Review: L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte in #101 Classic Ivory

(warning! This is a long one)

Based on the preliminary results from my foundation haul post on reviewing what I had picked up recently, I decided to start with the L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte in #101 Classic Ivory. If you've been reading Jeweled Thumb for any length of time, you should know that I have dry skin, so I wasn't sure how this would work for me. Granted, a lot of the reviews that were coming out were getting raves from both dry skin and oily skin girls alike so I thought I'd give it a try.

The other thing you probably know already is I have pale skin, which can sometimes be an issue when finding a color match, especially at the drugstore in high end brands too sometimes). Surprisingly, #101 Classic Ivory is a fairly good match for my skin; it seems to be just neutral enough to not go yellow or pink and it doesn't oxidize on me (though your mileage may vary). Keep in mind that some of the pictures below are in extremely yellow lighting.

The L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte in #101 Classic Ivory retails for around $12.99 (per the L'Oreal website) but as with most drugstore products, the price may vary by store and/or location and sales and coupons may impact the price at some stores. I don't recall how much I paid, but I think it was around the $10 mark.

L'Oreal claims the following:

Achieve a matte finish that won’t fall flat with this air-light, longwearing liquid formula. Lightweight and creamy, foundation goes on smooth with a demi-matte finish that lasts up to 24 hours—hiding imperfections for a smooth, clear complexion.

The website says to "use fingers or your favorite makeup brush" to apply, but the bottle says to "smooth onto skin in rolling motion for flawless coverage" but doesn't specify a tool.

I've tried this foundation twice using various methods and neither produce the look I tend to go for. What I get is a fairly flat matte look if I attempt to build it up to cover blemishes, pigmentation or redness, and even on areas that are clear, I get a dry flaky matte look. My skin doesn't produce a lot of natural oils, but the only time it starts looking decent is around hour 5 (and only with my 2nd attempt; my first attempt was done when I was out and about and seemed to look worse and worse).

First Try 3/8/2015
My initial attempt included first washing my face with my eve lom cleansing balm and really letting it sink in, almost like a hydrating mask, before removing it with a slightly steamy muslin cloth. I patted my face dry and applied a hydrating moisturizer (Eclos Moisture Therapy Regenerative Cream - PR sample) and an oil (Palmer's Cocoa Butter Oil for Face). Then I let those sink in (see - I really tried!). I didn't use a primer because usually I don't need one after pampering my face so well. I used a moistened beauty blender to bounce the product onto my face. I was surprised that it was light in texture and I was impressed with the color match. Bounce pounce bounce pounce. I built it up to a reasonable medium coverage before putting my glasses back on and checking myself out in the mirror. No good. So then I sprayed my face with the shu uemura Depsea Water Facial Mist and waited a few seconds to see if it did anything. Not really, but I had to leave the house so I sprayed myself with my Urban Decay setting spray.

After all of that, this is what I was left with (granted, these were the worst looking areas and if you stepped back, my skin looked a little dry, but not horrible).

Review: Wet n Wild Coverall Cream Foundation and Pressed Powder

Yesterday, I made the mistake of leaving my makeup bag at home. I tend to do my makeup in my car in the garage when I get to work. Usually, I do a semi-full face but I figured I would at least grab some foundation and powder. I swung by CVS and picked up the Wet n Wild Coverall Cream Foundation and Pressed Powder which have been getting amazing reviews given the extremely reasonable price point. I picked up the lightest shades in each #816 Fair/Light in the cream and #823B Light/Pale in the powder. For reference, the cream foundation cost me $4.19 and the powder was $3.19. I'm pretty sure prices will depend on your region.

I was pleased with the coverage it was giving upon application. It easily spread on my dry face with fingers. It was slightly tacky but it didn't appear to cling to dry bits. All in all, I was pleased, until I walked over into sunlight and noticed a huge orange streak down the side of my cheek.

I had heard of girls that had similar skin tones using this foundation, but they must have been exaggerating their paleness or I got a bad batch or something. Because, this is not pale. Granted, my hand is slightly more pasty than my face, but I saw the line down my jaw and my cheek and I was not thrilled. Thankfully, the powder is actually light and I managed to apply a healthy dose of it to make things look less orange.

Yup, it's that barely visible swatch on my hand. That is what I call light.

