REVIEW: NYX - Jumbo E/S Pencil - Cottage Cheese

This was my very first jumbo e/s pencil from NYX and I bought it a while ago (can you tell that the packaging looks different?). The difference between cottage cheese and milk is that cottage cheese is a shimmery silver while milk is just a flat white. 

Like most jumbo e/s pencils, I never wear this on it's own and I always use a primer underneath. I rarely wear silvers, but when I'm going for a darker look (most of my dark e/s have silver shimmer in it) I like to use this to give my e/s and the shimmer something to stick to without using too much color. 

I really like the pigmentation and I think you get a lot of bang for your buck because you don't need much to cover your eyelid or your entire eye space. The lasting power is pretty decent, especially when you use an e/s base underneath. 

Personally I don't like the idea of putting this product directly on top of a base (b/c putting a cream product on top of a cream product doesn't make sense to me) so right before I place this on, I'll go over everywhere I placed the primer with an matte cream colored e/s. Then I'll place it on top of that matte e/s. 

As my first NYX jumbo e/s pencil, it was definitely a good experience and I definitely picked up more because of it and it's extremely affordable too. 

REVIEW: Maybelline FIT Me! Shine-free Stick Foundation (#310)

When this foundation came out I definitely wanted to try it out because it looked extremely convenient (and I'm all about convenience). 

This foundation has a middle that's supposed to be the thing that makes it shine-free. The finishing texture is pretty interesting, it's like a powdery finish and it's really light on the skin. 

Don't expect this to be a medium/buildable foundation because it's not. It's an extremely light coverage foundation, basically good for only evening out the skin-tone. 

The only thing that I didn't like about it is that if I wear it for about a week I would start to break out around my cheek area (and I don't have sensitive skin). If I wear it for 2-3 days my skin would be fine. I'm not sure what it is that causes me to break out but I do have to switch my foundation. 

I find myself gravitating towards this product when I'm in a rush or if I'm having a really relaxed day. I like the fact that it's a stick because there's no fussing with liquid and if I don't have a brush, I can easily blend it in with my fingers. This is also great when I travel because it takes up no room at all and I can double it up as concealer. 

I don't notice any oxidization, but it's difficult to figure out what color you are because there are no testers. The color in the tube is pretty true to what you see and the color ranges are decent. 

As usual, the pictures are linked to a site where you can purchase the product or see other reviews. If there are any products I should try, please definitely let me know!! :]

REVIEW: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser

As an avid YouTube watcher, I definitely jumped on the bandwagon in purchasing this product. The Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser (what a mouth full) is a concealer that's supposed to help diminish the look of dark circles under your eyes. 

I don't care for the coverage on it's own, but I do love how it brightens the areas that I place it. It brightens the area and makes me looked refreshed and awake. It's lightweight and it doesn't settle in my fine lines throughout the day. It's perfect for those days where I don't want to have too much coverage, but I also want the brightening effect. 

There's no scent to the product itself, which is great, and I haven't broken out from it either. I use it to highlight/brighten my forehead and chin as well. The packaging itself is okay, but I don't like the sponge tip on top because I feel like it doesn't really dispense the product; instead it soaks it up. I do like the fact that I need to twist the top to get the product dispensed because it feels like I'll get every ounce of the product. 

This product has made it's way into my holy grail because it's a great brightener, it's convenient, no odor, it's affordable, and doesn't irritate my skin. The wear time is decent, but since I use it in conjunction with my other concealer it lasts even longer. On it's own, don't expect it to last more than 6 hours, especially if you're out and about. 

As always the pictures are linked to a website where you can purchase the product, but you can definitely find this at your local drug store. If there are any products that I should check out, definitely let me know!! :]

REVIEW: Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spary

1 oz retails for $14 and the full 4 oz retails for $29

I was looking for a way to help my makeup last a lot longer throughout the day. I was interested in using a setting spray because it's convenient and lightweight. I didn't like relying on a primer and powder to help lock in my makeup because it felt like they would sometimes build up on certain areas of my face. 

