Product Battles: Mascara and BB Cream

So if you've read my daily makeup post, I promised a couple of reviews on BB Cream and a couple of mascaras. After using and comparing them, I can finally tell you my thoughts.

First up, BB Creams!

The two BB creams that I tried out were:

                 -Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream ($39 at Sephora

                 -Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Protector ($11.99 at Target)

So I'm pretty late on the whole BB cream scene. And I also know that people all say that the western BB creams have absolutely nothing on the Asian ones. But I'm not a huge fan of ordering things online, especially when it involves trying to match it to my face.

Anyway, the idea of a BB cream is perfect for me. I don't want to cake on foundation and I definitely just want a natural look. Plus, I love the fact that BB creams usually contain SPF, since I don't wear sunscreen (I know...), and I love all the benefits they claim to have. Plus the hype on Youtube and other blogs was just hard to ignore. So I decided to go with the high and low of the most popular western versions (I don't count Dior's $50+ kind, because that's just ridiculous to me).

So here we go into a little breakdown...

Picture from imabeautygeek.com

 The first I used was the Garnier version because it was so inexpensive and I've heard almost all positive things about it.

I liked:

-Fresh Clean Smell

-Great Coverage

-Cheap

-Blended Well

-Fantastic Staying Power

I Disliked:

-Only 2 colors available

-Dewy

-Sticky/Oily

-Heavy Feeling

So the first three or so days I absolutely loved it. It worked fantastic under my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural and covered most of my redness and made my skin look great. I don't consider myself to have super oily skin, but after the first couple uses, it just became awful. I felt like I seriously took fried chicken and just rubbed it all over my face. Yes, our humidity was high (generally we live in a pretty dry climate), but when I went without, it wasn't pawing at my face. Overall, I would give it (for me) 3 stars (out of 5). The moisture was just way overboard for me.

I decided after the Garnier version, to try one that was also just as hyped up, but had even more promise to it, since it claims to "maintain moisture" on the face.

I like:

-Not Oily

-Matte finish

-SPF 35

-Coverage (honestly not as good as Garnier though)

-Lasting Power ok (Garnier was better too)

I Dislike:

-Price

-Smell (not a big deal though)

-I feel like I need more product with this than the Garnier to cover my face well

-Doesn't last more than 8 hours

This was definitely an improvement for me just because it didn't make my face so darn oily. Instantly I noticed that this is harder to blend, and that I needed a little bit more product. But overall I do like it, and I think it improves the look of my skin. I would give it probably a 4 or 4.5 stars. I know I plan to keep using it, definitely.

By the way, if anyone has used the Too Faced BB Cream, please tell me your thoughts! I just played around in Sephora with it, but I was afraid it wouldn't provide as much coverage and would be pretty oily.

PART 2

Battle of Mascara

Finding the perfect mascara ranks among the difficulty of finding the perfect wedding dress and even the perfect man. It takes a lot of frogs, to find just the right now. And while others claim that they love this mascara or that one, and then you try them out, and they are awful. It's because you won't get the same sparks from kissing their boyfriend that they do, I guess.

So a few months a go I came across a blog (I Pink I Love You), that talked all about her love for L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes. I went to Target, bought some for like $8 I think.

I Like:

-The Flashy Gold Tube

-Shape of the brush is really comfortable

-No weird smell

-Dries well and fast

-Doesn't smudge or smear

-Comes off relatively easy with my MAC makeup remover

-Classy look, no spider leg-look

-Doesn't Clump

-Lengthens

-Defines

-Good Volume

I Dislike:

-A tad expensive for drugstore

-For a more dramatic night look, several layers may be needed

Okay, so the two dislikes were definitely hard to find. I consider myself to have better than most eyelashes, so if you have short ones, you may have a slightly different opinion. There's pretty much nothing I dislike about this mascara. This is my first mascara I've tried that hasn't been Covergirl or Maybelline, mostly because I was under the false impression that no other drugstore mascaras are any good. But I was SO wrong! Heaven. That's what this is.

But like finding the perfect wedding dress or husband, sometimes you just can't help but make sure you checked out every option, even after you are pretty sure you found the one. And that was me with Maybelline's The Falsies. I saw so many gurus on Youtube using it and I loved the dramatic look of their lashes. And I bought it. (I got the non-flared, regular version)

I Liked:
-The curved wand
-Went on easily
-Definitely added a ton of length
-Dramatic

I Disliked:
-Smudging and smearing (ridiculous, I felt like it never dried. Even 10 hours after applying)
-Spider look (yuck)
-Not a good everyday look
-Didn't want to come off with my remover (it just sat underneath my eye)
-Sticky
-Clumpy
-Flakes

Ugh. I was so disappointed. Honestly, it's not even in bottom three of my least favorite mascaras (No, that's left for Great Lash and Lash Blast), but it's not a favorite at all. After three days, I just couldn't take it anymore.

 I went back to my L'Oreal. And I'm in love. I promise to never doubt it again (although trying out high end mascaras might be calling...). Like Randy from Say Yes to the Dress once said, "Once you find the right man, you need to just to stop looking. Same with a wedding gown."

