3 Drugstore BB Creams to Try This Summer

I love wearing BB Creams in the Summertime...I rarely find myself reaching for heavier foundations unless I'm going to an event or a wedding and want to look really flawless. They're just too heavy and when the weather is humid, the last thing I want is to feel like I have a mask on my face.

This summer, I've been trying out three new BB Creams and they're all very different from each other. So I thought I'd do a comparison post because no matter what your skin type, one of these will likely work for you.

Let's take a look!

CoverGirl Clean Matte BB Cream ($8.49)- As dry-skinned gal, I was prepared to totally hate this one. Most matte formulas tend to cake up and accentuate my pores and fine lines, so I try to avoid anything with the word "matte" in it. That being said, a lot of you have been asking me to review this product so I purchased it...but didn't have high hopes. I have to say, I'm extremely impressed!

It provides light coverage that can be built up to medium very easily and it disappears into my skin with a very natural finish, not the powdery one that a lot of matte products have. In fact, once it sets, I don't feel anything on my face at all...there's no sticky or tacky feeling and no dryness. It's also incredibly long lasting! 9-10 hours later, my skin still looked great, which is really amazing for a BB Cream. If you're oily, it's hard for me to say whether this will control oil (because my skin is pretty much devoid of it) but I can tell you that it gives a true matte finish, unlike other matte products that end up looking more satin.

bh Cosmetics Forever Nude Illuminating BB Cream ($9.50)- Where the Cover Girl Clean Matte is meant for oily skin, the bh Cosmetics Forever Nude Illuminating BB Cream is meant for drier skin types. It contains skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid and vitamin E to help minimize fine lines and plump up the skin. It also contains illuminating properties that don't appear glittery or shimmery, just give a lit-from-within glow. Out of the three formulas in this post, this one is the sheerest, but it can still be built up to almost medium-coverage if you add a second layer. I love the way my skin looks in this and have probably worn this one the most this summer. Even when I'm having a not-so-great skin day, adding a little concealer on my trouble areas (under eyes and around nose) make up for the lighter coverage. This one has the shortest wear time at about 7 hours or so unless I set it with powder or use a primer underneath.

Circa Beauty Color Balance BB Cream ($14)- I picked this up at Walgreens a few months ago and was really impressed for a couple of reasons. First of all, the coverage is amazing for a BB Cream and not at all what I was expecting. I can liken it to IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream in terms of coverage...it's a solid medium out of the tube and can be built up for even more coverage. It dries down to a beautiful satin finish and blends seamlessly into the skin with no sticky or dewy feeling. I reach for this one when I need the coverage of a foundation with the lightweight feel of a BB Cream. It also has great wear time at 8-9 hours!

Swatches:

In the swatches, you can really see how the finishes differ. The CoverGirl Clean Matte doesn't have any shine, while the bh Cosmetics Illuminating BB has the dewiest finish and the Circa Color Balance falls in between the two.
Also you can kind of see the coverage levels, with the bh Cosmetics being a bit more sheer, the Circa having the heaviest coverage, with the Cover Girl Clean Matte in between.

As far as colors go, the CoverGirl and bh Cosmetics are in the shade Light, while the Circa one is in Light Medium (it's a little too dark on me and next time I will get Light).

So just to sum up...

CoverGirl Clean Matte: 

• Finish- Matte
• Coverage- Sheer to Medium
• Great for- Normal to Oily skin types
• Wear time- 9-10 hours

bh Cosmetics Forever Nude Illuminating BB Cream:

• Finish- Dewy
• Coverage- Sheer
• Great for- Normal to Dry skin types
• Wear time- 6-7 hours

Circa Beauty Color Balance BB Cream:

• Finish- Satin
• Coverage- Medium to Full
• Great for- All skin types
• Wear time- 8-9 hours

Overall, I'm enjoying all of these formulas for different reasons! Have you tried any of these yet, and if not, what's your favorite BB Cream?

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Circa Beauty Lustrous Shine Lip Polish Review & Swatches

I recently discovered Eva Mendes' Circa Beauty line at Walgreens. It's been out for over a year now but it took me a while to try the products because of the slightly higher price point. I finally took the plunge and loved everything I purchased (see that post here), including the Lustrous Shine Lip Polish ($10) . Walgreens was having a BOGO 50% on them a few weeks ago, so I went back and picked up a few more shades to try.

Keep on reading for my review and swatches!

Packaging:

The packaging is very luxurious, especially for the price. The square tubes remind me of the Jouer lip glosses (which are $18) and they feel very sturdy and have a little bit of heft to them. You can also see the lip gloss right through the tube, which is a personal preference of mine...I can easily see which shade I'm grabbing and also when it's running out.  
The wand has a doe-foot applicator that's slightly longer than average, making it easy to cover your lips in one swipe.

Formula:

The formula is beautiful and rivals any high-end lip gloss I've tried so far. It's not a thin, runny gloss that bleeds all over the place...it's thick, rich and cushiony and feels super hydrating (it contains Avocado Oil). It almost feels like it has a primer inside that fills in my lip lines and makes them look so smooth and perfect. Even though it's a thicker formula, it doesn't feel sticky or tacky when you press your lips together. It feels creamy and smooth, and the beautiful shine makes my lips look full and pillowy.

The coverage is sheer to medium...definitely not full coverage, but it's buildable. It doesn't last a long time on your lips either (an hour or two depending on if you're eating or drinking) but that's the case with most lip glosses so I can't really complain too much about that.

Lovely Lace is a beautiful nude shade that has a bit of peachy pink in it so it gives just enough color that it doesn't wash me out too badly or give me zombie lips.

