$20 Makeup Challenge

The buzz around the beauty community on YouTube is all about the $20 makeup challenge tag. It's a hypothetical experience that involves the airline losing your luggage, specifically the bag that contained your makeup. You only have a $20 budget to get a full face of makeup and any tools necessary. I've watched several of my favorite gurus do their version and was impressed with what they came up with. So I decided to take the challenge on myself... only I don't use a lot of drugstore makeup. Needless to say, this was definitely going to be a challenge for me!!

I headed out to Walgreens to look for a couple of Milani products that I had been wanting and decided that was the day to start the challenge. I was disappointed with Walgreens because they didn't carry Milani at that location or any of the locations in my county... so to Walmart I went. The first Walmart was beyond picked over and crazy busy. We (my youngest son & I) traipsed down a few more miles to another Walmart only to be disappointed again by the Milani display. We probably spent a good 20 minutes or so trying to come up with the right combination of products. This was the batch we ended up walking out with:

- e.l.f. Waterproof Eyeliner Pen (Black)
           $1.00
- NYC Smooth Skin Powder (702A Naturally Beige)
           $2.74
- wet'n'wild Shadow Trio (335 Silent Treatment)
           $2.93
- NYC City Duet 2in1 Lip Color (422 The Cherry Blossoms)
           $2.74
- Hard Candy Flat to Fab Mascara (Blackest Black)
           $7.00
- NYC Smooth Skin Liquid Makeup (677 Nude)
          $2.74

My total with tax was $20.65... so sue me I'm over a little.



I was pretty impressed with how far $20 would actually stretch... however I was a little nervous about how each of these products would work for me. I'm not one to back down from a challenge though!!

After we got home I hopped on YouTube to refresh my memory of some of the other looks people came up with. That's when I started to doubt some of the purchases I had made... someone else had already used the wet'n'wild trio that I had picked up, I wasn't crazy about a lipstick that had 1 color on each side, and the powder puff in the compact was not so great... So I rifled through my collection and found a few substitute products. Here's what the final combination ended up being:

- e.l.f. Waterproof Eyeliner Pen (Black)
           $1.00
- e.l.f. Hypershine Lipgloss (Berry Cherry)
          $1.00
- Hard Candy Flat to Fab Mascara (Blackest Black)
          $7.00
- NYC Smooth Skin Liquid Makeup (677 Nude)

          $2.74

- e.l.f. Tone Correcting Concealer (Light Beige)

          $1.00

- NYC Ultra Moist Lip Wear (316 Blossom)

          $0.97

- wet'n'wild Shadow Trio (330B Walking on Eggshells)

          $2.93

My total with tax ends up being $19.36. 

I could deal with that! So I went to work filming and editing the video (I'm post it at the end of this blog).  It has now been 10 hours since I applied said products and I think that's enough time to give a fair assessment.

Completed look immediately after application

                             10 hours later...

So, as you can see my skin is seriously shiny... but wait until you see this:

 

 

Clearly this isn't working for me... 

The shadows creased like crazy.

My lashes feel crunchy.

My skin is itchy and oily.

 I'm not counting each of these products out yet, but some I know for sure I won't be using again! I know for sure I won't be using that foundation ever again... I couldn't even get it out of the bottle without using a q-tip, even after shaking it and pounding it on my hand a dozen times. My skin feels just flat gross. Keep in mind that I have oily skin to begin with, so it may work for you. The concealer didn't really do it's job either, not as a concealer or a primer. The powder I may give another shot or two, it's supposed to be clarifying which typically helps with oil. Oh mascara... if you know me at all, you know that I typically wear false lashes. I don't like crispy lashes, bottom line. Lipstick/lip gloss, I'm pretty easy on them. I have 4 or 5 in my purse, I change my mind too often to really give a fair assessment of any lip product. Shadows... I'm anxious to actually try them with a good primer. I'll let you know how that goes. Now let me tell you about this little eyeliner marker business. I was not happy with this guy at all! The product didn't come out as dark or as fluid as I had hoped. I had to reapply it several times to get the darkness I wanted. I'm a liquid or gel liner kind of girl, so I like dark and fast... this however didn't do either.

I did enjoy trying to stretch that $20, maybe I'll try other combinations and see how they work out.

I do have to admit that it did look pretty darn good at first (except for the brows!).

Well enough will all this jibber-jabber, go enjoy the video!!

Love & Lashes

XO

Olive Smokey Eyes - Inspired by EmilyNoel83

I'm an avid watcher of many makeup gurus on YouTube, but I always love when I see a new post from EmilyNoel83 (you may know her as Beauty Broadcast). I love how she mixes high end with drug store items, something I find myself doing on most occasions. Anyhow, her most recent haul (Walgreens HAULgreens! (Makeup)) she picked up some limited edition items from Maybelline that I just absolutely had to have! I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of a makeup snob, so Maybelline isn't one I typically reach for... but I have been pleasantly surprised this time! After running out to Walgreens (while heavily medicated and unable to walk without assistance, mind you) I finally got the items: 2 color tattoos and 2 eyestudio quads (they were buy 1 get 1 50% off!).

Top Left: Maybelline Color Tattoo in 200 Mossy Green
                         
Top Right: Maybelline Color Tattoo in 100 Barely Beige
                         
Top Quad: Maybelline EyeStudio in 400 Olive Martini

Bottom Quad: Maybelline EyeStudio in 200 Smokey             
                                     Cinnamon

Top 4 Vertical Swatches: Smokey Cinnamon

Bottom 4 Vertical Swatches: Olive Martini

2 Horizontal Swatches: Color Tattoos

(I went outside to show true color in natural light.)





Emily's eye look in that video was so pretty that I was anxious to recreate it myself, but much to my excitement... Emily posted a how to video for Deep Olive Eyes! (Drugstore)!!! So I watched her video a handful of times and decided today was the day I would attempt it. So here's my look:

I kind of added a few extra things, but it's basically the same look. Here's a look at everything I used:

Brushes are from various places: Sephora, Crown, MAC, Sonia Kashuk, and e.lf.

If you're interested in a specific brush, let me know and I'll give you details.

I used a wide variety of brands when it came to this look... this is every makeup product that I put on my face! I know it's a ton of stuff, I surprised myself.

If you're curious as to what a product is, just ask!

Here's my complete look!

If you're interested in learning this look or watching the video I watched, check out Emily on YouTube:

Love & Lashes

XO