It has been some time since I've done a blog post! I feel like I always say this whenever I write another one because it's true. I do not keep up with my blog like I should! Oh well, we're here and we're doing the best we can! This post is going to be like my last one; a product review post! I don't know if y'all like these as much as I do but I love reading and watching youtube videos about what everyone likes or dislikes and how it works for them, so I hope you're enjoying these! I do want to say that I have ALOT of products to go through because I've been trying makeup like CRAZY these last couple of months. I legit have a problem. I'm going to do a separate blog post within the next day or say that will be products that I didn't like, and another one for skin care and hair care products. Not all of these products are going to be cruelty free, but I will be sure to mention which ones are and aren't. I'll try to remember to post prices, how much product is in each package and where to purchase! So, grab a snack and cozy up because we may be here a while!
Okay, I'm going to start with the product that I've been impressed with the most!
Okay, so I'm going to go ahead and start with the primers! The first one is the Porefessional primer by Benefit Cosmetics. The very first time I tried this I didn't think I was going to like it but the more I used it the more I fell in love with it. This primer claims to minimize pores and fine lines and give a blurring affect to the skin and I completely agree with those claims. I never realized how much my pores showed through my foundation until I started using this and I absolutely love it. A little bit goes a long way which is wonderful so that I'm not constantly repurchasing this. This is a silicone type products, so if you're allergic, then definitely do not use this product. It comes out looking like it has some color to it, but once you blend it on your face it's clear. I have tried many different foundations over top of this primer and they look beautiful. Some concealers did not work over this foundation, but I'll get into that a little later. You can pick this up at ULTA, Sephora, or the benefit website. There is a mini version for $12 that is .25 oz, a medium size bottle that is $31 at .75 oz and a value size for $49 at 1.5 oz. I think if you're trying it for the first time, definitely get the mini size! This entire brand is cruelty free!
This next primer I found on pinterest claiming to be a dupe for the porefessional primer by benefit! This is the Maybelline baby skin pore eraser primer. I won't talk too long about this because it does make the same claims as the benefit primer. This is not a complete dupe but I would definitely purchase this if I didn't have the money to purchase the benefit one. This primer is completely clear and is the silicone texture as well. This one feels just a little bit heavier and I feel like it doesn't fill in my pores as well as the benefit one, but it does still give my skin the blurring affect that I'm looking for. This is a great alternative and I absolutely love the way it lays under my foundation. I got this one at CVS, but I believe you can get it anywhere that they sell maybelline. This is .67 oz and $6.99 at CVS. This brand is not cruelty free.
Okay, the next primer is the e.l.f. illuminating face primer in radiant glow. I'm going to go ahead and say that If you normally just wear a BB cream or light coverage foundation then you're not going to like this primer. I will only wear this if I'm using a thick medium to full coverage foundation because this is extremely illuminating and will show through. If you're wanting an over all "glow from within" look when doing a full face then you will absolutely love this. I wore this under a very light foundation one day and I thought why in the heck do I look like a twilight vampire and then I realized it was the primer, so be very careful with this. It was really nice though because I felt like it did help my makeup last. When you first pump it out it looks very dark, but don't be scared because once it applies to the skin it becomes very light. I purchased this at CVS, but they also sell this at Walmart or on the elf cosmetics website. This is $8 at CVS and .49 oz. This brand is cruelty free! 
The next primer is the Hard Candy sheer envy hydrating primer mist. It literally said something about coconut on the package and that's why I bought it. This stuff is AMAZING. I've had it for two months and I'm almost out of it and I will definitely be buying another bottle. It's oil, silicone and alcohol free. This is a really great primer. Sometimes I will use it by itself, or sometimes I'll spray it on my face after I use the porefessional primer just to give my skin some hydration and I also use it through out the day to keep my skin refreshed and hydrated because I have very dry skin and sometimes my makeup will get a little cakey. This mist keeps it looking very dewy which is what I'm trying to achieve with my makeup. It makes my makeup stay on all day when I do use it as a primer. It has a really great mist that comes out of the sprayer and it smells wonderful. It's not a super strong scent though, so if you're sensitive to perfumes in makeups, this one won't bother you. I Highly recommend this to anyone looks for a great facial spray. I picked this up at Walmart for $8 and you get 2.2 fl oz which is great! This brand is also cruelty free!
This item is not technically a primer but you can use it set your makeup and hydrate your skin so I thought I would go ahead and mention it! This is the Mario Badescu facial spray with aloe, herbs and rosewater. This is technically skin care but I love the hydration boost it gives my skin throughout the day. I will sometimes spray this on my face when I'm not wearing it because it smells so good and makes my skin feel so soft. I always carry this one and the hard candy one with me in my purse so when I need a refresh, I literally just pull one out and use it. There is nothing about this that makes me reach for it more than the hard candy one; I like them both the same and will use which ever one finds its way into my hands! I got this at ULTA. You can purchase a 4 oz bottle for $7 or get an 8 oz bottle for $12. I can't find anything on if they're cruelty free or not, so if you know, please let me know!
