I’m SO Obsessed with NEW Cover FX Custom Cover Drops {Full Review + How-to} #Dropportunity [Edited to Add Shade Update]

See bottom of post for a shade update!

Cover FX Custom Cover Drops is probably one of the most unique and most needed new beauty launches within the last few years. They’re totally allowing legions of makeup and skincare loving women all over to have the power to take control of their coverage needs. With Cover FX Custom Cover Drops you can pretty much make magic in your own beauty vanity by DIY-ing your own complexion product. Here’s the scoop on how they work and why you might need them.

The first rule about Cover FX Custom Cover Drops is you do not talk about Fight Club whoops—I mean you do not use them alone. DO NOT use these alone. Are you listening? DO NOT USE THESE ALONE. I’m a little worried some might grab these thinking it’s just like any liquid foundation and will get mad once it doesn’t work that way and will think there’s something wrong with the product. This is one of those products where you have to read instructions and understand. It’s not quite a pro product but I also thinks it does require a certain level of makeup sophistication because again, you’re not grabbing this off the shelf and using it as is. Even with that once you grasp the concept of Cover FX Custom Cover Drops, it’s actually really easy to use and you’ll be obsessed with them like I am now.

What are they?

Cover FX Custom Cover Drops are highly concentrated color pigments (this is why they shouldn’t be used alone) that you can mix with SO many (liquid) beauty products to create your own DIY coverage experience. This means your moisturizer (see my note on moisturizer with deeper shades below), face oil, serum, SPF, primer, luminizer, foundation, BB or CC cream, etc. The item you’re mixing them with can be a liquid that is water-based, oil-based, or silicone-based.

Why would you need them?

If being able to customize your coverage experience appeals to you, you definitely want to look into this. I mixed them with quite a bit of items from my beauty stash and also love the idea of adding a few drops into a foundation or concealer that didn’t quite match me that well. Also for those of us with darker skin, there’s products like luminizers and liquid bronzers that don’t quite work so well on us on their own (because they might look a bit on the ashy side) and a drop of Cover FX Custom Cover Drops can fix that. Ditto when it comes to tinted moisturizers and BB creams—you can basically make your own using Cover FX Custom Cover Drops.

They’re also perfect for stretching out your winter foundation into the summer or for that foundation or BB cream you bought that just wasn’t quite the right shade.

How do you use them?

So here’s a quick cheat sheet. Remember like I said many times earlier in this post, you DO NOT USE THESE ALONE.

You use the same amount of whichever product you plan to mix Cover FX Custom Cover Drops with (i.e. a dime size amount of moisturizer or primer, two drops of face oil, etc.) but then you use the following amount of drops depending on your desired coverage level:

1 Drop = Sheer Coverage
2 Drops = Medium Coverage
3 Drops = Full Coverage
4 Drops = Total Coverage

Again, DO NOT USE COVER FX CUSTOM COVER DROPS ALONE.

I filmed a video that shows a bunch of items you can mix Cover FX Custom Cover Drips—stay tuned because I’ll be posting it soon.

Shade Range

Like all complexion products from the brand, Cover FX Custom Cover Drops comes in a wide range of shades from fair to very deep and in pink, golden, and neutral undertones. I wear shade N110 (see what other shades I wear here) but I also mix in a little N120. N120 is a shade that is relaunching soon (it’s already in the Cover FX Contour Kit)—I got it ahead of it’s official launch so it doesn’t appear to be sold just yet but hang tight.

You can use the online Shade Finder on CoverFX.com to figure out your shade.

