Maybelline eye studio lasting drama gel eyeliner:
Price: $7.94 at walmart
Color: I got this in blackest black. Like the name, it is very black.
Performance: It went on nice and creamy. It did take a good few minutes to "set" or "dry", which was personally a little annoying because I curl my eyelashes after I put on my eyeliner and I get close to the base of my eyelashes, and if my eyeliner hasn't dried then the eyelash curler can rub up against the eyeliner and actually smear it off. It stayed on pretty well but if you were oily or got water on it, it could smear a little.
Extra things to consider: it comes with a brush, which is actually pretty decent. I was able to do winged eyeliner with it. Obviously it isn't exactly the best brush, but everyone has different preferences for brushes and this one isn't too bad if you're new to gel eyeliner and don't feel like going and buying a separate brush.
Mac fluidline:
Price: $16.00 U.S.
Color: I got this in blacktrack. It's actually a soft black when compared to other black eyeliners I have. I know that a lot of people prefer their eyeliner to be as black as possible so this could be a potential downfall.
Performance: It was nice and creamy going on like the maybelline one, but maybe a little thicker. It dried fast when you put it on, which in my opinion is good - who wants to wait for their eyeliner to dry? It also stayed really well.
Overall verdict: I bought the mac one because I was wondering if it was better, and also my maybelline gel eyeliner actually dried up in the pot before I could finish the whole pot (I ended up buying a new one). I wondered if the mac one wouldn't dry up so I could use the entire thing. Turns out, it dried up too. It seems like it's a common thing among gel eyeliners for them to dry up before you can use the whole thing. I've read about how you can add eye drops to your gel eyeliner and mix it around to make it not so dry and thick anymore, so I'll probably end up trying that. Anyway, recently the number of drugstore gel eyeliners has been at an all-time high so while the mac one is pretty good I'll be exploring my other drugstore options before running out to repurchase mac fluidline anytime soon. If you really want your eyeliner to set fast and stay in place and don't mind that the mac one isn't a really dark black, then you might go with the mac.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
Nyx soft matte lip cream review
I purchased the nyx soft matte lip cream in antwerp.
Like the name, it is a matte lip cream. It has a doe-foot applicator and the product is creamy and has a smell which was kind of like a pasty or cupcake or something which sounds nice but I thought it smelled kind of strange. Not bad enough to where I didn't want to use it, but I wasn't the biggest fan of the smell. It gives nice pigmentation. The application is okay. Not as easy as say, putting on a nice lipstick, since the formula is so creamy. But I didn't have problems with it or anything. The big problem with this was the lasting time. I put this on before I went grocery shopping for 1 1/2 or 2 hours, and by the time I got back it had started fading - and it's one of those products that's ugly when it fades. The color was gone from the center of my lips. The bottom of my top lip and the top of my bottom lip were my natural lip color while the rest of my lips were still the color of the soft matte lip cream - and I put 2 layers of this stuff on which, you'd think, would make it stay better! I didn't eat or drink during these 1 1/2 hours and didn't lick my lips a lot or anything. I LOVE the color, in fact I've gotten compliments on it from other people too. The website describes it as a "mid-tone yellow-toned pink". I didn't think it was a true pink as much as a soft, wearable red with some peachy pink in it. I want to find a lipstick in this color, partly because I don't like this but I love the color, and also I'm wondering if this lip cream would be nice to layer over a lipstick of the same color. Maybe if you got a lipstick of the same color and wanted a matte lip, you could put this over the lipstick to achieve a matte lip and then it wouldn't look bad when it fades. This is one of those products where you're like "ugh, this could have been nice, if only _____!". In this case the big flaw was the lasting power and the ugly way it faded. Some people say this stays on well for them, which I can't really grasp because I tried this multiple times and it just wouldn't stay for me. I wish it did.
