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Drugstore Beauty Finds

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Concealer

February 17th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

neutrogena hydro boost hydrating concealer
The new Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Concealers ($12.99 each, available in five shades)

Hydration? Concealer? Hi, my name is Karen, and I immediately want to try anything and everything that moisturizes and hides my dark circles.

It’s my lot in life, and perhaps the sole reason why I was put on this earth — to try every under-eye concealer ever made by man and woman kind.

So…I wanted to love new Hydro Boost Hydrating Concealer from Neutrogena because I’m all about their Hydro Boost Tint (seriously, it’s one of the best drugstore face products I’ve ever tried), but eh — it’s not my fave.

Like the foundation, it contains moisturizing hyaluronic acid, along with a special moisturizing core in the center of the tube.

neutrogena hydro boost hydrating concealer before and after
With concealer on the left, and wearing the shade Medium 40 on the right

I’ve used it a couple times so far… Yes, it feels and looks lightweight, so it’s not going to hang out in your fine lines or look caked-on and obvious (yay!), but the thing is…it doesn’t really cover very much. It’s SO sheer.

neutrogena hydro boost hydrating concealer swatches
Swatches from the top in Fair 10, Light 20, Light/Medium 30, Medium 40 and Deep 50

I just like my under-eye concealers to be more opaque. When I put a good amount under my eyes, my inner voice says, “MOAAAARR.” It also straight-up disappears as the day wears on.

At least it isn’t too expensive. It’s only $12.99. If you’re curious (it’s good if you think you can get away with sheer coverage), there are five shades in the line, and they’re available at drugstore and online now.

Shoes for the Coywolf

I have to buy the Coywolf some shoes…

She’s almost a year old, and every single pair of shoes I’ve put on her, she pulls off. She sits there and takes them off. Socks too.

But now that she’s walking, I wanna take her outside more to explore with me, so I gotta get her some shoes…

She does have one pair of kitty moccasins that she got as a gift for Christmas, and she kindasorta can’t take those off, but she’s almost outgrown them.

I was looking at the Carter’s website and saw these cute little kitty shoes…

Yay! They’re 50% off today!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Neutrogena, Product Reviews

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint Is a Lovely, Lightweight Medium-Coverage Tinted Moisturizer

February 17th, 2017 by Karen 22 Comments

neutrogena hydro boost hydrating tint
The new Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tints ($14.99 each, available in 10 shades)

Is new Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint as fun as…sliding down the Summit Plummet at Disney’s Blizzard Beach or hiking to Wailua Falls on Kauai and frolicking in the secluded pool?

Hmm…maybe! It’s fun if your idea of fun is having your foundation look completely natural.

If I saw a friend, and he/she was wearing this foundation, I don’t know if I’d be able to tell. I’d just admire how even-toned and dewy his/her skin looked. Then I’d ask their secret!

neutrogena hydro boost hydrating tint doe foot
That’s a BIG doe foot

Ultra smooth…

Hydro Boost is an oil-free tint/foundation with hydrating hyaluronic acid to plump skin for up to 24 hours, but ya know…the texture is the real special sauce. It’s fluffy, mousse-like and incredibly easy to blend. When I use the over-sized doe-foot applicator to dot it on my face, then blend it in with my fingers, it glides and creates a thin, even layer, which is then undetectable, even on my cray-cray dry skin.

neutrogena hydro boost hydrating tint swatches 1
Swatches of the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tints from the top in Classic Ivory 10, Natural Ivory 20, Buff 30, Nude 40 and Soft Beige 50
neutrogena hydro boost hydrating tint swatches
More swatches from the top in Natural Beige 60, Honey 85, Caramel 105, Cocoa 115 and Chestnut 135

[Continue reading…]

There are 22 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Neutrogena, Product Reviews

Maybelline Spring 2017 Master Strobing Liquid

January 12th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

maybelline master strobing liquid swatches
Two of the three new Maybelline Master Strobing Liquids in Light/Iridescent and Deep/Gold

Maybelline’s new $10 liquid highlighter is some seriously hardcore disco frost! — and it isn’t for the faint of heart. No, these big bits of glitter are probably better suited for a crew heading to da club than a gang going to a playgroup.

I’d belong to the latter group, although if somebody started bumping Murder She Wrote at the playground — not gonna lie — I’d bust out the Butterfly, no shame (but I’d have to stretch first!). 🙂


Throwback to my clubbing days

I’m going to leave this product to the ladies who don’t have to deal with pores/fine lines/being over 40. If you’re interested, they’re $9.99 each and available in three super shimmery shades.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. How’s it going tonight? I’m over here trying to find something to watch on TV… Got any recs? 🙂

There are 8 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Maybelline, Product Reviews

Maybelline Spring 2017: Dream Illuminating Brightening Creamy Concealer

January 11th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

maybelline brightening creamy concealer swatches
From Fair to Deep, the new $7.99 Maybelline Dream Brightening Creamy Concealers

[whisper] I’ll admit it, when it comes to drugstore concealers, I’ve always been kind of a snob.[/whisper]

I blame it on my teenage years… I started out wearing mostly drugstore products (back in the ’90s), and I had SUCH a hard time finding face products, like foundations and concealers, that matched my skin tone.

It was a ROUGH time for tan girls back then, lemme tell you! Thank goodness we didn’t have selfies and Instagram back in the day, because I already have way too many Polaroid pictures of myself from that era with my face and under-eye area a completely different color than my neck.

Oh, and the drugstore formulas didn’t work as well as the stuff I’d find at the mall, so I’d be wearing concealer for like two seconds before it disappeared.

When it comes to drugstore face makeup, those were not the good ol’ days…

Fast forward to today, and Maybelline’s new $7.99 Dream Illuminating Brightening Creamy Concealer, which coms in six shades designed for the under-eye area.

