three ingredients: Daucus Carota (Carrot) Seed Distillate, Citrus Aurantium (Neroli) Distillate, Helichrysum Italicum (Immortelle) Oil.
