L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in 755 Gilded Envy

The L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in 755 Gilded Envy is a new shade that launched with the L'Oreal Butterfly collection.  I believe it's permanent.  I've seen it pretty much everywhere that L'Oreal Infallible shadows are carried.

L'Oreal doesn't offer a specific description as far as I can tell.  It's a very golden green.  In the pan, it looks much more green than it shows up on the skin.  On the skin, it's definitely a tarnished gold color.

Personally, I find the Infallible shadows to vary a lot in texture from silky smooth to a chunky nightmare to apply.  Gilded envy is on the chunkier side to me, but it does apply well (unlike my much loved Amber Rush - beautiful color, total pain to apply).  It has good pigmentation, but sometimes it takes a bit of work to make sure you have uniform color coverage.

As with all of the L'Oreal Infallible shadows I've tried, it wore really well.  I don't know that I buy the 24 hour claim, but it definitely holds up for the work day.  

L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow in 755 Gilded Envy contains 3.5 grams of product and retails for $5 - 10 depending on where you're purchasing.  I picked mine up at CVS on a BOGO1/2 off.

Overall:  7/10

L'Oreal Visible Lift Serum Absolute Advanced Age-Reversing Makeup

So, in continuing with my penchant for doing some posts solely for the purpose of complaining about a product, I bring you the GirlieReview product review for L'Oreal's Visible Lift Serum Absolute Advanced Age-Reversing Makeup.  

Cut to the chase, it's awful.  Just look at it.  Looking at it makes me want to cry.  It looks like a turd.  Because it is a turd.

This foundation is like no other foundation I've ever used (thankfully).  It has the strangest texture.  I definitely get the 'serum' part of this foundation.  It has a very thick, emollient, serum-y feel.  So imagine a really emollient, silicone heavy serum mixed with powder foundation.

Yeah.  It's as bad of a combination as you'd think.

The powder just sort of swims in the serum.  And the best part for me was that when you apply it to the skin, it's thick.  I found this foundation difficult to sheer out because the 'serum' never sinks into the skin.  It just sits on top of it.  The upper layer of the foundation does dry out and it has a rather cakey, powdery finish, but the layer next to the skin stays wet.  And it creases like crazy.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have baby skin.  I have my fair share of fine lines, but this foundation creased everywhere.  It creased in the corners of my eyes, it creased on my FOREHEAD.

So, to re-iterate, this foundation is awful.  Skip it, regardless of your skin type, it's awful.  I picked it up at my local grocery store, but you can avoid buying it anywhere L'Oreal tries to peddle this crap.  I'm giving it to my daughter for her dress up box.

Overall: 0/10

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in #343 Cherie Merie

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in #343 Cherie Merie is limited edition and was released with the L'Oreal Summer 2013 collection.  I have been on the lookout for this eyeshadow since I saw the first press releases back in May.

I have looked everywhere for this color.  I have looked at places like Ulta, Beauty.com, every drugstore I've wandered into all summer, Target, Wal-Mart, you name it.  I even tried trading for it on Makeup Alley and no dice.

This morning, I stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some file boxes and low and behold, there on an endcap was Cherie Merie.

Even after all the hype, I have to say that this color does not disappoint.  It is a rich, warm coral.  It does contain gold microglitter and it has a lovely sheen, but it definitely isn't sparkly on the lid.

Like most of the Infallible eyeshadows, it had phenomenal color payoff.  The only downside?  This color stains like crazy.  

The L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in #343, Cherie Merie, is limited edition, but theorhetically available wherever L'Oreal is sold (good luck finding it).  It contains 3.5 grams of product.  I picked mine up for $6.97 at Wal-Mart.

Overall:  8/10

L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder Foundation

L'Oreal recently released their version of the Armani Maestro foundation and it is called the L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder Foundation.  I picked mine up this weekend at Wal-Mart and I have to say, I am very impressed.

I picked up the color 310 Light Ivory, which I believe is the lightest shade that they make.  The range comes in 12 shades total.  Here is L'Oreal's official line on the product:

Get the ultimate un-makeup look with Magic Nude Liquid Powder Bare Skin Perfecting Makeup with SPF 18. Revolutionary liquid transforms on contact, leaving a soft powder like finish. This foundation is so amazingly lightweight it's like wearing no makeup at all! Just shake and apply – it’s magic!

