What they say:

A light-textured lemon-scented anti-shine gel that instantly refreshes and mattifies oily skin on contact. Ideal for acne-prone skin types, this refreshing gel can be used in place of moisturizer when skin is especially oily.

I’ve been applying the anti-shine gel as part of a step by step process in my facial routine, which have made my skincare issues turn around 360 degrees. I have been exclusively been using only Korres skin care products on my face and the results have been amazing (you can see a review of the Wild Rose Mask here and Brightening Serum here).

The anti-shine gel is a product you apply before your moisturizer. I have been using the gel after I apply the Brightening Serum and then applying the Pomegranate Balancing Moisturizer. You have to allow 2 minutes for the gel to dry and absorb into your skin before you can apply your moisturizer.

I hardly notice the lemon scent, in fact I didn’t even notice it at all. Possibly because you need very little product to cover your problem areas. I did notice a mattifying effect on my skin right away and my skin also appeared to be taunt. It controlled the shine for a few hours.

Since the instructions say to only apply it under your moisturizer, I did not attempt to reapply the gel over my makeup once the shine began to return. I love that this is a clear product and coming in a gel means it applies easily. It did work great for several hours, but not much longer than 4 hours.

While I do like this product, I will continue to hunt down that perfect anti-shine product that will last all day without compromising on the quality of mattifying my skin.

If you have used this product, what did you think of it?

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The last lip plumper on my list to review was DuWop’s Venom Gloss. With the luck I had been having with the last 4 plumpers, I was surely hoping this plumper would be different. Besides the fact that you, my lovely readers, voted the most for DuWop as the best plumper in my poll.

The color I used was Wisteria, which is amazingly gorgeous and a color I have deeply fallen in love with. The gloss has a high shine that just lights up my entire face when I wear it.

I began to feel the burning sensation within a minute of applying the gloss and my lips did appear to be slightly plumper than they were prior. Between the color, shine and slight plumpness, I was happy…until I realized that it only lasted for about 15 minutes. The burning then subsided and my lips returned to their normal state. The gloss itself, lasted longer than the plumping action.

I’m determined to find a lip plumper that lasts long, actually works (and not just after 30 days!) and gives me gorgeous amazing color at the same time.

If you have recommendations, be sure to let me know!

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I’m becoming paranoid now. Are all lip plumpers made equal? Do they all contain this elusive “Maxi-Lip” technology? If this is the case–they need to go back to the drawing board and re-formulate.

theBalm Plump your pucker was next on my list of lip plumpers to try out. Bing my Cherry is a yummy scented Cherry colored gloss that also tastes like cherry. Do you remember Lemon Heads? There was a “sister” product that for the life of me I can’t remember, but it was a cherry version. That is just what this gloss smells and tastes like. Yum. Reminds me of my days at Catholic grade school and being able to go to Sister Marie’s snack store during lunch time. I always bought Lemon Heads and these cherry snacks and filled my mouth with glorious sugar. My dentist was happy for the “extra” work needed to be done on my mouth, aka filling cavities.

Back to the plumper…I noticed that Plump your pucker brought on that tingly burning sensation within a few seconds of application. Something I find odd, is that Ramy Rise and Shine says they have no tingling or burning sensation due to using “Maxi-lip” technology, which I would’ve assumed would be the case with Plump your Pucker, since the two previous plumpers (Ramy and Lumene) both used this technology and both did not cause tingling or burning.

The burning only lasted for ten minutes and I didn’t notice any difference in my lips. They look pretty in this gloss, but not plump in the least. Again, just as in other brands that use Maxi-lip technology that I’ve reviewed, theBalm says you notice the plumping after 30 days of continued use.

If you’ve used this plumper and/or any of the others that I have reviewed with Maxi-lip technology, did you see a difference after 30 days?

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Lumene Beauti-full Plumping Lipshine was the first lip plumper I tested. I chose it to be the first because it looked more like lipstick than gloss. Plus the color, Smiling, was really pretty.

What they say:

3D plumping effect: Maxi-lips ingredient helps to stimulate collagen, which makes your lips look fuller. Unique blend of light reflecting, wet shine pearls intensify the plumping effect. Brilliant Bright Smile gives your lips extreme wet-shine finish with sheer colour and it is enriched with lip moisturizing emollients. Anti-aging lipshine contains protective, anti-oxidant vitamins A, C and E. SPF 8.

I applied the lipshine and waited. And waited. And waited. I wondered if I hadn’t put enough on because my lips felt nothing and they remained the same size. The color was marvelous and the shine was fabulous, but after an hour I realized that this lip plumper wasn’t going to offer me any plumping action at all. I made sure to ask my husband if he noticed any difference in my lips and he reported that they looked exactly the same.

Even though this plumper fell short of plumping, I will still use it as a nice shiney lipstick.

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Lyin Eyes, by Benefit Cosmetics, is a concealer that comes in only one color and goes on wet, but within seconds becomes powder dry.

Like my e.l.f. Hypershine Gloss (and Stila’s The Gift of Glaze), this concealer is a pen where you twist the top to bring the concealer into the paintbrush-like tip. Also like e.l.f.’s Hypershine Gloss, you have to twist the top about 60 times for your first use. On each follow-up use, it is about 2-3 times. The pen is mess free, which makes it a great product for you to carry in your handbag for mid-day touch-up’s.

