Review: Maybelline

So another review that came my way at the same time as the Essie nail polish was this one on some Maybelline products.

I know that some folks out there don’t believe in makeup-I have a couple of fabulous, interesting, amazing women I know who believe that women are beautiful just as they are and don’t need anything else (Hi Jacqui!).  Personally, I just feel more spiffy when I’ve got my “face” on.  I almost always take a few minutes sometime in the morning to put on a quick buffing of my mineral powder foundation, some lipstick and a dash of eyeliner.  Even if all I’m doing is working around the house, it makes me feel prettier and more put together.  More confident.

So I’m all for tastefully done makeup that compliments the natural characteristics of the woman wearing it.  I don’t like makeup to look like a mask, or to be all about the makeup itself and not about gently enhancing the woman wearing it.

Over the years I have found a few things that I really like and tend to stick to those items (most of which are pretty inexpensive).  It was very fun to get the chance to try out some things I might not have picked up otherwise and tell you all about them here on the blog.

Thanks to Walmart, I received 3 boxes from Maybelline with various products in them.  The first was their Fit Me line of liquid foundation, concealer, pressed powder & blush:

Foundation, Concealer, Pressed Powder and Blush.

They actually did a pretty good job of picking a shade that was pretty close to my skin tone.  Not bad considering I didn’t choose it myself.  The point of the Fit Me line is that it has a translucent base and then special light pigments that are supposed to make it easy for it to blend with your skin tone.

Hmm, a bit dark.

I tried the foundation first on my hand.  It was, as I said, a fairly decent match.

Well, I guess it blends pretty well.

Blended it looked even closer.  So it was time to give it the full face test:

A totally nekkid face.

Now I haven’t worn liquid foundation in years.  I’ve been using a mineral powder base instead.  So in comparison to the powder I am used to the liquid base seemed very opaque.  It went on easily.  My personal technique is to dot on the foundation, then dampen my hands and blend all over my face, ensuring that I blend into the hairline and down my neck.  When I had finished with the foundation I added the concealer in the spots that needed it, then the pressed powder and blush.  The finished product:

That is more even.

The foundation worked as well as any other liquid foundation I’ve used, as did the concealer and powder.  I don’t know if I can say that any of it blended or matched my skin tone more easily than other liquid foundations, but then again I’ve never had a  particularly difficult time matching my skin tone.

The blush was a peachy shade, which isn’t my preference.  I usually pick a pink-I just think it “pops” a bit better against my skin tone.  I put it on and it looked fine-just not what I was used to.  I’d be interested to see how their pinks and roses look.

I haven’t purchased these types of items for a while, but the prices seem very, very reasonable to me for such a good quality product:  the foundation and pressed powder cost $6.48 at Walmart and the blush is $4.48 and the conceal is $5.48.  The Fit Me liquid foundation won’t replace my favorite mineral foundation-but if you like liquid foundation, and if your current brand costs more, this may be a good more frugal alternative for you.

Next came the Maybelline One by One Mascara:

Onward! I was interested in trying the mascara.

They sent us both the waterproof and non-waterproof mascara to try.  The improvement for this mascara is the brush-the bristles are thinner and there are more of them in order to apply the mascara without clumping.

It's a thick full brush.

Here are my lashes pre mascara:

Before Mascara

Here they are post:

After mascara

It obviously works-and it did not clump.  I would use this mascara again.  Of course it will be quite some time before I have to buy any-I’ve now got two tubes of it 🙂  The One by One mascara retails for $6.48 at Walmart.

The final product was the one I was the most excited to try-the 24 hour lipcolor.

I love wearing lipstick.  When I don’t have any one I just feel like my mouth blends into the rest of my face.  My problem, ever since I started wearing lipstick in 6th grade or so, is that I manage to chew the lipstick off about 3.4 seconds after I’ve applied it.  When they developed these long lasting lipsticks about 8 years ago I was in nirvana.  Finally, a lipstick that lasted!  Although whatever length of time they SAY they last, mine only makes it 6 hours or so.  But that is still a HUGE improvement over 3.4 seconds.   I have tried the Covergirl and Loreal products in the past, but had not yet tried the Maybelline.

Now this is my kinda stuff!

They sent us a selection of four different colors of the Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color, which was great.  There was a red, pink, beige-ish pink and a darker plumish color.  I don’t know the exact name of the colors because I threw away the boxes and the only thing on the lipstick itself is a number. I really wish they would have the name on the lipstick itself.  I think I’m going to take a sharpie and write the color on the  lipstick-honestly, the all look different on, but they look pretty similar in the tube 🙂

Four tubes. All right!

One of the things that was very different on this long lasting lipstick than any of the other brands I’ve tried was the applicator.  They made it with a slant!

Slanted brush-nice!

I was unused to that-it actually took me a few applications before I got the hang of it, but now I really like it.

Some of the other brands I have used have a very thick, goopy liquid lipgloss/balm that you wear on top of the color that is on the other side of the lipstick.  It always feels so sticky, I rarely wear it.  Others have a solid lip balm-but in a separate tube, so you have to remember where you put it.  In the Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color lipstick I got the best of both worlds-it has the solid lip balm, which feels lighter, but it is attached to the same tube as the lipstick itself:

Solid lipgloss.

I really liked all the colors!  I have worn the lipstick every day since I opened the mail.  I would very definitely purchase and wear the lipsticks again.  The only issue I have with them is, as I mentioned above, the fact that I have a hard time telling the colors apart in the tubes-if they would only put the names where you could easily see them!

The Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color retails for $7.94 at Walmart, which is right in line with other products I’ve tried of the same type.

Have any of you had the chance to try these yet?  What are your favorite makeup products?

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: This post is part of a campaign I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation and product for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.