CoverGirl Ready, Set, Gorgeous Foundation Review

For a long long long long long long long... well you get the point, long time I swore by my Revlon Color Stay foundation, but something changed. I don't know if it was their formulation or my skin, but either way something changed. I noticed that the Color Stay was starting to settle into my pores and with oily skin the size of my pores is pretty considerable. So as you can imagine the settling of foundation into my considerable sized pores was unacceptable. Right around that time CoverGirl released their Ready, Set, Gorgeous (I will have you know I want to type Glamorous instead of Gorgeous every time!) line. Now I haven't tried the concealer or the powder because I am currently pretty pleased with both of them but obviously I was in the search for a new foundation. So I decided what the heck and bought this. Now this foundation claims to be oil free, I think it's more like 90% oil free. I defiitnitely get some oil with this foundation, especially if I don't use it with a primer like NYX Shiner Killer and use it with Too Faced Primed and Poreless. I find it really breaks down around my nose but no more than any other foundation. As for the color match with my skin I think this is spot on. The coverage is also pretty great. I would say this is a medium to full coverage foundation if you build it up to be. So since I love full coverage foundations I definitely like the coverage this one provides. This does settle into the fine lines around my eyes, but less so than other brands. I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5 over all because of the oiliness and the breakdown but for a drug store foundation I'm very pleased and it it my everyday foundation. I just learned to use my NYX Shine Killer with it and I have zero problems :)

NYX Shine Killer Review

I have been on a primer rampage lately. I don't know what has been the culprit but my skin and my eyes have become the oiliest things on the planet. I had been using the Too Faced Primed and Poorless for ever and it was working just fine and then one day my skin decided to hate me. So after killing what was left of my primer I bought the NYX Shine Killer. Now before this my only other experience with NYX had been with my Butt Naked Pallete and I once tried to order things off of their site but never received them. Now Shine Killer claims to give you a shine free face, with or without makeup, it even has a picture on the back of the box showing you the results of application. Of course I never believe those pictures because chances are they are photo shopped like hell. But I was out of my fancy primer that wasn't doing the job anyway and I was at Target and it was in my hand so it came home with me. Now before I tell you how this worked for me let me really really really emphasize the oily state of my skin so you will fully understand how desperate I was to find a good primer. I use about 3 oil blotting sheets a day because I can't go for more than a few hours before my skin looks like and oil slick. This is not an exaggeration, this isn't made up, that's my life and my skin. So when I say the name of this product is perfect I mean it. I wore this for an eight hour day, AN EIGHT HOUR DAY, and didn't need to use an oil blotting sheet once. This was the only thing I changed. I used the same foundation, the same blush, the same setting powder, this was the only difference and what a difference it made! This is a game changing product and I don't know how I ever lived without it before.

My Everyday Essentials (Drugstore and High End)

Now that I have a job where makeup is kind of a requirement (or at least to me it is) I have found myself reaching for the same products everyday and I wanted to share with you what I have found to last through out the day. Mostly what I use is drugstore but I do have 3 high end products that I use. I'll go through them all like I put them on in the morning just so I can keep everything straight. First is my Formula 10.0.6 Seriously Shine Free Mattifying Oil-Free Moisturizer . I really like this product because it really does moisturize my skin without adding any extra oil. I then pencil in my eyebrows with my Maybelline Expert Wear Twin Brow and Eye Pencil in blonde. I have been using this for 4 or 5 years and I have never had a problem with it running off my face nor do I find I need to use any kind of setting gel with it. I then apply my Urban Decay Primer Potion in the original formula to my eyelids (duh). From there I have a few options as far as my eye shadow goes. For work I really like to stick with light neutrals, more on the end of natural beauty type makeup. So my eye shadow picks are as follows: Wet n Wild in Nutty, ELF Single Studio Eyeshadow in Pebble, Cover Girl single in Champagne, and a Cover Girl trio in Shimmering Sands. Lately I've really been loving Nutty and Champagne as my everyday colors.Then I use my E.L.F. Eyelash curler and apply my Cover Girl Clump Crusher Mascara in the waterproof formula. Next I use my Too Faced Primed and Poreless Primer and rub that into my skin. I don't let this sink in or anything before I apply my Cover Girl Clean Whipped Foundation using my E.L.F. Angled Foundation Brush. While I feel like the foundation does cover my flaws for the most part I do have some really dark under eye circles so I apply my Costal Scents Eye Bright Concealer. Then if I have any really noticable blemishes on my face I will use my Makeup Forever Full Cover Concealer. I finish everything off my applying my Hard Candy Welcome Matte Powder. I hope a glance at my everyday makeup will inspire your everyday look! Be Fearless. Be Beautiful. Be You.

