IS IT A DUPE? THEBALM MARY-LOU MANIZER vs. HARD CANDY ‘TIKI’ vs. WET N’ WILD ‘RESERVE YOUR CABANA’

  You guys seem to really like the ‘Is It A Dupe?’ series, and today I’ve got a great one!

We’re going to put ‘theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer’ up against two different drugstore highlighters, and see if they’re dupes! Our contenders today are the ‘Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tiki’ and the ‘Wet N Wild ColorIcon Bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana’.

 

 Mary-Lou is a staple in the collection of almost every beauty blogger/guru, and when I had some Kohl’s store credit around Christmas, I decided to take the plunge – and I’ve had both the ‘Hard Candy’ and ‘Wet N Wild’ products for some time now, so it just seemed fitting to put them up against each other for comparison!

Let’s get started!

THEBALM MARY-LOU MANIZER ($24 / thebalm.com) 

  

Meet Mary-Lou Manizer, a seemingly innocent honey-hued luminizer that catches everybody’s eye. This highlighter, shadow and shimmer diffuses light so your skin looks softer and younger while adding a subtle glow.

This is an absolutely beautiful product, and I love that it’s so versatile – a highlight, an eyeshadow – you know I love a product that can multitask!

First though, can we talk about the packaging? It’s your standard round compact with a mirror inside, and Mary-Lou’s super glam mugshot on the outside – I. DIE.

The formula itself is a super creamy pressed powder – a pale honey/gold shade with notable shimmer, flattering on fair skin tones, which is hard to find! This would be great on any skin tone if applied properly, but it’s difficult to find something so complimentary to my fellow ‘Snow White’ gals.

If I had one complaint with this product, it would be that if you look closely at your skin after applying it, you can see the teeny tiny micro glitter in it, which tends to sit on my skin and accentuate my pores – not enough for me to get rid of it, of course! But it’s there. But just take a look at how beautifully this swatches!

---

HARD CANDY SO BAKED BRONZER in TIKI ($9 / Walmart)

  I’ve always said that this is not a bronzer – I don’t know where they get off calling it a bronzer, because even on my super pale skin, it’s clearly a highlight!

This comes in a white plastic compact with a clear top, and a silver stamping around the top of the lid, so you can see the product inside. Like most ‘baked’ products, this is a smooth, dome shape, and honestly, I was surprised at how smooth and creamy, let alone pigmented it was when I first swatched it.

It’s a nice pale but slightly warm golden shade, reminiscent of ‘Champagne Pop’ by BECCA cosmetics and Jaclyn Hill. It blends over the skin beautifully, builds well, and is just as versatile as Mary-Lou – I’ve used this to highlight, as well as a nice pale wash of shimmer on my lids for minimal makeup days where I just wanted to glow! Check out the swatch next to Mary-Lou.

Left: Mary-Lou Manizer – Right: Hard Candy Tiki

 

---

 

WET N WILD COLOR ICON BRONZER in RESERVE YOUR CABANA ($4 / Walgreens)

  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I didn’t expect much from this product, and even at a whopping $4, I was hesitant to even bother trying it, but I’m glad I did!

This is yet another ‘bronzer’ that is very obviously a highlighter! C’mon drugstore brands, call a spade a spade, will ya!?! Either way, it’s packaged similarly to the ‘Tiki’ product in that it comes in a (very large, actually) round compact, with a clear plastic dome shaped lid, again allowing you to see the product inside. And there is a lot of product! For $4 this is an amazing value!

When you initially pick up the compact and just look at it, it looks like a chalky, light colored powder – “what part of this is ‘highlighting’?” one might think – but you guys….oh you guys…..when this hits the skin, it does something. Something gorgeous. While it’s the least shimmery (not necessarily a bad thing!) this is a great office or school appropriate, every day highlight – it’s not too over-the-top. But you can still tell that it’s there. It’s perhaps the lightest and coolest of all three products, but the effect it gives – it’s like you’re glowing from within; like you’ve been drinking your water and eating your fruits and veggies. You just look so healthy! Check it out next to the other two.