Like the name, it is a matte lip cream. It has a doe-foot applicator and the product is creamy and has a smell which was kind of like a pasty or cupcake or something which sounds nice but I thought it smelled kind of strange. Not bad enough to where I didn't want to use it, but I wasn't the biggest fan of the smell. It gives nice pigmentation. The application is okay. Not as easy as say, putting on a nice lipstick, since the formula is so creamy. But I didn't have problems with it or anything. The big problem with this was the lasting time. I put this on before I went grocery shopping for 1 1/2 or 2 hours, and by the time I got back it had started fading - and it's one of those products that's ugly when it fades. The color was gone from the center of my lips. The bottom of my top lip and the top of my bottom lip were my natural lip color while the rest of my lips were still the color of the soft matte lip cream - and I put 2 layers of this stuff on which, you'd think, would make it stay better! I didn't eat or drink during these 1 1/2 hours and didn't lick my lips a lot or anything. I LOVE the color, in fact I've gotten compliments on it from other people too. The website describes it as a "mid-tone yellow-toned pink". I didn't think it was a true pink as much as a soft, wearable red with some peachy pink in it. I want to find a lipstick in this color, partly because I don't like this but I love the color, and also I'm wondering if this lip cream would be nice to layer over a lipstick of the same color. Maybe if you got a lipstick of the same color and wanted a matte lip, you could put this over the lipstick to achieve a matte lip and then it wouldn't look bad when it fades. This is one of those products where you're like "ugh, this could have been nice, if only _____!". In this case the big flaw was the lasting power and the ugly way it faded. Some people say this stays on well for them, which I can't really grasp because I tried this multiple times and it just wouldn't stay for me. I wish it did.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Quick deep conditioning recipe!
I have dry hair that gets ridiculously frizzy and the hair conditioning treatments I've been trying lately just haven't been doing much - until I found out about the olive oil hair conditioning treatment. You just mix 1/4 cup of your regular hair conditioner with 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, leave it in your hair for 20 minutes, rinse, and it should leave your hair much smoother and deeply conditioned.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Review - Nivea lip butter
I'm a fan of nivea lip products so I was excited to try this. I finally found these at my local grocery store after looking everywhere for them! Everyone was talking about how good the caramel scented one is, but I have all three and actually like the vanilla & macadamia kiss one best. This has a couple of potential cons, but overall I really like it.
It's very moisturizing! I'm someone who struggles with really dry lips and am always looking out for something that will actually work for me. I've tried LOTS of moisturizing lip products and this one really does fix up my lips. It feels really creamy when you scoop it out of the jar and it's kinda fun to put on. Also smells great. The problem with little pots of lip product is that you have to use your finger and you're probably gonna have extra product on your finger after you put it on your lips so that's a small downside. I've heard some people commenting about how it doesn't necessarily "stay" on your lips. If you're the kind of person who wants your lips to always feel like they have something on them, then this might be a con. But it doesn't matter to me, it moisturizes really well even though it seems to sink in really fast and "go away". This isn't entirely transparent, it's a little bit white but it's not gonna make your lips look white unless you pile on too much. There's not too much else to say!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Lecosmetique blending sponge review
I don't know what it is with my skin but I have to try pretty hard for my foundation not to look cakey and weird on it. I wasn't sure what to expect from this but I was very impressed. I soaked it with water and squeezed out the excess (using it damp works better than using it dry) and applied my foundation. It blended my foundation in so nicely. It made my skin look natural, but it didn't sheer out the foundation to the point where it defeated the purpose of even putting foundation on. It gave me coverage but totally prevented it from looking cakey. It really made my skin look like my real skin but better, not my-skin-covered-up-with-foundation. I haven't tried the original beauty blender but I'm quite happy with this one. It's my new favorite way to apply foundation and I probably won't be applying my foundation with a brush again for a long time. One slight con - after a few days of using it, I noticed a very small tear near the top. I wasn't rough with it or anything so I was worried that it was going to fall apart. Update: 2 months after having this, I noticed a tear in the side as well. I'm not happy with the slight tearing but it's minor enough to where I can still use it just like normal. I'm hoping it will hold together and I won't have to buy a new one (although they're not too expensive to buy new ones if I need to!).
