Quick Reviews: Cover FX Power Play Foundation, Makeup Revolution Concealers & Eyeshadow Palettes + MORE on Dark Skin!

Welcome back to another TSABD Quick Reviews!

TSABD Quick Reviews is just as its name would suggest: quick reviews. Sometimes there just isn’t a whole lot I need to say about a product, so I’ll group them together and give you the quick rundown. These are NOT like my TSABD Edit where I tend to go into detailed explanation with swatches and sometimes video demo.

Today we’re going to chat about the NEW Cover FX Power Play Foundation, Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Full Coverage Conceal & Contour (the deeper shades), Makeup Revolution 24K Gold Chocolate Eyeshadow Palette, Makeup Revolution Reloaded Palette in Vitality, Urban Decay Hi-Fi Shine Ultra Cushion Lip Gloss, and L’Oreal Infallible Primers in Glow-Lock and Matte-Lock.

Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Full Coverage Conceal & Contour

(product sent by the brand for review consideration)

OK shade range! This full coverage concealer comes in 18 shades and on the deeper end of the spectrum, there are actual viable options for people with darker skin (unlike SOME brands who shall remain nameless coughtartesneeze sneezetoofacedcough coughitcosmeticssneeze). Of the darker shades, I appreciated that most of the shades were on the neutral or warmer side which can be great for brightening under the eyes. I do wish some of the medium dark shades I got to try out came in more options with golden undertones (I asked for the eight deepest shades so I don’t know what the ten lighter ones look like).

Your concealer shade is going to differ depending on what you’re covering and where—for instance, I like to brighten my under eye with a concealer that is 1-2 shades lighter than my skin tone, but I can’t use that same shade to cover say a dark spot on my chin. I used C13 (described as for dark skin with a warm undertone) to highlight and C18 (also described as for dark skin with a warm undertone) to contour—these were the closest matches for me to highlight and contour. C13 wasn’t as golden as I prefer, but it worked well. C18 was ok as a contour though I would prefer something cooler in undertone, but it didn’t look bad. I don’t prefer these to highlight and contour though because the formula is pretty quick-drying so you have to move FAST in order to manipulate the product and get it to blend—and you need to BLEND when you highlight and contour. These make for awesome concealers though–full coverage but you can vary it by either sheering it down or layering it up. It was also damn near bulletproof under my eyes–it didn’t settle into my eyes nor did it fade. You could also compare these to the Tarte Shape Tape concealers but these have a much better shade range.

I’d say these are pretty awesome if you can find a great shade match for your concealing needs. They perform very well and are only $7 each.

P.S. Stay tuned for a concealer 101 post coming soon. SUBSCRIBE to the blog so you don’t miss it or any other amazing blog posts ;)

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Makeup Revolution 24K Gold Chocolate Eyeshadow Palette

Listen, Makeup Revolution is coming for Too Faced’s NECK with their chocolate palettes…lol. There are nine variations of them and not only do the colors give Too Faced Chocolate Bar vibes, the packaging is also a call to the popular TF palettes (see my review on the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette here). No, they’re not identical, but shoot, close enough. The Makeup Revolution palettes don’t smell like chocolate (at least the one I have doesn’t) and they’re not the same quality as the Too Faced palettes and the colors may not be close dupes, but shoot, again, close enough. Too Faced palettes run close to $50 and the Makeup Revolution ones are $15. If I had a teen cousin or niece who loved Too Faced stuff, she’d be getting a Makeup Revolution palette (I personally wouldn’t spend $50 on a palette for a teen).

But the shadows in the Makeup Revolution 24K Gold Chocolate Eyeshadow Palette are actually great quality. I tested them out without eyeshadow primer (like I normally do) and not a single crease and no fading even after more than eight hours of wear. I still always recommend using an eyeshadow primer with any shadows though if you want to ensure all day wear with no fading or creasing.

Remember when there was a time when you couldn’t get eyeshadow palettes like these at the drugstore level? The most you’d get was maybe a badly paired quad or 5-shadow mini palette with questionable quality. So it’s amazing to see so many palettes like this available at an attainable price tag.

