Make Up Remover Wipes...The search continues with Kroger's Grocery Store Pt. 2

This is the 2nd installment of my review of Kroger's Grocery Store wipes.  To read Part 1, please click here. :-)

I wasn't able to find a picture of the Kroger brand wipes on the Kroger website,  I purchased these for $2.15.  They are supposed to be comparable to Neutrogena Make Up Remover Wipes which were $5.99. (Which I guess wasn't too bad since they retail for $6.49 on the official website.)

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Questions About Cleaning Make-Up Brushes? Here's my input. :-)

From Left to Right: Kroger EVOO, Elf Brush Cleaner, Elf Brush Shampoo, M.A.C Brush Cleanser, Japonesque Parian Spirit. I'll go into more details about these products in another post.

I frequently get questions regarding the upkeep of make-up brushes.  They range from "Do I really need to clean them?" to "How often is it required?".  Yes you definitely need to clean your make-up brushes.  This is imperative not just a suggestion.  It's unhealthy and unsanitary for you to continue using dirty brushes.

Make-up brushes should be viewed as an investment. Just as you would clean and maintain your car, you will need to do the same thing with your brushes. Hey, your brushes may outlast your car.  LOL! :D I know I have a few Essence of Beauty brushes that I purchased from CVS in 2002.

So what do I use and how often do I wash my brushes?

For my personal brushes:
I use brush cleanser (my fave is from MAC) a few times a week.  I deep cleanse them with olive oil and Elf Brush Shampoo or antibacterial soap about 2-3 times/month.
For the brushes in my professional make-up kit:
I use brush cleanser after I use them, and when I'm finished working and back home, I'll wash them all with EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and either Elf brush Shampoo, dishwashing liquid, or some type of  antibacterial soap.  Many people recommend using baby shampoo or even adult shampoo.  I don't like these because #1) they don't get all of the make-up out of my brushes and #2) most regular shampoos aren't antibacterial.  After washing my brushes,  I reshape them and I lay them flat on a paper towel hanging over the kitchen counter to dry over night.

So how do you take care of your make-up brushes?

5 Reasons Why this Neutrogena Product is My Favorite Make-Up Remover

1. Great Value for the price.  It's inexpensive and you get a pretty good amount. 6.7 oz.  Depending on the vendor, the price may vary.  I stocked up when they were $3.99 at Kroger's Grocery Store.  On the Neutrogena website it's on sale for $5.49.
2. It has an easy access pump. Bars are messy and bottles/ tubes tend to lead me to wasting product b/c I usually pour/squeeze too much.  Plus I feel like a pump is just quicker.
3. It's gentle.  This cleanser works really well without feeling too harsh.  It even gets off my eye make-up without burning my eyes.  
4.  Fresh Foaming Cleanser kills two birds with one stone because it's a make-up remover and a cleanser in one.  Perfect for night time when I don't feel like going through my entire skin care regimen.
5. No strong fragrance.  It does have a light fresh scent, but it's not overpowering so I can tolerate it. 

Ulta Lipstick and Lipliner Combo

There's no doubt that coral was definitely my color for this summer.  I bought more lip colors within the last couple of months than I did all of last year. (I need to slow down a bit.) While in Ulta last month, I found out that they had lipsticks and lip liners for $1.  I purchased a pretty coral combo as a part of my 20%off Ulta haul.  Take a look below.

The lipliner is called Sheer Pink and the Lipstick is called Apricot Shimmer

This lipstick is really pretty.  I love the silver case.  I'm a sucker for pretty packaging. :-)

Below I have the Sheer Pink Lip liner and swatches of both the lipliner and the Lipstick

This is how the combo looks on my lips

Urban Decay 15yr Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection FOTD

These are the products I used to create my look

These are before and after looks (well almost finished without the lashes)

I started off with M.A.C. Prep and Prime Skin.  If possible, I'd recommend you using a primer before your make-up.  It really makes a difference in your application and it helps it last throughout the day.  Depending on which one you use, primer may or may not help with oiliness, it may help with color correcting, it may have SPF.  There are many out there on the market.  

 Prep and Prime Skin is geared towards reducing the appearance of pores, redness, fine lines/wrinkles, and it's supposed to help control the sebaceous gland which is what produces oil.  It doesn't control it enough for me to use it alone, but I can say I can see a difference when I wear it from when I don't wear anything at all.  I definitely have to re-apply more often if I don't wear anything.  

You should think of primer with make-up the same way you would when painting.  If you had to paint a car or a wall, you'd prime it first right?  Well it's the same with your make-up.  Think of your face as the canvas you're painting.  

I added my Cover Girl Foundation to my palette.  I don't like wasting product so I love palettes.  This still ended up being too much.  That foundation does really well and it was under $5 at Kroger's Grocery Store.  It's just the regular Cover Girl Clean foundation for Oily skin, of course.  I used one of my favorite face brushes, the Elf flat powder brush. (LOL! my baby girl getting in the picture at the last minute.  She's so nosey. Ha ha! :D)

First I had to work with my brows. They're really thick so I'm using M.A.C. Girl/Boy Brow Set.  It does a great job of holding my brows in place and adding color.  

My brows really need to be done.  I'm using my Black Opal Stick as a concealer to help clean them up. 

