Review & Swatches: Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer & Blush

Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer 

In shade Beige Medium 0-2.5

The Claim: Conceals with an amazing air-soft feel. Completely covers dark circles, imperfections and redness. Blends and smooths away imperfections instantly.

Overall: 4 out of 5 (because it works)
Packaging: 3 out of 5 (typically I don't like jarred products but because of the nature of this product.. the jar is practical)
Price: $6-$8
Size: 3 g
Would you buy this again? Yes

I like this stuff. It does what it claims and gives me the coverage I need. I don't know how well this covers major dark circles but I can tell you that it's buildable. It consists mostly of dimethicone so it's easy to blend and spread. The consistency is air whipped but creamy at the same time. I wouldn't recommend this for people with fine lines or wrinkles for it will settle in and make it more noticeable.

Next up, Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush

 

L-R: Pink Frosting 10, Peach Satin 20, Rose Petal 25

The Claim: Air-soft formula provides luminous, long-lasting color on cheeks. Glides on smoothly and blends easily for seamless color and a natural, radiant finish. Long-wearing formula will not clog pores.

Overall: 3 out of 5 (some colors have way toooo much shimmer)
Packaging: 3 out of 5 (typically I don't like jarred products but because of the nature of this product.. the jar is practical)
Price: $6-$8
Size: 5.75 g
Would you buy this again? Yes

This comes with more product than the concealer so that's nice! It's also more "moussy" than the concealer and less creamy. I bought two of these last year in the colors Peach Satin and Rose Petal. However, I wasn't able to pull these off because they don't show up on my skin (I'm around NC37-40). So anyways, I give them to my sister who is really fair (NC 20ish?) and they look so lovely on her! I decided to try a new color that might work on me and I found it! Pink Frosting is a bright pink color in the jar but when applied gives a subtle pink glow. It's very natural looking and blends in flawlessly. I wouldn't recommend this for people with dry or flaky skin for it will enhance the flakes! Staying power is about 5 hours without primer or makeup underneath. One big con about these is that some colors, i.e.Peach Satin, have way too much shimmer/glitter! It's hard to see the blush color when you have micro reflecting glitz everywhere. Here are the swatches unblended:

They all look the same here but trust me, they are different!
This is what they look like all blended on our bare cheeks. The first cheek is mine and the rest are my sister's.

L-R: Pink Frosting 10, Peach Satin 20, Rose Petal 25 
These been around in the market for awhile so most of you probably already own one in the past but who knows, maybe I might have sparked up your interest again :p

Hehe I finally did the hair bow tutorial.. I made one last summer but I wasn't happy with it so this is the second attempt. Anyways, I will  try to write up a new review tonight for Cellnique. Stay tuned my friends :)

REVIEW: Wet N Wild Color Icon Palette & Single Eyeshadow Swatches

I heard about these new eyeshadow palettes from my lovely April. She made a video review on them here. My initial thought was: $4.99 for a Wet n Wild eyeshadow?! That's almost the same price as Maybelline!  I remember the days when all Wet N Wild  products were 99 cents! Well now that the makeup industry is booming, almost every drugstore makeup brand is stepping up their game.

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet. Sorry if the pictures are a bit sporadic, I purchased these products on separate occasions.

L-R: Wet n Wild Idol Eyes Cream Eyeshadow Pencil 130 Pixie, Wet n Wild Color Icon Single Eyeshadow Nutty, Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palette Vanity.

On the left is Nutty which is a unique brownish taupe color with silver sheen... I don't own anything like this. Very nice and pigmented and glides on my lids effortlessly. LOVES!  To the right is the Pixie pencil which looks like a shimmery beige in the packaging. When swatched it appears to be nothing but silver shimmer! I was a bit disappointed with this one.

Swatches of the Vanity palette with no base/primer. These babies are crazy pigmented. What's nice about these palettes is that 3 colors are matte and 3 colors are shimmery so you get the best of both worlds. The matte eyeshadow here are perfect for daytime and the shimmery ones can be used to achieve a bronzed or golden look.

L-R: Lust and Greed. I've also heard that some of the colors in these palettes are MAC eyeshadow dupes.. I wouldn't know because I don't own MAC shadows. Can you spot any???

Lust is the most popular palette because it's always sold out at my local Walmart. It consists of dark plums and charcoal which is perfect for smokey eyes.

Out of all the palettes, Greed let me down. It looks the prettiest in the pan and gorgeous when swatched. However, the beautiful shimmery light pink and lavender does not show up on my lids. I tried using a white base underneath but to no avail as the colors just turn out murky. I'm sure this will show up on the fair skin gals though.

Overview on the eyeshadows based on my personal opinions.

