Smashbox BB Water SPF 30 REVIEW

I don't often do foundation and other base products reviews. It typically takes me a while to get them done, partly because I typically like to test them out with a variety of primers and powders to get a feel on how a product is going to function. But this is a foundation that I feel I have a grasp on after about a week of wear; every now and then a product is like that! For example - the Smashbox BB Cream is my HG product STILL. I purchased it way back when it first hit the market and I've repurchased several times, which, for me is INCREDIBLY RARE. I've loved that BB cream since the first use and I haven't looked back. Every now and then I feel like trying out one of those incredibly raved about Korean BB creams (especially seeing as how I, myself, am Korean) BUT then I remember that the Smashbox BB cream exists AND that I can use my discount on it, haha. So this BB Water had a lot of competition to beat out its prior incarnation.

Did it manage it? Click the jump to find out!

FTC Disclaimer: This product was received by me as gratis from my job. I am employed by Ulta BUT all opinions in this post are mine alone and do not reflect those of my employer. I am not affiliated nor sponsored by the company in question, nor have I received any monetary compensation for this post. As always my opinions are thoroughly my own.

NEW AT THE DRUGSTORE - Maybelline Edition

So, I'm not even going to try to give some kind of lame ass sob story. Basically, I've been a terrible blogger, but I just bought a Macbook Pro AND a new DSLR so I'm planning on coming back with a vengeance. ANYWAY, have a new at the drugstore type of post! I knew about the new lipsticks from Maybelline, but I had NO CLUE about these products! Also found but not featured are several new shades of the Brow Drama brow gel, including a transparent shade, but I didn't pick any of those up. I purchased all of these things from my local Meijer, and I found them on an endcap display!

Note: this is not a review, this is basically a haul post. I haven't put any of these on my face yet!

Covergirl Ready, Set, Gorgeous Summer 2014 FIRST IMPRESSIONS/REVIEW

Okay, so a few days ago I had posted a new CG products haul post (you can find that here if you're interested) and three of the new products were new face products. Now, unfortunately, I don't have good news, personally. I've heard horror stories about CG's Clean makeup, which can break people out like crazy. I've also read that some people have bad reactions to ALL Covergirl makeup. One of my favorite foundations is the Outlast Stay Fabulous liquid foundation. I wore it six days a week for three months, with no wonky reactions.

I do not have acne-prone skin. I get a pimple every couple of months, maybe. There has only been one other product that has ever had this bad of an effect on my non-sensitive skin, and that was a serum-moisturizer from Garnier. I mentioned in the haul post that I thought I was having a reaction to the concealer, because I developed six pimples only on my undereye area...yeah, no.

The way these products work is similar to Maybelline's Fit Me line; you select your liquid foundation shade and from there you can pick out the corresponding powder and concealer. My shade in the foundation is "215 Warm Beige" and my shade in both the powder and concealer is "Medium", which is for shades 215 and 220.

Okay, let's get this party started. WARNING: this post is photo-heavy and there is A LOT of text. And contains a lot of pics of my derpy-ass face. I apologize in advance. (I'm adding page anchors, so you can skip to whichever part you're interested in.) And, yeah, I will never switch to contacts. Just...no.

FTC Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this post was purchased by me, with my own money. I am not compensated for this review, I am not affiliated with Covergirl or Proctor & Gamble, and all opinions are, as always, my own.

NEW COVERGIRL HAUL

I'm sure everyone has noticed that there are quite a lot of new products at the drugstore. I actually feel a bit overwhelmed, haha. I only knew about a couple of the new Covergirl releases, so imagine my surprise when I was browsing my local Walgreens and spotted a whole new face products display for Covergirl.

Judging by the packaging and the titles, I'm thinking that the powder foundation and the concealer are just repackaged and reformulated Fresh Complexion powder and concealer, especially since it says "Fresh Complexion" on the new packaging AND the products look pretty much identical (except for the whole "Ready, Set, Gorgeous" stuff and the color is now white instead of blue.) Downside is that all of this stuff is so new that it isn't even up on the website yet.

I've been using all of these products for about five days now, so I will be doing some first impression posts on my Tumblr because it's a bit easier to blog from there, BUT full reviews will still be up on this main blog.