Lush Haul and Impressions

About a week ago my mom and I went shopping and hit the mall in Annapolis which is about an hour north of where I live. We ended up in Lush. I have heard of Lush and I've even dropped in before to have a look around but I've never bought anything before. Well this very nice sales girl helped me take a look around and even recommended a few products, because my face had been breaking out and I was searching for some relief. She recommended that I get Herbalism, Tea Tree Water, Enzymion, and Grease Lightning. I walked out with Herbalism and the Tea Tree Water and had to leave the other suggestions behind purely because my wallet did not allow me to try them all at the same time. Now I have never used a cleanser like Herbalism before. I've used cleansers and I've used scrubs, but never a product that's like a combo of the two. In the week or so that I've owned this I have found the easiest way to use it is to wet my face first then scoop a little bit (a little goes a long way this product) and rub it on my face like a scrub. I feel like I look like a green faced monster, but if it helps I'm ok with that! I do need to use makeup remover before this because this was certainly not created to remove makeup. Herbalism does have a smell to it and as the name suggests its and herb like smell but it's not over powering or repulsive.

Now as for the Tea Tree Water toner I wasn't as scared as this product as Herbalism. I mean it's a toner, what's to be afraid of? I really like that you can spray it onto your face instead of using a cotton ball to apply it. The reason I like that so much is because I always worry about contaminating my facial care products when I do that. I mean if it's purpose is to kill my acne and I'm putting the acne bacteria into the product that's supposed to kill it that kind of defeats the purpose, ya know? This product does have a smell to it but I don't find it to be strong or gross.

Now as for the way these two products handle my acne I can't give you a 100% clear picture of how they do that because it takes 3 months for you to see if a skin product is really helping. That's how long it takes for the new layer of skin to surface. However, I am seeing that the acne I do have or that pops up doesn't last nearly as long as it usually does. I mean I've had a couple big pimples who decided to make my forehead their new home and when I get big ones like those they're usually there for a week before they show any signs of moving on. Since I started using Herbalism and Tea Tree Water I've noticed that the pimples will start to SERIOUSLY diminish in about 2 days. 2 DAYS! Talk about a major improvement. I am going to continue to use these for 3 months to see if they really do make a difference in my skin and I will check in and let you know how that goes. Be Fearless. Be Beautiful. Be You.

Revlon ColorStay Foundation Review

Ever since my CoverGirl Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation meltdown fiasco, I have really been paying attention to my foundation collection and how each individual product performs. Now over the years I had heard of Revlon ColorStay but I just never really had an interest in buying it and checking it out. Then one day I was out shopping with my mom and I just thought Why not?. I have to say, out of all the drugstore foundations I have ever worn this is buy far the best. I have the best coverage with this, it lasts the longest, and I don't get nearly as oily as I do with other foundations. I do have a small list of cons but they're nothing compared to the list of pros. My small list of cons consists of: lack of pump, the coffee smell, and the fact that it stains my makeup brushes so I have to use disposable sponges to apply it. Honestly, I don't mind the small list of cons because I just adore this foundation and the way it lasts through out the day. I can put this on and not have to worry about it. I don't have to worry about my oily skin that just hates me and loves to ruin a good makeup day. Today for example, I was wearing this foundation and took a bathroom break at work, before returning to the floor I checked my makeup in the mirror. I say that I was ever so slightly shinny so I decided I would go ahead and use one of my Clean and Clear Oil Blotting Sheets to clear up the oil. The amount of oil that was the sheet was not what I expected to see. My face looked far less oily than the sheet revealed I was, talk about a mattifying foundation. When I realized that it made my day :) So if you've been on the fence about trying this foundation because of the price or you don't believe all the hype, get off that fence! Go pick this up now! Be Fearless. Be Beautiful. Be You.

