Collective (Drugstore) Haul & Swatches - Things I've Hauled While I Was Away

So while I was away, I did buy makeup here and there. I was intrigued by the LA Splash liquid lipsticks so I picked up a few shades. There was many other shades that appealed to me but decided to just pick these colors to see how I liked them. I love and hate these, lol. Will tell you more on my review.

L'Oreal Infallible Pro Matte Gloss Swatch and Review - Blushing Ambition and Aphrodite Kiss

Hello there,

I've been on a movie watching kick lately. Kind of my way to unwind after a long hard day. I find myself KO halfway through the movie and crawling back into my bed at 3 am. That's my life update so far.
I know I'm super behind on reviews so I'm going to try really hard to kick my butt back into blogging groove.

Packaging

• The packaging is nothing new and looks like one of their other lipglosses. The only difference is the formula. I like the clear tube so you can see the color inside.
• It comes with a teardrop shape applicator with a hole at the center. I find that this applicator picks up quite a bit of product so you won't need to double dip for more. The pointed tip helps with a more precise application.
• .21 oz or 6.3 ml

Product

• Blushing Ambition is a medium cool tone pink with almost full coverage. 
• Aphrodite Kiss is a bright berry pink with full coverage. Careful with this one cause it can get on your teeth.
• Overall the pigmentation is good but between these two, Aphrodite Kiss was definitely more opaque on the first layer.
• When I first applied them, they had a bit of sheen to them, which makes them look like a cream finish but after a few minutes, they do dry down to a matte finish but doesn't really set. If you blot your lips, you can still remove some of the product.  
• Both applied smoothly and feels light-weight. I didn't find them hydrating or drying and they leave a stain behind.
• They last about 3 hours before signs of fading. They do fade quite unevenly and if you are drinking or eating, you'll notice that the lip color is going to look very blotchy.
• They have a faint cupcake scent that fades quickly.

Final Thought

I'm on the fence with this product. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. I like the lightweight and comfortable feel, the matte formula, the packaging, the pigmentation. What I dislike is the fact that it wears off easily, especially if you are drinking and eating, and how blotchy it looks afterward. Definitely needs reapplication to even out.

Rating: 7/10

Price: $8-$10
Availability: Walgreens, Target, Ulta

Have you tried these? Do you like them?

Blushing Ambition

Blushing Ambition

Blushing Ambition

Blushing Ambition

Aphrodite Kiss

Aphrodite Kiss

Aphrodite Kiss

Aphrodite Kiss

Haul and Swatches - Colour Pop, New L'Oreal Infallible Pro Matte Gloss, And A Couple of Nail Polishes

Hello Lovelies,

I'm excited to show you my latest haul, especially because I've been able to get my hands on a few of the Colour Pop Eyeshdows. There's been a lot of buzz about this indie company and after looking at a few reviews and swatches, I decided that I just had to order some. Low and behold, here they are and I've got the preview swatches for ya. I will get to the review later. 

I purchased the Bunny lip pencil. Yeah, I know it's green, lol, but I got it because it think it's a perfect match for my NYX Wicked Lippie Risque. 

From Walgreens, I spotted these two nail polishes and decided to pick them up. On the left, it's Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant in the shade Emerald Blaze. The funny thing is, it wasn't until I got home that I realized it looked a lot like OPI Green On The Runway. On the right is Sinful Colors in Love Sprinkles. It has a clear base, white heart glitters, and light pink glitters.

I found the new Infallible Pro Matte Gloss at my local Walgreens as well and picked up two shades. They were on BOGO sale. Blushing Ambition is a medium cool tone pink and Aphrodite Kiss is a bright strawberry red. Review coming soon as well.

Blushing Ambition

Aphrodite Kiss

L'Oreal Infallible Silkissime Eyeliner Swatch and Review - Cobalt Blue and Green Ivy

Hi all,

I hope you had a nice weekend. My life as of lately has been a little chaotic...Another reason for my blog so suffer from inconsistent updates. A week ago after a system update at work, the system crashed for several days and we had to work weekends to meet our deadlines. In order to minimize the chances of another system crash until they fix the bugs, we were told to be on view only mode during clinic hours and that we will have to work a split shift outside of clinic hours to do our account updates. It's a huge inconvenience for many of us who have responsibilities and other commitments outside of our regular work schedule but that is what we have to do to get by for now, Boo! Hopefully, this issue will be resolved sooner than later because I don't know how long I can keep on working those weird hours and not lose my sanity.
Secondly, my sister and her family moved to South Carolina today. It was hard to say good bye realizing that I won't be seeing them as often as I was used to. I'm really going to miss the family time we had together, the food we shared together, and just being there for each other for company and for comfort. Since we lived pretty close to each other, we saw each other several times a week so their absence is going to take some time to get used to.

Anyhoo...so that is a brief overview of what's been going on with me and back to our regular program is my review of these new L'Oreal eye pencils.


Packaging

• Color of the pencil matches the color inside. Comes with a clear cap. 
• Non-retractable, needs sharpening. 
• .03 oz or 1.1 g

Product

• Cobalt Blue is a matte cobalt blue
• Green Ivy is a shimmery dark green olive
• These pencils are incredibly pigmented and creamy. They glide so effortlessly on the skin without pulling or skipping. 
• I have moderately oily lids and hooded eyelids. I find that after a couple hours of wear, there is a small amount of transfer to my crease and a small amount of smudging on my lower lash line. Other than that, they wear well for up to 6 hours before I notice signs of fading. 

Final Thought

In spite of the minor smudges and transfer, these will last through most of the day. I just love how smooth and creamy they feel. It's very hard for me to find a drugstore pencil eyeliner that I enjoy and these are definitely nice and worth a try.