Urban Decay's All Nighter spray appealed to me more because I felt like it would provide me with the longevity and non-drying feel that I was looking for. I was able to get my hands on a travel size of the product and I absolutely love it. I use it on the days that I have school or I know I'll be out of the house for more than 8 hours. 

I use an "X" formation to make sure that I cover all the areas of my face and I do notice my makeup lasting a lot longer than it did on it's own and it doesn't feel like there's another layer on my face. It soaks in great and it adds moisture to my face when it looks like it's really dry. It also does a good job of helping me control the oil on my face. 

I haven't had the opportunity to use it during the hotter months, but when fall and winter came around I relied on this to help seal in and add moisture to my face. 

There's no harsh scent to the product and when I spray it on, it's extremely refreshing as well. I love the spray nozzle they have on this product because it's a controlled radius that gets covered. It doesn't make the product come out like a mist, nor does it make it spew out in a single stream. There's a good even-ness to the application which I truly appreciate. 

Another thing I found interesting is that this products is also made by Skindinavia. Which has their own infamous makeup setting spray. 

I may consider purchasing the full size version, but I may just purchase the travel size because it's a lot cheaper and I won't feel as bad.

As usual, the pictures are linked to a site where you can purchase the product or read other reviews. If there are any products out there I should try, please let me know :]

REVIEW: Pond's Luminous FinishBB Cream

I'm a big lover of BB Creams for three reasons:

1. It's lightweight 

2. The coverage is great

3. And it's extremely easy/convenient to use

Of course when I saw this at the drug store I definitely had to pick it up and try it out. It's a little cheaper than the Granier BB Cream and offers the similar benefits as other BB Creams. 

The coverage is decent (medium coverage) and it is  build-able, but it's better to not build up the coverage because it can start looking too cakey. It does a great job at evening out my skintone and covering up the redness on my cheeks. I use this product everyday and haven't broken out from it. 

I don't notice my skin getting better or there being any difference, but at the same time I really don't expect it coming from a drugstore BB Cream. When it comes to BB Creams I mainly use it for the three reasons listed up top and I don't mind if I don't see my skin improving. 

The wear time is pretty decent, but I can see it fading towards the end of the day (about 8 hours of wear time). I don't notice a harsh scent to it, but I think some people may not enjoy how long it takes to sink into the skin. I put on my face makeup last; so I'll put on my eye makeup (except mascara) and then I will put on my concealer (NYX Concealer) then this product. After I apply this product, I go back and curl and apply mascara and then go back to powder my face and add bronzer and blush. 

I really do like how long this product lasts (in terms of # of uses), I've been using it almost everyday for about 8-10 months and I still have about 3/4 of the product left! 

This has made it into my holy grail and I'm extremely happy with it. Unlike the Granier, I don't feel myself getting too oily after 3 hours and I like that there isn't much of a scent to it. It's extremely easy to use and I love the coverage and how it looks on me; honestly I end up liking it a lot more throughout the day. I don't notice too much oxidization and the color stays pretty true to what it looks like when you apply it. 

The color range isn't the greatest. If I remember correctly, there were only three different colors, but I'm not sure what the other two look like. 

As usual the pictures are linked to sites here you can purchase the product and if there are any products I should check out please let me know! :]

REVIEW: NYX FULL COVERAGE CONCEALER (HG)

I originally purchased this concealer to replace one of my favorite heavy duty concealers (Benefit's Boi-ing Concealer) and when I had purchased it, it was a newer product from NYX. There weren't any testers so I basically had to guess which color would match my skin-tone. I used the Boi-ing concealer in shade 03, which I believe is the darkest or at least second to darkest shade in the Boi-ing line. What I liked about the NYX concealers is that there was a decent shade range. I ended up using 06 Glow and it's a perfect match for me. 

