June Drugstore Haul & Reviews

I didn’t mean to, but on my way through the drugstore the other day I spotted some new CoverGirl products. I’ve been looking to try some drugstore alternatives to more expensive makeup. I grabbed CoverGirl’s new Clean Whipped Creme Foundation in Soft Honey 355, CoverGirl’s new Clean Glow Blush in Peaches 110, CoverGirl’s Cheekers Bronzer in Golden Tan 104, CoverGirl’s Eye Enhancers 4-kit Shadows in Pure Romance 235, CoverGirl’s LineBlast 24 Hour Eyeliner (felt tip) in Enduring Black 800 and CoverGirl’s Flamed Out Mascara in Black Blaze 305.

I’m liking the Clean Whipped Creme Foundation so far; it has a wonderfully light texture that glides nicely on to your skin without feeling heavy and cakey while providing medium coverage. It seems to last for a long time without smearing or streaking on clothes (I tested this while sweating and running around without any issues). The Clean Glow Blush and Cheekers Bronzer don’t seem to provide an awful lot of colour, just a lot of sparkles…so I’d stay away from these. (Granted you don’t want too much colour from a bronzer or blush but I’d prefer something that didn’t require me to layer it on.) The eyeshadows offer a nice, subtle colour but stay away from these if you want strong colour. The eyeshadows also seem to last quite awhile, but they do fade substantially. I found the lightest purple/white that I put by my brow bone stayed put while the other purples faded as my day went on. The felt tip eyeliner is great if you want something that stays put, my only criticism is that it ends up being a harsh line, and if you want to achieve a softer line you might consider using this eyeliner plus a kohl liner to create the softness. The mascara was good in terms of how long it stayed on my lashes, but I found the wand didn’t apply the mascara evenly and half my lashes had too much mascara while the other half had almost no mascara.

June 2013 Makeup/Skincare Regiment

First off, I think it’s important to know your skin type and to have a basic feel for what your skin likes and doesn’t like. Personally, I have fairly dry skin with oily patches in my t-zone and sides of my nose. (Just think about days when you’re running around and notice the shiny spots on your face.)

Morning Routine: I like to wash my face with Clinique’s Rinse Off Foaming Cleanser followed by MAC’s Mineralize Charged Water Face and Body Lotion. (Beware, the MAC lotion can feel slightly oily and greasy but followed with the right foundation it makes your skin wonderfully dewy. If I don’t plan on using foundation I’ll use Clinique’s Moisture Surge cream.) Then, I’ll use Clinique’s Super City Block SPF 40 sunscreen…this is by far the MOST important step (trust me, my Mom has sunspots and can’t get rid of them no matter how many medicated creams she uses…stop the damage to your skin now!). I’ll follow this up with MAC’s Studio Moisture Tint in Medium Dark just applying with my fingers in circular motions. Then I’ll set my eyebrows with MAC’s Brow Set in Clear. While the Brow Set is drying, I use MAC’s Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze to define my cheekbones (tip: make a fish face and apply to the hollows of your cheeks from your ear down with MAC’s 129 Powder/Blush brush). Using the same brush, I apply MAC’s Powder Blush in Melba to the apples of my cheeks (tip: smile and swipe along the squishy parts of your cheek). At this point my eyebrows are normally dry so I move on to eyes! Depending on the day I’ll use different colours, but my usual go-to’s are MAC’s eyeshadow in Era on my lid, MAC’s eyeshadow in Bronze on the outer corner of my lid and in my crease (careful not to go all the way to the inner corner of your eye) and lastly MAC’s eyeshadow in Mylar by my eyebrows/brow bone. After this I use MAC’s Fluidline in Blitz and Glitz (or Blacktrack) and apply it by my lash line (top only) using MAC’s 210 Precise Eye Liner Brush. Then I fill in my eyebrows slightly with MAC’s Eye Brows in Brunette followed by a quick eyelash curl and swipe of MAC’s Extended Play Gigablack Lash Mascara. I’m not huge on lipstick, so I normally either use Vanilla Mint Chapstick on my lips or nothing at all. This whole look normally takes me about 10 mins.

