Review: Hard Candy Undercover Agent Undereye Brightener & Concealer Duo

Hello my lovely readers! Today I have another review for you and its for a product that I was every eager to try after I saw it in the store because I am a self-professed concealer junkie. I have been cursed with perma-dark circles and I am always on the hunt for another great undereye concealer. I have get to find my absolute holy grail, but here are my thoughts on Hard Candy Undercover Agent Undereye Brightener & Concealer Duo.

The first thing I must comment on is the unusual packaging of this product. The brightener comes housed in a squeeze tube with the nub of concealer sitting on the top of the brightener lid (sorry if that makes no sense, it's hard to explain!). While I give them props for being creative, it can be kind of annoying because when you go to remove or replace the lid of the concealer, you run the risk of scraping a piece of it off with the lid!

Now on to how I feel about the product, or should I say products themselves. I was actually very impressed with how the undereye brightener performed. It did have a brightening effect without having any detectable shimmer or glitter in it and it applied smoothly to my undereye area. I used this both with the concealer included in Undercover Agent and some other concealers and products layered over the brightener very well. It does make your undereye area pretty shiny looking, so I would definitely recommend setting the brightener-concealer combo with a light powder.

Swatches of Undereye Brightener unblended, Undereye Brightener blended, and Concealer

The concealer in Undercover Agent was okay in my opinion, but it certainly wasn't the star of the show. It felt kind of sticky to me and did not do the best job of covering my dark circles. I recommend this concealer for younger skin without any fine lines and for people who only have minor undereye circles to cover up (unlike myself). I used the shade Light, which matched my skintone but did not correct the color of my dark circle very well.

Unfortunately, this product only comes in three shades: Light, Medium, and Tan, so there are definitely people who will not be able to find their perfect shade match. For $6 I recommend buying this product for the undereye brightener alone because it would work on any skin tone and I really liked how it performed!

This along with other Hard Candy products can be found at Wal Mart. I picked up a few other Hard Candy products while I was there so expect reviews of those soon!

Overall, I would recommend this product and would buy it again, but only for the undereye brightener and not for the concealer part. Fortunately, the tube of undereye brightener is a generous size and you only need a tiny bit for both eyes so I foresee this lasting me a long time and it is definitely worth the $6 in my opinion. Also, you may really like this concealer if one of the shades matches you and you have only minor dark circle to cover.

Thank you for stopping by for some Cosmetic Confessions! Have a beautiful day!

xoxo, Caitlin

Review: Maybelline Full 'n Soft Mascara

Hello my lovelies! I'm sick in bed today so I wasn't able to film any tutorials or take pictures of a FOTD but I thought I would bring you a review of a product I have been trying for the past couple of weeks.

i know I have mentioned it in a few videos before, but I LOVE drugstore mascara. I can honestly tell you that I have never before spent more than $15 on a mascara in my whole life because I have been perfectly happy with mascaras from the drugstore!

I recently bought Maybelline's Full 'N Soft mascara after hearing some good reviews. I have been using it for the past couple of weeks and while I think it is good, it has not become a new holy grail product for me. 

This mascara would be the perfect everyday mascara for someone with average lashes. I really like the shape of the brush as it grabs onto every lash but never clumps. Because the mascara is very soft and flexible after it dries, it basically never flakes! I also had no problems with smudging throughout the day (I was using the "washable" formula for reference). 

The main issue that I had with this mascara is that it took a lot of work to make my lashes stand out at all. My lashes are very short and have hardly any volume on their own, and because I don't have much to work with in the first place I really had to work with this to get to it coat every lash and get the effect that I wanted. As I said before, this mascara would be perfect for somebody with decent lashes looking for a natural-looking mascara. If you have short, thin lashes like mine, you may want to look for something that gives a little more oomph for a little less work.

