Review: Hard Candy Sheer Envy Primer

Product Description: Sheer Envy Primer helps to even out the skin while reducing shine. Improves foundation application while minimizing skin imperfections. Make-up lasts longer and skin is left velvety smooth. (Source: http://www.hardcandy.com)

The back of the tube reads "A lightweight formula that enhances the skin's texture and primes the skin for makeup application".

Instructions for use: Apply a small amount for an even layer all over your face to create a skin-smoothing finish. Once dry, follow with foundation.

The tube is 1.6 oz or 45g and can be purchased at Wal-mart for $8.

Hard Candy Sheer Envy Primer is silicone based and shares a lot of the same ingredients as Smashbox Photo Finish, ELF Mineral Face Primer, Etc. The product itself is white and a little chunky (sounds lovely, right?).. but once applied to the skin, it blends in very easily and seamlessly. The outcome is skin that is soft to the touch and slightly more matte complexion.

You can see from the photo at the end that it does mattify the skin and fill in the small cracks.

My thoughts: Although I'm not very "big" on silicone primers - or primers in general for that matter.. I actually do enjoy using this one. I reviewed ELF's Mineral Primer maybe a month or so ago (click here for reference) and although they are very similar, I prefer Hard Candy Sheer Envy. I think it has something to do with the texture. Hard Candy's primer is a little more lightweight and has less of a thick "silicone" feel to it. I really like the way it makes my skin feel velvety soft and creates a great, even canvas for my foundation. What I especially noticed is when using my Cinema Secrets (cream/cake) foundation, this primer really allowed me to use less product - as it helped the product move around my face better. I also think the end result of my foundation looked much better and even. I will make sure to use this primer on days where I'll be wearing Cinema Secrets. As for my liquid foundations, I was again able to use less product & my outcome would be a very good, even foundation application. I didn't notice though, that it pro-longed the wear of my foundation, kept shine away or camouflaged my pores like other silicone primers may do. I find it a little difficult to rate primers on their performance because I change my products all of the time (moisturizers, foundations, etc) Otherwise, I'd probably be able to rate it better. But I do overall like this product and will continue using it for certain foundations. I also think it would work fabulous with powder foundation. So, if you like silicone primers, this is a great one to look into. :)

Have you tried this product? Post your thoughts below!

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Hard Candy.

Review: Dermablend Quick-Fix (Full Coverage) Concealer! Photos + Before & After.

Dermablend Quick-Fix Concealer

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: A lightweight formula with high purity pigments, Quick-Fix offers improved skin tone shades and texture with long lasting wear. For moderate to major localized skin flaws, Quick-Fix provides buildable coverage that won’t enhance the appearance of wrinkles or pores. Available in 10 shades.

For Skin Flaws Such As: Scars, Bruises, Freckles, Dark under-eye circles, Blemishes & Age spots.

(Source: http://www.dermablend.com/)

I purchased Dermablend's Quick-Fix Concealer in the shade Beige. It is a great color for light to medium skin tones. It is yellow-peachy in color, and works great for concealing purple tones under the eyes.

Dermablend Quick-Fix Concealer Beige

Dermablend Quick-Fix Concealer Beige

What really tempted me to try this product was, I've been seeing so many raves lately for the Vichy Dermablend Concealer (which I hear now is being discontinued?) and I can't find anywhere. Many have told me that I can purchase Vichy Dermablend from CVS - and I went to about 10 different CVS locations and none of them carried it. So, I went on the computer and started doing some research about Dermablend. Someone mentioned that the regular Dermablend concealer is the same product as the Vichy Dermablend Concealer. Even though they weren't a reliable source - I decided to check out ULTA, which carries Dermablend and swatch some of the testers. Dermablend has three different concealers. A redness concealer (Smooth Indulgence Redness Concealer), a liquid medium coverage concealer (Smooth Indulgence SPF 20 Concealer) and the full coverage cream concealer (Quick-Fix Concealer). I had every intention of purchasing the Smooth Indulgence liquid concealer because I prefer liquid concealers over creams, but the claims of the Quick-Fix concealer lured me in.

