Beauty Product Showdown Thursday- Blush

Happy Thursday all! Can you believe the weekend is almost here! I can't wait!!! Today's beauty product showdown and I thought it would be good to compare a drug store beauty brand vs a more expensive designer brand in Blush Showdown!

So let's get started!

The contender is the Stick Blush ($6) by NYX Cosmetics

vs.....

Make Up For Ever's HD Blush in #6 ($26)

The HD blush comes in a lotion like bottle and the NYX blush comes in a stick (apologies this picture has them reversed)

To use the NYX stick blush you simply draw a line across your cheek bone and then blend it in. It has good pigmentation and you can either add more color to it or blend it in more to make it lighter. But, while the color is great at first by the end of the day you don't have much left.

For the HD Blush, you squeeze a button size amount onto your arm and I like to make little dots across my face. The texture is super creamy so its really easy to blend. Do NOT add alot because this blush is extremely pigmented!!! A little goes a long way for this! You def get really good coverage as well.

After testing and comparing this products for over a week hands down

the winner is..

Make Up For Ever HD Blush

Although the NYX is more affordable I would def splurge to get the HD cream bc it has amazing pigmentation, lasts for a long time and overall I love the consistency of it! My sister even tried it out the other day when I was home and raved about it! You know she wished I would ACCIDENTLY have left it there when I left! I really wanted to like the NYX bc its a really cool package and convenient but I just didn't like that longeivity of the product. But def if your on a budget just re-touch it up often!

http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/p-146-stick-blush.aspx

http://www.makeupforever.com/products/hd-blush.html

**Disclaimer-These products were purchased by me**

Beauty Product Showdown Thursday-Face

Hey all! I know I missed out on last weeks Beauty Product showdown! I think I will have it every other week as its really hard to compare two products in a week.

This weeks Beauty Product Showdown theme is Face in and particular BB Cream!

Been trying to find a good BB cream? Well today I compare two popular Drug store brands!

So let's get started


This weeks showdown features BB cream by Maybelline ($6-7)

And Loreal BB Cream ($10.95)

Serving as an 8:1 skin protector the BB Cream by Maybelline aims to blur inperfections, brighten and evens skin tone, hydrates, enhances, smoothes, has SPF 30 protection and has 0% oils and heavy ingredients. The color I got here is medium sheer. It is extremely light, does not oily my face and most importantly does not break me out! I apply it before foundation and love the coverage it gives.

Note the moisturizing effect it has on my skin. It blends very well but I wanted to show you how it looks on my skin tone so I did not completely blend it well in this photo.

The Loreal BB Cream on the other hand has only 4 tasks to hydrate, prime, perfect and correct. As you can see here it is a white color with little beads in it that will tranform to meet your shade. This is the Light shade.

When blended in you can see its def moisturizes less than Maybelline. And I used this quite a few times and felt like after I applied my foundation my face looked more cakey than usual. I thought maybe I put too much concealer over the BB cream to cover up my pores on my nose but I seen I got this look everytime.

Overall, if I had to chose a winner hands down it would be Maybelline BB Cream. Love how light it is on the face, how it moisturizes my skin, and most importantly I don't break out when I use it! Oh and offers more benefits for the skin (8) as opposed to the Loreal BB Cream (4). Plus its a lot cheaper than Loreal! Before I tried these products I had heard that Maybelline was everyone's favorite and now I see why!

The winner of the Beauty Product Showdown is....

Maybelline BB Cream!!


http://www.maybelline.com/Products/Face-Makeup/BB-Cream/Dream-Fresh-BB.aspx

http://www.lorealparisusa.com/en/Products/Makeup/Face/BB-Cream/Magic-Skin-Beautifier-BB-Cream.aspx?shade=Fair

**disclaimer-I purchased these products**

Beauty Product Showdown-Makeup Remover

Since I was out of town last Thursday I wasn't able to do a Beauty Product Showdown piece. But I am back and today I decided to do a theme I haven't done before, Makeup Remover. I used to use Macs Makeup removing wipes but geez there expensive on a college student budget so I decided to see which drug store make-up is better at removing my eye makeup in particular-I usually wear mascara and bottom eyeliner.

So let's see who is battling in this weeks Beauty Product Showdown!

We have Clean & Clear Facial Cleansing Wipes (~$7.99)



vs. Almay's Oil-free makeup remover pads. (15 ct-$1.14)

The Clean & Clear wipes are pretty big! Like the size of a baby wipe.

I swiped the wipe across my eye twice in two areas to see how it removed my eye makeup plus over my upper lip. As you can see it took off a lot of my makeup. The wipe has a nice light smell to it and doesn't leave your eyelid oily or sticky at all. Honestly I use half the wipe on my eye and the other half removes all my face makeup.

 
The almay pad is really small. Like you have to use one side for one eye and the other for the other eye

Just like the Clean & Clear wipe I did two swipes on one eye and removed my lipstick on my bottom lip. Although this is oil-free I did notice my eyelids were really sticky and shiny after I used this pad. It also has a nice light smell to it though.


