November 2017 Hits, Misses, and Pans
This month has been low on posts. I haven't been doing anything new or different with my makeup and there's not much point in posting the same look day after day. I'm also in a bit of seasonal depression, which makes motivation go straight down the tubes. This has more to do with a sad event than the sunlight disappearing. Do I look like a sun worshipper to you? LOL. Enough about that though. I do have my monthly list of current loves and hates, and things I've either finished off or hit pan on. I haven't been buying lots of new makeup to review, but it is so satisfying to actual use up the crap I buy.
Hits:
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel-Cream. This stuff is golden. I bought my first jar in October, because Ulta had a sale on it and I had a $10 birthday bonus. I was looking for a nighttime moisturizer that was free of irritating plant extracts and fragrance. What I found was a sensitive skin-friendly replacement for Belif The True Cream Moisture Bomb. I've been using it for over a month now and still love it. It works just as well under makeup as it does overnight. It doesn't irritate my skin or aggravate allergies. I already have two backups in my medicine cabinet. **Note that this is the gel-cream. There is also a water gel, which is in the same type of packaging (same color even) but scented. You have to read the labels.
Sugarpill Cold Chemistry Palette.
I've had this for a long time. I love it. I've hit pan on two shades. But I've been using it pretty often this month after barely using it for a while. My default look involves the white shade at the inner corners blended toward the centers, with the purple shade at the outer Vs.
Joico Curl Co + Wash.
I finally found a replacement for my beloved but highly allergenic Deva NoPoo. It cleans my hair and scalp without making my hair limp or drying out my curls. I don't need to follow it with a separate conditioner. After a month of use, I have yet to get one single oily, gross hair day out of it. What I'm getting is consistently good hair days, including the elusive second-day hair. The can is a little weird at first. It's like shaving cream. The delivery system doesn't make or break the product for me, but it's easy enough to use. Already bought two backups because I got it on sale.
Nyx Dewy Finish Setting Spray. As much as I love Milani Make It Last, I'm not supposed to be using scented products on my face. This was one of very few setting sprays I could find that had none of my allergens and no fragrance. I like the fine spray of it. I can see the slightly dewy finish after I spray it. It's nothing too over the top. I look nothing like a disco ball. It performs maybe slightly less well than the Milani, but just as well as UD All Nighter. It's a good product. I have three backups already.
Misses:
Ulta brand Sensitive Skin Facial Cleansing Wipes. These have the words "makeup remover" right on them but they barely removed anything from my face. I could see some makeup on the wipes, but I also could see a lot on my face! What the butt? I had to break out a separate makeup remover, defeating the entire purpose of a wipe. They also are supposedly for sensitive skin, but they made my face red and blotchy. That's a hard pass.
Nyx Doll Eye Volume mascara. This is an okay mascara. All I want from mascara is black lashes (well, without clumping and flaking and such), and that's what it gave me. It didn't lengthen whatsoever. On my top lashes, that's awesome because I don't want my lashes hitting my glasses. But I like some definition for my lower lashes and I didn't feel like it did anything for them (other than making them a little darker). The deal breaker for me is how quickly it dried out. I bought it in September. By the first week of November, it was too dried out to use. I typically get a solid three months out of a travel size tube of Urban Decay Perversion mascara. I run out before it dries out. Doll Eye was a full size tube, and it only costs maybe a buck less than Perversion. So, no. No, no, no. Will never repurchase. Total waste of money.
Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick in Crimson. This is a super, super, suuuuuuper matte red. The shade is great. The staying power is great. Too great. Because this bitch is matte AF. Do I really want my lips dried out and puckering under the matteness of my lipstick? I do not. Maybe I could pull that off if I was 15, but at 43, I look like an animated corpse. I have literally seen healthier looking lips on corpses. NOPE.
Panned/Finished Off:
Bodyography Brow Brush. I got this in a subscription box a couple years back and it's been my default brow brush, but it's dead. It's just...dead. Would absolutely repurchase. I love this brush. I loved it enough to kill it with use! Replaced with a similar Nyx brush because I wanted to try a Nyx brush, and it cost less.
Easy from the Urban Decay Gwen blush palette. This is the darkest pink, if you don't feel like clicking through to see a picture. Fully panned! I have two shades left in this palette and they're both the bronzey/orange shades. Surprise.
CHS Original Curl Keeper. This stuff is awesome, provided you do okay with glycerin. I live in a dry climate and glycerin in my hair products can be a hot mess. In humid conditions, my hair loves Curl Keeper. It helps with curl definition and it helps prevent frizz in rainy weather. If I try using it in triple digit heat, with humidity in the single digits, FML. So a bottle lasts me a long time. I use it most in fall and winter, when it's more humid and sometimes even rainy. I layer it in between leave-in and gel. Already repurchased.
Nyx HD Blush in Taupe.
