Happy Friday!!
So I left the best for last in this review week: Victoria's Secret Ultimate Makeup Palette. $25
(Actually, to be honest, I'm not sure of the official name because it's not on the website anymore!)
Let me tell you.. I originally bought this palette because 1. I have a weakness for palettes and 2. All of the colors looked like ones I would actually wear, and at $25 it wasn't putting me out too too much.
AND I FELL IN LOVE!
This puppy almost had me giving away my caboodle. Yes, my caboodle. (Which is the banner above, by the way.) The only items I need in addition to this is foundation, concealer, and mascara. Taaaa-daaa!!
Ok now some pics~
Cue the trumpets!! Aaaahhh!! =)
30 eyeshadows, 10 lipglosses, 4 blushes, a translucent powder, highlighter powder, bronzer, lipliner, eyeliner AND mascara!! (and applicators)
Here are the lipglosses--- see how some of them really do have a lot of color? Yaaay!!
And here are the eyeshadows--- lots of them, no? I tried to keep them in order, by the way, for comparison.*
Here is the Mascara--- a little bit "Maybelline Great Lash" but eh it'll work in a pickle!
The lip liner is a nice red and the the eyeliner is a kohl black.
I couldn't even pick a picture of me wearing this because I literally use it just about every day!
If you can still find this anywhere, I HIGHLY recommend getting one! My plan was to wait til they went on sale and get a couple more, but apparantly they were very popular!
Hope you all have a nice weekend!
Until next time~
Beauty Maven
Thursday... this week has flown by!
Up for review today is Maybelline's new Color Sensational Lipstick and Gloss.
The Claim:
Why You'll Love It
Fall in love with color, all over again: - Crisper color from pure pigments
- Creamier feel from nourishing honey nectar
- Lipcolor so rich, so stunning… it’s sensational
- 48 Captivating Shades
Which, they do have an amazing range of shades! I have about 5 lipsticks and 2 glosses from this line already. =) The tubes are color-coded in 4 shade ranges: Reds, Pinks, Plums, and Nudes. Look at the adorable packaging!! 
The colors I am playing with today are the lipstick in Pinkalicious and gloss in Cranberry Cocktail.
This lipstick is AMAZING! Moisturizing, makes my lips feel plush, and doesn't bleed --- and if it does for you, they have a matching lipliner! Whoo! And the gloss is amazing, not sticky, and pretty even on it's own because it has a lot of pigment as well. Maybelline got it right with this line!!
Now, I was never a big lipstick wearer. Only for costumey things, for which I'd wear an extreme color like hot pink. With my new job, I wear a black suit and I decided my pops of color would come from jewelry and make-up. This is when I decided to try some lipstick! And it took me a while to find one that I liked... and I'll tell you-- this is it!
AND! A lot of times you can find it for just $5.00 at Wal-Mart or buy-one-get-one-free at Walgreen's. You can't fail, haha!
What do you think? Have you tried this? Will you? Do you wear lipstick or are you purely a gloss girl? Leave me some thoughts!
Until next time~
Beauty Maven
Happy Wednesday!
Reviewed for today is L'Oreal's Telescopic Explosion Mascara.
(Otherwise known as the drugstore version of Givenchy's Phenom'Eyes mascara)
The claim, as per Walgreens.com:
NEW! L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara - Black
100% of Lashes are lengthened and separated!
L'Oreal's first spherical brush - Reaches every last lash!
What's the secret to an explosive look?
- THE BRUSH: Our spherical brush applies from every angle to reach every lash.
- THE FORMULA: Ultra-smooth application with exceptional wear: no clumps, flakes or smudges.
- THE LOOK: 100% of lashes lengthened & separated for an explosive, fanned-out effect.
Well then! Let's give her a try!!
Here is a photo of the package and wand:
Which um, decided it didn't want to go sideways. Rude.
So let's look at that wand. Intimidating, no? I was really excited to try this one because I kept reading good things about Givenchy's and at about $30 I was reluctant to try it.. so when this came along I snatched it up!
