This new drugstore makeup is AMAZING!

You have no idea how happy I am to be sitting down and filming this video. I've had it on my list for weeks at this point, but 2026 had other plans. It's just it's been a rough year so far, to put it lightly. So I am back. I'm here to film a video for you talking about all of the new drugstore launches. Since I didn't get the chance to like sit down and test them out on camera, I've been testing them off camera and I'm here to share my thoughts on them and share what I think are the best and worst launches so far. There are actually so many other drugstore products that I couldn't fit into today's video. So I'll probably be back with a part two very, very soon. But I have a lot to talk about. As always, I love the drugstore launches throughout the year. But the beginning of the year is typically when they launch some of their best products, best collections. I will do some close up shots and swatches. You still find swatches helpful. I feel like nobody does swatches anymore. And if you don't care about them, maybe I'll just cut them. But I will do application clips as well. My skin has been looking really rough during the month of January. It's a combination of things. I was sick, traveled from a few weeks ago, like stressed the weather. I it's just it's not looking its best. So keep that in mind. Although that might be helpful for you, because if you deal with a lot of texture, dryness, just a lot of other skin issues like me, then you'll see what these products truly look like on the skin and hopefully can help you decide whether or not you would like them. So let's get into it. Let's get started. I'll put chapters in the description box. So feel free to jump ahead to the products you're most interested in hearing about. Let's start with complexion products. NYX actually came out with a new foundation and a new powder, and it's their new Make Em Wonder Soft Matte Buildable Foundation. So I picked up the shade 08 Vanilla. It does come in 45 different shades, and there's a really good shade range. But I think 08 Vanilla is maybe slightly light for me. Just for reference, if we do have a similar skin tone, I'll probably end up picking up like a shade or two darker and then either wearing that one or mixing them together. This truly is a gorgeous formula. So you can wear it sheared out for more of a natural look. I believe they call it like a medium buildable coverage foundation. And I would say that is accurate because you can get lighter coverage. You can get like a true medium or you can build it up to look more full coverage on the skin. Because I've been testing this out for, I guess, really weeks at this point, I have paired it with so many different primers. I've worn it over quite a few different sunscreens, and it really truly does have like a soft matte finish. If I'm wearing it over like an extremely glowy sunscreen, a little bit of that glow will come through. And honestly, that is the way that I like to wear it the most, because during the winter, my skin can lean more combo. So I am dealing with a little bit of dryness. But I would say if you have extremely dry skin, you're probably going to want to skip over this. Of course, if you've tried this out and you have dry skin and you love it or if you hate it, please let us know in the comments. But I just find that this is like a true matte foundation because my skin has been a little bit rough lately. If I don't do a great job at exfoliating or I'm dealing with like a lot more texture, I do feel like that kind of shows through this foundation. It's definitely not like the softest, smoothest, most forgiving foundation I've ever tried. I haven't actually watched any other reviews on this. I've been seeing them pop up in my YouTube subscription feed. I just I'm kind of behind on catching up on videos. But I'm curious to hear what people think about this. As someone who does have more oily leaning skin, especially in like the spring and the summer, I feel like this is going to be an ideal foundation for me then, because it is so lightweight, so truly comfortable. Like it has that very weightless feel no matter how much you layer on your skin. So like I said, you can blend it in for more of a natural look. But as you build it up, it doesn't look or feel cakey, which is really, really nice. As with pretty much any makeup release right now, this does claim to be like a skincare infused formula. In fact, as I was like going through these products, looking them up online, like every single product or every single brand highlighted skincare ingredients they decided to include. As far as how much they included and like the efficacy, it really depends on, you know, the brand, the product, how you're wearing it, how much you're wearing it. They did highlight vitamin C for its brightening effects and hyaluronic acid to hydrate. If that is something that you look for or something that you look to avoid. I thought I would just mention that. Along with that, NYX also launched a new powder. This is the Wonder Snatch Setting Powder. It retails for twelve dollars. I have to say, this is such a beautiful formula. I can already tell this is going to be one of my go to loose powders. I always compare powders like I have this scale. I share it in a previous video. When I think of powders that I love, I think of the Makeup by Mario powder on one side, which is very light, very soft. It doesn't really lock my makeup into place as strongly as I would typically love. But it's so beautiful on the skin. It has like that ethereal looking