Application:  Shake Well. For best makeup result, pour just a few drops onto fingers and apply directly onto skin. Not recommended for use with a sponge or brush.

I am shocked in the best way that L'Oreal decided to release a version of the Armani Maestro foundation at a drugstore price point.  After only two days of wearing this foundation, I will say that it is my favorite drugstore foundation, ever.  It is phenomenal ... for the drugstore.

A caveat to my review:

• I have incredibly dry skin.  L'Oreal doesn't seem to have an official recommendation on what skintypes this foundation is good for.  I love it on my super dry skin.  The only other foundation I'm aware of that is based on volatile oils, the Armani Maestro foundation, says that it is good for all skin types, but I cannot attest to how either formula wears on oily skin.  If you have oily skin, buyer beware. 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I figure that most people who pick this foundation up, or at least the ones who are going to bother reading beauty blog reviews of this foundation, are interested in it because it is an extremely budget friendly version of the Armani Maestro foundation, so my review is going to concentrate on comparing the two foundations.

Packaging:
I really like the L'Oreal Magic Nude packaging.  It is a really tall, thin, square, glass bottle. It doesn't take up a lot of space on the counter.  It fits neatly into my makeup organizer, unlike the Armani Maestro foundation, which is a round bottle and doesn't really play nicely with any kind of storage.

The Armani Maestro foundation comes with a dropper, which I really like.  I know that some people found it really gimmicky, but I find it incredibly convenient.  It allows you to keep the makeup sanitary and it makes it easy to dispense.  The L'Oreal Magic Nude, you have to just take the lid off and pour it out, which is not sanitary at all.  Also .. messy.

The L'Oreal Magic Nude foundation contains .91oz.  The Armani Maestro foundation contains 1 oz.

Look and Feel:
The Armani Maestro foundation is made of volatile oils.  When you first apply it, it feels very cooling on the skin as those oils evaporate.  The L'Oreal Magic Nude doesn't have the cooling feel.  It also doesn't feel as oily to the touch.  I think it has more silicones in it than the Armani.

On the Skin:
I think on the skin, the products look very similar.  They both sit very nicely on my dry, mature skin.  They are both virtually undetectable provided you get them applied evenly.  They are both so lightweight that it really feels like you're wearing nothing at all.

I will say, that like the Armani foundation, the L'Oreal will cling to any flaky skin.  My skin is super dry and I think the foundation sits well, but if I have any spots where the skin is flaking off, both foundations will cling to it and make it look worse.

The Armani does seem to have more pigmentation.  The L'Oreal isn't bad, but it's not quite as pigmented as the Armani.  The Armani foundation bills itself as having a luminous finish.  I don't think it does at all.  I think both foundations have a wonderful natural matte finish that looks like bare skin.  At least in the marketing, I think L'Oreal did a much better job with this aspect in calling it "nude" than Armani did with the "luminous".

SPF:
The L'Oreal Magic Nude has an SPF of 18.  The Armani Maestro has an SPF of 15.  The active ingredient in the L'Oreal Magic Nude is Octinoxate 3%.

Wear Time:
I get really similar results from both foundations.  I've worn them both up to 12 hours and they don't really seem to break down.  I may get a tiny bit shiny in my t-zone, but nothing bad.  Neither foundation seems to oxidize on me.

As previously mentioned, the L'Oreal Magic Nude foundation contains .91oz of product.  It retails for $10 - $13 wherever L'Oreal is sold.  I picked mine up at Wal-Mart for $10.97.

Overall:  10/10

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Bronzed Taupe

I love the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows so I was excited to pick up a new one in the shade Bronzed Taupe.  They are fantastic quality at a drugstore price point.  I have a variety of different colors with different finishes.  The Infallible shadows come in matte, sparkle and metallic finishes.  The metallic finishes are by far my favorite.  Just look at that swatch, isn't it beautiful!

