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wet&wild mega last lipstick swatches and review!

29 Aug

Hello my lovely little lemon pops! Hope all is well in your little corner of the world with you and your loved ones :)

Things are going pretty well with me. I’m finally feeling settled into Las Vegas (well….more than I was a couple of weeks ago) and am ready to get back in the blogging and photo shoot game. And quite frankly, I can barely contain my excitement to return to both. If you have ever moved to a BIG city before…you can probably share my pain. The simplest of tasks seem like a terrifying adventure and sometimes I just want to get my 4 pack of red bull and go home without seeing my life flash before my eyes a few times and fighting the urge to throw my GPS out the stinkin window. CAN I JUST SAY: If I had a dollar for every time my GPS provided me with more problems than it did solutions, I would have at least twenty-seven dollars right now.

But I digress…we are here to talk about the Wet and Wild Mega Last Lipsticks. If you have read my blog before, you know that late last year I re discovered the brand when I gave their eyeshadow’s and blushes a spin. If you havent heard they…are…AMAZING!!!! I don’t mean “amazing for the drug store” I mean they are amazing period dot. And, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the fact that they have no more than a $4 price tag attached to them only adds to the awesome factor. I have a blog about some of the cheek products, and after this one I will have one up about the infamous eye shadows that I am such a uber fan of.

I picked these lipsticks up about a month ago for *drum roll please* $1.99 a piece! Lets see the goods:

From left to right: 1.Bare it All 2.Just Peachy 3.Rose Bud 4.Dollhouse Pink 5.Dont Blink Pink 6.Smokin Hot Pink 7.Stoplight Red.

The packaging isnt the most glamarous in the world..and in fact my tube of Dollhouse Pink gave me a bit of trouble and broke the day that I got it home. But, once again we are talking about a $1.99 product so there is only so much to be expected. On the plus side, it’s not going to break the bank to scoop up another should it be beyond repair.

Swatches anyone?

Left to right: 1.Bare it all 2.Just Peachy 3.Rose bud

Bare it all is intended to be the “nude” of the group but I find it to be way too brown on my skin tone. If you had a darker skin tone it would probably be flattering.

Dollhouse Pink is a dead ringer for Saint Germain from MAC and Dont Blink Pink reminds me a lot of Girl About Town from MAC as well.

All in all…I think these products are GREAT. I’m not gonna lie, they aren’t the “creamiest” formula in the world but it would be a bit of an over reach to categorize them as drying as well. I find them to be pretty long-lasting, and didn’t have any problems with “bleeding” or feathering.

Hope this review was helpful to you guys! Dont forget to check out the WhitneyLovesMakeup Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Whitneylovesmakeup.

Also, find me on Instagram (whitneylovesmakeup is my user name…big shocker)

Everyone have an amazing day and I’ll talk to you soon :)

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Revlon ColorStay Whipped Cream Foundation

23 Jul

As I have mentioned before I tend to go through stages with things. TV shows, movies, bands, makeup etc. etc. Currently I am going through a face makeup stage. When I heard that Revlon was coming out with a “whipped cream” product I already knew I was going to  quickly scoop it up.

FUNFACT: out of all the foundation formulas and textures that I have across…so far creme is far and away my favorite. I purchased a Graftobian HD pro palette for my makeup kit a few months ago and could not believe how great it worked. Not only was the coverage amazing but it made the skin look so beautiful in a way that I’m not sure I can really describe. If yall are interested I will do a blog on that product to go into further detail but trust me when I say that it is really quite impressive.

ANYWAYS….I havent had much luck finding a lot of creme foundations on the market that I felt were worth trying. With the exception of the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation. At the time I wasnt near a Sephora that carried it but…now thats changed so I will keep you posted :) .

SOO you can imagine my aforementioned excitement when Revlon released the Colorstay Whipped. Heres a few quick tid bits on the product:

* Even though the product says WHIPPED…its in no way in the form of foam or mousse. Like the Maybeline  products. The closest one I have come across to its texture is the CoverGirl True Match Whipped Foundation. Which I used to use all the time circa a few years ago. The texture is thick…but once on the skin it doesn’t feel HEAVY. So major points on that.