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Makeup Revolution Reloaded Palette in Vitality

I really wanted to try the Division Palette but it was sold out and this was the only one available that looked close enough to something I’d like. It’s almost astonishing that these palettes are only $7 (which might be why Division and other palettes were sold out). The quality on these are pretty amazing as well (not as amazing as some department store eyeshadow palettes, but still amazing) and I also was able to test these without a primer for over eight hours and not a single instance of creasing or fading. I would actually prefer the Reloaded Palette over the Chocolate ones—the packaging on the Reloaded Palettes are much more sleek and less kiddy (the chocolate bar ones look like chocolate bars).

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Urban Decay Hi-Fi Shine Ultra Cushion Lip Gloss

(product sent by the brand for review consideration)

So these aren’t my favorite, but since you guys voted that you liked them on my IG stories, here’s my review…lol. I much prefer opaque lip glosses but can still give my thoughts on how these perform for what they are.

So first the applicator is amazing. It helps to glide the product on and the cushion feels great on the lips. The glosses themselves have that distinct UD minty smell and feel. I don’t like sheer glosses, which most of these are, but if you’re into them, these are pretty cool. There are four finishes: Cream, Sheer Cream, Holographic, and Metallized. Even the Cream finish isn’t as opaque as I would like. If you have pigmented lips, you might have to do some prep work for these to show as true as they can get—especially the sheer ones. They can also work layered on top of other lip colors.

I do find them to be a bit sticky—the Metallized ones even more than the others. UD doesn’t make any claims on wear, but glosses like these can come off easily when drinking or eating—the darker colors and the Metallized ones may last longer than the others though.

These will be available at Sephora, Ulta, and select Macy’s stores as well as on sephora.com, ulta.com, macys.com, and urbandecay.com for $20 each. There are a few shades that will be Ulta exclusives: Savage, Bang, Midnight Cowgirl, and Beso. You can get them right now at urbandecay.com.

L’Oreal Infallible Pro Primers

(product sent by the brand for review consideration)

Matte-Lock

Official description:

Locks In Matte Finish. Primes and Prepares Face for Makeup. Smooths and Blurs Imperfections.
Discover the secret for longwear matte makeup that lasts. L’Oréal Paris’ Infallible Matte-Lock Foundation Primer primes for makeup and perfects while it smoothes skin for a better makeup application. Face primer blurs imperfections and keeps oil at bay. Plus this matte primer locks in a matte finish that lasts all day. Before foundation application, apply primer to face, focusing on areas prone to oil (think forehead, nose and chin).

This isn’t a primer I’d use right now because it’s way too cold outside for it and my skin isn’t as oily in this kind of weather. But I loved how it instantly mattified my skin and it kept my makeup looking matte all day—a foundation that doesn’t even have a matte finish. L’Oreal makes some amazing primers on the drugstore level and this is no exception.

Glow-Lock

Official description:

Locks in Glow Finish. Primes and Prepares Face for Makeup. Reveals Healthy, Radiant Complexion.
Discover the secret for a longwear luminous look that lasts. L’Oréal Paris’ Infallible Glow Lock Foundation Primer primes for makeup, perfects and illuminates while it hydrates skin for a better makeup application. This Illuminating L’Oréal face primer leaves skin with a healthy, radiant glow that lasts all day. Before foundation application apply face primer all over face to prep the skin.

I really loved this primer because it gave my skin a healthy glow and helped make a matte finish foundation easier for me to wear in this cold, dry weather. I may not be able to use this in the summer, but it’s nice for a luminous glow now that it isn’t warm (at all…lol). I also loved that the glow is a pigmented pinky gold glow that doesn’t look ashy on darker skin.

P.S. When it comes to any primer no matter what it aims to do, it’s important to understand that primers aid in obtaining a certain look but their efforts can be thwarted by opposing products. By this I mean keep in mind which products (moisturizer and foundation) you’re using in conjunction with it. Also some primer formulas should be used with foundations that are similar in formula (i.e. a silicon-based primer with a silicon-based foundation)

Get price and shopping info by clicking on any image in the widget below.