The pigmentation of the Infallible shadows is fantastic. The wear time is fantastic on my lids with or without a primer I easily get 9 hours, but have worn them up to 12 hours with no noticeable creasing.  I will admit I haven't worn them for 24 hours (ewww), but I wouldn't wear any shadow for 24 hours.

I love the consistency of these shadows.  They are a pressed pigment and are looser than a solid pan of eyeshadow.  There is definitely some kind of liquid component and they apply so easily and smoothly.

The L'Oreal Infallible shadows contain 3.5 grams of product and retail for $7 - 12 depending on where you pick them up.  

Overall: 10/10

Review: L'Oreal Infallible Lipglosses

I am going to have to try more products in the L'Oreal Infallible line.  I absolutely LOVE the Infallible Eyeshadows (OMG, have I really not done a blog post on them?  The horror!  I'll get on that stat.)  So when I saw the Infallible glosses, I decided to try them.

L'Oreal has at least 3 different Infallible Lipgloss lines.  There are:

• 6 hour 
• 8 hour "Le Gloss"
• 8 hour plumping

I tried the 6 hour and the 8 hour glosses.

In the 6 hour, I tried #115, "Blush".  This stuff wears incredibly well.  6 hours?  Probably.  It's tacky rather than sticky like some other long wearing glosses I've tried.  The texture reminded me a lot of longwear lipsticks except without the need to put the gloss on top.  Overall, I'd say the formula is much more like a liquid lipstick than a gloss.

In the 8 hour formula, I tried #240, Glistening Berry.  This is a much more vibrant color than the 6 hour formula I tried and I can't say that I got two additional hours of weartime out of it.  I can chalk that up to the color being so much darker and therefore being much more apparent when it did start to fade.  I'd say that I did still get a solid 6 hours of wear out of it.  And like the 6 hour formula, the 8 hour is much more of a liquid lipstick than a gloss.

Gloss is not my favorite thing because it disappears so quickly on me and I feel like I do nothing but re-apply all day long.  But this product certainly solves that issue.

The product has a doe foot applicator.  The tube contains .21oz or 6.3 mL of product.  It retails for around $7 and comes in 20 shades.

This is a solid home run for me.

Overall: 10/10

Have you guys tried it yet?  What did you think?

I must admit, this is one of the most amusing product gimmicks I've seen in a while.  I hope you can read this, but there is a sticker on the top of the lip gloss that read "Mirror underneath".  So if you take off the sticker, supposedly you can use the top of the gloss as a mirror.  LOL!  This could be standard on glosses, I honestly don't buy them enough to know, but it really tickled me.

Review: L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer

The L’Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer launched (I believe) in Fall/Winter 2011.  It has generated a good amount of buzz, IMO mostly because of the price point and availability.  L’Oreal is a drugstore brand and so while this product isn’t super cheap, it is within most people’s budgets.  In the U.S., it’s available just about anywhere drugstore makeup is sold for right about $10 - cheaper if you can find coupons.

Despite it being called a primer, the offical press release from L’Oreal doesn’t seem to indicate that you should use it at all like a primer.  Their suggested uses:

• use it alone (no foundation)
• mix it with foundation
• use it as a highlighter

So, no priming going on there :(

The product definitely has a pearly sheen, but no glitter.  It’s very emolient and a little bit will go a long way.  

I tried using it as a primer and I found it to be pretty ineffective.  If you’re using it under anything but the absolute sheerest foundation, you’re not going to notice it at all.  It definitely doesn’t do anything to refine the skin surface before applying foundation.

Mixed with foundation, the consistency of the foundation is the determining factor in how much oomph you’re going to get out of it.  I mixed it with 2 foundation, my MAC Select SPF 15 and my Neutrogena Healthy Skin.

The MAC Select SPF 15 has a natural matte finish and I really didn’t notice much difference when I mixed it with the Magic Lumi.

The Neutrogena Healthy Skin is a very emolient foundation with a dewey finish and I got way more payoff when I mixed the Magic Lumi with it.  It wasn’t crazy frosty or anything, but definitely noticeable whereas I didn’t think it was with the MAC Select SPF 15.