Here are my eyes after two swipes of each wipe. The left side was used with the Almay wipe. As you can see there is still mascara on my upper lid and it smeared some of the liner to my lower eyelid. On the otherhand, the Clean & Clear wipe took alot more of the mascara off and my bottom eye lid looks better than the one I used with Almay.

Overall. if it came down to it and Almay vs Clean & Clear went into the ring for a beauty product showdown Clean & Clear would win hands down! Not only did they remove makeup better but they didn't leave my eyelids sticky and weird after! For all you college students I suggest to just stock up when the drug stores have the B1g1 50% off sale to score good deals on them! Till then I am def sticking with Clean & Clear

Where to find- Any drug stores-CVS, Walgreens, Walmart or Target
http://www.cleanandclear.com/products/facial-cleansers/makeup-dissolving-facial-cleansing-wipes

http://www.almay.com/en/products/makeup-removers/eye-makeup-remover/oil-free-eye-makeup-remover-pads.aspx

Beauty Product Showdown Thursday

It is Beauty Product Showdown Thursday! This week I decided to do a lip theme! So without further adieu let's get this started!

Today's Beauty Battle is Tarte Lip Stain vs. Urban Decay's High Gloss Lip Color

Which one do you think will win the Beauty Product showdown?

Let's find out!

I normally have only 1 of each product with beauty product showdowns but since I have 3 of the tarte's I figured I could swatch them all here too. These lips stains are supposed to go on like a lip gloss but stay on like a stain.

The colors I got here were Enchanted, Charmed and Joy

Enchanted is a darker pink, Charmed is a rosy pink and Joy is a light orange-pink color. All look really shiny and wet as in good moisturizing.

Enchanted you can see a slight pink color but for some reason it wasn't going on my inner lip area. Weird!

Charmed added a little soft pink to my lips but nothing crazy

And finally Joy really didn't add anything to my lips except shine.

Our contender is the Urban Decay Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color.

For this review I only have Crush but I do have one other lip color I got in the Theodora palette here.

I accidently hit the lip color by accident which is why it looks ugly. =(.

As you can see crush is a bright pink color that is also really shiny.

They weren't lying this product is super pigmented! Amazing and like I said the one in the Theodora palette is just as pigmented! Amazing!

So I'm pretty sure you know who the winner is for the Beauty Product Showdown Thursday this week.

Hands down its..........

Urban Decay's Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color!!!! They are pigmented well, have amazing shine and last for a long time!! Def going to have to get more. Plus there cheaper!

Now I wish I could find a good deal to get some more!!!!!

Do you have two products you want to see in a future Beauty Product Showdown series? Comment below!

Want to check out either product?

Check out the links to each product below!

Lipsurgence Natural Lip Tint ($ 24)

Super-saturated Lip Gloss ($19)

**disclaimer-these products were purchased by me**

Beauty Product Showdown Urban Decay vs. Benefit Cosmetics

You know what time it is??

It's Beauty Product Showdown time where I try two products to see which one would win in a face-off beauty style!

For this weeks showdown I decided to do the blush theme again but this time look at two different brand's products that are very similar to see which is better!

You guys ready to rumble??

I know I am...Let's go!

The contender of the  beauty product showdown in the coral trunks is the Benefit Fine one-one a sheer brightener for cheeks and lips

On the other side of our ring, in the brown trunks is Urban Decays Naked Flushed Palette.

Fine one-one is meant to give your cheeks an instant lift, shape and pop, Fine one-one uses pink champagne as a highlighter, sheer watermelon as a blush color and soft coral as a bronzer

It's extremely easy to use, all you do is rotate the stick up kind of like a deodorant a little bit and starting with the inner cheek bones I swipe the stick outward towards my ears.

Here you can see the highlighter at top (very light), the blush and the coral color. Then using a upward circular motion I gently blend in each color individually first from the inner cheeks to my temple. Once I do that I blend the three layers as well to get a nice cool blush.

The Naked Flushed Palette consists of a silky bronzer, highlighter and blush. As you can see it is extremely similar to the the Fine one-one stick. I did the exact same thing with this one except I had to apply each seperately. I started off with the bronzer on my lower cheek bone area and applied a layer on my cheeks. Next I followed in the middle with the blush. At the very top of my cheeks I added the highlighter on. I started in the center of my face and did an upward circular motion towards my temple.

For the life in me I could not get the bronzer to swatch on my skin well. I also couldn't see it well on my skin tone (I am brown skin toned). The blush is extremely pigmented so just tap off the excess blush if you want more of a lighter pink color. The highlight was like a light pink shimmery color. Very pretty as well!



When comparing the two wearing Benefit one day and Urban Decay the other. If the two were in a boxing match no doubt in my mind

the winner would be...


Benefits Fine one-one. A big determining point was the bronzer. It just wasn't showing up good on my skin tone despite trying to put lots of layers. I also just love how the product is a stick very unique. I like the colors better on here and how they have a hint of shimmer to them! I don't need to carry any makeup brushes with me I was able to achieve the look with my finger. Both products are the same price so that was def not a determining factor to me I simply choose the winner based on overall results.