And definitely the same for mascara.

So there you have it! Any favorites you wanna add? Have you tried these products and had similar results or completely different?

Thanks for reading!



Daily Makeup Products

Wanna look inside my makeup bag? And at the products that I use daily that don't fit in it? Well then hopefully you like today's post!

First, this is my makeup bag. It's from Vera Bradley in the print Island Blooms, and I think it's so adorable. When I bought a lot of my MAC makeup I decided that I needed a really adorable makeup bag to hold it, one that doesn't ugly up whatever surface it sits on or drawer it lives in. Plus it kind of keeps me from blowing all my money on makeup, because I plan to make everything fit in there. It makes travel much easier, storage simpler, and finding an everyday look a lot faster.

So here is sorta of an overview of my makeup. I didn't put all my individual MAC eyeshadows because that will come here in a little bit. Here you see:

-My Naked Palette

-My Smashbox BB Cream (review to come soon)

-Garnier BB Cream (review also coming soon!)

-NARS blush in Orgasm

-MAC Skinfinish Natural

-Maybelline Falsies mascara

-L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes mascara

-MAC Technakohl Liner

-Wet N' Wild eyeshadow

-MAC paint pot in Painterly

-Urban Decay Primer Potion

-Revlon tweezers

-Sonia Kashuk "Perfectly Neutral" eyeshadow palette

First we'll start with my face products. I don't like heavy foundations or a huge long drawn-out routine. So I recently I've started using a BB cream (I've used the Garnier for a week or two and I've only used the Smashbox one day once so far), then I set it with my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish (I was matched to medium plus and it's perfect). I love this powder and can definitely reccommend it to everyone. It's fantastic. Then I just use my NARS Orgasm blush (which I have found to look really natural and pretty on me. A lot of people complain that it's too bright or shimmery, but I honestly don't think it's that way on me).

Soon I'll post a review of these two BB creams (I don't want to jinx it just yet, but I'm a fan so far of the Smashbox one).

For my eyeshadow primer I go back and forth between MAC's paint pot (I use Painterly) and Urban Decay's Primer Potion. I guess for some odd reason when I use MAC eyeshadow I use MAC and when I use my Naked palette I use my Primer Potion. But I actually have my eye on the NARS one so hopefully soon I can try that out soon.

These are other products that I use out on my eyes. The lash curler is from MAC and I love it so far! Then there is my MAC Technakohl liner in Graphblack. Seriously, I have no desire ever to try another liner. It glides on smoothly, doesn't budge at all, and creates such a pretty look. Plus, no sharpeners are involved! I've read and heard great things about Urban Decay's 24/7 liner, but I believe it's $5 more and I'm perfectly happy with this MAC liner.

Then I'm sure you see my two different kinds of mascara. I love to try out new mascara and these two are the newsest ones! I've been loving the L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes. I think it's my new number one. But I was super curious about the Maybelline Falsies so I'm enjoying that a lot right now. A girl can never have too many favorite mascaras, since they always seem to discontinue them. Both are in very black and waterproof.

I love eyeshadow and I have a pretty large selection (I'm sure it's actually tiny compared to a lot of people haha).

-Naked Palette: I thought I wouldn't like it as much as I do, honestly. My favorite colors are Sin, Buck, and Naked. However, there is still tons of exploring and playing around I need to do.

-My Wet N' Wild palette (or whatever you call the trio of colors haha) in "Walking on Eggshells." I love it. After using my MAC and UD shadows I thought that I could never stand the thought of using a drugstore (super cheap) brand, but this is amazing. Worth way more than $2.99. Check it out.

-Sonia Kashuk's "Perfectly Neutral": I love love love it. Absolutely beautiful and a great value. (pictured up close below). I learned about it from Kate from The Small Things Blog. Check out her tutorial because that's the look I use :)

-MAC eyeshadows: I'm personally not a fan of their palettes, I like the individual little pots instead.

Colors that I have include : Knight Divine (it's like a dark blue/black, I honestly haven't used it yet), Vex, Copperplate, Blanc Type, Satin Toupe, Ploof, and Expresso. I absolutely love using Vex, Copperplate, and Satin Toupe. They are so pretty! And they can be mix and matched together too!

These two prodcts don't fit in my makeup bag, but they are both things that I use every day (usually).

Left: MAC's Gently Off Eye and Lip Makeup Remover. A must in my book. I love it. Even gets waterproof makeup off.

Right: MAC's Brush Cleanser

My little brush collection. From left to right:

-Good Karma eyeshadow (came with my Naked Palette and I honestly have used it once)

-Sonia Kashuk small eye shader

-Bare Escentuals angled eyeshadow brush

-MAC 217

-Sonia Kashuk crease brush

-MAC 239

-ELF large eye shader

-ELF blush brush

-ELF complexion brush

Everyday, I always use my MAC 217 and 239, and all three ELF brushes. So the very low end of my brushes and the higher end. I have yet to find a better brush than my ELF large shader to do my brow highlight.

So that's my collection. Hopefully I'll have some reviews coming soon, some new products to talk about, and if anyone has any questions, just ask!