Drugstore Beauty Finds

Is It Time to Get Fit? Maybelline Fit Me Foundation with SPF18

February 3rd, 2011 by Karen 56 Comments

When I think of a perfect fit, I picture J Brand skinny jeans or my yellow platform sandals; I don’t usually think of foundation.

But Maybelline hopes to change how we think of “perfect” this spring. Their new line of Fit Me foundations, concealers, powders, blushes and bronzes are designed to make finding your perfect shade that much easier to do.

Today I gave Fit Me Foundation ($8) a try — a liquid foundation designed to even skin tone without feeling heavy or looking like it’s caked on the skin.

After my date with the Fit Me Blushes yesterday afternoon, I thought the foundation would have that same casual makeup vibe.

For starters, it’s available in a whopping 18 shades with SPF 18, and the one I wore around the house today was 320 Honey Beige. The color’s not a great match for my skin tone, but it’s the closest of the ones I have right now.

Easy to blend, 320 covers most of the uneven patches and imperfections on my mug. I’d say the coverage is somewhere between sheer and medium, and it definitely doesn’t smooth as well as my current go-to foundation, Chanel Mat Lumiere.

I love how lightweight it feels, like I’m not wearing makeup at all. Maybelline also managed to keep the matte finish from looking flat.

Fit Me Foundations from the left with the flash: 110 Porcelain, 120 Classic Ivory, 320 Honey Beige and 355 Coconut

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How Well Will the New Maybelline Fit Me Blushes Fit You?

February 2nd, 2011 by Karen 48 Comments

Maybelline Fit Me Blush in Medium Nude on cheeks

Things that can be hard to find: four-leaf clovers, true love, Bigfoot and blushes that deliver a natural cheek flush. This spring Maybelline intends to make one of them easier to find with Fit Me, their new line of blushes, foundations, concealers, powders and bronzers designed to simplify the process of finding your perfect shade.

What is the Fit Me process?

It doesn’t sound too revolutionary to me, but the idea is that they organize the products from light to dark in the display. Each row represents one shade intensity, with the lightest shades on top (row 100) and the darkest shades on the bottom (row 300). Each row will have the full range of foundation, powder, concealer, blush and bronzer for each shade intensity.

To further streamline the process, the product names are short and sweet. For the blushes, for instance, instead of cutesy monikers, Maybelline went with simple, straight forward names like “Light Pink” and “Medium Mauve.”

This afternoon, I took a quick look at four of the 12 blushes ($5 each; available in 12 shades) in Deep Rose (a matte reddish rose), Medium Nude (a shimmery pink), Deep Nude (a light matte peachy pink) and Light Pink (a medium matte peachy pink).

maybelline fit me blush
First row: Deep Nude and Light Nude; second row: Medium Mauve and Medium Coral; third row: Deep Coral and Deep Rose

maybelline fit me blush
First row: Medium Nude and Light Rose; second row: Light Pink and Light Mauve; third row: Medium Pink and Deep Mauve

Maybelline Fit Me Blush Review
Fit Me Blushes clockwise from the dark pink pan on the lower left: Deep Rose, Medium Nude, Light Pink and Deep Nude
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What Are the Best Drugstores for Beauty Products?

February 1st, 2011 by Karen 41 Comments

What are the best drugstores for beauty products?

What a coincidence! Reader Aimee must have known I was planning a jaunt to Tar-ghay today. 🙂

Hi Karen!

I’m traveling to Miami in the US next month, and I’d like to hear about your favorite drugstores in the US…

Which of these are best for make up (price and variety): CVS, Target or Walgreens? Thanks!
–Aimee

Hi Aimee,

You’re a girl after my own heart. Whenever I travel, I always try to do a bit of beauty research beforehand, and I’m stoked about your enthusiasm for drugstore makeup. I’ve been a Rite Aid regular (aka a Walgreens wallflower) since as far back as I can remember. Drugstores are veritable cosmetics cornucopias!

I’ve shopped all three of the stores you mention — CVS, Target and Walgreens — and have generally had good experiences with each.

