Pixi Peel and Polish Resurfacing Concentrate

This is a facial exfoliator that uses both chemical and physical exfoliators to help clear away dead skin. To use it you are supposed to apply it to clean skin, leave it on for 2 minutes, massage into skin for 30 seconds if you would like a more intense exfoliation, and rinse off. Pixi suggests using it 2-3 times per week or as needed.

My usual exfoliator is The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion which is a physical exfoliator. I’ve been thinking of incorporating a chemical exfoliator to reduce the amount of stress I’m putting on my skin with a physical exfoliator.

The first time I used this, I could feel a very mild tingling upon application. This only happened the first few times. Now I don’t really feel anything when I apply it. I think this is probably a very gentle chemical exfoliant. However, I still find it very effective at removing all those little bits of dead skin. I feel this is better at doing a more even job of removing dead skin than a physical exfoliator alone and it doesn’t leave my skin irritated or red.

Sonia Kashuk Essential Brushes Collection – Small Eyeshadow Brush, Large Eyeshadow Brush, Wide Eyeshadow Brush

I have only tried these three brushes from Sonia Kashuk’s Essential Brushes line so I don’t know how the others are. What I like about these are the shape, softness, density of the bristles, and the price. They are surprisingly nice quality for the price.

These are all basically the same type of brush. They are flat shaders that have some thickness to them so they can also be used to blend color in the crease. They are soft enough that my lids don’t feel irritated when blending and dense enough to apply color easily and quickly. Bonus points that the ends of the fibers are dark brown. I like to play with bright color sometimes and white bristles are very easily stained.

Tocca Gia Eau de Parfum

I got a mini size from Sephora a couple months ago. I think it might have been a point perk or a beauty offer. Either way, I really enjoy this.

This is described as a warm floral with notes of pink peppercorn, tangerine, turkish rose, amber, vanilla. To me, this smells well balanced – no particular note stands out. It is sweet without being cloying, bright without being sharp, clean, and feminine.

After reading through some reviews on this, some people mentioned they didn’t smell any rose in this. Now, I’m not sure how the smell of Turkish Rose differs from what I think of as a rose scent but I can say this does NOT remind me of a typical rose scent. It’s more of a generic floral scent where I can’t pinpoint exactly what type of flower I’m smelling. It’s the type of floral that I think most people would generally like or at least not find offensive.

Mac Lip Pencil in Dervish

Would you believe it if I told you this is the first time I’m trying Mac lip liners? LOL. Well, out of all the categories of makeup, lip products are one of the things I am least adventurous with. This is a color I can pair with pretty much any look or wear on “no makeup” makeup days. It’s very close to my natural lip color, maybe just a hint warmer-toned. It has the slightest satin sheen to it, so if I fill in my lips with this it doesn’t look dry or flat. I can either apply it before or after lipstick/lipgloss/lip balm. If I apply it after a lip balm, it takes a minute to warm up, but then the color transfers to my lips more easily. It’s not the fastest lip liner to work with but I really like the color of this particular shade.

Mac Shape + Shade Brow Tint in Taupe

This product has a liquid brow liner on one end and a powder for filling in brows on the other end. I only use the liquid side because the powder does not match the color of the liquid, which might be fine but I don’t particularly like the color of the powder for my complexion/hair. I think there are a few of these types of products on the market and the only other one I have tried is one from Burberry but I like this one better. The color of the liquid side is just perfect. I also like that the formula is sheer and applies fairly evenly. I can easily build it up to the intensity I want or blend it in with a brush if I’ve gone overboard. The way this works best for me is to draw on faux “hairs” in areas where my brows are extra sparse. I especially focus on the inner part of my brows and the top/bottom edges where there are larger gaps between my natural brow hairs.

Revlon Powder Blushes (new formula and packaging)

These have been around for years but recently I’ve noticed Revlon changing the packaging and releasing a few new shades at a time at different stores. I picked up three shades and I’m pleased to say I think they actually improved the formula. They are softer / less-firmly pressed into the pans so it’s easier to pick up a decent amount of color on a blush brush. They also seem to have a bit more pigmentation to them. They blend well too. My favorite of the three I picked up is the shade Rosy Rendezvous. It’s a cool-toned pinky mauve with a matte finish.

Product Description

Price/Quantity: $8.99 for 2.7 grams
Availability: Target
Color Range: 4 Shades

• Hint of Coral
• Hint of Red
• Hint of Pink
• Hint of Berry

Color/Finish: Sheer, bright, glossy wash of color – no shimmer or sparkles. Hint of Coral is mostly orange when swatched and coral-red when worn on lips, Hint of Red and Hint of Berry are fairly close in color once applied, and Hint of Pink is the brightest and most pigmented.
Packaging: The metal tubes have a semi glossy black finish and have a fair amount of weight to them. Each has a color swatch on the end indicating which color is inside. The cap glides off really smoothly and and the lip balm twists up super smoothly as well. The packaging gets an A+ from me. Very luxe, indeed.
Smell/Taste: They don’t taste like anything to me but they do have a strange synthetic smell. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it smells like but it disappears once applied.

Performance

Application: I’d apply these straight from the tube. Although they have good pigmentation for a balm, I feel I could get away with not even using a mirror.
Pigmentation: Sheer but fairly strong in color payoff. They leave a very faint stain on lips.
Texture: Upon application these feel super slick and moisturizing. They have a gloss/gel feel to them – not sticky or oily in the least. The letdown is that they quickly dry down leaving behind just a sheer tint of color on my lips. I don’t feel that they dried my lips out though.
Longevity: After about 1 hour the glossy finish fades and after about 2 hours the stain fades.

Overall Opinion

Pros:

• Luxe look and feel
• Good color payoff
• Nice glossy shine
• Easy way to wear color
• Not sticky or oily

Cons:

• The glossy finish fades quickly
• Didn’t actually moisturize my lips

Would I buy these again? I would buy these again but not for the purpose of using them as lip balm. I would love to keep these in my purse because they feel so fancy without actually being expensive so I wouldn’t worry too much about damaging them.