just like finish on the skin. And then on the other side of the scale, I have the Huda Beauty Powder, which is very matte, very long lasting, maybe a little bit heavier, but it really locks my makeup into place extremely well. I would say that this one leans in the direction of the Huda Beauty Powder, but it doesn't feel as heavy on the skin. It truly locks my makeup into place very, very well. It creates a very nice, smooth, beautiful finish. It just feels more comfortable. It feels lighter on the skin. So I honestly feel like this could be like my go to powder. And again, I feel like these are things that I'll have to continue to test as the weather changes and my skin changes a little bit, because right now it's not extremely oily, but I am dealing with, like I said, a lot of texture right now. And I find that this really just blurs over any areas that are either dry or breaking out where I'm dealing with a little bit of unevenness. And it creates a very smooth, beautiful look. Again, with the skincare infused formula claims, they do highlight green tea, which is supposed to, you know, be rich in antioxidants, which they say gives you like a healthy looking glow. It also says this product includes peptides to firm the skin. Honestly, I don't think you're really going to see benefits from those specific ingredients in a powder. But if you are sensitive to either one of those ingredients, that might be good to know. This is supposed to be 16 hour wear and talk free. And again, I do find this wears extremely well. So I absolutely love this powder. I actually like the fact that it's small. It will be perfect for travel. A lot of my powders are just very big, very bulky, and they take up the majority of my makeup bag when I'm traveling. Now, the fact that this is small could also be a big con for you. Now, the amount of powder you get varies brand to brand. But because I was kind of comparing the formula to Huda Beauty, I thought that's what I would compare it to in today's video. So in this powder, you get point two zero ounces for twelve dollars compared to Huda's powder, which you get point seven one ounces for thirty nine dollars. So you'd have to buy like three and a half of these to get the same amount of product you get in the Huda Beauty powder, which would cost forty two dollars. So in the end, you'd end up spending a little bit more like a few dollars more for the same exact amount of powder. So if you break it down that way, this costs just as much as a high end powder. Definitely something to keep in mind. It might be OK with you if you're buying this and you'd rather have like a smaller package. You don't go through powder often. You want one of the brightening shades and you don't want to commit to like a big, giant, full sized powder. I mean, it really depends on your personal preference. But shrink inflation is real. We've seen it time and time again. I have two different concealers to talk about, both very, very affordable. My last video was actually testing out a bunch of new essence launches because they launched so many products. I wanted to do a separate video on theirs, but I wanted to include this one in today's video because I think it is the most noteworthy out of everything I've tried. So if you want to see what else they launched, I'll link that video in the description box below. But I had to mention the Silky Blur Hydrating Longwear Concealer. This is a gorgeous formula. And honestly, I feel like it's one of the best products they've launched in years. This retails for five ninety nine. It does come in 20 different shades. So it's supposed to be a buildable medium coverage concealer with a matte finish. And it really does live up to those claims. You can definitely get more of a full coverage look if you want to build it up. But you can also sheer it out. And I love that because it is a very customizable concealer. You can wear it many different ways. So I have the color zero six, which I think is maybe just a little bit light. I'd rather go lighter than darker when I'm ordering something for the first time because I feel like I can typically make that work. But if I were to repurchase it, I'd probably go up a shade. This is an incredibly long lasting concealer. Like I would go so far as to call this crease resistant. I mean, everyone claims their concealer is creaseproof and I've never found a truly creaseproof concealer. It just doesn't make sense. If you have wrinkles under your eyes, if you have lines on your face, if your face moves, the product is going to move as well and eventually it will crease, especially if you don't set it with powder. But this one creases significantly less than pretty much any concealer I've tried. So I don't know if I cut out the footage in the video where I was testing this out because that video is so long, like I really had to cut it down. But I was mentioning how I applied this concealer and then I was like talking, doing other makeup. And then I went back to set it. But usually I'll take like a concealer brush and like quickly blend it out again. I do that like almost every single day. I didn't even have to do that with this one because it was still perfectly smooth, which is just like weirdly unheard of for me. So truly a gorgeous, very smoothing, very long lasting concealer that doesn't really settle into fine lines like so many other formulas. It does have more of a matte finish, though. So again, if you're looking for like a hydrating satin, even glowy concealer, I would maybe skip over this. I said in my video I have a feeling