drugstore Archives - Curiously Carmen

ELF Tone Adjusting Face Primer

September 14, 2016

Since I’ve been jobless for the past few months and will continue to be while I strap on and focus on my FINAL semester of university, I’ve been cutting down on a lot of my spending. Lately, I’ve been really into looking at drugstore alternatives to alleviate costs!

I came across the ELF Tone Adjusting Face Primer while watching beauty videos on Youtube. One of my favourite beauty gurus, Weylie, really recommended this primer and said it kept her foundation locked in on a 40 degrees Celsius day picking berries in the California heat.

For only $8, I was really intrigued and wondered if it would work just as well for me! I bought the primer a few weeks later at my local Superstore.
The product is pretty straightforward and easy to use. It dispenses in a pump, and is green. Green helps cover up redness, which I tend to have.

I usually pump about one and a half pump for my full face. Once you put it on your face, it really smooths out your skin and creates a nice, lightweight and breathable film for your foundation to go on. It also blurs out your pores nicely.
To give this primer the ultimate test, I wore it to Whytecliff Park on a super hot, 30 degree day. The sun was shining directly on me, no shade at all, and the perfect weather to climb the huge boulder (about a 10 minute steep trek up the boulder).

I was SUPER IMPRESSED when I got back home, and my foundation was just as nice as when I had put it on in the morning!
Here is another picture with the primer, with no filter or photo editing. I am also wearing the L’Oreal true match foundation and Maybelline mineral powder. The two products work well with the primer and are really blendable!

I’ve been using this for about three weeks now, and I absolutely LOVE it and am so impressed! My makeup lasted a full day with this on. Even my blush did not budge at all, and stayed put at the end of the day. For only $8, it is definitely a steal!

Yay!

TRESemmé Reverse Beauty-Full Volume system

February 29, 2016

Happy Leap Day!!! This is the first time a post has ever been published on February 29th here on Curiously Carmen 🙂 The next time this happens will be in 4 years, I wonder where Curiously Carmen will be in 2020!

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I’ve used TRESemmé for many years back in high school. It was all my mom ever bought because it was pretty cheap for a large bottle, and we love to save money wherever we can! I ended up using the same line for so many years that eventually my hair built tolerance to it, and found my hair got oily faster. I was also getting tired of the smell after so long, and finally ended up buying my own drugstore shampoo instead.

TRESemmé has recently launched a new line of hair products called the Beauty-Full Volume system. This is my first time coming back to TRESemmé after a couple years, even though I have used it occasionally when I ran out of my usual shampoo and used my mom’s. I have been trying out this new line for a bit over a week now, and here is what I thought of it!

What sets this line apart from other products is that you are supposed to use the conditioner first, and then shampoo! Following the proper steps will lead to what TRESemmé describes as ‘bouncy, touchable hair’.
Step 1) TRESemmé Beauty-Full Volume Pre-Wash Conditioner: As mentioned above, you are supposed to condition your hair first. I liked that this came in a pump bottle, as it was easy to dispense the product. It has a clear but slightly thick consistency to it.

After using 2-3 pumps and leaving this on for one minute as you would with any conditioner, you rinse it off. Since I have an oily hair type, I only used this starting from the middle of my hair, down to the tips. As I washed the conditioner off, I instantly felt my hair transform into something more soft and ‘flowing’, if that makes any sense.

Step 2) TRESemmé Beauty-Full Volume Shampoo: Following is the shampoo! I wished that the shampoo came with a pump as well, but no big deal. I squirted some product into my hand first, about the size of a Canadian quarter. Then, I lathered it into my hair.

I love the smell of this shampoo! It smells very refreshing, and reminds me of green apple. Not too feminine, so males in the household could use this as well. I found that it lathered quite a bit, which made me feel like it did a great job in cleaning.
Step 3) TRESemmé Beauty-Full Volume Hair Maximizer: After getting out of the shower, apply the maximizer to damp hair, then blow dry. I normally don’t put product in my hair after I wash it, but this would be good on special occasions where I want my hair to look a bit nicer!

I found that the maximizer further softened my hair and it also tamed flyaways.

Overall, I really like TRESemmé’s new line and could see myself continuing to use it. I love the fresh scent, and how volumized, clean and soft my hair looks!

Even after twelve hours of wash, I can still smell the shampoo on my hair and my hair feels nice and light, but volumized at the same time. My friend also commented that my hair looked more volumized too!

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Garnier Clean + Makeup Removing Lotion Cleanser

March 5, 2015

Hi everyone,

I’m always into trying out new skincare products. I wish I was blessed with perfect, fair, smooth skin but unfortunately I’m not. Luckily, there are a lot of products out there that can make your skin feel and look healthy, given that you are willing to put in the effort! The new Garnier Clean Plus is one of these skincare products.This product is targeted for those who have sensitive skin and wear makeup, especially those who live on waterproof mascara! Removing waterproof mascara is no easy task unless you have a great makeup remover at hand. In fact, waterproof mascara is so difficult to remove that Garnier specifically points out that this cleanser will remove waterproof mascara! That is a pretty bold claim!

Since the Clean + is for sensitive skin, there is no scent in it. I found the texture of the cleanser to be very creamy and thick, but also oily. I think the oily factor is for removing tough waterproof mascara. I’ve noticed that the best makeup removers I’ve ever used are oily, it must be some sort of ingredient in that oil that breaks and dissolves the makeup.
Since I had this product shipped from Garnier, it was out in the cold all day before I picked up the package. By then, the cleanser had slightly frozen over, I had to give it a good shake as all the oil was coming out instead of the creamy cleanser. This won’t be a problem if you are getting this product in stores, or if you don’t leave this out in the cold for hours on end. It was a weird and interesting experience as I’ve never dealt with frozen facial cleansers before!

