Drugstore Beauty Finds

Affordable Drugstore Makeup Mini Reviews: Bronzer, Primer, Powder Liner and Lipstick From Neutrogena, Covergirl and Revlon

June 12th, 2020 by Karen 20 Comments

Good morning! Happy Friday! ?

Some speedy reviews of drugstore items I’ve been wearing as of late…

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blush in Bronzed ($8.99)

Technically, this is a blush, but if you’re on the fairest of the fair end of the skin tone spectrum, this matte golden tan would be a bangin’ bronzer. It’s easy to blend and lasts all day. Since it’s a little too light to wear as a bronzer on my tan skin, I swoosh a little in my crease as a transition color. It’s perfect for that, too!

Covergirl Trubelnd Minerals Loose Mineral Powder in Banana ($7.99)

This yellow tinted loose powder is primarily for setting concealer and foundation, and the yellow tint is designed to create a brightening effect… I didn’t really notice a difference. *shrugs* It more or less looked translucent on my skin. Anywho, I dusted this atop a mix of tinted moisturizer and a little concealer during a recent heat wave, and it held the oil on my forehead at bay without looking heavy or thick.

I like this…but I think it’s a better fit for medium and deep complexions with olive undertones, because the yellow can look a little “off” on lighter skin.

Covergirl Trublend Base Business Skin Primer ($8.24)

This colorless face primer, like all Covergirl products, is cruelty-free. I don’t really feel like it adds any moisturize to my dry skin, but it does a bang-up job of mellowing out my pores. When I layer it underneath tinted moisturizer or concealer, my base looks smoother and lasts longer. I also seem to use less base, too.

Covergirl Full Spectrum Defining Moment in Blackest Black and Deep Purple ($7.99 each)

I like the black version of this twist-up liner because it actually stays on waterlines and lash lines, and once it’s there, it doesn’t move. Totally solid. The purple shade is just OK though… It doesn’t stick to my waterlines at all, but it handles my lash lines well enough.

Revlon Creme Lipstick in Pink Velvet ($4.99)

Ya know, this lipstick is just as good as ever — smooth, lightweight and BURSTING with pigment. And it’s so comfortably creamy on my lips… No funky flavor or scent. I can’t believe it’s only five bucks!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! ? Are you doing anything this weekend?

Product Spotlight: Covergirl Full Spectrum So Saturated Eyeshadow Palette in Reverence

June 4th, 2020 by Karen 6 Comments

covergirl reverence palette swatches — For my budget beauty babes who love warm shades.

We live in unprecedented, crazy times, don’t we? That is the UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY. I find myself unconsciously shaking my head in surreal disbelief all the time. So much of what we’ve been seeing lately — and by lately I’m going back way further than this month — does not compute. How many times have you caught yourself saying, “I never thought I’d ever see…”? Shock and confusion describe how I feel every day…

While its importance pales in comparison to the health, safety, economic and social issues now, makeup for me is a safe place. It’s frivolous, simple, and it’s a lot easier to solve.

My take on makeup at this time: if something’s good, that’s great, and if it’s good and affordable, that’s even better. Covergirl’s cruelty-free neutral Reverence eyeshadow palette ticks most of the boxes. For $13, you get a mini warm-toned drugstore version of the O.G. Urban Decay Naked palette. It comes with eight powder eyeshadows. On my 40-something combo skin lids, they last all day long, so no touchups required, because who has time to reapply shadow during a global pandemic? Certainly not this girl. I’m too busy pulling up my stretchy pants and baking lemon bars.

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k front closeup — That’s Reverence in action on my lids.

I’ve been wearing the mattes in this palette a lot! This is one of those palettes where you can pretty much pick any two or three shades and whip out a complete look with barely any help from your blending brushes. You can apply the shadows with a wet or dry brush, but remember to tap off the excess product from your brushes before blending, because the shadows are on the fluffy side.

Ingredients:
Mica, Talc, Caprylic,Capric Triglyceride. Dimethicone. Magnesium Stearate, Nylon. 12, Silica, Boron Nitride, Paraffin, Isostearyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Mineral Oiuhuile Minérale/Paraffinum Liquidum, Sorbitan Isostearate. Tocopheryl Acetate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Sodium Dehydroacetate. Microcrystalline Wax/Cire Microcristalline/Cera Microcristallina, Tin Oxide, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, [May Contain/Peut Contenir/+/-: Iron Oxides (CI 77499, CI 77491 , CI 77492), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891). Ultramarines (CI 77007), Carmine (CI 75470), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI 77510)].