they're coming out with a silky blur foundation because they did a primer, a concealer, and then I saw on Instagram they did launch or they're launching the foundation in Europe, so hopefully it will come to the US this summer. And I can't wait to try it out. Elf also launched the Soft Glam Satin Concealer. This retails for five dollars. So again, very, very affordable. This one comes in 36 different shades. And I like this packaging because it does come in like a plastic kind of squeeze tube bottle with a traditional concealer applicator. So I feel like you're going to really be able to get every little bit out of here, which is nice. So I have the shade 20 Light Cool, which is what I wear in the foundation. And I love the foundation. I actually haven't worn it in a little while. I feel like maybe it got buried underneath some of my other ones. So I need to break that back out. This does not feel or look exactly like the foundation. In my opinion, this has a little bit more of a glow to it, a slightly more hydrating feel. A little bit of this product goes a long way. It is extremely blendable. It melts into the skin perfectly, very fast, very easy to use. So great if you're doing like quick, easy makeup. They say this one is crease resistant, but for me, it instantly settles into my under eye wrinkles. So I absolutely have to set this one. And even once I set it, I do notice like a little bit of settling throughout the day. So just something to note, if that is like a big pet peeve for you. For me, I can overlook that because the actual finish is gorgeous. It truly is a satin finish, which is strange because that's how I would describe the foundation. But now after using this, I feel like the foundation, not that it leans matte, but it doesn't have as much of like a creamy, hydrating feel on the skin. So I actually love the fact that the concealer does because that is typically something I look for in my concealer even more than my foundation. They highlight a one percent hydrating hibiscus complex and then also hyaluronic acid for hydrated skin. If that is something that's important to you. This is just a gorgeous, like very creamy, very blendable, easy to use concealer. These are very, very different. So it's hard to say if one is better than the other. I think it's really going to come down to your personal preferences. If you like more of a matte finish, more of a satin finish. If you like a longer lasting formula or something that's a little bit more hydrating, I like them both. I'll continue to use both of them. I think as the weather changes in a few months and it becomes a little bit warmer, this will be my go to. But for day to day and like the winter time, I think this one's a little bit more ideal for me. I think I told you recently I'm kind of done with trying like a lot of new setting sprays. I mean, I say that. And then, of course, it's my job to test out new makeup. But I do feel like a lot of setting sprays perform very, very similarly. And, you know, there's not enough to differentiate the new ones from the older ones. But this one was a little bit different. It caught my eye because it is part of the Milani Make It Last line. The Make It Last Matte Setting Spray is one of my favorites. But this is different. This is the Moisture Boost. So it's made with polyglutamic acid and glycerin. It's supposed to lock your makeup in. But also give you like a beautiful, smooth, hydrated feel. This retails for $16.99, which feels very expensive for this size setting spray. And you might be able to get it for a little bit of a less expensive price. Maybe at Walmart. I'll try to find it a couple of different retailers. I purchased mine from Ulta. It's it's beautiful. Honestly, it surprised me. I did not expect to like it as much as I do, just to be completely honest with you, because a lot of hydrating setting sprays feel great as a priming spray, but I don't love them on top of my makeup or they end up looking too glowy, too greasy, too dewy. That is not the case with this one. First of all, it has like a gorgeous, soft, fine mist. And I feel like the drugstore has come a long way in that department. That used to be one of my big pet peeves. It has a little bit of a scent. It's nothing too strong, but it's kind of like a slightly fresh scent. I don't notice it once it ends up drying on my skin, but it is slightly noticeable when I initially apply it. This melts your makeup together in the most beautiful way. And again, a lot of other hydrating setting sprays are just too much. So this could be the case for you if you have what's the word? I'm sorry, I can't get the words out today. If you have oily skin, if you have combo skin or you just prefer a matte look, maybe you don't want something that borders on like greasy or like glazed donut looking skin. That is me. Even in the wintertime, I just I can't get on board with like the most intense, glowy looking skin. So I like this because it adds like that nice hydrated feel. It melts your makeup together. It's probably not the best word. Like it's just it looks like you infuse your skin. It looks like your skin is super hydrated and then you applied your makeup. It also feels so refreshing. Like my skin gets like that boost of moisture. So if your skin's feeling dry throughout the day, you might like to reapply this. I wouldn't say that it locks my makeup into place extremely well. Like if you're looking for longevity, I would stick with the original make it last setting spray. But if you feel like your skin looks kind of dry, it looks thirsty. It needs