Overall, I will continue to use this product but I don't think I will be repurchasing it after this tube has run out. I love the "soft" part of "Full 'N Soft" but it just did not deliver on the "full" part. 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good drugstore mascara that both lengthens and volumizes without clumping, smudging or flaking? Perhaps I am asking for too much :P

Thank you so much for stopping by for some Cosmetic Confessions! Have a beautiful day!

xoxo, Caitlin

I'm Feeling So-So About Wet n Wild Mega Eyes Creme Eyeliner

When I heard that Wet n Wild had come out with a creme eyeliner I was quite thrilled. I have recently been using some of their Color Icon shadows and I'm really impressed so I knew I had to try their Mega Eyes Creme Eyeliner. At around $4 a pop these cream eyeliners are much less expensive than even most other drugstore cream or gel eyeliners, but do they compare? Unfortunately not, in my opinion, and I'll tell you why...

The Wet n Wild Mega Eyes Creme Eyeliners come in two shades: Black and Eggplant. I opted for the eggplant shade because it looked so beautiful and I already have a few other black gel and cream liners. The product comes packaged in a nice looking box and as a bonus it also comes with the little brush. The brush is not bad, I wouldn't use it for initial application as I have many other better brushes but I might put this in my purse makeup bag for touch ups. The cream eyeliner comes in a cute little round glass container. In my opinion the packaging is very nice, especially for the price, but my issues are with the product itself.

I wanted to like this product, I really did! But as you can see in the swatch below, the product was just not very pigmented. It went on unevenly both on my hand and on my eye, and when you try to go over it a second time the product sort of clumps up. Additionally, the color does not look half as beautiful on the eye as it seems in the pot. It was a sort of lackluster purple color whereas in the pot it was a beautiful, shimmery, vibrant purple color. I'm curious to see if the black shade of this same product has the same pigmentation issues because it would be great to find a $4 black cream eyeliner.

In addition to the pigmentation issues that I had, the product did not go on as smoothly as other cream or gel eyeliners that I have tried. The staying power was decent, it didn't smudge or smear on my lids when I wore it all day, but when the product doesn't initially look good on, I don't really care how long it lasts!

Overall, I think that there are much better cream and gel eyeliners out there. From the drugstore I personally prefer Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner. Although it costs about twice as much as the Wet n Wild one, it is much more smooth and pigmented. I will still have to try the black shade from Wet n Wild to see if it is more richly pigmented than the eggplant shade. For now, I will stick to my Wet n Wild Color Icon shadows which I love! Do you have any recommendations for other Wet n Wild products that are good? If you do, please leave a comment. I love a new drugstore find!

Thank you for stopping by my blog! Have a beautiful day!

xoxo, Caitlin

Wet n Wild Has Me Lusting Over This Palette!

I have a confession: I love drug store makeup. I know its hit and miss but high end products can be too, and there is nothing more satisfying than finding an amazing drugstore product at a steal! I never used to use drugstore eyeshadows because I found most of them to be chalky and unpigmented but after absolutely loving the Wet n Wild Color Icon singles, I had to try one of the Wet n Wild Color Icon palettes ($5). And boy did it deliver!

I opted for the Color Icon palette in Lust because I loved the plum and silver tones. The palettes consist of six shades: two neutral shades, two medium shades, and two dark shades. What is really awesome about these palettes is that the shades on the left side of the palette are matte while the shades on the right side of the palette are shimmery, allowing you to create a multi-textured look (and avoiding making your eyes look like a disco ball!). Cue the swatches!

The eyeshadows themselves are pigmented, blendable and long lasting when worn over a base. While they aren't as soft as some of my other eyeshadows, they are thoroughly impressive, especially for the price! The rich plums and shimmery silvers in this palette are perfect for fall but I'm definitely eager to try the other palettes from this line (aptly named Greed, Pride, and Vanity).

One of the trade offs in getting high quality makeup for low prices is often the packaging and this is true for the Color Icon products. Although it is functional and fairly durable, the packaging is very plain and simple. One thing I do like is that the clear front of this palette allows you to easily see what is inside without having to open it.

Overall, I am so happy that I found a great range of eyeshadows at low drugstore prices! I am definitely going to buy more of the Wet n Wild Color Icon products so be prepared for some more reviews and swatches!

