Product Post: CoverGirl Triple Auqastay Mascara

This is my main mascara right now so I thought I'd share it!

I'm really liking the brown mascaras and although this is technically soft black it looks brown to me! The softer blacks/browns still give the length and darken things up but they just make the look less harsh. I'm really enjoying the softer looks apparently!

The Triple Aquastay Mascara has a really nice texture and although I still find myself wiping some off of the wand onto the rim of the bottle before applying, it doesn't clump or smear or go on too thick. It stays put all day, and even at night when my eyes are watering more it doesn't run down my face. 

Swatch of CoverGirl Triple Aquastay Mascara in Soft Black

Products Post: Rimmel Foundation and Concealer

I use my Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation every day and I like it a lot. I have mixed type skin and it just seems to go on nicely everywhere. It's good on its own but a lot of the time I find my self mixing in a bit of my Rimmel Clean Finish Matte foundation to give it a bit more coverage. I use about a 2:1 ratio of WMU to CFM.

I find it hard to use the Clean Finish Matte on its own. Even with primer my pores show up under it and it's just a bit too much on the cakey side. As you can see in the pictures, it's hard to blend in nicely. Again, mixing a bit of this in with the Wake Me Up is perfect!

I have the WMU in 103 True Ivory and the CFM in 240 Soft Beige.

Sometimes I'll use the Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer (in 230 Very fair/light) over top to cover spots. I find this concealer's real strength is in being an under eye concealer instead of a spot concealer. It takes me quite a few coats to cover major spots, though minor ones are just fine. It blends really nicely, and of course it works better if I leave a dab of it on the spot before I blend it in.

Swatches left to right: Wake Me Up foundation,
Clean Finish Matte foundation, Wake Me Up Concealer

Swatches blended into skin

Products Post: Clean & Clear

Recently I've been trying out a couple of Clean & Clear products and thought I would share my thoughts. 

The first is the pore perfecting cleanser:

It has a bit of a perfume scent to it and for a cleanser it has the texture of a moisturizer - silky and smooth. But it does leave my face clean. I've been using it in the morning and before bed for about a month now. As I said it does work well as a cleanser, but I haven't noticed a huge amount of difference in my pores and I'm still breaking out. And it takes quite a rinse to remove all the product. So good, but not great. 

The second is the deep cleaning astringent for sensitive skin:

I've been using it morning and night for about two weeks now. It goes on nicely and it has a bit of a medical smell. It says it's an astringent (treats and prevents pimples) as well as a toner. It says it's step two in the Clean & Clear step method. You put it on after you wash your face, up to three times a day. It leaves my face a bit dry so I sometimes put on another moisturizing toner on after. Although I haven't seen a huge difference in my face, my neck and chest have cleared up quite a bit. So I'm going to continue to use it and see what happens. 

Hair!

I've recently started a new hair routine. My hair is thin and my scalp is really dry, so I found that washing it every day helped my scalp a lot (itchiness and stuff, y'know?). That of course dries out my hair, but when I put on conditioner after shampoo it makes my hair too light and fluffy, and therefore really hard to style.

Soo I've started putting in conditioner at night and then braiding it. Not a lot of conditioner because I was worried about greasiness, just enough so that when I wash my hair in the morning and brush it, it doesn't have nearly as much breakage (which I've also been having a lot of trouble with) and is soft. I know you're not really supposed to wash it everyday, but this seems to be working for me! And with less breakage I can continue to grow it out better! :)