like a little bit of moisture. This is perfect without overdoing it. Covergirl did these new TrueBlend skin enhancers, baked luminous blushes and baked luminous bronzers. These have been absolutely everywhere for like the past month. So I'm sure you've already heard about these. So I did pick up one bronzer. I have the shade 300 Honey Bun, which is really beautiful. I'm not wearing these today, but I will apply them for you. And then I have two blushes. So I have 400 Please Please Pink, which is not the shade of pink that I would typically wear. But I thought this would be so gorgeous for springtime and I kind of want to get into brighter blush this year. And then 410 Rose Latte, which is the shade that I wear a little bit more often. So a ton of people are saying that these are dupes for hourglass blushes and bronzers. I actually haven't had an hourglass blusher bronzer in my collection in a very long time. I was never like the biggest fan of their bronzers just because I felt like they didn't look great on my skin. But I loved their blushes back in the day. Mine just got old and I ended up decluttering them over the years. But I do think that formula is gorgeous. I like these because they have a very nice natural glow. Some baked blushes have like the most intense glittery sheen. And that can be really beautiful if that's what you're going for. But the reason why I've enjoyed hourglass over the years, although they do have some that have glitter, a lot of their blushes end up having like that nice kind of how I would describe like an ethereal glow, like a glowing from within type of glow, nothing too glittery, too shimmery, too over the top unless you buy one of their glittery formulas. But I typically like their powders that don't have glitter in them because they look very natural on the skin. And I feel like that is the type of look I get with these. I don't think these have actual glitter in them. I mean, every time I say that about a product, I swear people will be like, no, mine has glitter. And then if I say my product has glitter, people will say mine doesn't. So I don't know. I mean, I guess based on the ingredients, these might have glitter or like a very fine shimmer. But on the skin, at least for me, they don't look glittery or shimmery. They have like that natural glow, which is why I think a lot of people would like this formula if they want something if you want something a little bit more subtle. You truly get like that natural, lightly flushed, lit from within look. Overall, I feel like they are a little bit softer. This one I can build up to look a little bit more intense on the cheeks. But I think for the most part, if you're looking for something a little bit more natural, these are going to be more ideal for you. So one of my favorite brands when it comes to big cheek products is Milani, and they've been doing big products for forever at this point, I think they were one of the first brands I ever tried when it came to like a baked blush. So originally I thought they just repackaged the line, but they did improve it and they changed some of the shades. So they do have new baked blushes, baked highlighters and baked bronzers. So I did pick up three of them. I'm trying to grab them. I actually noticed these on Milani's website again, I think back in December before they really even announced it. So I ordered them. And again, I just I haven't had the chance to talk about them. The baked highlighters and the baked bronzers are smaller. They come in the same size packaging as the blushes now. But the blushes are actually the same size as the older blushes, three and a half grams. Although I think the price went up. So they're twelve ninety nine on Ulta's website now. And then again, I'll check a few other retailers to see if they're less expensive. Sometimes they are less expensive at like the actual drugstore or Walmart or Amazon. I just haven't had the chance to look yet, but I'll check before I upload this video and link it in the description box below. So I actually think I like the new formula a little bit better. They say the difference is these actually are now made with grape leaf extract and vitamin E, olive fruit oil. So to me, they just feel like extra smooth on the skin, a little bit easier to blend. And I honestly I feel like they're a little bit more pigmented, especially the bronzer. I haven't tried a Milani baked bronzer in years, but this one is so much better than I remember. So starting with the blush, this comes in eight different shades. There is a possibility that one of your favorite shades might have been discontinued and hopefully they'll end up bringing them back. I saw some people disappointed by that fact. So maybe they'll end up relaunching them at some point. But there are some really beautiful new shades. I actually picked up one that I did not own. This one is Sparkling Rosé. I've been wearing it quite a bit. It's beautiful. And again, I know it's January and I keep referencing spring and summer, but this will easily be one of my go to shades in the summer because it kind of gives like that sunburnt look that you either love or you hate. So if I take it like on my cheeks and across my nose, well, in the winter kind of gives like a I've been out in the cold weather type of look, but in the summer it will give you like that really beautiful flushed look. And again, I don't know, like this just goes on so nicely. It's extra smooth, a little bit more richly pigmented. When you look at it in the pan, it looks like there's a lot of glitter and a lot of shimmer. But