Mini Reviews: Mascara Primer & Contour Glow Palette

Mini Reviews will be a monthly blog about beauty items I try out and/or show the results I get after using them. Since not all of these items will necessarily be "hits" for me those won't end up in my favorites. I wanted to still be able to give more in-depth reviews of the different new or old products that I use and/or am trying out.

My September "mini reviews" consist of a sculpt & glow palette and a lash primer.

I'm usually pretty skeptical to try out things like lash primers, but while going through my sample/new products to try out I came across this Lancome CILS BOOSTER XL Vitamin-Infused Mascara Primer. I'm not even sure where I got this sample from, but I'm assuming it was with a Sephora purchase. I wanted to give it a shot and I wasn't disappointed. This is not for someone that wants to spend a lot of time on their makeup routine, but this would be nice to have for special occasions (if you weren't wearing falsies) for that extra length. My lashes are not the longest already and at first I really didn't see a difference in my lashes. The second day using this product I could actually tell a difference. They were longer and a little fuller with just mascara over the top. You might get better results with different mascaras. The pictures (I see now) don't show how well they actually looked in person. Overall, I felt these gave me about the same lashes as a mascara with fibers would give me. Both of them are more than one step (this one being the primer then your mascara and the other being mascara, fibers, and mascara again), both are pricey for lash products (especially with great drugstore mascaras like L'oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise), and really it comes down to what works with your lashes and/or eyes. If you prefer fibers, then go with that; if the fibers irritate your eyes I would give this a shot! I do want to mention the fact that I love how the Lancome one is vitamin-infused. That is great for your lashes and I imagine will help with the health and maybe even the growth of them naturally.

Retails for $25.50

Final thoughts...I enjoyed using this. I'm still not sold on it personally because of my use of false lashes and the mascaras I already love without the extra steps, but the added vitamins in it could win me over if I could tell a difference in my lashes after using it for awhile longer. I give this product a 7/10.

First time: used with MUFE Excessive
Lash Mascara.

Second Time: used with Too Faced Better
Than Sex Mascara.

Second look using the palette.

Like the last product, this one has sat in another draw of mine being unused (I remember adding this to my cart with my order because it was on sale at the time), so I thought it was time to put it to the test. This is the Bh Cosmetics Nude Rose Sculpt & Glow (contour, highlight, & blush) Palette. I can't remember the exact price I got this on sale for, but I remember it being so cheap. With the cheap prices of all their products I figured the quality wouldn't be that great.. Bh Cosmetics has amazed me over and over again with how good their products actually are.

The powders of this palette were pigmented, but a little patchy while swatching them. This worried me so much that I was about to mess up the whole makeup look I had just done. I used the yellowish powder under my eyes to brighten the area up a bit and I honestly wasn't a fan... I've never used yellow under my eyes (also light or translucent shades) because I always figured I would hate it on my skin-tone. I was right with this one. The second look I did I didn't use it and my overall look was a lot better! The blush and highlight shades were beautiful and blended out nicely. I went very light-handed with the blush because this shade is pigmented and just a little product does the job! With my skin-tone I used the cool tone contour shade (the second from the left) and it applied really well and blended out nicely. I added a little of the bronzer shade around my contour and (the normal bronzing sections of the face) forehead areas. It was a little intense for my skin-tone, but it's still a beautiful blendable bronzer.

Retails for $11.99

Final thoughts...for the price point of this face palette and the good quality I got from it, I'm really happy with it and will continue to use this product. I think it made my looks stand out more and glow more for the summer time. I'm still unsure about the yellow shade and the warm tone contour color, but besides that the other shades are amazing and blend out well. I give this 8/10 for sure!