DUDE. I have been actively trying to hit pan on my Sephora Colorful Face Powder in Tranquil for months and have barely made a dent in it. I use the Nyx blush twice and hit pan! Excuse me? Rude! To be fair, I depotted this blush some time ago and lost a flake off the top in the process. You can see the depth in the pic. Still. I hit pan on the one I use the least often! It is just a touch dark and warm for me. But I can make it work.
SheaMoisture Shea Oil. I have used several of the SheaMoisture oils and this is probably my favorite one. I use it to moisturize skin and hair. Skinwise, I mainly use it on my stretched lobes and on raw tattoos. Will most likely repurchase. I ran out of this while using it on a healing tattoo, actually. I finished the flaking/itching time with pure lanolin, which I thought would be too thick and sticky. I made it work.
CeraVe Moisturizer. The big jar with the pump from Costco. This and Vanicream are my go-to hand and body moisturizers. It's not scented, it doesn't turn my skin red, and I can buy it in bulk. It's basically perfect.
Kenra Clarifying Shampoo. Just a basic clarifying shampoo. I'm probably not allergic to it. I'm unsure about witch hazel. I haven't noticed a reaction. Dries my scalp out, but that's not unexpected considering it's a strong shampoo. Would probably repurchase.
Renpure Nourishing Coconut Cream Conditioner. Storytime: I have a severe nickel allergy. And I used to have a kitty-ear headband from Meowington's. It felt like there was a metal core but it was fully covered in fuzzy fabric, so it seemed safe enough. I wore it to keep dry hair off my face while doing makeup sometimes and had no problems. One day this past October, I tried something new and used it to keep wet hair off my face. Water can get through fabric and facilitate a nickel reaction. It's why you don't want nickel bits in your bathing suit even if they're covered with fabric; you could still react if you're allergic.
So I wore this thing in my hair for like forty five minutes while doing makeup. The next thing I know, my scalp is red and rashy, and itchy to high hell. -__- I cut the headband open to verify there was a shiny white metal inside. I KNEW IT.
I have prescription cortisone cream but it would be too messy to use all over my head, so I did coconut oil overnight, and went back to CO-washing my hair. If you're not familiar with CO-washing, the CO stands for Conditioner Only. You take a cheap conditioner, slap it on your scalp, massage it in, and let it sit there for a few minutes before rinsing. My scalp was really into this when it was itchy from the rash, and then even itchier from the healing of said rash.
This stuff is around $5-6 at Target and I'm not allergic to it. Will absolutely repurchase! The only downsides are: I can't CO-wash daily forever; I have to use real shampoo at least once a week or I get build-up. That's not much of a negative. And I burn through this pretty quickly.
Some of these product links are affiliate links and some aren't. Basically, I got tired of making links. Links provided for convenience. If affiliate links bother you, just Google.
Hits:
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel-Cream. This stuff is golden. I bought my first jar in October, because Ulta had a sale on it and I had a $10 birthday bonus. I was looking for a nighttime moisturizer that was free of irritating plant extracts and fragrance. What I found was a sensitive skin-friendly replacement for Belif The True Cream Moisture Bomb. I've been using it for over a month now and still love it. It works just as well under makeup as it does overnight. It doesn't irritate my skin or aggravate allergies. I already have two backups in my medicine cabinet. **Note that this is the gel-cream. There is also a water gel, which is in the same type of packaging (same color even) but scented. You have to read the labels.
Sugarpill Cold Chemistry Palette.
I've had this for a long time. I love it. I've hit pan on two shades. But I've been using it pretty often this month after barely using it for a while. My default look involves the white shade at the inner corners blended toward the centers, with the purple shade at the outer Vs.
Joico Curl Co + Wash.
I finally found a replacement for my beloved but highly allergenic Deva NoPoo. It cleans my hair and scalp without making my hair limp or drying out my curls. I don't need to follow it with a separate conditioner. After a month of use, I have yet to get one single oily, gross hair day out of it. What I'm getting is consistently good hair days, including the elusive second-day hair. The can is a little weird at first. It's like shaving cream. The delivery system doesn't make or break the product for me, but it's easy enough to use. Already bought two backups because I got it on sale.
Nyx Dewy Finish Setting Spray. As much as I love Milani Make It Last, I'm not supposed to be using scented products on my face. This was one of very few setting sprays I could find that had none of my allergens and no fragrance. I like the fine spray of it. I can see the slightly dewy finish after I spray it. It's nothing too over the top. I look nothing like a disco ball. It performs maybe slightly less well than the Milani, but just as well as UD All Nighter. It's a good product. I have three backups already.
Misses:
Ulta brand Sensitive Skin Facial Cleansing Wipes. These have the words "makeup remover" right on them but they barely removed anything from my face. I could see some makeup on the wipes, but I also could see a lot on my face! What the butt? I had to break out a separate makeup remover, defeating the entire purpose of a wipe. They also are supposedly for sensitive skin, but they made my face red and blotchy. That's a hard pass.
