L’Oreal | The Blush Brush

Feb 2, 2012

Favorite Drugstore Liquid Eyeliners

Nothing looks more classically beautiful than black winged eyeliner. One of my favorite ways to get this look is liquid liner so I’m always trying new formulas. After testing out almost every product available at the drugstore I have found the liners below work best for me. Keep in mind I prefer a felt tip because I think they are easy to use and allow me to create the most versatile eye shapes.

My first and absolute favorite Liquid liner of all time is L’oreal’s Carbon Black Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Liner. It’s super black, not too wet and stays all day. It also dries super quick. I find this has some of the darkest pigmentation of any drugstore liner I’ve tried. I’m obsessed with this and think it should be a staple product in everyone’s collection. It retails for about $8.99 and I usually try and get them when they are BOGO 50%

Another liner that works really well is the Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Liner. It also has a felt tip and is really easy to use. It dries fairly quickly and doesn’t smudge on me once it sets. My only issue with this is the darkest shade blackest black has a slight brown undertone to me. This retails for 5.99 so it’s a little cheaper than the L’oreal formula. The handle on this liner is also a little shorter than the L’oreal liner and my personal preference is the longer handle.

L'oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense and Maybelline Line Stiletto

If you are looking for even cheaper alternatives I have 2 recommendations; Wet N Wild’s Liquid Eyeliner and Elf’s Studio Liquid Eyeliners. Both of these products can be purchased for between 1 and 2 dollars and have amazing pigmentation. The Wet N Wild liner has a flexible brush tip that may be a little more difficult to use if you are new to liquid liners. The Elf liners have a very hard stiff brush tip. I think these are great products but I do find the formulas for both are very wet and require some extra drying time if you don’t want a smudgey mess. I also find the wear time and staying power of these are slightly shorter but you can’t beat the price.

Elf Studio Liquid Liner and Wet N Wild Liquid Liner

I own all of these in various shades and I’ll continue to repurchase them. If you have a drugstore favorite be sure to let me know so I can try it out if I haven’t already

Jan 28, 2012

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

Rediscovered Favorite: L’oreal Magic Smooth Souffle Foundation

Recently I’ve been going through my makeup trying to reorganize things and I came across the L’oreal Magic Smooth Souffle Foundations that I had purchased this summer. I had purchased two shades 524 Buff Beige and 518 Natural Buff.

My first thoughts when I came across them were:

1. Neither of these shades will match me since I bought them in the summer and

2. I bet this product is all dried up because it’s one of those moussey cream textured foundations.

However I opened both jars to find the foundation to be just as creamy as the day I bought it and surprisingly 518 Natural Buff blended into my skin beautifully!

The texture of this product is very creamy and whipped and I find that it buffs into the skin beautifully. For some reason I originally thought this type of foundation would make my skin look oily or shiny but I find I get a very natural matte finish when I use it. I love the coverage it provides, it literally erases the pores around my nose and inner cheek area and I feel like I have the prettiest flawless skin when I use this. When it comes to acne scarring or hyper-pigmentation I get a fairly decent coverage and I need to apply minimum concealer. It glides over lines and pores without settling and looking cakey.

I’ve been wearing this over my Fusion Beauty Illumfil primer. I chose this primer because I feel like my skin has been looking a little dead due to winter and this adds a very subtle glow to my skin. With this primer I’ve been getting a good 6 hours of wear from this foundation, I think if I used my smashbox primer I’d probably see more extended wear. I haven’t found the need to use a powder to set this which is very rare for me, I almost always use a powder.

The packaging is nice and sturdy. The product comes in a glass jar with a twist off lid. The only con about the jar is it’s a little cumbersome in size and may not be great for storage.

Things To Know:

1. I find this buffs in best with a flat top stipling brush. I have been using my Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Blusher Brush.

2. I have found this foundation gives a beautiful airbrushed finish that still looks natural and glowy but not greasy

3. The texture of this product is very velvety and smooth. It feels much lighter and more natural than a liquid foundation.

4. I think this would work well on all skin-types. I have oily skin and it looks great on me even without a setting powder

5. The lasting power on this would be anywhere between 6-8 hours depending on your primer

6. This product did not dry out in the jar.

7. There are 12 shades to choose from in this line.

Overall I really am loving this foundation, and while it is a little pricey for a drugstore brand, $15.99, I recommend waiting until you can get it for a buy one get one %50 off deal. I definitely rank this in my top 3 drugstore foundations.