I added Urban Decay Primer Potion 

Then NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk (Yay! I FINALLY got this.  It was at H.E.B Grocery Store for $3.49.  They seemed to always be sold out of this pencil when I would go look for it.  They only had 4, I should've bought two, but since this was my 1st time using it, I decided to just get one.)

I used my #239 brush to add Junkshow to the middle of my lid

I added Tainted to the inner lid and the inner lower lash line

I added Omen to my Inner Crease

Then Evidence to my outer crease.  I also put this color on my outer lower lash line using my Coastal Scents pointed crease brush.  It's amazing for adding shadows/pigments to the lash line.  It's very precise but soft.  I like using this way way more than the M.A.C. #219 which is bigger and can be a bit scratchy sometimes.  

Next was Flow as my Brow Highlight with my new limited edition blending brush #234.

Of course blend, blend, blend.  I used my Sonya Kashuk blending brush for this.  I used this brush instead of the #224 because it's smaller.  I didn't want to take away the boldness, just blend them together. 

Deep ended was added to the middle of my lower lash line 

This is Vanilla.  I put it in my tear duct area

Then I used my new UD 24/7 black liquid liner in Perversion.  After using this liner for a couple of weeks, my opinion of it has changed a bit.  I love the long lasting effects and the shine, but I'm not very fond of the applicator.  If it would've been a long thin sponge like M.A.C. Superslick or Elf's liquid pen liner, it would've been perfect.  The fact that it's a short brush makes it a bit more challenging to get a pretty& straight line. :-(  I think the next time I use it, I'll just try to pour some out and use an eye liner brush.

The best mascara I've ever used is Lancome's Oscillating Mascara.  It's also the most expensive I've ever used. LOL! I think it retails for $36.  I never paid that much for it. ( I can't ever imagine spending that much on mascara. ) I bought it when I still had my employee discount at Dillard's.  Even then, I waited until we had our extra discount and stocked up. (I did the same with Dior Extase) When I worked at Macy's, either I'd wait until we had our extra discount or wait until Lancome had GWP. Even though it's hands down the best mascara I've ever used, I don't think ANY mascara is worth almost $40 w/tax.

Can you believe I got these lashes with just one coat? Guess that's a con of leaving the department store. :-(  I would've been fine without adding lashes, I just figured since it was a bold look, I might as well go all the way out.  I'm probably one of the few MUAs who actually prefer natural lashes over false ones.  I  love good mascara.  However, I totally understand that falsies take your look to the next level.  As usual it always comes down to personal preference.  I'll admit though,  it does take me a lot longer to use mascara to get my desired look (except for the Oscillating Mascara) than it would for me to just pop on some falsies.  So I guess, time frame and preference is key. 

For concealer I still used my Black Opal Foundation stick. The color is Heavenly Honey.  I used my Sonya Kashuk Pointed Foundation Brush, which is my fave for under eye concealer.

My cheek highlight Elf Candid Coral, My Contour Cover Girl Queen Collection in Ebony Bronze, My blush & bronzer Nicka K Bonze/Chocolate

Ha ha! Note to self, don't move the brush while trying to take a picture. LOL! :-) I used my Coastal Scents Angled brush from the Jubilee brush set for all of these products

I also contoured my nose with the Cover Girl Queen Collection Ebony Bronze Bronzer.  This powder is phenomenal!!!   I highlighted my nose with Elf Candid Coral Blush.  I used my Coastal Scents Deluxe blending brush.  I love this brush.  It's made for the eyes but I use it for highlighting, contouring, and for setting powder under my eyes over my concealer.

For my lips, I kept it light.  No liner. I used my beauty supply Ruby Kisses lipstick in Shiny Nude and Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Sunset Peach (also purchased at Kroger's).  This lipstick is really, really nice! It's very pigmented and lasts for hours.  I'm so shocked that it only cost $1.99.  Shocked and pleased, I must say.  Go check out Ruby Kisses.  They're highly underestimated.  I need to mention that I truly HATE this applicator on the gloss.  Why would they ruin this great gloss with this weird sponge tip.  Do you see it?  It's almost as if it's been squeezed in the middle.  Who does that?  It doesn't pick up a lot of the gloss so you have to keep putting it back in to get a good payoff.  On a good note, for this look, I didn't want my lips to look overly glossy, however if I wanted to wear it buy itself, it would take a while to get the color to show.  Boo! :-( For this reason, I will not be buying anymore Colorburst glosses.  Ughhh!  

This is the lipstick before I put on the gloss.  Isn't it pretty?  I can't even think of another color that I have like this.  I need to go back and get another one for my kit.  It feels really good too.  It's creamy, but not really glossy.  I forgot to take a picture of me putting it on, I guess you get the idea though. ;-)

Revlon Colorburst  Lipgloss in Sunset Peach

I only placed the gloss in the middle.  Maybe 4 little dots of it at the most was used.

I added M.A.C. Prep and Prime Transparent Finishing Powder all over, I just forgot to take a picture. This is the almost finished look before falsies.

I added Ardell #105 lashes.  I purchased these from Kroger's Grocery store for less than $3.  Who would've thought that my favorite places to buy cosmetics would be grocery stores. Ha ha! :D

Finished look

Close up of the eye