Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Review

     BB creams have been the rage lately.  They were really popular in Asia, and now they’ve become popular here in the US.  BB creams are pretty much multi-functional foundations.   Today I’m reviewing Maybelline Dream Fresh BB. 

     BB stands for blemish balm, blemish base, or beblesh balm.   If you want to learn about the history of BB creams, here’s an article on it, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_cream.

     On the tube it says it’s an 8-in-1 Beauty Balm Skin Perfector Titanium Dioxide Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 30.

Enhances skin with eight benefits in 1:

• Blurs Imperfections

• Enhances

• Brightens

• Adjusts to skin tone

• Smoothes

• Hydrates

• SPF 30 protects

• 0% oils and other heavy ingredients

     There are 5 different shades to choose from, light, light/medium, medium, medium/deep, and deep.  I have the medium shade.  It’s about $8 for 1 fl. oz., which I don’t think is that bad. 

     Check it out here for yourself. http://www.maybelline.com/Products/Face-Makeup/BB-Cream/Dream-Fresh-BB.aspx

Pros:

• It goes on smooth and even. 

• It can be easily applied with your fingers, and it doesn’t require very much blending. 

• It’s moisturizing and it smoothens out any dry spots on your face. 

• It’s very natural looking; it doesn’t look or feel heavy. 

• It doesn’t have much of a smell.

• It has SPF 30 in it, which can be a good and a bad thing.

• Under $10; it was around $8 for me.

• It evened out my skin tone.  My skin looks all the same color now.

• I did notice when I first used this that my skin looked better, but it wasn’t a huge difference.  Even though it has light coverage it still makes the acne on my face less noticeable, and it covers up the red slightly.

Cons:

• I know most BB creams & tinted moisturizers have squeeze tubes, but I really don’t like them.  When you first buy it, it’s super full and a lot of product comes out when you squeeze it, and you end up wasting it unless you put it in a small container.   I would have liked it if it was in a bottle with a pump or in a different squeeze tube that worked better.

• They make it sound better than it is.  Did it smooth and hydrate my skin? Yeah.  Did it brighten it? A little. Blur imperfections?  Slightly.  Adjust to skin tone?  Yeah, kind of.  Enhance?  I guess.  It didn’t necessarily “not” do what they said, but it didn’t’ really make a huge difference like they made it out. 

• It’s very runny; if it was a little thicker, it might have better coverage. 

• It makes your skin oily; even with powder.  I have combination skin and this is for normal skin (in stores it says for normal skin and on their website they said ideal for normal skin).  It could partly make your skin oily because of what they use in sunscreen.  I’ve seen a few reviews on this and almost everyone said it made their skin oily.  It doesn’t make my skin much oilier than any other foundation I’ve used; even if the foundation was for oily skin, mine still got oilier than if it would without foundation.

• It’s only for normal skin (like I said above).  The reason I still tried this is because my cheeks are really dry and regular foundation makes my cheeks look dry.  And powder foundation (the suggested type of foundation for oily skin) makes my cheeks look chapped. 

Summing It All Up

     Overall, I like this product, and I think it works fairly well for my current needs.  Is it all that it’s hyped up to be?  Absolutely not.   I don’t know that I’ll repurchase when it runs out, but I’m going to use the rest of the tube, and it’ll last me for a while.  The BB cream works well for me during the fall/winter, but I don’t think I’ll be able to use it during the summer because it will make my skin too oily.

     I honestly think you could find a better BB cream than this, but you would probably have to spend a lot more money.  This BB cream definitely doesn’t give heavy coverage.  If you like light, natural face makeup then this might be for you.  Like other people have said, it’s basically a tinted moisturizer they’ve repackaged as a BB cream.

     I’ve heard that most of the drugstore BB creams are about the same.  L'oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream has gotten some good reviews, so that might be a good one to check out.  

     What do you guys think about BB creams?

Becca xoxo

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Review

     Hi girls!  You know that terrible moment when you look in the mirror and you see that your eye makeup has creased and is all smudged?  I have good news; there’s a great product called Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion to keep your eye makeup long lasting.  An eyeshadow primer is used to keep your eye makeup from creasing, smudging, and it makes your eyeshadow more vibrant.

     Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion is one of the most popular eye primers.  I’ve had my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion for almost a year now, and I love it. 

Pros:

Long lasting - My eyeshadow lasts a lot longer when I wear primer.  What I love about this primer is it allows you to wear drugstore eyeshadow without worrying about it not being long lasting.  It claims to keep your eyeshadow on for 24 hours, but my eyeshadow hasn’t lasted longer than 10 hours at times.  If you use high end eyeshadow with the primer it might last for 24 hours, but I don’t think most drugstore eyeshadow would.  I do have oily eye lids so that plays a factor in how long your eyeshadow lasts.

Vibrant- It makes your eyeshadow more vibrant because it creates a base for the eyeshadow and it’s easier to build the color.

Goes on smooth- It has a creamy texture and it goes on smooth.

Different colors- It has four different colors to choose from: Greed (gold), Sin (shimmering champagne), Eden (matte tawny), and Original (sheer nude). 

Use it instead of eyeshadow- You can use the colored primers as eyeshadow if you only want one color.

A little goes a long way- It only takes a little dab of product to cover each eye.  I’ve had mine for over a year, and I still have enough left for a couple more months.  I don’t use it every day since I don’t wear makeup every day, but if you did, it should still last for quite a while.