Granted, the cream foundation not only had amazing coverage, but lasted all day (aside from the bit on my nose due to constant blowing - allergies!). But I wish this came in a lighter shade. I'll be returning the cream foundation and keeping the powder. It's super slim and the perfect purse size.

Have you tried the Wet n Wild Coverall Cream Foundation or Pressed Powder? 

For reference, I'm about a NW10 in MAC.

Review: Organix Hydrating Moroccan Argan Oil Creamy Oil Body Lotion

Organix was one of the first drugstore ranges to introduce ingredients that were getting a lot of buzz in the beauty world, perhaps the most popular being argan oil. I've often passed by the range but I happened upon a good coupon at CVS and purchased the Hydrating Moroccan Argan Oil Creamy Oil Body Lotion. I'm very particular when it comes to body lotions as I tend to steer clear of heavy, sticky or greasy options, unless I know that I can pull on a pair of sweats and let the moisture really sink in. My biggest pet peeve is putting on lotion after an evening shower and getting into bed with legs that stick to the sheets. I gather that my husband generally isn't pleased with perfumed sheets either. The Organix Hydrating Moroccan Argan Oil Cream Oil Body Lotion comes in a 13floz squeeze bottle and retails for a very reasonable $6.99. It has a light slightly fruity floral scent, actually I picked up a hint of something resembling anise which isn't my favorite, but it's far from overpowering. Some of the reviews I read online indicated that the scent is quite strong - obviously those ladies have never tried The Body Shop lotions or any other fragranced products!

Either way, I have been pleasantly surprised with this lotion. Lightly scented and it sinks in very quickly and doesn't leave a sticky residue. This is great for showering in the evening and also anytime it's slightly warm. I've quite enjoyed using my bottle and would repurchase.

Review: Cover Girl Advanced Radiance Age Defying Makeup with Olay #105 Ivory

I don't recall why I picked out this foundation at the drugstore. The Cover Girl Advanced Radiance Age Defying Makeup SPF 10 comes in an attractive plastic pump bottle. It retails for about $13 at local drugstore (less at places like Target and Walmart). I picked up the lightest shade in the range, #105 Ivory. You can probably tell from the bottle shot above that this is nowhere near pale.

So even though there's a fairly hydrating ingredient towards the top of the list (glycerin), this baby is chocked full of silicones. I immensely dislike foundations with tons of silicones (some I can handle) but this has dimethicone crosspolymer, some other special dimethicone with some numbers (sorry, I'm not a chemist by any means), regular dimethicone, methicone, another special dimethicone with different numbers... whew. Basically, this is a story of me picking a foundation without reading the back, likely carrying too many things in my hands and feeling rushed.

So even though the color is all wrong and the ingredients kind of scared me, how did this perform? If you need absolutely no coverage and want to use this as a base for your makeup with a tint, then it's fine. You can see it blended in on the right side of my hand. It slightly cancels out the redness in my hand and doesn't look obviously dark and off. I'd liken this to something like Origins Vitazing though I've never tried it.

If you want a foundation that actually covers anything, then you're going to have a problem. The above is my attempt at a second layer. First of all, it doesn't smooth over the first layer easily, it cakes up and goes all patchy. And of course, you can start to see just how yellow and off the foundation is for me (though my hand is a bit more pasty than my face). It's just all wrong. I've been battling some "time off the month" breakouts and this made my face look horrible. When I went to ""blend"" (major air quotes there), it kind of mushed the product around. It just wasn't attractive.

Basically, it looked like I had applied something on my face, but I hadn't applied foundation, if that makes any sense because it didn't cover anything but you could definitely see it! So unfortunate.

So, if you like silicone primers and you want one with some kick or you have perfect skin and shouldn't be wearing a mask of silicone anyway (but that's just my opinion) maybe you would like to try this? At close to $15 with tax, it's on the pricey side.

I returned mine thanks to the awesome CVS Beauty Guarantee. Sorry Cover Girl. This was not easy nor breezy.

Drugstore Sightings: Physicians Formula Youthful Wear

 *edit* The Youthful Wear powder also comes in a matte variety - don't feel as though they limited the range if you don't prefer dewy products - although to be fair, this is one of the most subtle highlighting powders, I've seen.

