Neutrogena Healthy Skin Makeup: NARS Dupe?

 

I cant believe that I haven't reviewed this yet! I've owned Neutrogena's Healthy Skin foundation for about half a year now, after hearing that it's a dupe for NARS' Sheer Glow. I believe it's about $12-$14 depending on where you buy it, which is really cheap compared to NARS' Sheer Glow. They have a pretty good shade range, 12 shades total. I went ahead and bought two shades, 60 Natural Beige and 70 Fresh Beige. Natural Beige is supposedly a good match for NC30s and 70 for NC35-40. I really liked it when I FIRST got it, then not so much, now I'm back to loving it!

First things first, I'm sure everyone's curious to know how it compares to NARS' Sheer Glow. I mean, the claims are pretty outrageous right? Everyone loves Sheer Glow, how can Neutrogena even compare? Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Makeup gets some pretty mixed reviews, some people love it, some hate it (it has a 3.5 rating on MakeupAlley).

Neutrogena says:

"Finally, naturally beautiful coverage that takes your skin's health seriously. Neutrogena Healthy Skin^® liquid makeup takes over where your skin care leaves off. Silky-light coverage glides on for a perfectly natural look, while the exclusive blend plus SPF 20 work together to visibly improve skin's luminosity, tone, and texture."

First downfall, Healthy Skin doesn't come with a pump, neither does Sheer Glow, but at least NARS sells a pump for it. This is a HUGE downfall because you have to be extra careful with the HS formulation, it spills out like a big girl's muffin top over skinny jeans. I'm serious. The big difference between the two foundation is HS is a lot runnier than SG. It has a thinner, more watery consistency. This has its good and bad sides. The thinner consistency feels lighter on the skin. Healthy Skin also has a light fragrance. I actually like the smell though, it's a pretty scent that makes my brush smell fresh (for reference, I use my ELF flat-top brush for it, the best method thus far).

But how do they look on the skin??

Surprisingly, they look relatively the same! They both give you a slightly dewy finish, with great coverage. The Healthy Skin can look a little bit more shiny, so I do use powder with it. Other then that, I understand why it's been called a "dupe". My only true gripe with it is the staying power. By the end of the day, it's faded a good amount. The longevity of the foundation is ok, but can't keep me looking flawless from morning to night, but then again, neither can Sheer Glow. (*Note: I don't use Healthy Skin enough to notice any change in "tone or texture" to my skin)

Here are the Healthy Skin foundations compared with the Sheer Glow counterparts:

Neutrogena Healthy Skin #60 Natural Beige, NARS Sheer Glow Punjab, HS #70 Fresh Beige, SG Stromboli

As you can see, Sheer Glow runs more yellow. I don't think that I would want to choose one foundation over the other, while they look very similar on the skin, I like that Healthy Skin feels lighter and smells better, but I also like that Sheer Glow runs more yellow. I guess I want the best of both worlds (>    A     <) ehehehe. Greedy pants.

Wow, it's been so long since I've done an actual review! I'm really sorry ladies! This term is kicking my butt! Three more weeks until my spring break starts!

Have any of you ladies tried Healthy Skin? Thoughts? 

♥

ELF Eyelid Primer VS. Urban Decay Primer Potion

I decided to give ELF's Eyelid Primer ($1), to see how it would compare to my darling Urban Decay Primer Potion ($18). Plus, it was only a buck. If this primer works out, I will feel incredibly stupid having three backups of UDPP.

The wand is just a normal wand, a lot like a lipgloss applicator, much like UDPP's old one. It feels cheap, and for some reason, product doesn't hold well on it, which makes application on the eyelids feel a bit rough.

ELF on the left, Urban Decay on the right 

They look relatively the same right? I'm not talking about packaging, because ELF's is a cheapo little tube. It had the same color, and creamy consistency. While ELF's version is thinner, It certaintly FELT like UDPP on the lids. I decided to do a test to see how eyeshadows showed up on the primers, as well as to time how long they lasted. I did a swatch test using MAC's eyeshadow in Mulch.