[Continue reading…]

There are 10 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Product Reviews

Maybelline Spring 2017 Baby Lips Color Balm Crayons

January 10th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

maybelline baby lips playful purple
$6.99 Maybelline Color Balm Crayon in 40 Playful Purple

Baby lips, as in the lips of wee babes, are FASCINATING. They’re so smooth and perfectly pigmented, and completely lacking vertical lip lines. I can’t believe that I had baby lips once upon a time…

Well, other than these new ones from Maybelline. 🙂 They’re called the Baby Lips Color Balm Crayons, and they’re $6.99 each and new for spring in eight shades.

Ingredients

Octyldodecanol, Diisostearyl Malate, Petrolatum, Polybutene, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Polyethylene, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter / Shea Butter, HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Alumina, Silica Silylate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Aroma/Flavor, Limonene and Silica

Are they moisturizing?

These are fairly moisturizing oil-based balms, but I wouldn’t whip one out if my lips were severely chapped. They would get the job done most of the time, but I don’t think they’re as hydrating as hardcore balms like Hourglass Lip Oil or Nuxe Reve de Miel.

maybelline baby lips color balm crayon swatches
Five of the eight shades Maybelline Color Balm Crayons, from the top: 05 Toasted Taupe, 10 Blush Burst, 20 Creamy Coral, 25 Refreshing Red and 40 Playful Purple

[Continue reading…]

There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Maybelline, Product Reviews

The $3.99 Maybelline Spring 2017 Expert Wear Eyeshadows

January 4th, 2017 by Karen 19 Comments

maybelline spring 2017 eyeshadows
Eight of 20 new Maybelline Expert Wear Eyeshadows ($3.99 each) coming soon

I’ve been having a moment with Maybelline lately. I really, really like their new Dream Cushion Foundation, their Inti-Matte Lipsticks, the 24K Nudes Eyeshadow Palette, and I just had a long conversation with a friend last week (Hi, Shakun!) who loves their Matte and Poreless Foundation, which is apparently the ish, so I’m dying to try it.

With all of that said, I started testing the new Maybelline Expert Wear Eyeshadows, which come out this month (Jan. 2017), assuming they’d be great.

Buuut…

maybelline spring 2017 expertwear eyeshadow
Maybelline Spring 2017 Expert Wear Eyeshadows from the top in Linen, Cool Cocoa, Khaki Camo, Gold School, Night Sky, Made for Mocha, NY Silver and Fierce Fuschia

[Continue reading…]

There are 19 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Maybelline, Product Reviews

The Maybelline 24K Nudes Eyeshadow Palette, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

December 31st, 2016 by Karen 17 Comments

maybelline the 24karat nudes palette
Wearing The 24K Nudes Eyeshadow Palette by Maybelline, just $11.99 and available now at Ulta
I’m totally down with gold, bronze and brown,
The color combo spins me round and round…

OK, that’s the end of that nonsense. My name is Karen, and I cannot rap! Nope. I am terrible at improv lyrical wordsmith-ing.

But hey, girl, haaay, I can do other things…like obsess over outrageously good gold, bronze and brown eye palettes. Yeah, I can totally do that. Been doing it for years, actually. 🙂

Here’s one: the new $11.99 Maybelline The 24K Nudes Eyeshadow Palette.

maybelline the 24karat nudes palette 1
Maybelline’s The 24K Nudes Eyeshadow Palette has 12 dazzling colors infused with metallic gold pigments

All 12 of these warm, shimmery shades are right up my alley. For an $11.99 palette, this one’s a divine drugstore darling with bronze, brown, purple and khaki. They’re all nicely pigmented (I’d call them “medium” pigmented, so just shy of full), so they aren’t as sheer as the shadows in some inexpensive palettes; easy to blend; silky soft; and they don’t have a problem with wear time.

This is a great palette for everyday shimmer. I have a palette from theBalm that’s very similar to it but about $20 more expensive.

The powder particles in the more shimmery of the shades are on the larger side, though…which does make those somewhat aging, methinks, but this is still a great all-around palette because of the potent pigments and the price. It’s easily comparable to some of the better drugstore palettes out there now (like the $10 Maybelline Eye Studios, which are bomb-@ss drugstore gems to me).

maybelline the 24karat nudes palette swatches
Swatches of The 24K Nudes Eyeshadow Palette (I’m a MAC NC42 for ref)

[Continue reading…]

There are 17 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Maybelline, Product Reviews

Maybelline Color Sensational Inti-Matte Nudes Lipstick

December 30th, 2016 by Karen 15 Comments

maybelline color sensational inti matte nudes 555 naked coral
Wearing $8 Maybelline Color Sensational Inti-Matte Lipstick in 555 Naked Coral

You know you grew up in earthquake country when you see some new nude lipsticks from Maybelline and, instead of thinking something normal like, “Ooh! I can’t wait to wear them with smoky eyes!” you think of your worst earthquake nightmare scenario, which involves being buck naked in the shower and completely covered in soap when the big one hits.

(Another one of my nightmare earthquake scenarios involves being in the middle of getting Lasik surgery when an earthquake hits. Sit on that one for a bit.)

Ah… Another day, another glorious excuse to wear nude lipstick. You know how I roll. 🙂 And these Color Sensational Inti-Matte Nudes Lipsticks by Maybelline are so much naked lip loveliness.

maybelline color sensational inti matte nudes swatches
From top to bottom, swatches of six of the 10 Maybelline Color Sensational Inti-Matte Lipsticks: 575 Brown Blush, 565 Almond Rose, 55 Naked Coral, 545 Beige Babe, 535 Purely Nude and 530 Hot Sand

[Continue reading…]

There are 15 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Maybelline, Product Reviews

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

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