Finished Products!!!

I initially planned on waiting until the end February to do this post when I started collecting finished products around the middle of January. Well...The empty stuff has piled up to a point that it is irritating me, so I'm going to go ahead and do this early. In the future, I'll probably continue to post when the empties start piling up instead of posting on a regular schedule.

Here's a shot of everything in a basket:

Breakdown of the items that I've finished:

Burt's Bees Radiance Exfoliating Body Bar - I'm pretty sure I got this as part of a value kit of minis that was on clearance a while back. It lathered nicely, and I like how my skin felt after my shower. Since I tend to prefer body washes, I don't think I will be repurchasing this item.

Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash with Shea Butter - I got this in a clearance value set from Wal-Mart after Christmas (can you tell I'm big on sale items?). This was a decent body wash, but it didn't really feel any more moisturizing than others that I have, and there wasn't much scent to it. Since would prefer something with more scent, I don't plan on repurchasing.

Bath & Body Works Triple Moisture Shower Cream in Midnight Pomegranate - Another sale item, I believe from B&BW's summer clearance sale. I liked this. I like the scent. The thing that I DIDN'T like was the packaging. As you can see from the picture above, the metallic paint on it started to flake off as I tried to get the last of the product out. Improved packaging and another good sale might induce me to buy more of these.

 Cosmedicine Healthy Cleanse Foaming Cleanser & Toner in One - Yet another clearance item. This one came from Walgreens back in September. This did a decent job of cleansing, but I don't think it did any better than my Silk Nautrals Kiss Foaming Cleanser, and I believe it is much more expensive at full price. I don't plan on repurchasing.

Silk Naturals Firming Moisturizer - A sweet woman on the Silk Naturals forum offered this up as a freebie to someone because it didn't work for her. I didn't notice any amazing results, and I'm liking the Neutrogena night moisturizer that I currently have with retinol in it, so I don't plan in purchasing this.

Burt's Bees Milk & Honey body lotion - This came from the same or a similar clearance value kit as the bar soap. I liked the smell, but the texture had gone off slightly. I had to shake it up before using it and once had to push clumps down from the neck of the bottle. I might repurchase in the future, but not before I make a major dent in my current stash of lotions.

Pink Bow Bath Boutique Silky Skin Souffle in Pink Sugared Buttercream Puff - I won this in a giveaway done by LipGlossFiend back in the fall. I don't remember if it still had a whipped texture when I got it, but by the time I got around to really using it, it was liquidy instead of whipped. I also, sadly, spilled most of this when I was trying to clean off the threads around the jar because the lid wasn't going on right.

Burt's Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme - Another item from the clearance value kits. I think the texture on this had gone off slightly as well. It was better after I gave the jar a good stir with a toothpick. This was super thick, and if I used too much, it left my hands feeling tacky for way too long. I probably won't repurchase any time soon, but I might eventually try it again to see if a fresher jar works better.

Yes, I'm including these mini samples. These sorts of things clutter up my makeup area, so I still consider it a positive thing when I finally use them.

L'Oreal Magic Lumi Primer - I have oily skin, so I don't really need a luminizing primer. It felt nice though.

Silk Naturals Damsel sample - This was a pretty pink. I have too many lip products that I barely use though, so I don't plan on purchasing this one. It's better for me to work on the ones I have.

Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream - I got this sample when I ordered their Essential Petit BB Cream on Ebay. The color on this one wasn't bad. I don't know how this formula is different from the Essential one. It might be worth looking into though.

Infusium23 Moisture Replenisher - This was a sample that wasn't very effective because of the sample packaging. This was like water, so trying to put some on my hands and get it to my hair was challenging. I would assume a full size of this comes in a spray bottle. I don't really feel the need to look into it though.

Pore Clearing Fruit Smoothie mask - I got two uses out of this packet. It smelled good, and I liked how it felt on my skin. These sorts of packets are probably good options for me when I get caught up on my skincare stash because it takes me so long to get through a full size of a face mask product.

Korres Antiaging Primer - I had high hopes for this, but it broke me out. There's technically a little bit left in the sample pod (on the other side of the card), but I'm not putting it on my face again.

Essence of Beauty Buttercream Cupcake lip gloss - Okay...as you can see, the label is gone, so I'm guessing the on flavor a bit. It is some sort of cake scent. This was just a clear gloss that wasn't anything overly special.

