Tag: loreal

L’Oreal Ever Pure Sulfate Free Volume Shampoo

thealtruisticface

My first haircare post! Now, haircare definitely isn’t my strong point. My hair is naturally straight, and I can’t really get it to do much other than just lay flat and be straight. But frequent dyeing puts it in the category of “damaged” several times a year, so I’ve been on the hunt for something that won’t damage it more, or wipe out the color as quickly.

So surfactants are the things that are in soap that makes you feel as though all the grime and the build up have gone away. Sulfate is a surfactant. So inherently sulfates aren’t bad if you need a clarifying shampoo. For me personally, although I do use a clarifying shampoo from time to time, I don’t want to strip the oils away too often in order to retain some of the color. For that reason I wanted to add a sulfate-free shampoo to my shower caddy.

But… this shampoo has a few ingredients that would dry your hair and scalp out otherwise, namely benzyl alcohol and peppermint extract. There’s a whole lot of other chemicals in here that I, admittedly, know very little about, but I can’t imagine that it’s good for long term hair health. Still, for the peppermint and benzyl alcohol alone: if I wouldn’t put it on my regular skin, I probably wouldn’t want to put it on my scalp, either.

And it shows. After jumping in the shower and using this, your hair won’t be particularly voluminous. It won’t even feel healthy, in fact, it might even feel a bit brittle. Sure, the peppermint smell is nice, and sure, you get quite a bit of product for $5. But this is just another run-of-the-mill, doesn’t deliver on it’s promises shampoo. Despite claiming to be sulfate free, you will still feel that your hair has been stripped of it’s natural oils, and it will feel dry.

Don’t lose hope for sulfate free shampoos — I’ve reserved one that actually works for my next post! ~A

Perceived efficacy: 1/5

Longevity: 1/5

How much I actually like this product: 1/5

Advertisement

L’oreal Paris Sublime Bronze Tinted Self-Tanning Lotion

thealtruisticface

loreal paris sublime bronze

Myself and my pasty pale skin have been through many a self-tanner. Sublime Bronze was definitely not my favorite, despite it’s otherwise high reviews for a drug store tanner.

First of all, I noticed L’oreal, moreso than most beauty brands, LOVES benzyl alcohol and alcohol denat, particularly as the second or third ingredient… Sublime Bronze is no exception, so if you’re looking to avoid it, you might want to pass on this one.

The color comes out of the squeeze bottle in a dark brown gel lotion, and has a tinge of sparkle to it. I don’t mind a bit of shimmer in my self-tanners, and the glitter in this isn’t too overbearing, so that works for me personally. Don’t forget to put a mit or gloves on before applying this — it will absolutely stain your hands. This smells… a little banana-y. To me, the DHA smell isn’t too overpowering, even after a day or so.

There is a guide with this lotion (gets dark where you need to blend it in, so that there aren’t streaks!), but it’s relatively useless. I truly hate how this tanner dries. Not only does it take awhile to dry, but it dries patchy and streaky regardless of how much attention you pay to blending and being cognizant of the guide. The color will last you maybe a day or two, even if you’re being careful not to scrub your skin in the shower and not sweating particularly much. Since it’s an “instant” product I can’t say that longevity is necessarily the goal here, although it would be nice if it stayed on for a little longer. Although… the blotchiness and the streakiness of this lotion makes you want to remove it anyway!

Weirdly, this product works AWESOME for the face. It darkens immediately, won’t look blotchy if you mix it in with moisturizer, and for some reason the color sticks around for 4-5 days. But alcohol denat as the second ingredient makes that venture totally not worth it for the health of your skin.

Too bad, L’oreal. I liked the shimmer, the not-too-overpowering smell, and the $7 price tag, but the other aspects of this product just don’t stack up. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 2.5/5

Longevity: 2.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 2.5/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: No

L’Oreal True Match Super Blendable Makeup

thealtruisticface

Loreal True Match

Not bad for $5! I wasn’t expecting much from this for the price point, but L’oreal’s True Match ended up surprising me.

The product itself is pretty small, but the makeup is very watery, and you don’t need very much of it to get coverage. Application is easy: despite being watery, the product spreads evenly without too much effort — you won’t have many creases or areas where the product simply stops. A brush can negate any of the issues you might have with the spread. It dries quickly, and plays well with other moisturizers and makeup.