Also, take it easy on the metallics, because they’re borderline frosty, and they will highlight fine lines. I stick to wearing the bronze, taupe and gold, which I use as eyeliner doing thin lines, and that works for me.

Reverence is one of four color combos in the So Saturated Eyeshadow Palette Line. If neutrals aren’t your thing, there’s also Posh, which is a blend of burgundy tones; Gravity, a mix of smokey grays; and Zodiac, a bevy of brights. You can find all of them at drugstores and Ulta.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Drugstore Makeup Look: ’90s-Inspired Plummy Pink!

June 3rd, 2020 by Karen 20 Comments

Let me be the first person to say that my hair looks absolutely BONKERS in these pics, and that’s even AFTER trying to actually do something with it.

I am one YouTube video away from hacking it off! Note to self: next time a global pandemic approaches, book a hair appointment before the world shuts down.

Sigh… Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I was thinking about a Monday Poll question from a while back (’80s or ’90s?) before I started doing my makeup, which is how this ’90s-inspired plummy pink look came about. Everything I’m using is drugstore makeup because I’m still riding a may-jah budget beauty wave right now.

A drugstore dupe for an iconic ’90s lipstick

My main inspiration was an old-school ’90s standby that’s still around called Clinique Black Honey Lipstick. It’s a sheer, ever-so-slightly shiny lippie that all of my college friends wore back in the day. There used to be a Clinique counter inside the UC Davis bookstore, and every quarter when it came time to buy books, we’d all go to that counter to get our books so we could avoid the regular long lines. The only thing you had to do to use that line was buy at least one piece of Clinique makeup, which is how every girl I knew ended up with countless tubes of Black Honey.

Anywho…I recently found a drugstore dupe for it in Honest Beauty Plum Drop Lip Tint, and it looks exactly like Black Honey! To keep with the plum theme, I paired it with an awesomely affordable plummy-pink eyeshadow palette I found over at Covergirl, and pink cream blush cheeks (which I did with a Revlon lipstick).

Covergirl So Saturated Eye Palette in Posh is so good!

The palette is the Full Spectrum So Saturated Eye Shadow Palette in Posh, which comes with eight powder eyeshadows in pink, plum and burgundy tones. The powders are on the fluffier side, so there’s definitely some fallout if you aren’t careful and forget to remove any excess from your brush head, but, on the flip side, the colors are rich and practically blend themselves.

Just a few wrist flicks and you’re good. These are long lasting too. I wear mine without a primer, and it’ll last the day. Posh is $13.49 over at Ulta, if you’re interested.

That layered liner life

To break up all the pink and plum tones, I layered two liners on my upper and lower waterline — a matte black and a sparkly purple. The purple didn’t really show up on its own, which is why I drew the black liner on first, then layered the purple on top. If you ever have a liner that doesn’t deposit as much pigment as you’d like, starting with a layer of black liner beneath it is the fastest way to ramp up the intensity. You can also do this trick with white liner, by the way!

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Bushy Brows and Soft Matte Lips: Drugstore Beauty Strikes Again!

May 27th, 2020 by Karen 18 Comments

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k closeup — Bushy brows, babe!

If you’ve ever experimented with the bushy brow look you probably already know this: there’s a fine line between “full and lush” and “full-on cray.” Sometimes ya unintentionally cross that line (whoops!), and sometimes you don’t… The latter happened to me today when I stumbled onto this bangin’ bushy brow combo.

Budget beauty brows

Both products are from the drugstore, and to that I say, “Huzzah!” (Sorry, I’ve been binge-watching The Great on Hulu for the past few days.)

HUZZAH!

The two things: Covergirl Easy Breezy Brow in the shade Medium ($9.49) and Maybelline Tattoo Studio Brown Pen in Soft Brown ($7.59).

Easy Breezy Brow Gel is an intensely tinted gel loaded with color, and it dries to a super stiff hold. If you’re a fan of the awesome Hourglass Arch Brow Gel, this Covergirl product is practically a drugstore dupe.

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k tee — I’m a makeup nerd and I’m proud of it! Makeup Nerd Tee from connorclaire.com (Yup, that’s my store. Named it after my boss, hahaha.)

It deposits tons of color and pushes brow hairs upwards and outwards (especially those on the inside/closer to the nose), so if you’re going for fluffy, full brows with defined hairs, it’s perfect. Just be sure to remove any and all excess gel from the brush before you use it, because this stuff is intense!

