Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream

The extremely harsh cold weather in the midwest has made my skin extremely dry. Fortunately I've been able to combat this dry skin with Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream.

My troublesome areas tend to be around and on my nose as a result from constantly blowing my nose from the sniffles. This moisturizer is quite rich so a little bit goes a long way. If you use too much it can feel greasy, so don't go overboard. Although it looks like a tiny jar (1 oz), it will definitely last for a while.

I received this sample from Cetaphil via Influenster for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Maybelline #BetterSkinChallenge Foundation

The past 3 weeks I have been testing out the Maybelline Superstay Better Skin foundation. I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. Prior to receiving it, I took a prequalifying survey, which included a section with three different shades of the foundation. If I remember correctly I picked the medium shade out of the three. I received the shade called "Warm Nude." When I swatched the foundation, it seemed a little bit too light for my face. Once I applied it on my face it seemed to be a pretty close match to my skin tone on my face though. The product label also states that the foundation has SPF 15 and is oil free.

As of the packaging, the product is in a glass bottle with a plastic pump and cap. I think most foundations (drugstore and high-end) come in a glass bottle. Although the glass makes the packaging heavy, it makes me feel like the quality of the packaging is better - which makes me think the product would be of high quality also. The name of the shade is on a sticker on the front of the bottle and also on the ingredients list on the back so you won't forget what shade you have.

The actual foundation is quite thick, not liquidy or runny at all. So far I have tried applying this foundation with my Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. The foundation sets pretty fast like the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous foundation so you have to work it in quickly. I noticed that the foundation accentuated my dry patches, pores, and acne A LOT. It probably did not help that I applied a mattifying moisturizer prior to this application. This foundation can be layered to a medium coverage, I wouldn't say that it is high coverage since I could still see my acne scars through the foundation. I first wore this foundation without any powder to set it to get a true time frame for how it wears on my skin. I think I would categorize my skin as oily combination, so I usually always wear powder on top of my foundation. I also did not use any primer, concealer, blush, or contour products to get a true test wear.

After about 4 hours of wearing this while I was out running errands, I noticed that my face was oily around my T-zone. This was not a surprise to me really since my face gets oily so fast. I just used the back of my hand to kind of blot the oil and it looked okay, not the best. I probably could have used some blotting paper but I didn't. At this point I really regretted not using a powder to set the foundation.

Overall, I would not recommend this product to those who have really dry skin. Even though I have oily skin, I do have a lot of dry patches from acne. I would recommend that you exfoliate your face very well and use a moisturizing moisturizer before using this foundation. As for the better skin claim, I don't think this is a false and gimmicky statement. I haven't noticed anything different or improvements in my skin. It would be pretty hard to narrow it down to this foundation to be the sole reason why anyone's skin is getting better, you would have to stop using your other beauty products. My skin is always all over the chart so I can never really narrow any faults down to just one culprit. If one product were to make me break out madly then I would definitely know for sure which new product I'm using is the culprit. However, for skin improvement, that's a little more difficult to pin point on.

Sunkissed VoxBox from Influenster

Here's a photo of most of the contents in my Sunkissed VoxBox that I received from Influenster. I know I should have taken a photo when I first opened the box when I had everything together, but oh well. I will keep that in mind in the future!

Not pictured are the pink Goody ribbon elastic hair tie and the Dr. Scholl's high heels inserts.

Olay Fresh Effects (BB Cream!) Skin Perfecting Moisturizer SPF 15 Review

I saw the Fresh Effects (Va-Va-Vivid) Powdered Contour Cleansing System reviewed by a youtuber a few weeks ago. I guess I must have heard about the BB cream also at some point, just that it probably wasn't something that was highly rated for me to remember. This is actually the first western or American BB cream I have tried. Yes, I know BB creams have pretty much been the craze over in the US for a long time now. I just never felt like I needed to purchase them because drugstore ones are pretty pricey, especially for someone like me who does not have a steady income or have money to use as I please. That being said, I do not purchase makeup or skincare products as often as those girls on youtube, blogs, or whatever other social media sites. Anyway, let's get on with the review.

Olay Fresh Effects (BB Cream!)

The packaging is in a tube like a toothpaste tube with a twist off cap. I personally am not a fan of this type of packaging. I would much rather prefer a pump as it is more sanitary and convenient. There is definitely a lot of product in this tube, 2.5 fl oz (75 ml). It would take me a long time for me to finish this tube. Based on prices I found online, it ranges from $10-15.

When I first tried on this BB cream, I noticed the scent. It's kind of a floral scent, not too strong. It's something that I think would be tolerable for most people. I did not notice the smell anymore after applying the product, which is fine with me. One big thing that I noticed is that this product did not provide any coverage for me whatsoever. I was still able to see my blemishes and acne scars on my face.

Before blending the BB cream on my hand

After blending the BB cream

You can't see in the photo before I blended the BB cream but I have a bruise on my hand where the BB cream is placed. In the after photo you can still see the bruise and my veins. As you can see, this BB cream provides minimum coverage if any at all.

Underneath the BB cream print on the front of the box, it says "Skin perfecting tinted moisturizer with sunscreen." I have not tried a tinted moisturizer before but I'm pretty sure this is one. I think they just labeled it BB cream because of all the rage about them. I know that the CoverGirl Smoothers SPF 15 BB cream was originally named "CoverGirl Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer." Other people have noticed that too, so I'm not the only one. I remember I've always seen it in the CG sections at Walmart and Target. 

So since this Olay BB cream provides no coverage for me, what I have been doing is, I apply this BB cream, then Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream, and then I either use Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme foundation or Revlon Photo Ready Concealer. Because I have oily/combination skin I need to apply powder also. I apply ELF Studio HD Powder and then Maybelline Dream Matte Powder. Even though this BB cream did not provide any coverage for me, I do see product on a makeup wipe when I remove my makeup. Although I think that's mostly from the other products I used. If I were to wear this BB cream by itself with no powder, my face would be oily in probably less than 2 hours.

Based on what I have heard about a variety of Asian BB creams and what little I have tried, they definitely provide more coverage than this Olay BB cream. I personally would not recommend this BB cream because of that. I would not purchase this product if I ever finish using up this tube.

I received this product in my Sunkissed Voxbox from Influenster. All comments and opinions are my own, I was not paid for this review.

Goody Ouchless Ribbon Elastics Review

I have noticed that these ribbon elastic hair ties have been quite popular for a few years now. I never purchased them because they always were so pricey for hair ties. I looked at both of Target and Walmart websites and these are about $4. That might not seem like a lot, but if you think about it you only get 5 ribbon elastics. You can get more regular hair elastics for the same price or for a little bit more.

Black, gray, purple, and silver

Like I said, these ribbon hair elastics come in a pack of 5. There are only 4 in the photo because I lost the pink one.

I personally do not like using these because they're not really stretchy so it's harder to make loops. I can only make two loops if I want to tie back all of my hair, and three loops for if I just want to put up half of my hair. I have really thick hair and I have a lot of hair so that explains why it's harder for me to use these. I think for those who have thinner hair, you would probably enjoy using these hair ties. Also, I don't like how the knot and the ends of the elastic stick out. You have to strategically place the knot on the bottom of the ponytail so it doesn't look weird sticking out. I kind of just like to wear them on my wrist like bracelets.

I will not be purchasing these ribbon elastic hair ties in the future.

I received this product in my Sunkissed Voxbox from Influenster. All comments and opinions are my own, I was not paid for this review.