The little spike ball of an applicator was difficult to work with... in my review picture it's of about my 4th try with it. I really did give this little one a fighting chance, but it just wasn't very impressive. =(
Here are pics of my try:
Without mascara:
With Mascara:
Check out that awkward straggler!
You can kind of see the claim that it 'fans out lashes"-- but the major thing with this mascara was 1. that it was so dang hard to work with and 2. the formula wasn't buildable without severe clumps. Ugh, clumps. Nothing worse on lashes!!
For the price, it was kind of fun to see how to mess with the whole spherical mascara applicator trend, and the L'Oreal version was way cheaper to experiment with than Givenchy's, but unless you're just wanting to play with this and then let it sit in the drawer, I would NOT purchase this.
What do you think? Have you tried this? Thinking of buying it? What do you think of the new sperical applicator trend?
Until next time~
Beauty Maven
Hello there!
Under the scope today is L'Oreal's True Match Roll-On Foundation.
Let me just tell you, I was super excited to try this one because I am a HUGE fan of the liquid foundation!! And the little roller is just so innovative I can't stand it.
Here is a picture of it next to my iPhone so you can see the siz
e:
Pretty compact, nice packaging.
The application was very nice! Good finish, relatively little streaking (with easy blending), and the color worked well for me.
Left: with --- Right: without (which I hope didn't need to be explained, haha)
See! It covered pores and redness. So nice!
However, it did not wear well through the day. I have combination skin, and my face felt oily after a few hours, and it got cakey around my nose. Which has NEVER happened before. No good =( Thus, if you have oily skin at ALL do not even bother with this foundation.
It is a really neat idea, and might work for some people, but at around $12 I would definitely keep your receipt!! (Although, I'm not gonna lie, I am keeping mine to continue playing with even though it did not wear well.)
Have you tried this? What do you think? Will you try it?
Until next time~
Beauty Maven
Happy Monday!
This week is Review week. Hopefully it will be interesting and make you smile. =)
Under the scope today: CoverGirl's new Smoky ShadowBlast cream eyeshadow.
The Claim?: "Easily achieve colorful smoky eyes! Smoky ShadowBlast's expertly matched shades, uniquely shaped tips and smoky eye creams, give you an easy way to achieve smoky eye perfection."
Basically, the pointy side is used like an eyeliner and the rounded side is used like a shadow.
The one I decided to try is "Bronze Fire":
The color of this one is gorgeous! Great sheen to the beige color and a nice rich chocolate. I was really excited for these to come out -- the moment I saw the ad in a magazine I was a regular at Walgreen's, haha! Which makes me sad to say that I eventually returned it. =(
The biggest con about this duo is the formula-- even with an eye primer, the shadow creased in less than an hour! The liner shade was nice, but still bled onto my lids. So sad! I was tempted to keep it just to use the eyeliner side.. but honestly it's a bit bulky to only use the one side. And it's $8.49.. a bit much for sub-par. Eh.
Another qualm I have with this line is the pairings. On CoverGirl's website in the Smokin' Look Demo it states: "Use the rounded tip for all-over color. -- Use the tapered tip for lining and definition." The review looks amazing because they used Onyx Smoke~ white shimmer with black liner. Um... Duh.
BUT! Please tell me why you would want to walk around with this color all over?!
Only a select few would 1. Have the personality to carry such a bold color and/or 2. Know how to properly wear such a bold color. Whoa.
Here's my go with this:
The base color didn't blend very well, which made me sad because at first glance I thought it might be a good highlighter. As you can see here, it was entirely too dark for my fair skin. Strike 1. So the chocolate color was very nice against my green eyes, a redeeming quality, but it wasn't so easy to blend with the base color. Strike 2. And see how it's already creasing in the second picture? Less than 10 minutes after application! Strike 3.
(I have to admit though, I am somewhat tempted to try the Black Onyx color and see if the white could work as an inner-eye highlighter and how badly the black would bleed...hmm. Might see another revew on this!)
CoverGirl's Smoky ShadowBlast... I'd say it's a NO.
Have you tried this? Agree, disagree? Give me some feedback!
Until next time~
Beauty Maven
