Things I Currently Adore...and a review of my Current Makeup Products

Happy Happy Friday!
I'm so glad it's the weekend!
I'm in dire need of a few days off to relax, lab work has been insane and so busy.
Thought I would put together a post about the current products are my go-to and what I am obsessed with.
I recently had to buy more makeup, but I couldn't afford the hefty price tag of my high end products from Sephora, like my Smashbox CC cream, Dior and Bare Minerals Mascara, or my Urban Decay Palettes, so I had to settle for some cheaper options for my every day looks. I am saving my more expensive makeup for special occasions! See my reviews below and a comparison!
Here's the look from a day in Paris visiting the Eiffel Tower! Photos to come next week for the next parts of my travel diary!

1. Smashbox Photo Ready CC Cream vs Maybelline Pure BB Cream
Granted, they're not the same product, as one is a CC cream and one is a BB cream (wheres the AA cream?? lol!), but both do the trick, although I do prefer the CC cream. The CC cream provides more full coverage and it does what it says - color corrector. I've been using it to cover up dark circles under my eyes, redness, scarring, and it works, well. When I switched to the BB cream, it did its job, but I noticed I had to apply more product to get the coverage that I wanted. It says it is a sheer tint, so I shouldn't have expected as full coverage as the CC cream, but it still helped with redness. I did notice though, the BB cream started clogging my pores, as I started getting some little spots/pimples I think that are called malia near my eyes, near the scaly skin near your tear duct, which was quite annoying. The BB cream claims to have salicylic acid to help treat acne while covering up, which is a great addition, and I did notice my skin has cleared up a bit. Although that could also be due to eating clean and changing my diet. As a daily cover up, it does the job, especially when I am just going to lab. If I was going to an event, dinner, going out, I would use the CC cream, but for daily just going to lab, the BB cream works.

SMASHBOX Camera Ready CC Cream • Smashbox • $42
Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream • Maybelline • $8.99

2. L'Oreal LA Palette Nude 1 vs Urban Decay Smoky Palette
I love love love Urban Decay. I have all the Naked Palettes except for Naked 1. For my daily makeup looks to lab I love just wearing a simple brownish/nude/goldish look, as it makes my eyes pop but isn't too much for work. I have easily almost used up all of my sparkly brown nude shades in almost all of my palettes. And at a hefty 54$ for a palette, I can't afford to do that. So I recently found the L'Oreal LA Palette Nude 1 at about 20$, and it does a good job. The shades are more matte than the shimmery ones found in the Urban Decay Palettes, but as a daily thing for lab where I'm not too concerned about anyone noticing my eyeshadow, its fine!

Urban Decay 'Naked Smoky' Palette • Urban Decay • $54
L'Oral Color Riche La Palette Nude 1 • L'Oreal • $19.99
L'Oral Color Riche La Palette Nude 2 • L'Oreal • $19.99

3. L'Oreal Voluminous Original Mascara vs Dior "DiorShow" Blackout Mascara 
Now, I LOVED the Dior Blackout mascara, it really makes your lashes full of volume, and I just adore the wand, it really is built for volume! But, the Dior Mascara comes at a hefty 29$ price tag. I initially switched to a mascara by Bare minerals that was also great, but last week I came across the L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara, and OMG. at 1/3 of the price of Dior Mascara, I am achieving a similar look! I am in love with it! Totally worth it. Lots of volume as the name suggests, and definitely separates my lashes. I remember snap chatting about it and saying my eyelashes look fake!

L'Oreal Voluminous Volume Building Curved Brush Mascara • L'Oreal • $8.49
Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Lash Domination Volumizing Mascara • bareMinerals • $19
Dior 'Diorshow' Lash-Extension Effect Volume Mascara • Christian Dior • $28.50

4. Urban Decay Primer potion
Ok, I have no comparison here, mainly because I haven't been able to find a product that is as good quality as the Primer Potion. It is a little expensive (20$ for a little bottle of it), but it is WORTH IT and last a while. I have been using this product forever and it really does make your makeup last! My makeup has lasted ALL day, over 12 hrs of running around the lab, even going to the gym and sweating. The one day I forgot to use eyeshadow primer, my eyeshadow caked pretty fast. And this primer also helps my liquid liner last, and not smudge throughout the day! Do you have a primer that you love? let me know about it and I'll try it out!

Urban Decay Anti-Aging Eyeshadow Primer Potion • Urban Decay • $13–24
Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion • Urban Decay • $12–20

5. Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Liner
This one is probably the best liquid liners I've used, and I've tried different ones. It has a felt tip which makes it really easy to apply a cat eye. After I had a hard time finding it in target (boo!), I paid a little extra for the Sephora Brand liquid liner, which was also good, but it has a little brush. When I ran out of that one and tried to buy more at Sephora, they only had the waterproof kind, and I was reluctant but I needed liquid liner.... and I regret the purchase. I used it for a week, and I had a reaction to it. I tend to avoid waterproof products (mascara, liner) because they're super hard to take off, and I always end up losing some eyelashes... and this Sephora Waterproof liquid liner started to make my eye lid skin burn when I applied it. Bad bad bad. So I immediately tossed it and went back to my Line Stiletto Liquid Liner.

Tattoo Liner • $20
Maybelline Line Stiletto Ultimate Precision Liquid Eyeliner • Maybelline • $5.99


Shop the products below, if you want to try the deals or the splurges, and let me know what you think of them!

Are there any products for the categories I've talked about that you use that you can't go without that I should try? Do let me know! I'm always down for trying new products!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo
Andrea