Garnier Fructis Style De-Constructed Texture Tease Dry Touch Finish Spray Review

This is a drugstore dupe for my beloved Style Sexy Hair Spray Clay.
Spray Clay is amazing, but it's $18 a bottle and this Garnier Texture Tease is only $3 at Walmart!

The scent is that traditional Garnier Fructis scent that reminds me of middle/high school for some reason (probably because it was the only product I could buy and afford lol)

I find that it gives more hold than Spray Clay. It is the slightest bit stiffer, but it's still not too stiff to make me upset about it.

The aerosol pressure is almost as intense as Spray Clay. One of the best things I like about Spray Clay is that the pressure that comes out of the can with the product is hard enough to give extra volume and lift to the hair. It pushes out so hard that the hair also gets moved and creates the messy style that I love. I spray it up underneath the ends of my hair to give it extra volume and I love it. This Garnier product does the same thing! (It's just the littlest bit less intense, but still gets the job done!)

Overall, if you love Spray Clay, go find this Texture Tease! You will not be disappointed! (And even if you magically are disappointed, it was only $3 instead of $18)

Have you tried this product? What do you think?
Thank you so much for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Face of the Day : April 29, 2015 : Bronze Skin, Colorful Eyes

 Here's my makeup of the day today! I'm trying out a couple new products that will be marked with *.

Face:
Skin 79 Super+ BB Cream
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer - Fair
NYX Cream Blush Tickled
ELF Eye Brightener
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder Transparent
Milani Felt Tip Brow Pencil Dark Brown
Flower Beauty Beachy Keen Blush/Bronzer Duo (just the bronzer)
Milani Baked Blush Luminoso

Brows:
Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade Dark Brown
Pixi Medium Brown Brow Duo

Eyes:

NYX City Proof 24 hr Eye Primer Base*

Maybelline the Brights Eyeshadow Palette

Lorac Front of the Line Pro Eyeliner

Revlon PhotoReady Kajal Matte Marine Eye Pencil*

Revlon PhotoReady Eye Art Lid+Line+Lash 060 Peach Prism*

Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof Mascara

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

Lips: Pixi by Petra Shea Butter Lip Balm Honey Nectar

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alaina

Milani Blush Reviews & Swatches : Luminoso Baked Blush & Romantic Rose Powder Blush

Milani Romantic Rose Powder Blush

As you can see in the picture below, this blush is raised off of the pan. It is also a very generous amount of product, it's even more than any face powders I own! 17 grams! (Rimmel Stay Matte powder = 14 grams for comparison)

This blush lasts all day on my cheeks, even when I don't wear a great foundation underneath or a setting spray on top. ALL DAY no problem. No fading or moving or anything.

Both the pigmentation and color are just perfect for my light yellow undertone skin. This blush is matte, which is my favorite finish for most makeup products because I do have very oily skin, especially now that the weather is warming up.  I have absolutely zero negative things to say about this blush!

THE WRAP UP...
So much product!
Durable and sleek packaging
Beautiful product in the pan
Beautiful product on the cheeks
Lasts all day long with no problems whatsoever
Perfect pigmentation (not too intense for my pale skin, but also not difficult to get color to show up)

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso

This blush was somewhat scary to me upon first swatch. It does have quite a glow to it which is great for a bronze summertime glow.  However my super oily skin can really make my makeup look too shiny when I wear shimmery products. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the glow was not too intense for my oily skin! Yay! Even when wearing a less matte foundation, it still is not too much for me. It gives a beautiful bronze glow to the skin that looks so great.

It also lasts all day on my cheeks, even if I'm not wearing the best, long-wearing foundation as a base to the rest of my makeup.

I now understand why everyone raves about this beautiful blush!

Both of these blushes are just gorgeous and overall incredible drugstore products and I can't wait to try more cheeks products from Milani!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alaina

p.s.

Let me know what your favorite Milani blush is so I can try it out!

Hard Candy Fast & Fabulous Reviews : Makeup Setting Spray & Translucent Finishing Powder

Hard Candy Makeup Setting Spray

This setting spray does make my makeup last longer.

