Dollar General "Rejuvenating Eye Roller" and My Allergic Reaction

Okay, guys. Please don't judge me now. Usually, I really love drugstore generic "copy-cats" for famous name-brand products. I'm college age, guys. I'm looking for the best deal.

So, I went out to Dollar General on Wednesday (October 29th) and hunted for some skincare products that I could review for you guys.

The Dollar General Rejuvenating Eye Roller is supposed to be a good dupe for Olay Regenerist Advanced Anti-Aging Eye Roller. Which sells for about $22 dollars on Ulta's website. I got this for maybe $7. Good price difference, and I wanted to give it a try.

So this comes in a little tube, with three little roller balls that evenly apply the product. I can't lie that it did feel good when it went on, but I'll get to the after-effects later on. 

The directions on the back say to apply product and massage eye area for 30 seconds. On Thursday morning, my little sister woke me up at 6:30 so I could apply a camo-looking makeup on her face. I did, and then I went about doing my usual skincare routine around 7:30, and applied the cream to my under-eyes. 

Then I sat down and wrote a couple reviews and posts to be posted at a later date, and then lied down for a nap around 11:00.

I woke up from my nap around noon, and then went to empty my bladder. While washing my hands, I looked up into the mirror and I was horrified. 

I had the biggest, darkest crease on my undereye area. What. The. Hell. This stuff is supposed to suppress dark bags, and it gave me dark circles! I have never had a real bad problem with dark circles, and from the look it gave me on my face, I know I never want them to be that bad again. 

Anyway, I listened to my little stupid benefit of the doubt voice, that said, "Well, maybe that's just something that happened because of your nap. Put more on! That'll do the trick!"

I did. Two hours later, an hour before I had to go to work, the burning began. I checked my eyes and they were swollen, red, puffy, and felt like a really bad sunburn. But only on my dang eyelids.

Here is what I usually look like

And here is what happened to me

I am wearing no makeup in each picture.

Do you see what happened? If not, take note of my eye crease. See anything? I HAVE A DOUBLE EYELID. I am not a double-lidded person. Do you see the two deep lines under my eyes? The redness all over my undereye and eyelid? That dark purple-like circle? 

Yeah.

Not to mention, they burned. All night! All through an eight-hour shift at work. Even through the Benadryl drowsy haze, that did bring down the swelling, but didn't stop people from thinking I had just gone through a horrible break-up. 

FINAL VERDICT: HELL TO THE NAH. DO NOT BUY THIS. My skin is semi-sensitive, but sweet baby jesus of eyecreams, I have never had a reaction to anything to that degree in my life. There is a phone number on the back of the tube, and you bed your sweet buns' I will be calling and giving them a piece of my mind.

Sorry that this interrupted what I had originally planned to review, but I felt like this needed to be shared. I'm doing a public service.

Thanks for reading this long rant, have any of you had a reaction to something like this? If so, tell me and I'll be sure to steer clear of it!

Hardcandy Sheer Envy Primer Review

Since my first review post was a bit of a negative experience, I will give all my Buddies out there something that I genuinely love.

The Hardcandy Sheer Envy Primer.

Oh, mi amour! 

This primer is seriously is, in my opinion, a makeup game-changer. Using a primer is one of the best things you can do for your face makeup. Primers are kind of like a soft blanket for your skin. They tuck your little pores in and let them sleep away, unseen, so your skin on the outside looks flawless and amazing. They're like babysitters for your pores. 

Primers are usually Noncomedogenic, or they are made to not clog your pores or cause breakouts, like most people tend to think. 

This primer is so silky and nice, it makes my face feel like the smoothest thing in the world, and my foundation loves it too. 

Sheer Envy comes out in a sort of white, lotion-like consistency. But don't be afraid, it goes on perfectly clear. I usually an amount the size of a pea. 

One pro-tip for using this, though, is that you should shake it up before each use. It settles a bit, but once it gets all shook up again it is totally fine. Some people might be turned off at the shaking thing, but come one, man. You're annoyed at some physical activity during your makeup routine? Dude.

Anyway, Sheer Envy is on par with some high-end primers I have. It substantially helps the staying power of your makeup, and it makes foundation application so much easier.

And at $8.00, it is such a steal. 

Compared to my Lancome LA Base Pro Perfecting Makeup Primer, which sells at $42.00.

That was handed down to me, so no, I did not pay that much for something that has an obvious dupe an a price difference of 34 bucks, I do not think I will be buying my Lancome Primer.

Final Verdict: Fabulous. It will make everything Fabulous. Primers are one of those things that gets you from "the average person who is kinda educated in makeup" to "Oh that person knows what she's doing! Can she do my makeup?" I'm serious, too. I have done other people's makeup at least 16 times in the last nine months. That includes my prom queen, who needed help with contouring. 

Next review: Jordana Cosmetics

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day, Buddy!

Expiration Dates: When to toss!

With almost every person I've met who uses makeup, they always have a product that is wayy past its expiration date. 

Like, that product could qualify for Medicare. 