INFLUENSTER Uni Vox Box 2014! UNBOXING & FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday?! If you guessed my Influenster Uni VoxBox, you are correct! :) I didn't read or watch any spoilers for this box, although I knew about one thing we were going to receive, and I'll get to that later in the post. Three of these products I've already tried and own. The other three are products that are either new or products that I haven't tried yet, so this box was a bit...eh to me, but you really can't complain about free stuff, haha.

FTC Disclaimer: I was sent these products for testing purposes by the Influenster program, which is open to anyone in the United States and Canada.I am not affliated with any of the companies who have sent products, I am not being sponsored or compensated in any way for these reviews. I have done a couple of posts on Influenster: general info, first two boxes I received, and the Holiday 2012 VB. Influenster is a completely free program and anyone is free to sign up! :)

Neutrogena Shine Control Foundation & Powder Review

Okay, so I know that I've been on a slight roll with blogging, haha. So let's keep this going, right? I recently posted a haul post and I had mentioned that I picked up the Shine Control Powder and Foundation from Neutrogena. Well, I've had these for about three weeks now and have been using them pretty regularly, so it's review time, yes?

I would just like to say that I've only used two methods to apply this. I'm not a big fan of paddle style foundation brushes, so I didn't use one, plus I don't think this foundation would be that great with one. Using a wet sponge will usually get a decent effect, but I'm out of sponges. So, yeah, sorry. This will be the easiest foundation review to read, especially from me, haha.

Revlon Colorstay Whipped™ Crème Makeup REVIEW

Okay, I imagine this is a review that I am, yet again, tardy to the party here. This foundation has been out for a couple of months or something now and I'm just now getting to this review. Obviously, I need to get my ass in gear. ANYWAY, as I'm sure is evident by the title, this is a review on the Revlon Colorstay Whipped™ Crème Makeup. I know that a lot of people are pretty excited about this foundation and a lot of people are reading numerous reviews on it, but I'm throwing my ring in the hat - er, hat in the ring as well.

This review is SUPER long and SUPER picture heavy so...you've been warned, lovelies.

But anyway, w/o further ado, onwards to the review!

Laura Geller Balance-N-Bronze Review

This is going to be part of a mini review set I'm doing. I recently purchased a box set from Ulta by the brand Laura Geller. It was $60 (or $45, w/ my employee discount) for five full-size products and a couple of brushes. Unfortunately, the Baked & Beautiful set seems to be fairly hard to find. Also, five products is a lot to review in one post so since all of these products are available for single purchase, I'm just dividing these reviews up by product. This review is going to be on the Laura Geller Balance-N-Bronze powder duo in "Regular".

This product is a duo of the Balance-N-Brighten powder foundation and the Bronze-N-Brighten bronzer. Now, most pictures of this product online show an even split b/t the foundation and bronzer but mine has a lot more foundation than bronzer. Which is totally fine w/ me and I will get into that in the review. All LG Baked Collection products start out as a blend of liquid pigments which are then baked for 24 hours on terracotta plates. This is supposed to result in a really fine, silky powder which, due to the different color swirls w/in the powder, are supposed to match all skin tones and also be good for all skin types. This product is $31 alone and can be purchased at Laura Geller's website, QVC, and drugstore.com for sure, and probably anywhere LG products are sold. It comes in two shades - "Fair" and "Regular".

Maybelline Fit Me™ Review - PT. 1 (Foundation, Concealer, & Pressed Powder)

So, as usual, I am tardy to the party once again. This is going to be one out of two reviews on the Maybelline Fit Me™ range. (You'll be able to find the second review here.) I've decided to divide up the review because, well, there's a lot of stuff to talk about! In this review I'm going to blather on about three products - the foundation, concealer, and the pressed powder. For a while, this foundation was HG status for me, which is crazy!

These products can be found anywhere the full Maybelline range is sold, like Walmart, CVS, Rite-Aid, etc. It has its own display in the Maybelline line and can still be found in some random end-caps. It will be cheaper at places like Meijer and Walmart in general but when drugstores or Ulta have BOGO sales, I recommend checking those out. The foundation and powder retail for around $5.50 at Walmart, and the concealer is just slightly cheaper.

I apologize in advance because this review is long and it's a lot of text. For a TL;DR version - foundation is light coverage and is good, especially for those w/ good skin to begin w/ and dry to normal skin; concealer is okay, nothing special...I would pass; powder is okay, especially for color range, but there are other powders that are better from Maybelline and other drugstore brands.