Target

I end up going to Target a lot because of 1) how close and 2) how big it is. In addition to carrying the big drugstore beauty lines (your Revlon, Cover Girl, L’Oreal, etc.), they also carry “higher end” drugstore brands, some of them exclusive to Target (at least in the US), like Sonia Kashuk, JK Jemma Kidd, NP Set and Boots.

Target also has testers, which makes swatching easy, but I’m not crazy about their makeup return policy. Most of the time products have to be new, unused and in their original packaging.

CVS

With more than 7,000 stores in 45 states, chances are there’s a CVS somewhere nearby. They have a great selection of drugstore brands and a fantastic product return policy. Truth be told, I’d shop at CVS more often if there wasn’t a Target so close. They accept returns on any opened or unopened beauty products and will refund the full purchase price, no questions asked. Just be sure to bring your receipt or invoice. Oh, and some CVS stores carry the awesome NYX line, which is one of my favorite drugstore brands for colorful eyeshadows and blushes.

Walgreens

No joke, but I used to haunt the Walgreens beauty department back when I worked in downtown San Francisco. Walgreens carries many of the same beauty lines that CVS and Rite Aid do at very nearly the same prices, but I don’t visit as often as I used to (there isn’t one close).
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The NYX 10 Color Palette in Bohemian Rhapsody Is Fit for a Queen

January 20th, 2011 by Karen 60 Comments

nyx bohemian rhapsody

Any way the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me…because the NYX 10 Color Palette in Bohemian Rhapsody makes everything better. It comes with 10 of the line’s most wearable neutrals in shades of silver, taupe, brown, beige, gray, peach and black, all for an easily digestible $11 (and they even included a case!).

NYX tends to get a little repetitive with their 10-Color Palettes. I say, NYX tends to get a little repetitive with their 10-Color Palettes, but a variety of matte and shimmery finishes keeps this Bohemian Rhapsody from singing the same song twice.

What’s my favorite way to wear it? I like to add one of the lighter mattes to my brow bone, sweep a slightly darker matte in the crease, pat one of the shimmers on the lid, and then define both my lash and water lines with the matte in black.

Each and every time I open this thing I want to break into song! — like I’m a long lost Von Trapp child (who happens to be brown). 🙂

nyx bohemian rhapsody

nyx bohemian rhapsody swatches with flash
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5 Fantastic Makeup and Beauty Products to Help with Oily Skin

January 13th, 2011 by Karen 34 Comments

Is your skin slicker than a used car salesman? Do your pores ooze oil all day and night? If you suffer from oily skin, you’re not the only one. I did for years (and still do at times).

Rule No. 1: Don’t despair. There’s hope. 🙂

“Hi, Karen. You’ve said before that you have oily skin, as do I, so I was wondering what you do (what products you use/have used) to combat it?

I have literally tried EVERYTHING, but my skin is still an oil slick!

HELP!”
— Ashley

Hi Ashley,

I feel your pain! I was constantly struggling with oily skin throughout my 20s. I know it’s all natural, but I’m still a little grossed out by it, that greasy feeling and the relentless shine. I remember back in college when I’d fall asleep in my books. I’d wake up, peel my face away and see oily patches on the page. Awesome!

Now that I’m in my 30s, my skin’s a combination of oily and dry. Some spots are dry, but others are oily, like my forehead and cheeks. I use (and love) several products to keep the oil slicks at bay.

1. Basis Cleaner Clean Face Wash, $5 for a 6.7-oz tube

This citrus-scented cleanser for normal-to-oily skin removes everything — oil, makeup, dirt, you name it. Yet it doesn’t feel harsh or leave my skin feeling tight or dry, thanks to botanicals like aloe vera, rosemary and spearmint. I loved it so much that I stockpile it when it’s sale. Plus, it’s only five bucks and carried in most drugstores.

2. DDF Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew, $38 for a 1.7-oz tube

Okay, it’s totally expensive, but DDF Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew is both oil- and fragrance-free, feels light as air, sinks into my skin quickly and packs just enough moisture for my skin. Even oily skin likes moisture, and a good moisturizer slows the evaporation of water from the skin (see: Moisturizer For Oily Skin). It also never, ever gives me breakouts.

