Review:Comparing Maybelline, Dr. Jart, and Boscia BB creams

(Note: No picture just yet, camera is a bit out of commission)

Now that BB creams seem to be all over the place I've had the chance to try a few.

Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical and I must say that I've never tried any Asian brands (most only come in a few colors, typically a bit too light/grey for me, and since I have no desire to lighten my skin I never bothered).

I got to try three different types: Boscia, Dr. Jart and Maybelline.  I've had the first two for a while and I used them on vacation.

Dr. Jart BB ($39 at Sephora) cream has SPF 45, which is great, and a light sunscreen smell, so not too bad (I can be a bit sensitive to that).   I found it to be pretty thick though, at times a bit hard to spread, and for some reason (for me) it played up some imperfections more (any irritated/peeling skin, pores, etc).  But when my skin is "okay" it works okay, and the coverage seems to be fuller, probably because it's thicker.  It's the most "grey" out of all of them, so that dulls my warm skin tone which I don't really care for.  It feels a bit heavy and greasy (though that settles down after a while), perhaps because of the SPF

Boscia ($38 at Sephora) is SPF 27 and as such has even less of a sunscreen smell (though still lightly present).  There is less coverage and it was easier to spread.  It was far too light one me so it had a similar effect in highlighting certain imperfections (small hairs, pores, uneven texture...I sound like a goblin).  However it was a warmer color (more yellowish, but not excessively so) and therefore looked a lot better. 

Both Boscia and Dr. Jart only come in one color.  While the effects of that can be toned down (and admittedly, I wear powder foundation over it) the color does not suit my warm, tan skin tone.   They both washed me out and were too light or grey for me.  That, combined with the prices, makes them kind of a no-go for me, but for someone lighter and more cool toned it would work.

They were very similar to me, and I found neither particularly moisturizing (though is BB cream supposed to be?  I always wore it on top of my typical moisturizer).  I can feel both of them on, admittedly.  

Anyway, oddly enough (maybe?) the best out of the three was the Maybelline (around $8, average).  It was the thinnest of the three, but it spread itself out well.  Out of the three it covered up imperfection the best and did do an actual good job of blurring out pores and so on...probably because, unlike the others, it comes in a range of colors.  I tried out the "light/medium" shade and it worked out surprisingly well for me; typically I'd have gone up a shade darker, but I wear a very thin layer and it's winter now, maybe that makes a difference.

I found this to be be really nice, it feels moisturizing, doesn't have any scent (no SPF though) and it is very smoothing.  I still use a concealer to cover up imperfection and a powder over to matte it out, but I'd actually buy this again if I were in the market for a very light, moisturizing foundation type of thing. 

I may be wrong but I generally get the feeling that BB creams are just hyped up tinted foundations. 

(Note: I got the Boscia/Dr. Jart creams from some Sephora sampler deal, and the Maybelline one from an online free sample opportunity; as of this typing, it is available from Target's site as a free sample).  

Review: Sephora Jumbo Crayon 12 Hour Wear, Waterproof (as compared to Urban Decay 24/7 Liner)

First off, sorry for the badly written headline.

This review comes after quite a while of me searching for a good, long lasting black eyeliner that's strong enough to deal with my super oily skin.

For quite a while I used the Sephora brand kohl eyeliner (waterproof, which is always a must for me). It sucked, as it smeared badly throughout the day, but I never managed to smudge it to my liking fast enough since it dried really quickly, but badly. Anyway, no good, and I no longer really have it so no picture...although quite frankly, the packaging on this sort of stuff really isn't very interesting either way.

Anyway, I'd heard great stuff about the Urban Decay 24/7 liners, so I got the matte black one (Zero). I had tried it before at the store by putting it on my hand. After scrubbing with alcohol, some make up remover, and having it on my hand it still stood up well (and I wash my hands with the fervor of the mentally ill). Seeing how well it stood up to this barrage of chemicals and scrubbing, I decided to smear it along my delicate eye area.

Unfortunately, I was surprised by how horrible it was!

I'm not sure why I had such awful results as compared to all the good press this had! I'm usually very happy with Urban Decay products but this was worse than the Sephora brand eyeliner (and every other eyeliner I've ever used). It smeared like crazy and was gone within some hours (excluding the amount smeared under my eyes).

So that ended up being the first thing I've ever returned to Sephora.

The day I returned it I picked up the Jumbo Crayon from the Sephora brand after I'd heard a good review about it somewhere online, though I (unfortunately) don't recall where. I admittedly didn't have high hopes for it since I've had nothing but bad luck with Sephora brand stuff (I had always found it really overpriced and really under performing).

But I was really pleasantly surprised with this! It is actually really perfect. It goes on very smoothly, doesn't smudge after it dries, and stays on all day. And at $10 it's a pretty good price for such quality (the Urban Decay eyeliner was $18).

So the Sephora brand did redeem itself quite a bit in my eyes, this eyeliner is wonderful. I won't write off the rest of the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils, since a lot of them are really unique colors and hey, maybe they work better than Zero did.

But I'd definitely get all of the Sephora Jumbo Crayon ones first! They have other colors that look nice, like plum and navy.

Anyway, swatching a black eyeliner seems a bit...unnecessary but here we go, just to be fun:

**Note:It should be said that lately, despite my earlier praise, I have been getting some smudging. It isn't bad, nothing compared to the previous products, but still there.

However, this may be the result of my smearing myself with rich lotions to combat the winter induced dry skin I get. Perhaps the eyeliner performance varies for skin type, as many products do.

