CoverGirl : Beauty and Fashion Tech

CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Shadow and Tropical Fusion Look

CoverGirl has some wonderful new Eye Enhancer shadow shades out and some great looks can be created with them. I watched a webinar presented by CoverGirl and will show one of the looks that be created from the Tropical Fusion CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Set (pictured).

Below are swatches from the quad. The second color from the right is a mix of the turquoise and yellow shades in the quad, which makes a pretty light green as used in the look below.

First off though, a bit about the shadow: The CoverGirl shadows are pretty good in terms of pigment. These have a nice color payoff and staying power that you normally won’t see in such an affordable shadow. When I swatched these, it took a bit of work to wash them off! So they are a really nice value. They also have some wonderful bright shades, so if you aren’t afraid of some color, you will find great choices at a bargain price.

One of the fun looks that can be made with the Tropical Fusion is called Caribbean Eyes.

To create this look, apply the turquoise shade to the lid. The CoverGirl shadows build well, so you can make this rather sheer or you can build up the crease more, as you desire.

Now, add the yellow shade over the top of the of the turquoise. I like to use more of it in the center of my lid than the sides for a pop of color there. Blended well, this will give a pretty light Caribbean green look that is really rather luminous—more so than the swatch picture shows.

The eye is lined with the royal blue shade. Work it in with a press brush and then smudge it out some. You can wet the shadow for a finer line or more intense look.

The peach shade in the quad can be used as a blush, especially on darker skin. It is not really as orange as it appears in the quad, but it does have quite a bit of pigment–a bit too much to use as blush on my fair skin, but it would be fine on medium to dark shades of skin.

The lips were done in CoverGirl Amazemint Happy Hour, which looks blue in the tube but is actually clear, with a nice cool tone and taste. For more on the CoverGirl Amazemint glosses, which contain Crest peppermint oils, see my review on Girl Gloss.

CoverGirl cosmetics can be purchased at virtually all drugstores and big box retailers.

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CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara

cover girl covergirl lash blast mascara CoverGirl LashBlast Mascara is a fairly good volumizing mascara, but watch for clumping! The picture on this one is also a bit deceiving. The brush really is thicker than it appears.

When I tried Lash Blast, I had pretty good luck getting a ton of volume from the mascara, but not as much length as I get with others. I also found that I ended up with clumps if I was not extremely careful. Often I needed to wipe the brush twice before use. But I tend to have that issue with most larger brushes, so at times I think it is just me whenever I get clumps from a fat brush! Regardless, if you are a fan of fatter brush mascaras, and are looking for volume, this is one to try.

CoverGirl also has some fun new eyeshadow shades out. Watch for an upcoming post on that in the next week or so!

CoverGirl products can be found at most drugstores and big box retailers.

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CoverGirl Volume Exact Mascara

When I previously reviewed Cover Girl Lash Exact Mascara I was pretty impressed with it. I found Cover Girl Volume Exact Mascara to be very similar.

I purchased Volume Exact in the shade very black. Like with Lash Exact, Volume Exact does a very nice job of lengthening without clumping. The brush bristles are flexible, and although compact, tend to stay clean and clump free. The mascara provided lots of length, and a bit more thickening than Lash Exact. I also noted a bit of curl from this mascara, which I don’t remember noting so much with Lash Exact. This is good stuff. Chalk up another win for Cover Girl in the mascara department!

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Review: CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Cream Foundation

CoverGirl has a new line of cosmetics, the Advanced Radiance Collection. I became curious when I spotted it in my local CVS store and saw that the advanced radiance cream foundation contained the same N-acetyl glucosamine and niacinamide complex that is in Oil of Olay Definity. In fact, the lid actually says “Olay ingredients” on it. There is also a standard Cover Girl Advanced Radiance Makeup(pictured), which contains niacinamide and Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3 (matrixyl).Because the combination of N-acetyl glucosamine and niacinamide has been shown to have some success in treating melasma and hyperpigmentation, I was immediately intrigued. So of course, out came the credit card and I went home with yet another moisturizing foundation that I really don’t need! Generally, this foundation is serviceable, but I was not overly impressed and in hindsight I wish I had purchased the standard foundation in the pump dispenser instead of the cream.

Although the product is marketed as a cream foundation and comes in a jar, I found the consistency to be about the same as a regular foundation. That is fine, but at that point, I would rather have a bottle or pump dispenser so that I can put it on a makeup sponge. With the jar, I have to dip a brush or fingers in, and I tend to prefer initially using a sponge. It had been a long time (many years actually) since I used a CoverGirl Foundation because I used to hate how their foundations smelled like Noxema. I was quite happy to note no unpleasant odors with this one.

The foundation goes on smooth and blends fine. Coverage is medium. It is quite moisturizing, which normally I want, but now that summer is here, my dry skin has turned to oily and this foundation just didn’t work with that. I will have to save it for winter. I also found that it didn’t seem to last as long as I would like and I applied something else half way through the day. Whether that was because I was bit oily or not, I’m not sure. In the end, the cream foundation just quite didn’t cover as well as I would like and it didn’t last very long. I am also rather disappointed in the 10 SPF rating. I would rather see a minimum of SPF 15.

Overall, this might be worth a try for those with dry skin, but I like some other moisturizing foundations better. For a couple of examples, look at my reviews of Lumene Revjuvenating Makeup, and my comparison of Revlon and Estee Lauder Moisturizing Foundations.

Also, if you want to get the benefit of an N-acetyl glucosamine and niacinamide complex, try Oil of Olay Definity, or you can purchase it to add to your favorite cream or lotion (or maybe even foundation?) at Skin Actives Scientific, which is a great company that I really need to get around to writing about!

