L’Oréal True Match Super Blendable Foundation | Review

Hey all! I know I hauled this product since September (maybe?) but, it takes me a bit longer to wear foundation as I’m hardly ever go anywhere that I would need to sport a full made-up face. I did try the L’Oreal True Match foundation a couple times and I must say, I’m in love. This was hyped by Moden Makeup and plenty of beauty Youtubers, so when I saw it in Collin’s Pharmacy I knew I had to try it! I’m happy that I did, because there was lots that it shocked me with.

The packaging is a simple glass bottle, which reminds me of those bottles the pharmacy has for their generic oils and other concoctions. There’s no pump this sadly, but I think that may be for the best as too much to the liquid would possibly be pumped out. Pouring it our onto a surface or your hand is not the most sanitary, but I don’t mind it since it’s my personal foundation. This product was  $21.40BDS if I remember correctly, which is considerably affordable.

The formula is a liquid with amazing coverage and blendability for a few dots of  foundation on the face. I’d say this is a medium to full coverage foundation is you layer it. Very easy to blend and surprisingly feels powdery to the touch after applying. I typically use my fingers to apply this and then blot with tissue to remove excess product, of which hardly any comes off. The colour I have is C6 Soft Sable (cool-toned shade), and it’s a very good match to my skin tone.

This has an amazing staying power and that’s saying a lot in Barbados heat. I wore this for the first time a school day and it made my skin look perfect, plus it lasted all 6+ hours of my hot, busy day. Of course the typical places like bridge of nose and around my mouth wore off, since I’m always touching my face, but everything else stayed like it was just applied. The foundation is a matte finish that depending on your skin type may look more dewy as the day goes on, but no where near grease bucket.

The Verdict:

Pros:

• Blendable
• Medium to full coverage
• Great and varied colour selection
• Matte finish 
• Long-lasting (even in this tropical heat)
• Affordable 

Cons:

• Shades sell out very fast in Barbados
• No pump to bottle, so a bit unsanitary and wasteful

The Raw Sugar:

I really like this foundation and I would probably repurchase it if I were to run out, but I definitely am not going anywhere to wear this as much, so I typically stick to my Garnier BB cream for daily wear. This is a great foundation for oil-control or persons living in hot humid places like Barbados. 

Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money. Opinions are of course my own. 

L’Oréal True Match Super Blendable Concealer | Review

Happy Birthday Ashley!!! Just wanted to say that first :).

Besides being one of my bestest friend’s birthday, today I have a review on the L’Oréal True Match Super Blendable concealer crayon that I recently purchased from Collins for about $18.10BDS. First off, the colour selection is kind of iffy. I thought I would have needed a darker shade because the C6 foundation looks a lot darker, but some how the Warm 6-7-8 shade concealer works quite well with my skin tone. I don’t know how it would fare for darker women though.

This is a very blendable (as the name states), creamy concealer in an automatic jumbo pencil packaging. So it’s very hassle-free. No sharpening is necessary and the point stays for a while depending on how you use it. You just twist the bottom for more product to come out. It’s very easy to apply and looks good even if you’re not wearing foundation on the rest of your skin.I found it stuck a bit to my dry patches (from dried up pimples), but nothing too noticeable that I didn’t want to wear it.

Did I mention how easy it was to blend this concealer into my skin? Just patting this concealer on with my ring or index finger left me with a flawless under-eye area. My only peeve with this is that it creases after a few hours wear. Especially under the eyes, where I choose to wear it more often than anywhere else. I’ve tried setting it with translucent powder, but that wasn’t very helpful. What I ended up doing, was applying a bit of a primer under my eyes and then patting on the concealer. I definitely had less creasing then.

Swatches of L’Oréal True Match Super Blendable crayon in W6-7-8

This concealer also didn’t last all day on me, but I know I’m a very hands-on person and usually touch my face a lot during the day. But the concealer did give me very good coverage for the darkness under my eyes. I would say it is medium coverage concealer, probably buildable up to full coverage. Though I think it begins to look cakey and creases with more layers.

It doesn’t look too bad for highlighting purposes either as I recently used it to highlight my face in the photo below. surprisingly with flash it’s not too pale either. Sometimes I use this under my eyebrows.

Photo taken with camera flash. (not retouched) It’s that amazing!

The Verdict:

Pros:

• Creamy & Blendable
• Good medium coverage concealer
• Looks great in photos
• Can be worn alone and looks natural (matte finish)
• Great, convenient packaging
• Good amount of product 
• Affordable

Cons:

• Prone to creasing under the eyes
• Colour selection a bit of a gamble
• Can look cakey after too many layers

The Raw Sugar:

This concealer does a good job, despite creasing. It looks great with foundation or alone as just a spot concealer.  I don’t have very acne-prone skin, so I can’t speak on how well it covers redness of large, fresh pimples, but I know for dark spots it’s not too bad, although it clings a bit to dry patches. I would definitely recommend this to a friend.