If you have the misfortune of being up when I normally get to work, you saw a photo of these products that I snapped with my iPhone and tweeted already. If not, I found a new display this morning, the new Physicians Formula Youthful Wear line. I picked up the foundation and the powder to test out. Physicians Formula is Buy1Get150% and at CVS it is a participating item in the buy $30 get a $10 CVS cash card, and of course you can see the "try me free" sticker above and the powder came with a $3 off sticker attached to it. New
products for close to free? I was all over that.

The line promises that you can look up to 10 years younger, instantly. This isn't necessarily something I am worried about at my age but products for more mature skin tend to be better for us drier gals so I was pretty excited. I picked up the Youthful Wear Cosmeceutical Youth-Boosting Foundation and Brush and the Youthful Wear Cosmeceutical Youth-Boosting Powder. There is also an under eye concealer/treatment in the line which I think I'll be picking up tomorrow. The packaging is super cute. Everything is a metallic purple and it reminds me of the other newer lines in the range. The foundation tube looks similar to the Cover Girl Natureluxe foundation. I hope the formulas aren't similar as the Cover Girl oxidized horribly on me!

I picked up the foundation in the shade Fair. It comes with a foundation brush which I won't likely use. It's a squeezey tube and holds the standard 1oz of product.

The swatch looks a bit yellow.

It seems to blend in ok, but you can probably see a slightly yellow cast.

Now the star of the show. The pressed powder promises an illuminating finish. Honestly, this appears to be a perfect highlighter! I wouldn't wear this all over. It is silky smooth, super soft and finely milled and blends like a dream though I haven't actually worn it for a full day.

It's just glowy enough to be a good highlight without being crazy glitter-bomb or chunky glitter like some of the MAC Mineralized Skin Finishes.

Super cute packaging as I mentioned.

Can you see the refined glow? Ignore the other swatches (the black stuff is remnants of the Laura Geller eye liners I swatched ages ago - that's 2 showers and multiple hand washings people). Anyway, this is the way my ideal highlighter would look cause it's very hard to mess up and doesn't accentuate fine lines or pores. Granted, the Physicians Formula line is not exactly inexpensive. If I remember correctly and I best find my receipt so I can submit my freebie for the foundation, the foundation was $15 and the powder $14 which is a bit ridiculous all things considered but with the BOGO50% deal, the CVS Cash Card and the freebie/$3 off stickers, it's brings the price down considerably.

As I mentioned I haven't really worn these products but I'll keep you updated. My guess is I'm not going to be a fan of the foundation as it's loaded with silicones. The powder on the other hand, seems perfect.

Have you spotted these yet? It's a bit disturbing how excited I get when I spot new drugstore products!

Review: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer

What a mouthful, right? I picked up the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer last week to try out in Fair. The concealer cost me $10.50 at a local-to-me CVS which honestly is pretty crazy for a drugstore concealer. I haven't tried the eraser foundation, mostly because those spongy tips drive me nuts especially if I'm going to be using them over breakouts. With this going around the eyes, I was less worried about harboring anymore bacteria than it was already going to.

Packaging besides the weird tip is pretty standard. I actually was surprised on how small it is, the promo pics make it appear much larger (or really longer) than it is.

Aside from the whole bacteria issue, the sponge tip is pretty cool. As with most products like this, you twist the little red thing below the sponge to wind the product up. 

Maybelline claims this "Erases dark circles, puffiness and fine lines."

Those are pretty extensive claims for a concealer. I can see it erasing the dark circles, but can you really erase puffiness? Anyway...

I wore this for about 3 days when temperatures were reaching 105 with higher heat indexes. I found this lasted throughout the whole day up till taking my makeup off at night 12+ hours later.

I also found it very pigmented. Very little needed is for application and so the sponge tip can go both ways. Either you twist very little but it's more than enough to cover your eye area or you twist too much and have to rub the excess off on a paper towel. The sponge tip does make application easy. It isn't streaky and is maybe a hair too large for the under eye area if you have deeper set eyes but should work for most people.

My problems with this were two-fold.
1. As evidenced by the sponge tip, this dries a whole lot darker than it is when you first apply it. The Fair color works great in theory, till it dries. It's not super dark or super orange but just enough so for me to notice it on my skin (in the summer no less when I am slightly less pasty than normal) which bugs me.

2. It lasts a long time but it is very drying. It starts flaking about an hour after I put it on and it feels tight and uncomfortable. It's not as though you can really tell from far away but then again, for $10.50, I expect more.