Pros:
- Highly Pigmented
- Vivid colors
- Silky smooth upon application.. just spread it like butter!
- Able to use without primer
- No creasing (on my lids anyways)
- Inexpensive ($4.99-$5.99 so works out to be $1/eyeshadow)
- Wearable Colors
- Nice Variety to fit peoples' preferences.  (i.e.Vanity is more on the warm side while Greed is more on the cool side.)

Cons:
- Matte colors are really powdery but they really stick to your lids
- Hit or miss with some colors which is usually the case with most palettes anyways (BTW, I'm only referring to the Greed Palette)
- Cheap and unattractive packaging
- Eyeshadow applicators it comes with is garbage, especially the wonky eyeshadow brush... what were these people thinking?

Either way, these new Wet N Wild Eyeshadows are a win for me and I plan to do some tutorials on them soon. Until next time! Ciao!

REVIEW: EOS Organic Lip Balm - Smooth Sphere

Claim: Lip balm is 95% organic, 100% natural, and paraben and petrolatum free. Packed with antioxidant-rich vitamin E, soothing shea butter and jojoba oil, EOS keeps your lips moist, soft and sensationally smooth. 

Unfortunately, EOS (Evolution Of Smooth) sphere lip balms are not sold in Canada. I got mine when I was down in Washington this past weekend. It was on sale at Rite Aid for $2.99... original price was $3.39. You can also buy it through their website but shipping is ridiculous. Moving on, I've seen these around youtube and beauty blogs since last year and since I'm a lip balm junkie, I knew I had to get it eventually.

I'm not going to lie, I bought this lip balm because of the packaging and the unique shape of the lip balm itself. I bought Honeysuckle Honeydew and Summer Fruit,both of which smell really sweet and fruity. The balm comes in a rubberized plastic sphere that can easily get scratch if you put it in your purse. They also carry Vanilla Bean which comes in a tube for those who like the convenience of carrying lip balm in their pocket. Although they are the same price, the sphere comes with 7g of product while the tube version only comes with 4g. So if you buy the sphere you get more bang for your buck.^_^

I personally think the packaging is mighty cute. I also own other lip balms that are in a sphere case but this one is unique because the lip balm protrudes out of the bottom half of the sphere while the other ones just come up to the rim. This lip balm is big which might take up more space in your makeup bag and you can't carry it in your pocket because it is, no doubt, bulky. In terms of consistency, I found this balm to be just right. It's not too soft that the product just melts on your lips like crisco and it's not too hard like applying wax to your lips. It moisturizes well for me and staying power is about 2 hours (without eating).

 Size Comparison: Ballmania Twist & Pout Lip balm with SPF 20, BEBE tinted lip balm, EOS sphere lip balm

When I apply my EOS, I pucker up and run the tip of the sphere over the top of my lips and then the bottom. I let boy try it and he almost put the thing in his mouth like a popsicle! Luckily I stopped him before he could! When the top becomes flat, I plan to just use my fingers to apply the product. No biggie.

All in all, I think the EOS lip balm is a great buy. Is it worth all the hype? For me, yes. And for $3, one seriously can't complain. It is half the price of the Ballmania and BEBE lip balms and it keeps my lips happy!

If you're wondering about the cute Ballmania lip balm that I have, you can check them out below. I got mine for $5.99. The BEBE lip balm was purchased at the BEBE store.

Lancome Gift with Purchase + Pink Circle Lens

Yay! I got my stuff. Initially, I was going to purchase three products-- one for me and two for my mom. I was thinking about getting Bi-Facil again since my Neutrogena is running low but I ended up just buying the two products for my mom. The BA was nice and gave me 2 gifts (one for each purchase) even though it was limit one per customer.  I picked out all skin care products because I already have too much makeup. And yes, I got the pink bag! ^_^ My mom gave me her bag too!

Why did I change my mind? Well, I figured the bonus came with Bi-Facil anyways.. plus I cheaped out a bit because I didn't know my mom's stuff would be that expensive. That woman is sneaky! HAHA... Lesson: Don't ask yo mama if she wants anything! LOL Just kidding. I love my mom.

The Pom in the photo is Kobe. ^_^ My sis rescued him during the Easter weekend. I can't believe someone didn't want him anymore, he is so cute and friendly! Babe has a friend to play with now! He's been lonely for 6 long years... My sis says she's going to bring him over every weekend so Babe has someone to play with ... more like she needs someone to babysit him. Very sneaky indeed...

(Kobe & Babe)

And finally, my Max Pure Gray and Pink circle lens arrived today! I will probably make a video review on these next week. They look interesting..

Until next time. Ciao!

P.S. - More drugstore finds/reviews to come!

NOTW + Lancome Gift With Purchase

I recently purchased another nude nail polish. In the bottle it looks like a dark mauvy, pinky beige but on my tanned skin it looks more pink! This is OPI - Dulce De Leche with two coats. Quite nice I'd say!

