Cover Girl LashBlast 24 Hour Mascara - Review

I am not a fan of any of the LashBlast mascaras. They just don't do much for me. I've tried the original (meh), and the LashBlast Fusion formula (double meh), but I had to try a mascara that claimed to last 24 hours. Had to.

LashBlast 24 Hour comes in a fat black tube with metallic orange lettering and graphics. It comes in  a few shades of black, and I picked up Very Black (as opposed to "Black"). I almost exclusively wear black or the darkest black mascara available. Brown mascaras always look weird to me, and it's super easy for me to tell if the mascara has pigmentation issues, because my lashes are red/blonde.

Like the original LashBlast, 24 Hour has one of those massive rubber/silicone spikey wands. I hate them. I knew I hated them when I bought this mascara, and I should've known nothing would change my mind. This surely didn't. It's hard to get the inner and outer corner lashes with these things, because the cone-shaped bristles are microscopically small at the tip, making them more pointless than an icemaker on Antarctica. The pigmentation is somewhat poor, as well. I wore this over a while mascara primer (Lancome's Cils Booster XL), and it usually required 3+ coats to fully cover the primer. This subsequently caused some clumping, but it was easily brushed out with a metal lash comb. Without primer, I still needed multiple coats to fully cover my lashes.

That said, it lasted all day without flaking or smudging. Did I get "a blast of lush, volumized lashes," as Cover Girl claims? No. I got slightly volumized lashes, with a touch of extra length. Oh, and a bit of aggravation when it came time to remove this stuff. I've been using Clinique's Take of the Day Balm, and 24 Hour lasts through that, plus normal face washing. I have to use an eye makeup remover, then the balm, and then wash my face. That's a lot of steps. I don't really like to spend that much time and energy on my lashes, because I really don't want to pull them out during the process of getting them clean.

If you need a mascara that lasts forever, 24 Hour is for you. If you want a mascara that lasts all day and is easily removed, however, don't bother with this one.

Cover Girl Natureluxe Silk Foundation - Review

I don't know what's wrong with me. I seem to always go through a phase where I am craving a new foundation. When I found out that BzzAgent was offering a new Cover Girl campaign, I was hoping I'd get a chance to be part of it. I ended up having to use a Golden Key (annoying) to get into the campaign, but who cares? I got to try out this product, which I was extremely curious about.

Cover Girl's website says:

"Redefine natural beauty with our lightweight silk foundation. With a touch of cucumber water and a hint of jojoba and rose hip extracts, our light yet luxurious formula takes heavy weight out of your polished finish."

I think, again, Cover Girl's staff knows what adjectives like "touch," and "hint" mean. While Cucumber is fairly close to the top of the ingredient list, Jojoba isn't:

"Active Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide (2.6%), Octinoxate (2%) Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, Water, Cucumis Sativus Fruit (Cucumber), Glycerin, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Sodium Chloride, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Talc, Propylene Glycol, PEG/PPG 18/18 Dimethicone, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Wax (Jojoba), Rosa Canina Fruit Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Juice, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Allantoin (Comfrey Root), Dimethicone, Methicone, Aluminum Hydroxide, Fragrance, Trideceth 9, Bisabolol, Lactic Acid, PEG 10 Dimethicone Crosspolymer, PEG 10, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Benzyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, May Contain (+/-): Iron Oxides"

This foundation is packaged in a squeeze tube (nice), and it's pretty - pearlized soft green with darker green... squiggles? I guess? They make me think of those old school Windows screensavers, with the lines that change color as they move around the screen. The tube makes it super easy to control the amount of product you get out. This retails for $10-$13, depending upon where you purchase it. You get 1 fluid ounce for your money.

Moving on from that, this foundation feels like a silicon-heavy primer to me. It does make my skin feel like silk - the kind of washed silk you might find at Sears, that is. Or, if you've tried Benefit's POREfessional, or philosophy's The Present, it gives the skin that feeling.