Mulch on bare skin, on ELF's Primer, and on UDPP

First of all, I just realized what CRAP Mulch looks like alone. This is why I ALWAYS wear primer. I wasn't expecting it to look so lame alone. When I applied it on both primers, the color was equally vibrant. The ELF swatch did go on easier though. So far, so good.

This is what the swatches look like 5 hours later. It's not great picture quality because I woke up at 3 in the morning to take this picture... Don't ask =). As you can see, the lone Mulch swatch is virtually gone, the two primed swatches both held up, EQUALLY! I can't evaluate creasing, because I never have much of a problem with that. From my experience, using these primers on the eyes yeilded almost identical results. I did find blending with ELF's version easier (probably because it is thinner), but I still somehow feel safer sticking to my Urban Decay Primer Potion. But don't mind me, I'm a Urban Decay whore.

I highly recommend trying out ELF's Eyelid Primer if you want to save $17, what do you have to lose?

Uh, a dollar I guess.

Super Cheap Nars Albatross Dupe

Nars Blush in Albatross ($26) is my HG highlighter. It makes me happy and I can't help but coo and sigh when I tickle it with my brush. God, I'm psycho. E.L.F. recently came out with three new blushes, with one that looks strangely similar to Albatross. I spotted it on the website under the pseudonym "Gotta Glow". Now, I'm already aware that E.L.F. totally ripped off Nars (think black flat packaging and products such as their Blush/Bronzer duo- Orgasm/Laguna anyone?). E.L.F.'s Blush in Gotta Glow ($3) is basically Albatross' sister in cheap clothing.

First similarity: Packaging. Nars has an icky rubber plastic that attracts fingerprints that I can't stand, but looks a lot sleeker. ELF has a clear window on the outside to see the color, and a mirror on the inside.

Albatross on the right, Gotta glow on the left

Albatross (top) and Gotta Glow (bottom)

NARS has better pigmentation, and the gold is more prominent in the ELF blush. However, when I actually applied them to my face, I seriously could not tell the difference. Plus, you save $23 dollars by buying Gotta Glow. For those of you who are lemming after Albatross: Here's your solution! If you already have Albatross, pass, because that thing will last you ages. I knew I had to have Gotta Glow just because I love anything that closely resembles my beloved. Plus, I wasn't losing much with spending three bucks. 

Do you guys have either? What do you think?

Physician's Forumula Shimmer Strips: Bobbi Brown Dupe?

 I'm really digging Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Bronzers. I was looking at them last week, and I had the strangest "de ja vu"  feeling I've seen them before... Well, that's because they look A LOT like Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Bricks. I'm not doing a color comparison, because they're pretty different. One, I use Bobbi Brown's as more of a highlighter where as the PF is a bronzer. They both contain five strips of color and are the same size.

Don't they look like they could be sistahs?!

PF Shimmer Strips L-R: Malibu, Waikiki, Miami, Vegas, and Sunset 

Swatches Top to Bottom: Sunset, Vegas, Miami, Waikiki, Malibu, and Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Brick in Beige 

I feel like the PF Shimmer Strips are actually easier to get color from than BB's. Plus, they're about $13 a pop, instead of $38. PF has more of sheen to it, whereas BB is more shimmery. My favorite Shimmer strip is Waikiki, because the top color is a peachy one, and I can double it as a glowy blush.

Have you guys tried either? Yay or nay?

Mac Rubenesque Paint Pot Dupe!

I don't know if you've guys noticed the box on the left, but my product of the moment is Mac's Paint Pot in Rubenesque. Rubenesque is a peachy base with gold/champagne shimmer. I LOVE IT.

So, imagine my surprise when I was riffling through my makeup collection and came across a Revlon dupe. I own almost every Revlon Illuminance Cream Shadow quad, and I've only use a few colors out of a few quads. Anyways, my Va Va Va Bloom quad has a color that is basically an EXACT dupe for Rubenesque. It's the THIRD color from the left in the quad. They looked really similar in the pot, but when I swatched them, they were twins!

Mac's Rubenesque is $16.50 while Revlon's quad is about $5.50. STEAL! Go pick this up!

*I hear that the indellible cream shadows at jwcosmetics.com are exact dupes for paint pots also, but they retail about 9 dollars. I'll be trying them out to see soon

What do you guys think?