* I think that it excels in all the places that the original Revlon Colorstay Formula didn’t. If you have ever used the original formula you know that it dries SUPER fast….and Im not gonna lie it oxidized pretty quickly on me. I havent heard lots of other people having that problem,,maybe I got a bad batch? None of these were an issue for me with the Whipped. EXCEPT for the time I fell asleep in it, and wound up wearing it the following day (b I was in the process of moving and couldn’t be bothered to put on a  fresh new face of makeup). NOTE: The product boasts 24 hours of wear.  When I first saw this I couldn’t help but think “ummm HOW busy are you that you need your makeup to last a full 24 hours in the first place?”. The guys at Revlon showed me. It DID stay on for a very long time but….after about 20 hours of wear (maybe longer) it gave me a full-blown orange look on my skin. SO maybe just be aware of that

*When I purchased it there was only about 8 shades or so available. Since the foundation comes in a big glass jar it makes it kind of impossible to detect what color you should be purchasing. LUCKILY when I picked it up Walgreens was having a buy one get one sale and I grabbed two that I figured I would bounce between during the summer months and (worse case scenario) I could mix together.

*I did not find myself getting oily throughout the day…and the product really did pass the “colorstay” test with flying colors (pun kinda intended) even without a primer. During the hot Arizona months, keeping foundation in place and looking fresh can be a bit of a task belive me and this one…more than did the job.

*Some people have complained that they had trouble figuring out what kind of tool to use to apply the product. I found my beauty blender didn’t quite take to it. But my Sigma Flat top  Synthetic Kabuki (the F80 I think) rose to the challenge beautifully!

*At around $14 its a great GREAT price for a wonderful product that quite frankly could easily pass for a more expensive product.

* The coverage is FULL with a demi matte finish. You prob wont need much by way concealer unless you have particularly stubborn under eye circles or maybe a MONSTER red pimple. So…it gets time saver points as well.

All in all…this gets a perfect 10 out of 10 from me. And to be honest I don’t know what you are doing still sitting here reading this post…cause you should be running out the door to pick some of this up!

Hope this blog helped you guys and thanks so much for stopping by and reading :)

Dont forget to check out the WhitneyLovesMakeup Facebook page and I hope you have a great day!

*Bitesandkisses*
WhitLove xxoxo

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Wet&Wild Cheek Stuff mini Haul

4 Jun

 

I know that title couldn’t lack any more creativity if it  if it tried, but I was having a bit of trouble deciding what to call this.

I have a few makeup bits I picked up from the drug store the other day from Wet and Wild and thought I would share a few thoughts and swatches with you guys.

OK

Let me start by saying NO ONE loves a beautiful high-end blush or bronzer as much as I do. However, as much as I love them they are not always worth the hype or price tag and more importantly there are probably much more easily accessible versions of the same product at Wal Mart or CVS or something like that. I have a few drugstore brands and products that I think that are just wonderful and would recommend to anyone. And then there is Wet and Wild. I remember Wet and Wild from when I was a youngin (like 7 or 8 years old) as being the makeup brand of choice to all my friends big sisters. I remember seeing stacks of their products inside those purple glittery caboodles that owned the early nineties. So for some reason..as I grew up I just kinda thought that they were cheap and not very high quality and even as low-priced as they were I didn’t want to waste any amount of money what so ever on them. Boy…was…i…wrong.

I don’t know when but apparently one of the big whigs sat down everyone at wet and wild inc. and announced it was time to step the game all the way up. And step up they did. I first discovered a shockingly impressive increase in quality in their color icon eyeshadow palettes around October of last year. When I say impressive..I dont mean impressive for drugstore caliber makeup. I mean all the way impressive period dot. MAC quality if not better. I will do a separate post of my favorite of those palettes and swatches on another day. I hadn’t really stepped out of the eyeshadow realm until recently when I decided to take a whack at the bronzer, blush, and cheek highligter from them.

I guess everyone else got hip to how great W&W are now because I literally had to scavage around several locations to get the handful of products I got. Lets take a little looksie shall we?

Ok…I LOVE LOVE the blush’s and Bronzer. They are super pigmented and very very smooth! For example: ELF blushes are around the same price..and a few of them are quite nice as well but they are SO chalky. I’m talking when you run your fingers over to swatch it the product gathers inside the little grooves of your fingerprint. CSI crime scene style if ya know what I mean. These are not that way at all…I find them to be very soft. This goes for the bronzer as well. The bronzer in Princess that I picked up is intended to have shimmer in it. And when you swatch it you can pick it up in the light. However once you blend it out..its pretty much totally un noticeable. Once again..I am a matte bronzer freak and this still passed my test.

