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Affordable Drugstore Makeup Mini Reviews: Bronzer, Primer, Powder Liner and Lipstick From Neutrogena, Covergirl and Revlon

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coverigrl trublend banana neutrogena bronzed

Good morning! Happy Friday! 🤗

Some speedy reviews of drugstore items I’ve been wearing as of late…

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blush in Bronzed ($8.99)

Technically, this is a blush, but if you’re on the fairest of the fair end of the skin tone spectrum, this matte golden tan would be a bangin’ bronzer. It’s easy to blend and lasts all day. Since it’s a little too light to wear as a bronzer on my tan skin, I swoosh a little in my crease as a transition color. It’s perfect for that, too!

Covergirl Trubelnd Minerals Loose Mineral Powder in Banana ($7.99)

This yellow tinted loose powder is primarily for setting concealer and foundation, and the yellow tint is designed to create a brightening effect… I didn’t really notice a difference. *shrugs* It more or less looked translucent on my skin. Anywho, I dusted this atop a mix of tinted moisturizer and a little concealer during a recent heat wave, and it held the oil on my forehead at bay without looking heavy or thick.

I like this…but I think it’s a better fit for medium and deep complexions with olive undertones, because the yellow can look a little “off” on lighter skin.

Covergirl Trublend Base Business Skin Primer ($8.24)

This colorless face primer, like all Covergirl products, is cruelty-free. I don’t really feel like it adds any moisturize to my dry skin, but it does a bang-up job of mellowing out my pores. When I layer it underneath tinted moisturizer or concealer, my base looks smoother and lasts longer. I also seem to use less base, too.

Covergirl Full Spectrum Defining Moment in Blackest Black and Deep Purple ($7.99 each)

I like the black version of this twist-up liner because it actually stays on waterlines and lash lines, and once it’s there, it doesn’t move. Totally solid. The purple shade is just OK though… It doesn’t stick to my waterlines at all, but it handles my lash lines well enough.

Revlon Creme Lipstick in Pink Velvet ($4.99)

Ya know, this lipstick is just as good as ever — smooth, lightweight and BURSTING with pigment. And it’s so comfortably creamy on my lips… No funky flavor or scent. I can’t believe it’s only five bucks!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 😃 Are you doing anything this weekend?

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Comments

  1. I contemplated purchasing a Maybelline Fit Me! powder as a bronzer, it was a warm fudge shade. And once my MAC loose powder runs out I will definitely check out the Covergirl banana powder, as I have medium overtone with underlying olive.

    This weekend (is it Friday already??? Yesterday was Kamehameha Day so I was off-WFH lol) we are having our first social gathering since lock down! We’ll grab poke from Foodland Farms and meeting up at Kapiolani Beach Park (where we gathered for NYE with these same friends). It will be so nice to see friends again.

    How about you?

    Reply

    • Ooh, poke from Foodland! The last time I was there I wasn’t sure what to buy; El Hub just sent me inside (he was waiting in the car because he couldn’t find parking) and said “get what looks good.” I ended up following two sturdy looking construction dudes into the poke line, and whatever they ordered, I ordered too. Those dudes were SO on the money! We ate so well that night. Tell me what poke you usually order so I can write it down on a list on my phone that I will (HOPEFULLY) need to reference one day. My whole family was supposed to go to Oahu in September but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen unless a vaccine gets produced, like, soon. Sigh. I really miss Hawaii.

      This weekend El Hub and I need to make headway on the front yard gardening project. We have to do measuring and ordering of materials to move it along, sigh. Not my idea of the most fun thing to do, but it adds value to our place so YAY! PROJECT!

      Also I plan to play with some colorful looks. 🙂 Been inspired by the rainbow shades from the Wahala Palette from Juvia’s Place!

