A couple weeks ago Sephora had a deal for Beauty Insiders where you could get their Summer Starter Kit, a 500 point reward, for only 250 points. It just so happened that I had 250 points, so I snatched this little guy up as quick as I could. Unfortunately, this kit is no longer available on Sephora...but I thought I would do a review of each of the individual products because I would be willing to purchase some of these full-size, and others I thought were just so-so.
I was really excited to try out this Dr. Jart BB Cream because I had never tried a high-end BB cream before. Before this I had only tried the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream (which I actually use a lot on the weekends and every day when I'm at the beach). At first I couldn't decide if I liked the Dr. Jart version, but after a couple uses I decided that it works really well on me as a lightweight base. It looks very natural as long as you don't use too much, and it has the added bonus of SPF 25. I can't say that I have seen any skincare benefits so far though, and it's definitely not a one-shade-fits-all-skintones type of color. I'm on the lighter side of light-to-medium and I wouldn't recommend the shade of this BB cream to anyone with super-pale skin, very tan skin, or dark skin. Another con is that it kind of emphasized any dry patches on my skin.
I've seen a lot of beauty gurus on YouTube with the Dr. Jart Water Fuse BB Cream, which (of course) makes me want to get my hands on a sample to compare with the Black Label version before I can 100% say I would purchase a full-size of the Black Label. But as it stands now, I'm leaning toward purchasing this after I finish the sample.
In all honesty I've only tried this Shiseido sunscreen a couple of times so far. I'm planning on saving it for when I have to do more walking outside--right now I'm working in an office and my skin rarely sees the sun, so sun protection is not my #1 priority (Is that bad? That might be bad). But I can say that it didn't feel like anything special...it wasn't particularly lightweight, it wasn't particularly heavy. It just felt like a sunscreen for your face. Rather than purchase a full-size version of this sunscreen, I would rather find a cheaper version at the drugstore or use a makeup primer that contains SPF.
In my opinion, the sample of the Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer is the star of the Summer Starter Kit show. It literally feels like I'm putting silk on my face when I use it and I only need the tiniest amount to cover my entire face. It's also a nice alternative to the Laura Mercier Radiance Primer for days when I don't want any added sheen from my primer. I will definitely be repurchasing this and I would definitely recommend trying to get your hands on a sample. Just as a side note: the largest size offered at Sephora is a pretty pricy $52, but you can also buy a smaller, $18 bottle that would probably last you a really long time.
I don't have too much to say about the Lancome Hypnose Star mascara. It was just kind of "meh" for me. I actually used to looove Lancome mascaras and consistently repurchased them...but that was before I discovered the beauty that is Maybelline The Falsies. To be fair, this does make your lashes look nice and long. I didn't think it was very volumizing though. All in all, it wasn't a bad mascara; I just didn't think it was any better than a number of cheaper drugstore mascaras, and it definitely isn't worth the $28 price tag.
I feel like everybody raves about the Anastasia clear brow gel, and Anastasia brow products in general. I was really looking forward to seeing how this measured up to my Maybelline Great Lash in clear (literally the only brow gel I could find at the drugstore). Unfortunately, I was a little bit disappointed. The good this about this brow gel is that it really, really keeps your brows in place throughout the day. I just dislike the crispy, crunchy texture it leaves on my brow hairs. It doesn't bother me that much, but I'm also not impressed enough with this product to pay $22 for a full size.
I don't have that much to say about the bareMinerals Multi-Wrinkle Repair treatment either. I should probably give it to my mom to see how she likes it -- or maybe I just haven't used it for a long enough period of time. The most interesting thing about this product is that it advertises an "ActiveSoil" complex, and it actually smells like dirt. I'm not saying this is a bad thing; it actually makes me believe the claim that there's some sort of special "soil" ingredient in the treatment. Overall, I don't know if this product is for me, but I would recommend trying it out if you have problems with wrinkles.
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