on the cheeks, that doesn't really translate. So it looks glowy without looking overly glittery or shimmery on me. But I've heard people say the opposite. So it might depend on the blush you end up picking up. Now that I've tried this one, I probably will buy like another shade or two just to see how they compare, maybe like one of the original shades like Luminoso and wear them side by side and see how the new one compares to the original one. But these go on really easily, very smooth, very blendable, really gorgeous. They're definitely more richly pigmented than the CoverGirl blushes and bronzers. So if that is something that you prefer, I would go with Milani over CoverGirl rather than if you want like a very subtle look, CoverGirl might be a little bit more ideal for you. But I find that you can build these up much easier than CoverGirl. The bronzers come in four shades, definitely an improved shade range and an improved formula, in my opinion. The Milani baked bronzer used to be one of my favorite products years and years ago, probably like 10 years ago. And then they slowly started phasing out all of the shades until there was only like one or two available. So I'm not I'm not sure if they were just planning on redoing it and it was kind of delayed. But I do think the new shade range is much better. And this formula is much better because it shows up on the skin again. There's like an extra smooth quality to it that the original did not have. And it's more richly pigmented. It gives a little bit of a glow, but nothing too, too intense. Again, on my skin, it's not glittery. It's not shimmery, just really smooth, very pretty. And then the baked highlighter comes in four shades as well. And again, I think this formula is just better. I did have a Milani highlighter in my collection not too long ago. And then I think the packaging actually broke. But this one, it feels like a different formula. Again, it's just it's it's very smooth on the skin. It feels like it applies a little bit better. So I truly do think they improved the formula across the board with these. The highlighter definitely has more of like a sparkly, glittery look than the blush or the bronzer. And I mean, that makes sense because it is a highlighter. I wouldn't say it's like the most skin like highlighter I've ever tried. If I use a brush, I get more of a subtle glow. But then if I take my finger, I can definitely get more of like that intense, wet looking glow. So if you're looking for like a skin like highlighter, you might want to skip over this one. But if you like a really intense highlighter, you like the idea of a baked highlighter. It is a gorgeous formula that truly stays in place all day long. So definitely a fan of these as well. One more big cheek product. This is from Elf. It is the Halo Glow Silky Powder Highlighter. So these retail for nine dollars each and they come in five different shades. This is a very, very beautiful kind of baked powder highlighter. It's pretty similar to Milani, but this one is maybe a little bit more flattering on my skin. It feels slightly creamier and it's not. It doesn't sit on the skin as much as the Milani. Like the Milani is a typical powder. And while this also feels and looks like a powder, there's like a creamier aspect to it. Now, a lot of people are saying or were saying when I was watching reviews on this, that this is a dupe for the Rare Beauty highlighter. I just don't find it to live up to the Rare Beauty, the quality of the Rare Beauty one, at least in my opinion. If you've watched my videos for a while, you know, the Rare Beauty highlighter is my favorite highlighter of all time. I have shattered that highlighter and repurchased it time and time again, which is like ridiculous in my mind, because if any other product was breaking as much as that, like I would never buy it again. But I love that one so much. I haven't found anything that quite compares. And while this is nice and it's a really good alternative, I just don't think it's quite the same. Someone left a comment on one of my videos a while ago, and they said the Rare Beauty highlighter is it. It looks like a liquid highlighter, but in powder packaging or something like that. And that's like the perfect description. Whereas these the elf ones and the Milani ones, they look like you're wearing a powder highlighter like this is gorgeous. Don't get me wrong. And again, I do think the elf formula is maybe a little bit more flattering than the Milani formula. It has like that really pretty glass like sheen, but it's definitely more subtle than Rare Beauty, which could be a pro for you. Where was I going with that? I don't there's something about the Rare Beauty one that just looks like extra smooth on the skin. And this is a really good alternative. If you don't want to spend the money on the Rare Beauty one, if you hate the fact that it shatters it because it does, it's so breakable. You might prefer this. Again, we're going out of town soon, and I'll probably bring this one with me and, you know, have this in my makeup bag rather than my Rare Beauty one, which I don't even know if I own the Rare Beauty one and mesmerize anymore because it probably shattered on me. But it's gorgeous on its own as like a standalone product, not comparing it to Rare Beauty, a beautiful baked powder highlighter, probably one of the best that I've tried compared to Rare Beauty. Not quite the same, but a really, really good alternative. I love a good liquid eyeshadow these days, like a one and done shadow. I mean, typically I do, too, because