It does a great job at evening out any discolorations, like my dark circles, acne scars, pimples, etc. without adding too much cakey-ness. I don't notice it settling into any fine lines (which I noticed with the Boi-ing concealer), it's extremely long lasting, and it's light weight. 

I have somewhat long days, usually ranging from 9-12 hours, and when I come home at night or even when I look in the mirror after 5-8 hours, I can still see my concealer doing it's job. 

I haven't had any trouble blending out the concealer and I don't notice any streakiness. On days where I don't feel like wearing much makeup, I'll just use this concealer to even out my skin and then set it using another HG powder and I'm good to go; and the surprising thing is that it lasts for a decent amount of time and when my powder fades, the concealer is still there. 

It's an extremely affordable product and I like the color ranges a lot more than the Benefit color range, and I get a lot of bang for my buck! I've been using this concealer for about a year and I have about 1/3 of the container left!

I haven't had any skin problems (like breaking out or extra oil/grease) and once blended, it's extremely breathe-able. 

*******************************************

As usual, each picture, once clicked, will take you to a website where you can purchase the product. 

If there are any products I should check out leave a comment! I love checking out and trying new products :]

REVIEW: BENEFIT BIRTHDAY BUNDLE (2013)

 

One of the best perks about having a Sephora card is being able to collect a birthday gift from them. The gifts are usually a sample size of some brand's product. My birthday is in October and I had been anxious to get my hands on the birthday gift for 2013 which is the Benefit sample size of the They're Real mascara and the Watts Up highlighter. 

I tested each product out for about a 1 1/2 weeks and I put them to the test.

*******************************************

They're Real! Mascara

Full Size - $23.00

First up is the They're Real mascara. Overall I wasn't too impressed with the mascara. I have pretty long, but stick straight lashes and I love using a drier mascara (which is usually a waterproof formula) because it helps to hold the curl throughout the day. I noticed with the They're Real mascara it did a great job at lengthening my lashes, but I didn't notice and added volume and I noticed that I immediately lost the curl to my lashes. 

The formula itself is a wetter formula than I'm used to. The pigmentation is great and I didn't notice any fragrance to the product. 

The actual wear time is decent, but I did notice a little bit of smudging towards the end of the day. 

If your lashes are great at holding a curl, and you're looking for something to add length, but not so much of volume, then I think you'd definitely want to check out this mascara. As for me, I'll stick to my HG Maybelline Falsies Flared - WP mascara. 

******************************************

Watts Up! Highlighter

Full Size- $30.00

I was extremely excited to try out this product because I love highlighters. I love the way they can add that extra glow to the face that makes you seem awake and almost heavenly like. 

The Watts Up! highlighter is a golden stick highlighter with very fine shimmers added in. When I first applied it, I was worried that it might break because it felt extremely dry (it could be due to the fact that it's such a small product with a lot of room in the packaging), but once it warmed up it glided onto my skin well. I didn't feel any tugging and I didn't noticed any streakiness; it blended in well too, I just used the warmth from my fingers to blend it in. It added just a very natural healthy glow/shimmer and since I lean more towards a warmer undertone I feel like it really enhanced my foundation and added more dimension. 

Throughout the day, as I got oilier, it actually ended up making me look a lot greasier especially in pictures, but once I blotted my face I feel like it faded away. 

Overall I feel like this is an okay highlighter, but at the same time I think that it's either too much added shimmer or not enough. It tended to fade away once I blotted my face, but if I were to leave it it made me look a lot oilier than I actually was. 

*******************************************

At the end of the day, I wouldn't personally invest in the full size of either product. They're okay for me, but there's nothing spectacular about them. 

Each picture is linked to the Sephora website, so if you're interested in purchasing either product you can simply click the picture and it should take you to the website. 

If there are any products that you think I should try let me know by leaving a comment and I'll definitely go and check them out :]