makeup

Ulta Kandee Johnson Too Faced Email Throwback | Brand Experience Project

by Jamie Sanford on March 18, 2020

Click here for all posts in the Brand Experience Project.

Sometimes, I see things that I would like to blog about, and then I take a screenshot and forget about it.

I recently found a bunch of those things, and so if I post those, I’m going to label them as throwbacks and go with it.

I have actually nothing to complain about with this one, it was just an example of email content that I really enjoyed! (This was long before the internet canceled Too Faced.)

Back in 2018, Too Faced collaborated with YouTube queen Kandee Johnson on a makeup collection that was available exclusively at Ulta.

This email came to me from Ulta, and I was blown away by how good this content is! The team at Too Faced (and perhaps also Ulta, as the exclusive partner) really put a lot of thought and effort into this. One of my biggest issues with almost any makeup product that is released onto the market in our current times is that the brands don’t provide enough of their own content on how to use that product. If you are introducing an eyeshadow palette with 20 shades in it, I want access to at least 4 tutorials on how to create different looks with those 20 colors.

I digress. This email has it all – product images, beauty shots of Kandee, color swatches, tips from Kandee about the products, and links to video content as well! I wish I remembered more about how this collection performed, because I hope that this level of support for a product launch was rewarded with success in sales.

I’m inserting a lot of this email down below so that I can share it in all of its glory.

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Sephora VIB Sale Picks and Wishlist

by Jamie Sanford on April 23, 2019

The Sephora VIB sale is back!

As in years past, Sephora is back with this event.The discounts are as follows for this year!

Rouge members get 20% off with code HEYROUGE April 26-May 6

VIB members get 15% off May 2-May 6

Beauty Insiders get 10% off May 2-May 6

This is a great time to try something new that you haven’t pulled the trigger on, or to stock up on a favorite product that you know you will re-purchase anyway.

I’ve created the widget below with a combination of favorite products that I would definitely recommend, and a few things I’ve been interested in trying and might pick up during this sale event.

I am most excited for the new Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer Stick, the NARS Orgasm lip tint, and the Shiseido Refreshing Cleansing Water.

Check them out below, and tweet me with your picks of products for the Sephora VIB Sale.

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Make Up For Ever Camouflage Cream Palette | Product Picks #18

by Jamie Sanford on February 20, 2019

Check out all of my Product Picks here. If you want to see all of the products I’ve reviewed (not just the ones I like), click here for Reviews.

I’ve talked about makeup plenty of times on this blog before, but it was only this week when I pulled out a trusty product that I realized that I hadn’t written about it.

This is the Make Up For Ever Camouflage Cream Palette.

If you’ve been here before, you won’t be surprised to know that I have the lightest option, palette #1.

Here’s the info on this palette:

This multi-use cream palette is ideal for color correcting discoloration, concealing dark under-eye circles and spot imperfections, or, just use it to highlight and sculpt your features.Camouflage cream provides full coverage with an easy to blend, lightweight and creamy texture. Each palette contains 5 shade combinations with an assortment of color correctors and concealers. This creamy formula is buildable so you can layer multiple shades to customize your make up result. Available in 5 shade harmonies to target every skin tone, choose your perfect palette for a flawless, even complexion.

I wish I remembered which YouTuber or article introduced me to this palette. It had to have been at least 5 years ago, and it immediately shot to holy grail status.

I am lucky enough to not have to deal with blemishes that often, but when I do, this palette is my go-to for concealing.

Mostly I tap on a tiny bit of the green first, to offset the redness, and then I take one of the darker skin tones and tap that over the top. (I almost exclusively use my middle or ring finger to apply this product.) This product is quite thick and a light hand is needed, or you will quickly overdo it. I then follow up with my regular application of liquid foundation with a beautyblender, I am careful to not wipe away the concealer when I am applying foundation. I simply dab and blend the foundation with the patented bouncing of the beautyblender.

I set as usual with the Coty Airspun, and sometimes take a smaller detail brush and apply a bit of extra setting powder over the problem areas and let it bake for a while before brushing away the excess.

I would note that I’ve never used this product like a traditional concealer. I have learned from the gurus that using an undereye concealer to cover blemishes is almost always a bad idea, because you are generally adding light to your undereye area and you don’t want to brighten an area with a blemish! The colors in this palette are nowhere near as light as my foundation, but it works because I’m able to cover it. Essentially, what this product does is to help cancel out whatever issue you are having. The camouflage name is fitting.

I have also tapped the green over my cheek redness in the past, but I did not have a great experience with how my foundation looked over this product having been used on a much larger area of my face. I think spot concealing is where the Make Up For Ever Camouflage Cream Palette really shines.

