Aussie - Cleanse and Mend Shampoo

Aussie's product description:
Infused with Aloe, Guava and Desert Lime, Cleanse and Mend Shampoo conditions to nourish your hair, rinse away dirt and buildup, then soften and smooth frazzled tips.

I've always wanted to try Aussie's shampoos and this was the first one that I decided to try. I thought this would be a great shampoo for me because I like the squeaky clean feeling that I get after shampooing my hair but I also need some nourishment on my ends from all of the damages. This shampoo smells great. It has a citrus, fruity smell which I love and it makes me want to breathe it all in while I wash my hair. It cleanses very well, and makes my hair more manageable and easy to work with. This can be one of my favorite shampoos. I am looking forward to trying Aussie's other lines of shampoo and conditioners.

Biore - Pore Unclogging Scrub

Biore's product description:
Our gentle but super effective scrub uses perfectly spherical beads — not jagged edges, like some competitors' scrub ingredients — to detoxify skin. The scrub penetrates deep down where breakouts start to help prevent future ones. Show the door to pore cloggers and get ready for beautiful, clear, smooth skin.

I have an extremely dry, sensitive, acne-prone skin. I use this scrub twice a week to get rid of flakiness and hopefully reduce my breakouts. This scrub is so refreshing, I love it. It's very soothing and you can immediately feel the results. It's gentle enough that it doesn't cause any irritation for my sensitive skin. Every time I use this, I can see that my blackheads on my nose has been reduced and makes my skin feel softer and smoother. It really does what it tells us on their description.

Pantene - Heat Protection Shine & Spray for Medium-Thick Hair

Pantene's product description:
Pantene Medium-Thick Hair Solutions Heat Protection & Shine Spray protects hair against heat styling damage while providing softness and shine. Medium-thick hair is left soft and infused with healthy shine.

I use this heat protectant spray every time I blow dry, straighten, or curl my hair. I love the smell of the spray, very fresh like other Pantene products. I also like how they have products that target different hair textures. I'm not too picky on heat protectant sprays because I can't really tell whether it's really protecting my hair from the heat or not. It just makes me feel better of the fact that I'm using it because it gives me a sense of security to know that I'm attempting to protect my hair from damage. However, the downside to this is the spray bottle. The hole of the nozzle is so small that when I spritz it on my hair, it only covers one spot instead of misting it all over the area that I've sprayed. Personally, I would choose the Tresmme heat protecting spray rather than Pantene.

up & up - Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes

up & up is a Target brand and is cheaper than their competing drugstore brands, but claims to have the same effect. Their makeup remover cleansing towelettes is oil-free, hypoallergenic, and alcohol-free. I love the fact that these are alcohol-free unlike other makeup removers. They won't irritate my sensitive skin and doesn't make my skin feel dry afterwards. It keeps my skin soft and clean. It removes makeup very well and doesn't make me feel like I still have some residues on my skin. The only downside to this is that it doesn't remove eye makeup that well, especially mascara. I want to be gentle with my eye area but I have to keep rubbing my mascara off which eventually burns that area from the rubbing. I try to press on to the lashes so the cleanser can break the mascara down, but that doesn't work. Even if I think I removed all of my mascara off, I notice that I still had some on afterwards when I take a shower or wake up the next morning. I don't even want to imagine what it would be like trying to remove waterproof mascara. Great for removing face makeup, horrible at removing eye makeup.

T. N. Dickinson's - Witch Hazel

T. N. Dickinson's product description:
Our pharmaceutical formulation of witch hazel gently cleans and refreshes skin without removing essential moisture. This exclusive multi-use formula temporarily relieves skin irritations due to minor cuts, scrapes and insect bites. Also useful to calm, cool and cleanse your face and body.100% natural astringent for face and body. Won’t dry like alcohol. Contains no artificial fragrances or dyes. Dermatologist tested and recommended.

I use witch hazel as a toner and to help my acne breakouts. This works great after cleansing my face because it closes my pores up. I've read that it can work miraculously some people to treat their acne, but it doesn't really do much for me. It also works amazing when I use it after shaving my bikini area. I no longer get red bumps from shaving that sensitive area. The only down side to a witch hazel is the stinky smell! It smells horrible like bacon and crest whitening strips mixed together. At least that's what it smells like to me. I have to hold my breath when I put it on my face, but I think it's all worth it.

Almay - Bright Eyes Eye Base + Concealer

Almay's product description:
Instantly refreshes and enhances your eyes with a unique natural complex of marine extracts, white tea and light reflectors specifically designed to brighten and illuminate your eyes. This concealer visually depuffs the eye area and helps reduce the appearance of dark circles. Provides a smooth canvas for eye shadow application.

