CoverGirl NatureLuxe Review

                I have another CoverGirl review for you today – I’m going to be giving you my thoughts on the NatureLuxe line.  I’ll start with the foundation, as that is my favorite.

CoverGirl NatureLuxe Foundation

                What CoverGirl says: Redefine natural beauty with our lightweight silk foundation. With a touch of cucumber water and a hint of jojoba and rose hip extracts, our light yet luxurious formula takes heavy weight out of your polished finish. Plus, we’re so sure you’ll love NatureLuxe Silk Foundation, that if you’re not satisfied with the results, we’ll refund your money.

                What I think: This foundation is definitely lightweight and feels silky smooth on your skin.  I can smell the cucumber water, and I think it smells pretty pleasant.  It’s a strong scent, though, so if you’re sensitive to smells, I would try to test it at Ulta before purchasing it.  The finish is very natural, and I’d say it gives light to medium coverage, depending how much you put on.  I like to apply this with my fingers and then dab over it with a sponge to blend it.  This is perfect for spring and summer, when you want to look natural, and it has SPF 10 sunscreen in it, so your skin is partially protected (for full skin protection, I like to wear a moisturizer with SPF under this foundation).  It also stays on all day if you set it with just a little bit of powder, although if you rub at your face with a napkin/tissue, I noticed that it has a tendency to rub off just a bit.  I have the colors Bamboo 315 and Chamois 330.  I didn’t realize that Chamois was so much darker than Bamboo when I chose that color, but I thought it would be a good summer color for when I’m a bit tanner.  Chamois actually seems to match my skin better, though, because it has a cooler undertone, whereas Bamboo seems slightly more orange.

CoverGirl NatureLuxe Gloss Balm

                What CoverGirl says: Get the sheer color and shine of a gloss with the soft, lightweight feel of SPF 15 balm. Fortified with mango and shea butter, this feel-good formula leaves your lips feeling decadent and delicious.

                What I think: Again, this is a perfect summer product because it’s lightweight and provides sun protection.  I have read a lot of reviews on these balms that say they are extremely sheer, so I wasn’t expecting much color payoff.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Cabernet 250 shows up on my skin very similar to the way it looks in the tube.  It is a sheer color, but it provides about as much color as the Korres Lip Butters or the L’Oreal HIP jelly balms, to compare.  As a matter of fact, I’d say it’s somewhere between the two; less moisturizing than Korres but less glossy than L’Oreal.  It’s smooth, not too greasy, not too glossy, and just a nice pop of color to keep things easy and breezy.  The smell is nothing awful and nothing spectacular.  It smells like something familiar that I really can’t place. 

                I used the pictures off of the CoverGirl website because honestly, I’m a bit too lazy to take my own (and really, what’s the use of photographing foundation?). 

Xoxo,

- Hannah

FTC: I received the foundation in Chamois and the gloss balm in Cabernet from BzzAgent for review.  I had previously purchased the foundation in Bamboo with my own money.  All opinions are my own and are completely honest.  I am not being paid by CoverGirl, BzzAgent, or any company to review these items. 

Lush Oatifix Review

                Today’s review is an in-depth look at Lush’s Oatifix face scrub/mask.  I can’t find this on the website, and I assume that is because it’s made fresh and only lasts about three weeks (so by the time you received your package in the mail, it would already be time to throw it out).  However, if you go to your nearest Lush, I’m sure you’ll be able to find this amazing product.

                What is it, exactly?  It’s a paste made out of bananas, oats and vanilla that you put on your face until it’s almost hardened.  Then you rinse it off with warm water, and you’re done!  Easy peasy.  It works as both a scrub and a mask and leaves your skin so unbelievably soft.  It’s for people with dry or sensitive skin, and it’s so moisturizing that I don’t even have to use lotion after I wash my face with it.  If you’ve ever tried a face mask before, you probably know that tight feeling that your skin gets after you wash the mask off.  That doesn’t really happen with this product, because your skin soaks up all of the moisture from the mask. 