It has great reviews- Before I’m willing to spend over $15 on a makeup product, I usually check the reviews to see what other people think about it, and I go to a store and get a sample.  That way I can be sure I’m buying something that will work with me.

Moderately priced- For one squeeze tube with .37 oz., it’s only $20.  For some people that might be a splurge, but it’s totally worth it!

Cons:

     The old tube was very flimsy.  I dropped it once and that container cracked and the product oozed out when I used it.  I dropped it another time and it cracked in half.  I had to put the product in another container because it starting drying out.  Another con is that you can’t get all the product out of the container without cutting it open because of the way it’s shaped.  They made new squeeze tubes since then which I’ve heard work much better. The packaging has been about my only complaint besides the one I said earlier about drugstore makeup not lasting as long as they claimed.

     Overall I still love this primer and it works so much better than going without one.  Once it runs out, I’m pretty sure I’ll be repurchasing. 

    Do any of you guys use an eyeshadow primer? If so what brand and how do you like it? Let me know in the comments!

Becca xxoo

CHI Digital Review

     I got my CHI Digital over a year ago, and I still love it to this day!  I haven’t had any kind of problems with it.  When I first got it, it was the only digital one available where you could change the temperature, now they have quite a few.  My CHI has 1 inch plates.  It was made in the USA and it had a two year warranty.

     I got my CHI on sale at Trade Secret for $99.  On the box the original price was $159.95, so if you are wanting a CHI (or any straightener for that matter) make sure you shop around before buying one.  JCPenney has a pretty good selection of CHIs and they are usually on sale for around $115.  The CHIs they were selling came with different things, like pouches for the straighteners or bottles of CHI Silk Infusion.  My CHI didn’t come with anything, but when I opened it up there was a card you could send in to get a free bottle of CHI Silk Infusion.  Unfortunately I never received it. 

     If you buy a CHI, make sure that you buy it at an authorized store, or the warranty won’t be eligible.  The authorized stores are JCPenney, Fantastic Sams, Beautyfirst, Purebeauty, Ulta, Beauty Brands, Trade Secret/ Beauty Express, and Regis Salons.  Here is the company website; http://www.farouk.com/.

     Heating it only takes about 40 seconds to get to the hottest setting; which is 200 degrees Celsius.  The lowest temperature is 80 degrees Celsius.  I do adjust the temperature a lot so it’s nice to be able to.  On all of my other straighteners, it only had a little dial to adjust the temperature, and it never told you when it was heated up. 

     The model of the straightener is a lot nicer than my other straighteners that I’ve had.  My other straighteners didn’t open and close as easily as this one and the other ones felt like you were pulling on your hair when you were using it, especially when you were curling your hair.  This one just glides nicely.  The ceramic plates are really nice.  The other straighteners I had before weren’t professional straighteners, so it’s understandable that they didn’t work as well.  I noticed right away after using it for the first time that my hair was a lot straighter after I straightened it.  It also works really well to do curls.  It also doesn’t make my hair feel dry; it makes it feel soft and silky.  

     I really like my CHI, and I recommend it anyone who is looking for a good straightener.  

*The picture isn't of my exact straightener, but it is similar.

Beauty Rules by Bobbie Brown

     Right now my favorite beauty book is “Beauty Rules” by Bobbi Brown.  It has so, so, so many amazing tips about hair, skin, and makeup, eating healthy, and exercising.  When I read it, it really motivates me to eat healthy, exercise, and take care of my skin and hair.  It has a LOT of pictures of real girls (not models) throughout the book, lots of before and after makeover pictures, and step-by-step instructions of how she did the look.  She has advice about things from braces to what to wear to a job interview.  It’s pretty much a girls’ beauty bible.  And I really like it!  If you are interested in beauty, fashion, etc. I totally recommend that you check this book out.

e.l.f

     E.l.f.’s products (Eyes, Lips, Face) are very inexpensive, almost everything is $1-$10.  Some of you might be kind of skeptical that they could sell good quality products for so little.  I was skeptical too, but I decided to try their black liquid liner anyways to experiment with it.  I have to say that I think you only get what you paid for.  It said it was smudge-proof, long wearing, and luminous color but I really didn’t think it was any of those.  I would rather spend more money on makeup that is better quality.  If you want to buy some really inexpensive products to experiment with that you don’t want to wear out in public then I would suggest you try e.l.f.

     I haven’t tried any other products by them so they might be better but I didn’t like their liquid liner.

     Have you tried e.l.f.?  If so did you like it?

Here is their website http://www.eyeslipsface.com/.

CHI 44 Iron Guard Thermal Protection Spray Review

Last week I finally got some heat protectant from CHI. It’s called 44 Iron Guard Thermal Protection Spray and it’s amazing! I noticed the difference as soon as I straightened my hair. Usually after you dry your hair it feels kind of dry, but after I used it my hair felt really soft! I got it at Target for about $14 and it came with two bottles of the heat protectant! Which is a really good deal because it usually is about $12-$14 for one bottle. The bottle says to use it on dry hair only, so you can’t use it when you blow dry your hair. After my hair is completely dry, I spray different sections of my hair, wait a couple minutes for it to dry and then I straighten my hair. It makes your hair look (at least mine) a little oily at first, but as soon as you straighten it, it looks normal. If you are looking for a heat protectant I definitely recommend CHI 44 Iron Guard Thermal Protection Spray!