Whether it lives up to the treatment claims is unknown for me, mostly because I returned this already and I didn't use it enough to see any change in my under eye area. I definitely get more results with the Garnier and that feels so wonderful and cool going on.

So I would definitely not repurchase and I already got my money back (thanks to the CVS awesome beauty return policy).

And a quick recommendation, you know how fashion bloggers say to "size up" or "size down". I would recommend getting a shade lighter and "sizing down" than you would expect to need especially if you like to buy eye concealers slightly lighter than your foundation color for a brightening effect.

Have you tried this yet? What were your thoughts?

Essence Blossoms Etc...

I was in ULTA today perusing around and trying to come up with an item to use my 20% off coupon on and also get 5x the points on and found this: Essence Blossoms etc...

As many of you likely know, the German brand Essence made its way into the US and specifically ULTA stores. The price point is pretty nice. Most products are in the $1-$4 range and their limited edition collections occasionally reach US shores.

I admit, the thought of Essence making a decent scent didn't seem likely but I gave this a spray and then walked around the store while it settled.


I'm not the biggest fan of floral scents, but this doesn't give me a headache and reminded me of something but I couldn't quite place my finger on while in the store.

When I got home, I sniffed quite a few fragrance, Viva La Juicy being one of them and while it's not a dupe, it is very close. And a shocking revelation, my husband actually liked this!

Blossoms etc. is pretty sweet and slightly fruity but has quite a strong violet note to it. I also smell something almost fizzy like it was spiked with fruity Champagne. It has a very slight powdery notes but manages to stay pretty nice and fresh. And whatever floral note gives me a headache, this one doesn't. I have both this and Viva La Juicy on my arm and they meld together very nicely and I think it'll be fantastic layered with vanillas.
And it's only $9.99, $8 with my 20% off coupon.

Another plus, I find the packaging, box, bottle etc. absolutely adorable.

Holy Pigment Batman (A Review)

I've heard tons of raves over the new Revlon Colorburst glosses. The wand, the formula, the wand. Ok, really I've heard a lot about the cool wand. I stopped by CVS after work for a soda and peeked around the cosmetic area, big mistake, huge mistake (anyone get that reference?). Anyway, I saw the new Colorburst glosses and picked one up to try.

I decided to be daring and picked the fire engine red, well-named "Fire". Fire indeed. You see, waking up at 5am may have twisted my mind and I was tired. I was obviously not thinking.

Great, job genius.

Before I go any further, I'm going to share an important tidbit of information, well maybe more than one. First of all, this color looked like a blue-based red pulling fuchsia in my car driving home today when the sun was out when I sloppily and stupidly applied it on my commute home (now it looks warmer and more like a juicy tomato). Two, don't apply this gloss while driving. It needs a mirror and possibly a lip liner and separate brush. I found the "cool" applicator far too large and much harder to control which made this difficult to apply. It also applied color and then while blending it out, took color away and made the application a bit patchy.

Like an idiot, I did not take pictures after parking my car but I have some yellow-ish lighting ones to share. But I swear, this is a completely different color (a bit more flattering on my complexion anyway) in natural light but I'm not sure I can pull this off. I have enough reds that I rarely wear as it is. I might be returning this.

Wow, look at the lips and not the skin, please!

Fire blotted. Much better but not enough to keep I think.

Well, if you need a glossy red, here's your girl.

New Drugstore Products

I stopped by a Rite Aid I never go to. The parking lot was nearly empty and the beauty section was huge! Hardly anything was missing from the displays and I got a few shots of some new (to me) products. Now, it goes without saying the fabulous Nouveau Cheap has probably already showcased all of these products on her wonderful blog, but I was so excited to see new products, that I snapped some photos. Sorry for any fuzziness, I have the worlds most shakiest hands.

NYC has jumped on the lipstain marker bandwagon! The back row is all lipstain markers, "16 hour kissable color" and in the front are lipglosses. Quite a nice color range. I didn't pick them up to try but the markers are $4.99 and the lipglosses in front are $2.99. There's a little disclaimer at the bottom saying that the 16 hour claim is only for the lipstain markers. I thought that was kind of funny.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Compact SPF 55, the amount of SPF in this product is kind of mind blowing for a cream foundation (and Neutrogena doesn't let you forget it since they say, "most powerful level of UVA-UVB protection available in a compact". I've never seen something like this at a place like Sephora, let alone the drugstore! Not the greatest shade selection but then again Neutrogena tends to cater towards light to medium skintones. This retails for $13.99. Promises lightweight coverage and a non greasy formula, I guess it's cream to powder then? Contains the same kind of SPF (helioplex) as their liquidy sunscreen I reviewed here.

