Review: Dr Brandt pores no more vacuum cleaner

Like anyone, I get a croppage of blackheads across my nose. Even with a Clarisonic, they’re not as prominent but they’re there still. After receiving a sample of Dr. Brandt’s pores no more vacuum cleaner, I immediately bought the full size bottle when they were having the friend’s and family deal at Sephora.

Quick take- slightly pricey but works, receives an A.

According to Sephora, Dr. Brandt  pores no more® vacuum cleaner™ helps loosen blackheads by absorbing dirt and excess oil. The complexion is left smooth, clear, and refined.
Directions on the box/bottle:
-Apply a thin layer to areas of concern.
-Avoid contact with eyes.
-Leave on 5 to 10 minutes until product is dry and turns light blue (a cooling sensation will occur).
-Rinse with warm water and pat dry.
-Use 2-3 times weekly or as needed.
-Follow with pores no more® refiner for maximum effectiveness.

With your first use, you wont notice a huge difference, but I noticed that the product had greatly loosened my blackheads. Not to be gross, but they all extracted like buttah. With a couple months of use, I can tell that my crops have mostly died off. I use the product once a week (without extracting), and I’ve noticed that what blackheads I still have are definitely smaller (they’re not all gone).
The product itself applies like a clear gel and dries an iridescent white-blue. What I love is that it does not stain my bath towels unlike other masks. What I don’t love is the price of $45 but they give you a full 1 oz.

Dr. Brandt  pores no more® vacuum cleaner™ is available at Sephora and at Dr. Brandt Skincare online.

Disclosure- product featured was bought by yours truly.

Review: Milani Liquif’Eye Eye Liner Pencil

I got the opportunity to try out Milani’s Liquif’Eye eyeliner for the past couple of days. You know you must like something when you drive back to Target the next day to pick it up in every dang color they make.  Apparently, it was a hot item since the only color available the next day was gold.

Quick take– cheap and wonderful, A+ product!

Milani promises: Extremely smooth eye pencil with the application and feel of a liquid liner that delivers true color payoff, in a metallic finish with a long-lasting wear.

Directions on the package indicate that the liner sets in 15 seconds. I applied two lines on my hand, one I smudged, and after 15 seconds I tried to smudge both lines but neither were having any of that.

The liner went on extremely creamy, allowing me to smudge it as I liked. After 15 seconds, that stuff was unbudgeable. I wore it all day long and by nighttime it still looked as if I’d just applied it, except for in the inner part of the eyelid where I’d been rubbing my eyes (allergies). I would as far to say it outperforms Urban Decays 24/7 liners (my favorite). It also performed extremely well in the waterline but I don’t have a picture of that.

Here’s what my liner looked like 8 hours after applying it in the morning. (Blah neutral eye day, I only lined the  under eye halfway.)

Milani Liquif’Eye Eye Liner Pencil comes in black, brown, gold, aqua, and silver. The package says these liners are metallic but  just found the brown pencil to have a slight sheen to it, nothing metallic. I found this item at Target for $4.99 but they sell it at CVS as well.

Disclosure- product featured was bought by yours truly.

Upcoming Reviews

Here’s a sneak peek of some reviews I’m working on.

Dr Brandt- Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner
Maybelline Full and Soft Mascara
Diorshow Iconic Mascara
Milani Liquif’Eye Eyeliner
Caudalie 1st Wrinkle Eye Cream

Tria Beauty– Laser Hair Removal

Clarisonic Plus

Disclosure- all products were bought by me for reviewing purposes

Review: Prestige My Biggest Lashes Mascara

I try to be frugal at times with mascara. Why spend a ton when you can get the same thing for cheaper? Oh who am I kidding, I’ve been known to spend $30 on mascara without batting a lash (har har har).

I have pretty good lashes, they’re long and full but they have blonde tips and stick straight out. I love to wear mascara everyday, and I love mascaras that give me doll-like lashes without looking freaky.

When I found Prestige’s “My Biggest Lashes- Big Lash Effect Mascara” (MBL) at the drugstore, I couldn’t resist it’s cute pink packaging and name. Besides, that tagline promises the doll-like lashes that I want.

The brush is pretty big, like Diorshow. The brush was able to get every little hair but wasn’t all that big that it was smudging against my skin.

Hello naked eye!

After one coat of MBL

After two coats of MBL, lashes separated. Look into my eye, you’re getting sleepyyyyyy.

I’m seriously hooked! I wasn’t expecting a mascara that performs as good as my holy grail mascara Diorshow Iconic, if not better. It made my lashes really longggggg and curled. The best was that my lashes didn’t fall flat during the day. I also love that it’s a super rich black (MBL comes in brown too). This mascara only really needs one coat to look really good. I tried three and it turned into Tammy Fay Baker…

Pros- it REALLY lengthens, thickens, darkens, curls, lasts all day without smudging , curl lasts all day.

Cons- lashes are a bit stiff but this is how it holds the curl, you need a good eye makeup remover to get it all off.

Overall, I love MBL and would totally pay a higher price than the $6.50 that it costs. I couldn’t find MBL at Target, but they carry Prestige MBL at Rite Aid.

Disclosure- product featured was bought by yours truly.

Review: Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden

I looooooooooove Urban Decay’s cult classic Primer Potion (UDPP). All day eyeshadow wear? Check! Intensified eyeshadow colors? Check! No creasing? Check! Imagine my happiness when I saw that they came out with a new version called Eden.

Sephora describes Eden as “a matte-finish, tawny hue and gives you a stunning “no makeup” look when worn alone or complements other eyeshadows worn in combination.” While it’s currently a Sephora exclusive, a makeup artist at Macy’s told me it should filter into other stores soon.

UDPP Original (left) and Eden (right)

Just like the original, Eden offers all-day eyeshadow wear without creasing and intensifies eyeshadow colors. The original UDPP goes on as a sheer nude color. Eden takes the original one step further with what seems to be a color corrector added into the formula! It reminds me a lot of Benefit’s Lemon-Aid color corrector since it’s a bit yellow. Without a corrector, many warmer color eyeshadows turn a burnt orange color on me. For reference, I’m cool colored (foundation color MAC NW20).

Swatched- Original (left), Eden (right)

Blended out- Original (left), Eden (right)

Makeup free eye

A little dab of Eden blended out- a little goes a longgggg way!

UDPP in Eden is available at www.sephora.com

Disclosure- all products were bought by me for reviewing purposes.