Satin Blush is the first shade I bought and it's a gorgeous pink shade that I reach for often.

Electric Organza is a bright, cool-toned pink that's really pretty if I want a brighter pop of color without being too bright.

Cashmere Kiss is probably my favorite shade! It's a gorgeous pinky mauve that goes with everything.

Top: Lovely Lace, Satin Blush
Bottom: Electric Organza, Cashmere Kiss

Overall, if you're a lip gloss fan, I highly recommend the Circa Lustrous Shine Lip Polish! You can grab them at select Walgreens stores or online at Drugstore.com

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Circa Beauty Color Treatment Tinted Lip Butter | Review & Swatches

A few weeks ago, I picked up a few Circa Beauty products and I've been hooked ever since. Now it seems like every time I go into Walgreens, I have to wander over to the Circa display to try another product. Last week, I grabbed a Color Treatment Tinted Lip Butter to try (since I'm totally a tinted balm kinda girl most days) and you can probably guess how much I liked it since I went back and picked up two more shades! Keep on reading for my review and swatches...

Enriched with a signature blend of oils and Shea Butter, this moisturizing balm conditions and soothes the lips with a sheer wash of color, leaving lips supple and soft with a glossy, but never sticky finish.

Ingredients: Castor Seed Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil, Polybutene, Candelilla Wax, Polyglyceryl-2 Diisostearate, Shea Butter, Octyldodecanol, Safflower Seed Oil, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter, Tribehenin, Beeswax, Carnauba Wax, Sunflower Seed Wax, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Flavor, Tocopheryl Acetate, May Contain (+/-): Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Red 7 Lake, Red 28 Lake, Iron Oxides, Red 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 1 Lake

Price: $10 

Where to Buy: Walgreens, Drugstore.com

Color Treatment Tinted Lip Butter in Sheer Mauve, Sheer Fuchsia, and Sheer Rose

Review: 

As a stay-at-home mom, I don't wear lipstick (or even gloss) on a daily basis, but I love tinted lip balms that add a bit of color, shine and moisture.  The only complaint I have with most formulas is that the color doesn't last long and neither does the formula...my lips tend to feel dry again after about an hour or so and I find myself reapplying often throughout the day. 

The Circa Beauty Tinted Lip Butters completely solve that problem. First of all...they're the butteriest (is that even a word?) formula ever...super plush, amazingly creamy and so cushiony! They keep your lips hydrated for hours and hours, even after the color disappears. If you like your balm to sort of sink in so you don't feel it, you may not like these, but personally I loved feeling how smooth and soft this balm is every time I pressed my lips together. It's not sticky at all, but it is thick, rich, and buttery...perfect for dry lips. 

The color payoff is also impressive. One swipe gives you a sheer wash of color, but I tend to go back and forth over my lips a few times, which results in almost lipstick-like coverage. The color ends up staining your lips a little bit too, so it's pretty long lasting, especially for a tinted balm.

Sheer Mauve is a really pretty cool toned pinky purple shade.

Sheer Rose is a pinky-peach MLBB type shade.

Sheer Fuchsia is a bright raspberry pink shade.

Wearing Sheer Mauve, Sheer Rose, and Sheer Fuchsia

These do have a scent that I can't quite put my finger on...it's a honey-like scent with maybe a bit of peach and a slight perfumey element to it. It disappears shortly after application so I didn't really notice it once the balm is on my lips, but I wanted to mention it in case you don't like fragrance in your lip products. 

I also want to mention that I had some issues with the Sheer Fuchsia shade. When I tried to use it the first time, the texture felt harder than the others and super sticky. Plus it smelled like straight-up Crayola crayons. It was really weird but I assumed it was a bad batch so I returned it for a new one at a different Walgreens store. Unfortunately, that one was the exact same way, so it might be a problem with the Fuchsia shade itself, I'm not sure. 

So I decided to twist it up and discovered that the top of the balm was a slightly lighter shade than the part that was down in the tube, so I think what happened was that the oils and fragrance settled down to the bottom, and all that was left at the top was wax. I chopped off the first half an inch or so and it was totally fine after that. I just wanted to bring it up in case any of you guys get the same bad batch and wonder why the heck I liked these balms so much, haha!

That issue aside, I'm downright obsessed with the Color Treatment Tinted Lip Butters from Circa Beauty and will be adding them to my holy grail list. They check off all the boxes when it comes to the features I look for in a tinted balm...super hydrating, long-lasting, and nicely pigmented, plus they have such a pretty color selection (6 in all).

Next time you're at Walgreens, I highly recommend picking one of these up...I think you guys will love them!  Or better yet, grab two since right now they're BOGO 50%!


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Are Colourpop Highlighters Coming Soon?

Today Colourpop posted this photo to their Instagram page with the caption, "Highlighters...April Fools or Nah? #teehee"

I will be so happy if this is true! I'm thinking it is because these don't look like anything they have out right now. What do you think? Are you freaking out right now like I am?

The Circa by Eva Mendes Line has Landed at Walgreens!

A while back, I posted about a new makeup line created by Eva Mendes called Circa that was going to be rolling out to Walgreens stores. Last month, it showed up online at Walgreens.com and Drugstore.com but I held off on ordering because I really wanted to see it in person...especially since the products aren't exactly cheap. The price points are higher than L'oreal, which was previously the priciest brand at the drugstore, so that makes it somewhere in between drugstore brands and ones you'd find at Sephora, such as Urban Decay or Too Faced. The good news is, most items have a tester, so at least its not a blind purchase. Let's take a look!