Review: Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation

The road to trying a new foundation.. 

I'll be honest- I always use the same foundation (MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC40) since I was 16 years old (over 10 years ago).  I'm not too adventurous with  foundations because Studio Fix Fluid works perfectly for me, so why should I change? But now I am on the hunt to find some other foundations to add to my collection.  Who knows there might be a better foundation out there for me. I have  decided to review one new foundation every month for 1 year to see if there is something out there that I will fall in love with.   To start my foundation adventure I decided to try a drugstore brand that I've read about and watched YouTube reviews from several of my favorite beauty bloggers.  

The Maybelline Dream Fluid Touch Foundation was on the top of my list. I was very intrigued to see how well it would wear and what type of coverage it would give me.  I did my research before heading to Rite Aid (Maybelline was 40% off and I had a $4 off coupon- it was perfect timing). I browsed through the Maybelline website to see what they said about the foundation.  

The following is taken directly from Maybelline.com 

Breakthrough texture fuses with skin. A finish so impeccable, yet undetectable.
Exclusive dropper
Medium to full coverage, ideal for normal skin.

Why You'll Love It

Breakthrough liquid foundation texture fuses with skin. A finish so imppecable, yet undetectable.

For Best Results

Shake well.
Unscrew cap. Holding dropper vertically,
allow foundation to drop onto fingertip.
Apply to face as usual.

I headed to RiteAid to find the shade, which was not a very good experience the first time around.  Watch the video below and you'll see why.  

Here is a compairson between MAC NC40 with Natural Beige 75 and Sun Beige 85 

Here are my thoughts about the foundation: 

PROS

• the foundation literally feels like silk! It glides on effortlessly and leaves a satin/matte finish.  
• the more I layered the foundation it didn't look cakey or look like I was wearing a lot of foundation. 
• even though it was hard to find a color I found that SUN BEIGE worked for me for my NC40 skin tone.  However, I am interested to see how one shade darker would look.  
• I usually don't like foundation that has a SPF higher than 15 because it has that unique SPF smell.  I did not find that "SPF" scent to this foundation.  However, I did find a scent to it.. like alchohol? But it didn't bother me once I applied it. 

CONS:

• I hate the applicator thingy!!! I really wish it came with a pump.  It would make things so much easier. I feel that applying it to the back of the hand and then applying it with your fingers would waste so much products.  With a pump you can pump the foundation directly on to the brush or to your fingertips.  
• The price is a little high ($10.99) for a 20 ml / .67fl oz bottle.  Is this a typical price for a drugstore foundation? I haven't bought drugstore foundation for awhile so to me this is a little high.  Definitely, check if there's coupons on there to lower the price or wait until drugstores have 40%-50% off or even BOGO (Buy one get one) 50% off.  At least this will save you money and can buy a few other things.  

Will I buy it again? 

I think it's too early for me to give an honest answer.  I really want to dry the darker shade to see if that would be a better match.  If it was on sale again I would definitely re-purchase.  I am eager to see what else is out there for me.  Can't wait to share my findings with all of you! 

Review/Swatches: ColourPop Lippies and Liners

I've been raving about this brand for awhile now because their products are AMAZING and affordable.  A couple of posts back I shared some swatches of the Colour Pop Super Shock Shadows (view the post here) and a YouTube tutorial featuring the new fall color MOTH here.  Now I am excited to bring you their newest products added to their brand- Lippies (lipstick) and lip liners.  Do you have the problem of matching a lip liner to a lipstick? Well, I do! You find the perfect  purple shade but the lip liners out there are not purple enough (more red) or too dark almost black with a gray tint.  No more worrying about this, ColourPop has you covered.  They were so smart to have lipsticks with matching liners for no more guess work.  Of course you can mix and match to create your own colors but I really think this is great idea. 

Below you will find pictures of the colors that I received from ColourPop along with a review/swatch video that I posted on my YouTube Channel.  Hope you guys like!

Please let me know there are any swatches you would like me to do for future videos and blog posts. :)

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER ROCKET Satin- Pinky Coral

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER FETCH Satin - Midtone pink

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER SCANDY Satin - Bright neon pink

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER FLAWLESS Satin - Deep red violet

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER LBB Matte - Plum Wine

COLOURPOP LIPIE & LINER LEATHER Matte - Deep dark purple

Tutorial: Lorac Mega Pro Palette Soft Smokey Eyes

As soon as I saw a post on Instagram about the LORAC Mega PRO Palette I knew I had to get my hands on this super palette along with a lot of other people.  

I haven't really tried LORAC products and I always wanted to try the LORAC PRO Palettes 1 and 2 but never had a chance.  I see a lot of makeup artists stock their kits with the palettes.  I was about to purchase the originals until I found out this motherload was hitting for the fall season.  It actually launched for their 2014 Royal Holiday Collection but looks like it won't even reach the holidays. 

Because I am a typical makeup addict I stalked the LORAC website, Facebook and Instagram feeds to make sure I didn't miss out. Marked the date Tuesday Oct. 7th in  my Filofax (thank goodness for my planner to remind me of all these makeup launches).  Woke up at 6am PST to purchase the palette.  Told my husband I forgot to send out a work email .. lied but whatever I needed the palette.   So happy I did and got my hands on it. 

The shadows overall are super pigmented! I felt every time I dipped my brush into the shadow I needed to tap my brush.  Also I learned very early that you only need to tap your brush into shadow very lightly and it will pick up a lot of shadow.  I wish there was a variety of colors though.  There are a lot of light and mid tone shades all around the same color (check out the first half of the palette).  With that said it's a good palette to create neutral natural looks and classic colored smokey eyes.  If you are into color/brighter colors you may want to pass this up.  

I knew I wanted to create a couple of tutorials featuring colors from this palette because it can get overwhelming with all the colors provided.  First up is a soft smokey eye, hope you enjoy! 

Here are the details of the look:

Too Faced Eye Shadow Insurance Primer
Lorac Mega Pro Palette Dirty Plum with MAC #224, Cashmere with MAC #239, Granite with MAC #224, Espresso with MAC #226, Sand with MAC #252

LA Girl Gel Eyeliner

Tarte Lights, Camera Lashes Mascara

Elegant Lashes #605 www.elegantlashes.com
Sleek Cosmetics Face Form Contour and Blush Kit Medium
MAC Cosmetics Warm Glow Mineralize Blush
MAC Cosmetics Global Glow Mineralize Skin Finish
NYX Cosmetics Mauve Lip Liner
MAC Cosmetics MEHR Lipstick

Let me know what type of look you want to see from this palette! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel here and like the video! xoxo

Review: Keurig 2.0 Brewing System

Say hello to my new best friend, especially in the AM - the Keurig 2.0 K550.   I (actually we- as in my husband and I) have been huge Keurig fans because of the K-Cup System (pods of coffee that you insert into the machine for an individual cup).  I like my coffee more on the light side but for me him he prefer more of a medium roast.  K-Cups are great because you can select your personal preference since they deliver a single cup ..... but not for long! The new Keurig 2.0 brewer allows you to brew a 4-cup carafe just as you would with a single cup.  I'll show you all of that with pictures below.  

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The K550 came in a hug box and was nicely wrapped and secured inside.  The instruction booklet is placed right on top for easy access to set up your lovely new machine. When you start to pull our your machine you will see a starter pack of 6 single  K-Cups and 4 K-Carafe (including the 4-cup starter carafe)  to get your coffee fix on right away! 

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Here's a look at the overall machine- nice little appliance isn't it?  It's sleek, very futuristic-like design looks great sitting on your kitchen counter top.  The middle picture shows the carafe and how nicely it sits right under the drip without the little stand. I didn't test out the carafe because I didn't want to waste so much coffee but will definitely try it out when we have company over.  When brewing a single cup you will need to place the stand back for your favorite cup to sit directly under the drip.  Let me show you the main features of the Keurig 2.0. 

Here is a look at the extra 80 ounce water reservoir- it's huge! This system also has water filter to make it convenient to fill up the tank straight out of the kitchen faucet, if you prefer.  My first Keurig when I was back in college didn't have the water filter option and I was always filling it with my bottled water I had in my little mini fridge. One of the things that I love about this machine is the night light reservoir which is towards the front.  You see that beam of light? Cool, right? You can change the color from blue, red, green and white color.  I personally like the white, makes it look so trendy.  

