Drugstore Foundation Haul & Question

So over the past few weeks, I've treat myself to a few new drugstore foundations. The Cover Girl one that I really want to try has remained elusive as many of the stores I have gone to don't have the #105 shade in stock or seem to plan to for that matter as it's not a part of the display. Regardless, I have all of these new goodies. Is there a particular foundation you would want me to review first? Remember, I have dry pale skin so I'm curious how some of the matte formulas will perform. Anyone?

What I have at the moment:

• Rimmel Lasting Finish with Comfort Serum Skin Perfecting Foundation in #091 light ivory (also a bit elusive to find)
• Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless in #110 Porcelain 
• New York Color (NYC) BB cream 5 in 1 Skin Perfector #01 Light
• New York Color (NYC) BB cream 5 in 1 Skin Perfector Instant Matte #01 Light
• L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte in #101 Classic Ivory
• Revlon Photoready Insta-Fix in #110 Ivory

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Mascara for Sensitive Eyes/Contact Wearers

My husband indicated that one of his colleagues asked him to ask me about mascara. She is a contact wearer and indicated she needed a waterproof formula for sensitive eyes. I wrote what my husband called a small essay but I thought it was useful information that anyone could use!

Q: JT help! What mascaras would you recommend for sensitive-eyed contact lens wearers that prefer waterproof formulas?

I'm not sure what price point you are looking at, but you have a few options. First of all, anything that is "waterproof" is going to have not so nice ingredients in it which may cause eye irritation if yours are particularly sensitive. If it's only the contacts you are concerned about, you are likely more worried about flaking (which can occur with any mascara and especially drier formulas or tubes that have dried out).

If your eyes are sensitive, I would recommend Neutrogena Healthy Volume mascara. Fairly inexpensive at the drugstore and the Neutrogena line in general is known for putting out products that aren't nearly as irritating as some of the more standard lines. A few years ago, I had a bad case of tearing eyes and this didn't add extra irritation.

If you have some money to spend, I would recommend tubing mascaras. They coat the lashes in a coil and are easily removed with warm water and gentle pressure. One of the more popular ones is Blinc (which you can get at Sephora). A plus, if it doesn't work for you, you can easily return it (same for the Neutrogena at CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens).

If you get flaking, you may need to replace your mascara more often. The recommended time frame is generally 3-6 months depending on the formula. Another thing I want to mention is removal. If you aren't removing all of your mascara, it can lead to irritation, especially if specks get in your eyes overnight. I would highly recommend an oil-based cleanser just to ensure you are getting every bit of mascara off. Even the most sensitive eye friendly mascaras will cause irritation if they aren't thoroughly removed.

Agree or disagree? If you have any additional tips for my husband's coworker, I can always follow up!

JT Asks: Giveaways & Widgets

As the blogging world has gotten fairly saturated with beauty blogs and also contests & giveaways, I'm curious to hear how you feel about them in general. My last few giveaways haven't gotten a great response or a large number of entries. Was it because of the contest widgets? Were the sponsored giveaways too intensive with too many demands (I'll be honest, I kind of thought so myself)? Were you not interested in what I was giving away? Are you simply over blog giveaways?

If I were to hold a giveaway in the upcoming weeks, what would you want to win?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

JT Asks: Link Loves Results

Thanks to everyone that took the little survey from my last JT Asks post. Instead of keeping the results of the survey to myself, I thought I would share the results with you all.





The responses were as follows:
I hate them!                                       6
I scan over them and don't read them 11
I have no real opinion of them            4
I love them! The more the better!       5
They help me find new blogs to read 19

For the negative/positive/neutral chart, I grouped the positive responses into "I love them! The more the better!" and "They help me find new blogs to read". Negative responses were "I scan over them and don't read them" and "I hate them!".

Most respondents only selected one option, 6 respondents selected more than one options.

I had a total of 38 participants; however, I'm fairly sure that google forms allows you to enter something twice so there could definitely be a margin of error with the results.

Basically, the conclusion is the grand majority of people like link loves. This actually surprised me from a blogging standpoint. I've stopped participating in the Beauty Blog Link Love just because it would almost pain me to post the long list on my blog. When it was smaller, there was a sense of community and I actually followed most if not all of my fellow link love posters. Now it just seems too big and mechanical to me. Just with any other extracurricular (if you will), I think stopping when it stops being fun is a good way to operate.

