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Monthly Archives: November 2010
Clinique Strawberry Fudge Holiday Compact
(Disclosure: this was sent to me as a press sample)
I’m not much of a fan of Christmas, and all the hysteria that surrounds it, but I am a fan of all of the limited edition makeup palettes that start to come out around this time – especially the ones that come in pretty, shiny little packages. This is Clinique’s Strawberry Fudge Holiday Compact, and as you can see, it totally lives up to its name, containing a selection of cosmetics in chocolately, strawberry shades:
Three eye shadows along the top, plus a powder blush and two applicator brushes which, if you’re anything like me, you’ll completely ignore in favour of the brushes you already have. Here’s a close-up:
Dollface Reviews: Goody Volume Boost Hair Comb
A few weeks ago, like the absolute sucker I am, I raced out and bought one of Goody’s Volume Boost Combs, which is designed to, er, boost the volume of your hair. That’s it in the image above, looking a bit like some kind of weird insect. Don’t be fooled by the fact that it looks huge here, either: it’s small enough to fit in my palm, which may make you wonder just how something so small is going to make your hair look so big? You’d be right to wonder that. I kind of wish I’d stopped to wonder about it when I was shelling out £4.99 for it, to be honest, but you know… I love my Bumpit, but it’s not without its issues, and I figured this might be a good option for those days when I was looking to create a smaller, more natural “bump”, without any of that pesky backcombing.
Dr Brandt Crease Release: a needle-free alternative to Botox?
I frown a lot. Oh, it’s not that I’m angry, you understand – at least, not all the time. Actually, it’s mostly due to the fact that my eyes are very sensitive to light, so I tend to squint and frown, even when I’m wearing sunglasses (which I do almost every day: people think it’s some kind of fashion statement, but it’s actually just that I don’t tolerate the light well. Perhaps I’m secretly a vampire?), and of course, the result of that is frown lines. Bad ones. In fact, the “elevens” between my eyes are becoming so bad that I can see them even when I’m not creasing up my forehead, and when Mr Dollface instructed me to “stop frowning” last week when I wasn’t actually frowning at all, I knew something had to be done.
Of course, the obvious answer to this would be Botox, but Botox is very expensive, and seems rather drastic, so instead I’ve been casting around, searching for something that might work without the risk of any unpleasant side effects. I’ll be honest: I have my doubts that such a product exists. I’m well aware that my glabellar lines (a.k.a. “the elevens”) are the result of me constantly scrunching up my face, and the only way to get rid of them is for me to STOP scunching up my face, and what kind of product’s going to do THAT, I ask you?
Well, Dr Brandt’s ‘Crease Release’ promises to do exactly that. According to the marketing material, it uses “gamma amino butyric acid” to “release the skin’s own muscle relaxers” and get rid of the kind of lines that are caused by repetitive facial movements. Effects are said to last for between 8-10 hours, so this isn’t a permanent solution, but the company claim continued use will provide a longer-lasting reduction in wrinkles. Oh, and of course, it’s super-expensive, at £120 per pot. Ah.
I’ve done a bit of reading about this, and the reviews seem to swing wildly between people who absolutely swear by it, and say it reduces the appearance of even quite pronounced lines, and those who say it does absolutely nothing at all. That makes me relucatant to shell out £120 to find out which category I’d fall into, but as with all of these so-called “miracle” creams, if it actually worked, it could just be worth the investment.
Anyone willing to find out? Click here to buy it in the UK, or here to purchase from Sephora.
Dollface Reviews: Max Factor Xperience Weightless Foundation in Light Ivory
As I’ve mentioned more than a few times here, I have real problems finding foundation that’s a good match for my pale skin, so when Max Factor offered to send me a sample of their new Xperience Weightless Foundation last week, I didn’t hold out a whole lot of hope that it would be pale enough for me.
Well, I guess this is a good lesson for me that when it comes to foundation, it’s worth trying everything, because when it arrived, I was actually really impressed by how pale it was:
Dollface Reviews: GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer
My beloved Smashbox Photo Finish Primer has got to that stage where there’s so little left that it only gets to come out on special occasions, and rather than pony up the cash for a new tube, I decided to try out the GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer I wrote about a few weeks ago.
This cost me £12.99 compared to the £23.50, plus shipping, I’d have paid to replace the Smashbox product, so it was a reasonable saving. Was it a reasonable primer, though? Well, to be honest, I was in two minds about buying it: when I last mentioned it here, a few you of mentioned that you’d found it very greasy, and obviously that’s one of the last things I wanted from a primer! However, the tester in Superdrug reassured me a little: the product looked and felt very similar to the Smashbox primer, so I decided to take a chance on it, and so far I haven’t been disappointed.
While this definitely isn’t of the same kind of quality as Smashbox (it’s £10 cheaper for a reason), it does have similar qualities: the clear gel goes on smoothly, and has a lovely, silky feel to it, which transfers to my skin, leaving it smooth and soft, ready for foundation. So far I haven’t had any issues with greasiness – in fact, I actually find it makes my t-zone less shiny, which is a big point in its favour. I do think it’s one of those “little goes a long way” kind of products, though – I use just a very small dollop of it to cover my entire face, and I think if I used any more than that I may run unto problems, as it doesn’t absorb as well, or as quickly, as Photo Finish.
Overall, though, I’m pretty pleased with this, and although it isn’t going to take over from Smashbox on my Holy Grail list, it does make a good budget alternative for now.
Click here to buy it from Superdrug.
Dollface Reviews: Eye Candy by Eyelure Natural Look False Eyelashes
Just a quick post today to show you these new false eyelashes by Eyelure which I’ve been testing out. These are part of the new Eye Candy range from the brand, and I was sent a few different styles to try last week, so look out for more pictures over the next couple of weeks as I work my way through them all!
This particular set promised to deliver a “natural look and length”, so I figured they’d be the easiest ones to get away with on an ordinary Friday afternoon, which is when these photos were taken. Here’s what they look like in the box:
Elegant Touch Nail Polish Stickers: the perfect manicure, every time
As the relatively few posts about nail polish around here may suggest, I’m not good with nail polish. It’s not that I don’t like the stuff: quite the contrary – I’d love to be one of those women who always has perfectly manicured fingernails, and a different polish every day. I just can’t, though. As I’ve mentioned before, I can’t seem to keep polish on for more than a few hours without chipping it, and I’m not too hot at actually applying the stuff, either (I’ve often thought I must just be missing the “nail polish application” gene that so many women were apparently born with), which means that fancy patterns and pretty effects are totally out for me.
Or maybe not.
These Elegant Touch Nail Polish Stickers are exactly what they sound like: stickers for your nails. And before you go thinking that sounds like exactly the kind of thing that might’ve come packaged with your new Barbie when you were eight, hear me out: these basically allow you to create the look of perfect nail polish without all of the faffing around. Just peel them off, stick them on (OK, you’ll want to make sure your nails and clean and dry first) and you’re done. That sounds pretty good to me, and I also like the fact they come in some interesting patterns and colours: I’m particularly drawn to the polka dot version.
Each pack costs £5.99 and contains 60 stickers in ten different sizes. They claim to last for around five days, too, which sounds like pretty good value for money.
These are available at Superdrug, but I couldn’t see them on the website, so you may have to take a trip to your nearest store if you want to try them.