My Review: This concealer claims to be full coverage and states that it will cover under eye darkness, blemishes, scars, etc. So I expected this to be a really heavy duty concealer that will completely cover my occasional breakouts. The directions for use are to apply this directly to the under-eye area from the tube and blend with your fingers - or use your finger to wipe a little product from the tube and apply it to your under-eye area. From reviews I have read, some mentioned not to apply this directly under your eyes because it is heavy and will look cakey. I did not find that at all to be true for me. I like applying it directly from the tube and taking a flat foundation brush to lightly blend it in. No heaviness, no caking. The consistency is your average stick concealer. It applies creamy, but it also has the concentrated - sort of dry texture that many stick concealers have. I found it to be very similar to my favorite Palladio Stick Concealer. I didn't find it to look thick under my eyes, nor did it emphasize any lines. I always make sure to moisturize my under-eye area prior to using this so it will glide on better and have a better end result. It is necessary to set with a powder, as cream concealers tend to move around and will settle a bit in fine lines. After I set my under-eyes with powder, I had no caking throughout the day and no settling. It pretty much stayed put all day. The coverage - I would consider it to be full, but it wasn't as "full" as I expected it to be. With a thick layer, it covered probably 85% of my darkness - but once I applied my foundation you could barely notice them. I am happy with the results for my under-eyes and I'll continue using this. But, for blemishes - this is terrible. I have a few minor red scars from a recent breakout and this didn't cover them. It covered them probably 50% - and the redness still peeked through. I am extremely disappointed with this products performance for that considering it's the main reason I purchased it. This is no way going to cover anything remotely severe on your face unless you apply it to your face directly from the tube and don't blend it. Nevertheless, I really like it for my under-eyes and the tube makes applying it very handy.

The 1st photo shows my under-eyes before. They don't look severe at all - but the sunlight I took the photo in really distorted any darkness. They are much more purple/red in person. The 2nd set of photos show how the product looks applied directly from the tube. The 3rd photo shows me smoothing it out with a foundation brush (I was using Ecotools Foundation Brush) and the last photo shows my under-eyes after. They pretty much are fully concealed. Only when I turn my head in certain angles can you see the slightest darkness peak through my hollows. 

 

Have you tried any Dermablend products? Is there anything you would recommend?

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dermablend.

MAC Bare Again Sheen Supreme Lipstick Review, Photos and Swatches!

MAC Bare Again Sheen Supreme Lipstick

MAC Sheen Supreme Lipsticks are the newest range of lipsticks that will now be a part of MAC's permanent collection. The Sheen Supremes are said to be a hyrid of a lipstick and lipgloss - pigmented like a lipstick and shiny like a lipgloss. *For reference, these are redeemable for Back 2 MAC.

MAC Sheen Supreme Lipsticks are available in fourteen (14) shades: Bare Again, Behave Yourself, Can't get Enough, Can't Resist, Full Speed, Good to be Bad, Gotta Dash!, Impressive, Insanely It, Look at Her!, New Temptation, Quite the Thing!, Supremely Confident and Ultra Darling. 

I began swatching a few and noticed right away that the consistency is very different than any other of the MAC lipstick formulas. The Sales Associate I was speaking with compared the formula to the Cremesheen formula, but a little bit softer. 

Bare Again Sheen Supreme Lipstick is a sheer, but buildable, warm beige-pink. It appears as a bright mauve in the tube, but applies slightly rosier. The color is actually very similar to the color of my actual lips. It's a really great "My Lips But Better" lipstick shade that can flatter just about any skin tone. 

MAC Bare Again Sheen Supreme Lipstick on my lips

FOTD: Thinking Guerlain Parure Extreme may be HG material.. + Updates & Upcoming Posts!

Hey Everyone! (Long post.. sorry)

I hope you are all enjoying your weekends.. I've had quite a bit of things going on in the past few days so I'm a little backed up on posts that I've wanted to do - as well as e-mail responses & formspring responses. So I truly apologize if any of you have been waiting around for responses - I'll get to them after I finish this post.

After posting my false eyelash tutorial, I was contacted by Revlon to try out some of their eyelashes and let my readers know what I think about them. I received a few different styles in the mail this afternoon - so I should be reviewing them shortly.

Also, I've been dying to try Vichy Dermablend Concealer after seeing and reading so many raves - but from what I've heard it's not available in the US? Does anyone know if the product differs from the "regular" Dermablend Concealer? I haven't had time to research it thoroughly. Anyway - I ended up going to ULTA and swatching all of the concealers and splurging on the "Quick Fix" concealer. I'm really liking it so far. I should have a review on this soon as well.

Some other upcoming posts will be:

Foxy Locks Extensions Review

ELF Natural & Dramatic Eyelashes Review

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation Review (I own the lightest shade for when I have no tan - but I'd like to purchase a shade equivalent to my "usual" skintone so I can give a better review)

Dermablend Quick Fix Concealer Review
Hard Candy Sheer Envy Primer Review

Updated Skincare Routine

Updated Foundation Routine

NOTD (Not sure what color yet..)