There’s a ton of shades for this product. Now, what’s weird was that I had N1 — it went on a tad too “bright” with pink undertones, and I was concerned that I was going to look too pale for the rest of the day, but within 10 minutes the product had oxidized yellow just enough to actually match my skin color exactly. So that might be something to keep in mind while choosing your shade: what you see on your skin initially might not be your end result.

Given that it was watery, my assumption was that the coverage would be light, but it was a lot more medium than I expected. I didn’t find that this had any particular type of finish — it was just flat, normal makeup, not skewing either dewy or matte. Works for me! And, to the same end that I thought this coverage would be light, I also thought the longevity would be short as well, but it’s actually held up a lot longer than some of my super-stay 24/25 hour makeups. Heck it’s gone to the gym on my face, and still stuck around afterwards without oil breakthroughs or clinging to dry patches.

No break outs for me with this product. Also it’s got SPF, so that’s… cool. Side note, I think it’s funny how they always add in random amounts of SPF, like 17, 18. I am pretty sure I read somewhere that anything under 30 is more or less ineffective, so I don’t really… get it… I suppose it’s a nice placebo effect for the consumer.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with this foundation. It’s not going to change your life by any means in terms of finish, but it’s extremely effective for such a tiny, cheap product. ~A

For this small and simplistic foundation, click here: https://amzn.to/2REUUvU

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 4.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 4.5/5

 

L’Oreal Lash Paradise

thealtruisticface
Loreal Lash Paradise

I have super-sensitive-to-makeup-eyes, seasonal allergies and contacts, the trifecta combination of “crying in the middle of the day for no reason”. Lash Paradise was probably the most frequently suggested waterproof mascara on Reddit, so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s reasonably priced at $7-8.

This stuff won’t give you length, as the advertisements seem to suggest, but it will certainly give you volume. It’s the good kind of volume, too: it makes it appear as though you have more lashes, and doesn’t clump to make that point. It’s noticeable enough to give your eyes a bit of a natural pop, without the false eyelash effect.

For the most part, this holds up pretty well throughout the day, although applying a few layers from the onset, and a re-application after a few hours seem to be the key to longevity. It doesn’t commit the dreaded “mascara fall” where clumps and specks of black end up on your face; however, you MIGHT experience a small line of black under your eyes at the 6 to 7 hour mark.

Most importantly for me, this mascara did NOT irritate my eyes — no burning, no redness, nothin’. I think it’s held up pretty well in water, as well. I’ve cried with it on, and it also seems to take a few washes to remove it at the end of the day.

All in all, the effects of this mascara won’t blow you away — I would say this falls into the category of “subtle” added volume. However, if your eyes are sensitive like mine, I do absolutely recommend Lash Paradise. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 4/5

Longevity: 3.8/5

How much I actually like this product: 3.8/5

L’Oreal Lumi Glotion

thealtruisticface

Loreal Lumi Glotion

I had oddly unrealistic expectations of this product. Like, the moment I put it on my face, I would sparkle and have flawless skin, Edward Cullen-style. And while that didn’t exactly happen, much to my dismay, I’m still oddly satisfied with this product.

I picked up the lightest shade, and noticed there is exactly zero tint (or, if there is, it is invisible to the human eye), thus firmly putting it into the category of a primer. The glow is subtle in my opinion, but it’s perfect to slap on for work just to brighten my natural skin a little bit. It seems to hold up pretty well for eight hours as well, and doesn’t slowly devolve into “looks slimy”. I’ve seen a lot of other reviewers mention that they use this as their under-eye highlighter, but I honestly don’t think it’s bright enough to replace powder or stick highlighters. One of the tags for this on another review was #minimalistic and I thought, yea, that’s exactly how to describe this! If you’re a glow-y minimalist, anyway.

As for working with foundations… well, it didn’t show up when I put it under my foundation (which is how most primers are supposed to work, right?), and it didn’t seem to play well with foundation when I put it on top. I feel like this is going to make or break a lot of people’s opinion on the product — but I’ll personally keep my high review because it works really well for me, using it as a standalone primer, without the addition of foundation.

Despite being termed as a lotion, this isn’t quite a moisturizer, but slapping some actual moisturizer under this product will do just fine without pilling. Price point is $10-$14 which seems a little steep for something that doesn’t do much except prime, but honestly this is fine if you want to make an Aldi run with a bit of glow to your face.

Also wanted to note — if your skin is acne-prone, you might want to skip this one. I’ve caught a small outbreak or two when I wear this that I don’t normally get, sadly. Still like it though, ugh! ~A

Perceived efficacy: 3.5/5

Longevity: 4/5

How much I actually like this product: 4/5