 

Left: Mary-Lou Manizer – Center: Hard Candy Tiki – Right: Wet N’ Wild Reserve Your Cabana

---

 

So which one is the better dupe? I’m going to have to say…..Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tiki!!

Oddly enough I’ve seen many claims that the ‘Wet N Wild’ product was the Mary-Lou dupe – but if you look at the three swatches together above, ‘Reserve Your Cabana’ is significantly lighter than the other two! They’re all beautiful, and I use all three on a regular basis, depending on how much highlight I’m really looking for that day – but I’m going to keep hunting to see what our ‘runner up’ (I hate the word ‘loser’) is actually a dupe for, so stay tuned for that!!

Have you guys used any of these? Which ones do you love? Leave me a comment below!

And please take a moment to go follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest @dlynnesposito, and go give a like to the Affordable Gorgeous page on Facebook! Thank you so much for your support! ❤

LOTS OF LOVE!! 

TOP 10 BEAUTY BUYS UNDER $10

  I love a bargain – that’s no secret.

O.K. – I’m cheap. I like a lot of bang for my buck, but I don’t like to spend a lot of bucks to get all the aforementioned bang.

I’ve been working on this for awhile, because you guys should know by now that I will NEVER recommend products that I don’t 110% believe in. So today I bring you my top 10 beauty products under $10!

Let’s get started!

---

 MAYBELLINE FIT ME CONCEALER – $6.99 at ULTA

 

  I think you guys already know how much I love this concealer – it’s my Holy Grail, my ride or die. I have high expectations when it comes to concealer, because ideally I want one product that works on my dark circles, my blemishes, as a primer for my eyeshadow, everything. And this concealer delivers 100 times over!

It’s creamy, lightweight, blendable, neutral in tone, doesn’t oxidize, and is a solid medium to medium/full coverage. It comes in 6 shades, which are not only great for concealing, but cream contour and highlighting! It’s easy to blend out with your fingers, a brush, or a damp sponge. It just does it all.

NYX COSMETICS DARK CIRCLE CONCEALER – $5.99 at ULTA

 

  As I mentioned above, I generally don’t like to have to use multiple concealers, mainly because when I toss one in my bag for the day, I’d like it to be just ONE. But sometimes, like it or not, we all need a little color correction under the eyes. I’ve actually totally ditched my usual yellow stick concealer for this stuff! This is creamy, peachy toned, and it hides dark circles so well you can’t even tell that it’s there. Be sure to set it with some sort of powder though, because it’s so creamy it WILL crease! This comes in 4 shades, fair, light, medium, and deep.

NYC SMOOCH PROOF LIQUID LIP STAIN in ON EVERYONE’S LIPS – $3.49 on AMAZON

 

 For a long time I was on a lip stain kick – I wanted to find that perfect, neutral rosy shade that mimicked the color of those lucky women with naturally very pigmented lips, since mine are by nature, super pale. After watching a review by Emily Eddington (emilynoel83 on YouTube) I went and found this in my local Walmart (unfortunately I haven’t seen them since). Looking back I’m glad I bought like 4 of them! This shade is a beautiful mauvey rosy brown, and while it looks super pigmented in the tube, it sheers out really nicely on the lips, and it’s buildable. It doesn’t apply patchy or thick, it’s actually got quite a bit of slip in the formula, and it dries quickly. If you can find these in a Walmart, Target, or CVS, grab one! You’re gonna love it!

MAYBELLINE VOLUM’ EXPRESS THE FALSIES MASCARA – $6.99 at ULTA

 

 I have tons of drugstore mascara. I even have a few of those deluxe samples of higher end mascara. And this is my go-to lately, hands down. Some mascaras claim some pretty spectacular things but never really deliver – THIS STUFF DELIVERS! I love the natural bristle brush, I love that it’s tightly packed, I love that it’s curved, and I love that the formula isn’t too wet like the typical Maybelline formula – this hits that nice balance between ‘too wet‘ and ‘starting to dry out‘. It really does make you look like you’re wearing false lashes, but without all that time spent glueing them on and nearly sealing your eye shut tighter than King Tut’s tomb. Obsessed.

