Essence Fairytale Eyeshadow in Fairy Berry and Humpty Dumpty.
So for all my European friends who pout when we US girls flaunt our Wet N' Wild hauls, all you have to say is one word to throw the beauty bargain trump card back in our faces: "Essence."
Essence products are so cute and fun, and most importantly cheap! Ulta carries some products, but their stock, or at least in the stores by me, are rather limited. When I see a display, I ravage it.
That's exactly what I did recently when I saw the Fairytale limited edition collection display at my local Ulta. I purchased 2 eyeshadows, 1 gloss, 4 nail polishes and 1 glitter eyeliner. The eyeshadows are just such pretty fairy shades. This soft purple and steely silver don't looked muddy on the eye. What I like about these shades is that they are soft, girly and totally say spring without being pastel.
Fairy Berry and Humpty Dumpty.
Fairy Berry and Humpty Dumpty.
Fairy Berry - a shimmering cool grey purple with silver sparkle.
Humpty Dumpty - a shiny grey steel silver.
Fairy Berry and Humpty Dumpty
The display.
Essence Fairytale Eyeshadows are limited edition and available at Ulta stores.
When Milani does something right, it's usually really right. My bff and I had a long discussion about liquid vs. felt tip eyeliners. She has been using a product from L'Oreal for over 10 years. I love the intensity of liquid eyeliners and creating sharp beautiful cateyes, but I had never been a fan of the brush applicators that usually came with them. Felt tip always "felt" as if they had more control to me, and I never find that the long, fine tip brush applicators were actually that precise. The brush part felt almost too long for my eyes, and most times, the brush applicator frayed.
But her devotion to liquid eyeliner inspired me to re-examine them. Milani launched a few new shades for their Infinite Liquid Eyeliner product. I purchased Unlimited, a deep matte brown. I didn't get excited to see the long brush applicator to be honest. But the bristles from this brush applicator seem to hold its shape better than what I remember of the L'Oreal one, which would get a few stray stragglers.
What impressed me most was the color. The brown shade is a rich, dark brown that I'm loving. The durability is excellent. Once dry, it does not budge. You should really use an oil-based remover to get it off.
Am I a liquid liner convert yet? Milani Infinite Liquid Eyeliner has been great for lining close to my lashline. I may try this with my own brushes instead of the applicator to create a serious cat eye. I think I'll get better and more precise results. But I think I am going to suggest this one to my friend. I think she's appreciate how thick and smoothly the formula applies. I'll get back to you if she tries it. I would love to know what a liquid liner devotee would think of this.
Long pointed brush applicator. Using it for 2 weeks and no fraying yet.
I have been on such a Wet n' Wild kick lately. Everything I'm trying I am loving and in disbelief of the price tag. One of my good friends from makeupalley.com (and also from real life) basically made it her mission that I try these lipsticks. In a period of chatting online over the course of the day, she had left her desk twice to get go get these lippies.
Was this enthusiasm well deserved? Oh yes. I got these four colors at a local Walgreens and quickly unsealed them as soon as I got home. Holy schnikes! These are pigmented. They literally stained my arms during swatching. Wet n' Wild claims that these lippies have 4 hours of wear. In my opinion, Wet n' Wild is underestimating. I wore Wine Room for an entire day and only had to lightly touch up after eating lunch.
The texture on these lipsticks were dry but not drying. If you've tried Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense, they are similar in the vein of texture. The pigmentation and color pay-off is really insane. And are you ready for the best part? They are $2.99.
Left to right: 902C Bare It All, 905D Smokin' Hot Pink, 906D Wine Room, 918D Cherry Bomb
Left to right: 902C Bare It All, 905D Smokin' Hot Pink, 906D Wine Room, 918D Cherry Bomb
902C Bare It All
902C Bare It All
902C Bare It All
This nudey beige is a very pretty, non-dulling shade against my NC30/35 skin. What I liked about it is that it covered the blue,purple pigmentation of my lips and left me with a very neutral look. I will definitely grab this when I do an intense smoky eye and want to play down my lips.
905D Smokin' Hot Pink
905D Smokin' Hot Pink
905D Smokin' Hot Pink
This is my favorite of the four. What a perfectly pretty pink for spring! It's not too bright or pushing fuchsia where I couldn't wear this to work. I think it just brightened my whole face. I love this one!
906D Wine Room
906D Wine Room
906D Wine Room
At first, I got Smokin' Hot Pink and Wine Room confused. From the tube, they are pretty similar. I had to keep checking the label to make sure I knew which one was which. But on, Wine Room is a little deeper, a little more muted. This dusty rose is nice for everyday or if you like Smokin' Hot Pink but want something a little more subtle.
918D Cherry Bomb
918D Cherry Bomb
918D Cherry Bomb
Hello Daddy! Hello Mom! I'm you're ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb! This vampy dark red was probably my least favorite of the bunch. Not because I didn't like the shade, but it just seemed to tug a little more than the others. I would definitely recommend a liner or using a lipbrush when applying this color. I had difficulty keeping within my lip shade straight from the tube (a problem I usually don't have with even the most diffcult of reds). However, I have to say once it's on... it's on. This shade is soooooooo pigmented. It stained the arm I swatched it on for hours, even after multiple washings and MAC wipes! So kudos for staying power.