 

 (left: pearlescent pink.  right: Mellow Wine)

 BRONZER in Princess

NOW…someone at the company put the cart a tad before the horse when they called the highlighter products MEGA Glo. A little Glo..or a BIT of Glo might have been a more accurate title. Dont get me wrong…I don’t enjoy a glitter ball effect on my cheeks AND it’s not to say that these dont have any shimmer what so ever. But..its nothing to write home about. “But it is enough to write a blog about? How does that work Whit Love?” I know right. But seriously though. I wouldn’t recommend picking these up at all. Nothing special..the packaging isn’t nice..they dont smell nice..they arent shimmery..or smooth…or anything. You would be better off using a cream or champagne shimmery eye shadow instead. BUT the beauty of W&W is the price. It’s not like I’m kicking myself in the rear about it just will put it somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my makeup collection and never think of it again :)

I guess if you really wanted to you could use them as a shimmery blush…but like I said..these babies just werent for me :)

I hope you guys enjoyed this blog and thank you so much for stopping by! Dont forget to subscribe and LIKE the WhitneyLovesMakeup Facebook page for more :)

*BitesandKisses*
WhitLove xoxxo

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Makeup Forever HD vs Revlon Photoready

16 Apr

           

Of course I pick one of the more difficult subjects to use as my first Splurge vs. Save blog.

The reason I say this is because to most its an obvious choice….would you rather spend $11 or $43? And what in the world would make a liquid foundation so amazing, SO special, so earth shatteringly unique that it warrants a $43 price tag in the first place!?

I heard about the MakeupForever HD foundation about two years ago and naturally was asking the same exact question. Dont get me wrong, I was immediately intrigued by the HD in the title. Lets be honest, we all tend to flock to ANYTHING with the letters HD in it. Movies, TV shows, TV’s in general, cameras, video games, pictures…you name it we have to have it. It was only a matter of time before the cosmetic industry got in front of this thing. I personally don’t understand what the fascination with HD is. The idea of watching a movie or tv show that pics up things even my naked eye wouldn’t see is pointless. I mean, my parents (and their parents) made it through life just fine not having to stare at Jennifer Lopez’s pores during a trip to the local theatre for an hour and a half. And as a makeup artist…the concept of it is kind of nightmare! No matter how much you blend..there are somethings that you just CANT completely cover or erase from someones face. That’s why we have Photoshop. But if you can’t beat em….join em I always say.

BUT FIRST, before I gave the all mighty makeup forever a try…I decided to take the baby step of the Revlon Photoready. I think I started using this around summer of 2010. The ad I saw (feat. the breath-taking Halle Berry) is what initially sparked my intrigue. It boasted that the foundation provided you with a “soft focus” finish in any light. OK….anytime you see something that says “soft focus” or “light diffusing” in an ad that basically means the product has shimmer in it. If you have ever used the ORIGINAL formula of Bare Minerals foundation you know exactly what I mean. It uses the shimmer to kind of deflect light away from your face….giving you a glow and almost blurring out your flaws. This idea is always gorgeous in theory, but sometimes the execution can make you look almost like a glitter bomb exploded on the surface of your skin. As far as the Revlon goes…I had been using it for weeks and really loved it. At this point I wasnt using a face primer but hadn’t had ANY trouble what so ever with it fading or sliding off my face. And at the time I was a bartender at a VERY busy establishment so sweat was a normal part of my day and it still held up. So far..so good. I didn’t realize how impressive the product was until I was leaving for work one day in the middle of the afternoon.  I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in one of the mirrors of the car and realized that even under the harsh bright lighting I looked FLAWLESS. At the time since I worked at night in a dark bar I was always a little more heavy-handed when it came to my makeup to compensate for the dim lights once I got to work. So usually if I stepped outside and the sun was shining it always looked a LITTLE heavy. But not this time….so the original ad came back in my head “soft focus in any light”. I was officially impressed. But…a perfect product it is NOT. First of all…last I checked there is only something like six or seven shades available. It’s not the end of the world you just may have to buy more than one and mix the two together to get your color. AND once again….it did have a shimmery quality… In photographs that was pretty much ALL you could see on my face…so i recommend a powder foundation on top to set it and kind of neutralize the effect. Something about all that shimmer will make the appearance of any pores you have on your face a little more visible. There is a technique using a dense stippling brush that usually helps me with that but even then…they are still visible.