Where you can find this: Collin’s Pharmacy (Barbados), Drugstores (USA)

Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my money. Opinions are my own. 

L’Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain | Swatches & Review

Hey all! I wanted to get one of these when I got to NYC and that I did. But now that I have it, I’m not so sure I love it like I thought I would. You know sometimes other bloggers and Youtubers make a product seem so fabulous and when you get it, you’re just like.. “that’s it?” That’s how I feel about this weird lipstain, gloss, slick Mc.long-wearing thing in Lilac Ever After. I was definitely expecting something else.

I first tried it out in June or July (it slips me), so I could write a review on it. Actually I tried to film a first impressions, but that went through the window as my set up just was not working for me. Anyway, I tried it on to be greeted by the weird wet slick feeling on my lips. This was not like regular lipgloss. I guess if a slug glided across your lips it’d feel like that. What a horrible thought.

As for the colour it came out, definitely not what I saw in the tube. It did this odd colour shift. I don’t know if my mind was playing tricks on me, as I had a cold at the time. But I tried it a few more times recently, and still not the colour of the gloss you see on the wand. It’s still pretty nonetheless, but boy was it unexpected.

Don’t bother to rub your lips together with this one, it’s kind of pointless. Just more of that odd slick feeling. I think I’ve gotten accustomed to it now though. I does last wet and glossy looking a considerable time, 4 hours or more, but don’t plan on eating or drinking, because it gives you some very weird feelings again. Not something I would have associated with this raved about gloss. Maybe it’s just my tube. But sometimes it balls up on my lips and as it is constantly wet, I can see things sticking to it, like my hair. Not cute.

I would have to say one of my favourite things about this lipstain/gloss hybrid, is the packaging. Though a fingerprint magnet, it’s so classy and beautiful, you can help but carry it around. I also love the wand. It’s a nice tear drop shape that makes applying this stain very effortless. If I get the chance or mind to buy this again, I think I’d go with a darker colour to see how pigmented it is on my lips.

Pros: 

• Good colour range
• Beautiful, classy packaging
• Tear-drop shaped applicator makes applying easy.
• Stays glossy
• Good lasting power (4+ hours)
• No noticeable scent

Cons:

• Oddest wet feeling I ever got from a lipstick or gloss
• Balled up on my lips after drinking and eating.
• Colour of my lip product shifted when applied to the lips
• Expensive for drugstore product but can be found on sale for $6USD or so, especially with a coupon

The Raw Sugar:

I do not know if it’s just that my tube was a dud, but if I do find it here (affordable at least) I will try it again. I was really hoping it’d be the colour the tube was showing, but it didn’t come out like that. I don’t love the wet feeling. It’s very odd too me. but I already said that plenty. Maybe this is just another over-hyped product. 

Tell me what are your thoughts on this lip product. Have you tried it, or wanted to? What colour do you have?

Where to get it: Drugstores (USA), mostly like available in Cave Shepherd (Barbados)

Disclaimer: This Product was bought with my money. Opinions are my own.

Golden Eye Makeup Tutorial | Beauty

Finally, I’ve made a picture-tutorial (Pictorial)! YAY! This is a lot harder than you’d imagine, I think making a video is easier, but I’ve really missed making make up tutorials and this is the closest thing I can get to it without my computer wanting to crash.

This look is quite simple and daytime appropriate, it’s just bright enough to capture people’s attention yet  would look great with glasses on. I typically put together this look if I feel like wearing eyeshadow during the day and I’m sure I’ve featured a FOTD if not an Instagram picture with this eyeshadow look or similar. I guess you could call this my go-to look.

Excuse the ashy-ness of the face in these pictures, because my BB cream contains SPF plus I powdered my face, it’s terrible with flash, but where I bronzed looked normal. I promise this BB cream suits my skin tone and looks normal in daylight, haha. Honestly camera flash is so brutal on powder, how do you balance between looking too oily and looking ashy?

Enough blabber, Here’s the tutorial! (products listed at the end)

Products used:
Face:
Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream- Medium/Dark
NYC Smooth Face Powder- Translucent
e.l.f. Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzer- Turks & Caicos
e.l.f. Essentials All Over Color Stick- Pink Lemonade

Eyes:
e.l.f Studio Eyebrow Kit- Medium
Wet n Wild Trio – I’m Getting Sunburned
Sleek “Oh So Special” palette- Boxed, The Mail (Highlight
L’Oreal Kohl Eyeliner- Black (really old)
Maybelline Big Eyes Mascara- Blackest Black

Lips:
Maybelline Baby Lips
L’Oreal Colour Caress Wet Stain Gloss- Lilac Forever

New York Haulin’ | Beauty

Hey guys, sorry this post wasn’t up earlier today, had to do some errands before work this morning, threw off my schedule a bit. Anyway this is  a quick post on the beauty products I picked up while in New York. I got a few things for my girl friends as well, but I won’t show them here and risk ruining the surprise haha.