Okay, that's it for the primers, so I'm going to move on to a couple of face makeup products. The first one is the Maybelline fit me dewy + smooth foundation.
I really like this foundation, but I do have a couple of issues. This foundation is really great for my dry skin and it does have that dewy finish, and sunscreen, but the color selection is weird and it does tend to oxidize. I got the color 120 classic ivory and I do feel that it's just a tad too dark for me, which is fine because I use concealer and other products to lighten my face a little, BUT THEN the foundation oxidizes and it gets even darker the longer you wear it. I did go look and see if I could get a lighter shade, like possibly the lightest shade, but you guys, the lightest shade is straight up pink. I'm really afraid to use it. Even though I have these problems with it, it's still in my category of likes because the finish is SO pretty on my dry skin. Like, I'll just keep working with it because it looks that good. If you have oily skin, absolutely do not use this foundation. I'm hoping that they'll come out with different shade options! This is 1 fl oz and I picked this up at CVS for $7.99.
The next item I want to talk about is the NYX HD photogenic concealer and I'm in the shade 00. This is a light to medium coverage concealer and I absolutely love it. I don't wear a lot of heavy foundations so I don't need a heavy concealer so this is perfect. It comes with a doe foot wand for easy application and it blends out beautifully with a beauty sponge or beauty blender. I really haven't had any problems with this AND they have 22 different shades, which is so awesome for a drug store brand, so it's really easy to find the right color for your skin tone. I got this at ULTA for $4.99 and its .11 oz. This brand is cruelty free!
Okay, time for the best bronzer in the entire universe. This is the physicians formula butter bronzer and its perfect. It smells SO GOOD. If you have allergic reactions or are sensitive to strong scents then don't pick this one up because it literally smells like a tropical vacation. The texture of the bronzer isn't like butter, which is a good thing, but it's as smooth as you can get a powder to be and it feels so nice on the face. The only down side is that it only comes in two shades: light bronzer and bronzer, so if you have a dark skin tone then you won't be able to use this product. That's one thing that's absolutely terrible about this brand is the color selection in ALL their products. I personally use this shade most of the time to contour my face because it's not ashy, it's not muddy, it's just the perfect brown for my face. Whenever I hit pan I will absolutely be buying another one of these. I got this at CVS for $15 (it's worth it) but you can also get one at walgreens, ULTA, and walmart. This brand is also cruelty free!
This product pleasantly surprised me because when I first opened it, I was extremely disappointed. This is the e.l.f. total face palette. The picture above looks exactly like the picture on the front of the box so I thought there was going to be an extremely light highlight shade in the top left corner but once you open it, it's much darker. It's still really pretty though, it's almost like a gold, glow from within shade, it just wasn't what I was expecting. It also comes with a pretty contour/bronzer shade and two blushes. This palette also comes with a really awesome mirror that would be great when traveling. I've tried both blushes, one is peachy and the other one is more pink, and I really enjoy them. I picked this up at Walmart for $8.
Are you guys ready for the ultimate highlight, because these made me loose my damn mind! These are SO PIGMENTED. These are the NYX duo chromatic illuminating powders. I've only tried two shades, "twilight tint" the lightest white shade and "lavender steel" which is a purple shade. I did swatch the other shades at ULTA because they have testers and they are so ridiculous. This is a highlighter that you need to use with a very light hand because if you're not careful you'll look like a snow globe. These are so cool though because they're so different. I don't really know how to explain them but I feel like everyone needs to try these. The purple shade looks a little pink on my skin tone which is pretty and they're not chalky or chunky; they're very smooth feeling and SO DANG PIGMENTED. I got mine at ULTA for $7.99 a piece and they're .21 oz.
This was another pleasant surprise item I purchased. This is the ULTAbeauty powder contour kit. I honestly don't even remember why I bought this. I think I picked it up because they had a special if you bought at least $20 then you got a free gift or something, but either way I'm glad I bought this. If you're just starting out with contour, or you want to start, or you're not good at it, like me, then this is perfect for you! I feel like it has a really great shade range for most skin tones and the two highlighters it has are SO PRETTY. It also comes with a guide to show you exactly how to contour for your face shape. I know most people really want to get the Anastasia bevery hills contour palette, and it's a great palette, but maybe spend less money and try this one first because I think this is a really solid palette for the money. I picked this up at ULTA for $18. This brand is cruelty free!
OKAY! I'm so sorry if this is a lot, I've just tried SO many things! Lets move on to the eyes!