At $42, this is the most money I’ve ever spent on concealer. However, for when I need it, there is no substitute for it’s incredible coverage and staying power.

Tweet at me with your favorite concealer!

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CoverGirl Foundation Color Issues | Product Review

by Jamie Sanford on January 29, 2019

Check out all of my Product Picks here. If you want to see all of the products I’ve reviewed (not just the ones I like), click here for Reviews.

I’m adding this to the product review category, but it could easily be in the Brand Experience category.

I’ve been a fan of the CoverGirl 3-in-1 Foundation for years. I have repeatedly tried more high-end foundations to see if there is a better option, but I haven’t found one yet that I enjoy as much as the CoverGirl 3-in-1.

I recently decided to try another drugstore foundation after RawBeautyKristi raved about the CoverGirl Vitalist Healthy Elixir foundation. She looks great, so obviously I need to try it out.

So I quickly head to Amazon, find that they have it in Ivory, and purchase it right away. A few days later, my new foundation arrived and I tried it during my next makeup application.

My first impressions were great. The application and coverage were nice, and I liked the outcome. I find myself not always wanting 100% coverage these days, and this let my skin show through a bit, which was well-received. I then wore it again mixed with the Fenty Pro Filt’r Foundation, as I still struggle with the Fenty foundation being a bit dry on my skin. Everything was fine, or so I thought.

Cut to a regular day at the office, but a day in which I’m wearing a v-neck top. It turns out that the major downside of using a lighted mirror to apply my makeup is that I don’t get a wider look at myself before I leave my house in the morning. It turns out that this Vitalist Healthy Elixir foundation, in the color Ivory, is not anything close to the Ivory shade I have been using for years, made by the same company! Having not done a side-by-side test, I had no idea.

These are both Ivory. How disappointing. I am surprised that a company as large as CoverGirl would not keep consistency in the colors of their skin products. Especially when you are naming them! These products do have numbers that aren’t the same, but the format of the numbers is very different, so I’m not sure that seeing the different numbers but the same shade name would have made me think twice.

Once I noticed the error, I went back online to look further into the issue, and found a LOT of product reviews mentioning the same issues that I had, that the Ivory shade was not light enough, and that there is not a lighter option in this particular product. So it’s not just an issue for me, but many customers who wanted it to work, and like me, seem to really enjoy the product itself.

Ultimately, I do think that companies that manufacture makeup should commit to matching shades to their names, across all products. I’ll take responsibility for not attempting to find out some more about this product before buying it, but it still seems ridiculous.

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Product Review: Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation

by Jamie Sanford on July 20, 2018

Check out all of my Product Picks here. If you want to see all of the products I’ve reviewed (not just the ones I like), click here for Reviews.

Product Review: Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation

It’s been months now since the introduction of the Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation. I saw a number of YouTubers that I watch review the foundation, and it was mostly positive with a few negative comments about how the foundation skewed a bit on the dry side. I ended up with a big sample of it in a Sephora order, and luckily, I managed a color match on the first go! I tried color 150, which is in the image below.

While I ended up with the same conclusion about the foundation’s behavior when interacting with dry skin, I absolutely LOVE it.

The first wear day for the foundation was an odd choice, as I then spent 5 hours cleaning out a storage unit with my husband. A true endurance test! By the end of the day, it looked a bit rough in my t-zone, but my cheeks that don’t have sweat glands looked good.

The next day, I tried again, as it was a normal day of going to the office and enjoying a climate-controlled environment. I noticed almost immediately that some small patches of my skin looked pretty flaky. I do not have dry skin in general, and certainly didn’t notice any of the tiny bits of my skin that were dry until after I put this foundation on. I had used primer, and I’m not sure if I just missed these spots or if they were already experiencing dryness. Either way, I wasn’t happy about this, as I was continuing to enjoy the excellent full coverage and the finish of the product.

The next day, I was very deliberate and thorough in my moisturizing and priming, and it definitely improved my experience. I didn’t notice any standout dry patches on my skin, and the finish continued to be amazing!

The biggest downer about the Fenty foundation is that I am suddenly disappointed with my ride-or-die Covergirl 3-in-1 Foundation. I have been back on my regular foundation in the past few days and it is not holding a candle to the Fenty Pro Filt’r.

I can buy 4 bottles of the Covergirl 3-in-1 for nearly the same price as 1 bottle of the Fenty Pro Filt’r, so I might buy a full-size bottle of the Fenty foundation and use it on days when I want to look extra flawless and amazing.

If you like a full-coverage foundation with a matte finish, I cannot recommend enough that you try the Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation. It is available exclusively at Sephora and on Sephora.com, for $34.

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