On to the Makeup Forever…

Did it live up to the hype and the price tag? Abso-freakin-lutely. I have had the bottle I have now since Christmas of 2011. Since you don’t need very much of it…it’s not hard to let one bottle last you several months. I say you don’t need very much..but thats really up to you and the amount of coverage you like. The company describe it as a “sheer to buildable coverage product” and that statement is spot on. I..LOVE…THIS…STUFF. The idea behind it is..its supposed to be invisible to HD cameras. Since I tend to photograph the makeup I do on myself A LOT I can safely say that statement couldn’t be more true if it tried. The texture is a little thinner than the Revlon and not even close to as shimmery. In fact it isn’t at ALL. It’s a beautiful satin finish that literally erases flaws. I still use a color corrector under my eyes for dark circles but other than that I do NOT need concealor. As for the pores? Ummm….WHAT pores? That in itself makes it a miracle product to me. Lasting power? Check & Check. As I’m writing this I am wracking my brain sauce for problems with this foundation…and I honestly can’t think of a single one. It even comes in 25 beautiful shades..so I challenge you not to find one that matches you perfectly! OK OK….the final question…worth the ridiculous price tag? The short answer is yes. HOWEVER….its not something I think is realistic or necessary if your just going to the office or to run errands. In my line of work..its ideal. Even if you’re doing something like bartending where your picture tends to be taken ALL the time its not a bad idea to have. Other than that…I would save your money. BUT if you’re getting married, going to prom, or some other fabulous event where the camera lights will be flashing I would heavily HEAVILY consider the investment.

If you have any positive (or negative) experiences with these products I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on them.

Thanks for reading guys! Dont forget to subscribe to my blog and LIKE me on Facebook. The giveaway is still going on and will be until May 11th. All the rules and how to enter are posted on the WhitneyLovesMakeup facebook page.

Have a great week everyone!

*Bites&kisses*

WhitLovexoxxo

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ELF HAUL!!!

15 Apr

Hello my pretty little petunias!

My boyfriend and I went to Target this weekend to get workout pants, tools, and makeup. And can I just say: out of all the modern convinces my generation and those since will be fortunate enough to have at their disposal the one we take for granted THE MOST is the genius concept of the one stop shopping experience. Let us have a moment of silence for the time-saving bargain hunting Utopia we have probably come to take for granted…

ANYWHO,

For those of you who don’t know you can find a brand called E.L.F (stands for eyes.lips.face)  at Target. To my knowledge it is the only retailer that you can purchase them in person from. Otherwise you have to go online to http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ I HAVE TO SAY: There are tons of reviews and complaints floating around the internet about the lack of customer service when buying from them on line. I read at least ten different stories while researching the company about people who received an order that was only half there…OR the wrong things were sent. Maybe the company got wind of these problems and up’d their game a little since…but just in case I thought I would warn you :)

The GREAT thing about E.L.F is the price. You CANT beat it. The products range anywhere from $1-$10. I personally havent seen any of the products go for more than that so it makes this line PERFECT for the budget conscious beauty addict. The prices also make it ideal to load up your basket at target and try several items at a time. And if you don’t like any….your only out six bucks. For me…thats amazing. Because as I’ve said before there is NOTHING I hate more than picking something up, getting it home and HATING it. Once again, that is the huge dis advantage to buying at drugstores/target/Wal-Mart.

I was able to pick up 7 different items from ELF for about $25. Some were permanent staples that I always see in the ELF section…and then to my surprise  I turned the corner and found a WALL of ELF gift sets. Everything from eye palettes, to eye liner sets, lip gloss collections, and more. Nothing was more than $10. I’m not sure how long they will be doing this so I would rush over there and check it out if I were you :)

I’m pretty happy with the items that I picked up. Most of them I chose because they are dupes for high-end items that I have had for quite some time and really do enjoy. I am SOOOO excited to see how well they hold up to each other. Since I did JUST scoop these goodies up, I’m not going to share my thoughts on them just yet. I want to have enough time to see how they look on the skin, how well they blend, and the staying power of each item. So please keep those pretty peepers open for the final say on the products!