Quick Day to Night: If I’m in a hurry, I’ll enhance my Day routine by swiping on Benefit’s High Beam highlighter just above my cheekbones (use sparingly because it is super iridescent and shiny) and mix a little of Benefit’s Posietint on the apples of my cheeks. Then I’ll swipe on a little of Clinique’s Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Mega Melon for a little colour. (If I’m feeling bolder or more dressed up I’ll use Clinique’s Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in either Chunkiest Chilli or Broadest Berry.)

Night-out Routine: I remove any previous makeup using Clinique’s Take the Day Off Cleansing Milk and Clinique’s Naturally Gentle Eye Makeup Remover. Then I wash my face with Clinique’s Rinse Off Foaming Cleanser. Next I use Clinique’s Super City Block SPF 40 sunscreen followed by MAC’s Mineralize Charged Water Face and Body Lotion. I then use MAC’s 187 Duo Fibre Face Brush (pricey, but if you take good care of it, it will be one of your best brushes) to apply MAC’s Mineralize Moisture Foundation (I can’t remember which shade I use…:(). Now, don’t be scared your face is supposed to look that dewy! I then use MAC’s Set Powder and apply it with MAC’s 129 Powder/Blush Brush to the oily areas on my face (t-zone, nose and chin!). I then use the 129 brush again to apply MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinsh Natural in Medium Deep to the hollows of my cheeks (again, make a fish face and apply in the hollows of your cheek to from the ear down) as well as to my jawbone. Using the same 129 brush, apply MAC’s Bronzing Powder in Golden to the apples of your cheeks (tip: smile and apply to the squish parts of your cheeks).**Sometimes I like to do a warmer cheek so I sub MAC’s Cremeblend Blush in Tea Petal for MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinish and apply it on my cheek from my ear to about half way down my cheek. Then I sub MAC’s Cremeblend Blush in Something Special for MAC’s Bronzing Powder in Golden and apply to the remainder of my cheek.** At this point, I use MAC’s Brow Set in Clear to groom my eye brows. While it’s drying, I use MAC’s Paint Pot in Antique Diamond and apply to my lid using MAC’s 242 Shader Brush. Then, I take MAC’s Pro Longwear Eye Liner in Night Trail and apply along my lash line. (I also apply the liner to my waterline underneath my eye which creates a nice defined eye…careful not to get right into the corner of your eye or it’ll make your eye look tiny.) Using MAC’s 242 Shader Brush, I start blending the liner into the lid (top only), creating a smoky eye. You can either leave the lid at that or you can intensify the smokey eye by using MAC’s Eye Shadow in Carbon to the outer crease using MAC’s 275 Medium Angled Shading Brush. Then, use MAC’s 217 Blending Brush to ensure that both eye shadows and liner are blended together. I also like to use the 275 brush to apply MAC’s Eye Shadow in Mylar to my brow bone. I like to define my eye brows at this point using MAC’s Eye Brows in Brunette to see whether I need more eye liner or not. Normally I feel like I do need eye liner, so I use MAC’s Fluidline in Blacktrack and apply a thin line using MAC’s 210 Precision Eye Liner Brush. To enhance this look even more (I don’t normally do this because I don’t have much experience) you can apply false lashes (my favourites are MAC’s 4 Lash). Then, curl your lashes and apply MAC’s Extended Play Gigablack Lash Mascara (to enhance your natural lashes, try MAC’s Prep and Prime Lash).**It’s important to check under your eye after you’ve completed a smokey eye in case you get black shadow sprinkling on your cheek or under eye area. I like to just take a tissue and gently sweep it away however if you press to hard it’ll streak. It’s advisable to do your cheeks after your eye makeup so that if your black shadow streaks you can quickly apply a concealer (I like MAC’s Select Moisturecover) and then continue on with your cheek makeup.** Lastly, I swipe on MAC’s Lipstick in Hug Me to complete the look. This look takes about 15 to 20 minutes depending on whether you’ve tried this look before.

Night removal routine: I like to start by removing my eye makeup just in case my face remover gets on my hands and therefore into my eyes. I use Clinique’s Naturally Gentle Eye Makeup Remover followed by Clinique’s Take the Day Off Cleansing Milk on my face. Rub this both on with your fingers and swipe off with a tissue. (Be careful not to over scrub or wipe your face, your skin is gentle!) I like to then use Clinique’s Rinse Off Foaming Cleanser followed by Clinique’s Cleansing Lotion #2 applied with a cotton pads (the purple one). (I wouldn’t recommend everyone use these Clinique Cleansing Lotions, personally I’m switching to the Mild Cleansing Lotion that contains NO alcohol so that it’s easier on your skin…I’m just trying to finish off my gigantic bottle of #2.) I then apply Clinique’s Moisture Surge Overnight Mask (this may be too moisturizing for most, but it’s absolutely perfect for me!). And that’s it!!