Cover FX Power Play Foundation

Official info:

Coverage:
* Full

Skin type:
* Combination
* Oily

Finish:
* Matte

What it is:
A modern-matte, blurring foundation with weightless full coverage that provides sweat-proof all-day wear, long-lasting shine control, environmental protection, and a finish that will not oxidize.

What does:
This vegan, long-wearing liquid foundation provides sweat-proof, waterproof, and transfer-proof full coverage with a blurring, modern-matte finish. Formulated to provide invisible all-day shine control, this foundation contains a trio of ultra-fine powders that weightlessly mattify without dulling or drying the complexion. It’s available in 40 diverse shades that will not oxidize for a perfect match that stays color-true all day, on any skin tone.

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Phthalates

What else you need to know:
Cover FX is vegan, cruelty-free, clean beauty. This product is free of parabens, fragrance, mineral oil, talc, gluten, sulfates, and phthalates.

Finding your perfect match at Cover FX is simple with their inclusive shade system based on depth and undertone. Cover FX Shades are consistent across all formulas so your perfect match in one foundation will be your perfect match in all other Cover FX foundations.

First, find your undertone (underlying skin tone):
– P = Pink (a rosy, cooler hue)
– N = Neutral (equal parts of pink and golden)
– G = Golden (a yellow, warmer hue)
– G+ = Golden Olive (warmer and more olive than G shades)

Next, find your shade range (Light to Deep)
– 0-20: Fair
– 25-40: Light
– 50-60: Medium
– 70-85: Medium Deep
– 90-100: Deep
– 110-125: Extra Deep

If you need help figuring out your shade, there’s a quiz on the Cover FX site that can help you. Also check out some swatches of the Total Cover Cream shades, Pressed Mineral Powder, and Natural Finish shades. If you match to a shade in one Cover FX foundation formula, you’ll be that in the other formulas.

So I have for the longest time loved the Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation: it works well on oily skin, can be sheered out for less coverage or layered for more coverage. I can usually wear it year-round as well—it even lasted all day in Trinidad Carnival while I played mas.

But this Power Play? I was so hyped to try it as so many have been raving about it for oily skin. I have oily skin—as I have gotten older it’s not as oily as it has been in the past but still oily. In this freezing cold winter (now it wants to play winter—we had close to 70 degrees in February but it’s been in the 30s and low 40s lately) my skin isn’t as oily as it would be in the summer. I love that the foundation can cover up my dark spots on my forehead and even out my skin tone while still letting my skin look like skin. The finish is MATTE but not casket sharp matte. It held up really well on me as I wore it out while doing some physically draining work and also to run some errands but my skin didn’t look its normal radiant self. This could be a combination of it being freezing cold out now and this being more of a warmer-weather foundation for me and PMS. I tried it again with a luminous primer (the L’Oreal Infallible Glow-Lock) and it looked much better, but I’d rather just wear the Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation which doesn’t require me to use a primer. I would also say this foundation might not be forgiving to texture and don’t even attempt this if you have dry skin (use the Cover FX Natural Finish Foundation or the CC Cream instead). I don’t have very visible pores (at least not yet…lol) and I feel like this foundation made them more visible—again, could be because it’s MAD cold in NYC now coupled with PMS making my skin act up.

I am intrigued by Power Play so I will give it another run when it gets warmer out. I usually can’t wear anything mattifying in this cold, dry NYC winter even though I have oily skin (and even when I was younger with even oilier skin). I’m sure the foundation is fine, but we’ve talked a lot about making sure your foundation and skincare coincide with the season/weather. Check out the Moisturizer Switch-Up and Are You Wearing the Wrong Foundation Pt 2 for more info.

EDIT 6/11/18:

Now that it’s been summer-like a lot lately, I’ve had the chance to try Cover FX Power Play a number of times in the heat, and it is DEFINITELY legit for me. I like to use it with the Cover FX Blurring Primer. It holds up very nicely in the warmer and more humid temps even without a primer.

Get price and shopping info by clicking on any image in the widget below.

Have you tried any of these? Would you? Tell me in the comments!