Saturday, April 29, 2017

April BoxyCharm Unboxing

Hey everyone!!

I've been so busy this week doing spring cleaning and redecorating my house, I feel like I haven't blogged in forever (exaggerate much? lol).
Lot's of new and exciting things going on with my blog too, I've been working extra hard to improve the overall quality of my blog and incorporate more content.
It's all so exciting.
Okay enough sappy shit.

It's nearing the end of the month, anyone know what that means?
It's BoxyCharm time bitches!!

Don't you just love all the drama that comes along with these box subscriptions?
Seriously just go pick one random picture on their Instagram and entertain yourself.
Omg guys have you seen the spoilers for the May box (*eyes pop out of head *), okay sorry I'm getting off track.
Let's get this shit rolling.



This month's theme is Boho Glow which I think fits pretty well this month both seasonally as well as the products included in this month's box.



1) Hairgurt Smoothing Yogurt Shampoo by Project Beauty ($10)
I received Strawberry Banana.
I've never used any products from this line but I have heard of it before and damn it smells really good actually as it doesn't have that artificial kinda scent which I honestly expected, it was more of a real fruit scent like you just smashed some berries up in a bowl.
This shampoo retails for $10 and although that doesn't seem like a lot, the bottle is hella small with only 4 oz (ouch).
I have booty length hair so for me I don't think this will last very long at all and I also hate using shampoo without the matching conditioner.




2) Lip Gloss by Cargo Cosmetics ($16)
I received the shade Umbria.
This shade is fucking gorgeous. It's a very sheer bronzy nude with a stunning multi color micro shimmer in it, it's not at all chunky or glittery.
You could use this as a gloss on bare lips and it's stunning on it's own but it's also sheer enough to make a beautiful lip topper if you'd prefer.
Here's where the fun ends.
When I swatched this it smells slightly medicated, slightly sweet, slightly unsure of the scent type.
It took me a minute then it clicked this smells exactly like Carmex lip balm.
The packaging, oh my the packaging, it's really light and it just looks and feels kind of cheap.
The wand is no better, it's super flimsy and it feels like it's going to break off.
The gloss itself turned out to be very thick and sticky which applied with a flimsy wand is a bad combo.
This stays sticky on the lips and reminds me of something I might have used in middle school.
Basically the color is the only good thing about this gloss.
I'm shocked that this is $16 and I'm also shocked how many good reviews this had.
Maybe I'm the only one who hates a sticky thick mess on my lips.
Just keeping it real.



(the picture below shows size comparison from dry (pink) to wet (yellow))


3) Blend Squad: 3 Piece Contour Blending Sponges ($36)
One of the things I love about BoxyCharm is that they include brushes and sponges in their boxes because as we all know they can get pricey.
I haven't used this yet on my face so I don't know how good they are but I did use it for swatches.
I know some people like to just dampen their sponges with facial spray only which works great with a super squishy sponge but that won't work with this one.
It's pretty firm and dense so when you dampen it you gotta squeeze it a couple more times than you normally would and really get the water in there, then it plumps up quite big and was squishier than I thought it'd be but still firm.
I can't wait to try out these sponges on my face.




4) Concealer Palette by Measurable Difference ($19.99)
This palette has 16 shades that'll pretty much match any skin tone for multiple purposes: highlight, contour, bronze, spot coverage, and some shades would even work for color correcting.
Wow! These are crazy stiff although that could be fixed with a beauty oil.
In the video clip above you can see finger and brush swatches as well as a blend test
(using the Pur Sponge also in this months box).
I'm gonna be brutally honest here and say these blended out like shit.
These are very dry and super hard to get blended out and they never really looked blended out, they became really patchy and just looked bad, you can also always see the line from where you pplied it after blending because they're so dry.
No doubt these would mess up whatever foundation you had already put down.
Of course you could add a ton of oil but then you would be prone to creasing if used under the eyes and with the amount of oil you might need it could cause problems for oily & combo girls and once again mess with your foundation or risk breaking up on the skin.
It just seems like a lot of work to make this palette useable.
The only way I could see these working out is to use it for blemish or spot coverage UNDER your foundation because they're so hard to blend out that I'm pretty sure they won't budge when you blend your foundation over top.





5) Rodeo Drive Highlighter by Ofra Cosmetics ($29)
I'm gonna say that this right here is the star of the show.
I already owned the Beverly Hills Highlighter by Ofra and I really like it so I was excited to be getting another one.
The shade is definitely more of a light gold with  hint of copper and looked way darker in the pan,
I honestly thought it was going to be too dark for me when I initially opened it.
The formula is buttery, blends out quick & easy, and I love that this highlighter has more of a sheen when applied rather than just pure pigment so you can definitely go light and make it appear more natural and I also believe this is why it does work with lighter skin tones.
In the video above you can see both finger and brush swatches.
I think it applies better with a fluffy highlighting brush rather than a fan brush.

Catch up on March's BoxyCharm Unboxing?

Let me know what you thought about this month's box in the comments below on social media!
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog.



Products Mentioned:

BoxyCharm
($21/month beauty box subscription)

Hairgurt Smoothing Yogurt Shampoo by Project Beauty

Lip Gloss by Cargo Cosmetics

Blend Squad: 3 Piece Contour Blending Sponges
Posted by No comments:
Labels:

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Foundation and Powder Power Couple

Hey everyone!!

So last month I went on vacation and I threw together a travel bag with minimal makeup to take because I knew it'd be hot and we'd be doing a ton a walking.
Luckily for me while on my trip I discovered a fucking amazing foundation and powder combo (by accident) that lasted all day through the heat and still looked beautiful.
The best part is that they are both drugstore.
I know, mind blown right?


So before we get into this I think it's important to know I have combination skin with an oily t zone and normal/dry face.

The foundation in this power couple is actually a BB Cream *gasp *.
BB creams are perfect for the warmer months because they're much more lightweight.




CoverGirl Clean Matte BB Cream ($8.49)
This BB Cream comes in 6 shades.
I'm in the shade Light and it's actually a really good shade match.
This BB Cream has your typical thin and kinda liquid-y texture that  blended out really easy and the coverage was fucking amazing I was not expecting it.
It's a strong medium coverage and is build-able to a lighter full coverage (if that makes sense).
I used one layer all over my face and I was more than happy with the coverage it gave me even on my pigmentation marks.
It didn't dry down so fast that you're panicking to blend it out (lmao) which is common with matte finishes.
Like I said before I have combo skin and even though this is a matte formula it does not cling to any dryness (when I have it), didn't sink into my pores and fine lines, and I would say it's a more forgiving soft/natural matte finish.
My face didn't look dry or washed out, it wasn't cake-y at all, doesn't oxidize, and most importantly it was comfortable on the skin and very lightweight.
I used this with multiple different concealers and had no issues with blending or moving product.


Essence All About Matt! Fixing Compact Powder ($3.99)
This powder seriously does exactly what it says it will do.
It's translucent and sets your makeup perfectly but the reason I love it so much is because it actually will keep you matte. Oily and combo girls know the struggle of staying matte but when the spring and summer heat hits it can turn into a shit show and those products you've been using all year just can't keep up.
I live in the desert so I can't fucks with a product that isn't going to do what it's supposed to do, not only is it hot as balls but it brings on instant sweat when you step outside which is a concern for summer months.
I have used this with so many different foundations and I love this powder it works with all of them but specifically when it gets crazy hot I have had problems with caking, the foundation underneath breaking up, you know stuff like that but when I paired this with the CoverGirl Clean Matte BB Cream it was purely magical.

The matte BB in combination with this matte powder was the perfect combo to control my oils as well as holding up to seasonal heat and light sweat without being cake-y or heavy and because the base is actually a BB it didn't feel drying at all.
I was on vacation when I started using these together so I didn't even touch up or re-powder and I was still matte by the time we got back to our suite.

If you're into eyebrow pencils check out last weeks post about the Fiona Stiles Micro Pencil

What's your warm weather power combo?
Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on social media.
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog.


Products Mentioned:

The CoverGirl Clean Matte BB Cream

Essence All About Matt! Fixing Compact Powder







Posted by No comments:
Labels: , ,

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Fiona Stiles Micro Sculpting Brow Pencil

Hey everyone!!

So I had to hop on here real quick because I'm currently trying out a new eyebrow pencil and we need to talk bout this shit now.

So as we all know the 21 days of beauty at Ulta Beauty just finished and during this sale they had all the Fiona Stiles products on sale for half off, that is fucking bomb-skies because they have a high end price tag and since I already love quite a few things from her line I decided to go ahead and buy a few more things to try out.

That brings us here.