      Reply

      • Ack! Good luck on your front yard project — at least it’s outside and is a good excuse to reconfigure/play with dirt and natural materials. 🙂

        Good call on following the construction workers to the poke bar at Foodland Farms (I, too, was SO OVERWHELMED the first time I walked in there)! Oh man, I think we usually order salmon (spicy or not) and then ahi (spicy or not). You can’t go wrong with any of their fresh poke! We were pleasantly surprised, after being such hardcore Fresh Catch customers — but I hope Fresh Catch is still in business. Hope you can make it back to the islands soon.

        I look forward to seeing your Wahala-inspired looks! Who knew that love of fluorescent in the mid-80s would be so vindicated in 2020!

        Reply

        • Yes! It’s just been dragging on for a few weeks (long story, but there was drama with getting a decades old sprinkler system removed) and I just want to walk outside and see pretty green things instead of the big stacks of dead plants already. LOL I’m going to have to use the classic quote I tell my daughter all the time. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.

          By the way, do you think that people will eventually match their masks to their eye makeup? I can totally see that happening on Instagram in the near future.

          And thank you for your poke recs!

          Reply

          • Those covid-19 before/after home improvement projects pics I’ve been seeing are very impressive. I hope you took some Before shots to compare to an After! I’m sure it will look lovely and you’ll be relieved to have another outdoor sanctuary, akin to the Ladies’ Lanai. 😉

            I hadn’t thought of matching my own eye makeup to my mask but I’m positive it will be a thing; give it a minute and you’ll be seeing it on Instagram and YouTube very soon! Although I think it will be the other way around — matching eye makeup to the mask, unless the folks matching the mask to the eye makeup are making their own masks, which is entirely valid. I consider mask-wearing an outward signal of my consideration for health/safety so I’m not going out of my way to make it look extra fashionable, although I’ve heard what I would consider valid scientific opinions that unless it is a fully-sealed-on-the-face N95 mask, a cloth face covering does little to prevent inhalation of aerosols. 🙁

          • Oh shoot! I didn’t even think to take a before shot of the garden beforehand. *smacks head*

            Believe it or not masks and hand sanitizer are *finally* starting to become readily available in my corner of the North Bay Area. Toilet paper, too. A little TMI but I miss Ultra Soft Charmin. I bought some stuff called “Angel’s Soft” out of sheer desperation and let me tell ya… BUNCH OF LIES. Neither angelic nor soft!

  2. Pink velvet? I think I need that lipstick shade in my life!
    Not much going on here this weekend just going to catch up on reading. In 8 days however is my 42nd birthday so there will be a celebration at home with cake of course!

    Reply

      • It’s a cake of many of flavors I cannot have dairy (lactose intolerant) so a local bakery here is making me something special! It has coconut and coconut cream, dragon fruit, lime and a passion fruit glaze! I cannot wait!!

        Reply

        • That’s wonderful! The bakery that I used to work at (pre Cornona virus!) made delicious vegan cakes; I bet you would’ve liked them. 🙂 I’m very intrigued by your cake of many flavors. Do they do the flavors as a separate layer, or are they individual cakes (like a few slices of coconut, a few dragon fruit, etc)?

          NOW I’M HUNGRY FOR CAKE!

          Reply

          • I don’t know but I will take a photo of it! It might be layers based on how they do their other cakes. Or I wonder if this will be like a vegan cheesecake so to speak with the coconut cream……Man I am hungry now lol!!

          • Oh cool! Definitely send it to me… So I can reverse engineer it and make one for myself, ha ha ha! Do you have anything on your birthday wish list besides cake?

          • Of course!!! Wish list for my birthday aside from wanting a better world, I count myself lucky I can spend my birthday with my family. Maybe do a zoom happy hour with friends but I am good. Okay so maybe some more makeup because why not lol!!

          • Yes, spending your birthday with your loved ones is the best gift. Happy early birthday to you… I hope you get all sorts of fun makeup to play with!

  3. As far as drugstore brands go, I am a die hard Revlon fan! My aunt swears my Covergirl though. TGIF indeed, it’s been a long week at work for me! Tonight we invited a couple friends over for a barbecue. The weather has been perfect here lately, low 70’s which is my optimum outdoor temperature!

    Reply

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