                The smell is nice; it smells like bananas, oats, and vanilla, which is what you would expect.  There aren’t any preservatives in it, so like I mentioned it only lasts about three weeks, so I would suggest using it every day until it’s gone.  The guy working at Lush told me that it would only last for about 5 or 6 uses, but I’ve used it four times already and as you can see, half of the tub is still left.  A little goes a long way, and you really don’t need to pile it on for it to work. 

                Another great thing about this mask is the price; it’s only around $5, which is amazing considering the fresh ingredients and how soft it makes my skin feel.  And if you save up five of the little black tubs that it comes in and bring them to Lush once they’re empty, they’ll give you a new face mask for free!   :)

                So tell me what you think.  Have you tried anything from Lush?  What’s your favorite?

Xoxo,

- Hannah

FTC: Lush does not pay me to love them, nor do they give me freebies.  All opinions are 100% honest and are my own.

Products I Regret Buying

                Usually I’m pretty good about researching new beauty products, either by trusting the guidance of Beauty Gurus on YouTube or reading in-depth blog posts complete with swatches and before and after pictures.  But on occasion, I’ll purchase something on a whim and it just doesn’t work for me.  Or I’ll see something that has mixed reviews and decide to try it myself, with disastrous results.  Either way, I’m sure every one of us has a few products that we stash away in the back of our makeup drawers, “just in case” we ever need them for whatever reason, without any intention of actually using them. 

                I’ve compiled a list of products that I regret buying.  I felt that it would be mean to include gifts that I didn’t like, so all of these are things that I actually wasted my own money on.  I cringe to think of all of the good makeup I could buy in place of these.  Nevertheless, I always find videos/blogs like this enjoyable, so I hope you like it!

1.       “Wet & Wild Perfect Pair Eye Wand” – This duo contains a black eyeliner on one side and an eye shadow stick of sorts on the other. The eyeliner is a pretty basic black, and smudges after awhile; nothing fantastic.  The eye shadow stick is a kind of shimmery black like you would use for a smoky eye.  The problem is that it isn’t creamy at all, so it’s very hard to blend onto your eye, and the glitter is chunky and just unattractive. 

2.       “E.l.f Eye Shadow Trio” – This product came in a set of a few other holiday items that I purchased online from e.l.f.   Some of the other products were great, but this eye shadow trio is absolutely awful.  It’s very pigmented, but also super powdery; it’s almost like e.l.f. stuck their loose eye shadow into a palette.  All three colors are also extremely glittery, but it’s not a pretty glitter.  It’s hardcore, chunky, gritty, hurts your eyes glitter that falls all over your face and makes you look like a disco ball.  No thank you.

3.       “Maybelline Fit Me Foundation” – I have a love-hate relationship with this product.  It’s supposed to make you look dewy and luminous, which is does to some extent.  The problem is that I have very dry skin, so it made my normal skin look dewy and my patches of dry skin look cakey and disgusting.  It was even worse when I put powder over it – even the tiniest bit made me look extremely powdering and chalky.  So I tried the foundation without powder, and low and behold, half-way through the day my foundation slid right off my face.  Any time I used a napkin to wipe my mouth, a tissue to blow my nose, or my sleeve to wipe my eyes, all of the foundation in that area came off.  I was very unimpressed with the staying power and the finish. 

4.       “Maybelline The Falsies Mascara” – The reviews I read on this mascara were pretty much exactly half-and-half.  I was part of the half that absolutely hated it.  It didn’t do anything for my lashes except clump them together and make them look fake.  I didn’t see a significant increase in volume, curl, or length.  The brush was weird and made the mascara hard to apply.  I don’t have a picture because I finally threw it away, it was that bad. 

There are some other products that I have really hated in the past, but most of them I gave away to friends who actually like them.  Some products work great for some people and not for others, depending on their skin type, coloring, etc.  Just because I don’t like a product doesn’t mean that it’s a bad product or it wouldn’t work for anyone, it just didn’t work for me.  Also, I love all of the brands that I mentioned, just not those particular products. 

Xoxo,

- Hannah

FTC:  I purchased everything, and I am not being paid by any company.  All opinions are 100% honest and are my own. 

CoverGirl Lip Perfection Review

Hurrah!  My first blog review.  How exciting.  Today I’m going to be reviewing the new CoverGirl Lip Perfection lip sticks.  I went sent two of these from BzzAgent and I loved them so much that I purchased three more, so I have five colors in a variety of shades and finishes. 