REAL TECHNIQUES ORIGINAL COLLECTION BRUSHES – $9.99 or less / realtechniques.com

 

 I have many, many makeup brushes – Real Techniques, Soho, Posh, e.l.f., Morphe,and some no name brushes. My Real Techniques brushes are without a doubt my most reached-for brushes on a daily basis. Their ‘Bold Metal Collection‘ is a bit too pricey for my blood, but their ‘Original Collection‘ is pretty amazing! They’ve got you covered with sponges, face brushes, eye brushes, you name it. Though I will say that the eye brushes are a little on the rough side. I don’t like them for my eyes, but I do love them for spot concealing! These can be found all over now – I’ve seen them in Walmart, Walgreens, some Targets, and at ULTA. If you’re just starting out and you want some inexpensive, professional quality brushes, these are AMAZING.

NYX COSMETICS MICRO BROW PENCIL – $9.99 at ULTA

 

 For a long time I struggled with the best way to fill in my sparse brows. I tried powders, pomades, pencils, tinted mascaras, everything. Pencils were never my favorite, but I realized that was because I never found a pencil that I really liked. Then Anastasia Beverly Hills dropped the Brow Wiz, and while everyone swears by it, it’s just too expensive to use every day and have to repurchase so frequently. But NYX has totally duped it with this product! It’s a slim, slightly dry pencil with a spoolie on the opposite end just like the Brow Wiz, but for half the price! And ULTA often has them for ‘Buy 1 Get 1 50% off‘ so you can stock up!

REVLON COLORSTAY SHADOWLINKS EYESHADOW – $2.84 ea at drugstore.com

 

 These little things are pretty cool! They’re individual eyeshadows, but they interlock together, so you can build your own personal eyeshadow palette! Available in 30 shades and 4 different finishes, the looks are endless! Revlon shadows are great quality and super blendable, so they’re easy to work with and create looks for both day and night!

NYX COSMETICS HD BLUSHES – $6.99 at ULTA

 

 I don’t think I’ve ever loved a powder blush more than I love these – you can read my review on 2 of my favorites here. These are incredibly versatile, they compliment every single skin tone, and a few of the shades can even be used as a light bronzer for fair skin, or to contour! They’re so smooth and buttery and they blend out beautifully, and because they’re HD blushes they obviously photograph like a dream! They have great pigmentation and staying power – I just can’t say enough good things about this product!

HARD CANDY SO BAKED BRONZER in TIKI – $9 at WALMART

 

 Are you guys getting sick of reading about this yet? Ha ha! #sorrynotsorry! I love this stuff! Like I’ve said in the past, this is the furthest thing from a bronzer – it’s a beautiful, champagne-y highlight! It’s very pigmented, so a little goes a long way. I usually use a fluffy crease brush to dust this on the top of my cheekbones, the cupids bow, the tip of the nose, the inner corner of the eye, and I even love to use this on the eyelid to just catch the light and open up the eyes on those super tired mornings where I just can’t seem to look awake no matter what I do! It’s great on all skin tones too! Light to dark, anyone can wear this! And it lasts forever because you need so little!

MAYBELLINE LASTING DRAMA GEL LINER in BLACKEST BLACK – $7.94 at WALMART

 

 I was never someone who really wore liner. Like ever. I still only bust it out for special occasions. But I could never find a good gel liner that was smooth and creamy, and truly BLACK. Then on a whim (and a recommendation by Jaclyn Hill) I decided to try this out. I’m glad I did. This truly is the blackest of the black gel liners you will find anywhere! And it’s nice and thick so you don’t need multiple layers to get a good, matte black line, but not so thick that it drags on the lids making it impossible to work with. I will say, however, that I absolutely H-A-T-E the brush that comes with it – it’s useless. I prefer to use a nice teeny, tiny angled liner brush, like the Morphe M160 1/8 ($2.99) for a nice clean, crisp, cut-a-bitch sharp line!

---

Alright guys, that’s it! My top 10 under $10! What do you guys think? Have you tried any of these products? What are some of your favorites? Leave me a comment and let me know!

