Maybelline Matte + Poreless Pressed Powder in Translucent Review

   My new daily makeup regimen involves translucent powder and after finishing an Essence one which didn't really leave me totally satisfied I decided to try a pressed powder from Maybelline.

Claims from the packaging: For normal to oily skin. Natural poreless-looking finish. Up to 12 hour wear. Long lasting shine control.

This powder retails for $7.96CDN at Wal-Mart and has 8.5g of product in the package. This powder says translucent put the powder in there has a slight yellow peachy tone to it and that got me scared. My old pressed powder was completely white in the compact but translucent on the skin.

The package feels very sturdy and not likely to break. Inside the compact, the powder lifts up to reveal a mirror and a sponge. I have an old Maybelline Fit Me powder (360 Mocha which I think has been discontinued up here in Canada) and that powder came with a powder puff, not a sponge. Both are totally useless at any rate.

The powder is finely milled and devoid of sparkle. It is more pigmented then other translucent powder I've tried. It has some pigmentation to it. Applying the powder with the sponge was a complete disaster. It caked the powder on and made me look like I was dusty in the most literal sense of the word. If you're very pale, applying with the sponge may do you some good as it will add some coverage along with this powder.

If you're not pale, don't use the sponge. I used a brush and I achieved a translucent dusting of powder without the pigment. It looked translucent in artificial light as well as sunlight, so I was covered on all bases.

The powder does completely mattify my skin upon application and leaves it looking soft and perfected. My pores didn't look as emphasized as it did before.

The texture of his powder is rather dry and thin. There's no creaminess to this powder.

Now I don't expect any powder to mattify my skin, I've been dissapointed too many times. The best powders can only keep my extremely shiny nose under control for an hour before succumbing to the oil. I've fared better with primers then powders, so I had really low expectations for this powder.

This powder keeps the rest of my face matte, but my nose continues to shine through after an hour or two of wear. So this powder has the same wear time as my old essence one but with added negatives; a steeper price and less translucence.

So all in all, I didn't really like Maybelline's matte + poreless translucent powder. It works well as a finishing powder but I bought it to keep me mattified throughout the day and it doesn't live up to that claim. It works well as a setting powder but it doesn't succeed at it's intended purpose which is being a mattifying powder.

Likes:

1. Sturdy packaging
2. Affordable price tag
3. Mattifies upon application
4. Works well to set makeup
5. Included mirror

Dislikes:

1. Doesn't mattify for 12 hours like the packaging claims
2. Texture is dry and thin
3. Has some pigmentation and is supposed to be translucent

C

Maybelline Baby Lips Gloss Lilac Lumi Review

 

 

   As soon as I heard Maybelline was going to release lip gloss counterparts to their baby lips glosses I was very excited. I love moisturizing lip glosses so trying out these glosses was a definite must.

Claims from the Maybelline.com website: Kiss off sticky gloss! Color + shine meets serious care. 0% sticky: a new no sticky to shine. 100% creamy shine: creamy comfort and Vitamin E. 4HR moisture; caring oils moisturize, smooth & soften for four hours so lips never feel dry.

I bought this gloss online at Well.ca for $5.99. I picked up the colour lilac lumi because I heard it was the most pigmented shade and from reading the reviews I heard that lilac lumi lasts the longest. At the time of writing this post, Well.ca only has three shades available one from each shade grouping; Pink-A-Boo from the creams, Lilac Lumi from the shimmers and Fab & Fuchsia from the jellies.

Lilac lumi is a sheer purple gloss with violet and blue shimmer. On my lips it gives my lips a soft hint of lilac. The shimmers aren't very evident on my lips. The colour barely shows up on my pigmented lips. I get just a slight hint of colour. Two dips of the wand yields this soft wash of purple on my lips. I don't really mind at all, as glosses are rarely incredibly pigmented and I do prefer sheer and semi-sheer products. In addition to that, I only bought this gloss to use on those days when I wanted something hydrating comfy on my lips and didn't want to reach for something very pigmented.

The feel of this gloss is really nice. I actually like the way this lip gloss feels much better then the baby lips lip balm! This gloss feels creamy and smooth whereas the baby lips balm can feel thin and greasy (Maybelline got that creamy comfort line right!). I can feel a bit of the shimmer - similar to the texture of the baby lips crystal lip balm - but it's barely recognizable over the creamy feel of the gloss.

The wand doesn't grab a lot of product and I find I have to double and triple dip to get enough product on my lips. The tip of the doe foot is rather small and only the tip gets a little dollop of gloss for every dip you do.

The smell of this lip balm is similar to the original Quenched baby lips. It's lemony and sweet and slightly artificial. For me it doesn't linger too long and I'm glad because it's a scent I don't like.

I find this gloss lasts for about three hours which is pretty close to Maybelline's claims. While this gloss is on it does feel hydrating. It feels tackier later on in the wear but I find that's standard with a lot of glosses.

In short; I like the texture of this gloss better then Maybelline's baby lips balm and I'm eagerly awaiting their local drugstore release so I can get another shade. I wouldn't get more then one from each grouping as these glosses are sheer so they probably all look the same once on my lips.

Likes:

1. Creamy feel
2. Nice hydration
3. Not sticky
4. Balmy shine

Dislikes:

1. Doe foot is small
2. Smell is very synthetic

B+

Freeman Bare Foot Vanilla + Jasmine Butter Cream Review

 

 

 

 

Confession time: my feet are often the most neglected part of my body. They get the bare minimum attention. So I decided to stop neglecting my poor soles and bought this tube of foot cream.

 

Claims from the packaging: This ultra nourishing, non-greasy, butter cream with Vanilla, Jasmine and Shea butter provides all-over skin conditioning. Sweep over rough, dry, skin and release the benefits of conditioning ingredients that soften and restore skin.

 

This retailed for $3.78 at my local Wal-Mart which is a fantastic price. It comes in three fragrances; Vanilla + Jasmine, Eucalyptus + Fig and Coconut + Lime. I picked the Vanilla + Jasmine flavour because I wanted to smell those delicate jasmine notes. Sadly I didn't smell a lot of jasmine, but it smells strongly of warm vanilla. It smells exactly like Bath and Body Work's Warm Vanilla Sugar body butter smelt way back in 2009. If it was a hand cream I'd find the smell intolerable but it's bearable and even pleasant on my feet.

 

 The tube is smaller then the other Bare Foot lotions, but this butter cream is thick compared to a runny lotion. You'll need less of this cream to get the same results you would get from a squeeze of lotion.

 

The butter cream comes in a squeeze tube. Because the cream is so thick I've got to apply a fair bit of pressure to get the product out. The butter cream has the texture of cold butter cream frosting. It's stiff but still soft and melts easily into my soles.

My feet looked immediately better after applying the cream. My feet feel soft and look so much more hydrated compared to before using the cream. And it really isn't greasy! You can apply it and then walk around bare foot (as I love to do) and you won't be slipping and sliding around the house. I find the hydration in this tube really great for my feet because it's more moisturizing then a lotion without being greasy or feeling heavy. That's a difficult line to balance on, but this foot cream toes that line effortlessly at an inexpensive price point.

My feet have visibly improved since I've started to use this cream. My feet look less dry, and continue to feel soft, even after the cream wears off.

Overall this butter cream is a fantastic buy and I love using it on my feet after a shower or a soak to keep my feet in good condition! I'm glad I decided to try stuff from Freeman's Bare Foot line.

Likes:

1. Creamy, buttery texture
2. Lasting hydration
3. How soft it makes my soles
4. The pleasant, non-cloying vanilla scent
5. Great price for the product value
6. Shea butter is high up in the ingredients list

Dislikes:

1. Scent is a little too warm

A



Kiss My Face Pure Coconut Milk Soap Review

So my foray into the world of bar soaps that aren't from Dove continues! This time I spotted a delectable sounding bar soap from Kiss My Face which is the pure coconut milk soap. I love coconuts and the nourishing properties of coconut milk so I couldn't wait to lather up with this soap!

Claims from the packaging: Cleanse and indulge your skin with 86% pure Coconut Milk soap known for its hydrating benefits. Perfect for all skin types!

I bought this bar soap online at Well.ca for $4.49. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it so I just purchased one bar for reviewing purposes.

Here's the ingredients list and sure enough there is a lot of coconut in this soap! Coconut oil, glycerin from coconuts and of course coconut milk. I was intrigued at the fact that sea salt was in there as well as fragrance.

It doesn't smell like coconuts. It actually smells a lot more like lime with a hint of creamy softness. The smell is very soft, not at all overwhelming. It's not very strong which is what I expected from a naturally sourced fragrance. I like it!

Here's the bar in my hand so you can see how large it is. It's pretty big! A lot bigger then the largest of my Dove soaps.

