BzzAgent Campaign: Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Makeup

I was super excited when I saw this BzzAgent campaign pop up in my inbox. Typically with BzzAgent I tend to get more food and household BzzCampaigns … so whenever I get a beauty product campaign, I jump for joy. Okay, so maybe not literally … but it IS exciting!

Around the time I was sent the invitation I had seen the Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Makeup displays popping up in my local pharmacies. Walgreen’s and CVS more specifically as those are the 2 pharmacies I tend to frequent the most. I truthfully didn’t give the display much attention since I have yet to use any Neutrogena foundation and they are one of the higher priced drug store foundations.

Initially finding swatches of the shades online was troublesome. So after going to a number of websites I went out on a whim and decided to go with the fresh beige shade. I had my fingers crossed that the shade would be correct because for anyone whose ever tried to order foundation online you know the struggle is real. Some companies have a really bad habit of showing product color squares which are SO far off from what the true color is that it’s like batting into the dark.  So far the color seems to be a pretty good match for my skin; at first it looks a tad light until it’s worked in.

I will be giving this a trial run and will be sharing my thoughts as I use it a little more.

Sephora Haul

This is a little bit of an older Sephora haul … but better late than never!

When I had popped into Sephora I noticed they had a few more shades of the Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation in stock.  When the line first launched and I finally got into Sephora they were completely wiped out and had been wiped out for more than a month.  Finally during this visit they had one option available in the medium.  I tried the tester on my skin and thought it was the wrong shade because I felt the yellow-undertone medium was more my shade.  The sales associate that was there felt this was my exact shade … so I took her advice and purchased it.

Then on the way to the checkout I spotted this fragrance sampler box.  The Prelude to a Kiss box includes 5 “Sephora Favorites” where the box was $20 and contains sample size perfumes for testing. Once I decide what scent is more up my alley, I can bring the little card inside and pick up a roller ball of my choice.  What really pushed me into purchasing this was the fact that Flowerbomb was one of the options.  Within the box the following fragrances are available: Chloe L’eau de Chloe, Gucci Guilty, Ralph Lauren Romance (which I own), Tocca Colette and Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any of the products mentioned above?

Shannon's Combined Target & Walmart Haul

This is my combined Target and Walmart haul - which were done separately, at different times but instead of making separate posts, I'm just going to combine them into one.  I currently use the Elf eyebrow gel and have no problems with it (other than product getting stuck in the bottom of the container), but I've heard great things about the Maybelline Great Lash Clear so I decided it was time to give it a shot.  I had scoured Targets high and low for a few weeks and was never able to find the Clear variation -- so while at Walmart one day, getting some OTC medicines I spotted the mascara in the makeup aisle and snagged it.

The foundation is a whole new story.  I was watching YouTube videos and somehow landed on a video (by randomly clicking on the suggested videos) where the girl (apologies but I can't remember who) was talking about how she loves this L'Oreal True Match foundation and she first learned of it because of Kandee Johnson.  So I looked that Kandee Johnson video up (which she contours with a darker shade - which I won't do I rather bronzer) and started looking up different reviews on the product.  I decided it was going to be best for me since my skin is SO hard to match due to the undertones in my skin.  While at Walgreen's one day they had a whole display of every shade with a tester.  I tested a few and found N7 which matched the skin on the back of my hand and wrist absolutely perfectly!  I then went grab it off the shelf to buy it all excitedly .... and they were completely out!  Off to CVS - they carried 7 shades but none in the color combo I needed.  Went to Walmart - completely sold out of the shade I need.  [I now realize a lot of people that live around me are N7's!] Went to the Target closest to me, nope not even an option as they only carried 7 shades.  A few days later I went to the next Target up as I was running errands in the area and popped in and found THE LAST SHADE on the shelf!  I then noticed they had concealers so I grabbed the matching concealer - held on tightly because if I accidentally dropped them I'd be out of luck since these were the last shades in the store in my tone.  I purchased and my hunt was over!

Here's what I picked up:

- Maybelline Great Lash Mascara - Clear
- L'Oreal True Match Super-blendable Makeup - Classic Tan (N7)
- L'Oreal True Match Correcteur - Medium Deep (N 6-7-8)

Lacura Eye Shadow & Foundation Haul!

We recently got a grocery chain here on the East coast named ALDI. I go there once in a while to pick up some items for the house and milk since it’s the cheapest around. While browsing around I noticed they had a cosmetics section. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try it, but I decided to just go ahead and pick up 2 eye shadows and a foundation. The greatest part of this? ALL of these items are only 99 cents! Why are they 99 cents? That’s just the pricing structure for them BUT I do want to note these products are being discontinued from US-based stores, but from what I understand they will continue to sell them overseas. I had swatched the eye shadows on my hand at least a month ago and was like “Oh wow these are pigmented!” and my BF was looking at me like I was crazy because I was fawning over makeup AGAIN. So I left them there telling myself I didn’t need anything else. But I went back and after picking up some items for the house I decided to splurge a little and get some makeup. Figuring for a dollar if it’s garbage, oh well. Sadly they only had 2 color shades of eye shadows available and foundation, the other eye shadows are gone – which means I probably won’t find them unless I start calling the other ALDI’s in my area and traveling out to them which probably won’t happen.

Here’s a little background information on the Lacura brand from the ALDI website which is associated with the Lacura brand. The brand is:

• Critically acclaimed & award winning
• It’s made from natural ingredients like candelilla wax & avocado oil
• Contains the same ingredients that are in the expensive cosmetic brands
• Costs up to 95-percent less than name brands
• Dermatologist tested
• Products are not tested on animals
• Fragrance free

The packaging is pretty standup and wasn’t what I expected. I was expecting some cheap, plastic, but it’s pretty sturdy and a glassy metal case.

The three products I picked up and paid 99 cents for are as follows:

- Foundation – 40 Bronze. This is a great match for my skin tone, it the slight sheen it gives reminds me of Garnier’s BB cream. The box claims the following: “The soft and pleasant texture of LACURA foundation leaves your skin silky smooth and shin-efree while providing optimum coverage power. The formula with aloe vera and shea butter contains no perfumes, moisturizing the skin and leaving it feeling wonderfully soft.”

- 302 Lilac Eye Shadow Duo (for some reason my camera is photographing the up close shot more grey and white than lilac and purple - but you can see the true color in the 1st photo). This comes with a very light lilac shade and a deeper purple. The box claims the following: LACURA Duo Eyeshadow in perfectly coordinated color combinations for perfect eye make up. Finely textured LACURA Dup Eyeshadow is easy to apply and long lasting. LACURA Duo Eyeshadow fits perfectly in any handbag and has a mirror and applicator inside.

- 101 Cocoa Eyeshadow Duo. This comes with a darker brown and a lighter yellow/tan shade.

QUESTIONS:
Do you have an ALDI store nearby?
Have you ever tried the LACURA brand?

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