Wet’n’Wild Photofocus Foundation Review

March 2, 20183 Comments

Hello chocolate eggs!

Your homegirl is in desperate need of a new foundation which poses many-a-problem.

First, I am a terrible decision-maker and take 934892 hours to decide on really anything in life. This means that facing the counters at Sephora and Ulta and having to make a decision can be super triggering. I want something dewy, but not too dewy, great coverage but not heavy or cakey, long-wearing and doesn’t settle into fine lines. A tall order, I know.

My sister swears by drugstore foundations but I have never been a fan. I decided to do some due diligence on the topic and was inundated with information and conflicting views. So I decided to head to the store, see if anything was on sale and make a decision there.

I walked in to Rite Aid and faced the wall of infinite choices. L’Oreal Lumi? Maybelline Fit Me? Covergirl Bombshell? AAAAAH. My palms started to sweat as I rounded the corner to Wet’n’Wild and made the snap decision that yes, I, Natalie Kate, was going to try the Photofocus foundation.

Widely known in the beauty community as a dependable, photo-friendly foundation with good coverage and a $6 price point, this foundation is a favorite among many varying skin types. I was hesitant with my dry skin but since Wet’n’Wild was 30% off that day, I could roll the dice with $4.

I took another 238945 minutes selecting the right shade and ended up with Nude Ivory.

The next day I whipped ‘er out and smothered ‘er all over my mug. My thoughts are as follows:

PACKAGING

Love the glass bottle and the amount you get (1 0z). The spatula-esque applicator was aight. Definitely liked it better than the treacherous pour-out style but would have probably preferred a pump instead.

APPLICATION

The application was pretty easy. Not too hard to blend in and I found it easy to build up in certain areas.

COVERAGE and WEAR

The coverage is nice! Definitely not as luminous as I like (even with Mac Strobe Cream underneath) but not overly matte either. Upon initial application, the coverage and wear was pretty, as shown here. Also. CHECK OUT MY BUH-LINDING HIGHLIGHT. It is Mary-Lou Manizer from The Balm! NO filters neither.

Where I started to get in trouble was when I checked my face in the mirror around 4 pm that day. This picture was taken at around 1 pm (in florescent lighting no less) to try and capture the severity of a very dry skin patch on my nose but you can see the foundation starting to break down and settle in around my mouth. Also, check out the little blemish on the corner of my mouth! Three cheers for realness!

Totally get that LOTS of foundations do not hold up super well for 8 hours, but this one looked especially gnarly. As in, not-even-398434-sprays-of-Fix + would-have-fixed-this gnarly. The foundation had settled SO far in to my fine lines that they looked like the crevasses of Everest. Just baaaaaaad.

So I will definitely not be wearing this foundation to work everyday but for an afternoon tea and crumpets, it’ll do.

What do you y’all recommend I try??

Wet’n’Wild Lost in the Wildflowers 2016 Collection

May 11, 20161 Comment

Goooooood morning my loves!

This post will involve a bit of a story time on how I procured the items mentioned, as well as my initial thoughts. So let’s get this party started.

Over the past month, I had seen the odd post here or there with these new Wet’n’Wild highlighters and I really thought nothing of it. I thought I would see them pop up at Fred Meyer or Walgreens, much like the new contour palettes and eyeliners they added to the collection. Then I started reading comments and realized that people were going NUTS over these highlighters and that there was a whole limited edition collection accompanying them. And then I got voracious.

Sister Megan was also on the hunt for this collection and had already been every Walgreens and Fred Meyer store in her area, so I figured I should do the same. I called a few of the Walgreens stores and was not surprisingly answered with much confusion — “You’re looking for what? Well we got Maybelline here.” YEAH. NO.

I decided it prudent to just drive around to all the Walgreens stores and berate the employees until they literally just let me into the stock room myself. The first one proved unfruitful after a helpful young woman assured me there were no Wet’n’Wild boxes in the back and their trucks usually came on Fridays. Next, I hit another Walgreens and Fred Meyer and left empty-handed and discouraged. I decided to try one more Walgreens on my way home (one that I had already called) just to see if maybe they missed it.

I went in and the hot pink haired gal told me she did see a Wet’n’Wild box in the back and that she would go get it for me. I was elated and totally surprised that my relentlessness had paid off! I shot a quick text to Megan and waited patiently for my goodies. But then, something caught my eye. A small glimmer from the bottom of a lowly shelf…Like a tractor beam, I was drawn in and delighted to discover the very collection I was looking so hard for COMPLETELY UNTOUCHED.

I dove in and immediately starting picking up the products and audibly squealing. I called Megan and she joined in. I scooped the ENTIRE display (well not quite, but almost) into a basket and headed to the register where I had to remind the gal that Wet’n’Wild was in fact, BOGO 50% off. I ended up waltzing outta there $30 poorer but rich in loveliness. I had also taken care of Meg’s mothers day present so WIN-WIN!

Here was the final haul:

I kept the following products:

Megaglo Multi-Stick in Carnational Anthem

I also got the color Light Up My High-Biscus, but I allllready can’t find it. But here is a picture of it I pilfered from ebay:

s-l300

Megaglo Highlighting Powders in Crown of my Canopy and Precious Petals

Here I am waiting for the train wearing Precious Petals: #thathighlighttho

Coloricon Metallic Liquid Lipstick in My Tulips are Sealed

Overall I am VERY happy with this collection. All the colors I got are SO ME – peachy and shimmery. They did bring out some deeper, bolder liquid lipsticks but those shades just aren’t m’thang. I am loving the highlighters and can’t wait to slap on the deeper color (Crown of my Canopy) when I have more of a tan.

If you can get yer paws on these babies – DO IT.

September Favorites + 1 Un-Favorite

October 1, 20135 Comments

Happy October Beautiful People!

I think I shall try to make this a monthly thing, n’est pas?

So, Bry and I are kindof making a large purchase in the near future… Hence, my pennies are presh. I don’t like to waste em on items like chalky eye shadow or lipstick which makes me look like an alien. I do m’research. I hunt for bargains and have googled “(insert makeup brand here) Coupon Code” more times than you can imagine. Here are the standouts from my September beauty regime and, life.

Makeup

Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple

I got this in my September Ipsy, which I am in love with. These little bags evoke squeals of joy when I spot that familiar pink metallic packaging peeking out from behind the wad of junk mail in our mailbox. But this past month, I got absolute poop. No other way to say it. POOP. The only saving grace was this tinted lip balk which I have found myself reaching for on more than one occasion. It’s moisturizing properties are questionable but the color is SO fetch.

The Rocket Volume Mascara.

This mascara is just wonderful. Unlike most I’ve tried, it can stand on it’s own with 2-3 coats. Most of the time, I have to combine three mascaras to get the results that this alone can give me. The only drawback would be the struggle to get it off…see my thoughts at the end of this post on my failed attempt to do so.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha

I really like this line of jumbo pencils from NYX and have a few different colors (Milk is another great one to have). I find that I use them most as shadow bases or smudged underneath my lower lash line and kinda smoked out. The colors are gorgeous and the shade range is unbeatable.

Wet’n’Wild Mega Last Lipstick in 24 Carrot Gold

Omg. I think I might be slightly obsessed with this color. I have never experimented with orange-toned lip colors and I must say, I am in love. It will look great in Hawaii when I’m not so ghastly white (we leave in about 2 weeks, yay!).

Beauty

BIOTIN.

Aw, girl! Seriously just start taking this. Today. It takes a while to start noticing the effects, but my hair has grown faster than ever before and my nails? WAY stronger and thicker. Plus, it comes with the added bonus of freaking out your fiance when he asks about them and you tell them they are prenatal vitamins (not a total lie since biotin is in prenatals). Muahahhhahaaaha.

Wet’n’Wild Fergie Nail Polish in Velvet Lounge.

For the WSU game, I decided to really get all Coug’ed out with some nail art. I got this color along with a gray and created some intense Fangirl nails. I really like this crimson because it’s not too deep and not too cherry.

The Beauty Blender

#latetotheparty

Yes, it’s worth the hype and the $20 price tag. My above pictured new BB and I will have a long, faithful relationship. Free of latex and full of dewy-faced makeup days.

Hurr Curr

Tresemme Heat-Tamer Spray

As of late, I have actually been blow-drying AND straightening my hair. Gasp! I know this a major no-no when trying to grow Rapunzel-like locks but I am SO sick of looking like a ragamuffin. Since I only wash my hair 1-2 times a week, I think I’m still okay.

Bed Head After Party

From this oddly-shaped bottle, comes one of my all-time favorite finishing products. I have used this stuff since high school and for darn good reason. One pump provides a perfectly “piecey” look, ala Jen Aniston. I run it from the middle to the bottom of my hair, focusing more of the product at the ends.

Fashions

My Michael Kors rose gold watch has been a regular guest on my wrist these days. Annnd now I want everything in rose-gold…

STRIPES. Just in general. Bry pointed out that almost everything I have bought lately has been stiped in some way, shape or form.

Randoms

Sourdough. Bread. With Chunky Skippy peanut butter, or this cheese or really, anything.

My Scentsy. Not only do I love me some candles, but I also have a small obsession with my Scentsy. (Insert Cathy comic strip here) This is my favorite “brick” as of late:

UN-FAVORITE

SO. I ran out of my favorite makeup wipes about a month ago. Then, when I was perusing the aisles of Wal-Mart for a Milani blush I have YET to find, I noticed this:

Innocent enough. Looks like the Neutrogena version, right? I picked er up for a mere $3.50 and happily applied this to my eyes each night to remove my Rocket ~~glue~~ mascara. It worked great! So, I continued each consecutive evening. After a week or so, I noticed my eyes became super itchy every night around 5:30. Did I change anything? NO. I kept on using the stuff, since clearly, it was doing it’s job and just itched the bejesus outta my eyes. Then…EUREKA! I stopped using the remover and consequently – my eyes stopped itching! It was a Christmas miracle, or maybe it was me not being an idiot anymore. Not sure which. Anyways, this product did it’s job nicely, but obviously I had some kind of allergic reaction to it, thus making it a resounding FAIL.

What have you been loving, or un-loving this month?

Walgreens Makeup Haul

September 5, 20132 Comments

Hello friends!

Attempt at showing off my lipstick color – FAIL.

Because I know each and every one of you are chomping at the bits to see the gems I procured at the drugstore the other day, I thought I’d appease everyone’s appetites and share this wee haul. After a rainy lunch break errand of picking up my license tabs, I reasoned that I had earned myself a little “treat”.

Often time, my “treats” include hours of Orange is the New Black or a fountain soda. This time, I opted for lip and nail products I had been seeing all over YouTube and the internets.

Here’s what I got:

Wet’n’Wild Nail Polish in Red Red- .99

Fleur recommended this polish on her blog and for a buck? Please.

Wet’n’Wild Mega Last Lipsticks in Just Peachy and Think Pink – $1.99 each

These colors were purchased because of Alli, or Makeup by Alli who has the same taste as I do in lipsticks. Smart girl.

Just Peachy

Think Pink

Wet’n’Wild Fergie Center Stage Collection, Perfect Pout Lipcolor in V.I.Pink $2.39 (on sale).

Jordana Twist & Shout Moisturizing Balm Stain in Sweet Pink $3.29

Merci Leighann for introducing me to this gorgeous pink from Jordana (a rather elusive brand). It’s purty.

Sinful Colors Nail Polish in Over It $1.99

Tressemme Tres Two Extra Hold Hair Spray $3.99

I also got some Nacho Cheese Doritos to round it all out.