I'll do like a liquid shadow and then take a shimmer all over the lid. But a liquid matte shadow can be a little bit harder to find. There are some good drugstore ones like Hard Candy. About Face is more like of a drugstore priced one. My favorite formula by far is Makeup by Mario. But I would prefer not to pay high end prices if I don't have to. The Makeup by Mario formula is gorgeous. And because it's a little bit thicker, I feel like I don't have to build it up. And I just apply a little bit to the lid, blend it out, and I'm good to go. And I actually get a very, very similar effect with this Elf formula, even though it is thinner. And you might actually prefer this if you find the Makeup by Mario formula to be too thick. These blend out effortlessly. Honestly, they do. I'll show you a clip of me applying this, but I'm also wearing the shade. I think I'm wearing this in the application clip. And today this is the shade Extra Toasted. So today I have the Urban Decay eyeshadow in Moondust on top. And this eye look took me like I was going to say two seconds, but realistically like two minutes. All I do is swipe this on my eye and then I'll take like a fluffy crease brush and just blend out the edges and that's it. And then I'll take a shimmer shadow all over the lid. Sometimes I'll take like a light matte shadow to highlight the brow bone, especially because sometimes I can end up blending up a little bit too far. But I'll do that with any shadow, whether it is a cream shadow or a powder shadow. These go on so nicely. They stay in place all day long without any fading, any creasing. I only have two shades, so I mainly wear the shade Extra Toasted. I feel like this one works for my skin tone a little bit better. Cable knit is gorgeous. If you want something, you know, slightly cooler, that's a little bit deeper. I think this one is so pretty, too. Definitely a little less intense than Makeup by Mario, but you can easily build these up if you want more intensity. So I think these are maybe even slightly more ideal than Makeup by Mario because you can get a little bit of a softer look, which is slightly harder to do with the Makeup by Mario formula because it is a little bit thicker. So these are a great alternative. OK, this product is so good. And I did not expect to be as excited about it as I am, because honestly, like when it comes to all makeup products, like they move around as far as like which ones I'm most excited about at any given point in time and which ones I just don't really care about. And liner has moved from like near the top of my list to the bottom over probably like the span of five years. I used to go I could not go like a day without my black winged liquid liner. And then over the past year or two, like I just I can't be bothered to do it. It takes so much time. And I'm bad at it now because I haven't really been doing it as frequently. Most days I skip eyeliner altogether. I don't even take eyeshadow and like line my eye. I just I don't want to be bothered with it, but I do like the way it looks. I was just watching a movie the other day and the actress wasn't wearing like any eyeshadow. Maybe she had like a little bit on, but she just had like this beautiful, like subtle smudged out winged liner and it looked so pretty. And then I saw someone on TikTok saying like their daily makeup is literally just like a liquid shadow that they smudge out like on their lash line. And I was like, maybe I need to incorporate liner back into my routine. Anyway, this this is going to make it easy for me. This is the NYX Epic Inky Stick Mechanical Cream Gel Eyeliner. So it's $13, which is again, it feels a little bit high. NYX prices are definitely climbing, but it comes in 13 different shades. This is a waterproof cream gel liner, which that to me is like code for a smudgy liner that doesn't dry down, except this one does. So the packaging is interesting. It clicks up similarly to like the Tarte Maracuja Juicy Lips. And then it has kind of like this slanted tip. So I was like that could either be really good or maybe inconvenient. It's perfect. It's perfect for lining the upper lash line. And then it's perfect for creating a wing. Not that it's the most amazing wing you've ever seen in your entire life. But for me, like that's a pretty straight wing without going in with a concealer brush, especially these days, because I've just gotten so bad at winged liner. But the shape of this and the amount that it clicks up is perfect because you can just swipe it on and create a wing in two seconds and then lightly apply it to your upper lash line. I actually took a brush and kind of smudged it out and then it dried down and it will not move all day like this is locked in place. I also use it on my upper or I actually use it to tight line as well. And throughout the day, it will kind of transfer a little bit to my waterline, but really not much for what they are calling like a cream gel liner. It's so nice to apply. It's faster than a gel liner because you don't have to pull out a brush and dip it in, and it's faster than a pencil liner because it's so creamy. There's no tugging at all. So I think they really took the best of like a creamy pencil and a gel and combined it into this. And I just love the actual applicator shape. My favorite shade is definitely Ember Energy, which is just like a deep, dark brown. That's what I have on today. And then I also have kinetic copper. I think they have some that have shimmer in it or some that have shimmer in them and some that are true mattes. And I'll probably