Rating: 8.5/10

Price: $8-$9
Availability: Walgreens, Target

L'Oreal Visible Lift Blur Blush Soft Peach

I was at Ulta last weekend and picked up a couple products. Of these items, I got the new L'Oreal Visible Lift Blur Blush. They come in 3 colors.

Packaging

• Squeezable plastic tube with sealed opening. 
• .6 oz or 20 ml. I think this a generous size product. 

Product

• Soft Peach is a lovely peachy pink with a satin finish. The texture is light and creamy. Feels silky and slightly silicone-ish. Easy to blend.
• The color payoff is light to medium light and would work well for lighter complexion. 
• I get up to 4 hours of wear before I notice fading.

Final Thought

I heard that the other colors had an odd texture to them so I opted for Soft Peach, which indeed had a more even texture. For my light skin, the color payoff works out. The only drawback is that the product doesn't last very long and will need touch up. 

Rating: 8/10

Price: $12.99
Availability: Ulta

L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque - Elegance Is Innate, All Shine On Me, Meant To Be

I gotta say even though the L'Oreal nail colors packaging don't look that fancy, they do have a nice flair to them and rather nice for being a drugstore product. These new Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque run about $8.00 and almost you just at much as OPI and Essie so with that said, my expectation would be a little higher.

The formula of the Extraordinaire Gel Lacque is supposed to give you the look and finish of a gel manicure without having to use a UV lamp. L'Oreal also sells a set of base coat and top coat to be used for these special polishes. I have not tried them and I don't know if they make a difference.

Formula-wise, I find them a little thick and tricky to apply. I would advise that you use a generous amount on your brush and spread them carefully and quickly because they tend to create bald spots in some areas and they dry fairly quick. They are quite pigmented. 2 coats should do the work but sometimes 3 was needed for the bald/uneven spots. Definitely works better if you wait a couple minutes between coats. There was also the occasional bubbling so do not shake but roll the bottle if you must. I was rather surprised at how dull they looked without a top coat. I was expecting them to look a lot shinier but I guess that's what the top coat is for.

I didn't get a chance to test all the shades but I did with one of them, which is All Shine On Me. I used it like I would any nail polish. I started with a base coat from my stash, 2-3 coats of nail color, and then a clear top coat from my stash. It wore well for 4 days with minor tip wear and started chipping on the 5th day.

My final thought is that they are just ok. They look and last just like a typical nail polish. If I was going to spend $8 on a nail polish, I'd rather skip these but if you can get them on sale then why not.

Elegance Is Innate is a dark blue black, slightly dusty, with a cream finish.

All Shine On Me is a dark grape purple with a cream finish.

Meant To Be is a medium raspberry red with a cream finish.

L'Oreal Liya's Nude

Liya's Nude is part of the new and limited edition Collection Privee, which came with a set of nude nail polishes and nude lipsticks. I gotta say I was very tempted to grab one or two of the lipsticks. I thought the packaging was really nice and fancy-looking but I just can't stand the scent of the lipsticks so that ended up saving me a few bucks.

Nude nail polish isn't really a color I'd wear often, simply because it looks too simple and boring. And when I do wear nude on my nails, I usually prefer to top it with some glitters or stamping some designs on top of it.
The Collection Privee had some pretty nice nude colors but I decided to just get Liya's Nude and that's probably because I was able to get it on sale.

Liya's Nude is a medium taupe with a slight purple undertone to it and a cream finish. I really like these L'Oreal nail polish brush, they similar to OPI's, not too big or too small and a bit flat for easy application. I thought the formula was excellent. Applied very smoothly and only needed 2 coats for full and even color pay off. I also find that the formula dries fairly quickly.

This is probably not a very unique nail color but if you do like and don't have a similar color, it's definitely worth a pick up because the formula is just perfect.

L'Oreal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick, Fuchsia Orchestra and Purple Prelude - Swatch and Review

I was fortunate enough to snag these lip colors on clearance at my local K-Mart a couple weeks ago because the store is closing down. I'm itching to go back there again yet I'm also afraid that I might end up buying stuff that I don't really need. I guess I need to stay focused on what I already have.


Packaging

• They have a nice shiny metallic gold packaging which attracts lots of finger prints. There's a window on one side of the packaging that indicates the color of the gloss. The label on top and color at the base will also help you determine the color inside.
• They also come with a doe foot applicator. It's shaped differently than the Wet Shine lacquers and has longer fibers. 
• .18 oz or 5.5 ml

Product

• Fuchsia Orchestra is a bright and pigmented fuchsia color. It's very glossy and jelly-like. The pigmentation was a nice surprise and nearly opaque. This color actually stains. I get about 4 hours of wear and the stain last for a few more hours. It's a great color for spring and summer.
• Purple Prelude is a soft semi-sheer mauvy rose with a nice glossy shine. This is a great every day shade. I get about 2-3 hours of wear but since this color doesn't stain once it wears off, there's not much color left. 
• The formula feels a little thick and cushiony but it's not sticky. They're hydrating and comfortable. I find that both shades applies fairly evenly.
• They has a sweet fruity scents. Kinda smells like mango.

Final Thought

I love the cushiony and hydrating formula. Lasting power is average for a gloss and the pigmentation will vary from one shade to another. They do wear off much quicker if you are sipping on a drink or eating.

Rating: 8.5/10

Price: $8 - $9
Availability: Walgreens, CVS, Target

I have reviewed and swatched two other colors, Orange Tampo and Plum Adagio , you can view them HERE if you'd like.