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Drew Barrymore Named Cover Girl Spokeswoman and Model

I have always liked Drew Barrymore. Today she was named the newest model/spokeswoman for Cover Girl Cosmetics and is also carrying the title of Co-Creative Director. You can read the press release here. The photo (ap/covergirl photo), shows her at work.

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Drugstore Mascara: Comparing Cover Girl Lash Exact and Maybelline Define A Lash

Awhile back, Yummy 411 recommended that I try Cover Girl Lash Exact Mascara. So when I was in the market for a brown mascara, I decided to pick one up. At the same time, I also was able to try Maybelline’s Define a Lash.I’m glad I was given the recommendation, because I really like Lash Exact. It has thinner bristles in the brush, which for me is usually a necessity. Larger brushes almost always result in clumps for me no matter how carefully I remove excess product or apply it. The product went on very well, no clumps, no smears, and it stayed on all day. It also really, really, REALLY lengthened and defined the lashes. It did not thicken so much. That is what I tend to want. So I am very happy with this mascara. Heck, I find myself reaching for it on days when I would rather wear black, simply because it is the best mascara in my drawer right now. So I definitely plan to pick one up in black.

Maybelline’s Define a Lash is a bit odd. On the good side, it has the thinner bristle type brush that I like. The mascara itself also seems fine. It lengthens well, defines well, doesn’t clump etc. I would probably find it about equal to Lash Exact, but there is one real serious oddity with the brush; it is very flexible and bends around a bit when using it. The bending factor doesn’t seem to mess with the application, but it does annoy me every time I put the wand back into the tube because it doesn’t want to slide in easily. I have to cram it in there. From what I can tell, the flexible wand lends nothing positive to the application, so why Maybelline chose that design is beyond me. Their web site does not provide any insight on the matter. So in the end, I think Maybelline took what could be a really good mascara and ruined it with a poor packaging choice. At least for me, the annoyance of cramming the brush back into the tube means that I won’t be purchasing this one again.

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Comparing Drugstore Long Wearing Lip Products: Revlon, Maybelline, Cover Girl and Milani

After coming across a bunch of long wearing lip products on sale, I decided to grab some and do a comparison. I tried four, and am sorry to say that I wasn’t really fond of any of them. But for those that really want a long wearing product, I feel comfortable recommending a couple as long as the purchaser realizes that none of these products can provide an all day, comfortable, and moist color. For comfort and moisture, I recommend seeing my Cat Cosmetics lip liner review.Here is the problem: All of these products get their staying power by drying a bunch of pigment onto the lips. That pigment is often fairly thick and sticky. It also can be drying. That is why they all tend to come with a gloss or balm as a second step. So right off, don’t think that a long wearing lip product means there is zero reapplication. That balm or gloss must be reapplied for the product to remain comfortable and looking decent. Next, I didn’t find any of the products I tried to live up to their claims. Come on, 16 hours? Even the claim of 8 was high. I couldn’t get more than 6-7 out of any of them and they tend to look pretty chalky and beat up after only a few hours.

The best of the group for me was the most comfortable: Revlon Colorstay Smooth Lipcolor. Mine, found at Target, also came with a colorstay lip liner, which I happened to like quite a bit as a regular liner. Revlon also does not make any outlandish claims with this product. They simply say that it will last for “hours.” This pair was generally like using a regular lipstick and liner. It felt fine and looked OK, but it didn’t last as long as the other items that I tried. I got only a couple of hours from it and it came off after I drank a couple cups of coffee. In the end, the downside of this product is that it is not much different from using a regular lipstick and liner. Perhaps it lasts slightly longer, but there are other lipsticks that I prefer. It would have to last longer to make me switch.

The longest wearing of the four was Maybelline Superstay 16 Hour Color + Conditioning Balm (pictured), consisting of a thick stain and a balm. Maybelline claims a seemingly ridiculous 16 hours with stuff, and I got nowhere near that. But on my first wearing, it made it through a lengthy dental procedure (drilling, filling and cleaning). It was quite beat up after that, and frankly looked terrible, but the fact that it generally stayed on through such a beating definitely left me impressed. Curious about more normal use, I tried it at work and got about 6-7 hours, although it only looked decent for about 4-5 of that. It made it through multiple cups of coffee and lunch, but eating at that point beat it up and it looked pretty bad. There was a big downside for me with this one too, and it is also true of most products of this sort: The stain is thick and it takes a few sticky minutes for it to dry. Once dry, unless the balm is reapplied often, the product feels dry and looks a bit chalky. I also found that it settled into the lines of my lips and generally looked icky once it began to wear off or get beat up. If the point is to avoid reapplication of makeup, this seems to defeat the purpose, although I suppose reapplying balm is simpler since it doesn’t require a mirror. But for those looking for the real deal in staying power, I recommend this one. If you try it, be sure to reapply the balm rather often to keep it looking its best.

Cover Girl Outlast All Day Lipcolor, Smoothwear 2 Pieces is very similar to the Maybelline product. It claims 10 hours, while I got about 3-4. It made it through a cup of coffee, but not through a meal. It too is a bit sticky and chalky, but not quite as much so as the Maybelline product. An extra downside of this one is that the balm comes in separate tube. So that is one extra item to have to worry about. I prefer the way the Maybelline product is packaged, with the stain on one end and the balm on the other.

My least favorite was Milani Lotta Wear. This product comes as a stain and gloss, and Milani claims 12 hours for it. I got about 3-4 and a cup of coffee completely killed it. The color looked overly chalky and my lips never were comfortable. I like some other Milani products, such as their eyeshadows, but I really can’t recommend this one.

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