It does not help or hinder the longevity of my blush/bronzer etc. however, it does prevent my makeup from breaking up in my oiliest spot: my inner cheeks near my nose. I have tested with spray all over my face, as well as half of my face for comparison and have noticed that even with my favorite matte, long-wearing foundations, (Revlon Colorstay or Loreal Infallible Pro Matte) my makeup looks great even at the 10-12 hour mark. When not wearing this setting spray, I can see my makeup starting to break up in that spot on my cheeks ever so slightly at the six hour mark. I never even noticed it before until I started testing this spray out! It's not too terribly noticeable and you wouldn't see it unless you were examining the state of makeup right up in my face, but I noticed it.

I am currently comparing and testing the Hard Candy Makeup Setting Spray against the Kat Von D Lock n Load Setting Spray (review here). I have been testing them both against each other for one week now and I am pretty sure the Hard Candy is a total DUPE for the Kat Von D! There will be a review/comparison on the two soon on my YouTube beauty channel if you are interested.

Hard Candy Translucent Finishing Powder

This finishing powder does not last well on top of more dewy foundations. I have very oily skin and prefer to wear matte and long-wearing foundations, but I figured I would try this out as a setting powder on top of my Neutrogena Shine Control (a foundation I do not reach for everyday and do not prefer over other drugstore foundations). I was oily looking and feeling after only three hours when I tested these two together! Not good! However, when I use it to set my T-zone when I wear my favorite foundations, it works just fine.

This powder is 9 grams. (Loreal True Match = 9.5 grams, Rimmel Stay Matte = 14 grams for comparison) I prefer my Rimmel Stay Matte which is cheaper and has a ton more product.

When I use a light dusting of this powder, I don't really notice any benefits to it. When I pack it on, I can see it working a little better, however, when I pack it on, I am able to see a white cast.

I notice a white cast when I pack this powder on and I am super pale so I don't know how this would work for those with deeper skin tones because when I swatch it, the powder does show quite a bit of white color on my finger.

Overall, I think I may be returning this powder. :(

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Face of the Day : April 27, 2015 : Loreal La Palette Nude 1

Face:
Hard Candy Fast & Fabulous Makeup Setting Spray
both as a prep step and finishing spray
Loreal Infallible Pro Matte Foundation 101 Classic Ivory
mixed with a pea sized amount of
Flower Beauty BB Cream BB2
Hard Candy Fast & Fabulous Translucent Finishing Powder
on T-zone
Flower Beauty Glow Baby Glow Blush/Bronzer Duo Beachy Keen
(just the bronzer side)
Milani Baked Blush Luminoso
Milani Brow Tint Pen Felt Tip Brow Color Dark Brown
to fill in beauty marks

Brows:
ELF Instant Lift Brow Pencil - Neutral Brown
Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara

Eyes:
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder 001 Transparent
under brow
Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer
Loreal La Palette Nude 1
shade #1 in the inner corner
shade #3 in the crease and lower lash line
shade #10 on the lid
shade #6 in the outer v
Rimmel ScandalEyes Pencil Nude
in the water line
Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil West
on upper lash line
Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof Mascara
on the lower lashes
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara
with a bit of
Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof
and top coat of
ELF Waterproof Mascara Top Coat
on upper lashes

Lips:
NYX Retractable Lip Liner Red
Jordana Modern Matte Lipstick Matte Pretty

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Face of the Day : Another Day Using My New Favorite Eyeshadow : April 25, 2015

Face Products Used:

Loreal Infallible Pro Matte Foundation 101 Classic Ivory

mixed with a pea size amount of

Flower BB Cream BB2

and another pea size amount of

Pacifica Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream

concealed around the brows with 

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer NC15

set undereyes with

ELF Mineral Concealer SPF 15 Fair

Milani Brow Tint Pen Felt-Tip Brow Color Dark Brown

to fill in my beauty marks

Brows:

(the brows were not having a good day today)

Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade Dark Brown

set with Pixi Natural Brow Duo Medium Brown

Cheeks: 

contoured with

Flower Stick Foundation SF7 (not pictured because apparently I forgot)

bronzed up with

Flower Blush/Bronzer Duo Beachy  Keen (just used the bronzer side)

blushed up with

ELF Pressed Mineral Blush Sweet Retreat

Eyes:

Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer 

ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer Blush 

(both not pictured)

The Balm Nude Dude Eyshadow Flirty 

on the lid

Loreal La Palette Nude 2

shade #9 above the crease

shade #10 in the outer v

shade #8 to blend out the top of crease and also place in the inner corner

Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil Desperation

along lower lash line

NYX Wonder Pencil Light

in the inner rim

Lorac Front of the Line Pro Eyeliner

on the upper lash line and wing

Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof Mascara

on the lower lashes

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

on the upper lashes

then I applied

J Cat Eyelashes in EL213 

and

Duo Clear Eyelash Adhesive

and topped the lashes off with 

Model Co. VolumEyes Mascara

Lips: 

Wet n Wild Fergie Velvet Matte Lip Color Plumgenue 

Thank you so much for reading!

