This is late but great! I’ve had a few new drugstore products for awhile and finally getting around to posting the pictures of the swatches and my thoughts on them.
Let’s start with the BB Creams… what are BB creams you say? In a nutshell, they are tinted moisturizers with add benefits for your skin, called Beauty Balms. Most boast 5 more things that help your skin look fresh, even, or glowing. They seem to be all the rave this summer, which is perfect because heavy foundation in this heat is a form of torture.
The first one that I picked up was the Maybelline version. The Maybelline line has five color options, however I noticed that the color I use, Medium Deep, has a slight red tone. The only con is that it doesn’t play well with my oily skin, however the coverage is enough to see evenness in my skin tone. Maybelline’s version boasts 8 different benefits like smoothing, brightening, hydrating and no oils or heavy ingredients.
I also tried the L’Oreal BB Cream which is a little different. There is only four options, and I went for deep, which is pretty light to say it’s the deepest shade. You’ll notice that the cream has no color, but the whitish cream blends out to an actual deeper color which matches my skin tone. It could match a deeper tone than mine, but I imagine, not that much deeper. It is also lightweight and I like this version better because while it initially has a slight luminance (see the bottom right image), it dries down to a more matte finish and stay oil-free longer than the Maybelline one.
Both were on sale for BOGO 50% off when I purchased them. Maybelline’s BB cream retails for $8.99 and L’Oreal for $10.95.
I also picked up new lip stain balms from Revlon and L’Oreal.
The Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain Balms are by far the best lip stains I’ve found. Many would agree that stains can be drying, so initially the the Kissable lip stain came with a stain on one side and a bail on the other. This formula marries the two into one product. I chose four shades across the spectrum and the pink one, Sweetheart is a favorite. As an added bonus, it has a minty smell/taste.
The L’Oreal Colour Caresse are not marketed as a stain, but they do stain a bit. The colors are lightweight and long-lasting. The only con is the taste, I’ve never been a fan of the the way L’Oreal lip products smell/taste. In the tube, I thought Velvety Fuchsia and Blushing Sequin were more different, but as you can see from the swatches, they are much more similar than not. Blushing Sequin has a slightly more reddish pink tone but on the lip it’s harder to tell the difference.
The Revlon Kissable Lipstain Balm retails for $8.99, while the L’Oreal Colour Caresse is $9.99.