To my Canadian girls: Lancome is having their gift with purchase right now (April 15 to May 9, 2010)!

You have to purchase $34 or more to get the bonus which isn't much so that's nice! Some things that I use and recommend are:
- Bi-facil eye makeup remover
- Blanc Expert brightening foam makeup remover
- Eyeshadows
- Le crayon powder eyebrow pencil
- Definicils Mascara

That's all I've tried from Lancome haha I bought all of those in full size and used them all up. All hits here and no misses! Do you have any favorites from this brand? Let me know!

You get to choose 7 items of your choice and a cute floral makeup bag! Can you guess which color bag I'm going to get? hehe

REVIEW: Revlon Photo Ready Foundation

The last time I wore foundation was on my graduation day. I wore absolutely no makeup in highschool and the only thing I knew how to do were my eyebrows (unfortunately, I didn't even do that right). For the big day, I went to MAC and a MUA did my face. She used some MAC foundation on my face because I had a lot of acne scars at the time. I remember looking into the mirror that night and seeing how orange and cakey my face looked! It also felt heavy and greasy so I never went back to foundation after that.

As of late, I've been seeing nothing but good reviews on the new Revlon PhotoReady foundation. I've swatched their ColorStay foundation at the store before and didn't like it because it had a strong scent and felt really heavy/thick on my hand. However, when I swatched the PhotoReady foundation, it felt so light and didn't smell like anything. I liked it!..Then I looked at the price... $17.99 CAD.. GAHH! For a drugstore foundation?! Really?

I was looking into BB creams for awhile but I gave up because the shades were too light. As luck would have it, I was at London Drugs and the foundation was on sale for $9.99! Steal! I ended up buying Medium Beige 006 and Golden Beige 008 because I didn't know which one would be a good match for my face. As it turned out, Golden Beige is lighter than Medium Beige. They both have strong yellow undertones so both shades suit me well, though I do prefer Golden Beige because it makes my tanned olive skin look glowy! Medium Beige looks a bit more on the yellowy-orange side and it makes my skin look dull.

Here are the swatches with and without flash. I lightly blended them below:

For reference, I think I'm in between NC 37-42.
The foundation is very light and easy to blend. It has micro shimmers which is not very noticeable on my face in real life . It makes the skin look glowy, dewy, and youthful. It doesn't leave my face looking cakey.

And now the down side...
This foundation made me break out! Of course, everybody's skin is different.. mine obviously did not like this product. Also, I have trouble removing this foundation. I have to wash my face three times to get rid of every trace! If you have large pores and fine lines, the shimmers might even emphasize them. Honestly, I think this foundation is suited for people who already have decent skin because I don't see it covering dark spots, beauty marks, or acne scars... it simply is too sheer unless you build it up. Above all else, this foundation contains SPF 20 so contrary to the "Photoready" label, you can't take pictures with this on because you WILL get that inevitable white cast in photos. Tried and true.

I don't think I'll be repurchasing this ever again. 
Until next time. :)

REVIEW: Burt's Bees Lip Balm

 L-R: Burt's Bee Lip Shimmer in Champagne, Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate oil,  Beeswax Lip Balm (the original with peppermint flavor), Sun Protecting Lip Balm SPF 8 Passion fruit

Pros:
- Keeps lips moisturized longer than other lip balms.
- Lips look and feel softer.
- Soothes cracked and flaky lips.
- Made from natural beeswax and essential oils.
- Comes in a variety of scents and targets specific needs. i.e. chap lips, sun protect, shimmery lips
- No animal testing.
- Fun to collect! (For me anyways. ^_^)

Cons:
- Consistency is a bit hard so you have to let the balm melt on your lips before spreading it.
- Expensive for a lip balm. About $5 CAD per tube, otherwise you can get a good deal if you buy them in a pack.
- Feels a bit waxy if over applied.

My favorite is the Replenishing lip balm with pomegranate oil. It smells so good and it's the smoothest compared to all of them. I also have the Burt's Bee Honey flavored lip balm which smells like 100% honey but I gave it to my sister.  The one with SPF 8 smells good also but it is hard to apply so you have to let the product melt a bit first. It also leaves of a white cast because of the SPF ingredients.

Not only does Burt's Bee carry lip balms, they also carry lip glosses and lip shimmers. I bought the Lip Shimmer in Champagne which is a frosty pink color. It is very moisturizing but I picked a bad color because it has way too much silver shimmers which clashes with my skin tone. I can't wear this one at all. See swatches below.

I honestly do prefer these lip balms over others mostly because of it's staying power. Even after eating, this sticks to my lips!  I apply the Burt's Bees original mint lip balm on my lips before bed and I wake up with the softest lips ever! Loves!