My thoughts

To be honest when I first got these I did kinda give them the side eye BUT that was because I had to get the hang of it. I first mixed it with my trusty Perricone MD Face Finishing Moisturizer but found it started to look a little mask-y. After speaking with a Cover FX customer service rep who is also deeper in color, I found that you want to mix Cover FX Custom Cover Drops with products that are either similar in color OR clear in color. Something about the moisturizer (which is white in color) caused the pigments to react in a way where the color looked a little off on me. I don’t think this should be an issue for those of you on the lighter end of the spectrum though. Once I mixed it with a face oil, it was perfect. I also LOVE mixing this with the new Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield SPF 30 | PA +++. Like I LOVE mixing it with Invisiblur. It’s like making your own imperfection blurring, anti-aging foundation with SPF protection. Also mixing Cover FX Custom Cover Drops + Cover FX Mattifying Primer? OMG. Another one of my FAVE combos as it gives an amazing finish and helps to combat oil at the same time. I need to retry this combo once it starts to get really hot and humid in NYC. I also love mixing Cover FX Custom Cover Drops with face oil. It also works well with primers, luminizers, liquid bronzers, and other foundations.

I went from feeling like “meh” to “OMG!!!!!” with Cover FX Custom Cover Drops. This is a truly amazing product if you understand how to use it. It’s actually not that complex to understand but if you’re used to just picking up your liquid foundation and slapping it on your mug, you might have a bit of a learning curve with Custom Cover Drops.

Wear and finish will vary depending on what product you mix it with so it’s hard for me to tell you what to expect other than what I’ve tried. I loved the finish and coverage levels for the customized mixes I did but we all may not use this product in the exact same way and of course the products you use in them have different ingredients, actives, etc. I’m excited because I can make any kind of foundation I want from Cover FX Custom Cover Drops for my oily skin from season to season (I live in NYC where we get four distinct seasons—ok maybe not so distinct anymore but the changes in weather prompts a change in my skincare and makeup routines).

How it looks on me:

So I did a few looks to give you an idea of how Cover FX Custom Cover Drops can look in action.

1 Drop CCD (I mixed 1/2 a drop of N110 + 1/2 a drop of N120) + Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil (sheer coverage—my skin looks more even but you can still see some of my dark spots and I’d normally wear concealer under my eyes to brighten but wanted to show you how the coverage of CCD looks before concealer)

2 Drops CCD (I mixed 1 1/2 drops of N110 + 1/2 drop of N120) + Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield SPF 30 | PA +++ (medium coverage—spots are about 80-90% covered. I still need under eye concealer and I’d probably use a powder deeper than my skin to slightly contour around the perimeter of my face)

3 Drops CCD (I mixed 2 1/2 drops of N110 + 1/2 drop of N120) + Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield SPF 30 | PA +++ (full coverage—spots are completely covered—I can definitely use an under eye concealer to brighten up—but I don’t look overly made up)

I’d have to say for now my fave is definitely 3 drops mixed with either Murad Invisiblur or Cover FX Mattifying Primer. There’s still like 90 million other things for me to mix and try out so I’ll try to keep you posted either here on the blog or on Instagram on what I like so make sure you follow and stay tuned :)

See my video how-to here

Bottom line: (you may need to just re-read the post…lol)

Price and where to buy: $44 at coverfx.com

Use code ‘DGDROPS’ to receive 50% off a Cover FX primer of your choice when you purchase a Custom Cover Drop. Applies to www.coverfx.com and www.coverfx.ca. Valid now through March 31, 2015.

Other makeup I’m wearing in these pics:
Revlon Lipstick in Hazelnut (might be discontinued)
MAC #35 Lashes
Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade + Brow Wiz
Sleek MakeUP Au Naturel Palette
Illamasqua Excite Blush
Cover FX Matte Setting Powder in Deep

See video on how to use Cover FX Custom Cover Drops here

UPDATE

After using these more for a while and getting photographed, I noticed a weird discoloration along my jawline that only showed up in pics. When I first got CCDs I was mixing it with my moisturizer so it made everything look off on me (which is why I suggested above to use similar colored or clear items like face oils, primers, etc.) so I was adding N120 to darken the shade. Then when I learned that using serums, primers, face oils, etc. worked better I was already used to adding N120. Then one day I didn’t use N120 and found that using just N110 (mixed with either primer, serum, etc.) worked much better for me. I also use my CCD mixture as my base foundation and then use the Cover FX Contour Kit to highlight and contour.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Cover FX. As always all opinions are 100% my own.