(frivolous) beauty products review

This is a completely frivolous review of recent discoveries of various beauty products (all of which can be blamed on various Facebook friends who not only like perfume but makeup and skincare products as well—you know who you are!). That being said, I have made some fabulous discoveries of products that I didn’t even realize existed and now are staples in my life.

Let’s start with haircare first: my latest discovery is Terax Crema (or Crema + Keratin), a hair conditioner. But it’s not just a hair conditioner—it is the hair conditioner. After using the product for less than a week, my hair (which is waist long) has gotten much silkier, stronger, and easier to care for. Crema is expensive, as hair conditioners go, but you have to use much less of it than you do a normal conditioner. The only downside is that it has a strange, almost metallic, scent in the shower that turns into an innocuous, subtle scent once dry that doesn’t interfere with any other scent you may choose to use. (Previous favorites for hair conditioner were Kiehl’s Amino Acid Conditioner and Pantene.)

Next is foundation. I have been a Laura Mercier fan for many years (and Prescriptives before that). Then, I discovered two lovely foundation products: Cover F/X drops and Koh Gen Do aqua foundation.

Cover F/X drops can be mixed with your facial moisturizer or primer and then applied. You can determine the amount of coverage you get by how many drops you use. And because you mix the drops with your product of choice, the foundation blends well into your skin. I like it especially for medium or heavier coverage, as it blends so well that it isn’t heavy or cakey, and the drops come in a wide range of shades.

Koh Gen Do is a Japanese line of skincare and makeup, and I absolutely love the aqua foundation. It is definitely for those who want sheer or light coverage. It is a liquid foundation, but it blends so seamlessly and so lightly that it doesn’t seem like you have any foundation at all. And it’s extremely gentle on the skin. I use it as an every day foundation and really love it. The only downside is that the selection of shades is limited. However, because the foundation blends so well and is so sheer, the color doesn’t have to be a perfect match to still work beautifully.

Supergoop is my latest sunscreen discovery. I have been careless about sunscreen through the years and am saved only because I tan and don’t burn. But this is less true as I get older so I have to be a little more careful. Two products from the line that I especially like: the first is Forever Young Handcream SPF 40. I never remember to apply sunscreen to my hands, and this is a nice reminder to do so and keep your hands moisturized at the same time. The lotion has a light, subtle scent that is barely noticeable, and the lotion itself is light and non-greasy. I apply it in the morning before I go to work and then in the afternoon before my drive home. It comes in a 10 oz bottle or in 1 oz travel sizes. I particularly like the travel sizes as I can just throw one in my workout bag or office drawer.

The other product that I like is the Refresh Setting Mist SPF 50. It’s a spray that sets your makeup and reapplies sunscreen. Again, it comes in full sized and travel-sized bottles to take on trips or leave at the office. It has a nice invigorating rosemary scent that is almost as effective as coffee (but not quite). My only quibble is that I am clearly a dunce when spraying because if I’m not careful, I get it in my eyes, and that can cause quite the sting. But outside of my incompetence, it does set my makeup well, and I do like to be able to re-apply sunscreen mid-day.

The final brand I wanted to comment on is Colourpop, and I want to comment primarily on their lipsticks. The lipsticks are matte coverage lipsticks. I generally prefer something sheerer (my current favorite is the Giorgio Armani sheer line of lipsticks), but at $5/lipstick, it’s a perfect line to experiment with various colors. Because even if you don’t like the shade, it only costs $5. Did I mention that each lipstick is only $5? They carry other types of makeup, too, but I haven’t tried them. (Some of them get as expensive as $7.) I’m just fascinated with the concept of $5 lipsticks.

frivolous beauty products

frivolous beauty products

And that is the end of my frivolous beauty products review! Back to food!