And don’t forget to go follow me on Twitter and Instagram @dlynnesposito, and go like the Affordable Gorgeous page on Facebook!

I WILL BE DOING A GIVEAWAY SOON AND YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS IT!

LOTS OF LOVE!

 

MY FAVORITE DRUGSTORE HIGHLIGHTERS

Thanks to Kim Kardashian and many other celebs, there has been a spike in the trend of highlighting and contouring. We all know that contouring is essentially carving out areas of your face and creating shadows in order to look more sculpted and create a more desirable face shape. But then what about highlighting?

Ahh, highlighting. This is a technique used to bring LIGHT back to the face. To make you look dewey, like you’re glowing from within. It can be as simple as a little placed at the high points of your face, like the tops of the cheek bones or under the brow, to ‘strobing’, which is just highlighting anywhere and everywhere and skipping contouring altogether.

You DO NOT need super expensive products to achieve this look. I’ve rounded up some of my absolute favorite drugstore options that quite frankly I don’t think I could live without. Ranging from primers to powders to creams and liquids, these highlighters will work on ANY skin tone, guaranteed! Let’s get started!

---

HARD CANDY SO BAKED BRONZER in TIKI ($9/Walmart)

  I know, bronzer. You may be thinking ‘I thought we were here for HIGHLIGHTERS?’ but this shade in particular, as far as I can tell, has NO bronzing power to it whatsoever. It’s a beautiful peach/gold highlight that its so versatile, I find myself using it just about everywhere – cheeks, cupids bow, the inner corner of my eyes, the brow bone, you name it. BECAUSE it’s got that warmer undertone to it, though, I tend to use this more in the late spring and through the summer when I’ve already got a little color going on in my face. It just enhances that summer glow, making you look like a beaming, glowy, bronzed goddess. It’s a staple in my collection, and one I reach for the most frequently.

WET N WILD COLOR ICON BRONZER in RESERVE YOUR CABANA ($4/Walgreens)

  Another bronzer? Technically, yes. Again, this is far too light to be considered a bronzer, in my opinion. However after seeing it compared to Mary-Lou Manizer by theBalm, and mentioned with great affection by YouTube’s Jessica Braun (jambeauty89 – go check her out – she’s awesome!) I finally went out and picked one up. It’s not quite as….shiny?….as the typical highligher, but it does have just enough punch to give a fresh, dewey effect that makes you look healthy. I was hesitant because I haven’t had much luck with Wet n Wild products in the past, but I have to say, they’ve really stepped up their game from being that cheap, poor quality middle/high school brand I remember! I’m definitely impressed with this one!

L’OREAL MAGIC LUMI LIGHT INFUSING PRIMER ($10/Walmart)

  This is a great product for those with dry skin and a dull complexion. On someone with oily skin, like me, I would strongly advise that you use with caution. This, as with any other primer, goes on BEFORE your foundation, unlike all the other highlighters in this post. This product, however, will probably be the one that give the most NATURAL looking highlight. Here’s a tip for my combo or oily-skinned girls who are interested in trying this product out : MULTI-PRIME. It’s the same concept as multi-masking, but here you would use say, an oil control primer where you tend to get oily, like the t zone, and then the Magic Lumi primer in places that you want to look dewey, like maybe the tops of the cheek bones, or to brighten the area under your eyes.

PHYSICIAN’S FORMULA MINERAL GLOW PEARLS in BEIGE PEARL ($13/Target)

  Physicians Formula makes some pretty amazing products. I’m the proud owner of many, and while they’re on the higher priced end of the drugstore beauty spectrum, they really are worth the buy. Something about this product though, when it touches the skin, literally almost takes my breath away. It’s a very neutral highlight – not too white, gold, pink, peach – just beautiful. It almost reminds me the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal. I don’t own the Becca product, so I couldn’t justifiably call it a dupe, but in pictures and swatches that I’ve seen, it looks strikingly similar to me.

e.l.f. SHIMMERING FACIAL WHIP in LILAC PETAL and SPOTLIGHT ($1/eyeslipsface.com)