CoverGirl Clean Whipped Foundation Review

I was intreaged by this product for two different reason. The first on being that I love my L'Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle foundation because I think that a creme formula is much easier to work with and I think it's a little more forgive in color matching as well so I was curious to try CoverGirl's cream foundation. Second, I used the CoverGirl's Clean Liquid foundation for Oily Skin several years ago and I was curious how they compared. I thought the Clean Liquid foundation had very little coverage and it was pretty difficult to get out of the packaging. What I like about the Clean Whipped foundation is that it comes in an easy to open pot so I'm not banging my foundation bottle against my hand trying to get product out. I did think that the container was kind of small looking. Not that I'm trying to encourage waste by asking for excessive packaging, I'm just used to seeing whipped foundations in bigger containers. One thing I didn't like about the packaging is the difficulty in finding your shade name. I am usually a classic ivory or some variation of that name, and I know several women look for their shade by name. On the top of the container all you see is a number, in my case it happened to be 310. There is a name on the back of the container, but it's very very small so you really have to look for it. Now as for the foundation itself. I think this is a light to medium coverage foundation. It's very easy to blend and work into the skin. I haven't noticed any excess oil on my skin when I wear this foundation, and I am an oil producing machine lol. I haven't noticed it clinging to any of my dry skin areas or any excessive breakdown through out the day. This foundation can last me through a full 8 to 10 hour work day. Overall I'm pretty pleased with this foundation. I think because of the creme formula and how easy it is to work with, this would be a great foundation for makeup newbies. It also helps that this in on the cheaper end of whipped foundations. I hope this has been helpful! Be Fearless. Be Beautiful. Be You.

CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation Review Redo

Now I know I reviewed this a few months ago raving about how awesome this foundation is, unfortunately I have to retract that statement. I recently started working again and started using this as my daily foundation and I started to notice while at work that this foundation started to disintegrate in my under eye area. Directly under my eye, where my dark circles are, I noticed that it was breaking down my Coastal Scents Bright Eyed concealer, something that had never happened before. It was also making my mascara run. Something I haven't had a problem with since I started using CoverGirl mascara in the waterproof formula (the Clump Crusher is my current love). I also noticed that I was really seeping into my pores. Naturally, I thought I just need to switch out my primer. I tried my Hard Candy primer, my Too Faced Primed and Poreless primer, and even bought the Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro primer to see if that would make a difference. It didn't matter. My concealer was still being broken down and this foundation was still moving into my pores in the most unattractive way. So then I thought maybe it was my evil oily skin playing tricks on me and messing up the wear of my foundation. So I bought a back of the Clean and Clear Oil Blotting Sheets. I would go to the bathroom every hour or so to check my skin and see if it needing to be cleansed of any oil. The foundation still broke down! Now do not get me wrong, I love CoverGirl and I think they have some great products. This is not a slam on CoverGirl at all, this is a slam on this particular product. Now I think that CoverGirl did do a lot right with this product as for as the packaging goes. I love the pump and the fact that you can turn it to control how much product comes out. I also love the clear glass packaging so you can see how much product you have left. However, the formulation of the foundation and I just weren't meant to be. Be Fearless. Be Beautiful Be You.