Oceanexpressway

This spring seems to have been the season for many new beauty launches, whether it be high end, or drugstore. Every time I go shopping, I find something new and interesting to try, and that is how I stumbled upon the Covergirl Vitalist Healthy Elixir Foundation. It was hiding way back in the corner of my local CVS, and if I hadn't been in that area for something else, I would have completely missed it! 

A Wednesday post?!? That's right. I wanted to share part two of my "Lashes for Glasses" series, this time featuring SocialEyes lashes. If you missed it, my last post was part one of this series, where I talked all about XOBeauty lashes. Once again, I really wanted to find something that was comfortable, didn't hit my lenses, or shift too much because of my lenses. So, did the lashes work out?

Wearing glasses is already difficult enough on most days, but it gets even harder for those of us who just want a bit of extra oomph to our lashes. I will never forget the first time I decided to throw on a pair of falsies. They looked full, luscious, and just flat out gorgeous, and then I put my glasses on. They constantly hit my lenses, which made me constantly notice them, and made the lashes themselves shift and annoy me more than they should have. So, in the last few weeks I put some false lashes from XOBeauty and SocialEyes to the test to see if I could find the perfect pair for glasses wearers. Today, we are going to focus on XOBeauty!

As I'm sure everyone knows, Wet 'N Wild released the new Photo Focus Foundation, and I just had to give it a try. I feel like I am extremely late to the party with this one, but it took me forever to get my hands on it, due to it either being sold out or just not available. I did, however, end up snagging it at my local Meijer, and let me tell you, I think I have a new favorite foundation!

As we get into the warmer months, I have started to notice my skin getting a bit more temperamental with me. My winter foundation (Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous) all of a sudden hasn't been sitting right on my skin, lasting nearly as long as it normally would, and I have started to get tiny little breakouts around my mouth and forehead. For me, this is not a normal occurrence. My breakouts are almost always only on my cheeks and jawline. So, with the impression that my foundation just hasn't been working anymore, I set out to find a new, lighter spring and summer solution. Let me tell you, the Rimmel Radiance BB Cream has quickly become a new favorite.

Surprise! Yes, you are getting another post from me, and hopefully will get one every day this week. After yesterdays post, and getting some things organized and clean, I am feeling really inspired. I want to keep up with my "This is the Year" series, because not only do people seem to enjoy it, but it is definitely keeping me motivated. So, today I am going to share some of my favorite skincare products that I just can't get enough of!

As I have been looking around different beauty blogs, I was searching for someone else's opinion on Estee Lauder's Lucidity foundation, only to be disappointed. It came to my attention that the focus in their foundations is on the Double Wear foundation. So, I figured why not just put my own opinion out there?

I didn't have high hopes for this foundation when I found it in the bottom of my collection. Previous experiences with it were still lingering in my mind, and so when I decided to go ahead and pull it back out, I was pleasantly surprised with the results I got. 

As I said before, my first impression with this foundation was anything but great. It had sunk into any lines on my face, as well as my pores, and within an hour or so, it looked patchy. Fast forward to 5 months later and I decided to give it a try once again. I decided I would give it a week, and if at the end of the week my opinion hadn't changed I would just get rid of it. To my surprise, it only took a couple of days before this foundation became my new favorite. So, what changed my mind about it?

First off, the consistency of it was amazing! It's not too thick, and not too runny either. That seems to always be a problem when it comes to foundations for me. If it's too thick it will look cakey, which this doesn't, and if it is too thin the pigmentation very rarely pleases me. That leads me to my next point: The coverage is actually pretty darn good. I would say that it is a medium coverage foundation. I have pretty bad acne and acne scaring, and I find that a lot of foundations just don't cover enough before I put on concealer. The Estee Lauder Lucidity covers any minor spots I may have and the majority of my redness as well. Once I get to concealer I have to use the tiniest amount just to cover any active spots and my under eye area.

The finish of this foundation is another thing that had me very quickly. Upon using it again for the first time, I was expecting it to sink into my pores and fine lines around my eyes as it had done before. This tends to happen for me with any luminous foundation, because I have quite large pores. I was beyond excited when this wasn't the case! (I am sure there were some other factors involved this time around as well, such as using a damp makeup sponge and my L'Oreal Miracle Blur as a primer.) It sits beautifully on my skin and gives me a very nice, natural glow without looking shimmery. 

My only problem with this foundation seems to be that it oxidizes on my face when I don't highlight properly, or set it with powder well enough. This is my own fault as of right now though, seeing as I bought this foundation in the summer, and it is now February. The difference isn't noticeable at all though for the most part as long as I blend everything extremely well. The other thing I love about his foundation is the longevity of it! I can where this for a twelve hour day and not have any problems with it getting splotchy or looking like it has melted off, no matter what powder or spray I use to set it. I usually have to touch up my T-Zone once with a blotting sheet and a tiny bit of translucent powder to keep it from oxidizing, but I feel like that is the case with all of my foundations.

So, now the question is, is this foundation worth the money? As much as I love this foundation, I'm not sure I would repurchase it at full price. It normally retails at any Estee Lauder counter for $37.00, and I am not usually a high-end makeup buyer. I did however find it at a discount makeup store for around $26 or $27, (and yes, I made sure to check the experation date before purchasing.) If you are into high end makeup, however, and it is within your budget for a foundation, I would say that it is definitely well worth it! It does come in 9 different shades on Macy's website, which I believe is 2 more than what was available where I bought it. I currently have it in the shade Vanilla Beige, which was the lightest shade available, while Macy's has Pale Ivory as the lightest shade.