Maybelline Lunchtime Haul

One of the best things about working in the city is the array of shopping options. I find it really crucial for my sanity to get out and about on my lunch hour, get some Vitamin D, exercise and some retail therapy. In the Winter, it’s literally the only time of the day that you’ll get to see sunlight..how sad is that?

So today at lunch I went to Priceline and did some makeup shopping. This was a Maybelline haul, which is one of my favourite drugstore brands along with Revlon. I tend to buy mainly from higher end cosmetic brands, but occasionally purchase drugstore brands. Priceline was having a 3 for the price of 2 Maybelline deal... hence my overload on their products.

 

 

The Haul:

• Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express Flared Mascara (Blackest Black) - usually $20, but it was $10 due to discount
  
  I received a 50% off voucher in the mail for this mascara so thought I would give it a try. It’s attractively packaged, and I like the cute plumpness of the bottle which makes me feel more confident that it will achieve the volume it claims. I like the shade of purple used, the silver wings on the lid, and how sturdy and long lasting it feels.
  
  The brush itself is nicely shaped and plump. I don’t love curved brushes usually, but this one has one normal plush bristled side, and one slightly curved flatter side. I also like how the brush  stem is flexible and moves, so it assists you in wiggling the product through your lashes. The formulation isn’t too clumpy, and it has a slight perfumed smell to it. I’m really happy and surprised with the volume it gives me, and how it makes my lashes fan out thickly.
  
  I don’t love how it feels slightly heavier than some other mascaras I’ve used on my lashes, and is a bit dry to touch. It sort of makes my eyes feel groggy when I’m already tired. I’ve never found my Holy Grail mascara yet, and although this is surprisingly good and better than a lot of more expensive mascaras, I don’t think this is The One. But it will definitely do for now, and for $10 I definitely got my money’s worth.
  
  Verdict: Cheap, great volume, lashes stay curled up all day, cute packaging.

= A-

• Maybelline Mineral Powder Foundation (Light 2, Classic Ivory) - $24.95
  This was a repurchase, because I actually really love this product and use it every day. It’s really easy and quick to buff into your face with the brush that comes with it, and it leaves you with a really evened out, natural, matte looking finish. In under 30 seconds, this foundation gets rid of redness, oily shine and evens out my skin tone. It feels like you are wearing nothing, and it’s especially good for summer because it has SPF in it and it’s great for covering up the hot and sweaty face look that occurs in sweltering conditions.

I’m a fan of the more matte look, I think being too dewy looks like you are sweaty and shiny. My boyfriend’s always like “Did you run here or something?” whenever I’m wearing dewy foundation! Guys don’t get it!

The one thing I’d say about this foundation is to ensure your skin feels well moisturised before applying, because it has a tendency to stick to dry skin and look flakey. I have really dry skin, but I never have any problems with it though because I moisturise regularly.

Verdict: Top buy, lasts for ages, easy for even the laziest of makeup wearers to apply, looks brilliant and is great value.

= A+

• Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner (Espresso) - $17.95

Needed a brown eyeliner. Tried in store tester, felt like a good, smooth, fuss free eyeliner. It is a wind up, waterproof stick. As soon as I opened it, the top broke off, and the stick fell out because it was also broken in the middle. Needless to say I was very disappointed. I used the broken stick to try on my eyes to see what it looked like anyway, and it was clunky and messy to apply. It was then enormously hard to remove because it was waterproof, and some of it didn’t budge until the next day even.

Verdict: Returned to store. Horrible product, shouldn’t be sold. Common problem among users according to reviews on Makeupalley.com. Do not buy!

= F

• Maybelline Eye Shadow Quad Palette in Designer Chocolates (this is what I swapped the eyeliner for) - $14.95

I needed something to exchange my broken eyeliner with, and I wasn’t overly enamoured with any of the other Maybelline products. I’ve been looking for a pinky mauve eye shadow for a while and haven’t been able to find anything that I loved or that was flattering to my brown eyes.
This quad had this kind of pinky colour I was after in it as the ‘crease’ colour, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I don’t really like any of the other three colours; the Base is too pale and I have higher quality similar colours, the Lid colour is too chalky and non descript, and the Liner colour is very badly pigmented and hard to apply. I am happy with the mauve colour though, and it looked nice on my eyelid, avoiding that sickly pink eye look you can get with some pink eye shadows. It looks pinky/brown on my eyelid, and I’m pretty happy with it!

Verdict: One good colour out of four, the crease pan is far smaller than the liner and base pans which is frustrating as I only like the crease colour, wouldn’t have bought the palette for this price for just one shade (had to exchange liner for something)

= C

So what is your favourite drug store brand? Have you tried any of these products, and if so what do you think of them? What's your recommendation for the best mascara you've ever used?