Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Nivea Post Shave Balm as Primer?


Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! So Youtube's NikkieTutorials has introduced us all to this product for men, that women can actually use as well. I haven't found an affordable primer that I have really loved with all my heart. Maybe with 2016 just around the corner the Drugstore will release a wider variety of face primers. 

When it comes to face primers, I wish for it to make my skin feel hydrating and smooth, and most importantly, secure that my make up lasts long. I purchased my Nivea Post Shave Balm from Target. It was affordable at $5.59 plus tax. I bought this right before I went out of town to Georgia, and I was then breaking out. I was not too sure if my breakouts were caused from this shaving balm, so I stopped using it until my face cleared up. Eventually, I figured out that it must have been the traveling, and I was not taking care of my face as much as I do when I'm at home. I began giving this another try when I got back from traveling and I really liked it. It made my skin feel very smooth and it kind of hydrates the skin a little. My make up definitely stayed on my face for a long time. When you first apply it on the face it feels super liquidy, but as it dries, it gives the skin a tacky feel. When the skin feels tacky, that is when you know the primer is dry and ready for your make up application. Clearly, the tackiness is a clue to how well this product locks in your makeup. Another thing, this post shave balm has glycerine and with that being said, Glycerine is one of the main ingredients in many other primers. Not only primers, but setting sprays have them as well. One time, I created my own setting spray using just glycerine and water in a small spray bottle. Overall, I think this primer is a great cheap alternative, although it does not target specifics like pore minimizing or any sort of blurring effect. I will say that it does what a primer should and smoothes the skin to create a perfect canvas for make up and it allows the make up to endure thats day's activities.

Besides this new find, I wanted to share with y'all my new favorite moisturizer. My skin is super sensitive and nonetheless extremely dry during the winter time. I was desperate in search for something that could keep my skin feeling soft and hydrated. Recently, I've been trying to take better care of my skin and I've been drinking more water. It's really sad that I was not drinking enough before, and it's almost embarrassing, but really i can not stress enough how important it is to drink loads of water. It really does you wonders. My face has cleared up so much! Also, i do recommend masks and no make up days. Skin needs breaks too, not just us in general. So yeah, anyway, I bought this moisturizer from the Simple line and it treats my skin nice. Does not irritate it and leaves my skin feeling nice and plump, like baby skin. It's designed for sensitive skin as it says on the bottle. Sensitive Skin Experts Replenishing rich moisturizer by Simple has no harsh chemicals and is fragrance free. It also claims to last for 12 hours, and I've never tested that, but it does keep my skin hydrated for a long time. I just like to reapply often because my skin is so dry.


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

New Maybelline Fit Me Matte & Poreless Foundation Review

A brand new drugstore foundation has hit some of the stores,  and there are already plenty of reviews of it on Youtube. Drugstore foundations are incredible especially since they are more affordable and now there are so many different kinds to choose from. I love them and this is why I wanted to try this new foundation out myself. I am talking about the new Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation by Maybelline. Yes, Maybelline already has a Fit Me foundation, which I have tried and I will talk a little more about my experience with the old formulation in a bit. The Matte and Poreless foundation's packaging looks the same as the original one, the only difference is the color of the Fit Me text is of a teal- blue color. I will have pictures in this post to compare the differences. Anyway, the original Fit Me foundation is still available for those people who actually liked it. Personally, the original made me look like a grease ball and my skin is pretty normal to dry skin. I did not like it whatsoever but I tried it a thousand times to make sure my feelings towards it was final. When I heard they came out with this new Fit Me foundation that claimed to leave the face matte and poreless, I immediately had to get it! I prefer matte finishes anyway and I don't know anyone who does not want to look poreless! The price is way cheap, I got mine from Walmart and I paid only $5.94 for mine!

I have been wearing this new foundation for a couple of days now, and honestly I love it!! It may even be one of my newest holy grail products. My former foundation was by L'Oreal and it was the True Match foundation and every now and then I would also use my Revlon Colorstay. Those are brilliant foundations still, but for now I will keep using this matte and poreless foundation and figure out if it will be one that I will be re-purchasing again since it will be a permanent drugstore foundation as well.

Here are the claims of the new Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation:
  • Mattifies and refines pores
  • Matches natural tone of skin
  • Leaves a natural, seamless finish

My shade in this foundation is in 310 Sun Beige and it matches my skin tone perfectly. I am absolutely in love with the finish and I will agree with it's claim. When you wear this foundation, your skin looks like skin and it's very natural! My skin is normal to dry, but it is not extremely dry. I only get oily in my t-zone area through out the day, but nothing major. If you have similar skin as me, I highly recommend this foundation because with it, powder could easily be taken out of the equation! This foundation drys and sets pretty quickly, so if you take your time applying base, I suggest you start on one side first! The coverage for this foundation however, is a light to medium coverage. I do not feel like you can build this up too much because it is meant for a more natural finish. It may cling to any dry patches and definitely requires you to exfoliate before. Honestly, I have no problem with it because I do not have any dry patches and I do not have major problem areas to cover. I do not know if it is because of my skin care routine, but I am thankful for my skin. I feel like this foundation is a great every day sort of foundation, but only if you want a light weight kind of foundation that does not cover as much as the Revlon Colorstay would. This foundation feels extremely light on the skin and when it sets, it does not feel sticky at all! I highly recommend to use a primer though, because it just looks better and I always have to wear a primer anyway! 

This foundation also came out with the matching powder. I did not purchase it or felt the need to just because I felt like I could use any powder I already had. If you have more normal to oily skin though, I would recommend you to buy the powder and the foundation together for better results. The staying power is not phenomenal, but I do not wear make up for more than 8 hours. It lasts for a good 6 hours, and that's only when my face starts to become more shiny. I do not have a problem with touching up with a little powder, so it's no big deal! In the end, this foundation is beautiful and I highly recommend it to people with oily and normal skin. If you have extremely dry skin, I don't think this may work for you.

Now that I have raved about this product so much, I want to talk about the color selection that is available. The original Fit Me foundation came out with 18 shades and this new one only has 12. That is a con for those of you who have a darker complexion. Another con for this is the no pump deal, but to fix that, you can purchase a Mac pump because it fits perfectly.

For all of you interested in the differences between the original Fit Me foundation and the new Matte + Poreless formula, here are the comparisons.

Original Fit Me Foundation:
  • More Dewey skin finish
  • Wider color selection (18)
  • Foundation consistency is more liquid-y
  • Comes with SPF 18
Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation:
  • Matte skin finish
  • Color selection is smaller (12)
  • Foundation consistency is liquid-y but slightly creamier
  • Comes with NO SPF