Sorry Urban decay =( The highlighter was nice and the blush was really pigmented but that bronzer is very chalky and just not well pigmented at all.

Which one do you like better?
Price: $30.00
Purchase online

Benefit Cosmetics
Urban Decay

or any Ulta, Sephora or beauty store that sells it

**disclaimer-both products were purchased by me**

Beauty Product Showdown- Gel Eye Liner

Today's Beauty Product showdown is looking at two different gel eye liners.


I wanted to compare a drug store brand ($6.94) vs. a designer brand ($20) to see which gel liner was better in my eyes. So let the battle begin!

Our challenger is Maybelline Eye Studio which is smudge proof and waterproof. It has an oil-free formula and gives a high concentrated pigment that can be applied using an angled brush.

Our defending champion or at least what I heard about is Stila Smudge pot. It can be used as eyeliner or to achieve the smokey look. When used with an angled brush, the gel which is soft and pliable will come off with perfection to achieve your desired look.

In a smaller container, the Maybelline Eye Studio for me felt more softer and pliable when I got my angled brush and just swiped it along the top.

When I used the Stila Smoked pot which was bigger, I found the liner wasn't quite as smooth as the Maybelline one.

I swiped the brush 3 times with each liner and drew an S for Stila and M for Maybelline. Comparing the two you see the Stila liner didn't come off as uniform nor pigmented as the Maybelline. I found myself having to keep applying a few layers to get my desired look with the Stila one than I did with Maybelline which was darker and evener when drawing my letter M.


I also did one swipe across each liner. Again, you can see the difference in how each liner gives in pigmentation.


With regards to longevity, both liners lasted all day. Neither really came off until I removed them with a makeup remover.

So based on my careful review of each gel eye liner the winner hands down is......

Maybelline Eye Studio

Even though it came in a smaller container, I felt it was easier to apply, the pigmentation was much more darker and its more affordable. Even though the bottle is alot smaller when you look at the prices if you were to buy 3 of the Maybelline liners it would be equivalent to the size of the Stila Smudge pot.


Drug Store brands =1
Designer Brands = 0

Want to check out either liner featured in today's review. Check out Maybelline's Eye Studio liner
Here or Stila's Smudge Pot Here


What types of products would you like to see in a future Beauty Product Showdown post? Please leave a comment below

**Disclaimer-all products were purchased by me and this review is based solely on my opinions of each products**

Beauty Product Showdown- Urban Decay Primer-Original vs.Greed

I love Urban Decay primer. I won't wear any eyeshadow without it but when I saw a couple diff types of colors I thought it would be great to do a comparison to see whats the big difference between them-color? longevity? what it gives to look?

What a great day to start the beauty product showdown then a match between Urban Decay Greed vs. the Original Primer potion.

 

Here is a screen shot of the two bottles so you know exactly which one's I am talking about.

I grabbed a custom palette I created with some old Mac/Coastal Scent colors. Sorry I don't know there names anymore. I wanted to do a variety of different colors to see what each primer gave to overall look with diff color shadows.

 

First thing I did was a swatch of the primer itself. To the left is the Original primer that turns nude upon drying. To the right is Greed which you can see right away gives a frosty/shimmery/gold look.

All swatches will be left (original primer) and right (Greed primer)

The first color I tried with each primer is a smokey black color that normally has a hint of silver glitter to it. As you can see on the left you can see what the shadow looks like with a nude primer. When used with Greed you can see it adds a gold shimmery look to the shadow but at the same time the black isn't as pigmented as it originally is. I know this is a Mac shadow.

Next I took a shimmery grey color. when used with the original primer you see the matte color however, when used with Greed you see this really nice Grey/gold color. Looks pretty good! This was a mac shadow.

Next I grabbed a matte purple color that is brought out more with the Greed primer. Love the gold shimmery it adds! This shadow is one from Coastal Scents.

A bright pink color looks great with the original primer and I didn't see too much of a difference in the Greed primer except the hint of shimmer. This shadow is a Coastal scents one.

Def had to see what a brown looked like since both of these primers are a type of brown color. This is def a Mac shadow and I believe its called Amber lights. With the original primer we see a metallic brown color but when Greed is used you see it more of a gorgeous golden brown. It looked really well. (not in the palette pictured)

Finally I took a green metallic color from Mac. With the original primer you can see how metallic it looks and when used with Greed you can see a hint of gold to it but not too much of a difference.

Overall, I think Greed is a perfect primer for eyeshadows you want to add a golden shimmery too like golden brown, matte purple or grey as it brought out the colors more. I would suggest testing out the shadow with your primer to see if that's the look your going for. I thought there wasn't going to be too much of a difference between the two but there def is! As far as longevity the two are the same. The difference is what it adds to your shadow. If you want to keep your shadow true to the color use the original primer but if you want to add a gold shimmer to it use Greed! 

In the end, I am going to have to vote this as a TIE as it depends on the color you use!

Want to purchase either of these primers? Visit Urban Decay

**These products were purchased by me**

Which primer wins in your book?