Physicians Formula has come out out with quite a few new products (new cream liners in metallic shades which Olivia - who by the way is one of my favorite people ever - reviewed here) and a host of other things. The thing that my eye gravitated to was the cutesy Valentine's Day powder, called Happy Booster. Everyone say Awwwwww! Obviously it makes you glow like you are in a love. The price kills that blissful moment as the powder retails for $13.95 but it is so pretty and it has a $3 coupon on it and PF should go on sale before these sell out.

And now we have more and more brands making Minx manicure dupes...

Sally Hansen for $9.79 has an impressive array of colors & patterns, but for nearly $10 you may as well get the ones from Sephora are only $15.

And then Broadway nails has come out with four different faux minx sets except these are only $5.49 and there's a $1 sticker on the display.

Do any of these new things catch your eye? I think I'm definitely going to try the new NYC lipstain markers when NYC goes on sale.

Also at Rite Aid, I saw little signs indicating some cosmetic brands gave you $20 in rebates if you were to spend $100. I'm going to look into this further as Rite Aid had the same deal last year with L'Oreal. It would be super amazing if you could combine brands towards the $100.

Review: Milani Buzz Worthy Lip Gloss in Bee Rich 03

I'm sure many of us pick things up on sale or clearance that we've never tried, never heard about and generally are reluctant to purchase but the price tips us over the edge. Or in this case, we (I) had a coupon to get so much money off the purchase of Milani products at CVS and this got me to that dollar amount.

Either way, the Buzz Worthy glosses were something I hadn't heard any buzz about (haha so funny). And although I'm not 100% sure that this line of glosses is getting discontinued, they are currently 75% off at CVS making them extremely affordable. For what it's worth, the product is still on the Milani website:

Lips will gleam with this extraordinary high shine, deliciously fragranced lip gloss that delivers a smooth and precise application with its easy to use slanted tip applicator. For moisturized and smooth lips, this gloss was formulated with Honey Extracts, Cranberry Seed Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil and enriched with Vitamins A & E. Available in 9 nourishing shades.

NET WT 0.17 OZ/4.86g

I picked up the shade Bee Rich which is a sheer red with no glitter/shimmer (the other shades in the line, aside from a clear seemed very glittery).

The applicator is kind of cool looking. It's a slant tip but also very long. The tube itself is fairly simple though the metallic accents are kind of nice and not over the top. The coloring changes with each gloss color. Obviously, since this one is red, it has metallic red accents.

The gloss itself is kind of a gel texture. It's kind of sticky upon application but is not sticky on the lips. I was surprised actually to find it rather moisturizing (my guess is all the vitamins added do help a bit). And guys the smell of this is awesome. It smells exactly like watermelon jolly ranchers and it's quite strong. Thankfully, I love the smell of that artificial watermelon, but if you don't, you might want to pass on these even though the gloss is pretty excellent for the price.

The lowest swatch is blended out and the top is layered a bit. Since this isn't goopy or especially runny, you should be able to get away with building it up to a nice juicy red. I prefer just a thin layer to add some shine and tiny bit of color to my lips.

Have you tried this line and thought it "buzz worthy"?

Amazing Rite Aid Deal

So, here's a departure from the usual sale deals that I post, Rite Aid (not CVS this time, aren't you non-CVS-ers happy? I know you are!). So even though the Physician's Formula deal is kind of weird this week, buy 1 get 1 free but only bronzers, there is an awesome deal if you manage to snag the special packaging. You see, there is a special display of bronzers all of which have $5 off stickers on them and if you buy 2 with these special stickers you can get Physicians Formula bronzers for a measly $2 each ($10 off plus the BOGO)! Now, even if you can't find ones with the $5 off stickers there are still some $3 off stickers and "get this free with mail in rebate" tags which are also awesome. And as a last resort there are $1 off coupons in the paper.

Rite Aid Paid Me To Shop Today

How? Well, I'm sure some of you drugstore divas are aware of the "drugstore game". Basically, with a mixture of coupons, sales and rebates, you can either break even (get things free) or even make money on drugstore purchases. I've often mentioned that before I entered the beauty blog world, I was a big fan of the budget blog world. Ladies (and some men) all over the country posted the best deals, coupon match ups, etc. Between work, school and Jeweled Thumb, I don't have the time to devote to finding the very best deals, but at the supermarket I aim for 50% or more savings between sales and coupons and often I succeed.

