Battle of the BB Creams, Round Two!

(If you missed Round One!)

Today, we're talking Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream!

The beauty shot, as it were:

I don't have a lot to complain about with this one, actually. The colors are nice (they run a little pink, so if you're of the pink toned persuasion, you'll get along nicely with these), no overbearing scents - which is a problem I grumble about semi-frequently. Nice wear time, everything is very good.

My biggest problem?

Maybelline made a light/medium coverage foundation, and called it a BB Cream. I mean...I'm not in their marketing department, they can do whatever they want. But it even says balm right in the title. When you think of a balm, what do you think of? A nice, rich, emollient cream, right? You're not getting that here. You're getting a liquid foundation. 

At any rate - despite the fact that I don't think this is a BB cream at all, it's not terrible. When I actually had this on, I had about three minutes to finish my makeup, get some decent snaps, and get myself and my son out of the house, so I look like a crazy, crazy, crazed woman in all the pictures. So I swatched this one on the back of my hand instead. Please to enjoy;

Bare handed. Similarly to my face (which I've shown you before), little ruddiness, that red you see in the center is a scar from a surgery a couple of summers ago, otherwise, nothing major to cover up.

Covered. Nice, right?

To be clear - I don't think this is a bad product at all. I really don't. Nice coverage, wears well, good color match, no offensive odors. It's everything you'd want in a bb cream light coverage foundation. So I guess my only dispute is in truth in advertising. Make a foundation. That's fine. Chances are good I'll end up buying it eventually regardless. Just, in your chase to be first to the US market with a BB cream, don't make a foundation, and then tell me you made a BB cream. No, you didn't! You made a foundation!

So, while I generally like this BB Cream a lot, and have been pretty specifically grumpy about the fact that I don't think it's a BB Cream at all, in the spirit of the "Battle of the BB Creams", between Wet N Wild and Maybelline, I'd have to tell you to pick Maybelline. This is good for those days where your skin is pretty good, you just need a little extra oomph. :)

Tomorrow, round three!

Until then!

When last we were all together...

We learned that the good people at NYX Cosmetics have never met a pale person. But boy howdy, the staff at Rimmel sure has!

So I did a bit of a "second verse, same as the first" gig here. You'll see the NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat powder foundation, Enigmatic Illuminator, and Matte Bronzer in light. The ELF Brow Powder also makes it's debut appearance in the testing.

Here I am, washed, prepped and primed. I was recently part of a product test for a company I won't name, just to keep myself covered, and I used one of the face washes that I tested, the Olay Long Live Moisture! moisturizer from the last test, and L'Oreal Miracle Blur just like last time as well. And yes, I'll be waxing my brows in the morning. :D

I used the Rimmel Stay Matte mousse foundation, that everyone raves about. I used Light Ivory, which is their second lightest shade.

Is much better, yes? I initially was using my beauty blender, and couldn't get it blended down enough that I was happy - I've got weird flakiness in my t-zone that never goes away (serious, I'm freshly exfoliated, still look that flaky. It never leaves me!), and the beauty blender seemed to be drawing attention to it, rather than detracting from it. So I kicked it old school, got my foundation brush out, and smoothed it down as much as I could with that.

Then I added in the bronzer, powder, whole shebang, and got this; I messed this pic up a tiny bit, because I wanted to check my contouring work, so I turned to get a bit more of a straight on effect. It also gave me a little shadow. And I tried to brighten it up, but couldn't brighten without it looking overly fake. 

See, a little shadow-y. But also a considerably better match for my skin than the NYX was, I think we can all agree!

I've now had this foundation on about 5 hours, and I'm not yet confident in it's long term wear - I've got some settling in to the large pores around my nose. It's not visible unless you're looking really close up, which of course, no one but me would. But the problem remains.

I used Light Ivory, which is the second lightest foundation they make, and guys? If you are a pale girl...meet the good people at Rimmel. This is pale enough that there were times that it started to feel a little kabuki mask line. I really had to work with it, to get it where I was satisfied. This matches my neck and all, but in truth, I maybe even could have stood one darker.

So right now, I'm giving this a solid "probably". It's got full coverage - I don't think anything is showing through this stuff! It's matte, exactly like it advertises. It comes in a wide variety of shades, feels light going on, but really stands up to the test. The "long lasting" issue is the only one that's stopping me from fully, enthusiastically signing off on it. The settling in to the pores is giving me a little pause. But I'll keep testing, and let you know soon!

See you later, my lovelies!

Road Testing a Look...

Also known as "I'm sure glad I trusted my instincts on this one!" Tuesday.

My husband's company Christmas party is this coming weekend. I love it. It's one of a handful of times a year where I just get to go all out, full fledged, no holds barred, glam. Yes, I'm sure you're surprised to find out, being a part time grown up like yours truly, doesn't allow much opportunity for glamour.

So, since it's one of my few chances, I take it. New dress, get my hair done, new makeup, the whole nine. This year, while I was out on Black Friday, I picked up a few things, with an eye toward them being part of my Christmas party look. Instinct told me I should probably test 'em out, so tonight I grabbed up a few, and gave it a dry run.