Nyx Doll Eye Volume mascara. This is an okay mascara. All I want from mascara is black lashes (well, without clumping and flaking and such), and that's what it gave me. It didn't lengthen whatsoever. On my top lashes, that's awesome because I don't want my lashes hitting my glasses. But I like some definition for my lower lashes and I didn't feel like it did anything for them (other than making them a little darker). The deal breaker for me is how quickly it dried out. I bought it in September. By the first week of November, it was too dried out to use. I typically get a solid three months out of a travel size tube of Urban Decay Perversion mascara. I run out before it dries out. Doll Eye was a full size tube, and it only costs maybe a buck less than Perversion. So, no. No, no, no. Will never repurchase. Total waste of money.
Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick in Crimson. This is a super, super, suuuuuuper matte red. The shade is great. The staying power is great. Too great. Because this bitch is matte AF. Do I really want my lips dried out and puckering under the matteness of my lipstick? I do not. Maybe I could pull that off if I was 15, but at 43, I look like an animated corpse. I have literally seen healthier looking lips on corpses. NOPE.
Panned/Finished Off:
Bodyography Brow Brush. I got this in a subscription box a couple years back and it's been my default brow brush, but it's dead. It's just...dead. Would absolutely repurchase. I love this brush. I loved it enough to kill it with use! Replaced with a similar Nyx brush because I wanted to try a Nyx brush, and it cost less.
Easy from the Urban Decay Gwen blush palette. This is the darkest pink, if you don't feel like clicking through to see a picture. Fully panned! I have two shades left in this palette and they're both the bronzey/orange shades. Surprise.
CHS Original Curl Keeper. This stuff is awesome, provided you do okay with glycerin. I live in a dry climate and glycerin in my hair products can be a hot mess. In humid conditions, my hair loves Curl Keeper. It helps with curl definition and it helps prevent frizz in rainy weather. If I try using it in triple digit heat, with humidity in the single digits, FML. So a bottle lasts me a long time. I use it most in fall and winter, when it's more humid and sometimes even rainy. I layer it in between leave-in and gel. Already repurchased.
Nyx HD Blush in Taupe.
DUDE. I have been actively trying to hit pan on my Sephora Colorful Face Powder in Tranquil for months and have barely made a dent in it. I use the Nyx blush twice and hit pan! Excuse me? Rude! To be fair, I depotted this blush some time ago and lost a flake off the top in the process. You can see the depth in the pic. Still. I hit pan on the one I use the least often! It is just a touch dark and warm for me. But I can make it work.
SheaMoisture Shea Oil. I have used several of the SheaMoisture oils and this is probably my favorite one. I use it to moisturize skin and hair. Skinwise, I mainly use it on my stretched lobes and on raw tattoos. Will most likely repurchase. I ran out of this while using it on a healing tattoo, actually. I finished the flaking/itching time with pure lanolin, which I thought would be too thick and sticky. I made it work.
CeraVe Moisturizer. The big jar with the pump from Costco. This and Vanicream are my go-to hand and body moisturizers. It's not scented, it doesn't turn my skin red, and I can buy it in bulk. It's basically perfect.
Kenra Clarifying Shampoo. Just a basic clarifying shampoo. I'm probably not allergic to it. I'm unsure about witch hazel. I haven't noticed a reaction. Dries my scalp out, but that's not unexpected considering it's a strong shampoo. Would probably repurchase.
Renpure Nourishing Coconut Cream Conditioner. Storytime: I have a severe nickel allergy. And I used to have a kitty-ear headband from Meowington's. It felt like there was a metal core but it was fully covered in fuzzy fabric, so it seemed safe enough. I wore it to keep dry hair off my face while doing makeup sometimes and had no problems. One day this past October, I tried something new and used it to keep wet hair off my face. Water can get through fabric and facilitate a nickel reaction. It's why you don't want nickel bits in your bathing suit even if they're covered with fabric; you could still react if you're allergic.
So I wore this thing in my hair for like forty five minutes while doing makeup. The next thing I know, my scalp is red and rashy, and itchy to high hell. -__- I cut the headband open to verify there was a shiny white metal inside. I KNEW IT.
I have prescription cortisone cream but it would be too messy to use all over my head, so I did coconut oil overnight, and went back to CO-washing my hair. If you're not familiar with CO-washing, the CO stands for Conditioner Only. You take a cheap conditioner, slap it on your scalp, massage it in, and let it sit there for a few minutes before rinsing. My scalp was really into this when it was itchy from the rash, and then even itchier from the healing of said rash.
This stuff is around $5-6 at Target and I'm not allergic to it. Will absolutely repurchase! The only downsides are: I can't CO-wash daily forever; I have to use real shampoo at least once a week or I get build-up. That's not much of a negative. And I burn through this pretty quickly.
Some of these product links are affiliate links and some aren't. Basically, I got tired of making links. Links provided for convenience. If affiliate links bother you, just Google.
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