As a highlighter itself on top of either foundation, it was okay.  I really don’t think I’d use it in leiu of my other highlighters. Mostly, this product just doesn't deliver for me. I'd be curious to see what it does on deeper skintones or on a more oily complexion. For me, it just doesn't really do a whole lot at all.

Swatches*:

MAC Select SPF 15 Foundation - flash

MAC Select SPF 15 Foundation - sunlight

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation - flash

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation - sunlight

Overall:  5/10

*there is obviously an art to swatch photography.  I applied the product like I would actually use it (as opposed to packing it on for better payoff on camera) and as you can tell, the photos are pretty useless.  You really can't see much difference at all.  UGH.  I'm working on this.  I promise I'll get better.

Eyeliner Updates: Benefit, L'Oreal, Maybelline

It's been a while since my last big eyeliner post and I have updates:

Benefit Magic Ink

.08oz,  $20

This is one of the few eyeliners I've seen in a long time that has an actual bristle brush applicator.  The only other 2 I can think of are the Kat Von D eyeliner and the Vincent Longo eyeliner.  The brush is really thin, which allows for very precise product application.  However, be forewarned that if you're looking for a dramatic eyeliner look, you may be spending a good chunk of time applying product.

I personally prefer bristle brush applicators, but if you're not a fan of them, you might want to skip this product, especially given how fine the brush is.

The formula it incredibly pigmented.  This is easily the blackest black eyeliner I've ever seen.  You don't even have to give it a good shake.  Not the slightest hint of wateriness to be found.

The product goes on smooth.  I haven't noticed any issues with it flaking or cracking.  It seems to stay a bit pliable, which prevents the cracking and flaking but does mean that it smudges pretty easily, even hours after application.  And if your eyes water at all, this stuff will run.

It's not something I'd wear daily, but when you're looking to do a really precise, pigmented eyeliner look, it's great.

Overall:  7/10



L'Oreal Telescopic Waterproof Eyeliner

.07oz, around $8

You can still readily get this eyeliner from most retailers (Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Ulta, etc), but I can't find it on the L'Oreal site right now.  I really hope they're not discontinuing this product.  I feel like they're always cycling out the products that I like.

This product took a while to grow on me.  I learned the hard way that you really need to give it a vigorous shaking before application.  But now, I love it.  It's my go-to liner.

The applicator lays down a good strip of product.  The pigmentation (provided you give it a good shake) is really good, not at all watery.  The waterproof formula is surprisingly waterproof.  I don't go swimming in it or anything, but I often have watery eyes and this stuff has never budged.

This product isn't great if you're trying to do a dramatic winged liner look.  The product will contract as it dries and it's just not good for that type of look.  However, if you're just wanting a regular liner, it's fantastic.  And for a waterproof product, it comes off easily at the end of the day.

Overall:  9/10





L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Eyeliner

.05oz, ranges $9 - 16

Like the Telescopic waterproof, I'm thinking they may be discontinuing this as well.  It's not longer available on the L'Oreal site either.

I was looking for a daily wear alternative to the Benefit Magic Ink.  This product got a lot of play on YouTube, specifically as being an alternative to the Lancome Art Liner at a much better price point.  There were specifically raves about how intensely pigmented the formula is.

I was very underwhelmed.  The tube I bought is not intensely pigmented.  It's okay.  But it's really watery, even with a good shaking.  I don't care for the applicator brush at all.  It's really long and floppy.  I'd prefer a bristle brush to a floppy felt tip.

Overall:  5/10



Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner

.106oz, around $8.50

Comes in 4 shades: black, brown, charcoal and eggplant.  Supposedly gives you 24 hours wear.

I have only tried the brown formula, but I can easily say that there is no way this is a 24 hour wear product.  On me (and I don't have oily lids), it's not even a 6 hour wear.  You could probably set it with an eyeshadow and get longer wear out of it, but to my way of thinking that sort of defeats the purpose of using a long wear gel eyeliner.  And it works well as a color base, but again, not exactly why I purchased it.

It comes with a brush that doesn't totally suck, though I don't ever use it to apply this product.  The Maybelline gel liner is also much cheaper than the MAC Fluidline, but in this case, you get what you pay for.

Overall:  6/10


Swatches
(sorry for all the flash, camera wasn't cooperating):