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL weekend and are gearing up for a wonderful week! I have lots coming up for you guys! My inbox has been flooded lately with questions and I am looking forward to answering each one of them via blog post for you. So please feel free to let me know of any things you would like to hear about! :)

Dont forget to subscribe to my blog and LIKE me on Facebook. The giveaway is still in effect and will be until May 10th :)

*bites&kisses*

WhitLove xoxxo

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Hard Candy GLAMoflauge review!

10 Apr

Hello my exciting little eggplants!

Ok,

I think we can all agree there are certain things we do NOT want to hide. Our bomb.compersonalities , our fierce  new legs  earned  from months of spinning class, our awesome relationship with a new LUV-AH…the list goes on and one. BUT for those things you DO want to hide (dark circles, blemishes, skin discoloration etc etc) I highly suggest you give Hard Candy Glamoflauge heavy-duty concealer a whirl!

Let me start by saying the first time I was wandering around Wal-Mart and saw Hard Candy in the cosmetics section I was sort of confused. I remember when Hard Candy was considered a more high-end brand that you could buy at Sephora. And I also remember in the mid nineties (95-97ish) seeing promos of the company’s nail polish line allll over TV and it was always listed in “Seventeen” and “Teen” magazine (which of course I was reading when I was 11) with a pretty large price tag attached to it. I googled hard candy and its affiliation with Wal-Mart and couldn’t find TOO much on the subject and what I did find was kinda conflicting. There are some that say Hard Candy went belly up and bankrupt so they HAD to sell to Wal-Mart and there are others that say it was bought by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy in 1999 for an un-disclosed amount and THEN sold to Falic Fashion Group who then announced a partnership with Wal-Mart in 2009.

Not gonna lie I was NOT in a hurry to buy ANYTHING from the line. TO BE HONEST…I am hardly ever in a hurry to buy drug store or Wal-Mart makeup. Not because I’m some kind of snob on the subject but because at places like that it is pretty much impossible to swatch or look at any of the things you might be interested in trying. And I have had my share of buying that kind of stuff getting it home and HATING it. BUT if your smart (or flippin RUDE) you can just break the seal off a product, swatch it, and then grab the last effin un opened version of that item and leave. UGH! *shakes fist* Why I  Oughta!

SPEAKING of  the test tube baby, mouth breathing kind of Wal Mart shoppers. Someone clearly did  something like that to my package of Glamoflauge I bought around October of last year because I did not get that cute little concealer pencil that came with it. Not that I know exactly what I would have done with it but STILL would have been nice for someone NOT to steal it :(

But I digress, where I’m going with this is that this product is AMAZING. I’m gonna say that again..THIS…PRODUCT…IS…AMAZING.

In the picture on the left that dot is actually much smaller than it appears I SWAY-ER. You hardly need any product what so ever to achieve a thick totally opaque finish. Obviously no one in their right mind needs this much concealer every for any reason but what im trying to illustrate is how amazing the pigmentation is AND how far your money will go on this product. It’s around $6.00 for one tube. I honestly think this tube would last you a year or maybe longer. This product doesn’t make ME break out and its very very long-lasting when set with powder. If you have dry to very dry skin you may not have a problem with this but in general since I have combination skin I have to set my foundation and concealer.  SIDENOTE: I’m AWARE that the color of the concealer does not match that of the skin on my hand but that’s not where the stuff goes so (duh) I didn’t buy it to match that part of my body.

The concealer has been called a dead on dupe for Kat Von D’s Tattoo Concealer. I can’t speak on that too much because I don’t own it. I do know that the idea behind Kat’s is that its supposed to be such a potent concealer it can cover up everything EVEN your tattoos. So I decided to see if  I could achieve the same results with Hard Candy’s. Lets take a look shall we?

BAH-BAM! I don’t know about you guys but that’s pretty impressive as far as I’m concerned. :) :)

All in all I say drop what you are doing (after you finish reading this of course) and head over to your local Wal-Mart and pick it up. Although I would recommend that you have your fingers crossed a long the way as it tends to be (almost always) sold out. The ONLY thing I don’t like about this product is that the selection of shades is pretty limited. LIGHT, MEDIUM, and DARK. ALSO..make sure that yours has that little pencil with it before you purchase and please  tell me how it works! I might buy another pack of this to try it out for myself :)

I hope this review helps! Please comment below if you have any thoughts or tips and tricks when it comes to this product. I would love to hear from you

Also don’t forget to subscribe to my blog and LIKE me on Facebook.

Have a great day guys I will talk to you soon :)

*bites and kisses*

WhitLove xoxxo

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