The Runaways with Cherry Bomb. What shade would Joan Jet wear?
Wet n' Wild Mega Last Lip Coloris $2.99 and comes in 20 shades. They are available at drugstores and mass retailers nationwide.
Have you tried these yet? Are you skeptical when it comes to drugstore products? What's the last drugstore product that wow'ed you?
Maybelline New York's new Fit Me Line - Blush and Foundation.
If you missed my review ofMaybelline New York's Fit Me Foundation, click here. I was really impressed by the quality of this foundation. It gave such a beautiful skin-like finish that I thought maybe the same quality would have gone into the other products in the line.... er, no I was wrong.
The foundation was so impressive. It reminded of what I thought Guerlain's Lingerie de Peau foundation should have been like. Great buildable coverage. Super light weight feel. Smooth application and blendability. Satin, skin-like finish. All for $7. Unreal.
Unfortunately, Fit Me Blush is no where in the same ball park as its foundation counter part. The color I purchased was Medium Nude 208, a shade recommended in my foundation color range. In the pan, it looks promising. The shade is a shimmering nudey pink. Reminds me a of softer, less sparkly Nars Sin. However, on the skin, it's almost nothing. There is almost zero color payoff. Also the texture is such a turn off. The powder is hard as a rock and very hard to pick up on a brush. Fit Me Fail.
Medium Nude 208 in the pan. Looks pretty here.
Ingredients.
Barely there swatch. I tried to apply this heavily, but this is the best I got. :-/
Beautburg's Overall Rating: D
Try the Foundation, skip the other products in the line. Maybelline spent a lot of time focusing on the feature product of this product family and just slapped together the rest.
Maybelline Fit Me Blush is $6 available at drugstores and mass retailers nationwide.
I am LOVING these Wet n' Wild eyeshadows. $2.99 for some seriously beautiful and quality shades. My coffee usually costs more than this. Silent Treatment is another fabulous trio recently released by Wet n' Wild. This set holds a soft pale shimmery shade for highlight, a sparkly black for liner and a soft taupe-y grey for the lid. This is a great everyday trio.
I'm going to stash this set at my desk at work. These shades would go with any outfit, and I can easily use these colors to create a smoky look if I'm headed out after a day at the office. I love how I can afford to buy two. :)
Actually, please *do* give me the Silent Treatment.
Swatches.
EOTD. MAC Dark Diversion Fluidline as eyeliner with the black shade on top (why it seems slightly burgundy).
Love this for everyday.
Are you getting enough of these Wet n' Wild eyeshadows? I need more!
Silent Treatment Color Icon Trio is available at Walgreens, CVS and mass retailers nationwide. $2.99 for 3.5g, 0.12oz.
I used to go to great lengths to deal with my long hair. Pricey products, tedious treatments (e.g. hair mask that say leave in for 20 minutes... who has that kind of time?!). Can't a girl with long locks have it all?
Inside, the conditioner was infused with treatment in one rich swirl! Now even more interesting. But, I had to try it on my hair. I have long straight hair, and without proper conditioning, the ends can get ratty, frizzy and frayed, but with too much conditioning, my hair can look oily and flat.
I have been using this for a week now, and Dove's Nutritive Therapy Nourishing Oil Care Daily Treatment Conditioner definitely beats my old conditioner. The moisture really saturates my hair in the shower, and then out and after drying, my hair seems smoother and softer in comparison with my old brand (hint: it comes in a green bottle and starts with G). What I also like about this is that it's not so heavy that I can't use it everyday. I love hydrating hair masks, but daily use can cause buildup and make hair greasy, heavy and flat. This conditioner leaves my hair soft but doesn't weigh it down too much. This will definitely be a repeat purchase. I may also check out the shampoo.
I have been having so much fun reviewing some drugstore lipcolors the past couple of weeks. The bar being set by drugstore products has been set really high! I have been really impressed by the overall quality of everything I've been trying.
This product has been on the market the longest of my recent reviews (L'Oreal Infalliable, Covergirl Lip Perfection). Maybelline New York Color Sensational Lipcolor comes in 48 shades. Park Ave. Peach is actually categorized in the "Reds" shades. It's red-based for sure, but is it an actual red? No. But it is very, very pretty. Park Ave. Peach is a pigmented soft creamy mid-toned peachy pink. I appreciated that it was so opaque. The color went on smoothly and covered my naturally dark pink, blue-based lips. It was a pleasant surprise! I was expecting this shade to be sheer, but I was really about how fully pigmented it was. I would definitely wear this to the office. It doesn't feel like spring with pretty pinks does it?!
The tube. Unfortunately, there is no way to see the color without opening the tube.
Swatched. The texture was creamy and moisturizing. No tugging on application.
On lips. I like the full coverage and the slight shine.
Maybelline Color Sensational Lipcolor in Park Ave. Pink 535 is $7 and available nationwide at drugstores.