  Both of these are great options on any skin tone. They can be a tad on the pigmented side, so less is more, but considering they’re only $1 (yup, you read that right!) they literally last forever! They come in several shades, but if I were to pick two faves, and two that would work on any skin tone, these would be it. Lilac Petal is just what it sounds like – a very subtle lilac undertone, great on pale skin. And while I’ve yet to try it myself, is said to be a spot on dupe for Benefit High Beam, for so much less! Spotlight is a bright, frosty, snow white shade, also suitable for anyone, but really pops on medium to darker skin tones. They even have a shade called ‘Toasted’ which I haven’t tried yet, but looks to be a very neutral undertone, somewhere between gold and pink, like if they had a little dewey, shimmery baby. I’ll be tossing a few of those into my next e.l.f. order for sure! They have great lasting power for a $1 product (I know I didn’t expect much but was SUPER impressed!) and I happily recommend them to anyone!

REVLON HIGHLIGHTING PALETTE in ROSE GLOW and BRONZE GLOW ($12/ULTA)

  Each of these palettes contains 5 individual shades, and in my eyes these are TOTAL dupes for the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks. You definitely get the rose and bronze tones from these, but they’re still very versatile and wearable on every skin tone. I even like to multitask with the Bronze Glow palette and use some of those shades as eyeshadows in the warmer months. These are probably a little more powdery than some of the other powder highlighting products mentioned about, but you don’t lose a TON of product when tapping of your brush. I would recommend a light handed application and then build on it to your desired intensity.

---

There are endless highlighting products out there on the market now, and more popping up every day! What are some that YOU guys love? Have you tried any of the ones I’ve mentioned above? Any new suggestions to expand my collection? Leave me comments below!

And don’t forget to go follow me on Twitter and Instagram @dlynnesposito and go like the new Affordable Gorgeous Facebook page!

LOTS OF SHIMMERY LOVE!

MELT-PROOF SUMMER MAKEUP

So it seems that we’ve bypassed spring entirely and sprung right into summer! It’s getting hotter, more humid, and I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to sweat pretty profusely in the summer. And let’s face it, we have places to go. People to see. Work, summer classes, summer weddings, cookouts, family get-togethers (I’ve got one coming up in which I’m meeting my husbands HUGE extended family, many for the first time) and we want to look our best! But that’s almost impossible to do when you’ve gone into full on makeup meltdown and it’s just pouring off your face. That is, unless you have the right products. 

Now personally, I prefer to wear as little as possible in the summer months, for a few reasons. 

1. Makeup breakup – unfortunately the more you have on your face, the more likely it is to go slip-sliding around on you. 
2. It just feels so damn heavy! Don’t get me wrong, I love a full face of makeup when the occasion calls for it, but the weather has to be reasonably comfortable. Fall and winter is when I REALLY get my makeup game on! 
3. It can oxidize. It gets cakey. Need I go on?

So it’s taken a little playing around, but I’ve managed to get it down to two basic options. One a little more full coverage (but still pretty minimal) than the other. And of course you can tailor this look to your liking with your own colors and such, this is just how I go about it. 5 days out of 7 I’m doing my makeup with my son in my lap, so aside from saying “don’t eat mamas mascara” atleast 6 times, I have to be pretty quick. With that being said, let’s get started!

PREP 

I ALWAYS start with clean, moisturizer skin. The ideal time frame is to cleanse and moisturize, and then do your makeup no more than 30-45 minutes after. If you start too early, your moisturizer hasn’t had time to be properly absorbed. Too late, and you may start to get oily. I always cleanse with the Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser and follow up with my Garnier Moisture Refresh Gel-Cream. Then I prime for my primer, using about a dime size amount of Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera Gel. I find that whether or not I use an additional primer, this is a crucial step in keeping my makeup in place. It also smoothes over pores and adds another layer of moisture. And bonus? It helps to reduce redness!

PRIMER

This step isn’t one I use on a regular basis. This is more for going out somewhere like a wedding or family gathering, where I know there will be photos and I want to look good. But since I have dry skin, with an oily t-zone in the summer and can be very sensitive and acne prone, when I DO use primer, I tend to avoid anything that feels very silicone-y. Some of my faves are L’Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer, Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer, and Maybelline Face Studio Master Prime in Blur + Smooth. Applied in a light, thin layer to my t-zone and my cheeks ensures smooth application and dramatically extended wear time. I’m hooked. 