This eye shadow palette has been giving me LIFE. This is the NYX ultimate eye shadow palette in 03 warm neutrals. This is just the prettiest palette. I have been super into warm tones lately, using a lot of browns, golds, peaches and copper colors (I feel like everyone has been) and I just feel like this has everything. It has great transition shades, mattes, shimmers, a couple of dark colors. It just feels like a very well rounded palette to me. The shades blend out so well and the pigmentation is not the best I've ever seen but it's definitely not bad either. If you're not wanting to spend a ton of money on high end eye shadow palettes then I definitely recommend picking up this baby because I feel like it was more than worth every penny I paid for it. I bought this at ULTA for $17.99.
One really cool thing about shopping at ULTA is that a lot of the brands will have free gifts with purchase if you spend so much money in that brand and that's how I discovered this mascara. This is the tarte Tarteist lash paint mascara. I normally don't try different mascaras because I'm extremely committed to my Urban Decay Perversion mascara but it was free so I was like okay, lets try this. I really like this mascara. It has a rubber wand but it has so many bristles that it completely separates and lifts the lashes and makes them look very feathery. It doesn't seem to clump at all which is great and it's a very black mascara. I'm really thinking of purchasing a full size bottle of this because I love it so much. This brush is also really good for the lower lash line as it separates and its not a super thick formula like the perversion. The only reason this one isn't my absolute favorite is because the perversion does give me just a smidge more volume, but other than that, this definitely gave me a run for my money. You can pick this up at ULTA or the tarte website for $23 and it's .24 oz. This brand is cruelty free!
I normally don't use eye shadow primers because I normally just use my foundation on my eye lids but this was a free gift so I started using it and holy wow. This is a really good eye shadow primer. When I say a very little goes a long way, I'm totally serious. You really need just a smidge. If you think you don't have enough, you probably have too much. This coats the eye lid so well and I was able to notice that it made my eye shadows a little more pigmented than normal, so I think it's doing its job. It's oil, fragrance and paraben free. It's not sticky or tacky, it feels kind of like a foundation or concealer which is great and it's a skin tone color, if you're light skinned. If you're wanting to try an eye shadow primer but don't want to pay out the ass for a high end one, definitely give this one a try. I received this at ULTA and you can buy a bottle of it for $12 and it's .3 oz which doesn't sound like a lot, but I swear, you need the tiniest little dot of it to cover your eyelids.
Now, lets move on to lips! The first lip product that I liked is a lipstick I purchased because it's supposed to be a dupe for the MAC lipstick shade "twig".
Aaaaaaand this is my second favorite lipstick right now. The shades are actually similar but this one is a little warmer toned. This is the NYX lingerie liquid lipstick in the shade "exotic." I honestly didn't know this was a liquid lipstick when I bought it. Working at ULTA, I just noticed people buying this constantly so I decided to pick one up and I love it. A lot of the shades in the collection aren't going to look good on my skin tone because it's a lot of browns and greys, but this shade is so absolutely beautiful. The only thing that I don't like about this is the wand. The wand is crazy long and I find myself having to be so careful with it when I'm going around the outline of my lips. This was one is super drying so if you're lips are super chapped you may want to line your lips in some balm before applying this. It barely has any transfer and the color stays on for so long. It doesn't bleed or feather around my mouth and I just love this. I purchased this one at ULTA for $6.99 with .13 oz and 24 different shades!
Okay, so this is not a lip product that I'm going to wear every day but I do still really like it and thought it was worth mentioning because they just came out with a bunch of nude shades! This is the NYX cosmic metals lip cream and I have the shade ultraviolet. This is a really nice formula. It's not a liquid lipstick so it's not going to be super drying. It's a cream, so there's going to be transfer and you are going to have to reapply this through out the day, but holy cow I couldn't believe how pigmented this was. Normally with the metallic colors, they tend to be patchy or thin but this is so thick and it went on so smooth. I did one swipe on bottom and one on top and that was it. This cream also has a CRAZY big wand so that made it a little difficult to apply, but I would definitely purchase this one in all kinds of shade because I think they're really neat! They have tons of other metallic shades like blues and greens and then they just came out with gold and rose gold tons and they're so pretty. I purchased this at ULTA for $7.50 and it's .13 oz.
Okay y'all, that's it! I was going to continue on and do products that I didn't like but I'm going to put that in a separate blog post because I have quite a few of those as well :(. Let me know if you've tried any of these products and you like them as much as I do, or you hated them! And please let me know if you know if the Mario brand is cruelty free or not because I seriously can't figure it out! I hope you all have a good evening! Bye Y'all!!
Just a side note, all of the pictures in this blog post were gotten off of google images, I did not take any of these pictures myself.
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