Review :: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser Concealer - Fair

In my seemingly never-ending hunt for the perfect undereye concealer, I decided to pick this one up honestly because it's probably the most popular drugstore concealers I see on YouTube and it has been ingrained in my mind that it must be good if all the YouTubers are using it, so I picked it up to try it out. :)

It has a pinky tone to it, which I'm sure is supposed to help reduce the appearance of undereye circles, like salmon colored concealers are known for, but that just means you really only want to use this on the undereyes, this is not meant for little problem areas on the rest of the face, it's just not going to match your foundation well enough, unless you also have pinky undertones.

I picked up the lightest one because judging by the packaging, they all looked really dark.  Good thing it comes off so much lighter than the packaging leads you to believe.  I probably could have gone a shade darker, but it's not a big deal, I'm losing whatever summer color I may have had anyway. :)

I have tried a few concealers to cover up my undereye circles, but nothing has done the job.  Although this product does not get rid of them perfectly, it's definitely the best thing I have tried so far.

I have issues with my undereye concealers creasing in my little fine lines, which sucks because that area is only going to get worse with time and I'm only 22! :-p  This product creases in those lines too, but not as bad as most other ones I've tried.

Overall, this is a pretty nice concealer.  It's not quite perfect for me, but I am enjoying it.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Review :: Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder - Fair

While at Walmart, I almost always have to stop my the cosmetics aisles. :) I came across this powder and remembering months ago how everyone was actually pretty impressed with the Nearly Naked stuff, I said "hey, why not, my usual favorite powder is running out anyway, might as well try something new, right?" So I did and here are my thoughts...

This on top of a medium coverage foundation will make it pretty much full coverage.

It can have a powdery finish when pressed onto the skin with the cotton pad provided (to be expected), but when buffed in with a powder brush, it looks great.

No scent.

Packaging is sturdy feeling, definitely not cheapo packaging like some stuff.  I actually enjoy the fact that the little pad has its own little area in the package instead of sitting on top of the powder. Packaging does come with a mirror, though it is smaller, it will do the job for little touch ups.

Costs around $8 at Walmart, but I'm still not convinced it's better than my favorite Milani Multitasking Powder, which is around $6.

Overall, this is a very nice powder and I do like it. It's surely not a dud in my book. :)

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Review :: Flower Beauty Kiss Stick High Shine Lip Color - Nude Narcissus

I have the Flower Beauty Pocket Fleur Trio of lipcolor in PF7 and the light pink shade on top is my favorite nude that I have ever come across.  The Pocket Fleurs have very little product and the packaging is crappy anyway, so I was on the hunt for a similar color.  I figured, let's start with Flower first since that's where I found the shade to begin with.  So I went to Walmart and picked up "Nude Narcissus" from the High Shine Lip Colors.

Although these two colors are not a match, pretty much not even close (lol), I still like them both and think they give a similar effect when on the lips. Keep in mind, the perfect nude is very dependent on your skin tone, so just because I like this one definitely does not mean it will work for everyone or even that everyone will like it on me.  But I like it, so that's what counts, right? :)

The Pocket Fleur and this lipstick both have the same scent and they seem like a similar formula. 

Nude Narcissus has a somewhat frosty finish which I thought I would never ever enjoy, but I actually like it with this lipstick.  Some days (like when I haven't exfoliated my lips in awhile) it can show up patchy.  It actually doesn't really sink into lip lines, like most lighter lipsticks I have found.  It also does not last very long on the lips.  I would say in 3 hours you're going to need to touch up even without talking or drinking excessively. 

I am surely not writing this review to tell you that all the lipsticks from this line are the same.  I realize the vast differences that can take place between colors, especially since the color I am reviewing is so very light.  I still hope this was helpful and I hope you found something of value in here. :)

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alaina

Review :: Flower Beauty Raise Some Brows Defining Eyebrow Pencils - Light & Dark Brown

Since my Chella brow pencil is running out, I was on the hunt for an affordable eyebrow pencil.  I have loved so many of the things I've picked up from Flower, so I figured I would give them a go one more time.

I picked up both of these colors so I could figure out which one would work best for my hair color and figured I might as well show you guys what they looked like here in some swatches as well, in case you are a brunette looking for a decent and inexpensive eyebrow pencil.

I stuck with the light brown pencil because I felt like dark was too gray and ashy.  Plus light tended to show up darker actually, or at least more pigmented.  I felt like light was just a better match for my brows.

Overall, these pencils are nice because they twist up which is super convenient.  They actually also have a tiny sharpener in the bottom that I guess some people would like.  Personally, I don't see the point since it's retractable anyway and it isn't an actual blade, it's just plastic, so I could never really get it to work very well at sharpening.

I'm not sure that I'm in love with the texture of these pencils.  They are some what creamy, which makes you wonder if they are going to last all day.  I don't have much of a problem with staying power, they do fade a little bit, but it doesn't really bother me too terribly much.  I find that the creaminess is almost wax-like, so it does a pretty decent job at holding down those crazy brow hairs.

This is the first drugstore eyebrow pencil without a crazy red undertone to it that I have found.  However, like I said, the dark brown one was too gray-like in my opinion.  So I guess that's what you get at the drugstore, too much red-tone, or not enough.  I enjoy this pencil, though it isn't super crazy awesome and I'm unsure if I will repurchase.  But I still can't see myself spending $20+ on an Anastasia pencil.  Yes, I understand that Anastasia is pretty awesome, but still I can't justify it.  This Flower Beauty one will just have to do for now.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina