Mascara Monday #6 : Cover Girl Full Lash Bloom

Soft touchable lashes have made their way to the market. When this gimmicky trend first appeared this past year, I thought: I'm not running a butterfly kisses booth; why do I care if my lashes are soft? Yet, somehow Cover Girl Full Lash Bloom  ended up in my make up collection. 

No stone left un-turned and all that right? 

Cover Girl Full lash Bloom mascara claims:

- to reach each and every lash

- offer buildable soft coverage

- to be flake free

- to love it the more you wear it

The packaging is cute, a voluptuous girly pink tube that coincides with the "blooming petal" theme.

 It comes in 3 shades very black, black, and dark brown. 

.44 Fl Oz of product (more than most high end mascaras)

The "petal" shaped brush was designed to reach every lash. It reminds me of a scaled down version of  They're Real mascara by Benefit. The mixture of shorter and longer silicone bristles help this mascara not only lengthen and separate but create volume as well. The small ball tip on the end (when cleaned off a bit) can really help coating the lashes on the inner most corner of your eyes. 

First Impressions:

First Coat

I was not pleased with the pigmentation of this mascara at all. It was later that I took a closer look and realized I picked up the regular black instead of very black. Pigmentation aside, true to its claims my lashes are very soft and weightless. 

Second Coat

Yikes. Clumping much? At least the pigmentation is better with 2 coats. First impression wise, I hated this mascara. I mean it looks bad! But of course Cover Girl promised I would like it more and more each time I used it. Honestly, I tried it again just to prove them wrong.

After a Few Uses:

After about the 3rd use, the mascara starts to dry and become more waxy and more manageable.

Pros:

Lengthens

Separates

Soft to touch

Volumizes

Less than $10 

.44 fl oz of product

doesn't flake

holds a curl

easy to remove

weightless feel

brush design

Cons:

Its needs to dry out a bit for best use

clumpy until it dries out a bit

Final Verdict:

 Are the Cover Girl Full lash Bloom mascara claims true?

- Reach each and every lash Yes

- Offer buildable soft coverage  Yes

- to be flake free Yes

- to love it the more you wear it  Yes

While this is not holy grail status, it is a great mascara for everyday use.

 I do like it more and more every day.

*****Update*****

After using this mascara for two more weeks,  it has dried up. Now it is clumpy and flaky upon application.  To salvage what is left of the mascara I run it under warm water and blot  the excess mascara off on a tissue.  This is inexpensive mascara, but at this rate a new one would need to be repurchased every month before it is no longer effective. The normal shelf life of a mascara is 3-6 months. Why bother purchasing this one, when you can spend your hard earned money on a much better performing high end mascara like Too Faced Better Than Sex which lasts for 6 months?

BREAK UP!

Cover FX Foundation Review

Twenty fourteen was a whirlwind of a year. I lost everything in an arson fire, and moved across country not once, but twice. Now that the dust has settled I am back with a foundation review on Cover FX Natural finish Oil Free liquid Foundation.

In P40

This water based hydrating foundation was created for dry to normal skin types. Cover FX claims the foundation is suitable for all day wear and is build able to full coverage. It is formulated  with vitamins C&E to reduce redness and inflammation  and with out parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, gluten, talc and sulfates 

BEFORE                                                               AFTER

For application I start with my fingers and then buff it in with a stippling brush. For the purpose of truly testing the foundation I did not use a primer or setting powder.

3 hours later

I love the finish, it is natural looking and while the redness in my skin has been subdued my skin still shows through. 

5 hours later

Some redness is starting to peak through and I am starting to look greasy, nothing a little powder touch up wouldn't fix. I want to note while this foundation was not formulated for oily skin types like myself it is holding up quite well.

8 hours later

My blush is still standing, but the foundation has become quite patchy and many of the blemishes that were concealed are out to say hello. If I had touched up at hour 5, the foundation would have held up better and for longer.

Pros:

build-able coverage

shade variety

easy to blend

feels light

natural finish

Not scented

Infused with vitamin C&E

gluten, mineral oil & paraben free

Cons:

becomes shiny towards the end of the day

coverage breaks apart with oils

not suitable for oily skin

MAKE UP...

with a good setting powder any way

Mascara Monday #5 Tarte Lights Camera Flashes review

Its that time again! Mascara Monday!

Tarte Lights, Camera, Flashes Statement mascara promises to do it all: curl, lengthen, and add volume to your lashes. I couldn't resist trying this bad boy.

The gold packaging is striking and feels more luxurious in hand than plastic tube mascaras. 

The packaging in not this mascara's only unique feature. 

This mascara debuts a plastic duel bristled wand and a two step application technique, similar (but better than) the CK One mascara I review earlier this year.

 Step 1: Apply mascara using shorter bristles. This step adds volume.

Step 2: Lengthen your lashes using the longer, stiffer bristles.

1st coat using both steps

Look at that curl! No lash curler used, just this mascara!

2nd coat using both steps

I'm quite satisfied with the result, this mascara does everything it claims and doesn't smudge or flake off during the day. It creates and holds a curl and is easy to get off at the end of the night!

PROS:

Lengthening

curls

volumizes 

doesn't flake 

doesn't smudge

duel bristles wand

pigmentation

no clumping

packaging

CONS:

plastic bristle wand takes some getting used to 

LOVE!