Covergirl TruBlend Foundation | Review

Last month BzzAgent gave me the opportunity to test out a Covergirl foundation for free.  I had a choice between a few different ones, so I picked the TruBlend formula in the colour L2 (and because I am the palest, I could have probably gone with L1, but it looked way too pink for me).

My thoughts on this foundation are quite concise. It is a lovely, thinner texture that covers imperfections with ability the of a much thicker foundation.  Covergirl offers 21 different shades - a true bonus, knowing how hard it is to find a nice matching foundation. I've applied this foundation to my face using my fingers, a beauty blender and a makeup brush - looks pretty sweet every which way you could desire applying this.

This leaves my skin looking AMAZING. Seriously, glowing but not greasy - trust me, my face gets greasy so easily that this is a must. It doesn't cling to dry patches, it sets beautifully and it lasts all day. I am able to cover all of the unsightly things that I need to, without feeling like I'm coating my face.

Bottom line? This is one of the nicest drugstore foundations I've ever used. I'm shocked.
I said I would be concise.

Cheers,
Kait

Empties | Autumn 2015

Since it has taken me around one million years to get to this post, here are all the things I used up between September & mid-December...ish.  There isn't one sample included...I may have used things along the way & thrown them out. Oops.

Makeup

Maybelline Define-a-brow in medium brown
This is one of my favourite affordable eyebrow pencils.  It is super skinny & easy to use. It also matches my eyebrows really well! The little bitty comb on the end is quite useless, but otherwise a great little product!

Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in West
This has been such a long time coming. I have been almost done this eyeliner for months, but just kept neglecting to use the end of it.  I hauled it out just the other day & literally had 2 days of wear left.  This is a dark, creamy brown – great for anyone who doesn’t want black!

Urban Decay All-Nighter makeup setting spray
This setting spray is my favourite. I’m glad this bottle is gone because it was getting quite old & I’ve heard some pretty gross stories about old bottles of these (mould anyone?).  I repurchased, but I grabbed a smaller bottle, so that I can use it up more efficiently.

Covergirl Lashblast Volume Mascara
This was a pretty great mascara. I don’t have anything mindblowing to say about it, but if I ever reached the end of my backstock of mascara, I would consider this one again.

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse foundation
I could not use this up quickly enough. Funny thing is, I used to love this foundation. This time I found it didn’t dry down & kind of looked weird on my skin. Non merci.

Physician’s Formula Mineral Wear Foundation
This stuff is the bomb.com.  My mother recommended this to me and I now recommend it to you folks.  If you are scared that a powder foundation will cling to weird dry patches, I’m here to tell you that this one will not.  What it will do for you, however, is make you look like you’ve got amazing, flawless skin. I’m down for that.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer
Everyone talks about this concealer. What they say is true – it’s pretty great. I’m half-way through another one of these babies.


Skincare

Dove Go Fresh Body Wash in Cucumber & Green Tea
This is a lovely, moisturizing and inexpensive body wash.  It is quite a nice smell, but there are others to choose from in the same range.

Purity Made Simple
This is quite a popular product from the Philosophy brand of skincare. While it does a nice job of washing the face, I am trying to find something a little bit less stripping, so after the next small bottle is gone, I won't be repurchasing for a while at least.

Simple Vital Vitamin moisturizer
Nice moisturizer, weird smell. After a while I couldn't put this on my face anymore because the smell bothered me so much. I finished the tub by using it on my elbows!

Lush Tea Tree Water
This toner is one that I almost always have one hand. I spritz it on my face after my shower every morning. It is refreshing and because of the tea tree, seems to help with the acne situation.

Degree Motion Sense Deodorant in Tropical Tango
This deodorant smelled nice & was on sale. It worked fine. Was I blown away? No.

Burt's Bees lip balm
I go through these fairly often. They are my holy grail lip balm for night time. I never go to sleep without this on my lips.  Some people find this a little bit too waxy, but I think they are magical, healing sticks of goodness.

Swisspers Cotton Rounds
Best cotton rounds going. This is a weird thing to review, but when I find these ones, I pick them up.  Oddly, they are hard to find in this dinky little town of mine. I'm using a different brand right now. Not as good. Find these.


Hair Care

Vidal Sassoon Color Preserving Conditioner
In late summer I used this box kit to dye my hair red.  I even wrote a review on the dye & the process. This is your typical box-dye conditioner. I use them once a week or so. They are moisturizing.

Live Clean Moisturizing Shampoo
This is my absolute favourite drugstore brand of shampoo & conditioner. They have all kinds, they aren't expensive and wow are they nice for your hair (& for the environment).

That's all for now folks...but never fear, I've already begun a new collection of used up products of all kinds. Hopefully I'll post another empties before it becomes this large again.
What have you been using up?

Cheers,
Kait 

Covergirl The Supersizer Mascara | Review

Last month, Bzzagent sent me this Covergirl mascara to try out for free. It claims to make lashes 400% more volumized, corner to corner. The package also instructs you to twirl the wand in order to apply the product. This mascara is supposed to be bold, daring & dramatic. My opinion? Read on.

When I first opened this mascara, I was shocked by the wand situation. It is skinny, with very small, plastic, spike-like bristles. The wand definitely does not fall under my « typical » beauty tool favourites. I tend to lean towards soft, full-bristled mascara. So basically the opposite. 

I tried the « twirl » technique, seeing as I don't typically use this type of wand I thought maybe the creators of such a strange product would know best. NOPE! Talk about weird, clumpy, spiky lashes!  Not exactly a great everyday look.

The next time I opened the tube (which I'll admit was not the next day...I got scared), I decided to just use it like I normally would apply a mascara & it went much better. My lashes weren't AS clumpy, and they definitely were voluminous.  The second issue I ran into was the length of time this mascara takes to dry! It takes a literal eternity. I needed to wait a good 10 minutes before fully blinking otherwise I faced beautiful black lines all over the place.  After having used it for around a month, it does take less time to dry, mostly because the product is starting to dry out. 

So, now that I've played with this wonderfully weird product for a few weeks, I've decided that I do like it. The effect that this mascara gives my eyelashes is intense. If you're not into mega lashes for everyday, this isn't for you. It takes me a couple coats to get all my lashes and comb through any weird spots that may have formed. As long as I'm careful, I don't have to worry about any of my initial problems of clumps or very wet lashes. That being said, I've put on this mascara, sneezed within 5 minutes and had to haul out the makeup remover.  Personal problem.

As far as removing this mascara, it's not the easiest to take off, even though it isn't touted as waterproof. I use a makeup remover and a cleanser & I usually have to go back in with the remover again before bed. This is cool with me because I'd rather this than mascara down my cheeks midday (my eyes water A LOT).

Would I repurchase? Surprisingly, yes. If you had asked me a month ago I would have laughed in your face, but now I'm into it.

Would you try this mascara?

Cheers,
Kait