end up grabbing like another matte, maybe in like a purple or even just like a true black to create like some of those smudgy eyeliner looks I've been seeing. I've been raving about a lot of the new drugstore launches, but this is one that did not work for me. It's from Milani. It is the highly rated fan club fanning mascara. It's $14.99. I love the original highly rated mascara. One of my top mascaras of all time. So good. But honestly, I would stick with that one if you're a fan of it, rather than really even trying this one, to be honest with you. I will say the original highly rated mascara works a little bit better for me once it has the chance to dry out for a couple of weeks. So that might be the case for this one as well. I'll keep you posted. But at this point, I've been using it for probably two weeks. And I just I think it's actually performing worse, to be honest with you. So the main difference between the brushes is that one is kind of like an hourglass shaped brush. I think unless. Yeah, it is. And this one is like a thicker kind of curved brush. It's supposed to give lift, volume and curl. Actually, the claims are kind of intense. I was reading them and I was like, this is so weird to me. 96% saw instantly more lifted and fanned out lashes and 90% saw instant dramatic length, lift and definition. It just it doesn't live up to those claims for me. I will say I get a lot of volume, but that's not really even that. That doesn't even fall in line with the claims. I get a ton of volume, a lot of drama and some length, but I don't get lift and I don't get curl. It's a very wet mascara. So by default, I feel like it weighs my lashes down like the second I apply it. The other big issue is, you know, I get a lot of volume, but it moves from the voluminous territory into clumpy territory extremely fast. So one second you have like beautiful, voluminous lashes. The next second, they're like so clumped together, which is the exact opposite of what I would expect from a mascara that claims to like define and fan them out. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me personally. I feel like typically when it is a fanning mascara, a defining mascara, the bristles are much more separated than this. I think of like a typical plastic bristled one rather than something like this. Like even the original highly rated mascara, in my opinion, probably does a better job of separating the lashes. And that isn't really like the most separating or that's not even the most defining wand I've ever tried. But even if I wore these side by side, I swear you would think the side with the original mascara is the one that claims to be the one that fans and defines because this one does not fan out my lashes or define them at all. In fact, it makes them look very dramatic, very thick to the point where they're so clumpy. And I used to love that look. But that typically is not my favorite these days. And this one is even just too clumpy for me personally. OK, wrapping things up with a new lip balm. So ColourPop launched a new shimmer version of their Fresh Kiss Glossy Lip Balm, which this is one of my favorite lip balms of all time. I need to do a lip balm ranking video. Are you over it at this point? Like there are just so many lip balms out there. I kept saying I was going to do one last year and I didn't. But maybe I'll still do it for those of you that might be interested. Anyway, I love the original formula. Now they have a shimmer formula, which is kind of nice because even like the high end versions haven't really launched like a ton of shimmery options. I know there are like a couple of shimmer shades within each line. Actually, maybe they have more than I think. Summer Fridays only has like one shimmer, though. Lula Henriksen has a couple. I don't know about the road ones because I've only tried one of those. I think they have like one or two that have shimmer. But you don't have to go high end if you don't want to, because honestly, the ColourPop formula is gorgeous. I've been raving about it ever since they launched the original one. I think it is just very glossy, very smooth. I think that it's you know, I used to say it was like a dupe for Summer Fridays, but I think it's better. It's just slightly thicker, slightly shinier, a little bit longer lasting, more hydrating and obviously less expensive. These are ten dollars each. I will say the new shimmer ones for the most part are pretty sheer on the lips. So I don't think you need all of them by any means. I mean, I got these in the mail as PR and I'll swatch them all on the lips. You can see what they look like and hopefully that will help you narrow down your decision if you want one. But the scents are really good. So I would maybe pick them, pick one of the sheer ones based on the scent or pick one of the more intense ones based on the actual color. Some of the key ingredients ColourPop highlights are peptides to soften the lips and then hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate as well. I would say my favorite one in terms of the scent is probably buttery pancakes, which you're either going to love this or hate this because it is like very mapley, very buttery, like it truly smells like you would think a buttery pancake lip gloss is going to smell like. I would say the one that I wear the most, though, is raspberry cream. That's what I have on today. And I have it over a Natasha Denona lipstick. The reason I like the idea of like a shimmery lip balm is because, I mean, I do still have the lip balm in place, but even once like