On the first few days in Brooklyn, I explored some of the streets and came across a number of beauty stores and while perusing I decided to pick up some false lashes. These some from Kiss are quite a bargain. There are TWO sets in this box and it was just $2.99USD, way cheaper than home!
I picked up the medium length Classic flares, I can’t wait to try them.

I also passed by a Walgreens, seriously every block seems to have a drugstore or 4. I got a few Maybelline  and L’Oreal items, they had some really good deals along with a few coupons that I had, I saved quite a bit on them :).

Pictured is the L’Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain in Lilac Ever After, Maybelline Master shape Brow pencil, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bold Gold and a new Maybelline Falsies mascara called Big Eyes. I tried out the bottom lash mascara and love how effortless it is to apply (no smudges yay!). I’m still playing with the lip colour, as I tried it on then scuffed down a bunch of food haha.

We went to the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets on Memorial day (I think) and I found a Cosmetics Company Outlet, yay! I always hear people talk about how you can find the limited edition, discounted and sometimes discontinued make up products there and I was so happy to stumble across this one. I picked up a value set from Smashbox Cosmetics. There were also so MAC, Clinique, Estee Lauder and Bobbi Brown products, but none of them really tickled my fancy. I’ll be doing a separate post on the Smashbox set.

Finally, because I promised myself from earlier this year to buy more nail polish and pamper myself, I picked up these pretties from Bed, Bath and Beyond. (Yeah, they have a beauty section, it shocked me too). Anyway, a few of the Nicole by O.P.I. were on clearance so I searched the bin and came across “Listen to Your Momager” from the Kardashian Kolors collection, and “You Can!”. I currently have on the blue polish and I’m in love! Also I picked up a Sinful Colors polish in “Innocent”, a nice bright chartreuse. my sister had this colour and I just had to get it!

Anyway that’s my haul, not too much. Definitely not everything I wanted, but I’m still happy I got something. There should be some reviews and swatches of these products coming up really soon, so just keep watching this space!

L’Oréal Go 360 Clean Deep facial cleanser review!

L’Oréal Go 360 Clean!
Hey everyone, I’m back with a review for you! Today I’m going to be reviewing the L’Oréal Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser (green bottle). I bought this cleanser last year, around November or December and I think I had featured it in one of my first hauls.

I have dry to combination skin and this cleanser doesnt completely dry out my skin when I’ve finished washing with it, however that does not mean you should not moisturise afterwards. It isnt very stripping although it is very tough on make-up and oils and removes them quickly especially when using the Scrublet (I think that’s the name of the little silicone facial cleansing pad which comes with it.) This particular cleanser out of the collection is the Deep facial cleanser and is colourless and said to be oil-free.
The scent is not overpowering after washing, but is a fresh flowery scent which is very crisp. It definitely smells clean!

This cleanser can foam up quite a lot. When I use it, first I wet my face and the Scrublet, then I apply a pea sized amount of the cleanser and work it onto my face. This is usually enough to to my entire face, granted my face is not very large however the product does stretch very long as I’ve only now almost emptied my bottle.
Does it work for acne? No, not this particular bottle but there is another of these for breakouts. This works great for daily cleansing and make-up removal after a long day of wear. If you are looking for a cleanser to treat acne, this is definitely not it. I get the occasional pimple and I chose this because acne cleansers are usually harsh and drying. I also have another cleanser for when I do have breakouts and during that time I do not use this, as it has little to no effect on acne.

It says at the back of the bottle that it’s supposed to deeply cleanse the skin and “unclogs- pore by pore”. Now I wouldn’t say it got rid of my blackheads or clogged pores but it does feel like a deep clean. May be that’s just with me, or I have to try steaming my face longer with hot steam and then scrubbling harder (which might be worse for my skin), but this product does not work for unclogging pores. I use something else which works better for unclogging.

It’s also supposed to reduce pore size, but my pores are already realitively small for I cannot comment on this property.

Packaging-wise, I think it’s a large amount of product, 6.0 oz considering it lasts very long. Plus, it has this cute little scrubber to help exfoliate and cleanse your skin. The price was not bad either, when I bought it at the end of last year it was $16BDS and I’ve recently seen it for $15-17 BDS.

The VERDICT:
Pros:
-Cleans daily oils off
-Removes make up
-Smells is nice but not overpowering
-Does not dry out skin
-Product lasts long if a small amount is used
-Comes with a Scrublet
-Foams a lot
-Oil-free

Cons:
-Does not unclog pores
-Does not work on acne
-Does not remove blackheads or whiteheads

The Raw Sugar:
It is a good product for daily cleansing and nothing much more than that. It will not work on clogged pores or acne for this particular formula (green bottle). It does not dry my face so much that it is imperative that I have to use a moisturiser after, but use of a moisturiser is advised.

Disclaimer: I was not sponsored to do this review, this is my HONEST opinion. Photos used are not my own.