They are in no particular order, but when I have a to-do list, I typically start with the reviews because they are a little less time consuming. 

Oh! If you follow me on Twitter, you may of seen my tweet where I mentioned I've been thinking lately about dying my hair red. I've had every shade of brown, jet black, strawberry blonde and platinum blonde - but I've never been a redhead. I may try it.. Any opinions?? I'm getting so sick of my hair right now.

Okay, I think I covered most of what I was going to mention.. So here is my face of the day.

For the past few days I have been wearing my Guerlain Parure Extreme Foundation. If you read my review for it in December (click here for reference), I purchased it in a shade that was very "off". I have it in #4 and although it's said to match NC40 - I find it to be way too dark and orange/red/pink. So, I only ended up wearing it a few times & put it away - hoping to purchase a white color corrector to lighten it. So, since I purchased Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Foundation in the lightest shade - I decided to mix the two. I took one pump of Guerlain and a little dab of Neutrogena + a little dab of Coastal Scents Yellow Color Correcter (click here for reference) and ended up with a shade that works. 

This foundation works extremely well when applied with the fingers. I apply it to my face the same way I'd apply a moisturizer and it blends seamlessly - REALLY.. I'm not trying to sound fancy. It is literally seamless. I'm not going to lie, every time I read a review for Guerlain Parure Extreme and someone called it a "full coverage" foundation, I wanted to call them crazy. I didn't understand why anyone thought it could be full coverage. I was proved wrong this morning. 

Guerlain Parure Extreme is a different kind of "full coverage" foundation. When you think of full coverage you think Dermablend, Estee Lauder Double Wear, MAC Full Coverage - You know, that really thick foundation that applied opaque. This foundation is so incredibly thin and lightweight and when it's applied with the fingers- it gives a very radiant medium coverage. Well, today when I applied it with my fingers - my foundation looked flawless BUT, it did not cover up my blemishes from my recent breakout. The red still showed through and some blemishes looked like gray spots under my foundation. But my overall skin texture & skintone looked amazing. I had a little foundation left over from what I had mixed, so I decided to take my Sonia Kashuk flat top brush and apply the rest to my face. And WOW. My skin looked perfect. As a matter of fact, too perfect. I looked like a porcelain doll. But the wonderful thing about the foundation is, I still looked radiant and it didn't look heavy or cakey. I have to admit, I was sort of embarrassed to go run errands because I was afraid I looked too fake, but my mom called me "nuts" and we went about our errands.

I didn't powder my face and surprisingly, my makeup stayed put perfectly from early afternoon till night time. Absolutely perfect. I didn't need any touch ups and I couldn't believe that foundation didn't settle into my laugh lines or wear off in my laugh lines like most of my foundations do.

I definitely would say this is HG material and I'm going to continue wearing it mixed with Neutrogena Healthy Skin in Classic Ivory. I would like to try it in shade #3 sometime in the future to see if it's a good match.. maybe I'll pick up a sample at Bloomingdale's to see what the undertone is like in comparison to #4.

Face: 

Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base

Guerlain Parure Extreme Foundation #4, Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation #Classic Ivory (1 part Guerlain, 1/2 part Neutrogena) and a dab of Coastal Scents Yellow Corrector

Dermablend Quick Fix Concealer #Beige (Under eyes and on blemishes)

Benefit Hoola (Lightly under my cheekbones)

MAC Smooth Harmony Beauty Powder (On my cheeks and up my forehead for warmth)

Sonia Kashuk Creme Blush Duo #Brighten my day (received as an "extra" in a swap - and it's beautiful! I think it's d/c though :( )

Urban Decay Sin Eyeshadow (Highlight my cheekbones & bridge of my nose)

Rimmel Stay Matte Transparent Powder (blotted under my eyes)

Brows:

Make Up Forever Eyebrow Corrector #3

MAC Girl/Boy Brow Set 

Anastasia Highlighting Brow Kit (used the shimmery champagne color as a highlight for my brow bone)

Eyes:

MAC Sorcery Eyeshadow, LE (Applied in the corner crease & smudged on lower lashline for a pop of color & to make my eye color stand out)

MAC Feline Eye Kohl (at the very end of my top lashline extended out)

Covergirl Lash Blast Mascara

Lips:

MAC Hover Lip Liner

Illamasqua Obey Lipstick (all over lips)

OCC Hush Liptar (added a tiny bit for a pink hue)

MAC Smile Dazzleglass (for shine)