I'm so happy that I came across this product. I love how it hides the veins on my eyelid which I usually try to hide with foundation. I don't get dark circles so I'm not concerned about hiding them but it does a great job of brightening my under eye area. This does not make my eyeshadow crease, and prevents my mascara from smudging even after a long day. The packaging can use some improvement because you have to squeeze out the product through the brush applicator, and can't control the amount coming out. The lid can get pretty messy. Overall, this is great as a concealer and eyeshadow base, and I love the price. This company also does not test on animals, which I always appreciate. I wish I could've come across this product sooner, would definitely recommend to everyone.

Hard Candy - Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15

Hard Candy claims:
Sheer Envy is a sheer, lightweight formula tinted moisturizer that is used to lightly tint the complexion of your skin. With SPF 15, the leading in anti-aging

Hard Candy is only sold exclusively at Walmart. I don't live too close to a Walmart and when I do go, they never have any brands of cosmetics in stock, especially Hard Candy. Everything that's on the shelf has been opened and damaged. Pretty ridiculous. However, I was lucky enough to come across their tinted moisturizer. The packaging is absolutely adorable and I like how the container is clear so I can see how much I've used. The formula is a little heavy but it blends out easily. I can't stand the smell though. It smells like sunscreen and I understand that it contains an SPF of 15 but I just cannot stand having to put that on my face. Although I bought the lightest color, it was still pretty dark on me and made my face look orange like I had a bad tan. It was disappointing but there are so many other Hard Candy products that I want to try.

As you can see, the formula is pretty heavy. The moisturizer just sits on top of my hand.

The left side of my hand is bare. The right side of my hand has the tinted moisturizer on. You can obviously see where I blended out the moisturizer and how dark it is compared to my bare hand.

ghd - Purifying Shampoo

ghd claims :

• Use before the prescribed ghd shampoo to remove anything that shouldn't be on the hair.
• Contains a gentle surfactant derived from olive oil, which won't irritate the scalp and which helps to protect and condition damaged hair.
• Includes a polymer which removes hard water minerals and heavy-metal salts from the hair.
• Removes product build-up, excess oil, chlorine, and helps prevent discolouration of hair after swimming.
• Contains positively charged conditioning polymers, making it easier to comb the hair when wet or dry. 
• Helps to reduce static.

I was disappointed by their guardian conditioner but I love this clarifying shampoo! My boyfriend received this by the company as a promotion and he gave it to me. I use this once a week to remove any product build-ups and I believe that it really works great on my hair. It gives me that squeaky clean feeling and makes my scalp feel refreshed. I wouldn't consider purchasing this because this is way out of my budget ($25) and there are many cheaper clarifying shampoos out there. However, this product made me want to continue venturing out for other clarifying shampoos that are more budget friendly. 9 out of 10

ghd - Guardian Conditioner for Colour-Treated Hair

ghd claims:

•  Contains a heat-activated ingredient derived from meadow foam seed oil, which penetrates the hair's cortex, repairing damage and adding elasticity.
• Contains wheat amino acids, which repair and replace cystine bonds in the hair that may have been damaged by heat or chemical treatments.
• Contains a UVB absorber, which protects hair from UV radiation and also protects the hair's natural surface proteins and lipids.
• Contains merquat, a positively charged conditioning polymer, providing lustre without build-up, reducing static, and improving combability.
• Contains a water-based silicone which works with the above polymers to help retain colour.
• Contains hydrolysed vegetable protein for intensive conditioning and resistance to high humidity, thereby controlling frizz.

So ghd promises a lot of things for this conditioner. My boyfriend received it for free as the company was passing them out at his office and gave it to me. At first, I thought this would be a perfect conditioner for me since my hair has been color treated and I need to repair some damages that I've done to them. However, this conditioner just disappointed me. It smelled kind of weird to me, hard to describe.... Not the kind of smell that I'm used to which is usually fruity. This conditioner definitely doesn't do any harm to my hair but it doesn't do any good either. I would rank it as below average. It doesn't give me that silky, smooth feel when I wash my hair off and saw no results that it claims to give. Since my boyfriend received two full size bottles and I'm already on my second one, I think that gave me plenty of time to see some results. Clearly, I saw nothing. I would be so upset if I actually paid $29 which is the retail price. I would just stick to my drugstore conditioner which I'm completely content with. 3 out of 10

Physicians Formula - Powder Palette Multi-Colored Blush in "Blushing Berry"

Physicians Formula's description of this product:

• A beautiful mosaic of complementary hues to contour and accentuate cheekbones with soft color and discreet shimmer.
   
•  It’s the perfect combination of colors that blend together to naturally enhance your cheekbones.
   

• The finest Italian talc provides a silky-smooth application that blends easily without streaking or irritating sensitive skin.
    

This blush is so pretty. As the company claims, the blush is silky and is very pigmented. It has a very subtle shimmer in it that you can barely notice at all. It gives my cheeks an instant berry glow. Like I said, this blush is very pigmented so I have to be cautious when applying and use a light hand or else I can look like a clown especially on my fair skin. This comes with a mirror and a brush, but I prefer to use my blush brush. I believe the price is a little high for a drugstore brand but you get what you pay for in most of Physicians Formula products.