After running the brow gel through my brows, I fill the sparse spots with the Tattoo Studio Pen, which like because it has juuust enough pigment, so it doesn’t make your brows look “blocky” or overly filled.

Oh, and if you’re feeling adventurous, it also doubles as a pen for drawing fake freckles. ?

A lip oil hack for soft matte lips

Speaking of products you can use in different ways…if you have a good lip oil sitting around, try mixing a little into your favorite matte liquid lipstick for a custom lip color with a soft matte finish.

Just dab a bit of both the liquid lipstick and lip oil on the back of your hand, mix them together with a finger or a brush, and pat that blended beauty combo on your lips.

I did it for this look with Pixi liquid lipsticks and a Covergirl lip oil for a finish just shy of matte. I also dabbed a tiny bit of highlighter on my Cupid’s bow to add contrast to the soft matte finish.
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Affordable Drugstore Makeup Mini Reviews: Concealer, Blush and Eyeliner From Maybelline and Covergirl

May 21st, 2020 by Karen 9 Comments

Good morning! A few speedy reviews of drugstore makeup I’ve been wearing lately…

Covergirl Clean Fresh Cream Blush

I like the squeeze tube in this line of shimmery cruelty-free cream blushes and how the blushes last a good six hours on my cheeks (my skin’s combo oily/dry), but feathering out the edges is a challenge. No matter what base I wear them with, I always end up with uneven patches and hard edges… Covergirl says that you can also wear these blushes on your lids, so I’m going to try that next to see if they work better as eyeshadows. Available in four shades, $10.99 each.

Maybelline Lasting Drama Light Eyeliner Pencil

These waterproof twist-up liners for your lash and waterline come in five shimmering shades to brighten yo’ eyes. I’ve used the black shade to tightline and the gold shade on my inner corners as a highlighter, and I like how they glide across the skin without skipping and don’t transfer — not one bit! The’re truly long wearing. The shimmer is also pretty subtle, so there aren’t any big chunks of glitter. Available in five shades, $5.99 each.

Maybelline Eyestudio Master Precise Liquid Liner in Black

This flexible felt tipped black liquid liner pen has a shiny finish. Among the pros: it’s intensely pigmented, long lasting, and it dries faaaast (so when I blink, I don’t have to worry about the liner ending up in my crease). The cons: the felt tip is touchy and skips, so carving out razor sharp lines with it is a challenge. If I’m not super careful, I end up with jagged edges. Available in three shades, $7.99 each.

Maybelline Washable Snapscara

These easy-to-remove, washable mascaras are made to load lashes with volume sans clumps, but I find them lacking in the volume department… I need to apply at least three layers to see any difference. They get points for being easy to remove, though. Available in five shades, $7.77 each.

Maybelline Volum’ Express the Falsies Washable Mascara in Navy Glam

I don’t see the navy when I wear this, and my lashes look and feel clumpy and stiff… Navy Glam is one of four shades, each for $8.77.

Covergirl TruBlend Undercover Concealer

This full-coverage vegan, cruelty-free liquid concealer has a matte finish and comes in SO MANY SHADES! There are 30, which is kind of amaze. It disguises discoloration without feeling heavy or looking “caked on,” but since the finish is *very matte*, when I wear it underneath my eyes, it emphasizes fine lines… Still a good concealer, though, if you just want to even out your skin tone. 30 shades, $11.99 each.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy Friday Eve! ?

Product Spotlight: Physicians Formula The Healthy Lip Velvet Liquid Lipstick

May 20th, 2020 by Karen 17 Comments

I’m wearing Physicians Formula The Healthy Lip Liquid Lipstick in Vitamin Beet. Winged Liner tee is from my store, connorclaire.com.

I loved these matte liquid lipsticks by Physicians Formula when they first came out a couple years ago, but I gotta give ’em a quick shout-out again because I wore the magenta shade the other day and dang! — the wear time is INSANE.

physicians formula healthy lip — Bare With Me, Dose of Rose, Berry Health, Mangentle Formula, Tu-lip Treatment, Vitamin Beet

I had Magentle Formula on for six hours, and no joke, it barely budged, and that was after lunch, snacks, multiple cups of caffeinated beverages (EARL GREY IN THE HOUSE, YO), and three big cups of water.

physicians formula magentle before — The shade Magentle Formula, right after I first applied it

physicians formula magentle after — And here it is after six hours and countless snacks and drinks

Right now they’re on sale on the Physicians Formula website for $5.52 (originally $8.49)! A few shades are sold out, but most are still there. [Continue reading…]

A Drugstore Makeup Look: Mostly Faux Freckles, Winged Liner and Bright Magenta Matte Lipstick

May 19th, 2020 by Karen 14 Comments

maybelline master precise liquid liner — Some of these freckles are real, and others…not so much!