And every time I see someone with that product, I inform them that it's time to pull the plug and let go. 

Really, not a lot of people know that makeup does have an expiration date. Though when I inform people of the past expiration, they laugh it off as if I told them a unicorn will come out of their mascara tube and eat them in their sleep.

Look, if something expires it means that the formula you paid for when you bought the product has completely changed. 

Let's say you have some milk. Right after it is bought, it does the job wonderfully. Two weeks later you go to grab the milk to eat your Captain Crunch, and find a colony of slightly green organisms crawling around amidst the curdled mounds of spoiled milk. You ignore the smell and the bacteria and the fungus, and pour that stuff into your Captain Crunch. You eat a big scoop of the curdled Crunch Berries, and when the food hits your tongue, you immediately know that eating that is really bad and you throw it away.

The same goes with makeup. Even the bacteria and fungus part of that metaphor. You are volunteering yourself for an infection by using expired makeup.

Mascara is the biggest culprit. Mascara only lasts four to five months, but yet it's the one thing people refuse to throw away! If you're using expired mascara, you are susceptible to eyelash loss, irritation, and eyelash mites. Eyelash mites burrow into the follicle of eyelashes and lay 20-24 eggs in your eyelash follicle!!!! Seriously, Here is a picture. I'm sorry for this trauma but this might be an intervention.

Ugh. I got the shivers.

As a last thought before I list expiration times for makeup; 

You're putting this stuff on your face. An infection isn't something you should accept just because you find it inconvenient to part with a product. 

Mascara: 4-5 months when it starts smelling strong, toss it.

Cream&Gel Eyeliners: 1 year when it begins to dry or "tug" on your skin when applying, toss it.

Pencil Eyeliner: up to 3 years! As long as it is sharpened regularly, you're good!!

Eyeshadow: up to 3 years, too! Depends on quality, but if kept in a dry and cool place, you're good!!

Concealer: up to 12 months. As with gel and cream eyeliner, if it tugs on the skin or feels dry and flaky, toss it.

Foundations:

Water-Based Foundation: up to 12 months.

Oil-Based Foundation: up to 18 months

Lipliner: up to 3 years for pencil lip liner a. 8-12 months on push up lip liners. 

Lipstick: 1-3 years. Depends on quality. If it smells rancid, begins to develop dark spots, then toss it.

Nail Polish: 1 year

Thanks for reading and don't forget to relay this blog to others you know!

Dream Wonder Fluid-Touch Foundation Review

Hello, my little Buds! Today I will be reviewing a foundation from Maybelline, called "Dream Wonder Fluid-Touch Foundation." My shade is "Ivory."

I keep up with  sales going on at my local drugstores, so whenever there is a chance that I can get a good deal, I jump on it. I'm a college girl and I need to save money but also fuel my obsession. So when I saw on coupons.com a deal for $4 dollars off the foundation, I got really excited. My RiteAid store was having a 40% off sale on all Maybelline products. 

So what was originally a $10 dollar foundation I turned out to buy for $2.59. 

Awesome. Deal. I will not argue with that.

Now, on to the review. The foundation itself is very runny, something that I expected because of the "Fluid-Touch" name. On the handle it has a sort of weird tear-shaped dropper to drip the foundation onto your finger. That, I thought, was kind of unhygienic. 

When I first applied it in dots all over my face, I thought, "Oh, okay, it looks pretty decent." But then I started to blend it into my skin.

It completely disappeared. 

I have some light freckles on my cheeks and nose, and it is something that I usually don't want to see through my foundation. This stuff went on and blended in but it did nothing to cover any sort of freckle or blemish on my face. 

It was like I put on a shear lotion on and nothing more. 

I am so upset with this purchase.It was not worth spending that $2.59 at all. When I buy a foundation, I want at least medium to full coverage. When I buy a BB cream, I expect it to be light, but still at least be able to even out the redness of my complexion. 

My BB cream had better coverage than this did. 

Now, I did wear this to work on a good skin day to just try to see how long it would last, even though I had this horrible ominous feeling.

Two hours into my shift, I went to the restroom to check and touch up my look. 

It was gone.

Like I expected.

To show what I mean, I decided to swatch it for you on my hand.

Underneath that little blob, I have a scar I got from work and a little swatch of some Jordana green eyeliner that refused to come off.

 So there it is un-blended.

So here is what happened when I blended it out on my hand.

It did nothing to cover it up. The scar is under the green spot, and is clearly visible. 

You Buds might be like, "Oh, but Kat, you just need to give it a chance. Maybe it is supposed to do that!"

Nope. I pulled this off Maybelline's website.

"Medium to full coverage" No. It has the coverage of a clear lotion.

Final Verdict: Don't waste your money on this, Buds. It isn't worth the original $10 dollars or the $2.59 I got it for. There are so many other foundations that give you coverage and a great finish, all for that same 10-dollar price range. 

Thank you for reading my rant! A review for my favorite foundations will be coming soon, and my next review is going to be on a really important item; primers.

Have a good one!