Category Archives: Spotted at the Drugstore

Spotted: Tons of New Drugstore Makeup

I went to CVS and Rite Aid this morning, and found a ton of new items, both permanent and limited edition.

Revlon Skinlights Display at CVS

I purchased the Bare Light Skinlights shade on the far left.

L’oreal Infallible Liquid Pencil at CVS

Maybelline “The Buffs” lipstick display at CVS

Sadly empty Maybelline Baby Skin display at CVS

Revlon blush display at Rite Aid

The names of the rectangular powder blushes from front to back are:

Racy Rose
Classy Coral
Naughty Nude
Oh Baby! Pink
Haute Pink
Mauvelous
Wine Not

I think all seven of them are matte. Here are the striped blushes – some stripes have shimmer.

Rose Glow blush

Peach Glow // Bronze Glow (sorry about the glare!)

Revlon Solar Effects display at Rite Aid

They’re called “solar” because they’re sparkly, as far as I can tell – no color changing effect. The display also has some matte & shiny duos mixed in.

Three of the Solar Effects duos

Revlon Age Defying display & CC Cream display

There were testers for both of these, so store-lighting swatches!

Age Defying foundation in 30 Soft Beige // CC Cream in Light

I am intrigued by these line fillers – I bet they are similar to pore fillers, just marketed differently.

I’m not sure if the Sugar Shimmer polishes are new (maybe some of them are?) or whether the Reverse French nail strips are new. The Satin Glam polishes are new, though!

Sally Hansen textured polish display at Rite Aid

Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmers

Sally Hansen Reverse French nail strips

Sally Hansen Satin Glam polishes

Top row: Pink Chic, Teal Tulle, Taffeta, Black Onyx, Taffeta
Bottom Row: Go Gold, Crystalline, Metal End, Sun Sheen

I bought Black Onyx and Go Gold and will swatch them soon.

Possibly new or just repackaged Maybelline eyeshadow at Rite Aid

Repackaged Almay Smart Makeup display at Rite Aid

New – I think – brightener & concealer duo

I also found a Covergirl TruMagic display at Rite Aid & decided to buy the bronzer shade. I forgot to photograph it, so this is an Instagram of a photo I took at Walgreens a week or so ago.

Whew! Is there anything you’ll be keeping an eye out for?

Wet n Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stains Review & Swatches

Purchased – No Affiliate Links

Good morning! Today I have swatches of three of Wet n Wild’s new MegaSlicks Balm Stains. As you can see, these are packaged like all the other twist up lip pencils — RevlonKissable Balm Stains, Jordana balm stains, Hard Candy All Glossed Up pencils, Covergirl Gloss Balms, Tarte Lipsurgence pencils, etc.

The Wet n Wild balm stains are a permanent addition to the line, and come in six colors. I have Lady and the Vamp, Red-dy or Not, and Rico Mauve. The other shades are named A Stiff Pink, Pinky Promise, and Nudist Colony.

Red-dy or Not // Rico Mauve // Lady and the Vamp

Continue reading →

New Wet n Wild 5-Pan Palettes: Swatches & Quick Review

Purchased – No Affiliate Links

G. over at Nouveau Cheap posted a few days ago about some new and permanent Wet n Wild items that are starting to show up in stores. I found two of the items, the 5-pan palettes & balm stains (which appear to be similar to the Revlon and Jordana ones) at CVS, and decided to purchase all of the palettes and three of the balm stains. This evening, I have swatches of all the palettes as well as some initial thoughts.

click to enlarge

This post is fairly image heavy – more after the jump! Continue reading →

Cheap Thrills: Holiday Profusion Palettes at Walgreens

Purchased – No Links

You can’t really see the packaging here, but they have a clear lid – very basic. And as you can see, I used them before photographing, hope you don’t mind!

Lately, I’ve been trying to purchase less and downsize, but when G. over at Nouveau Cheap mentioned that the Walgreens holiday Profusion 5-pan palettes – which sell for $1 each! – are good quality, I thought I’d give one a try. I initially purchased the purples palette, and was so surprised/happy by the quality that I bought the greens as well.

Also – I these swatches on my Instagram a few days ago, and I’ve been using Instagram lately for “spotted at the drugstore” posts as well – please follow me there if you are interested in that type of post! Or .

I used a finger to swatch and did not use primer.