Anyway, while the Rite Aid circular might not look super exciting for this week, it is if you have the proper coupon match ups.

Almay eye makeup is buy 1 get 1 free
Cover Girl makeup is buy 1 get 1 free
Various Proctor & Gamble (PG) products are on sale and you can get a $10 Rite Aid gift card when you buy $30 worth of products

Let's start with Almay,
Almay has some new eye sets that I've been wanting to try priced at $7.49 each
Because Almay eye makeup is on sale this week, I got 2 sets for $7.49
In recent papers there have been $1/1 and $2/1 coupons. Since you have 2 different items, you can use both!
Of course I used both of them.
That brings the price down to $4.49 for both products
And this month there is a $5 rebate when you buy 2 Almay products.
Rite Aid/Almay is ultimately paying me 51 cents to bring these 2 items home with me!

Then Cover Girl,
This one is fairly easy and a warning that it might not work at all locations.
Cover Girl makeup is buy 1 get 1 free.
There was a coupon in last month's PG insert for Cover Girl BOGO face makeup
Combine that with the BOGO weekly deal and you may be able to walk away with 2 free foundations or powder.
I picked up 2 of the new Clean Makeup for sensitive skin to try, for free!

Just two of many deals you can get at Rite Aid this week. Some of them don't involve makeup so I didn't break them down. The PG gift card deal is great if you need tampons, DayQuil and other not so exciting stuff.

It's a Bird It's a Plane It's New Wet n Wild!

I've been hinting both here and on twitter (if you aren't following me yet, you should) that I scored big at Rite Aid yesterday. Since my grad class is turning out to be one of those frustrating mind numbing ones (in a word, accounting), I didn't have the energy or brain power to do this post last night, but I've been dying to show you all what I scored. Since Nouveau Cheap tempts me so with all the new drugstore collections and my neighborhood Rite Aid doesn't seem to get or put out new collections, I hit up the Rite Aid near work in hopes of finding something. Well, color me surprised when I found not only part of the new collection, but the Craze nail colors that everyone has been raving about for months in the permanent display! Considering that Wet N Wild is 40% off at Rite Aid this week (sale ends on Saturday) now was the perfect time to haul everything I've had my eyes on (and there's even a $2 rebate at Rite Aid). In my excitement, I totally forgot about the coupons that I had from the holiday palettes, but I think I may just go back tomorrow!

 

I grabbed the very last 3 eyeshadow palettes in the temporary display: Vanity #249, Lust #248 & Greed #246 - regular retail is $4.99 but I only paid $2.99 with the sale price!

New Megalast nail colors: Through The Grapevine #208A, Disturbia #217 & Candy-licious - These were the only ones left in the temporary display so I grabbed them! Regular retail is $1.99, I paid $1.19 on sale.

 

Craze nail color. I was so so so psyched to see these that I grabbed every color that they have in stock! I believe I'm only missing the bright green one, Jade. Regular retail is $1.99 and I paid $1.19 on sale. 

The only thing that I'm a little surprised with is the size of these suckers. Granted, I don't think I will ever use up a polish but these things are tiny. The Megalast colors are only .3oz and the Craze are .34oz - most standard bottles are usually 1/2oz. Here the bottles are lined up next to a Borghese bottle, which is .4oz.

 

Not to put a fine point on it, but anyone remember when Wet N Wild polishes and most of the color products were 3/$1 on sale? My mom used to treat me when we had to make a quick stop at the drugstore and I would almost always pick out sparkly nail polish or lip balm. Ah, the memories. I'm assuming milk was also a lot cheaper in the late 80s/early 90s, and gas and all non-sparkly things, but kids don't really think about that stuff, huh?

Anyway, you think I stopped there? Ha! Well, I noticed Revlon was on sale BOGO AND they actually had the Ivory Photoready that I've been dying to try. Because I wanted something the same price to get the best deal possible, I picked up one of the new Age Defying Face Illuminators (pink light #20). I have no idea how this is. It might suck but there will be a review either way shortly. Both retail for $13.99 which is getting rather high for drugstore, don't you think?

So there you have it, my awesome haul. Reviews forthcoming!