I’d like to note again that it’s so important to know your skin type. While things like eye shadows/liners/mascaras are fairly useful for all skin types, foundations/concealers/cream blushes etc. should be suited to your skin type. Also, I tend to like Clinique facial products because I’m allergic to/have reactions to a lot of nut oils and their products generally use fewer oils than other products. Unfortunately, it’s all about trial and error…but this can be fun! If you’re budget conscious, I’d recommend doing your research and investing in quality products/brushes. In my experience, I’ve been much more satisfied after visiting MAC/Sephora and having someone help me in selecting eye shadow colours and the proper shades for foundations and concealers. Drugstore products, while sometimes great products, are sometimes harder to test in terms of colours/textures etc. (I like testing products to see whether they’re workable and how they look on your skin. It’s also important to get a feel for shimmer/sparkles!!) I’d also recommend searching products on Google, specifically searching for MakeupAlley.com reviews, as well as http://www.paulaschoice.com/beautypedia which is a great site for honest reviews on products.

Foundation/BB Creams (January to present)

Over the past few months I’ve been trying a variety of different foundations, tinted moisturizers and BB creams to see which I love and which I don’t. What’s important to me is that my skin looks radiant and that any product doesn’t dry out parts of my skin. I tend to lean more towards tinted moisturizers because I prefer lighter coverage for everyday use, but I have tried some heavier coverage foundations for nighttime use.

Clinique Stay Matte Oil Free Makeup: This foundation was decent, it did stay matte free but dried out my jawline. Quite a large variety of colours and easy to apply from the tube. Light to medium coverage.

Clinique Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturizer: Not a great tinted moisturizer. It wasn’t very moisturizing and sweated off easily. Also, this moisturizer gives very sheer coverage, which I liked.

Clinique Supermoisture Makeup: This was the best of the Clinique bunch, but still left my jaw line dry and bumpy. Again, quite a good selection of colours however the stock at my local store was dwindling so I was forced to settle for a slightly different shade. Medium coverage.

Clinique BB Cream: This would be a good BB cream for someone who wants full coverage. Personally I found it was too much coverage and needed a lot of blending to match your skin tone.

Guerlain Lingerie de peau Compact: Really nice foundation and concealer but extremely expensive. Has a very nice finish on your skin but leaves your skin almost too moisturized and sticky feeling. Medium to full coverage depending on your application.

Guerlain Parure Gold Compact: Again, very nice powder with a very soft and creamy finish. Very very expensive, so use sparingly! Sheer coverage (I used it to apply over the Guerlain Lingerie de Peau).

Stila Sheer Colour Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20: I really like this moisturizer so far. It’s extremely blendable and hasn’t dried out my skin yet. The only downside (not for me, but potentially for others) is that this moisturizer contains sparkles. I don’t notice them when I apply it to my face, but I can see it on my fingers afterwards. Sheer coverage.

Benefit You Rebel Tinted Moisturizer: I love this tinted moisturizer, the only downside is the smell (I’m extremely sensitive) which is very floral. It blends better than most moisturizers and it acts more like a moisturizer than a foundation which I really like. A potential downside is the lack of colours…it only comes in light and this shade.

MAC Face and Body Foundation: This is a must buy. Layered over top of a nice moisturizer, this gives the perfect amount of buildable coverage. This foundation is easiest applied with a foundation brush. Hasn’t yet dried out my skin and is a nice base for powder. Light to medium coverage.

MAC Mineralize Moisture Foundation: The ABSOLUTE best. If you want a nice dewy look for your skin, this is the go to foundation. Apply it with a stipple brush and you’ll get so many comments on how radiant you look. You should set this foundation in oily areas with setting powder so you don’t look too shiny, but once you do that your skin will look flawless. Medium to full coverage.

MAC Studio Moisture Tint SPF 15: This is my everyday go to foundation. I don’t need a lot of coverage, so this light coverage does the trick. It’s very blendable and keeps my skin hydrated all day.