Profusion purples palette – no primer

From left to right:

1. Basic white shimmer; good quality, but nothing special.
2. Iridescent grey/purple – this is by far my favorite shade. It’s somewhat sheer, but I think it works very well with the color. It’s also gorgeous over a black base.
3. Eggplant/maroon with a low-shimmer finish. Very pretty, but hard to wear without looking bruised. This one is slightly sheer.
4. Blurple that leans blue – again a very pretty low-shimmer finish. Pigmentation isn’t great, but it’s workable
5. Satin-finish black – it’s fine, but I have better blacks.

Overall, I’d say that four of the shades are skippable, but that second shade is great, and I’d pay more than $1 for it alone.

Profusion greens palette – no primer

Again from left to right:

1. Peachy shimmer – good pigmentation, lovely shade.
2. Bronzey shimmer – this shade has incredible pigmentation, it looked just like this after one swipe (though I did two for no particular reason). And it’s a gorgeous color, too!
3. Lime green, poor pigmentation – the swatch is three swipes.
4. Blackened green with a low shimmer finish – great color, but I have other blackened greens I prefer.
5. Satin finish black, same as the purples palette.

Of the greens, I love the first two shades (which again make such a cheap palette worth it for me), and the latter three are skippable. I might try to depot the shades I like and toss the rest, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the the risk, as I often harm shadows when depotting! I’m just not patient enough, I think.

Here’s that second shade applied as a wash, blended out with Burberry Trench:

I believe these are exclusive to Walgreens, and only available in-store – sorry international folk & those without a Walgreens nearby! If you do have access to Walgreens, will you be looking for these palettes?

Maybelline Signature Scarlet & Intoxicating Spice Color Elixir Glosses

Purchased Affiliate Links

One of the products that is getting a lot of buzz right now is Maybelline’s new Color Elixir lip product. I’ve heard some say that it’s meant to be similar to YSL’s Glossy Stains and L’oreal’s Shine Caress Gloss stains – I have a comparison of those two products here – but it’s a very different product. It’s marketed as delivering “the color of a lipstick, the cushiony care of a balm, and the glass shine of a gloss.” Note that it is not marketed as a stain, and on me, it doesn’t stain more than your typical lipstick.

I purchased two shades, Intoxicating Spice and Signature Scarlet. The below photo is a little bit washed out (sorry!), but you can get an idea of the color and the texture.

Intoxicating Spice // Signature Scarlet

And applied:

no product

Intoxicating Spice

Signature Scarlet

I really like the Color Elixirs, but I don’t think they live up to Maybelline’s claims. Notably, they are significantly less pigmented than a lipstick, though they are quite reasonably pigmented for a gloss or balm. I find the promo image especially misleading – there is no way to make Signature Scarlet, worn alone, look like the below photo.

The Colors Elixirs live up to the claim of being balm-like much better, as they do have a cushiony feel and I find them moderately moisturizing. They’re actually one of the most moisturizing colored lip products I’ve tried, though less moisturizing than some of my non-tinted lip balms. They have an average amount of shine for a gloss.

Overall, and despite the advertising deception, I do really like the Color Elixir gloss/balm/whatevers. They’re comfortable to wear, and Intoxicating Spice in particular is a really lovely everyday shade – I’ve been wearing it to work frequently since I purchased it a few weeks ago. The temporary displays are widely available in drugstores now, and I believe they’ll be up on the Maybelline wall soon. If you can’t find them locally, they’re also available on drugstore.com.

*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post. This post contains one or more affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Almay Shadow Softie in Smoke – Swatches & Quick Review

Purchased – No Links

Almay Shadow Softies display at Target

It’s the time of year when the drugstores are full of new products, both limited-edition holiday collections and new permanent items. I’ve been trying to buy less lately, but I have purchased some of the new offerings – most recently, one of Almay’s new (& permanent) Shadow Softie cream eyeshadows. Note that the Target display above does not have all of the available colors; Nouveau Cheap posted a picture of a different display that states the collection has twelve colors.

When I first saw the display, I wasn’t sure if these were powder or cream shadows – “whipped” certainly implies cream, but before you touch them, they very much look like powders. I bought one shade, Smoke, to test out.

The texture of this eyeshadow is really interesting – it’s very different from any eyeshadow I’ve tried before. When I first touched it, I couldn’t tell if it was a very silky powder or a dryish cream; it sort of feels like a hybrid cream/powder. Continue reading →

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