Badger Balm Tangerine Breeze lip balm - This is a really nice balm. It would be even better if it had an SPF. I have a couple of other flavors of this in my stash that I will enjoy using, and I will likely purchase more of these in the future.

Kiss My Face Vanilla Honey lip balm - This balm has an SPF 15, which is great. This balm has a thicker consistency than others in my collection, which feels really good sometimes, and other times it feels goopy. I have a couple more of these in my stash (I am a lip balm addict). Especially because of the SPF, I can see myself replacing these when they are gone.

Avon Glazewear Shine lip gloss in Iced Pink - This was an easy-to-wear shade. I could apply it without a mirror. The gloss felt smooth and wasn't sticky. I would be interested in trying more of this formula in the future.

Tarte Park Avenue Princess Bronzer mini - I'm doing a minor cheat here. I actually have about 2-3 days left of this product, but I scraped what was left of it into a jar a few weeks ago. I use this every day I wear makeup, so it should be gone within the week, and I'd like to get rid of this container now instead of hanging on to it for my next post on finished products. This is a decent bronzer for lighter skin tones. I would prefer something matte, but the shimmer in this isn't overwhelmingly obvious. I have another mini of this that I'll probably use, but I don't plan on purchasing this myself (both of my minis came in value sets that I purchased).

I have never actually finished a mascara. However, these are ones that I'm tossing, so I figured I would include them in this post.

Tarte Lights, Cameras, Lashes mascara - I've mentioned on here more than once that I don't care for this mascara. This tube was my last shot at liking it. Sadly, I have multiple tubes of this in my stash because they keep coming in Tarte sets that I buy. If you like this mascara, keep an eye out for future giveaways here because you'll probably see those tubes there.

Flirt! Big Flirt Thickening mascara - This mascara was a little bit clumpy, but recently it has started to get worse. Since I have quite a few backup mascaras in my stash, I figured it was time for this one to go.

Wet & Wild Mega Protein mascara - This mascara has a really wet formula. I probably ended up with mascara on my browbone every time I applied it. I don't think it did much in terms of lengthening or volume, and I didn't use it enough to know if it would have helped my lashes grow.

Are you working on finishing up any products? If you do these sorts of posts, feel free to link to them in the comments. I love reading these types of posts because they motivate me to try and work through my stash.

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow Review

 One of the new drugstore products that has created a lot of buzz on the internet is the L'Oreal Infallible eye shadows. I've read a lot of really good reviews on these already, so I'm going to try and keep mine short and sweet. If you want to read a more detailed review, there's a really good one here.

I've gotten all of mine at CVS. In my town, they currently retail for $8.29.

Overall, I really like these shadows, and I think L'Oreal did a good job with the color range for this collection. It has a good mix of neutral and darker/brighter shades. They last well on me when I use a primer. I haven't tried them without just because I automatically use primer as part of my routine and don't feel the need to cut that step.

So far, I own Endless Pearl, Iced Latte, Amber Rush, and Eternal Sunshine.

Swatches done with one swipe using my fingers (no primer was used):

Endless Pearl and Iced Latte

Endless Pearl and Iced Latte

Eternal Sunshine and Amber Rush

Eternal Sunshine and Amber Rush

So far, the only shade that I'm not really happy with is Endless Pearl. Every time I've tried to use it, it has looked cakey and patchy. I haven't completely given up on it yet though, so if you have any tips for me, please feel free to share.

One thing that has been a bit of a learning curve with these is what to use to apply them. The flat shader brushes that I use most of the time don't seem to want to pick up these shadows. After doing some experimenting with the other brushes that I have, it seems that fluffier brushes with tapered bristles do a better job of picking up product with these. I have also had good results applying with my fingers and with sponge tip applicators (I knew there were a reason I kept those around).

Brushes like this did not work for me (sorry they are dirty):

The brush on the left is from Lumiere Cosmetics, but it is no longer on the site. The brush on the right is from Everyday Minerals, and it can be found here.

These brushes worked:

The brush on the left is from an Eco Tools brush set that I bought at Wal-Mart. You can see the set here (it apparently isn't carried everywhere, and I can't even find it on Eco Tools website). The other two brushes are from the Studio Tools line found at Target. The one on the left is the medium shadow brush, and the one on the right is the smudge brush. Please note: They have made changes in the Studio Tools brushes, so I don't know if these newer versions work the same as the ones I have.

If you haven't checked these out yet, I would highly recommend picking one up. If you have these already, how do you apply them? What works best for you?

L'Oreal Infallible Never Fail eye liner

I picked up the L'Oreal Infallible Never Fail eye liner in Navy last week to get to the $15 mark required for an ExtraBucks deal at CVS. I figured it was worth a shot since I only had one blue pencil liner that is brighter than I prefer for everyday looks. The full retail price for this liner was $9.79.

Claims/Features:

• Rich creme formula for smooth application
• Smudge-resistant, up to 16 hours
• Built-in sharpener and smudger
• Ophthalmologist tested
• Suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers

 I thought the smudger was interesting because it was rubbery instead of the typical sponge tip. I'm guessing that might make it more sanitary because bacteria can't build up in it, but that's just a guess. I would also assume that it would hold up better than the sponge-tip smudgers.

When I swatched this liner for the first time, I wasn't thrilled. It didn't swatch very well.

In the above picture, the top swatch is one swipe with the pencil. As you can see, there isn't a lot of color payoff, especially when you compare it with something like Urban Decay's 24/7 liner pencils. The second swatch is two swipes, and the third is multiple. The last swatch was lightly blended out with the smudger tip.

Note: I just swatched this liner again, and the color-payoff with one swipe is a lot better than the above picture, so it appears to have softened up a bit with some use.

Now on to the standard staying-power test. After letting the above swatches sit on my hand for a few minutes, I rubbed them with my fingers with a good amount of pressure and speed. Here are the results:

Not exactly outstanding results for something that claims to be smudge-resistant (notice that it doesn't claim to be smudge-PROOF).

On Monday, I wore this liner to work, and here's how it looked when I got home (sorry there isn't a before picture):

This picture was taken after about 9-10 hours of wear. I do still have color on the outer corner of my eye, which is good. That tends to be where liner disappears on me. However, you can see that it looks faded and the color has smudged down a little bit under my eyes. From a normal distance, this wouldn't be noticeable, so I was happy enough with it. If I were going out to dinner in the evening though, I would probably feel the need to do a quick touch-up before heading back out the door. While I can imagine that there would be a decent amount of product left at the 16-hour mark, I don't think it would hold up well enough to live up to its 16-hour claim.

Overall, I would say this is a decent liner. I will continue to use it because I do like the color of it, but I don't plan on repurchasing it. There are better liners out there. From my somewhat limited collection of pencil liners (I used to almost exclusively wet-line with eye shadows), I much prefer the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips eye liner trios. They are more smudge-resistant and you can get a pack of three for about $1 more than I paid for the L'Oreal liner.

What are your favorite pencil liners? Have you tried these L'Oreal Infallible ones? What was your impression of them?

EOTD - Amber Glow

I finally tried L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow in Amber Rush yesterday. I still want to try the idea of using it with a burgundy type of shade, but for my first time wearing it, I went for something a little safer.

Here's what I ended up with:

Products used:
TFSI
L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow in Amber Rush on the lid
Urban Decay Buck in the crease
Wet & Wild Brulee to blend and highlight
The light golden color from the Wet & Wild Baked, Not Fried palette for the inner corner and just under the browbone
Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on eye pencil in Bourbon to line (in hindsight, I wish I had gone for a warmer brown liner color)
Wet & Wild MegaProtein mascara

I ran across another beauty blogger the other day who mentioned using a sponge-tip applicator to apply these L'Oreal shadows, which was a fantastic tip! I can't get a brush to work well for these, but a sponge-tip applicator worked really well. I wish I could remember where I read it so I could give her credit. If it was you or know who it was, please let me know.

I would also like to point out the bit of mascara on my browbone. This is an issue that I'm having with the MegaProtein mascara. It is a really wet formula that takes a while to dry, so unless I'm really careful, I always end up with small bits of mascara on my browbone. I don't notice is smudging after it dries though.

Goal for my next EOTD - mix up my application techniques. I used the same techniques for both this one and my first one.

CVS Haul - Hooray for Coupons!

