Loose Powder

Yeah, I’m still on the hunt for a mascara I like that adds length and volume to my lashes! If that wasn’t enough, I’m also looking for something with fewer chemicals so when I saw this NatureLuxe Mascara, I had to give it a try!

CoverGirl describes this as a mousse mascara and says they have exchanged traditional synthetic polymers for natural beeswax to give your lashes volume. This mascara is also meant to be removed easily with soap and water.

Like some mascaras, this one is packaged with the product in a capped tube and the brush next to it so you can see what the brush looks like. I’m a fan of these fine bristled plastic-y brushes as they seem to work best with my lashes.

I applied this mascara to lashes that I curled with my heated eyelash curler. It was pretty easy to apply but was a little messy – the formula was wet, but not runny. It does add volume, but some of it is just from sticking the lashes together. I don’t think I got any noticeable length and the result is a little… chunky. At the end of the day, I had some flaking which wasn’t terrible, but was annoying.

Here are some before and after photos:

The heaviness of the formula (probably from the beeswax) weighs down the curl a little bit, but doesn’t totally flatten my eyelashes to their usual straight down position.

It’s an okay mascara, but I don’t love it. I’ve used it a few more times since originally trying it with similar results, though the third time the formula had dried a little and was a little less goopy to work with but still wasn’t anything that impressed me.

Please keep in mind that mascaras work differently on different people. What doesn’t work for me might work great for you!

NatureLuxe Mascara is available wherever you find CoverGirl products. Price will vary, but I paid $7.99 for this at Target.

Lipsticks have never been my favorite sort of lip product. They never last, the color transfers everywhere, and I find they usually dry out my lips.

Covergirl has new lip color line out called LipPerfection, boasting long lasting color with a moisturizing formula that will supposedly smooth and soften lips in 7 days. Well, that is a big claim for a drugstore product.

Here are the ingredients. Half of them are “natural” and the rest are chemicals and parabens, which I wish they could get rid of in lip color.

Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Isopropyl Isostearate, Ethylhexyl Hydroxystearate, Acetylated Lanolin, Ozokerite, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax / Cire De Candelilla, Paraffin, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax / Cire De Carnauba, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetyl Lactate, Fragrance / Parfum, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Silk Powder / Poudre De Soie, Maltodextrin, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Propylparaben, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Retinyl Palmitate, Mica. May Contain/Peut Contenir: Orange 5, Iron Oxides, Lauroyl Lysine, Titanium Dioxide, Red 27, Blue 1 Lake, Red 6 Lake, Red 7 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Carmine

Walgreens was running a buy one get on 50% off, so I picked up a few colors to try. I like the design of the tubes and that you can see the color in a swatch at the end of it. I also think the color at the end of it pretty close to the color of the actual lipstick.

There are over 40 shades for you to choose from, so there is probably something there for everyone! Honestly, I stood looking at the display for quite awhile trying to decide what colors i wanted to start with. Ultimately, I went with two neutrals (Delish & Captivate) and two bolder colors (Fairytale & Rapture).

From left to right, the swatches are Delish, Captivate, Fairytale, and Rapture. I like Delish, but find it a little pale on the lips. Captive is a nice brown which I wear often. Fairytale is a bright pink, almost fuchsia. Rapture is a light coral with a bit of frost.

Captivate and Delish I can apply directly from the tube, but Fairytale and Rapture were very bold and I ended up using a lip brush to control the application of color. If I’m in a hurry, I dab a bit on my lips and then spread it with my finger. I get a nice wash of color that way without it looking too much like clown makeup on me. I did find that the colors feathered a bit, so you’ll want to use some kind of anti-feathering lip liner.

As far as staying power, there is the typical transfer on to drink ware and if you touch you lips, but there is definitely a staining aspect with this lipstick, particularly with Fairytale and Rapture. Even after the lipstick has been wiped off, there is still pigmentation on my lips and I required makeup remover to get most of it off.

Now for the moisturizing claims. After about two weeks of use, I can say that LipPerfection didn’t drastically improve the condition of my lips, but for once a lipstick didn’t dry out my lips. I had the color on for hours and wasn’t searching for a balm or a gloss.

Overall, I like the product and would buy a few other colors to try, probably some other neutrals or brown.

Covergirl LipPerfection retails for about $7.99 and are available at Walgreens, Walmart, Target, CVS, and anywhere you can find other Covergirl products.

This mascara does exactly what it says it does. It volumes, lengthens, and separates my lashes. It also keeps my lashes curled all day. The brush is not as narrow as the LashBlast Length, but neither is it as big as the LashBlast Luxe. It’s kind of in between in size.

The packaging says that the brush head is a “flexible brush”, but it does not feel flimsy or give when I apply the brush to my lashes.

I like what this mascara does. It gives me everything I am looking for in mascara. However, its waterproof ability, like all Covergirl mascaras I’ve tried, has been disappointing. After several hours I have major smudges under my eyes. Though this formula gives great volume to my lashes, it can also clump, so proceed with caution.

My biggest problem with this mascara is that it is very hard to clean off. This mascara formula really clings to your lashes, but I guess that’s how it gives my lashes volume, but I really don’t like wearing a coat of mascara to sleep after spending ten minutes scrubbing my eyes with remover.

I’m always in search of a good lip balm. Unfortunately, a lot of them end up being duds because they either don’t actually moisturize or work for a little while then make my lips peel. Awful!

When I read some reviews of Covergirl’s new NatureLuxe gloss balms, I decided to try them out. The new NatureLuxe line boasts natural ingredients and the SPF 15 gloss balms are, “fortified with mango and shea butter, this feel-good formula leaves your lips feeling decadent and delicious.”