UPDATE: One problem (though, is it really a "problem"?) I've encountered is that I can't find a sharpener to use for this eyeliner. I have to hope/imagine Sephora sells one, but I don't quite want to buy one, admittedly, and I did a rather botched job of trying to sharpen it with a razor.

So, unless you have a larger than average sharpener, be warned?

Review: NYX "Nude on Nude" Palette

I got this palette from Amazon (for about $25) because I've kind of been wanting a nude/neutral palette that I could travel with without spending the money for the famed Urban Decay Naked Palette or or the Too Faced ones (I had wanted the Neutral Eye one, but it seemed a lot of money to spend at the time and I had a gift card for Amazon anyway).

I'm not sure how I feel about this palette, so I'll break it down a bit in my head:

Pros:

• This is really convenient for travel as it has a range of colors along with some lip glosses.  It is relatively small, compact, and seems to have a sturdy case.
• As stated above, there is a range of colors, far more than  lot of natural/neutral palettes out there. 
• Along with a range of colors there are different textures (matte, shimmer and some "sorta" glitters).  
• The packaging is attractive and comes with a nice mirror. 
• It isn't tested on animals

Cons:

• While $25 isn't a big price for how much you get (at least in terms of variation), I kind of go back and forth whether or not this is truly "worth" it.  
• The quality varies (more on this).
• The packaging, while sturdy, feels kind of cheap and I found it a bit difficult to open at first.  I also have to wonder/worry whether or not the lip tray will come out under the hustle and bustle of travel. 
• When I first opened it one eyeshadow fell out (the bronze one), but after I stuck it in there hasn't been issue, so I don't know if this is a con or not.  

My biggest concern is with quality.  Some of the eyeshadows can be a bit chalky (although I will say, others are lovely).  For instance, the black is just bad, it's chalky and doesn't go on evenly.  Some of the colors have issues with blending, but this isn't too bad.  Overall, I'd say the quality is simply "ok" though the colors themselves are, in my opinion, quite lovely.

UPDATE: I notice that the darker colors are the ones with the big issues (they're chalky, don't blend well, don't have good pigmentation, and so on).  The lighter ones work quite well though, I'm quite happy with the white, beige and champagne colors in the palette.  I occasionally use the sparkly taupe colors (more to the right) and they work well.  
I have ended up using this every day, I just avoid the dark ones.  

The lip colors are typical, not-so-high-quality lip glosses that tend to come in large makeup palettes.  I will say though, some of the colors are rather unique.  They are all glossy, while two seems to have glitter in them (one heavily so).  I myself have a hard time with pink lip colors (the majority of the colors here) but there is an interesting coral color here that I haven't seen too often with a lot of palettes that I really liked.  Other than that, these aren't too special to be honest.

So, overall, I think this palette is awesome for travel, when you need something compact, that carries a lot, and has makeup that's generally good for when you need something quick and simple.   The makeup is good for everyday use and translates well from day to night, informal to formal, etc.  I do use this everyday, and it works well enough, although if you are looking for something really high quality it is best to look elsewhere, and I do think a good, high quality set of neutral/natural eye colors is worth investing in.

I probably wouldn't buy this again, though.  

*I was not paid for this.

Reviews: Drugstore Mascaras

Hey,

I'm going to be reviewing some recent mascaras I've tried out in the last few months.  I do not have pictures up as of this writing but I will soon!

1. Maybelline: Falsies Volume Express (waterproof)

I didn't like this at all.  I found the formula to be extremely clumpy, sticky and thick for a mascara.  The brush itself did not lend itself to smooth application since chunks of mascara seem to have stuck to the "stem" of the brush (I'm not altogether sure what to call it), although I'm not sure if this is the fault of the brush itself or the formula of the mascara.  The wand was also made to be flexible and while I can see the appeal of this it ended up feeling weaker than it should have as the main point of flexibility is too close to the brush itself, making it a bit floppy to work with.

This clumped up my eyelashes like no other.  If there is one thing I detest it's globs of mascara on my eyelashes making them look like spider legs--totally this mascara.

I must say though, this did not seem to smear at all, and I have pretty oily skin that tends to lead to smearing/smudging throughout the day.  Of course the waterproof formula helps for this, but that is something in its favor.  

2. Maybelline: Lash Stiletto (waterproof)

I found this to be a generally acceptable mascara.  It did seem to lengthen, as promised, but it didn't strike me as particularly special.  One the whole though, the formula was generally rather nice, and the wand was rather typical.  I'm actually not sure there's much to say about this, it just seemed "okay" to me.  It kind of seems like a lot of the appeal for these was the improved packaging that made it look a bit more high end than most drug store mascaras.

3. Covergirl: LashBlastLength (water resistant)

I really can't say much about this since I actually only tried this out yesterday, but I really liked it!  It comes with a plastic bristled brush which I'm starting to find that I prefer since I need to have very defined lashes (I hate HATE spider lashes).  The plastic bristles here are very small and numerous so it does the job of defining the lashes really well.

I did wear it out in some really humid, hot weather (for Oregon) and it stood up really wonderfully, no smearing at all.  I was also really impressed with the lengthening (and volumizing, defining, etc) for this mascara, I will definitely buy this again!

I also note that while the packaging is very plain (something I tend not to care about when it comes to mascaras really) it seems to have a similar "stiletto" shape like Maybelline Lash Stiletto and I wonder if it was always that way or if they were trying to improve packaging.  If anyone is bothered by that shape (I can see how it would be a pain if you wanted to stand it up) that may be a minor issue. 

I love those short, widely spaced plastic "bristles" (what are they called?).  It works far better for my eyelashes than the more full, brush-like mascara wands, and I think in general it helps prevent clumping a lot. 


*Note: I wasn't paid for this.