I had a bunch of CVS Extrabucks and a couple of other coupons burning a hole in my pocket, so I went in today and picked up:

Almay intense i-color shimmer-i kit for green eyes - original price: $8.29 - on sale for $5.99 with card
L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow in Eternal Sunshine - $8.29
L'Oreal Infallible eyeliner in Navy - $9.79 (Ouch! This was more expensive than I thought.)

My haul

I used the following coupons:
$3 off any Almay color cosmetics item
$13 in ExtraBucks
20% off my  entire purchase

With all of my discounts, I ended up paying a total of $6.33 today AND...

I also walked out of there with $8 in ExtraBucks ($3 for the Almay product and $5 for buying $15 in L'Oreal products).

Needless to say, I'm quite pleased with the results of my little shopping trip. Have you gotten any good deals lately?

EOTD - Snakebitten Latte

I'm going to try and do some eye-of-the-day posts, especially since I'm testing out a bunch of new products lately. I hope I can come up with a better lighting solution in the future, but what I've currently figured out isn't awful, so I'm going to go with it for now.

 

In this look, I am wearing:

TFSI

L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow in Iced Latte on the lid

Urban Decay Snakebite in the crease

Wet & Wild Brulee to highlight

L'Oreal Hip cream eyeliner in Teal topped with Urban Decay Blackout to line

Tarte Lights, Camera Lashes mascara topped with Wet & Wild Mega Protein mascara

After doing this look, I think I have officially given up on Tarte Lights, Cameras, Lashes mascara. I know a lot of people love it, so I want to as well. I keep trying it, and I still don't like it. I feel like my lashes look really clumpy in this look, and they looked that way before I added the Wet & Wild mascara. 

I don't think these pictures show off the gorgeous sheen/shimmer that Iced Latte has, so here's a swatch picture with it that shows it off a little better: 

All of these are the L'Oreal Infallible shadows. From left to right: Endless Pearl, Iced Latte, and Amber Rush.

Since I haven't worn it yet, how would you wear Amber Rush? What would you pair with it? 

New Drugstore Products I'm Testing Out

There's been a lot of fun new beauty products showing up at the drugstore lately. Being the addict that I am, I haven't been able to resist. CVS isn't helping with good sales and giving me coupons and ExtraBucks to spend. I think the people who work at my CVS are going to start thinking I'm nuts because I've been going in there so often.

Here's a first look at the new products I'm testing out (all products were bought at CVS unless otherwise noted):

Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer - $13.29

I've used this a couple of times. I like how it feels when I apply it. It feels soft, but it doesn't feel as slippery as Smashbox PhotoFinish primer or Tarte's Clean Slate primer. 



 

 Maybelline DreamLumi Touch Hightlighting Concealer - $8.29
Revlon PhodoReady Eye Primer + Brightener - $9.99(Note: The Maybelline one comes with 1.5 mL of product. The Revlon one has 2.4 mL.)

Drugstore brands seem to be figuring out that peach concealers are good for under the eyes. I'm currently on the hunt for a better under eye concealer, so I couldn't help but grab these.

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush - $8.29

The texture of these is really fun. It truly does feel bouncy.  The colors that I have are Fresh Pink and Plum Wine. Plum Wine looks scary in the pan, but it blends out nicely.

Maybelline Color Tattoo eye shadow - $5.84 (at WalMart)

I have these in Bad to the Bronze and Tough as Taupe. When I took these pictures, I noticed that Tough as Taupe appears to have a lot more product in the jar that Bad to the Bronze. Has anyone else noticed this with the ones that they've picked up?

L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow - $8.29

From left to right: Endless Pearl, Iced Latte, Amber Rush


 These are an interesting hybrid of a powder and a cream shadow. So far, I'm not impressed with Endless Pearl. It applies patchy compared with the other two.

Maybelline Super Stay 10 Hour Stain Gloss - $6.94 (at WalMart)

I picked this up in Mauve Dream.

I've only tried this once, and I haven't tested the 10 hour claim yet. I will say that the smell is a bit odd. It is like a cross between fruit punch and cherry cough syrup. Those who are sensitive to smells might want to avoid this product.

Is there anything that you would like to see an extended review on? What new products for 2012 have caught your eye? I have $9 in ExtraBucks for CVS. What should I pick up with it? I'm going to try and make it my last purchase for a while. I've clearly been on a spending binge lately.