The two colors I picked up first are Hibiscus (215) and Anemone (225). Both of these glosses are rather sheer, but still tinted enough to leave a subtle wash of color. I’ve been using them for about two weeks and they haven’t dried out my lips. I do have to reapply more often than some of my other glosses, but it isn’t too much of a bother.

Photos and swatch of  Hibiscus:

Photos and swatch of Anemone:

Covergirl NatureLuxe gloss balms can be purchased anywhere you can find Covergirl products (drug stores, Target, Walmart, etc) and average $7each.

Since I loved the LashBlast Luxe mascara, but I was disappointed that it was not waterproof, I decided to try the LashBlast Volume since it has the exact same brush as the Luxe.

Lashblast Volume works exactly like the Luxe since it has the same short thick prickly brush.  It defines my lashes, gives it volume, length, and separates. After seeing these results, I thought I had found the perfect waterproof mascara, but to my dismay, this “waterproof” mascara causes me to have raccoon eyes after couple hours of wear. Let’s not even get into how my eyes look after working out for an hour.

The ironic part is that the Lashblast Luxe leaves me with a less noticeable raccoon eyes than the LashBlast Volume. I find that whatever Covergirl uses on their “waterproof” mascaras seem to be less waterproof than their regular non-waterproof formulas.

The waterproof formula was the only reason I purchased this mascara, and since it didn’t work for me, I won’t be buying this again.

So far I’ve been rather impressed with the LashBlast collection of mascara. The LashBlast Length has a straight narrow and longer brush than the other LashBlast mascaras, and the prickly bristle brush style is great at separating my lashes. I find that I prefer these prickly brushes over the traditional pipe cleaner type brushes.

This mascara also does what it advertises. Its Flexi-Nylon™ formula definitely lengthens my lashes. However, this mascara does not give much volume, but it is marketed for “extreme length” and not volume. Also because of the narrow style of the brush, I’ve even ventured to coat my lower lashes and edges, which I usually don’t do since I’m afraid of poking my eyes out or accidently smearing mascara under my eyes.

The waterproof formula on this is also amazing. I’ve gone hiking and snowboarding with this mascara on, and by the end of a long sweaty day, there was no flaking or raccoon eyes smudges. Despite it being waterproof mascara, this mascara is very easy to clean off, which is also a very good thing.

I love this mascara because it lengthens and it is great if you are just looking for something that lengthens and defines your eyes, but still want a natural look.

Also I found that if  used both the LashBlast Length and LashBlast Luxe, I would get the perfect lashes that I’ve been looking for. However, the search for one mascara that does the work of both of these mascara is still ongoing.

I bought this mascara on a whim because it was on sale and it had shimmers mixed into the formula, and if you’ve read enough of my reviews, you’d know I’m a sucker for shimmers. The brush for this Lashblast Luxe is quite thick and big and it can take some getting used to. However, I love the brush. I find that its bigger brush design manages to get all of my lashes. Also this brush design does not remind me of a pipe cleaner. I also like how the bristles are orange, so I can tell that the mascara is actually going onto my lashes and not just clinging to the brush.

The reason I love this mascara is because it definitely gives volume and it lengthens my lashes as well as separates. Unfortunately, you can’t see the shimmers when applied. However, you can see a bit of the shimmers in the formula in the picture above. But since this mascara does almost everything I want in mascara, the shimmers aren’t important to me.

The only negative I can find with this mascara is that it is not waterproof, so by the end of the day I will have minor smudging under my eyes, but on a positive note, it does not flake. Despite it not being waterproof, I will continue using this mascara.

There are four different shades for the LashBlast Luxe Black Platinum, Black Cabernet (black red), Black Royal (black blue), and Black Emerald (black green).

Covergirl was the first brand of makeup I ever tried, so naturally when I decided to experiment with makeup again, I decided to go with Covergirl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner for eyeliner. I selected Perfect Point Plus because it is a pencil eyeliner that does not require a sharpener. Instead to sharpen the tip you just need to twist the pencil and the tip extends. So no more pencil sharpeners or pencil shavings littering your floor, and lastly, no more nicely sharpened pencil points breaking as you carefully pull the pencil out of the sharpener. Additionally, the other end of the pencil is a small smudging sponge to help you with your smoky eyes look or a softer line. There are quite a few colors to choose from in this collection: Black Oynx, Charcoal, Espresso, Chestnut, Gray Khaki, Midnight Blue, Plum Velvet, and Starlightening (white).

Twist and the tip "sharpens"

The idea of a self sharpening eyeliner pencil is great until it stops working. This happened after a couple usages from my Charcoal colored pencil. I could twist the pencil all day and make clicking noises with each twist, but nothing more would come out of the pencil which was very disappointing when the pencil was still virtually brand new.

Other end is a smudging sponge

Aside from the good idea and poor execution, the pencil goes on very smooth and doesn’t require too much pressure to get the desired color. This eyeliner is not water resistant, so I didn’t expect it to survive my workouts, and it usually stays on for the whole day if I apply a sort of primer on my eyelids first. If I don’t use a primer, the liner will smear or crease and it will not last all day either. Also by the end of the day, I usually have a thin line at the bottom of my eyes. At first I thought it was my mascara, but one day I did not put on any mascara and discovered that my mild raccoon eyes were a result of my eyeliner.

So I’ve concluded that this eyeliner is good for the smudged look since there is a smudging sponge provided though I hardly use the sponge. The few times I have used the sponge, I thought it made more of a mess instead of smudging the eyeliner to my liking.

I don’t really recommend this eyeliner, but if you’re on a tight budget and don’t want water resistant eyeliner, Perfect Point Plus might work for you. But the self sharpening convenience can only give this eyeliner so many points before it starts to disappoint.