I have been trying out the Fiona Stiles Micro Precision Sculpting Pencil.



This is a mechanical style pencil featuring a fine tip which is what I prefer in a brow pencil.
The first problem that I noticed right off the bat was the shade selection while ordering online, they only have three shades in this eyebrow pencil: Blonde Ash, Warm Brown, and Ash Brown.
So obviously my only option was clear and I chose Ash Brown because I'm not blonde, and my hair is pitch black so no warm brown here either.
Since I already love quite a few Fiona Stiles products I said what the hell and bought two of these, I was sure I'd love it because I'm not that hard to please with eyebrow products since I change my eyebrows with my mood (the only good thing about having sparse brows) and use many different types of products depending on what I'm going for that day and I go through pencils really fast because once again I barely have any brows.



When I finally got these babies in the mail I was way more than a little excited so obviously I ripped one open and washed my face so I could do my eyebrows all over again.

The moment we've been waiting for...
(applies to eyebrow) WTF why is it orange, yes it was warmer than I expected it to be but not super warm. I just don't like any warmth at all in my brow products.
I double checked to make sure they sent me the correct shade and yup there it was written in white: ASH BROWN.

(Below L to R: Pencil #1 built up, pencil #2 built up, pencil #2 single swatched (not built up).
In the first swatch you can see that it clearly has a warm undertone and is not the same as the middle swatch.
You can kinda see in the left and middle swatches there are balled off pieces and a kinda patchiness from the waxiness.
In the third swatch you can see that if you don't build it up there isn't much pigmentation at all yet it still manages to be patchy.)


I can't even imagine how they could call this shade ash which should have been a cool undertone maybe even neutral would have not pissed me off this much.
I figured I'd calm down and finish my brows because the product could be so amazing that maybe just maybe the warmth wouldn't bother me so much.
Finishing my brows didn't go as well as I'd hoped, this pencil is very waxy.
It was so waxy that I had to go over and over just to get a decent amount of pigmentation and by then the pigmentation was there but the wax kinda layers up and gets patchy and clumpy, when you try to brush it through it removes product and creates even more patchiness.
The waxiness also makes it appear kind of shiny and it smears off way too easily.

(The picture below is using pencil #1. You can clearly see the orange-y warm undertone and they also look patchy, shiny, and chunky.)


So with every new product that I try I really do try to give it every chance possible, I've used this a few times a week for the past two weeks and every time I had a bad brow day, it got to the point where I'd only try it on days where I knew I wasn't going anywhere because that's how bad it was.
I even put mattifying primer in my brows (which I do in the warmer months) to try to help with the waxy, greasy overload but nothing really helped.
The thing is it's not really greasy, it's just so waxy that it appears shiny.

For some reason I decided to open the other brow pencil and this one is not warm at all, it's definitely ashy so I'm guessing that maybe that first one was mislabeled or I just got a bad one.
This pencil shade is so much better and I think it would be great for someone with dark brown hair but I still think it's too light for me personally. The pigmentation just isn't there and building it up doesn't work well with this waxy formula.

(This is pencil #2. You can see that this one does have an ashy cool undertone although it is rather light in pigmentation for being their darkest shade. It still looks patchy but it doesn't stand out as much in the ash tone in my opinion. I did build it up but tried to go light to avoid the waxy cake.)


When I use this product very sparingly I don't have any issues with waxy clumping or it being overly shiny but I sacrifice pigmentation and because I have black hair, my eyebrows hair don't blend in very well and it kinda looks shitty close up because the brow shade is way lighter than my brow hairs.

So after two weeks I'd have to say this product was a fail for me.
If you have medium to dark brown cool toned hair the color wouldn't be a problem for you but the waxiness, failure to set properly, lack of pigmentation, and the patchiness are still concerns.

If I really wanted to, yes I could probably make this work. I could set it with brow powder or eye shadow, I could even prime (I did this btw still fail) and set my brows with matte powder but in my case I use pencils on "natural" and quick makeup and brow days so doing all those extra steps would kinda defeat the purpose when I can just buy a different brand and not have these issues.

I do however think that this product might be okay for someone that has full luscious eyebrows to begin with, only because you'd need such little product that maybe these issues wouldn't apply to you but if you're a bald ass bitch like me the stay far away from this.

Oh I almost forgot I've been trying out a loose powder foundation and this brow pencil actually worked better with that one specific foundation.
It took down the appearance of a lot of the shine but I mean obviously it was still lacking pigmentation.
I'll continue trying to make it work until I use it all but I won't repurchase.

