Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer

RATING (out of 5 stars): 4 stars

COST: $47

THE SKINNY: A lot of night creams seem heavy or cause me to wake up with an oily sheen. Clinique’s Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer doesn’t.

After a few weeks of use (a little bit goes a long way, luckily), my skin did look healthier and feel smoother. According to Clinique, this moisturizer helps shed dull, worn-out surface cells. It feels good on my skin, too. It’s creamy, lightweight and a little bit cool. It’s luxurious, just like you would expect it to be.

This moisturizer didn’t irritate my skin or my eyes. It doesn’t have any real scent, which is nice.

KEEP OR TOSS: Keep.

CHECK IT OUT: You can always find a deal or extra samples at the Clinique site.

-- Tested by Shay

Big Sexy Hair Blow Dry Volumizing Gel

RATING (out of 5 stars): 4 stars

COST: $16.99

THE SKINNY: Big Sexy Hair’s Volumizing Gel is one of the lightest and least-sticky hair gels around. This added a lot of volume to my short, fine hair and didn’t weigh it down a bit.

That’s important to me. The heavier the product, the dirtier it makes my hair look over the course of a day. I don’t need a large amount of gel to get results, too, so it’s not as expensive as it might appear. (Plus, you can usually find a good sale for Big Sexy Hair products.)

This gel is activated through heat, so you have to blow dry your hair to get real results. It’s also alcohol-free.

I’ve found a lot of the Big Sexy Hair products to be hit or miss. This one is definitely a hit.

KEEP OR TOSS: Keep.

CHECK IT OUT: These days, you can find Big Sexy Hair products in most drug stores and, of course, Ulta.

-- Tested by Shay

L’oreal Voluminous Smoldering Liner

RATING (out of 5 stars): 2.5 stars

COST: $8.95

THE SKINNY: When it comes to eyeliners, you get what you pay for. L’oreal says this eyeliner will take from from “everyday to exotic,” but my experience with it has just been ho-hum.

This liner is a little drier than the creamy-but-tough products from brands such as Urban Decay, Clinique and Smashbox. Because of that, it’s harder to blend and doesn’t stay in place as long as the others.

L’oreal does give you a sharpener when you buy this liner. But I’d rather pay more for a product that it going to wow me.

KEEP OR TOSS: Toss. It just doesn’t measure up to my go-to eyeliners from higher-end brands.

CHECK IT OUT: Voluminous Smoldering Liner is available in three colors: Brown, black and gray.

-- Tested by Shay

Benefit Watt's Up

RATING (out of 5 stars): 2 stars

COST: $30

THE SKINNY: This is one of the stranger highlighting products I’ve tried in recent months. Maybe it’s because this is a sample size, so it doesn’t include the blending sponge that’s built into the bottom of the full-size product. 

This stick applies a thin coat of champagne-colored, cream-to-powder product. It is a pretty color on my fair skin. But I found it really hard to blend with either my fingertips or a foundation brush. I wound up with a stripe of shimmer. The larger the area I tried to highlight, the more noticeable that stripe appeared.

It’s sad, because the color is so nice and the idea behind the product is good. I’d stick with Benefit’s High Beam, which is a liquid application, instead.
 
KEEP OR TOSS: Toss the sample. I found it too difficult to use, and $30 is too expensive to gamble on the full-size with applicator.

CHECK IT OUT: Benefit says to use Watt's Up on your brow bone and cheeks.
 

-- Tested by Shay

Perlier Beurre de Karite Shea Butter Hand Cream

RATING (out of 5 stars): 2.5 stars

COST: $17.95

THE SKINNY: Perlier Beurre de Karite Shea Butter Hand Cream is as about as average as a product comes.

It works alright; it smells ok; and is essentially fine. But it's nothing special.

So far it has not put a dent in the damage fall is doing to my hands and the scent is unimpressive, but not instrusive.

Sadly, there's just not much to say about something you use and don't even really notice in any way at all. This is not a product I would seek out or look to buy.

KEEP OR TOSS: Keep. If you need a quick hand lotion.

CHECK IT OUT: This is one of those oddball products that is a little hard to find, although Amazon does have it in a small supply.

-- Tested by Carrie