When I applied Lyin Eyes, I had only gotten intermitten sleep the night before (darn kids) and had baggy, dark circled skin under my eyes with some slight redness on my lids. I first applied it to one eye to see if I could notice a difference. There was absolutely no foolin, the difference was dramatic. I simply swiped the pen under my eye 2-3 times and the entire area where I apply my eyeshadow. I then used my fingertip to gently blend everything with my skin, which you have to act quickly as it dries to a powder relatively fast. My eyes looked perkier…almost like I had 8 hours of sleep.

I haven’t gone a day without using this concealer on my eyes, it’s one of those products that are quite remarkable.

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I received this little blessing a little over a week ago and have had a hard time not applying it everyday (my other lip products sometimes beg to be used).

My Tinted Lip Spa came in Copacabana, which is a nice peach color. It doesn’t color your lips like gloss or lipstick, it just gives your lips a slight hint of color with a little shine while moisturizing your lips at the same time.

For only $6, looking good with healthy looking lips never felt so good.

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Both have a very light Vanilla fragrance and both have a nice thick and creamy consistency. The Cotton Candy is a pale pink that gives your lips a frosted color and the Shimmer Peach has some nice sparkle to it.

The Enriched Lip Glaze is made with vitamins A, C, E and anti-oxidant green tea extract. They also heal and protect with aloe vera, macadamia nut extract and sweet almond oil.

I always get excited when I receive something in the mail from Besame because they have such pretty packaging and quality products.

Besame Cosmetics is currently offering free shipping on select products until 2007. If you want to give the gift of Besame, they also offer gift certificates.

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I’ve never tried pressed minerals for eyeshadow before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was sent 3 colors in Twisted Fayte’s Mega Minerals collection. Heather told me that since their launch, the Mega Minerals have been her best seller.

The first time I tried them, I used an eyeshadow brush. While it didn’t look like there really was any powder on the brush, once I applied it, I realized it was really too much. Plan B means actually reading the letter Heather sent me instructing me that I should use my finger to apply these colors.

So attempt number two was done using my pinky finger and index finger. It really made a big difference. I applied Couture, which is the first color shown here, along my brow bone. Daytime Chick, which is the second color shown, was applied to my lid. Apprehensive was applied in my crease and then I used a smaller brush, slightly wet it and rubbed it lightly over the pressed powder and applied it as eyeliner to my lower lid.

This definitely gave me the new Smoky Eye look that my friend Elke has been talking about. The colors looked great and the copper color of Apprehensive really brought out my hazel eyes. Even my husband took notice, which always tells me that these are colors to keep in my makeup bag.

What I really loved about these Mega Minerals is that you don’t need a lot at all to get your desired effect.

I can totally see why this is Twisted Fayte’s best seller. I absolutely love them.

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I will admit to the world that I have a girl crush on Heather Hanson, owner of Twisted Fayte cosmetics. Not a girl crush in the way all of you mind-in-the-gutter readers are thinking, but a girl crush because she always blows me away with her customer service skills.

Heather recently sent me a very impressive package filled with goodies of some current products, newly released products and some products that haven’t come out yet (but I tell you they are awesome!) Not only did Heather send me products, but the colors are colors I would’ve chosen for myself and she included a note stating that she remembered that I liked more earthly colors, not too much sparkle on the eyes, etc etc. Please tell me what other company sends you a personal note that says they customized a package based on what they know you like??? No one people! No one!

Well…except Heather.

My review today is for the lovely Lip Vinyls I was sent. They are from the new Twisted Fayte Holiday Glam Queen Collection. The above picture is Linen and Lace, and I also received Iced Confetti and Star Crossed.

Oh my heavens. Do I even need to write a whole review because I love them!

The Iced Confetti is a clear balm with blue, lavender and aqua twinkling minerals. You can receive this balm in a tin or a swivel tube. I received mine in a swivel tube, which I really like. The Linen and Lace is a beautiful copper color and Star Crossed appears to be a coppery-pink. More copper than pink if that makes sense, but different than Linen and Lace.

You only need to swivel up a very small amount and can use your fingers to apply, use a lip brush to apply or merely dab a small amount on sections of your lips and rub your lips together. Anyway you do it, your lips will look amazing. It also lasted a good amount of time and was very moisturizing.

I’ll have more reviews on the products I received in the coming days. You can check out her Glam Lip Vinyls at TwistedFayte.com

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By now I am sure you are rolling your eyes and begging, “Not another jane iredale review!” Ladies, ladies…I’m telling you, her products are so worth the review. So please bare with me, because beyond this one, there is still more to come.

Ahh the joys of pregnancy. That does not include pregnancy acne. Nope. Not at all. So when I first read about Disappear in some literature I was sent with previous products, I snuffed it off thinking it was to cover scars or tattoos. I thought maybe it was more for makeup artists than for my retro-teen skin not-on-purpose look.

Thankfully, I was wrong. I hadn’t even asked for this product, yet I mysteriously had it sent in the mail to me. Almost like someone knew I’ve been cursing at my reflection these days. So I very curiously and with great skepticism, tried it out.

As you may know, when you are pregnant you can’t use anything chemically related to treat this new found acne that has taken up residence on your face. So we pregnant moms have to suffer in silence. (Waiting for your empathetic awwww’s.) However, I will suffer no more. No more I tell you! Disappear if chock full of natural ingredients that help treat acne while covering it up.

I was skeptical that it would look cakey and wondered how it could possibly conceal the redness…but it did. I just followed the directions of creating thin layers and feathering the edges. It blended with my skintone (I used Light) and once I applied my jane foundation and powder, you couldn’t even tell there was any acne at all. Fabulous!

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