Did you pick this up during Ulta's 21 Day's of Beauty?
Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on social media.
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog.




Products Mentioned:

Fiona Stiles Micro Precision Sculpting Pencil







Posted by No comments:
Labels: ,

Monday, April 10, 2017

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Lotion

Hi everyone..

I wanted to pop on here real quick (quick? we'll see), so I started using a new product and wanted to talk about it because honestly I can talk about beauty products forever, duh I guess that's why I blog (lmfao).

Today I'm talking about the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Lotion ($12).

I've been thinking about trying some Soap & Glory's body products for while especially since they're now stocked at Target and Walgreen's and I've been seeing them a lot more and can basically get my hands on them super easy now (without having to order online).
I have a bunch of lotions that seem to never end and I figured I should at least try to finish one of those before I get another new one but come on it's pretty hard to keep myself from buying stuff.

Luckily for me, this was given to me (score).
A friend bought this for herself, used it a few times and I guess every time she used it her skin got irritated and it left her super itchy for the rest of the day so she gave me this bottle of Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Lotion.


The bottle has 16.2 ounces which is a really good size for daily use, it's a little bit more than double what you get from Victoria's Secret Body Lotion and even Bath & Body Works Body Lotion so it's actually a really good value for $12. I also really love that this has a pump because it's just easier and faster when you're freezing your ass off after a shower.
Even though I was super excited to try Soap & Glory's body products, this lotion was not the product I would have chosen for myself and the scent was kind of grossly overly sweet but I will say that even though I didn't like the scent at first, it has definitely grown on me.
The scent is described as fresh squeezed sweet lime but it's definitely more of a sugar drenched lime with a hint of vanilla, it's a very sweet scent with lime but I wouldn't say that lime is the most prominent note and I'm not usually a fan of super sweet or sugary scents but like I said this has grown on me over the past week, but I wouldn't ever willingly choose this scent.

When I pumped it into my hand the lotion was the standard lotion consistency, exactly as you'd expect not runny and not thick just the perfect in between for a body lotion.
It smoothed over the skin really easy and a little went a long way.
The formula felt super light and I loved how quickly this absorbed into my skin, like no joke within two minutes this shit was completely absorbed and left absolutely no residue or greasy feeling on my skin, even more crazy there was absolutely no residue left on my hands either which never happens.
This instantly made my skin not only feel super hydrated and soft but also really smooth and with an ever so slight sheen. It really reminds me of a hydrating primer and smoothing primer in one, it's a very unique light lotion formula and I really love it way more than I thought I was going to.
My skin gets really dry and almost ashy during the winter (or maybe year round lol) and within two days of using this on my skin the dry ashy grossness was completely gone, which says a lot about how hydrating this lotion is because I have been trying out so many lotions that claim to be for severely dry skin and honestly none of them have worked this well and the ones that did work somewhat decent were thick, didn't absorb well, or left such a gross residue on my skin that they were uncomfortable.
I also don't have any kind of skin irritation from using this.
I guess it ended up being the perfect lotion for me to try as an introduction to their body products because it's won me over big time.



One thing that you should be aware of is that the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Lotion contains AHA's which is freaking awesome for texture, evening tone, and smoothing of your skin but it also causes skin to become more sensitive to the sun and since there's no sunscreen in this product it could lead to sunburn quite easily if you forget to use an additional sunscreen. If sunscreen is something you forget often or just honestly don't use it then I would avoid this specific body lotion from the Soap & Glory line.
Even though I use sunscreen I have fair/light skin and tend to burn and tan equally so I only use this at night just to be safe, even though I tend to avoid the sun anyway.
So if you do use this during the day just remember to use sunscreen.

UPDATE:
So I pre-wrote this before I went on vacation and I packed this in my bag and took it with me (duh).
If you remember above I said I only use this at night, well my dumb ass forgot to pack a regular daytime lotion and decided to use this. HUGE MISTAKE. I was out in the sun my entire vacation which resulted in itchy skin irritation and little red bumps (probably from my scratching) all over my arms which was my only body part constantly in the sun.
So as I found out first hand it's best to not use this during the day even with sunscreen.
I'm guessing this is also what happened to my friend.

What are your favorite Soap & Glory products?
Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on social media.
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog.





Products Mentioned:











Posted by No comments:
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)