It lathers really well. You're left with big, fluffy, creamy clouds of lather. It feels incredible on my skin. Creamy and hydrating and very nourishing. The sad part comes once I wash it off. It gives my skin that same feeling of squeaky tightness! I know that might not be a deal breaker for some, but it's important to me. I like my bar soaps to be like solid slabs of body wash, I expect them to leave my skin with that same feeling of creaminess after I rinse myself clean.

Likes:

1. It's a large bar!
2. It smells really nice!
3. It's full of coconut milk and coconut oil
4. Affordable

Dislikes:

1. The feeling of squeaky tightness it leaves my skin with!

C

Maybelline Master Hi-Light Blush in Mauve Review + Swatches

So I've been hunting around for a rose gold highlighter (something along the lines of Becca's Blushed Copper) but I'm definitely not trying to shell out money for a product at that price. So I did a little research and I found out about this gorgeous blush from Maybelline's Face Studio Master Hi-Light line.

After much deliberation I picked the shade that I thought would be deep enough to give me some colour but still had the rose gold undertones I was looking for. And that was 40 Mauve.

Claims from the packaging: Our multi-tonal blush palette highlights skin and softly contours cheeks for an instantly defined glow.

Claims from the website: Light- diffusing blush and bronzer formulas have an expert balance of shade + shimmer illuminator for natural glow. Skin goes soft-lit with zero glitz.

This blush retails for about $12.96 at Wal-Mart.

The powder lifts up to reveal a mirror and a little brush. This brush is softer then the usual included brushes (The brush from the Fit Me blushes is super scratchy!) but I still wouldn't use it.

This blush is made up of interlocking powder shades. One is a deeper plummy purple, the other is a deep cranberry pink, another is a pale pink toned champagne shimmer and another is a champagne shimmer. All swirled together the blush comes off this gorgeous deep rose gold.

Here's a swatch of all the colours blended together. You can see the sheen and then the soft hint of colour. I wouldn't rely on it for contouring though. I use it mostly as a highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones and I love it for that purpose. I also use it as a blush by focusing a small stippling brush on the cranberry and plum shades and then blending that on the apples of my cheeks. Focused on the blush shades, this product adds a luminous burst of healthy colour. Swirling your brush in all the shades it adds a lovely glow with slight colour to your cheeks.

Here's the blush at another angle where you can see the more of the colour and less of the sheen.

The powder itself has a great formula. It's remarkably soft and silky, it's so finely milled it feels like a cream on the fingers. It's incredibly easy to pick up with a brush. The shimmery shades do kick up a fair bit of powder but it's really not that messy or difficult to deal with and the product doesn't get all over the place.

This blush has great lasting power. It lasts about eight hours before fading slightly.

Also I feel like up close the powder highlights the imperfections in my skin but from a normal standing distance those imperfections aren't noticed. This product is pigmented, you will need a light hand and you will need to blend well!

But overall I love it. I like how it illuminates my skin, my bone structure and how easy it is to apply because of how pigmented and creamy the product is. It's easier to use then a liquid highlighter and I adore that. And the colour is lovely!

Likes:

1. Absolutely beautiful, unique colour
2. Affordable price tag
3. Soft, finely milled texture
4. Sturdy packaging
5. Bonus mirror
6. Long lasting
7. Easy to blend

Dislikes:

1. Scratchy brush
2. Can highlight imperfections
3. A bit of powder kicks up when swirling a brush in it

A-

Freeman Feeling Beautiful Sweet-Tea and Lemon Peel-Away Clay Mask

This mask allured me on the premise alone. A peel off clay mask? How could that possibly work? As soon as I saw it in stores I snatched up a tube just to see what it would be like and it's easily become one of my favourite Freeman masks.

Claims from the Freeman website: Charm skin with a little southern comfort in the form of Sweet Tea spritzed with a squeeze of refreshing Lemon! Our peel-away clay mask delivers the cleansing, oil-absorbing benefits you expect from clay…plus the all-over toning and refining perks of an easy-to-peel-off mask! Antioxidant-rich Tea and Lemon Fruit Extract calm for the ultimate in toning and soothing benefits. Perfect for normal to combination skin.
This mask retailed for about $4.29 at Wal-Mart. Thankfully this mask unlike the Honeydew and Chamomile sleeping mask made it into stores.

What I love about this mask is that its a hybrid of a clay mask and a peel off mask. You get the oil absorption of a clay with the more tightening of a clay mask. It is really and truly a hybrid of both with a high concentration of Bentonite clay.

The mask smells really nice. It's got a very subtle iced tea fragrance with a hint of lemon. It's not strong but it's very pleasant. At first this mask smelt exactly like the Cucumber peel off mask but the more I smell it the more I realize it's got a scent all it's own.