You will find the touchscreen display right in the center of the brewer instead of the right hand side.  I like the display in the center it gives it more of a focal point.   The navigation through the menu is easy and very direct with an option to change the wallpaper to fit your style.  There are 4 different cup sizes (mine is usually at 8oz. it's perfect for me) and a separate setting for hot cocoa and other beverages like lattes and mochas. NEAT! I forgot to mention there is also a button for hot water if you need some right away for cooking, baking or really anything!  The only thing I wish was that you can decide how much hot water you need.  It will only dispense 6oz. of water and if you need more you need to open it and close and do it all over.  Wish you could just press the button in hot water mode to release more.  

I want to go over the size different of the K-cups and something that both my husband and I noticed with the older versions.  As you can see from the picture the K-Carafe is significantly bigger than the regular K-Cup.  

I wanted to show you the difference between the NEW K-Cups that will work with the newer brewers compared to the older K-Cups.  My husband and I were so excited to purchase some of our favorite K-Cups from the past that we didn't pay attention to the newer versions.  You can see from the picture that there is a big difference- the new one has a ring around it and a black circle with Keurig in the middle located on the lower center of the K-Cup seal.  When we were shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond for some new flavors it didn't dawn on us that not all of them have the new design.  The Tim Horton's K-Cup said on the box "used with all Keurig machines." Well, it didn't work for ours.  I told my husband to contact Keurig after I was on their Facebook page to see if other customer's had the same problem- yes there were a few.  He called the customer service # that was displayed on the touchscreen letting us know that our K-Cup wasn't compatible with with the new Keurig 2.0 Brewing Technology.  After 10 min. our new machine was registered and a coupon for a  free replacement box to order from their website.  EASY and great customer service!  I think next time we purchase from Bed Bath and Beyond I'll keep the receipt just in case we encounter another pack without with the white rim.  

Overall we have been super happy with the Keurig 2.0 brewer! What are some of our favorite K-Cups?  Please share below so I can use my coupons from Keurig.com :) 

Disclaimer: I received  the Keurig 2.0 for testing/review for free from Influenster.com.  All opinions are my own. 

Review/Swatches The SoLa Look Lipsticks

I wanted to do a quick review/swatches of The SoLa Look Lipsticks.  The colors are rich and gorgeous with a matte finish.  Usually with matte lipsticks my lips tend to start peeling and feel very dry in the middle of wear.  However, with these lipsticks I did not experience any peeling or dryness.  They are so comfortable to wear I totally forgot that my lipstick was even matte. The swatches below are all taking in natural daylight.  Sometimes I wish I could bottle up this type of lighting and release it whenever I want.  It is perfect for swatches as it gives the true color. 

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Gina is a soft pinky-mauve shade, perfect for everyday wear.  If you are not a fan of bright lipsticks this is the perfect color for you.  I love how it's still light in shade but really works well with yellow/golden skin tones.  This shade is the right amount of neutral/light but with a hint of color that's still noticeable but not over the top. It can complement any makeup style from neutral eyes to deep dramatic eyes.  I can't wait to try this color on a bride who wants that lovely neutral toned pink.

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Carolina a brighter magenta pink with a matte finish.  Beautiful color to wear in the summer paired with a shimmery neutral eye or even a hint of gold.  In the swatches I applied two coats but you can totally tone down the intensity with one layer.  I find with brighter matte lipsticks you can really see all the fine lines on your lips and the dry patches.  But not with the SoLa Look Lipsticks, super moisturizing because of Sodium Hyaluronate - keeps lips soft, smooth and hydrated and their 24-Hour HydraTechnology – provides intense hydration for lips.  I should also mention that the lipsticks are paraben-free, lanolin-free and fragrance-free and all made in the lovely USA!  Major pluses if you are sensitive or allergic to certain lipsticks.

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Janelle is my favorite color out of the three!! I just love it and I think I should stock up on this color.  I haven't really come across this particular mix of coral, red, and pink in a lipstick before.  It is drop dead gorgeous! I've been wearing it out for the past couple of days and people have been asking me about this shade.  I like to pair this lip with neutral eyes so the color get all the attention.  If you had to pick a color for summer I would recommend Janelle, you will love it!

I hope you guys enjoyed my posts regarding The Sola Look Lipsticks! Thanks to David from The SoLa Look for letting me try them!