                Starting with the texture aspect of this product – the whole line is extremely creamy and glides on smoothly but at the same time, very pigmented.  Two of the colors that I have contain miniscule sparkles or shimmer (sweetheart and rapture) which add a bit of texture but do not take away from the overall creaminess of the lip stick.  Personally I prefer the texture and the finish of the lip sticks that are not shimmery. 

From left to right: sweetheart, dazzle, divine, spellbound, rapture.

                The color payoff/pigmentation of these lip sticks is phenomenal.  They glide on very opaque with just one coat, and they do not settle into lines in your lips (part of the “lip perfection” aspect).  The colors I have are sweetheart, dazzle, divine, spellbound, and rapture. 

Sweetheart is a bright peachy-pink color that is rather hard to describe.  I feel that it’s a little too bright for my skin tone, but it is a very pretty color.  It has shimmer, which I am not fond of, but it’s not overbearing and is less noticeable when paired with a lip gloss. 

 Dazzle is a perfect “my lips but better” color for my skin tone; it’s a medium pink with no shimmer and it’s not as bold as the other colors that I have.  I don’t have much more to say about it, other than it’s probably my favorite color out of the colors that I own. 

Divine looks like a vivid, gorgeous lilac purple, and even comes off in the swatch as mildly violet-colored, but on my lips it’s too pink.  I suppose that makes it more wearable, but I didn’t want a wearable purple – I wanted the color that’s in the tube!  Unfortunately, after it wears off a little, the color turns even more pink and is almost indistinguishable from spellbound.  It’s a pretty color even though I was disappointed in the lack of a blue-hued violet, and you can make it look purpler by adding a purple or blue gloss on top. 

Spellbound is a vivid berry hot-pink that I absolutely love.  It has no shimmer and dries to a slightly shiny but not reflective finish.  It looks beautiful with or without gloss. 

 Rapture might be a little bit out of your comfort zone; it’s a bright orange, and it really does come off as orange on your lips.  I thought I would have some fun with a spring makeup trend, and orange lips are huge on the runway and on celebrities.  The only thing that I dislike about rapture is that it has that pesky shimmer in it. 

                As for the packaging, I love it.  It’s simple and classic, and I love the square shape of the tubes.  Another feature that is amazing is that you can see the actual color of the lip stick on the bottom, so even if you can’t swatch before you buy (which you can’t, at most drugstores) you can see the true color of the product.  I also like that CoverGirl included the name of the color, rather than just the number, on the bottom of the lip stick…in the past, they only included numbers on things such as lip glosses.  

                The staying power of these lip sticks is amazing, and unlike others which dry your lips out, these are actually very moisturizing.  If you don’t like the feel of actual lipstick on your lips, you can apply this, wipe it off, and wear it as a stain, because they do stain your lips very nicely, which I find impressive.  If you want to remove the lipstick and don’t like that it stains, just take a makeup remover wipe and the color comes right off. 

                The smell is pleasant and doesn’t have that bothersome stereotypical “lip stick” taste/smell that many products have.  You know what I mean.  I actually really like the smell of these and do not mind it at all, but it’s not a strong scent so if you don’t like it, it shouldn’t bother you that much. 

                I hope you enjoyed my first review!  Let me know if you have any questions about these lip sticks, or any requests for future reviews!

                xoxo,

                - Hannah

FTC: I was given two of the above lip sticks for free from BzzAgent for review purposes.  I am not being paid by any company to review or use any products mentioned in this blog post.  All opinions are my own and are completely honest. 

New Blog, Not New to Blogging

Hi there, I’m Hannah. I’m new to this blog but not new to blogging. I have always been a writer.  I’ve been writing poems since I was about seven and novels since age ten (granted, none of those early pieces are any good, but I’d like to believe my talent has progressed since then).  I have created this blog to share my opinions about one of my favorite things; makeup.  If this goes well, I’ll probably start a fashion blog as well.  But for now, expect reviews, tips and tricks, and pictures of all things beauty and cosmetics.

Xoxo,

- Hannah