Here is a hint: It's more than 2, but less than 4. I'm even a bit baffled by my lack of usual product splurging! I can't really remember a time that I've bought so few items, but hey... if I really want to keep my makeup "collection" as condensed as possible after a loooooong journey of de-stashing (which you can follow here), sacrifices MUST be made, i.e. no more willy nilly product snatching.
Since this month has a very manageable number of purchases, why not do a little bulk review? Sounds fun, right?
Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel in Bare Bones, Physicians Formula Conceal RX in Natural Light, and Rimmel Match Perfection 2-in-1 Concealer & Highlighter in Light
I'll admit, this is a pretty pedestrian "haul", but hey... at least I'm happy with 2/3rds of the purchases.
The first product of the new year was the Physicians Formula Conceal RX in Natural light. I'm not going to lie, both acquiring and using this product has been a HUGE pain in the rear. This concealer comes in four shades, two of which are very fair "skin toned" (and I use that term in the loosest of manners because one is waaaay pink and the other oxidizes like mad), and two in corrective shades of green and yellow. I originally had the lightest shade, Fair Light, which pretty much turned out to be the color of cooked salmon... and the bottom had a huge hole in it so it was swiftly traded out for the one I currently have, which is Natural Light.
Honestly, if I could return this product, I would... I just seem to have misplaced my receipt. Why? Well... let's start out with the obvious: This doesn't match my skin tone seeing as how oxidizes into a lovely orange/coral shade. It also has an unpleasantly tacky texture straight out of the tube that makes it a pain to blend (think "Elmer's glue stick"). To make things even worse after a bad shade and horrible blendability, it also dries down to look like powder. Noooo spank you, sir. Apart from pretty decent coverage, this product was a complete and total bust for me. $8.95 has been effectively wasted. Booo.
On a lighter note, I've become rather smitten with my purchases from yesterday!
The first thing that I picked up was this Revlon ColorStay Longwearing Nail Enamel in Bare Bones. I had been craving a particularly bland neutral that made me think "plain oatmeal" the night before, and while paroozing the Revlon display at Wally World I just happened upon this beauty! I had been meaning to try out this line from Revlon for a while since I've heard several people rave about it, yet I was a bit weary because I don't play nicely with the classic Revlon nail polish line, but hey... variety is the spice of life, right?
Overall, I'm relatively pleased with this polish. This line is by no means replacing my preferred drugstore polish brand, but it's a definite improvement from the classic Revlon nail polishes in my opinion. I've already raved a bit about the terrifically bland shade, but I also really like how quickly this polish dries down. I'm not exactly a huge fan of the brush, which reminds me a LOT of the Wet n Wild MegaLast brush, but that's just me being nit picky. I'm also a little disappointed by the formula since it is a little bit streaky/patchy with the first coat and needs 3 coats to be completely opaque. And, yes, I do have unreal expectations for how many coats to achieve opacity is acceptable.
Revlon Bare Bones, two coats.
Even though this polish has a few negative aspects to it, I'm still willing to explore more shades in the range, which is something short of a miracle to me since I religiously stick to a specific drugstore brand.
The second product was another concealer to replace the two I managed to go through in December/remedy the horror which was the Physicians Formula Concealer RX.
I've heard SO much about this 2-in-1 concealer & highlighter from my friend, Mary over at NeonChipmunk so I figured that picking it up would be a bright move. Spoiler alert: I'm not disappointed.
First off, I'd like to state that I lean more towards lightweight and subtle highlighting concealers more than heavy-duty ones when it comes to the under eye area since my hereditary dark circles and deep creases I was born with are beyond help. These kind of concealers don't completely remedy my issues, but I think subtle improvement is a lot more physically appealing than a pound and a half of concealer that completely gets rid of my discoloration, but leaves my under eye looking like a caked up creasy mess!
Ignore the unruly and lusciously glossy "mountain man" brows (gotta love genetics) and the stray glitter fleck... where did that even come from!?
Yeah, I know... the results don't look that impressive, but I definitely prefer this over the Benefit Boi-ing that I've been forced to use after my Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch ran out. I also kind of blame the fact I had to use flash to get these pictures to actually turn out for diminishing the real life results which are a lot better (trust me). In real life, this really does do a good job of effectively brightening my discoloration and adding some visual lift. It doesn't have the best coverage in the world, but the awesomeness of the highlighter makes up for that. I can definitely see myself using this as a highlighting component for extreme contouring/highlighting, which I do dabble in from time to time.
One thing I found to be really nifty about this concealer is what is on the back:
Major points to Rimmel for providing a little guide for shade matching! I'm not a fan of Rimmel foundations at all, but still... it's the thought that counts. ALL drugstore brands should do this because I have managed to mismatch my foundation and concealer countless times from the same brand. Hmpf.
Apart from wanting maybe a touch more of coverage, the only thing I have to complain about with this product is the nastiness which is the brush. This is after a grand total of two uses. *Shudder* I can not handle messy applicators or caked concealer/foundation and I can tell that this is going to drive me absolutely bonkers.
Anywhozzle, it's nice to see y'all after a month long hiatus. I hope the new year has been treating you right!
See ya later with a new post on my top 5 favorite pinky nudes!
The Science of Chic, over and out!
Yay Match Perfection, I'm so glad that you like it!
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