3. Olay Facial Lotion Oil Free SPF 15, $12 for a 6-oz bottle

When I was in college I went through an awful bout of acne, and a dermatologist recommended Olay Facial Lotion Oil Free. I used it for years and still love it to this day. It feels light on my skin, can be worn beneath makeup and, like DDF Ultra-Light, doesn’t give me breakouts. I don’t use it anymore because I don’t think it’s moisturizing enough for my dry parts.

4. MAC Blot, $22 for a 0.42-oz compact

If MAC ever discontinued this oil-absorbing pressed powder I’d cry a thousand tears. It comes in five shades (Light, Medium, Medium Dark, Deep and Deep Dark) and works overtime to absorb oil, reduce shine and set makeup.
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Is the NYX Haute Model 10-Color Palette a Perfect 10?

January 13th, 2011 by Karen 45 Comments

nyx haute model

If NYX had their druthers, we’d all be shimmering like angelic fiends right about now. Their budget conscious 10-Color Palette in Haute Model ($11), one of four new palettes in the extensive 10-Color Palette line, houses a bevy of bestselling NYX shadows in dark green, blue, purple, gray and bronze, as well as two lighter pops of pink and teal.

The lighter shades seemed out of place to me at first, but I wouldn’t turn them away. Now I like the nice contrast they provide.

The shadows in this bargain beauty have a bold, hi-shine finish that demands attention, and every one, with the exception of the pink in the top row, apply with NYX’s signature buttery texture (the pink doesn’t feel as finely milled as the others to me).

nyx haute model

nyx haute model swatches with flash
Swatches of the top row on NC35 skin (with a flash)
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NYC New York Color Extreme Lip Glider Lip Gloss, I Question Your Taste

January 10th, 2011 by Karen 38 Comments

NYC New York Color Extreme Lip Glider Lip Gloss in Plaza Punch

Just another shiny drugstore gloss? Not hardly. These NYC New York Color Extreme Glider Lip Glosses feel way more expensive than they should for $3 each. Smooth, thin and slick on my lips, they could almost pass for melted butter if it wasn’t for one little thing…

Butter tastes good. 🙂

I’ve tried three of the 10 shades, and all of them taste and smell like a strong blend of children’s cough syrup and fruit punch concentrate; luckily, it dissipates after a few minutes of wear.

Coverage varies widely among the colors, with some of them, like Downtown Brown and Metro Mauve, applying so sheer that I can barely see any pigment on my lips, while others, like Plaza Punch, have plenty of pigment to spare.

The three I have contain glitter, which looks kinda chunky in the tube, so I expected them to feel gritty, but they don’t. In fact, they could probably pass for MAC LipgelÃ©es (LOVE) if not for the flavor and scent…

nyc new york color extreme lip glider lip gloss tubes

nyc new york color extreme lip glider lip gloss tubes-back

nyc new york color extreme lip glider lip gloss wands
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Be a Dear, Burt, and Thank Your Bees for Me: I Love Burt’s Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme

December 27th, 2010 by Karen 47 Comments

You remember Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, right? My cuticles fell madly in love, and because they loved it so much, I’ve been interested in trying more of Burt’s hand products.

I picked up their Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme ($9) the other day on a whim. I was at Target at the time, buying toilet paper because I can’t trust El Hub to do it anymore (he always gets the cheap stuff that feels like sandpaper), and spotted Burt’s familiar packaging.

This thick, moisturizing cream, which feels almost like a salve (read: REALLY thick, like cold butter), has been around for a while as part of Burt’s permanent collection. It’s made from all natural ingredients, stuff like sweet almond oil and aloe, and has a light almond fragrance that’s easy on my sensitive nose.

It takes a little longer to absorb than a your run-of-the-mill hand creams, but my paws just love this stuff to pieces. I can hear them let out a hearty “Ahhhh…” when I massage it in, LOL! Right after, the product appears to leave behind a slightly greasy residue, but it completely disappears within a few minutes.

I wash my hands often, especially during cold and flu season, and that does a number on my paws. Burt’s Almond Milk quenches their thirst and keeps them supple and soft.

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