What items should I keep?

[kinjali22]

Hi Ladies,

I'm making my first purchase from SN and have flooded my shopping cart. I need help in figuring out what to keep and what to remove. Here's a link to a forum post where I posted a picture of myself - http://www.silknaturals.com/forum/viewt ... f=4&t=1307.

Thank you!

Blush
Vino Blush
Pretty Plum Blush
Satisfied- Golden Peachy Pink Shimmer Blush
Carnal Blush
Embrace Blush

Glows/Finishing Powders
Cupid Glow
Crinoline Glow
Heavenly Glow
Perfecting Powder
Date Bait
Tinted Oil Control Primer

I'm going back and forth on these items. What should I really keep?
Pineapple Banana Smoothie Mask
Sample Amethyst cream liner
Sample Peacock teal cream liner
Green Tea and Aloe Hydrating Serum
Raspberry Moisterizer

I'm definitely getting the items below.
Holy Crow! Instant Wrinkle Remover
Simple C serum
Fiber Optic Blush Brush
Ultimate Eye Shadow Brush
Sleep in a Jar- Medium
Perfect Harmony Foundation Sample Kit

[royalgoddessbeth]

Blush:
If you like really cool colors, get Carnal.
Try Satisfied for the golden peachy-pink look.
Embrace is a lovely neutral pink with a bit of brown in it.

If you're only going to get one color- get Embrace. I think it's the most neutral of the three.

Glows/Finishers:
Get Date Bait. The tinted perfecting powders are fab- and Date Bait would be great for cooler skin.

Out of the miscellaneous items- keep the Raspberry Moisturizer. Karen's moisturizer gels are as far as I'm concerned, a revolutionary idea. Raspberry oil has some natural sun protection qualities, so that means it does some multi-tasking.
Get the Amethyst liner sample- you deserve something fun to play with, and purple would look great on you.

If I might also suggest, try a sample of the Zinc powder, tint it with a little of your Foundation base color- and use it over the raspberry oil moisturizer as a primer for your makeup. I cannot stress how wonderful this product is. I'm in my 30s and oily, but this out performs the Oil Control Primer in terms of staying power. You can tint it to help with minor imperfections you want to neutralize, and it has the benefit of natural sun protection.

When you apply, I would apply in this order:
Serums (water based)
Let serum dry.

Raspberry oil moisturizer
Holy Crow
Zinc powder (or primer powder)
Let this set for a few minutes.

Sleep in a Jar
Foundation
Date Bait
Blush

That's basically the order I do things in- though I do use some different skin care products.

I'm not Karen or Jen- but I have an absolutely obscene amount of Silk Naturals products, use the skin care religiously (I converted from another etailer I had used before)- and have enabled several people I know. Soooo, I do think I have a little bit of knowledge that I've gathered over the past year and a half.

I'll never go back to purchasing my makeup in a department store or drug store.

[packgal]

kinjali,
you'll get lots of different opinions on how to go about starting your SN addiction. here are my recommendations:

because you have a darker skin tone, i would probably pass on the pretty plum blush and just try carnal. i am light-medium in skin tone and pretty plum doesn't show up on me as much as i would like.

you may just want to get either satisfied or heavenly glow--they are both peachy with gold sparkle. satisfied is one of the more pigmented blushes, but it probably won't be quite as noticeable as heavenly. the glows are pretty concentrated and have this beautiful "sheen" quality to them (not shimmer or sparkle, just "glow"). i wear the glows for a more "special occasion" look. satisfied would be a nice everyday color.

unless you really want to try both, maybe you could just get either the original perfecting powder or dait bait. i myself am a huge original fan, as it is completely translucent, and i liked it better than date bait or love lure as far as filling in pores and smoothing lines (it works better for me than blur too). since jen recommended olive foundation for you, date bait may be too cool, but i know in other's experience they have had good results with date bait on deeper olive toned complexions.

of your miscellaneous items, i really recommend the mask and the amethyst cream liner, and a sample of one of the moisturizers (just get a sample for now, in case you don't love the smell or in case that particular formula doesn't absorb into your skin as well). i LOOOVE karen's masks, the concept is so smart and they really do wonders for tired, dull, dehydrated skin. the colored cream liners are so pretty and quite easy to use (the clear one is a little trickier in my opinion).

i think you could pass on the green tea/aloe serum since you are getting the simply C. i have and like both, but i feel like the simply C goes farther in terms of actually renewing and brightening skin. it's pretty soothing too.

there you go! for what it's worth, another SN fan's opinion

[kinjali22]

Thank you ladies!! Your suggestions were soo helpful!

@royalgoddessbeth - I saw your post earlier and was thinking about giving the Zinc powder a try. I'll definitely add it to my cart now. My face gets really oily throughout the day and adding mineral make up to the oil doesn't help. With other products I've tried, it feels like its melting off my face. And thank you for your makeup routine!!! I am approaching 30 next year and wanted to get into a skin routine. Which other skin serums/mouisterizers would you recommend? Since my skin is oily, water based serums/moisterizers work the best for me.