I've tossed the idea around of starting my own link love but until that comes to fruition, I won't be posting anymore in the near future.

Did the results from my survey surprise you? I'd love to keep an open dialogue regarding these issues.

Intense Debate Has Landed

If you've gone to comment on Jeweled Thumb in the last couple of days, I assume you already know what's been changed. I decided to install Intense Debate on Jeweled Thumb and Comment Luv! It's easier to track and it doesn't require you to check back should you want to see my individual response to you and the best part is if you use Comment Luv, it will post your most recent blog post if you're a blogger! More love to go around is always good.

I love to hear your thoughts so don't hesitate to post a comment, good or bad. I want to make sure the content on here is of interest. Any brands or products you want me to review (within reason)? What kind of giveaways do you guys want to see? I'm all ears.

JT Asks: Link Loves

I've been wanting to ask you all this question for awhile. How do you feel about link loves? Is there a better way to have them rather than lists of links? Do you dislike more than one a week? Or how many is acceptable to you? I'd love to hear your throughts and I've attached a quick poll below. Feel free to write more in a comment.

JT Asks: Press Releases?

Readers, I want to know your thoughts regarding press releases and posting them on Jeweled Thumb. I know as a blog reader myself, it can get a little boring seeing the same press release on several blogs you read and of course they all seem to be posted the same day. As much as I love looking at photos of new pretty makeup or nail polish, seeing the same picture multiple times is annoying and I'm likely to skip over those posts. Also, I have a bit of a moral issue with posting about products I've never used myself on here, even if it looks new or exciting. So I want to hear your thoughts? Are you pro release or not?

In Which I Ask You For Help

I appreciate all of you who read Jeweled Thumb for reviews, swatches and other rambles but I don't have all the answers (obviously). So as much as I love the La Roche Posay Cleansing Gel and a whole host of other products to remove my makeup, sometimes a girl has got to pare down. And in this case I'm not talking about my makeup stash. What I am looking for is something, or shall I say, one thing (!) to remove my makeup.

My wishlist:
Something that removes face makeup and waterproof mascara, something in a state other than liquid form and something that doesn't burn my eyes! Oh and not irritating my sensitive skin is another plus.

I was eyeing the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. Has anyone tried this? I also recently tested the Estee Lauder briefly at the counter and it at least did a good job of removing the makeup on my hand. Have any other suggestions?

I know many of you like cleansing oils, but I need something I can wipe on and take off easily that isn't so liquidy and messy!

Hot For Fall? Or Fail?

I'm not sure what the editors over at Sephora were thinking when they said "texture" (see middle picture) would be in for fall. On the catwalk, maybe, but who actually wants to look like they smeared something resembling crusty eyeshadow on their eyes?

What are your thoughts? Would you consider wearing this out of the house?

Question: Color Limits

Do you have any colors that you won't wear out of the house? That you may apply for fun but then blot down to a stain or off entirely?

For me it is 'true' reds. I say true, because I'll wear deep berries out of the house no problem but once you get a red on me, I always feel it's a bit 'too much'. I also am very hesitant to wear anything that remotely looks fuschia out of the house (including brighter pinks). It's not unusual for certain colors to turn on me since my lips are pigmented and fuschia screams 80s to me in a bad way!

Makeup On The Move

On the train on my way to work this morning, I was sitting next to a lady that started applying her makeup. She whipped out her cosmetic mirror and some sort of moisturizer (maybe tinted? I didn't recognize the tube). Then she went right to lips, pulling out some Carmex in a pot first and then something else I recognized! Lola lipstick (who could miss the cute tube?)! It was nearly down to a little nub. Interesting how the non-makeup obsessed actually use things up, huh? She then proceeded to apply some lipliner. At that point I had to get off the train so I don't know if she did her eyes next (hope she didn't hurt herself).

Have you ever watched (out of the corner of your eye of course) someone apply makeup on public transportation (of even in their car driving - bad - don't do this!). Did you recognize any products?

Do you yourself apply your makeup on the way to school or work?

Personally, I'm a bit clumsy so I'd probably drop everything or poke my eyes out. The only thing I do is maybe reapply the lip product that I'm wearing that day or some lotion for my hands. I also like good lighting when I do my makeup and an overcrowded train on a dreary rainy day (like today) doesn't quite provide that.