Coverage is sheer. I received a tube of this foundation in shade 310, Flax, the second lightest shade offered. My normal color matches are Chanel Mat Lumiere in Porcelain, or a quarter shade lighter than MAC NC15. The color was a touch too dark, but due to the sheerness, it blended fairly well. Until it oxidized. Badly. It went from nearly invisible to orange after about 4 hours. Plus, I was extremely greasy looking, even with powder, but this foundation does not claim to be an oil-controlling or long wearing foundation, so I can't fault it for that.

All in all, I'm really glad I was able to try this foundation. Although the color match wasn't great, I was able to determine the formula was just not that good for me. I can see this working on normal or normal/dry skin. I think if you have dry/patchy skin, however, this may not work too well for you. You would also want to skip this if you need more coverage.

**I received this from BzzAgent for free. I wasn't paid to say nice things about this product, and the ramblings above are my own opinions. Any questions? Please ask!

Did you know...

...That Cover Girl is celebrating 50 years of bringing affordable, quality products to women everywhere? Yay!

Pretty nifty, eh? And to reward customers, you can win free, fullsize products from Cover Girl on Facebook by clicking on the "My Cover Girl" tab! Please note - this link does not reward me in any way - I'm simply sharing a good deal for those of you who love Cover Girl and the opportunity to win a free product!

While Cover Girl isn't a brand I use everyday, I have a few favorites from the line - like LashBlast! I'm also looking forward to getting my next Bzzagent kit (a PR firm representing Cover Girl) - featuring Cover Girl's Natureluxe foundation and lip balms (which I've already reviewed... how does a giveaway sound?)

** I am a Bzzagent, and part of the 50th Anniversary campaign for Cover Girl. I am not paid or compensated in anyway by Cover Girl, Bzzagent, etc. The thoughts above are my own. Any questions? Feel free to ask!

Cover Girl NatureLuxe Lip Balm - Review

I'll admit it. I love a good lip balm - I mean, who doesn't? So when I heard about Cover Girl's new line of "Natural" cosmetics, and the balm, I was really interested. I was really hoping they'd partner with Bzzagent and I'd be able to try this line for free, but that didn't happen. Since I had a fairly good coupon, however, I bit the bullet and purchased two different colors at my local Target, Marble (#255) and Coral (#230).

Cover Girl says: "Get the sheer color and shine of a gloss with the soft, lightweight fee of SPF Balm. Fortified with mango and shea butter, this feel-good formula leaves your lips feeling decadent and delicious." I should've read this a little closer, as I'll explain in a bit.

We'll start things on a positive note - these don't cost much. I believe they retail for $5.99 at Target, and drugstore.com. The packaging is nice - a soft minty pearlized green tube, and a clear top with a soft wavey-green design. The part of the tube where the balm lives is clear, so you get the idea there may be a lot of product here (you'd be wrong, though).

Looking carefully, you'll see right above the light green a bit of clear plastic, which is the bottom of the balm. Yeah, not a ton of product there. 0.07 oz, according to the label. Although, I suppose this isn't a bad thing, since this product is pretty poor.


As a balm, this fails miserably. It feels gritty on my lips, which thankfully only lasts about 5 minutes, which is how long this balm stays. Who wants a balm that short-lived? When I think of a lip balm, I think of a balm that is thick, moisturizing, and the feeling of protecting my lips (ie, Labello's Good Night Kiss, or the Philosophy Very Emollient Balms).



Maybe you were thinking - "hey, the colors are pretty, right?" Well, in a word, no.

Cover Girl knows exactly what sheer means - although maybe transparent would've been a better adjective. Marble, which is a pretty pink in the tube, is essentially clear on my inner wrist (and my lips are a bit more pigmented than that). Coral is marginally better, however this is probably half a dozen swipes to get that little color. Considering these wear off extremely quickly, the lack of pigmentation is really the least of my concerns.


These *look* good, but they are a poor product. I won't repurchase, and am at a loss as to what I should do with these.