Jan 25, 2012

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Cream Gel Eyeshadow vs. L’oreal 24 Hour Infallible Eyeshadow

This past month Youtube has been flooded with reviews and tutorials on the new Maybelline 24 Hour Color Tattoo and L’oreal 24 hour Infallible Eyeshadows. While both products boast intense pigmentation, 24-hour long lasting power, and crease-resistant shades there are some differences between the two so instead of another blog with swatches you’ve already seen I thought I’d compare both eyeshadows. To be honest both are pretty great but if you don’t have a ton of money to spend to try both out here’s some things you might like to know before deciding which one to buy:

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Cream Gel Eyeshadows: This line has 10 shades. I own Tough as Taupe, Pomegrante Punk, and Bad to the Bronze

1. These shadows are actual cream shadows. Most have shimmer finishes except Tough as Taupe

2. These have been called dupes for Mac Paint Pots. They work well as a shadow base but can be worn alone.

3. Without a primer these lasted about 8 hours on me before starting to fade out. I did not notice any major creasing with any of the colors I purchased.

4. While these can be worn on their own I felt I got the nicest look when I used these as a base. They are very pigmented when swatched but I felt on their own the eye look they created was a little too subtle for my taste

5. The packaging for these are great. They come in sturdy glass jars with twist off tops. I do not see these drying out.

6. I think these apply best with fingers, they are easy to blend and do not set too quickly.

7. I wish they had a black shade. I feel like while they have some nice neutrals and vibrant shades they lack some deeper shades.

L’oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eye Shadow: This line has 12 shades, I own Continuous Cocoa and Eternal Sunshine

1. These shadows are actually a powder that has been pressed into a cream like texture. When applied they finish more like a cream shadow then a powder

2. I find that the texture on these are a little harder to work with. Fingers work best for application, trying to pack the pigment on a shadow brush can be a little difficult.

3. These do not blend as easily as the Maybelline 24 hour shadows but I felt they were slightly more pigmented.

4. I got a good 8 hours of wear from these before fading and they did not crease.

5. I like how this line had some darker colors, you can create some really dramatic looks that will last all day without smudging or creasing.

6. These also had nice packaging. The shadow comes in a sturdy little jar with twist off lid. Don’t lose the little piece inside used to pack down the pigments!

Overall I have really liked both of these products. For a drugstore buy they really do what they say and are such a great alternative to higher end shadows.

If I had to choose one over the other I would probably spend the money on the L’oreal Infallible shadows only because I like wearing a darker smokier eye most days and the L’oreal line has a better selection for that. Honestly though I love combining these 2 products together if you can get your hands on both. My favorite look so far is using the Maybelline Bad tothe Bronze all over my lid and then lining and smoking my upper and lower lashline with the L’oreal Continuous Cocoa. I believe I spent about 7 bucks a piece on these so price isn’t really a big difference.

Hopefully this helps those of you who still haven’t had a chance to try these out, let me know your thoughts if you are already using them!

Oct 23, 2011

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

L’oreal Voluminous False Lashes Mascara

Yesterday I purchased the new L’oreal Voluminous False Lashes Mascara. This is the one that has Gwen Stefani in the commercial and boasts it will give your lashes a “voluminous, sculpted lash effect for fuller, longer, sculpted and curved at every angle” look. I think I paid $8.99 at CVS for this product and I bought it in blackest black.

My thoughts are, it worked fine. You will get a little clumping if you don’t work fast with it. I’d categorize this as a dryer formula but it had little flaking after a few hours of wear which was nice. It does not give you curl like Benefit’s They’re Real mascara but it did darken my lashes pretty nicely and add volume and length. I’ve added a picture so you can see how my lashes looked after I first applied it.

I’d give this mascara a 7/10

For less than 10 bucks it’s worth a try if you normally like L’oreal’s mascaras

Sep 28, 2011

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

L’oreal Project Runway Limited Edition Quad: Sultry Raven’s Gaze

I picked this up from Walgreen’s the other night on a whim and it was a big waste of money. I think I paid $8.99 for this and I’m pretty sure I wont be wearing it again. The quad comes with one gray shade, a silver, black, and a purplish grape color. All swatch pretty terribly and they go on even worse. The color pay-off was pr non-existent and I couldn’t get them to blend at all. Out of the 4 colors the silver was the best but you could get a silver shade anywhere. I tried using this for a smokey eye but in the end my eyelid just looked dirty. I did use a primer with this, it didn’t make a difference. This quad did come in some other colors, I think I saw a brown quad and one with a turquoise shade in it. I’m not sure how those work but this one was a dud.