beauty bargain

The Beauty Bargain #12| L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Elude

It’s definitely been a while since I’ve done one of these Beauty Bargain posts; I suppose it’s because my focus has not been on drugstore beauty and more particularly, I’ve been trying to avoid drugstore overspending – and just spending in general – so although I have a good number of unreviewed drugstore products in my collection, I have not been focused on reviewing them. However, today this is going to change. The L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paint in GLG788 Elude ($4 US/ $6 CDN) was one of the many products that I purchased months and months ago as part of that lip buying binge on sale and despite multiple promises to review the purchases in entirety, they have been left in my acrylic drawer untalked about.

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DSC_0680It was undeserving of this neglect, along with many of the other products also purchased. The neutral nudey-pink has a nice opaque and comfortable, non-sticky balmy gloss formulation and it impresses me, even with the high standards and general hatred of gloss that I have. Impressively, the formula is actually lightweight but moisturizing on the lips.It says something that the only complaints that I can type are that the subtle peppermint oil used to fragrance the gloss could potentially be unnecessarily irritating and that the comfortable formula is not as long lasting as it claims.

This product is both among the most affordable at the drugstore and easily available, here at most Lawton’s Drugs in Canada and goes on sale frequently – the reason I picked it up in the first place – and comes in a wide assortment of colours. As with my other favourite lip product, this glides over dry and flaky patches like a champ. On an ending note, please excuse how weirdly yellow my undereyes and chin look below – they certainly did not look like that in real life…

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Any thoughts on this product?
Maggie, x.

 

 

The Beauty Bargain |Garnier Deconstructed Texture Tease Dry Finishing Spray

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Being someone who has finer textured strands but a huge heavy mass of lengthy hair, the roots of my hair in the front really tend to fall flat and limp and in consequence I’ve become quite interested in these volumizing and texturizing sprays as of late. However I’m fairly new to the game, only previously having tried the Dove Refresh + Care Invigorating Dry Shampoo and a smaller size of the pricy Bumble & Bumble Thickening Dryspun Finish, that I loved but went through far too quickly for my taste. After this experience, I decided that I would give the Garnier Deconstructed Texture Tease Dry Finishing Spray as it was a much more affordable offering that claimed to do the same thing that the Thickening Dryspun Finish did (in the short time that I had it). While I wouldn’t say that it’s an exactly exchangeable alternative or ‘duplicate’ product, it’s a product that offers similar results but with a little bit more hold and less of that airy refreshed finish. The Garnier seems to be a mixture between the Bumble and Bumble Thickening Dryspun Finish and the Cityswept Finish, although I admit that I have not tried the latter and am merely going off of what I’ve heard from others about it; it offers that bit added hold and control of the Cityswept but with more of that dramatic lightweight but buoyant mussing and texturizing effect that the Thickening delivers. However, I must acknowledge that I’m not as much of a fan of the scent of the $7 dollar offering — although it is a nice but strong fruity scent — and that it doesn’t operate as a freshening dry shampoo-like product in the same way, although I’m loving this stuff and am finding it to be a great alternative — but I don’t have hair that needs much refreshing action. And I should add that if you’re planning on spraying this liberally onto the roots from little distance away, you’ll see some amazingly huge voluminous hair but there may be some stickiness and crunchiness that you have to deal with.

TLDR? In short, I love this as a volumizing and texturizing spray, especially for the much-easier-to-stomach price, despite its extra hold and less airy hair refreshing ability.

 Have you tried any of these dry finishing sprays?

Maggie, x.

Five of the Best Beauty Bargains

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Rather than introducing you to yet another affordable beauty product that I hold in high regard as of now, I thought that I would give a roundup of the affordable products that I’ve been relying on and valuing heavily at the moment. I can’t promise that what I say about these products and the products themselves won’t have appeared around here times before, however. Isn’t a little repetition a good thing?

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L’Oreal Glam Bronze Mono in 04 Universal Sun ($15 CDN)– full post here

I can’t even. Honestly this newer bronzer release has blown me away and I haven’t been able to stray from the smooth-textured blend able soft-matte bronzer for long since picking it up. The formula is pigmented but easy to work with and doesn’t sit on the skin stiffly and unnaturally like most powders do and rather glides on creamily. These come in a variety of shades but I’ve only tried this medium-toned warm bronzer with reddish undertones and I love the colour for adding natural bronziness to my face whilst being able to add a bit of shadow to the cheekbones because it’s not orange-y in the slightest. I swear this bronzer is easy to use and builds like a dream and will never betray you by looking chalky or muddy. I’ll stop now… You’re welcome.

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Neutrogena Extra Gentle Cleanser ($9-11 CDN)

This is definitely one of the unsung heroes of my personal assortment of beauty products, both in the sense that I don’t feel that others rave about the prowess of the product enough and that I don’t give it the credit it deserves on a frequent basis. It’s basically the gentlest cream cleanser in existence that not only doesn’t include detergents and therefore doesn’t strip or irritate the skin but also nourishes the skin. It’s only downside is that it’s not one that removes makeup well in the slightest. However, it’s a great second cleanser or morning cleanser that easily rinses clean.

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Annabelle Smoothliner in Black ($6-7 CDN)

Even without putting the wallet-friendly price into consideration, this is among the very best liners that I’ve ever tried and it’s my favourite for using on the top waterline because it does not transfer to the lower lashline or budge. However, it’s not absolutely perfect because the creamy texture ensures that it needs to be sharpened frequently (if not, it comes out really unevenly) and therefore the product goes quickly. With this aside, the waterproof formula is creamy rather than waxy and stays put for ages. The shade is a richly pigmented black and it also can be smudged nicely as long as you work quickly. In short, I love this liner and will repurchase it after I use it up which shouldn’t be too far into the future.

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DSC_0205From the top: L’Oreal Universal Sun, Maybelline Deep Bronze, Maybelline Pink Rose

Maybelline Master Hi-Light Light-Boosting Blush/Bronzer in 20 Pink Rose/ 60 Deep Bronze ($14-16 CDN) – full post here

I’ve raved about the Deep Bronze shade time and time again as a gorgeous rosy copper blush (rather than its intended use) and that love has not wavered in the slightest and since having such success with that shade, I picked up the true rosy pink shade (Pink Rose) and have been enjoying that shade as well. They’re not the cheapest but the texture and formula of these powders is so gorgeous that they are truly a bargain; the shimmer is so fine that it reads like a glowy sheen, the pigmentation is on-point and lasts as such and they blend seamlessly into the skin like the most finely-milled of products. I highly recommend trying at least one of these.

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Rimmel Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm in Lady Marmalade ($7-8 CDN)

This is definitely the newest product (to me) of the bunch but I’ve worn it a good amount and it has been so impressive; it may just be my favourite of the balm pencils, at the drugstore at least. The true pinky-coral hue doesn’t lean so warm that it tends to pull out the yellow in the teeth and goes over dry patches like a champ, actually hydrating along the way with the balm quality but it also served so stain my lips after wearing it for an hour or two — the colour lasted for six hours through a snack and a small meal. It seems to both be comfortable to wear and effortless while still providing on the longevity front, at least if you leave it on the lips for long enough to set.

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What’s your favourite budget buy at the moment?
Maggie, x.