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Product Review Archive

Reviews of the latest products (and of course some old faithfuls that deserve your attention!).

PRODUCT REVIEW | Kiss Me Mascara

Posted on July 27, 2008 by rhia amio, make-up artist | Leave a comment

Where to find: Sephora
Price: approx $30
Review: love it!
Kiss Me Mascara used to be a product only available in certain salons. My cousin first introduced me to it about 7 years ago. Kiss Me has gone on to become an instant hit with major women’s magazines and a bestseller in the mascara department at Sephora. The formula is perfect for those looking to maximize their lack of eyelashes (all my asian sisters are saying ‘amen’ right now). Kiss Me uses fancy high-tech ‘microtubule’ technology that seriously coats the lashes in a waterproof formula. When you wash it off with warm water (no make-up remover needed!), it doesn’t smudge like other mascaras; the mascara comes off literally in tiny tubes that almost make you think you’ve wiped your eyelashes away! Impressive.

The only downside to this product is that it’s usually in the $30 range. Your lashes may thank you for the glam treatment, but for a product like mascara that needs replacement every 3 months, you’ll have to justify to yourself if it’s worth the splurge. I won’t stop you ;)

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KIT ESSENTIAL | Q-Tips: The Cheap and Chic Make-up Tool

Posted on July 27, 2008 by rhia amio, make-up artist | Leave a comment
You don’t have to dish out an arm and a leg for some of the best beauty tools out there: Q-tips that you can pick up from your local dollar store can have mutiple uses for your daily make-up application. These Q-tips are actually ideal for make-up application, as they have minimal cotton (which means the fuzzy bits cotton won’t end up on your face–where they shouldn’t be!). The lack of cotton also allows for more product transfer as it reduces the amount of product that is absorbed by the Q-tip. Plus, you can get a box of 400 for a $1.14!

The q-tips are perfect for:
  • applying concealer
  • straightening and refining lines after you’ve drawn on your eyeliner (see picture at right)
  • perfecting line shapes after you’ve drawn on your brows
  • cleaning up any runaway mascara on the face (Just be careful and wait until the mascara has dried! Use a tiny bit of make-up remover and swipe the q-tip away from the face on the problem area)
  • blending lipliner
  • keeping make-up sanitary (avoid double-dipping!)
  • travelling (if you don’t want to lug around brushes)
No sense in spending $5 on a box of 100 ‘cosmetic’ q-tips at your local drugstore…try these dollar store Q-tips out, and for $1 (+ tax) a shot, you can’t go wrong!
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PRODUCT REVIEW | CoverGirl Outlast Lipstick

Posted on July 26, 2008 by rhia amio, make-up artist | Leave a comment


Price: under $10 Where to Find: any local drugstore
I had the opportunity to try out this lipstick with one of my bridal make-ups recently, and honestly, I am not the biggest fan of the product. I love the idea of make-up being long lasting (who doesn’t?), but when it doesn’t look good, then what’s the point?

Outlast comes with two tubes that are used in conjunction. One tube holds the long-lasting lip colour; the other tube holds a clear lip moisturizer. You take the colour tube and using the wand applicator, you apply it similar to a lip gloss. It goes on and dries very much like a paint – once it’s dry, you can’t blend it or move it. Once this colour layer is dry, you take the moisturizer tube and apply it atop to give the lips some shine and much needed moisture. This moisturizer tube is also used to touch the lips up throughout the day (as you should not have to reapply the tube of colour! Hence the name outlast).

CG’s Outlast will only work best for lips that have been exfoliated and über-moisturized. Otherwise, buyer beware – the formula will settle into all the fine lines of the lips and exaggerate any dry areas of the lips. The colour may be long lasting, but in doing so, a downside is that it is also a pain to take off. I had to use an oil-based make-up remover and some lip balm to wear the Outlast colour down, as the formula simply wasn’t flattering my bride’s lips. Once removed, you could see how the formula had made her lips raw and how some of the colour still wouldn’t come off!

Who wouldn’t love the promise of 16 hour make-up? We all would – if only it also promised to look good and (relatively) fresh for the claimed duration. The colour of CG’s Oulast does indeed ‘outlast’, but the unflattering formula likely will not outlast our desire to touch up the lips anyway throughout the day.

photos courtesy of CG Outlast

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