April 2013 Make-up Haul

Following on to my skincare haul I also did a Clinique make-up haul. I got a few colour surge eye shadow quads (Plum Seduction, Polar Blue, Teddy Bear), a few Lid colour antioxidant eye shadows (Cashew Later, Born Freesia, Currant Affair, Pinkgo Biloba), Touch Base for eyes (Canvas, Petal Shimmer), Quickliner Intense (Intense Black), Brush on cream liner (True Black, Deep Brown), Superfine Liner for Brows (Black/Brown), Brow Shaper (Shaping Taupe), Chubby Stick Intense Lip Balm (Chunkiest Chilli, Broadest Berry), Chubby Stick the regular one (Watermelon, Mango **seem to be discontinued colours**), High Impact Curling Mascara, Lash Doubling Mascara, High Impact Mascara, Bottom lash mascara, Blushwear Cream Stick (Peachy Blush), Blended Face Powder, True Bronze Pressed Powder and the Up-lighting liquid Illuminator (Natural). It was quite the haul, but I truly thought Clinique would deliver some good results. Unfortunately I was not as happy as I thought I would be. Of the eyeshadows, you really need the Touch Base eyeshadow to act as a primer in order to use the Colour Surge Quads. Even so, the quads don’t produce much colour, they leave you with a very subtle finish which is nice for a day look but not nearly strong enough for day/night makeup or night makeup. The Lid smoothies were slightly better, but I only liked them because of the cooling effect they had on my eye lid when I applied them. Of the mascaras, I was extremely disappointed. The High Impact Curling Mascara came off in clumps no matter what I tried. I used makeup wipes, waterproof dissolving remover, warm water…but each time I had to peel the little tubes off each of my lashes (which made me feel as though I was peeling off my lashes!!!). The regular High Impact Mascara is the only one I’d recommend, and even then there are far better (and cheaper) mascaras out there. Both brow products were outstanding, comparable to MAC products that I’ve tried. The quickliner intense eye liner smudges very easily but the two cream eye liners I really liked. They have a nice creamy texture and went on very smoothly with the included brush. The cream blush was average, didn’t really stand out, the illuminator really didn’t make much of a difference and the bronzer needed to be layered in order for any colour to show through. The blending powder was extremely chalking and had a surprisingly great amount of coverage with just a little bit of powder, I felt it was almost too much coverage to be honest. I normally use a translucent setting powder and this was just too heavy and needed to be blended a lot in order to not be obvious. The group of products that I absolutely adore are the Chubby Sticks, you just can’t go wrong with these colours! If you want something bolder, go with the Intense sticks, they last a long time and are extremely comfortable to wear. The normal sticks are very moisture intense with just the subtlest hint of colour which I really liked. Can’t go wrong with the Chubby Sticks.

April 2013 Skincare Haul

For the past few months I’ve done a few make-up and skincare hauls, specifically targeting my combination/dry skin. Over the years I’ve tried numerous drug store brands without doing any research whatsoever on the products I was using. As a result, I’ve had numerous issues with my skin and problems with the look of my make-up. This past April I decided to step all the way back and revamp my whole skincare and makeup regiment. I decided to try out Clinique because they claim to be hypo-allergenic and scent free. I went with the purple (Dry Combination) 3-step system (liquid facial soap, clarifying lotion and cream) as well as Moisture Surge (both the day cream and the overnight mask), the All About Eyes cream for under my eyes, the cream face wash (white to purple looking container), Take the Day off milk (purple bottle) and All Natural Eye Makeup Remover (green tube). For the first week my skin seemed great…the toner/clarifying lotion grabbed all the dirt that was left behind and both the cream cleanser and the two makeup removers are the absolute best! For the next few weeks I noticed little white heads forming around my cheek area that seemed to become irritated when I used the clarifying lotion…and they wouldn’t disappear! I since have stopped using the 3-step line and my white heads have completely cleared up. I still love the cream wash and the two-makeup removers. The moisture surge products are also fairly good, but I’m still on the fence as to whether this will stay as my go-to moisturizer. (The overnight mask does wonders for my skin however! Just the day cream that I’m still not too sure about. A word of caution though, for someone who doesn’t have dry skin, the overnight cream may prove to be too sticky.) The All About Eyes products don’t seem to do a lot, I used both the cream and the serum, neither seemed to do what they promised in regards to de-puffing etc.