Manolo for the Beauty

My love for lipstick is well known, but in the past, I have tended to avoid lip gloss at all cost.  My thoughts on gloss are that it usually feels sticky and it goes away much too fast to make it worth buying over lipstick.

Well, Guerlain’s KissKiss Gloss has sort of changed that.  There was a Guerlain makeup artist at Sephora the day I went, and he convinced me to give the Gloss a try after I proclaimed my adoration for their MaxiShine  lipstick.  I even allowed him to apply it to my lips, which took a lot for me because I can get a little germphobic.

To my great surprise, he wasn’t lying when he said that it would not feel sticky.  I felt not one iota of stickiness and it imparted a beautiful, iridescent sheen to my previously applied Dior lipstick.  It made me want to buy it, and like the woman with a makeup obsession I am, I did.  I purchased #868, which is Opal Pearl and described as a shimmering opalescent pink.

Looking back, is $30 too pricey for a lip gloss? Probably.  Even though it’s the best lip gloss I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning, it’s still a lip gloss and it does wear off faster than any lipstick.

But I tell myself that since it was off a gift card, I wasn’t really wasting my own money.   

Right?

Uhhh, please tell me that rationalization isn’t a sign of addiction.

*Just so you know, all things I review on Things I Love were bought with my own funds.  If I were to receive a product for review, I would make it a point to let you know that I did not purchase it myself.

One of the things I hate most about my oily skin is that makeup tends to, ahem, slide a bit by the end of the day.  What started out perfect in the morning looks streaky by midday and might as well not even be there by evening.

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer to the rescue.

I had doubts about this product, to be sure.  I had doubts that it was better than Make Up For Ever’s primer, which is mighty popular.

But I’m going to say that despite the high price tag, it is worth it.  And better than MUFE.  Because if I total up the amount of product I put on my face that has pulled a vanishing act by the time lunch hits, then it’s worth it to spend some money on making sure all of it stays there.  And a little goes a long way.

It goes on like buttah, and your skin feels lovely and silky.  It helps to control shine, and even has an SPF 15 built in.  If you are someone who likes to still look like you have makeup on at the end of the day without reapplying, this product is for you.

I have, throughout the years, used more types of facial cleansers than a reasonable person should.  My skin has always been oily and acne-prone and I could never seem to find the magic product that not only would make my skin oil-free, but perfectly glowing and blemish-free.  Well, I still haven’t exactly found a product that can do all that, but this one comes close.

A drugstore brand I bought for years was no longer being stocked, and so seeking a change, I searched  for a suitable replacement.  This 5% glycolic acid wash was definitely not a compromise.  It cleanses without stripping, and my skin tone looks to be a bit more even.  I don’t really use it to minimize wrinkles, although I’m reaching that stage more quickly than I’d like. Initially it seemed expensive, but you can get away with using a very small amount of product, and the bottle is quite large.  I’ve had mine for over three months and have used maybe a quarter of the bottle so far.

And you know what? It tingles.  It makes my face feel all tingly, and if I accidentally get some in my mouth, it puckers a bit.  Like a rube, I fall for the tingly sensation every time. If it FEELS like it’s working, it must be, right?

But all that aside, this is an excellent wash for someone with aging, oily skin.  Like moi, unfortunately.