Unexpected Makeup Finds

December 10, 2018

Unexpected Makeup Finds

Every now and then, I round up five beauty products that haven’t worked for me and share them in a fails post. I recently just posted my eighth blog in the series last week. In writing that post, I finally had the idea to share products that were surprisingly good. Being human, we can’t help but form immediate opinions about things no matter how hard we try to stay neutral. Even if I have an immediate negative opinion of a product, I always go into the testing process with an open mind hoping to be impressed. Thankfully, I’m surprised by products more than what I would expect. Let’s take a look at five of them!

This Profusion Cosmetics Highlight and Contour palette is the most recent product to surprise me. Profusion products are always a hit or miss and based on past experiences, I haven’t been as impressed with their face products as I have been with their eyeshadows. But I love the quality and the shade selection in this new palette.

It’s insanely affordable at only $5 and every face powder is matte, with the exception of the highlight. I love that every shade has a name, but it’s the pigmentation that impressed me most. I love the two brighter matte shades for brightening the undereye area and the bronzer selection provides a nearly unlimited shade range when combining different colors.

The first ingredient in these powders is talc, so I don’t use the bronzers as much as I would like. But I still get plenty use out of the brightening shades and it’s a great palette to have on hand, even to use as eyeshadow. This is a perfect example of a multipurpose palette!

This Ofra Rodeo Drive highlighter has been in many favorites posts and tutorials, so it might be surprising that I wasn’t very fond of it at first. Highlighters are definitely one of my least favorite makeup products and I can’t help but to always give them an eye roll. After experimenting with this more, it quickly became one of my favorite eyeshadows in my collection. The quality is amazing and the pigmentation is unbelievable. I’m so glad this came in such a large pan size because I don’t ever want to run out of it!

Retractable pencil liners have always been my favorite method of eyeliner, but I sometimes got tired of having to set the pencil with an eyeshadow because of my oily eyes. I found this Elf Cream eyeliner in the shade Coffee on sale for $1.50 at Target one day and figured I had nothing to lose, especially for that price!

I really didn’t think I’d like cream eyeliner, but I was so surprised at how easy this was to apply. The color is absolutely perfect (brown eyeliner is my fave), the pigmentation is exactly what it needs to be, the consistency is so smooth, and the formula lasts all day on my eyes. I mean, just look at all the markings in it. It’s clearly very loved! The BrowGal Double Ended Eyebrow brush is my favorite to apply it with because it gives the most thin, precise line that I’m looking for.

The packaging is definitely what initially worried me about this Neutrogena Healthy Lengths mascara. Normally I like simple, sleek packaging like this but in a mascara it made me think that the results would be too natural for my preference. I fell in love after the first application! It it slightly more natural than most other mascaras that claim to provide crazy dramatic results, but it’s perfect for easy makeup days. The formula isn’t fussy at all and I’ve never had any problems with it flaking off throughout the day. This one’s such a hidden gem!

The last surprising product I have to share with you (for now) is the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick. The specific shade I have is called Lovesick and while it is stunning, it’s the formula that I’ve been so happy with. Normally I don’t like any type of matte lip product (with an exception of my favorite Pixi lippies), but this dried down to an almost powder-like finish. It lasted for hours and didn’t leave me with chapped lips afterwards.

I’m not typically someone who likes to be proven wrong, but I love it when considering beauty products. As a makeup lover, I really want everything to work. It’s disappointing when they don’t, but so satisfying when they do. Especially when it’s unexpected! This just goes to show that not everything may be as it appears.

I hope you found this post helpful! If you did, please feel free to share it using one of the buttons below. If you have any questions, leave them for me in the comments! Have you tried any of these products before? What are some products you’ve been most surprised by?

~Mani Monday~

I’ve been testing these EMMA nail polishes out like crazy these past few weeks and this Candy Cane Lane shade is the last one left. I love red nails, especially during the Christmas season. The glitter still isn’t my favorite, but I do like it a little better than the others that I shared the past two weeks. This one is definitely the most opaque and could easily be completed in just one coat!