The faux freckle trend has been around for a while, and I’m giving it a try. Have you tried it yet?

Today I wore a smattering of freckles for fun, and ya know…it’s a little weird to touch up your real freckles to make them blend in and look as “freckle-y” as your fake ones, but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do in the pursuit of makeup experimentation!

How to fake freckles

This sprinkling of speckles comes courtesy of a drugstore brow pen in a warm brown shade.

Here’s what I did:

After finishing my makeup (base, blush, eyes, everything), I lightly dabbed the pen on top of any existing freckles to darken them, since they were hidden under tinted moisturizer and concealer.
Next, I stippled a few extra faux spots for funsies.
Then, I waited a couple minutes for the freckles to dry.
When they were completely dry, I diffused the spots a tad by gently dabbing a skunk brush that I’d used earlier to blend my base… It just took the edge off so they wouldn’t look as obviously fake.

And that was it! If you don’t have a brow pen, a brow pencil works too — either option creates a lovely semi-transparency, so your freckles don’t just look like dots drawn on your face, and has a longer wear time than, say, a creamy pencil liner would.

If you don’t have a brow pen or pencil around, you can also regular pencil eyeliner; however, if you’re going to go the liner route, you’ll want one that 1) has a matte finish and 2) is long-lasting and/or waterproof to prevent your spots from smearing all over your face.

No winged liner woes here

Also up in the mix of this look? Winged liner! I haven’t done wings in a minute, so I’m very rusty. So I cheated a little and used surgical tape on the outer corners to set the angles.

You can use regular tape too, but I prefer the surgical tape because it doesn’t pull my skin as hard.

maybelline city bronzer — Hello, winged liner.

Whatever tape you use, wait until your liner is completely dry before lifting it off; otherwise, the tape might remove product where it’s still wet and leave your dots with fuzzy edges.

This is particularly important if you’re using runny or runny-ish liquid liner.

Oh! — and to make sure the tape doesn’t remove any of your base, do your eyes before your foundation, concealer, etc.

One last thing — everything in this look is drugstore.
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A Wearable, Colorful Drugstore Makeup Look: Navy Liner and Lashes With Orange Cheeks and Lips

May 14th, 2020 by Karen 6 Comments

honest blood orange — All the makeup I’m wearing today is from the drugstore.

Totes on a budget beauty kick right now, and everything in this navy and orange look is drugstore.

honest beauty blood orange — Budget beauty at its best

I’ve been slowly but surely mining my makeup collection lately and rediscovering old loves. Also finding new faves…

Budget brow wow

Case in point: Maybelline’s brow pencil. It’s the one in peach packaging with the angled applicator, and it’s just as good as the $$$ Anastasia brow pencils at Sephora IMO. It has the perfect amount of pigment — enough, but not so much that it makes you look like you’re plotting someone’s demise. Plus, it doesn’t budge! It stays put through long runs, planks and burpie push-ups (so fun…NOT). You’ll find it in four shades for $5.99 each — Blonde, Soft Brown, Deep Brown and Medium Brown. I wear the Deep Brown one. It’s a beautiful ashy brown with a hint of gray.

The ace of budget base

Speaking of affordable, can we talk about this base combo for a second? — Neutrogena Hydro Tint plus Maybelline’s Age Rewind Concealer equals magic?

I’ve been a fan of both products for a while, but I never realized they could be such a great budget-friendly combo for no-makeup makeup.

Hydro Tint ever-so-slightly evens everything out while keeping your skin looking natural, and then I dab and blend a little Maybelline Age Rewind where I want a little more coverage (like on the hyperpigmentation on my cheeks and dark areas underneath my eyes).

The end result looks natural and even (and doesn’t look thick). The two products layer perfectly.

Long-lasting liner for under ten bucks

I’ve also recently discovered some new-to-me things that totally deserve the spotlight, including these Coverigrl twist-up eyeliners, which are available in six $7.99 shades (and currently on BOGO for 50% at Ulta!).

I’m also wearing a shimmery deep blue here on my upper lash lines, and I love that glimmer. I had to do a few layers (like three), but once it’s on, it doesn’t transfer into the crease or creep into the lower lash line.
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