I draft these as I use stuff and I hadn't realized I'd tried so many new products this month! Maybe I have a problem... Please share your own reviews too.
Tarte BB tinted ‘primer’ with SPF (Ulta)
They call this a primer but I suspect most people use this as a BB cream/tinted moisturizer on its own. This was a mixed bag for me. It’s very silicone-y in feel, which is not my favorite. It didn’t stay put if I used it over a primer or sunscreen, but it does OK if put straight onto clean skin, and kind of patted into place rather than smoothed on like a lotion. It emphasized any dry flaky bits of skin I had, so you definitely need to have your skin in good shape before you use it. The color match to my skin is really good, so I’ll keep trying to figure out how best to use it.
I’ve also realized that silicone-heavy products almost always make me break out afterward (not major hormonal acne, just a bunch of little whiteheads). I can see how if your skin can handle silicones, then this is a great option because you can use it and then a little bit of concealer or foundation on top if you need it. It’s too bad this doesn’t really work for me, because the color match to my skin is really good. I would still use this for special occasions as a primer, because it does seem to help makeup last, and then clean my face really well afterward.
Speaking of silicone, and side note on First Aid Beauty hydrating serum (mentioned in last set of reviews):
After I found that the FAB hydrating serum didn’t work with my everyday foundation, I went off on a research binge about silicones. It seems like almost everything has silicones in it now - not just primer, but also moisturizer and foundation/bb cream. I found this helpful discussion of water-based versus silicone-based products, and this user-contributed database of products. One of the complicated things is that there can be silicones in a water-based product, lower down on the ingredient list, but if there’s a silicone in the first four or five listed it’s probably silicone-based. The Laura Mercier oil-free tinted moisturizer I use most days is water-based (the LM version that’s not oil-free is silicone-based, to add to the confusion) which is why the serum wasn’t working under it. It occurred to me that I might be able to use it as an eyeshadow primer, and it does work really well for that (there aren’t many pores on the eyelid so I haven’t had any breakout problems yet). I wouldn’t have bought it just for that, but now that I have it I might as well use it for something.
OGX Coconut milk shampoo & conditioner (drugstore.com)
I mentioned these in my last review post when I’d just started using them. It’s been over a month now and I'm going to use up the bottles but I don't plan to rebuy. Solid B-, nice but not amazing.
Laneige Water Sleeping Mask & Multiberry Yogurt Repairing Mask (Target).
So apparently Laneige is the budget line for Amore Pacific, a high-end Korean skincare brand, and Target has recently started carrying it in the US. They had a trial size kit of two of their masks for five bucks, so I figured it was worth a try. The multiberry yogurt mask is a traditional mask that you leave on for a few minutes and then rinse off. It literally smells just like fruit yogurt, which honestly I found a little unnerving. I didn’t notice either any bad reactions or any significant improvement after using it. The water sleeping mask is a leave-on night treatment, and I was more impressed with it - it was moisturizing and seemed to improve texture without causing breakouts. It wasn’t a jaw-dropping improvement, though, so I am not rushing out to buy a full-size container. I might try some of their other products, though.
Revlon colorburst lip butter in juicy papaya and pink truffle (Ulta)
Still on the search for my holy grail everyday lip color. The pink truffle is very close to a long-discontinued shade at Boots No 7 that I loved and used until it ran out. But the texture of these is a bit drying.
FAB redness relief serum (Sephora)
Ever since FAB launched they’ve gotten a lot of good reviews, but I’m still waiting to find a product that really impresses me. The cleanser is nice, but cleansers are on your face for a minute before they’re washed off. Leave-on products have a lot more impact on your skin. They also seem to like to call products serums that aren’t really serums. The hydrating serum from my last review is really a primer, not a serum. This is really a moisturizer, not a serum. A decent moisturizer, that hasn’t caused any negative reactions on my skin, but it’s heavy enough that I wouldn’t use it in the morning, since it doesn’t have SPF and I’d have to add another layer of sunscreen on top. And I’ve got plenty of options for nighttime moisture. I didn’t notice any particular lessening of redness - I think Eucerin’s redness relief line is better, and cheaper besides.
Bumble & bumble Don’t blow it (Sephora)
This is a cream for air drying hair, as you might guess from the name. I used it once and returned it - it has alcohol in it which does help hair dry faster but it's also really drying and resulted in really lank hair. Disappointing.