some of that glossiness wears off because it has the shimmer in it, it still makes your lips look very shiny, very glossy. So this one smells really good. Again, it just has like that nice, cushiony texture. I feel like it's gotten even better since they first launched it. I don't know that this original or I don't know that this formula differs from the original one other than the actual shimmer, but it's beautiful. And every time I wear it, I'm reminded of the fact that I don't I just don't need to buy Summer Fridays. I don't when these exist because they're just they're better. They're better. I was going to say just as good, but they're actually better. OK, last product for me is, again, I think a fail, although I haven't really ever used a product like this. So if you have any suggestions or tips, please let me know. I just feel like it is much more difficult to use than it should be. And there are other products out there that give a very similar effect that are much easier, much faster to use. But I'm definitely open to your tips, your suggestions. This is from Hard Candy. I love hard candy, and I love that they came out with something like this. It's such an affordable price. It is their peel off lip liner. This retails for seven dollars. So it comes in three different shades because it's a peel off lip liner. It it's interesting. Like you have to use it in a certain way. So it basically goes on like a very intensely pigmented gel. And you can use it all over your lips if you want to, or you can use it just to line the lips. I feel like there is a learning curve when it comes to this product. And in my application clip, this was like my first time ever trying it. But since then, I've tried it multiple times and it's gotten a little bit easier, but I still have a hard time with it. I just I can't quite figure it out. So basically, you apply it to your lips. You let it dry for, they say, 60 seconds. But I usually wait like two, three minutes and then you're supposed to be able to peel it off. So a few things I've learned and even layer is best. So I'll kind of try to do like a thinner line all around my lips rather than such a thick line. And I feel like that helps because, number one, if you have like too thick of a line, it looks like you applied like a full stain all over your lips, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But you definitely want it to look even because this product stains like it stays in place extremely well, which is what you want when it comes to a lip liner stain. So as far as longevity goes, like ten out of ten, no notes there. The stain does not move no matter what you put on top. Like it doesn't fade. It doesn't smudge until you like remove it with like micellar water at the end of the day. So I love the fact that it stays in place and a few extra minutes and applying like an actual lip liner stain that you have to peel off would be worth it to me if I could figure out how to apply it extremely evenly when it comes to lip liner. I don't want it to look uneven. My whole thing with lip liner is, number one, I like to use it, obviously, to lock my lipstick into place. But if I'm using a lip liner stain, it's because I want like that even stain throughout the day, even once my product on top fades. And this applicator does make it easy to get like a very thin line or you can get a very thick line. I feel like that might even be the more optimal way to apply this for me. But I just because it's so intense, so rich, I just I have a hard time getting it on super evenly before it starts to dry. And I have to start, you know, like and I have to just leave it alone. I find that sometimes I can get it to peel away and then sometimes I can't. So I have to take like a Q-tip and makeup remover and or like even a makeup wipe and kind of scrub it off. And then by then it doesn't look even. It's just I have a hard time with it personally. I know these were super viral on TikTok and maybe I just maybe it's just like not the type of product for me. But I feel like there are other products that do this in an easier way. Like the glossy lip stains that NYX has done or like the elf watery lip tints, the essence tints like anything like that, in my opinion, is a little bit easier to use. It's just it's not quite as intense as the hard candy one. So I would love to find a way to use them and for them to actually look even on me because the actual standing power is so good. So kind of a fail, in my opinion. But for you, if you like this type of product, I think you'll love it because it does work. It's just hard to use. So, again, keep me posted. I'm open to suggestions. But for now, it's just not something I could see myself using practically. So that's everything I wanted to talk about. Thanks for watching. If you've tried these products, let me know what you think. I would truly love to hear your thoughts on these, whether you loved them or hated them, maybe what your skin type is like, any tips or tricks that you have and how you pair them with other products in your routine. Like I said, I will do some other videos on new drugs for makeup because there have been so many launches, other products that I'm definitely planning on talking about as well. And then I do have that essence video. If you want to check it out, I'll link it on the screen for you. But thank you so much for watching. I will definitely be back to uploading more regularly in February. I have a lot of content planned. So if there's anything you want to see, let me know. And I'll see you soon with a new video. Bye.