I decided to test this out in the shower, without removing my makeup as I normally do. When I came out of the shower, any trace of my super tough Kat Von D eyeliner was gone. I was wearing minimal foundation that day too, Maybelline Dream Mousse, and it was easily removed as well! I noticed that my face felt really smooth and soft afterwards.
The next day, I decided to test out this product out with some of my toughest products and see if it would withstand the test. On my hand are five different products, including waterproof mascara on the bottom. For this test, I also primed my skin as well, like I normally would if I was wearing full makeup.
I was shocked at how effortlessly the makeup came off! The toughest product to remove was not actually the waterproof mascara, but my Stila waterproof liquid eyeliner followed by the Benefit push-up liner! Even then, they both came off a few short moments after.

The area where the cleanser went made my hand extra soft as well.

I would recommend this to those who have sensitive skin. As well, those who are looking for an all in one powerful cleanser – makeup remover, cleanser, AND moisturizer!

After writing this post, I am feeling like introducing my Holy Grail makeup remover in a future post!

Have you tried this product? Do you prefer to have a 3 in 1 cleanser OR prefer to do each step with different products?

Thanks for reading! You can see other reviews on this product here on She Blogs-CrowdSocial or check out #GarnierSensitive on Twitter!

-Carmen

Product provided for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and not altered by the requests of Garnier. This blog post does not reflect Garnier’s opinions in any way.

L’Oreal True Match Foundation

March 2, 2015

Hi everyone,

I’ve had the L’Oreal True Match foundation for awhile now, but didn’t really like it at first so it was kept at the back of my makeup storage. I decided to bring it out and give it another chance, here is how that went!
This foundation claims to be super blendable, and is the first of its kind as it matches your skin’s texture and tone.

Since I am more knowledgeable about makeup now, I decided to give it a try again but wearing a base and setting powder which might support and enhance this foundation.
I started off with The Face Shop’s beauty balm, which you can read about here. Then, I put on the foundation using my fingertips. As I mentioned earlier, the foundation was more watery than I expected but it blended very nicely. It became almost like a powdery, soft texture after you blend it out.

I then finished off with my Maybelline Mineral Powder foundation which I talked about last week, and my ELF blush. Yep, I was trying to use all drug store that day (on my skin at least, I don’t have any drugstore eyeliners).

With the addition of the primer and setting foundation, I liked the L’Oreal True Match a lot more. I’m glad that I gave it a second try! My foundation lasted the whole day, but that might have been with the help of the primer and setting foundation.

I was browsing around Shoppers Drug Mart on my lunch break, and my jaw almost dropped when I saw that they were selling this foundation for $20. That is pretty pricey for a drugstore foundation! Or maybe it’s because I haven’t looked at drugstore foundation for awhile and that’s the standard price now? Let me know how much you pay for your drugstore foundation down below =)
I probably won’t buy this again since there are a lot of other foundations I like much more, but I don’t mind using this up. I would recommend this product to those who are looking for a daily light coverage foundation.

Have you tried this product? What did you think of it?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Favourite Drugstore Facial Washes

February 21, 2015

Good afternoon everyone! (Or whatever time it is where you are!)

I’ll be talking about my favourite drugstore facial washes today. These two face washes never fail to disappoint me, and always do an amazing job taking off my makeup at the end of the night. I’ve tried higher end face washes, such as the Bliss Fabulous Foaming Wash which was pretty disappointing. It’s kind of sad that a $3 product removes makeup better than a $24 product does… and it’s 8x more cheaper!

My two current favourite drugstore washes are the Olay deep cleaning face wash and St. Ives apricot scrub. They are both great at deep cleaning and will remove all your face makeup, no matter how much you have on or how much primer you put on!
Starting with the St. Ives apricot scrub, I’ve been using this for many years now… probably even since high school. I just have nothing bad to say about this product. For $3, it is seriously amazing. It smells great, removes all your makeup, and acts as a great exfoliant. After using this, my skin always feels great, refreshed, and re-energized.

While I was writing this review, I decided to look up some other opinions on this scrub. Some people said that the exfoliant in the apricot scrub was too abrasive and rough on their skin. For me personally, I don’t mind but I don’t use this product daily. I use it on days where I have full foundation coverage on because it does a great job in breaking down the foundation, or days where I feel my skin feels extra oily.

My second favourite drugstore foundation that works wonders is the Olay deep cleansing face wash with witch hazel. My mom bought this and at first, I didn’t really like it because of the scent, but it does a great job at deep cleansing your skin. It has a thicker and creamier texture, and is a weird silvery/grey colour. This one is suitable to use daily as it is not an exfoliating scrub like the apricot scrub.

When I’m taking my foundation off, I first start with the apricot scrub since the naturally grainy texture in it really separates and breaks apart foundation. I gently rub my face in small circles to get all my makeup off. If I feel like going the extra step, I’ll use the Olay wash next which is more gentle. My skin seriously feels soft, refreshing, and is makeup free after these two quick steps.

These two full sized products combined will definitely not break the bank. I get the St. Ives apricot scrub at Wal-mart for $3, I can’t believe how cheap it is. Actually, it might even be $2.50 or $2.95… I can’t remember exactly. I believe the Olay wash is around $4.

You really don’t need to spend lots to have effective face washes! =)

Also, if you’re wondering, my daily cleanser is the Lush herbalism cleanser. While the Lush cleanser is just as effective as these two, it also costs more and I try to only use a little bit each day because of the price. With that said, I need more product when removing a full face of makeup, so I rather use the apricot scrub or Olay wash. You can read my detailed review on the herbalism cleanser here.

What are your favourite face washes? Have you tried any of these products and how did you like them?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen