Hard Candy Glamoflauge Concealer

Can I just start off with how cute the packaging is? Hard Candy, like Benefit has amazing packaging for their products.

Now, onto the review. Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty concealer comes in a squeezy-tube which I like since it makes it easier to use up more of the product. It is available in 3 shades: light, medium, and dark. I really wanted to try this out for a long time so when I went to Walmart, I just picked up the only shade that was there: light. The shade actually works great for my under-eye area. A little bit of this product goes a long way and it really brightens up the area, so I'm glad I got this shade. However, it is too light to use for covering up dark spots on my face, so I'm going to have to keep checking my Walmart to see if they ever come in stock with a medium. I also find this product to be a bit dry and thick in consistency.

And look! Hard Candy doesn't test on animals. Always a plus.

This product also comes with a small pencil concealer, which in my opinion is much creamier and goes on more smoothly. Due to the consistency, or the possibility that the pencil comes in a slightly darker shade, I can use this to cover up my dark spots which it does extremely well.

Overall, I'm really impressed with this product and the fact that you use such little product every time makes this really worth the money, even though it isn't that expensive.

Hard Candy products are sold exclusively at Walmart and you can pick up this concealer for $6.00. 

Covergirl Clean Makeup

I decided to try the Covergirl clean liquid foundation and pressed powder. I bought them in the shade 545 warm beige.

The consistency of the foundation is fairly thick and goes onto the skin smoothly. I found it worked best when applied with a makeup sponge or with fingers and then buffing it out with a brush. When I tried applying it from the back of my hand straight to my face with a brush it went on uneven and was harder to blend out.

As far as controlling oil, the foundation lasted for about 4 hours with powder during the summer. (Keep in mind I live in a hot, humid place.) However I during the colder months it lasted about 7-8 hours with minimal shine. Almost double the wear time! My skin just changes quite a bit in the seasons. I think if you have combo-oily skin then this will work for you well, but if you have vey oily skin you may want to skip this one. However, it's not that expensive: it averages from $5 - $6 wherever Covergirl cosmetics are found.

The powder costs about the same and comes in a blue compact for the oily skin range. As you can see from the pics I have almost used it up. I found that again, like the foundation, this powder seemed to last on me longer in the winter than in the summer. My skin is more on the extreme side, but if you have normal or combo/oily then it should work.



I also tried the Covergirl Invisible concealer in the shade Honey, although I don't have pictures of that since I finished it up and threw away the packaging about a month ago! The concealer works great for under-eye circles, but it does not do a good job of covering up dark spots on the face. It comes in a tube with a sponge tip applicator and is sold for around $5.00.

Battle of the Balms

I know it's summer, but I still use lip balm every single day. It's just a habit. Of course, since it's warmer and my lips don't get super dry and chapped I just use lip balm once in the morning and once right before bed.


The first one I want to talk about is a favorite of many beauty bloggers/vloggers. That's right, EOS, that famous colorful egg-shaped balm. I must say, I'm a big fan of the packaging. It's so cute and small and different!

The first one I bought was Honeydew, which smells amazing, and it's not overpowering. More recently, I got Summerfruit though the smell of this is really weird. I don't know what it is, but a fruity smell does not come to mind. The formula is slightly waxy and there is no taste. It feels like you're putting a layer of something to lock in the moisture already on your lips, but I don't feel like it adds extra moisture. I think this is a great balm to apply before applying a lipstick or other lip product, but for me it's not strong enough on it's own, especially during the winter.

EOS lip balms retail for around $3.29 at Ulta or Walmart.


Next up: Burt's Bees! This brand is well known across the country. I got a 4-pack tin during the holiday season that came with: the original, mango butter, pomegranate oil, and the one with açaí berry extracts.

 

Burt's Bees formula is more moisturizing so I like it better for all day wear in the winter or nighttime wear for the summer. No taste again, but the original smells minty and the others smell like the special ingredient they have. Oh, and they tingle! One thing about this balm is that if I wear under brightly colored lipsticks, I feel like it makes the lip color tamer, which is a good or bad thing depending on how you feel.

Burt's Bees lip balms retail from $2.99 - $3.99 in most drugstores, Walmart and Ulta.

Finally, I'd like to talk about the fresh SUGAR lip treatment. I have small sample sizes of the original and the rose tinted one. Although it says lip treatment, it doesn't feel super heavy on the lips, nor does it tingle. It is very moisturizing and feels very luxurious to put on but the hefty $22.50 price tag for a full size is not so pretty. However, they are one of the few lip products I know that have SPF 15 in them, so that's a plus. These can be found at Sephora.

Another lip balm I'd like to mention as my all time favorite so far is the Aquafina lip balms. I don't have any pictures because I don't own any of these right now since I'm trying out other ones, but I LOVE them. They are so moisturizing that I'd just have to apply once in the morning and once in the night, even during the dead of winter. Not kidding, these helped my lips stay perfectly smooth throughout last fall and winter. I definitely noticed a difference when I ran out of these and started using EOS.

Here's a link of the pack that I got, though I bought mine at Walmart. However, I don't think Walmart sells these online.

http://www.dollargeneral.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11896049&CAWELAID=1198527849

Benefit's Some Kind of Gorgeous Foundation

As with most Benefit products, this one has cute packaging as well. It's supposed to be an old timey record. I got a mini size of this with my Benefit Tan About Town set. It also came with a mini Badgal Lash which I reviewed in my last post and the Hoola bronzer.

Starting off with the positive: along with the nice packaging, this foundation feels really light on the skin but gives great coverage. I find it worked best when applied with my fingers. I tried using a brush and a sponge didn't really like the outcome.

I'm sad to say the good stops there. This product is a cream-to-powder foundation which I personally don't like because you have to blend it in really quickly or it leaves dry, uneven patches. It makes the product really hard to apply. Even when using fingers, it starts to dry out as soon as it touches the skin so when you apply it turns out to be more of a powder.

And the biggest issue I had with this foundation was that it made me break out very intensely. I didn't realize at the time that this was the cause of my breakout, because I was changing up my skincare routine. However, I stopped using this foundation for 2 months and then randomly decided to put it on again one day and my skin immediately starting breaking out.

If you have oily, acne-prone skin be cautious when trying out this product.

Benefit's BADgal Lash Mascara

I am a total sucker for cute packaging and that's probably the main reason why I want to try so many of Benefit's products. Benefit's BadGal Lash comes in a black tube with sparkles and pink letters.

Benefit emphasizes that this is a volume-building mascara, which I completely agree on. The brush is big and thick with bristles helping to add volume to your lashes. The formula is very light and doesn't clump at all.

My only issue with this mascara is the price tag. It's $19.00 for a full size which is a bit expensive considering that you can get great mascaras for under $10.00. I honestly think this mascara gives a very similar effect to Maybelline's The Falsies mascara, which is much cheaper.

Lancome's Hypnose Drama Mascara

I managed to get a sample size of Lancome's Hynose Drama mascara and I love it! Let's start out with Lancome's claims for this mascara, directly from their website:

Benefits

• Unique, oversized brush provides full contact with lashes for ultimate volume
• Delivers maximum lash coating with immediate load gives lashes instant volume
• Fluid, creamy gliding formula evenly coats lashes from root to tip for buildable volume
• Promises intense, deep color
• Fragrance-Free. Ophthalmologist Tested. Allergy Tested. Safe for contact lens wearers.

Technology

• New oversized S-shaped curve full contact Convex Brush
• Texturizing Complex formula with highly saturated waxes
• Triple Coating System enriched with Pro Vitamin B5
• Deep Carbon Black Pigments

The fact that the brush is curvy and has really large bristles helps to volumize your lashes, literally with just one coat. The formula is on the heavy side, but that might be because of the amazing vitamins that are in it! If you put on too many layers of this, it does start to get clumpy, but honestly you really only need 1 or 2.

As for color payoff, my lashes are already black, but I can still see a difference in the intensity of the color.

Now, the frangrance-free claim has me raising my eyebrows a bit. I do smell a plastic-y scent, but it isn't that strong and it only comes from the tube not the wand.

Overall, it's probably my favorite mascara that I've tried. I just wish it was cheaper. But like all department store brands, it comes with sleek packaging and a hefty price tag: $26.00.

Maybelline's The Falsies Mascara

I bought this mascara in a Maybelline kit for $5 at Walmart during the after Christmas sale. It came with this mascara, a full size Line Express Eyeliner in Black and a quad in Charcoal Smokes. It was such a great deal!

The claims from the Maybelline website:

- Patented Spoon Brush fans out lashes from corner-to-corner, while the Pro-Keratin formula instantly builds volume without clumping
- Unique flexible wand helps to lift and separate lashes to provide the look of 300% more visible, fuller lashes, no gaps from any angle

Onto the review part...this mascara is amazing! One swipe and you get intense volume and a little bit of length. The formulation is a bit on the wet side but it's not heavy on your lashes at all. Also, I never curl my lashes but I feel like using this mascara helps add a little bit of curl to mine.

The wand, like mentioned in Maybelline's claims, is like a flattened brush on one side with a curved shape which helps you get really close to the roots of your lashes.

Regularly, this mascara costs about $5-$7 at drugstores so it's a great deal for a great mascara.