Something New: It Cosmetics CC+ Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream

 Sometimes I have the hankering to try something new, and when Ulta flashed its 20% off my way I decided I wanted to try a lighter weight foundation. My job as a Physical Therapist leaves my schvitsy at the end of a long day of lifting body parts and mobilizing joints. My Clinique Foundation feels like it slips a bit sitting on top of (or under?) my glistening sweat beads.  I've heard excellent things about It Cosmetics CC+ foundation so I thought I'd give it a try.

 I AM IT!

 The product comes housed in what looks like a squeezy tube but ITS NOT! It actually has a nice little pump leaving me to believe no cosmetic surgery will be needed at the end of this foundations life to get to every last bit of the product. The pump should get the job done. Also one pump dispenses the perfect amount of foundation. I chose the color 'light,' the second from the lightest shade. I think it suits me for the Summer but I may need to bump down a shade in the Winter. I dotted this on my face then blended with a beauty blender.

L: nothing on skin but moisturizer, R: It Cosmetics CC+ cream applied

This foundation ended up being far fuller coverage than I thought it would be for a CC cream. It also lasted all day long and paired well when I added concealer and powder to complete my look.
I think the color ended up being a little bit darker than I thought it would be so I think for the Winter I will go for the lighter shade.

Overall I love this product a lot. It feels light on the skin, provides enough coverage to make me happy, and doesn't break me out. The one drawback: the price tag. This product is $38, but you can always stock up when there is a sale at Ulta or the brands website.

Purchase this product HERE!

xxSJ

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows Review! And a little extra Z-Palette action...

I have recently been eyeing many a MAC eyeshadow to add to my matte neutrals collection, but before I made the big splurge, I watched a Youtube video in which Makeup Geek Eyeshadows were being absolutely raved about. Upon further investigation, I found that these eyeshadow pans are half the price of a MAC shadow at only $5.99 a pop and have very inexpensive shipping within the states. I thought I'd give them a shot!  They come packaged in a little cardboard slip, completely safe from dents or chips.

The colors I got were 'Cocoa Bear,' a red-toned warm dark brown; 'Creme Brulee,' a medium soft brown color; and 'Beaches & Cream,' a milky peach color. All of these colors were silky and buttery soft to the touch and swatched with awesome pigmentation. 

What I love most about these colors is how warm they are! They work beautifully together as a trio but will also work wonderfully to warm up other eye looks either in the crease or as a transition color.  The colors will work especially well as we transition into the Fall season!

I also bought a Z-Palette from Amazon to put these new shadows in and they fit like a dream! Z-Palettes are a really convenient way to mix and match your shadows and potted products to create your dream palette for everyday use or for travel.

The bottom of the Z-Palette is magnetized and the palette comes with magnetic stickers to put on the bottom of shadows you de-pot on your own.  Makeup Geek Eyeshadows come already magnetized, however, so they're ready to be popped right in!

I used only these three shadows to create an eye look displaying how warm these colors show up on the lid. They're simply gorgeous and they blend like a dream! I packed Beaches & Cream all over my lid, buffed Creme Brulee into my crease, then used Cocoa Bear to deepen up my outer corner.

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about my experience with these eyeshadows.  The shipping was fast and cheap, the prices were inexpensive given the quality of the product, and the shadows were everything I was expecting and then some! Now comes the hard part...resisting the urge to go on the Makeup Geek Website and buy every single one of those shadows!!! We'll see how long I last until you see another post with new colors I've purchased....let's be real, I probably won't resist that hard.

You can check out the Makeup Geek shadows here: http://www.makeupgeek.com/
xxSJ

Erase Paste Concealer by Benefit

Did you know that the 'f' in Benefit stands for 'fun?'  They certainly have the cutest and most fun packaging!! I'm always drawn to the Benefit section in Sephora and Ulta because of the fun packaging and bright colors, but I really haven't tried many of their products. I was recommended to try their 'Erase Paste' concealer by a past employee, so I thought I'd give this a shot and see if there is some quality product underneath all of the adorableness.  

Inside the little pinky purple box is a lesson right on top to teach you how to correctly use this concealer.  

The box also contains a tiny spoon to scoop out product if you don't like the hygienic implications behind dipping your finger in the same pot over and over again.  I myself will admit that I don't mind dipping my finger in to get product out so the spatula won't be useful until there isn't much product left and I'm scraping out of the crevices!

I picked the color Medium (no. 2). There are only two shades available for this concealer which is definitely a downside if neither of the colors work well for you.  This concealer is meant to be a brightening product which is why there is such a limited color selection.  The concealer is a salmony pink color rather than color matching to your skin.

This concealer is SUPER creamy and easy to blend on the skin.  I recommend applying it with your fingertips because the warmth from your fingers helps melt the product onto your skin, further blending it in.  Since it is a creamy product, setting it with a light powder will keep it from creasing or sliding around. 

I learned a little trick while buying this as I was complaining about my dark under-eye circles.  The tip is to layer or mix concealers! I never thought of doing this before as I was worried about creating some serious cakiness on my skin, but it makes so much sense! Laying down a skin tone concealer on its own does a pretty good job of covering the dark circles, however it can leave an ashy-gray tone behind since it can't completely cancel out the purple.  Putting a highlighting pinky concealer on top brings liveliness back to the skin color! 

The top picture above is my blank skin.  The second picture is with Maybelline Fit Me concealer in Light (a nude concealer).  The third picture is with Benefit Erase Paste added on top of the Maybelline Concealer.  It does a great job with further canceling out the purple tones of  my undereye area.

For some reason this concealer gets a bad rap from what I've read in other reviews online.  I recommend trying this out in the store layered on top of a nude concealer because I'm telling you, this stuff works! Benefit can be found in Sephora, Ulta, some department stores and a few free standing stores in America. It costs $26 for 0.15oz of product.

xxSJ