Here's my guys. All by NYX. In this pic, you see:

Stay Matte But Not Flat liquid foundation in Nude

Stay Matte But Not Flat powder foundation in Nude

Matte Bronzer in Light

Illuminator in Enigmatic

Cream Blush in Boho Chic

The SMBNF power foundation is actually perfectly fine as a foundation in it's own right, just for this particular occasion, I wanted more coverage. Enter the liquid foundation. I was intimidated by the Illuminator too, because it was pink, and I typically buy illuminators in gold. And it was light pink, and illuminators never give off much color in the first place, but even still. Sometimes you get freaked out, know what I mean?

Just so you can see what I'm workin' with, here I am, washed, prepped and primed:

I used the Olay Fresh Effects mattifying face wash, and "Long Live Moisture!" moisturizer, along with L'Oreal Revitalift Miracle Blur (Oil Free). Not bad. Some big pores, a little ruddiness, nothing major and tragic to cover, right?

I get out my Beauty Blender, the SMBNF liquid foundation, and go to town. I pretty quickly realize the error of my ways. In fact, I took a picture of my realizing it, in my bathroom. I don't like to take pictures in my bathroom if I can help it, the lighting is a little warm, but even still. This is no exaggeration;

Do you see the problem I have? As in, I went from "a little redness and some big pores, but nothing terrible..." to looking like a jaundice patient?! In one round with a beauty blender?!

That's the SMBNF liquid foundation only. That's it! But for some reason, at this point, I didn't stop, I kept going. I dutifully powdered, and highlighted, and contoured, and bronzed, and blushed, and did everything I could. I got it up to here;

Yeah. That's what I got to. And this isn't even a super great picture, as quality pictures go, but I like it because at the bottom, you can see the light hit my collarbone, and you can see just how wildly off in color and tone this Stay Matte But Not Flat foundation is.

The kicker? "Nude" is the second to lightest shade they make in this line. Kid you not. It's this dark, and it's the second to lightest shade that they make. Whoever is in charge of shades for the SMBNF line...apparently doesn't know any pale people. This is madness.

And oddly, Boho Chic, the cream blush? Was one of the darkest my CVS had. I had to resort to just stippling it on with my finger, and not even attempting to blend it, just to be able to see it!

Although the bright spot, if you want to look for one? The Enigmatic illuminator? The one I was so intimidated by? I didn't notice any difference between it, and any other illuminator I've ever used.

So a foundation that's bonkers, it's so dark (the formulation is nice, it's just a shame that no one that's any lighter than, say, a Kardashian sister, can possibly use it), a blush that has almost nada for pigmentation, but a nice illuminator. I wasn't exactly batting 1000 on my last NYX shopping trip, was I?

Sure glad I tested this before the day of the party! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an Ulta reciept to find! Until next time, my lovelies!

My First Time with a Beauty Blender!

Let's do this!

I've seen beauty blenders. I've seen plenty of people extolling their virtue, and how they were THE thing that everyone needed in their makeup bag, and never really bought in to their hype. Then, figuring I had to get in on the scoop (like any self-respecting beauty blogger should...), I went out and bought myself one.

And here's the little guy now! The contour you see in the middle is, I assume, designed to make it easier to hold, and the slightly pointed end is designed to make it easier to get in and around your nose, and eyes.

When you get a beauty blender, the first thing you do is get it wet. Squeeze it in your hand under water, similar to how you'd do with a kitchen sponge, if you were going to clean off your counters. Now this step is important, because without it, the blender will simply begin to absorb the makeup, without much of it getting to your face. And it getting to your face is kind of the whole point, right?

And much like a kitchen sponge, once wet, those buggers grow!

Now at this point, you'll effectively use this like a makeup "stamp". Dot some foundation on your face, like so:

(If we're being technical, that's actually Garnier BB cream, original formula in Light. At any rate...)

Rather than just rubbing the blender over your face, as you would with a traditional style, old school sponge, you'll actually...well, stamp it. Put it down in a location with color, pick it up, put it down in a different location with no color, where you want there to be color. See, I debated making this a video, because this is strange to describe. Maybe one day I'll get to it. 

At any rate, here's a quick collage of the blender in action.

Stamping in action. Pick it up. Put it down. Repeat until you're covered.

Speaking of covered, the people that extoll the virtues of the beauty blender are always quick to go to the coverage that it gives. And I'm not ready to get that excited on it yet. It's pretty good - I got the same amount of coverage that I typically get, on a little less than half the product, and I came out of it with clean fingers. So, I'm in the "Good, not great." camp so far. Which will probably change as I get more experienced.

Post "beauty blender" coverage photo;

I was a little embarrassed when I realized I hadn't smiled in a single photo. :) Pretty good coverage, maybe even a little better than I typically get. And I'm wearing a BB cream too, which they aren't exactly known for their spectacular coverage to begin with. You guys saw my original pictures, you know what I was working to cover up, too. :)

So I'm still in the "good not great" camp, but I'm getting there. I think I'd like to try it with a full fledged foundation. If looking at my pictures has convinced you, and you've decided you need a beauty blender in your life, you can find them pretty much anywhere you can buy makeup, and at all different price points. Mine cost $5 at Meijer, and I know Sephora carries them as well (although I'm confident not for $5!) According to the instructions on mine, cleaning is as easy as mild soap and water!

See you soon, gorgeous!