Revlon ColorStay Mineral Foundation

 

     When I saw this product at first I laughed lol. I didn’t really think that a drugstore brand would have the ability to create a lightweight, color matching, easily blended, natural looking mineral powder. This powder comes in a short and stubby jar in which the top doubles as the application brush. On the inside it has the average “sifter” type inside. Now I won’t dare say that this product is flawless. If it came in another container it very well might be! I love the fact that it matches my skin beautifully (Deep is my color), it looks very natural and is COMPLETELY matte, no shimmer at all. It’s a very, very light coverage foundation as to be expected so if you’re looking for flawless results this and probably every mineral foundation are not for you. I don’t love the container or top/brush, at all. 

The brush sheds horribly so after apply the makeup I find myself picking little pieces of black brush hair out of my face, not cool, and it kind of makes me itch. Another dislike is the “sifter” on the inside. Its sort of hard to use once you have used the initial amount of product from opening the jar. I find I have to turn it upside down or put the top back on and shake it. Time consuming right! Besides the pretty yet dysfunctional packaging I love the powder in itself. If you are looking for a lightweight natural looking powder this should be one to go for. And for you women of color, IT DOESN’T LEAVE YOU WITH AN ORANGE UNDERTONE as does MAC’s mineral powder!

Overall Grade:

B

Black Radiance Continuous Crème Eyeliner

     This product is something I bought on a whim in Walmart. I can’t really remember how much I paid for it but I’m positive it couldn’t be more than six bucks. I was looking for a crème or gel liner to test out since they are all the rave right now. Let me tell you its actually a pretty decent product. I got this is in CLASSIC BLACK and it is a true black not a grayish black. The brush that comes with the eyeliner could use some improving or I could just clean it after each use. It applies easily leaving a smooth and even line across the lid and it doesn’t skip so long as you pull the lid, even though that is a no-no! But it makes the product work beautifully so I guess its worth it. The only downfall is the brush it comes with. Its angled which is a plus but it doesn’t seem to reshape itself after use and it gets really hard. Like I said, maybe I should just clean mine more often! The staying power is amazing it has lasted me over 12hrs after about 8hrs you want to avoid rubbing your eyes because you will start to look like a raccoon. I mostly like my liner thick and this brush does give you the flexibility to have thick or thin lines. This is a very good product for its price range

Overall Grade

A-

L'Oreal De-Crease Eye Base

     I was looking for an alternative to the all so popular Urban Decay Primer Potion and Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Afterall this site is dedicated to those who want to be beautiful on a minimized budget. After searching for something like the two mentioned above I came across the L’Oreal De-Crease at Walgreens. Turns out that even though I have never seen this product it is fairly old. Well I bought it anyway just to give it a shot. It was about $9 at Walgreens. Before I used it I watched a few reviews on YouTube and some were decent and some were just downright awful. I’m here to tell you as a woman of color I absolutely LOVE this product. Not only does it make an excellent primer it does exactly what it says it does and prevents creasing. I have very oily skin and I sweat like no woman should and it keeps my eye makeup looking fresh all day. I have worn it for over 8hrs and at the end of my shift it still looks as if it was just applied. Mind you all that I don’t have the luxury of a desk job or even a job at a makeup counter. My job requires lots of moving around and if its busy there is serious sweat potential. De-Crease is definitely something that I would recommend if you find that your eye makeup vanishes throughout the day or your colors are simply not as pigmented as you’d like them to be. As a primer it primes the eye to hold on to the eyeshadow and gives you the best pigmentation even with the cheapest shadows. It prevents creasing and increases the staying power of your overall eye look. Now if you have oily skin I highly suggest that you run out and buy this product and buy 2!!!

Overall Grade:

A

BItches On A Budget.com

Ok so I know I pride myself on being a fashion forward, make up loving budget-ista but bitchesonabudget.com has even brought light to my eyes lol. I encourage all of my fellow budgetista's to follow their blog and "like" them on FB.. Not only will they explain to you why its ok to budget, how you can shop and how you can still splurge without going for broke. Again I highly suggest you guys follow them at bitchesonabudget.com!!! ok, That is all lol

My Face Prep Routine

Seems like lately I've been having a lot of people ask me how my makeup stays looking fresh all day long. Its really easy and when I tell them what I do they don't believe me. Here is my face prep at a glance.

Step 1: Wash face
Step 2: Moisturize *a little will go a long way, you don't want your face greasy and try to apply moisturizer while face is still damp
Step 3: Apply a milk of magnesia to all the areas that are more prone to becoming oily. Some people say to only use the Phillips brand. I say use whatever you can afford. I bought a bottle from the dollar store just to see if it works and guess what,IT DOES!!
Step 4: Apply concealer to all of your trouble spots and under the eyes
Step 5: Put on whatever foundation you use liquid or powder and blend * I blend all the way to the hairline making sure that there is no "mask" around the edges of my face
Step 6: Use a pressed powder or finishing powder to buff the foundation and it also helps to set it
Step 7: Do your eyes/lips/cheeks as you see fit!!

There are many different ways to prep your face. This is just the way that works best for me, it keeps my face looking fresh all day with out having to constantly blot or touch up. I touch of my lipgloss all day because most of it smells so yummy that I keep applying it and licking my lips lol...Also try to find yourself a good "at home facial" product. This could be a mask or oil or something. My mom found this neat little face masks in the dollar store by a company called NuPore, a review is coming on them! They are wonderful! Whatever you do keep your face clean and well moisturized in between make up applications!

Remember its not just about what you look like when you have on make up but how your skin looks without it!!

Review: MILANI Cosmetics

For some of you MILANI might be common knowledge but for others not so much. I picked up a few of their products from both Walmart and Target. The items I purchased were 3 eyeshadow "palettes" called Runway Eyes which have 6 colors each @ $8ea.!! These colors are brilliant, very pigmented and shimmery. My favorite out of the 3 I have is "Haute Couture", this one has a very bright pink, emerald green, two purples a gold and a silvery white. The shadows can be used dry for daytime wear or wet for a bold and more dramatic effect.Let me tell you I love these shadows. They don't really have the feel as the more expensive brands but they are easy to blend and still give the look of fabulosity. The only things that I can see wrong with this product is the fact that the shadows are rectangular in shape and when you use your brush to get one color you end up swiping the colors either on top of or below it and they break easily. Besides those things I feel that they are a must have especially for beginners and those who are scared to play with color!

Grade: B+

Next, Secret Cover Concealer Cream
This by far not the best concealer but it does the job. The colors seem a little off to me but depending on the application it can still help your face look flawless. Its not very flexible so it doesn't spread easy. I do like to use it as a spot treatment so to speak. If you want complete correction that matches your skin exactly this is not the product for you. If you have a lot of acne scarring that needs to be covered up this is not the product for you. All in all I'm going to use it until its gone but still keep searching for the best drugstore cover up.

Grade:
C

Final product: MILANI Brow Fix
Me personally, I have never been one to fill in my brows because they are naturally thick. One day I got a little tweezer happy and over plucked. Hey we ALL do it at some point! Well I was looking for something other than a pencil to fill them in and while in Walgreens I couldn't find anything else that day. The highlighter color in this kit I don't really care for but others might love it. The actual brow colors are pretty decent. Since my brows are black I had to clean up my over plucked mess and trim the brows. After I played with this kit and mixed the two brow colors together it worked! It looks natural and only takes minutes especially when using a great angle brush.I say get it from Walgreens play with it and if you don't like it you can return it. YES!! Walgreens refunds and/or exchanges makeup that you don't like so what is there to lose.I like it and I recommend it.

Grade:
A-

MILANI offers tons of products for women of color and I've only tried a few but so far I am  very impressed. I've heard alot about the liners (both eye and lip), glosses and matte finish shadows are really good. Soon as I can get my hands on a few of them I will review them. As always I say buy it and play with it. If you don't like it put it to the side and find a use for it later unless its from Walgreens and just take it back!

Live Life,
        Love Pink

Ledra "The HotPynk Lady"

Review: Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow

                                   

Let me start off by saying that it took me a while to purchase these. I would see these in the store and would eyeball them like crazy but would keep walking and would pick up something else. I  bought 2 different palettes but only because they were 40% off or else I would have passed. My local Walgreens generally has a pretty good collection of makeup but only had 3 of the 6 different palettes. That made me think that these were to die for. The two I picked up are Black Magic and Electric Pop..The colors in these palettes are gorgeous, very fashionable and vibrant. They are definitely feel good colors!

I've only really worn the Black Magic palette besides playing with it at home. The color payoff is decent but I did find that they are a little hard to work with, meaning blending is hard. These would probably work best if you are going for a cut crease look that doesn't require a ton of blending. Like I said I've only worn the Black Magic one and that was for a few hours and I did notice some heavy creasing after about an hour. I'm not ready to count these bad boys out just yet. I think I might have an idea on how to make it last a little longer so I will keep you ladies posted.

These would be good for beginners or for those who want to experiment with a little color without paying for top dollar shadows. They are really easy to wipe off so mistakes can be easily corrected. The total for both palettes was $6.40 on sale, so my advice would be to catch them on sale at Walgreens. The only reason I say Walgreens is because if you take them home and don't like them you can return them even after they're open!!

Black Magic

Keep in mind these are just my personal opinions and if you have anything that you think works better with anything that I review just share it with us. Makeup is a continued learning kind of field!!

Overall Grade: C

Electric Pop

All around beauty

Now lets see, there are tons of ways in which you can be beautiful and in the "NOW" and we can show you how to do this on any budget. You will find that certain beauty tricks can be used with both expensive name brands and drug store brands and we're gonna show  you how.

First lets talk essentials:

1. Every girl needs a great foundation My faves: MAC and Revlon
2. Good concealer, you don't want grocery bags under your eyes to show
3. Mascara that volumizes and lengthens
4. Lipgloss that pops
5. Eye/brow pencils and also liquid liners
6. A variety of eyeshadows, but for now whatever you have will certainly do!
7.A finishing/pressed/loose powder to set your look
8.Blush (totally optional but we'll change that later on)
9. Brushes (blush, foundation, eyeshadow,blending, angled and crease) at least a few of these for starters.Walmart has excellent brushes in a set of 8 for around $10 and they are my fave.

Now lets get to storage

Makeup bags and cases can be expensive, for some of you that is not a problem and for others it can be. No matter what you use on your face it should still have its own place. For example, if you have tons of makeup and refuse to buy an expensive box or case then think economically. Believe it or not other things will definitely suffice.Perhaps a fishing tackle box with multiple drawers and ample space can serve the same purpose as a make up case (yes people do this)!! Also if you're like me you don't really want to riffle through a massive case when you are getting ready in a hurry. I've found that if you take all of your most used items and put them in a silverware organizing container it comes in handy and they come in different colors (mines is pink)!

See no matter the budget beauty is only a buck away! Don't be scared to shop for makeup wherever you are. Walmart, Target and Ebay are great places to start. Even if you're in your local dollar store they have a makeup aisle and you'll be surprised at what you can find that works just like high end brands. I'll show you what I mean in a bit. Walmart has awesome brands like HardCandy (Urban Decays cheaper line), Maybelline, L'OREAL and the like. Target has MILANI which is especially good for medium to dark skin tones and can also be found in your local drugstore (ie, Walgreens, CVS, RITE AID, etc). On Ebay you can get the awesome 88 palettes and Double Stacks which we'll show you a little later also. If your a name brand snob then always hit up MAC, Sephora, Smashbox etc.

I say don't be scared to shop anywhere and heres why. Look what I got at the dollar store. 3 different sets of eyeshadows, 1 eye shadow trio, 2 shadow pencils and a white single shadow!! And the colors are brilliant! Not pictured are false lashes.





Now that you have the basic essentials and know what you can get where, lets get to work!!    
                             - Ledra "The HOTpynk Lady"