Revlon colorstay: normal/dry skin versus combination/oily skin
Revlon colorstay foundation comes in two types - normal/dry skin and combination/oily skin. You might think "well, I'm just going to buy whichever one fits my skin type so why do I need to read a review on them?". I thought it might be useful to tell you guys the differences between them in case you have in-between skin or you have oily skin in summer and dry in winter.
First of all, the combination/oily skin one has a strong scent to it that smells pretty similar to wall paint. Yeah, like the actual paint that people paint their walls with. If you don't like strongly scented makeup it might be a problem. I could smell it on my skin even after I put it on and it set. This one also made me break out a bit. The sensitivity of my skin to breakouts is about average, but different ingredients in makeup break out different people so it really depends on the person. It also dries VERY fast when you apply it, so you have to work with smaller areas of your face at a time instead of just putting it all over your face and then blending. If you're not careful putting this on, it can also look a little cakey. Also, the coverage of this one is a little bit more full than the normal/dry skin one. Finally, it did stay on really well. I wore it when I went on vacation to Hawaii and was doing a lot of outdoor activities and hiking. In warm weather I have oily skin, and I was surprised at how matte this kept my face without even reapplying powder or anything. It really does stay on until the end of the day. Be sure to take off your foundation completely at the end of the day if you use this or any long-wearing foundation.
The one for normal/dry skin goes on more easily. It doesn't dry super fast when you apply it and looks more natural. I wasn't too impressed with its staying power compared to the combination/oily skin one, but my skin gets a little oily throughout the day so if you do have dry skin it'll probably stay on better. It has an average foundation smell instead of smelling like wall paint. It did not break me out. It had a little less coverage than the combination/oily skin one.
As for application tips, I think a damp sponge works best for the combination/oily skin one since it does dry so fast and can look a little cakey using the average brush. You can use the average wedge sponges you get in a bag at the drugstore, or a beauty blender/beauty blender dupe. Also, even if you have oily skin, moisturizing before putting on the combination/oily skin one will help it to look more natural and go on more easily.
The normal/dry skin one doesn't really require any special tips as it's more easy to work with and closer to the average foundation formula that most people are familiar with.
First of all, the combination/oily skin one has a strong scent to it that smells pretty similar to wall paint. Yeah, like the actual paint that people paint their walls with. If you don't like strongly scented makeup it might be a problem. I could smell it on my skin even after I put it on and it set. This one also made me break out a bit. The sensitivity of my skin to breakouts is about average, but different ingredients in makeup break out different people so it really depends on the person. It also dries VERY fast when you apply it, so you have to work with smaller areas of your face at a time instead of just putting it all over your face and then blending. If you're not careful putting this on, it can also look a little cakey. Also, the coverage of this one is a little bit more full than the normal/dry skin one. Finally, it did stay on really well. I wore it when I went on vacation to Hawaii and was doing a lot of outdoor activities and hiking. In warm weather I have oily skin, and I was surprised at how matte this kept my face without even reapplying powder or anything. It really does stay on until the end of the day. Be sure to take off your foundation completely at the end of the day if you use this or any long-wearing foundation.
The one for normal/dry skin goes on more easily. It doesn't dry super fast when you apply it and looks more natural. I wasn't too impressed with its staying power compared to the combination/oily skin one, but my skin gets a little oily throughout the day so if you do have dry skin it'll probably stay on better. It has an average foundation smell instead of smelling like wall paint. It did not break me out. It had a little less coverage than the combination/oily skin one.
As for application tips, I think a damp sponge works best for the combination/oily skin one since it does dry so fast and can look a little cakey using the average brush. You can use the average wedge sponges you get in a bag at the drugstore, or a beauty blender/beauty blender dupe. Also, even if you have oily skin, moisturizing before putting on the combination/oily skin one will help it to look more natural and go on more easily.
The normal/dry skin one doesn't really require any special tips as it's more easy to work with and closer to the average foundation formula that most people are familiar with.
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