Review: Revlon PhotoReady Makeup #002

Even though I'd been holding out for the #001 Ivory shade which Relvon hasn't distributed a lot of bottles of (and excluded it from the cardboard display), CVS is having a sale this week. Photoready is on sale for $9.99 a bottle and you get $5 Extrabucks back. I also used a $1 off manufacturers coupon, bringing the final cost down to $3.99. Well for that price, I was going to take my chances with #002 Vanilla.

Before I get really into it, this is not what I would consider a thorough review. I haven't done a full application of the product on my face because I know it won't look all that great. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on #001 so I can really test this stuff out. For now you get some thoughts on the bottle and swatches.

 

I am super pumped (hahaha) that they put a pump on this bottle. Not only is it a lot more sanitary, but it keeps you from spilling the product. Let's just say at 5am I am not what you would call coordinated and without my glasses I might as well be blind. Pumps are a good thing!

I had suspected that this shade would pull a bit too yellow for me, but you really can't tell until you squeeze a little out and check. It kind of actually looks neutral in the bottle, but on the hand is a different story.

 

The foundation itself is a little runny, you can kind of see the larger swatch starting to slide down my hand. It's not runny enough that it causes an issue during application (it's not like shampoo in the shower) but it is something to note.

 

swatch pictures were taken in natural light

This picture shows the original larger swatch on the left (you can see it's starting to drip down my hand) and the rubbed in dot on the right. I wouldn't say this is an awful match, but it is too yellow for me. Slightly warmer girls might have better luck.

I hope this helps someone and if you have seen any #001 shades please let me know where you discovered it! I really want to try this stuff.

Review: Physicians Formula Organic Wear Eyeliner

I've always been a bit curious regarding the Physicians Formula (PF) Organic line but never wanted to fork over the cash for some of the products. But that all changed when they went on clearance (wow, I sound so cheap). The fact that the products are free of harsh chemicals, parabens and synthetic preservates sounded very appealing since I have extremely sensitive skin (and eyes for that matter).

The Organic Wear eyeliners are usually around $8 though with the 75% off and a $2 off coupon I didn't pay anything. They come in 3 colors: Black Night, Black Woods and Black Olive. I'm reviewing the Black Night version, a deep matte black.

I must say for being an eco-friendly line, they sure do use a whole lot of packaging for these little pencils. I understand it helps with possible tampering but did they really need the huge box? Anyway, back to the review.

 

  

I'm not sure I had any expectations for this product. The PF line seems to have a lot of hit or misses and I seldomly have good luck with drugstore line pencils (though I do like the 24/7 knockoffs from L'Oreal/HIP). I went ahead and swatched the pencils on my skin and then performed the smudge test.

Surprisingly enough the pencil is well pigmented. The first swatch is me drawing and filling in the lines with the product. The second is a rather swift stroke down my hand and the third is drawing a bit more slowly with slightly more force but nothing extreme. The pencil is creamy and does not feel very waxy.

 

After the swatch test any good thoughts I had about these pencils quickly dissolved (haha get it?). Smear city. This was 2 or 3 swipes back and forth. However, after wiping the pencil away completely, I noticed something.

 

There was still pencil left on my hand which led me to believe that these would be excellent water line pencils. Creamy so they don't irritate during application, check. Some remains after "removal", check. Non irritating ingredients perfect for sensitive eyes like mine, check. 

And I even took a picture of my eyes after having this on my waterline for an hour (I know that's not terribly long but I'll give another update before I go to bed). Now granted, I'm not wearing any makeup other than the liner so be nice, please (and I need to do my brows badly). But it is very dark and really a great product for the waterline. I doubt it would perform on the upper lid due to the creamy texture.

So am I glad I picked this up? Actually, yes. Even though it's limited in what you can use it for, it's going to prove to be a useful product for me and for even $2 without the coupon on sale, it's worthy of a pick up.

Here is the ingredient list from the PF website (I apologize for the caps - I didn't do that):

INGREDIENTS: SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL *, BEESWAX *, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE -2, CAPRYLIC / CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX*, SQUALANE, MICA, OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) FRUIT OIL *, GLYCINE SOJA (SOYBEAN) OIL *, TOCOPHEROL, MAY CONTAIN: IRON OXIDES, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, FERRIC AMMONIUM FERROCYANIDE. *PRODUCED FROM ORGANIC FARMING.