Love,

Alaina 

My New Favorite Eyeshadow! (The Balm Flirty) : Face of the Day : April 24, 2015

So... I just got a new camera from the awesomest "future ex-brother-in-laws" in the world! (let me explain the title "future ex-brother-in-laws"... this term is probably confusing but I don't have another way to describe them. Well, maybe I could just call them our friends... that sounds much simpler...)

So... I just got a new camera from the awesomest friends in the world! (ok, better)

Because I have spent all morning playing with this new camera, I figured I would do a blog post on my makeup of the day! Yay! Here we go!

Face Products Used:

Revlon Colorstay Oily Skin Foundation 150 Buff 

mixed with a dab of

Kat Von D Lock It Tattoo Foundation Medium 52

undereye concealing with

Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Concealer Ivory

undereye set with

ELF Mineral Concealer SPF 15 Fair

set the T-zone with

Hard Candy Fast & Fabulous Translucent Finishing Powder

Cheeks:

Too Faced Chocolate Soliel Bronzer

Milani Romantic Rose Powder Blush

Milani Felt Tip Brow Pen - Dark Brown

(not pictured)

to fill in my beauty marks

Brows (not pictured):

Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade Dark Brown

Pixi Brow Duo Medium Brown 

Eyes:

Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer

to cancel out redness and discoloration on the eyes

Loreal La Palette Nude 2

shade #3 in the crease

shade #8 on the inner corner/inner crease

shade #5 on the lower lash line

and now for...

***the star of the show***

The Balm Nude Dude Eyeshadow Flirty

all over the lid 

(I am soo obsessed with this shadow, it is unique and just so gorgeous!)

Rimmel ScandalEyes Pencil Nude

in the lower waterline

EM Cosmetics Waterliner Bronze Kiss

along upper lash line

Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil - West

in upper tightline

Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof Mascara 

on the lower lashes

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

on the upper lashes

(I am also falling in love with this mascara! It may possibly be the best drugstore mascara I have ever used. It is a very close second to my ultimate favorite mascara Too Face Better Than Sex)

Lips:

Pacifica Color Quench Lip Tint Guava Berry

Thanks everyone for reading!

I hope you enjoyed and maybe saw some products that look like fun to you!

Love,

Alaina

NEW Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipsticks Review + Swatches : What's Up Doc?, 15 Minutes Aflame, Nouveau Pink

PACKAGING
The packaging is a big improvement from the previous Silk Finish lipsticks. They have a pretty tight seal that makes them feel secure and I trust that they would survive rolling around in my purse, unlike the old packaging (I never would have put the old packaging loose in my purse). Although you do need to line up the cap in the exact correct spot in order to close them, I think it's not that big of a deal since it makes them more secure.

FORMULA
They feel smooth and moisturizing on the lips. They almost have a wet consistency. I noticed very light feathering after about 5 hours of wear (without lip liner, primer, etc.), but it was nothing intense and nothing a little lip liner couldn't fix.

They left a stain behind after eating, so it isn't necessarily essential to reapply afterwards.

They lasted about four hours on my lips before I felt like I needed to reapply. The only reason I reapplied is because my lips start to feel a little dry at that time. The stain left behind on the lips still shows a lot of color at that four hour mark too. They don't wear funky on the lips. Some lipsticks can start to wear on the inside of the lips, creating the need to reapply just to cover that area, but the stain took care of that problem for me with these.

Although they are not the most long wearing lip product, four hours is still a decent amount of time, especially for the price point!

They give a lot of color with a little bit of shine and they last a decent amount of time. So, yes, I would recommend them! Plus the new packaging is just a great step up. Wet n Wild is known for their fun, colorful makeup but their packaging has always been the one downside about the brand, so I'm glad to see them addressing that issue!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alaina

p.s.

Yes, the shade names on the lip swatch pictures are covering up a stupid little zit I've had! Ha!