The mask is a creamy orange colour. Unlike Freeman's peel off masks, this one has clay in it and it shows. The mask is very runny but also thick a bit like glue in consistency. It makes it a little difficult to apply and spread but the thickness insures the mask doesn't run all over the place once you apply it. This makes it very easy to target specific spots.

As with most clay masks, I don't apply it all over my face. I just apply it where I feel I get especially oily - my nose and forehead - along with my cheeks which have large pores. On the face the mask feels wonderfully cool. No stinging. As the mask dries it hardens a little which reminds me a bit of clay masks but not as tight. When the mask is ready for removal, the edges lift up a bit and then you pull gently from there. There were a few little spots where the mask didn't peel away but that came off when I rinsed my face with warm water.

Heads up: this mask hurts a little when you pull it off. Considerably more so then the Cucumber Peel off mask Freeman offers. I think it might be due to the clay. But it's not enough to bother me or to make my skin red so I'm fine with it. I find that when I apply a thicker layer it comes off with less pain but the caveat there is that I have to wait longer for it to dry.

The results are worth the slight pain. When I peel off the mask my skin looks mattified, smooth and poreless. I love how velvety my skin looks and feels after this mask.

I like this mask more then I like traditional clay masks because I feel like clay masks leave my skin much drier then this peel off mask does. In addition to that, I have to rinse so much longer to make sure I get all of the clay off of my skin.

I really enjoy using this mask and I can see it's going to become a weekly staple in my skincare regime. I definitely would repurchase this mask!

Likes:

1. How easy this mask it to apply and remove
2. The matte, soft and poreless look this mask gives my skin
3. How innovative this mask is
4. How affordable this mask is

Dislikes:

1. It's a little painful to remove

A

Maybelline The Blushed Nudes: I Bought & Reviewed This Palette So You Don't Have To

 

 

So I was browsing my local Wal-Mart's beauty aisle on June 1st and what did I see? The Blushed Nudes! I was so happy (not to mention surprised, Maybelline said we Canadians wouldn't be getting them until early June, but I didn't know they were going to be right on time!) I bought it and forgot to buy several other things. Now I'm kinda wishing I had saved my money.

It cost about $10CDN. As with the Nudes palette it's divided up into quads, trios and duos on the back to assist those needing some inspiration when creating a look.

The palette looks visually gorgeous. It's got a lovely rose gold colour and closes with a secure snap. It comes with two sponge applicators that I leave unused. I think my Nudes palette came with one!

When I swatched these shades, things started to go downhill. I swatched the first row of six on one hand and then the second row of six on the other. They're all numbered for ease of reference.

The first row was a nightmare on Elm Street. It was one disappointment right after the other.

Almost every single shade aside from 1.4 and 1.6 were dry. They were just grey shimmers. I was really shocked at how sheer 1.1 is compared to it's white counterpart in the Nudes palette which has pigment and shimmers. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.5 are grey, chalky and dry with no pigmentation. 1.5 is a matte but there's no pigmentation to it. 1.4 has a bit more colour but it's still incredibly dry and sheer. I can't be too mad at 1.3, it's supposed to be grey but it's sheer, dry and chalky just like the rest of the first row. 1.6 is softer with a creamier texture and has better payoff and actually has a nice pink shift to it. It's rather sheer but it's not a total lost cause.

I knew Row 2 would be better because those shades are darker. 2.1 is a nicely pigmented and smooth rose gold but still applies sheer. 2.2 swatched awfully. It's a matte cocoa brown with rose sparkles but it is so dry and creates incredible fallout with very little payoff. 2.5 was the best shade in the palette, creamy, soft and pigmented with little fallout. 2.6 is another trouble shade. It kicks up plenty of fall out but it's decently pigmented. I stick to Row 2 and 1.6 when using this palette, those are really the only shades worth looking at.

These shades do apply better then they swatch, but the fallout issues and the sheerness prevail. I'm sure these would do better over a primer, but I expected better from Maybelline especially considering how nicer in quality The Nudes is compared to the Blushed Nudes.

I'm on the fence with this palette. The more I play with the bottom shades the more I like them. I just wish the palette had better quality overall as I never had to limit myself to one part of the palette using the Nudes. I really don't like the fact that 5 out of 12 shades are total duds, but the remaining six are nice in a pinch.

Likes:
1. Pretty rose gold colour scheme
2. Row 2 and 1.6

Dislikes:

1. Poor quality shadows in 5 out of 12 of the shades
2. Lack of pigmentation
3. Lots of fallout

C+