Top 5 Products I Hate!

Creating a blog post without pictures seems wrong...but here we go anyway.

Hate is usually a very strong word that I don’t like to use in normal conversation. However, I thought it was appropriate to describe the products below - things that I cannot stand and wish I had never purchased.

5. Benefit Georgia

This product is last on my list for the simple reason that Benefit has discontinued it, and it is technically no longer available (although, for whatever reason, you can still buy it at the Shoppers Drug Mart 45 minutes away from where I live).

Georgia is another one of the first things that I bought when I started to shop at Sephora. I bought it because of all of the hype surrounding the product; it was written up to be the perfect peach face powder, scented like peaches too.

It’s light orange. Not peach. The scent is lovely, but the color is not. I tried wearing the product as blusher, but it doesn’t work very well. The powder is not heavily pigmented, so it only gives my skin an orange sheen. I am naturally very pale, so an orange tint on my skin does not look very good at all. The powder has been relegated to the bottom of my blush bin for some time now...I think it’s time to say goodbye to it.

4. Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller

I had been eager to try this product when it first came out. Finding the price of the product a bit too steep for my taste, I waited for it to go on sale before I bought one.

I don’t find that this product does anything it claims to do. I have talked to some friends who have tried it, and they all feel the same way.

I had to laugh when I read all of the reviews about people liking the tingly cool sensation they feel on their under-eyes when they apply it; the applicator is a metal ball with liquid on it. So, of course it is going to be cold! The product did not de-puff my eyes, and it did nothing to help dark circles.

If you are Canadian and really want a solution to de-puff eyes, buy Preparation H. Canada has the only formulation of Preparation H available with an active ingredient that reduces swelling and discoloration.

3. Baby Phat Golden Goddess Perfume

This perfume is one that I bought a few winters ago. It’s a warm scent that I thought suited me nicely.

When worn religiously though, the perfume seems to morph into some new scent.

Propane.

I do not blame this perfume for smelling like propane on me. It has got to do something with my own body chemistry and natural scent not mixing well with the perfume. The worst part about this is that it isn’t just me who can smell propane when I wear this perfume; someone who sits 2 cubicles down from me at work could smell it too.

In to the bin goes this perfume!

2. Shaving Gel of Any Kind

I know this sounds slightly bizarre, but it’s true. I cannot stand shaving gel - perfumed, unscented, formulated for sensitive skin - any of them! I get an allergic reaction whenever I use shaving gel on my legs. Regardless of the gel brand or formulation, after I use the gel my skin blisters....badly. We’re talking some small blisters yes, but I also end up with bigger ones the size of dimes and pennies. The reaction is painful and I do my best to avoid it. I’ve actually found that the Gilette Men’s Shaving Foam in the Lemon Lime scent is great for use on my legs; I think because the products for men are formulated to be used on the face, they are made to be less irritating and contain much less scent and moisturizing products.

1. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation

I wish I didn’t have to give this product the top-billing of my most hated product, but I do.

I have made an effort to keep trying this foundation, to see if I could find a way to use it that would make me like it. I even wrote a blog post about it. For awhile, I was happy with it. Then, it started to irritate my skin again and the foundation landed on a shelf in my makeup cabinet, never to be used again.

When Sheer Glow was introduced by NARS, everyone could not stop talking about it. I fell for all the hype and bought my own bottle. I was so excited to use the foundation and when I finally had it in my possession and had used it for awhile, I couldn’t help but feel I had been misled. The shade that matches my skin the best is the lightest one, Siberia. The foundation did not blend very well on my skin, due mostly to the fact that it is formulated with a strong yellow undertone that just does not work for me; my skin has pink undertones. The foundation emphasizes any dry spots you have on your skin, raised scars (keloid), or fine lines. I also had an allergic reaction to the foundation; it made my face itch horribly, although I did my best not to scratch I did end up with some blemishes as a result of the irritation.

The price of this foundation is also a bit outrageous; sure, Chanel and a very few other brands have the price of NARS Sheer Glow beat, but it’s still a lot of money to spend on something that you will end up using just about every day. I broke my own rule not to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a product that sees a lot of use (mascara, lipstick and lip gloss are also in that category) and I never should have.

For a truly honest review of this product, I recommend a YouTube video by MsDianaCherie (aka MapleSunset). She does a great job of covering all the bases of the product. Had I seen her review before I bought my Sheer Glow, I probably would not have bought Sheer Glow at all. You can watch her review here.

What are your Top 5 Hated Products? Do you share any with me?

Have a great week!

Top 5 Perfumes

It has been a full week since my last post, and I have had a hard time thinking of what I want to post next. So, I decided to do something pretty easy: my Top 5 most worn perfumes.



Left to Right: Gianni Versace Red Jeans, Kimora Lee Simmons Fabulousity, Ed Hardy Love and Luck, Calvin Klein Contradiction, and Calvin Klein Euphoria.

I have been wearing perfume since I was about 12 or 13. I've gone from being an 'occasional' user who would only spritz some scent on for special occasions, to someone who uses a few spritzes every day.

I am not going to bother describing what each scent smells like, because I'm horrible at it.

Red Jeans was my second bottle of perfume ever. I got it when I was 13 from my grandmother as a Christmas gift. The smell of this perfume is something that triggers memories of a simpler time, and being a teenager. I'm on my second bottle of this, and I am happy that it's easily accessible and I can buy it a my local drugstore.

Fabulousity is a perfume I have had for about two years. I like to spritz this on when I am going out for an evening, or if I want to smell 'sweet'. It is a good summer perfume, and I got it for my birthday a few years ago. I got a second bottle for Christmas last year.

Love and Luck was a perfume I picked up sheerly for curiousity's sake. I had heard a lot about Ed Hardy perfumes and wanted to give this one a try. Regrettably, I do not use this one much. The scent wears off very quickly, so I don't like to wear it much because of how much I have to use in order for the scent to 'stick'.

Contradiction is my second-fave CK scent. I love CK perfumes...they all smell great. I got a sampler of a few of them (Eternity, Contradiction, Obsession and CK One) when I was 14, and this and Eternity were the standouts for me. I got this perfume as a Grade 8 grad gift from my parents. I love this one a lot.

Euphoria is my no. 1 favorite perfume, and favorite CK perfume. I love to wear this, but I don't wear it as much anymore because I go through a bottle so quickly. I got it for Christmas one year, and got my second bottle for Christmas a year later. This scent never fails to make me feel happy and confident.

My runner-up perfume is another Calvin Klein - Eternity (not pictured). I have a tiny bottle of it, but don't have the full size. This was the first perfume I ever owned, so the scent holds a lot of sentimental value and good memories for me. My parents got me a bottle when I was 12.

Now, if I had to pick a scent that I absolutely loathe - it's actually another CK perfume! And to be honest, I only hate this perfume because of the bad memories I have to associate with it. It's CK One. This perfume triggers horrible memories of Grade 8 for me. When I was in Grade 8, the girls in my grade were obsessed with designer label EVERYTHING...and they would douse themselves in either Tommy Girl or CK One. They would also bully anyone who wasn't wearing designer clothes, makeup or perfume, so I associate CK One with bitchy girls. To this day, I can easily pick it out in a crowd of perfumed people.

What are your top 5 favorite perfumes?

If you would like more information about any of the Calvin Klein perfumes I mentioned here, check out their portion of the Sephora website, here.

If you would like more information about the Gianni Versace Red Jeans perfume, click here.

If you want more information about the Ed Hardy line of perfumes, click here.

If you want more information about Kimora Lee Simmon's Fabulousity, click here.