Category — Brands

I fell in love with Thevi Cosmetics when I tested their Liquid Mineral Foundation and my heal-over-heels attitude continues with their High Impact Lipstick.

The lipsticks are available in 8 colors- covering the range from light pinks to deep reds. In the picture, I’m wearing Brandy Wine which is a slightly shimmery deep berry. This lipstick suits me. It applies like a lipstick but contains some gloss and looks like a glaze over your lips. I loved how it created “depth” on my lips. Gorgeous! The color is pigmented very nicely and wells well. And unlike many brands, Thevi’s lipstick did not dry out my lips with long term wear.

I cannot stop raving about this lipstick to my friends!

Thevi sells their lipsticks online for $22 a tube. And by the way, the packaging is super pretty too!

I do! I do!

And for extremely smooth skin all over my body, I’ve found my must-have item. Lancome’s Resurface Microdermabrasion for Body.

The product is a cream filled to the max with high-grade Aluminum Oxide crystals which polish your body’s skin. I tested the product after regular soap, non-moisturizing body wash, and a moisturizing body wash- all with excellent results. The cream in Resurface seems to keep the exfoliating action from over-drying your body.

I exfoliated my legs, arms, and chest. The aluminum crystals are small enough to not scratch or be too harsh. It was similar to using a light loofah on your skin. And it was an absolutely wonderful prep step for sunless tanner. I had zero streaking after using Resurface!

We all think, research and test products for the best face skincare results, but often neglect to use the same care on our bodies. Lancome’s Resurface has me smooth and polished for the summer ahead. Without fail, my hubby comments on how soft my skin is after I use Resurface (yippee!). Highly recommended by Bionic!

Lancome’s Resurface Microdermabrasion is available at Lancome’s website or at your local Lancome retailer. A 6.7 fluid ounce tube runs $46.

Hi ho, Bionic Beauty here with your daily news. Oh, for a minute there I was envisioning myself on TV. Anyhow, I’m here with a review of Boots’ Botanics foundation, variety “Quench Your Face”.

I’ve had mixed results with the Boots line (available in the UK and now in the US at Target stores). My trial of their mascara was not so grand, however I adore the Restore and Renew face serum (must, must, must checkout this out- seriously. It’s so much better than L’Oreal Skin Genesis line and great for sensitive skin).

I received the Quench Your Face foundation from Boots to test, sample and review. I opened the package and immediately loved the chunky glass bottle. Nice and strong, no flimsy packaging here. There’s a screw-top lid which is nice, but when you screw off the lid, there’s this little spatula thingy. Huh? Yeah. I’m not sure what that’s for, since if you used the spatula to put dollops on your face, you’ve then brought your faces bacteria right back into your fresh jar of foundation. So I used the spatula to place a splotch on a cosmetic sponge and applied from there.

The foundation went on very nicely and wore super well through the whole day (even with me sweating like crazy due to the heat here!). It didn’t feel too greasy and was nicely moisturizing, plus it packs SPF 12! Love makeup products with some SPF. The more, the better these days.

The next day…. uh oh. Breakouts and clogged pores everywhere. My sensitive skin clogged right up and I’m still battling to get everything calmed back down. That’s when I hoped online to check the ingredients (I know… I should’ve done this *before* I trashed my face), but this Quench Your Face foundation is no where to be found. Hmmmm… Check the bottle. Oi! The bottle is expired. As of May 2008. Grrrr.

So I’m guessing the culprit in my breakout is probably glycerin, but I can’t be positive. But my skin is reacting the same way to this foundation as it normally does when it comes into contact with a glycerin-containing beauty product. Sensitive skin types be aware. Please check the ingredients on Boots foundations before you purchase. Glycerin is quite common in facial care products and known to clog pores.

And let this be a lesson to you all… pitch the expired makeup. If you’re unsure, or can’t remember when you bought it, better safe than sorry.

Ok, I’m off to cover my pimples in Tea Tree Oil.

Bionic out.

Another random whim purchase- Sally Hansen’s PM Lip Plumper. It’s semi-affordable for around $10 at local drugstores. The packaging is pretty and spa-like: a baby blue tube with crisp silver-look screw on top.

The PM Lip Plumper instructs you to apply at night and you’ll wake up to fuller lips. Hmmmm… well, my lips were certainly more moisturized the next morning, but they weren’t really any plumper. I think if you have typically dry lips, this treatment will plump them up by adding moisture and helping you retain it. But if your lips are already on the moist side, you may not see much difference; but the good side is this product doesn’t have that awful burn of most plumpers. It feels just like a lotion and applies with a white-ish tinge to your lips. It does sink in rather quickly, impressive in that aspect.

For completeness, here are the ingredients:

Water, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Glycerin, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Beeswax, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Lauryl PEG/PPG-18/18 Methicone, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Isopropyl Myristate, Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Behenate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Shea Butter - Butyrospermum Parkii, Allyl Methacrylates Crosspolymer, Retinol, Polysorbate 20, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Tribehenin, Sorbitan Isostearate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Green Tea Extract - Camellia Sinensis, Soluble Collagen, Grape Seed Oil - Vitis Vinifera, Soybean Oil - Glycine Soja, Apricot Kernel Oil - Prunus Armeniaca, Aluminum Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Flavor, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Retinyl Palmitate.

Walgreens.com offers the PM Lip Plumper for $9.99 for a tube, or pick one up at your local drugstore or mass market retailer (Target, Wal-mart).

I’m becoming quite the Lancome fan-girl. When I can afford it, that is. And with gas prices on this crazy trend, I’ve certainly been watching my pennies more and using that time to find more freebies.

I did give Lancome’s High Resolution Eye with Collaser-48™ a drive. It’s a “deep collagen anti-wrinkle serum”. Let’s get the easy stuff out of the way first: the packaging is sleek silver, very spa and very glam. This serum is in a little pump bottle (0.5 fl oz) so it stays sanitary and uncontaminated (LOVE that!).

You apply this serum every night after cleansing and before bed. I have been testing it off and on (and been slacking on writing the review for some reason) for 3-4 months now. It’s really a superb product. The cream sinks in so quickly around my eyes. No stinging, no irritation. I wake up with firmer skin and less baggies.

If you have thin skin and/or the beginnings of wrinkles around your eyes, I have no problems recommending this product for you. Lancome is reliable and actually does the research to back up their claims. Don’t expect overnight results (as with any serum- no matter *what* the ads may say…), but with continued use, you can certainly see improvement. Bionic thumbs up!

Unfortunately this grand product has been discontinued (so I’m making my little tube count!). But Lancome’s released the next-generation with High Resolution Eye with Collaser 5X. Very similar product.

Benefit Cosmetics is offering a free gift with purchase this weekend. Order $50 worth of products from their website and get a groovy makeup bag FREE! Enter code TGIFNITE at checkout. The makeup bag is valued at $26 so it’s a fantastic promotion and it would certainly pull double duty as an evening clutch!

Photo is the copyright of Benefit Cosmetics.

Walmart.com is offering free samples of Gillette’s mens hair care products including shampoo and conditioner. It looks like you’ll also get a nice coupon too! Request your free sample for the man in your life at Walmart.com. Hurry, these samples usually go quickly!

Also, a quick note- last week I posted about the Biore facial skincare freebies at Walmart.com and they sold out so quick. It looks like they have more in stock, so if you missed out, head over there quick to request yours!

Read about the other freebies found by Bionic Beauty.