@packgal - Thank you for the info on the masks! I was looking for reviews or posts or recommendations but I couldn't really find any. I wanted to get a mask that rejuvinated my skin and it looks like I found it Do you prefer any other serums over the Simply C? And I'll definitely keep all the glows.. It sounds like they are more pigmented than the blushes I've selected.

I also saw all the new products that came out last week!! The Augberine eye shadow looks so pretty. And Karen has put out samples of Cider and Nina which I had to get.. LOL. So here's what I've decided on getting.

Vino Blush
Satisfied- Golden Peachy Pink Shimmer Blush
Carnal Blush
Embrace Blush
Cupid Glow
Crinoline Glow
Heavenly Glow
Perfecting Powder
Date Bait
Zinc Finishing Powder
Pineapple Banana Smoothie Mask
Sample Amethyst cream liner
Raspberry Moisterizer
Holy Crow! Instant Wrinkle Remover
Simple C serum
Fiber Optic Blush Brush
Ultimate Eye Shadow Brush
Sleep in a Jar- Medium
Perfect Harmony Foundation Sample Kit

[royalgoddessbeth]

My absolute must-haves for skincare are the Pore Refining Toner, Super Serum, and Firming Moisturizer w/Renovage and CoQ10. The Firming Moisturizer is wonderful- it's more expensive, but it has a fabulous and effective anti-aging active that's in very, very expensive products. The Super Serum combats so many things- it repairs sun damage, calms redness, refines texture, helps prevent the signs of aging.

However, the things you have picked out are wonderful. I've just used an awful lot of the products and I know which ones are *my* favorites- it might not necessarily be the same for you.

However, that Pore Refining Toner is great for everyone, I think. It's reasonably priced, and it multi-tasks. I use it after applying my makeup and the aloe juice in it gives me a really fresh and dewy look. It also smells lovely, too.

[packgal]

the list of stuff you got looks really great. and the shipping is so fast, you will be enjoying your goodies in no time.

as far as my favorite serums, i really like all of the more hydrating/gentle ones: the oatmeal, aloe/green tea, and the rose. i don't notice a big difference between as far as hydrating or performance between these. i have a full size of aloe/green tea but have tried samples of the others, and if i buy another full size i will probably get the rose because i really like the smell. i have also tried the DMAE and the super serum. i have been sensitive to both of these and had noteable burning and redness with using them. i actually got the DMAE for my mom, and she had a bad reaction as well; so i tried it thinking she had just done something wrong, but nope, it made my face burn too. i don't know what in them i am sensitive to. so many people LOVE the super serum so i would definitely try that one if i were you (just do a patch test first, and don't use it at the same time you use AHAs or BHAs).

after my experience, i was scared to try any of the other serums with "actives" but i got brave and tried the simply C and i like it. however i do not use it on the same night or the morning after i use AHA or BHA, because i do still get a small amount of redness and burning if i do. maybe at some point i will try the vit c and peptide serum. i am about the same age as you i think (almost 30) so at this point i am focusing on prevention more than treatment

lastly--my skin is not oily so i have not sampled the oil control serum. however, i remember when it came out there were quite a few good reviews. with your oily skin, i would sample it too!

[xraisonxdetre]

Hey Kinjali!

I have the same skintone as you and here are my favorites

Halo glow
Heavenly glow
Galaxy blush (try it! you won't be disappointed..it looks really bright red, but trust me, when applied right, it looks FANTASTIC!)
Palace blush (I requested this..it is a dupe of NARS Taj Mahal blush. Again, I know this looks beyond scary, but TRUST ME! it is amaaazing!)
Satisfied blush (need to do layers on this)

I noticed that you are getting a fiber optic blush brush, that will work perfectly with galaxy and palace. Again, i know these colors look scary, but I promise promise promise they will look great

Also, I don't know if this will help, but my foundation mix is 1:1 medium ivory to buttery gold with a little bit of peach to darken it a bit. I was so confused when I would hear about peoples foundations being like 1 color to 20 ivory! But don't worry, you aren't doing anything wrong!!

[xraisonxdetre]

Also, I know that you have probably ordered by now, but some really great eyeshadows are: legend and sunlit bark. They are really pretty! Also, she has really really awesome gwp (gift with purchase) and those eyeshadows are some of my favorites! They are total surprises though so you don't know what its going to be until you get it

[kinjali22]

Thank you ladies!

@royalgoddessbeth - Thanks for letting me know which products have worked for you! I'll try out the Vitamin C serum and Raspberry moisturizers and see how they work with my skin. My skin usually behaves as long as the products are oil free. Hmmm.. maybe I should get the toner as well. I don't have that in my cart yet.

@packgal - I'm in the same boat as you and looking for wrinkle prevention too I'll be turning 30 next year and am not looking forward to it at all LOL. I don't think I have sensitive skin but I guess I won't know until I try the products. Thanks for the heads up and letting me know which products were good for your skin!

@xraisonxdetre - Yay! Someone else with my skin tone! Its so nice to be on a forum where other people have similar skin tones I actually haven't ordered yet, but I was looking to see what eyeshadows to get. I'm not good with picking colors so thank you for the suggestions! I was scared with Taj Mahal.. its so red.. but I think Karen has a sample so I'll try it out I'll have so much makeup to play with.. how exciting. I'll definitely be making my purchase later today.