Thank you for stopping by for some Cosmetic Confessions! Have a beautiful day!

XOXO, Caitlin

FTC Disclaimer: Purchased by me, all opinions are my own.

Benefit Full Finish Lipstick in Do Tell

I purchased this lipstick at the Sephora on 5th Avenue back in May at the insistence of the most fabulous makeup artist. For most of the spring and summer I wore pale pink or nude lips whenever I wore lipstick and therefore this color didn't receive much attention, despite me thinking that it was a beautiful color. Now that it is fall I have been wearing this lipstick whenever I want a slightly rich but not-to-dark shade on my lips.

I have never tried any Benefit lip products before this, and I must say I am impressed. The product goes on smoothly, feels silky on my lips, and is slightly moisturizing. Although this is a full coverage lipstick, it does not have a heavy matte texture. The finish is more glossy, meaning that you could wear Do Tell beautifully without having to wear a gloss over it.

The shade itself is a slightly cool toned pinky mauve. I think it is neutral enough that both cool and warm toned ladies could pull this off. This shade would look good on a wide range of skin tones from pale to medium-dark. While it is not a vampy berry color, I think this is the perfect everyday fall lipstick shade.

The packaging of this lipstick is functional and sturdy. The glossy black tube with white writing does the job; however, it is nothing too special. This lipstick has no detectable scent which is kind of nice as perception of smell is so subjective.

Overall, I am very impressed with this product. It is silky, pigmented and long-lasting. Here is a FOTD with me wearing Do Tell for your reference.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! I hope you found this review helpful and come on back, I have lots of reviews coming! Have a beautiful day!

XOXO, Caitlin

FTC Disclaimer: Purchased by me. All opinions my own.

I'm Pleasantly Surprised with Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Singles

Mention of the brand Wet n Wild takes me back to my days of being a broke 13 year old on the verge of becoming makeup obsessed! Wet n Wild was pretty much the only makeup I could afford back then and even though the quality wasn't the greatest it made me happy (I remember that the lipglosses smelled like rocket candies hehe). Flash forward seven years and, while my makeup budget has grown exponentially, it seems as though Wet 'n Wild products can still make me happy!

That's where Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeshadow singles come in. At around $2 a pop these single shadows are nothing short of impressive. I found them to be richly pigmented, blendable and comparable to shadows that cost ten times as much!

The Color Icon eyeshadow singles come in seven shades: Sugar, Brulee, Nutty, Penny, Lagoon, Envy, and Kitten. They all looked very beautiful but I opted for the Lagoon, Envy, and Kitten which are vibrant jewel toned shades.

As you can see the packaging is nothing special, just a clear plastic case, but it does the job. I had no issues opening the durable case, and it is nice that you can see the eyeshadow color when the case is closed without having to open it or check the label.

I found that these shadows were soft enough to be pigmented and nicely blendable but they did not stir up a lot of powder so I did not experience much (if any) fallout. When applied over an eyeshadow base they lasted all day without any fading, creasing, or smudging. I found that Envy applied the smoothest while Kitten was the least smooth and pigmented, but I suspect that this is due to the beautiful gold sparkly shimmers that Kitten has.



From left to right: Envy, Lagoon, and Kitten

The only possible con I can think of for these shadows is that the limited shade range may make it difficult to do an entire eye look with only these shadows, but I'm sure that this isn't a problem for all of you makeup-obsessed girls out there who probably have a ton of other shades that could be used to make a look along with these ones. Overall, I found the quality of these shadows to be very impressive and the fact that they are so inexpensive makes me really happy (who doesn't love a good deal!). I am most definitely going to be buying the rest of the shades that I didn't get and I'm going to have to try some of the other new Wet n Wild products as well!

I hope you guys enjoyed this review! If there are any other Wet n Wild products that I should try let me know! Have a great day and thank you for stopping by my blog :)

xoxo, Caitlin

FTC: All products purchased by me. All opinions expressed are my own.