CONCEAL

In the summer months, the last thing I want on my face is a layer of foundation, no matter how thin.  And frankly, no matter what I do, it ultimately sweats off anyway. So instead, I pulled out a concealer I bought some time ago and initially HATED, only to to rediscover it recently and realize I was using it incorrectly the entire time. Maybelline SuperStay 24 Hour Concealer is a nice little product that packs some serious staying power. It’s a slightly thick formula, but spreads out nicely to leave near flawless coverage. The problem I had at first was that it sets so fast that I found it impossible to blend out. Until, however, I figured out that if you take a beauty sponge (I like Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge because this concealer will stain and I refuse to ruin a $20 Beauty Blender) and dampen it with a light mist of setting spray ( I use ELF Makeup Mist and Set ) and work in small areas at a time, it works wonderfully. For example, when concealing the under eye area, apply and blend to one eye at a time. And so one, like your chin, around your nose, any blemishes, etc. It also makes an incredible eye primer. When applied with a light hand, and blended out thoroughly, it still looks like skin, and it doesn’t budge. Now that’s my kind of makeup!!
BLUSH, BRONZE, & HIGHLIGHT

I tend to go very light on blush, unless I’m going somewhere like a wedding or barbecue or something. But I will be a little more generous with the bronzer. Not so much in the way of contouring ( which if you like to do that for daytime, by all means go for it) but more to just bring color back to the face. My face, neck and chest are typically 3 different colors, and my chest stays a reddish tan year round, so I like to even things out with a good bronzer. While I always have my NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny handy, lately I’ve been reaching for my Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Bronze because it claims to last through heat and humidity, and I find that it lives up to those claims. If I do reach for a blush, it’s usually my Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso because I find that it’s a nice peachy shade that works on every skin tone, and it’s a perfect dupe for the cult classic Nars Orgasm, but a fraction of the price! And since it has the most subtle sheen, you can skip the step of highlighting. However, if you feel you aren’t as luminous and glowy as you’d like to be, then I recommend Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tiki, which is nothing like a bronzer at all, but more a dewy, beautiful, subtle highlight that makes you look healthy and like you’re glowing from within. Apply to the tops of your cheekbones, between the brows, down the center of your nose, and on the Cupid’s bow. 

EYES

Since we’ve already primed them with our concealer, what comes next is really up to you. For minimal days, I take the same bronzer I used on my cheeks, and on a fluffy blending brush, apply it to the crease and slightly above, blending upward to contour the eye and define it. Then I used the highlight shade and apply it lightly from the tear duct to about halfway on the lid, and just under the arch of the brow to help create a visual lift. Then I use a tinted brow mascara like L’Oreal Paris Brow Stylist Plumper Brow Gel to fill in and set my brows all in one step. After that I curl my lashes and apply a long wearing mascara, like L’Oreal Paris Double Extend Mascara, which actually creates little tubes around the lashes and lengthens them beautifully for that wide eyed look. 

LIPS 

Now HERE’S where the fun part comes in to play. And because this look is already so neutral, you can really go crazy with different lip looks. Bold, natural, nude, bright, gloss, stain – the options are endless. Personally I like the natural lip look, sort of a ” my lips but better ” or MLBB. And on my quest for the perfect MLBB, which we will address in a future post, I’ve found several that are spot on for me. But when I want the color payoff of a lipstick with the sheerness (is that a word?) or a gloss and the comfort of a balm, I always find my way back to my baby – my “little black dress ” of lip colors, if you will – and that’s Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Pink Truffle, which is just another one of those great with every skin tone kind of colors. I have several backup tubes just in case they decide to discontinue it on me and break my ever lovin’ heart. Insert sad face here. 

Now I will say that I’ve worn this look constantly in the recent weeks, once for my stepdaughters birthday party at the beach, several times mowing the lawn and painting, and at the Memorial Day parade I took my son to (hey, mama’s gotta look good for the pics!) and it held up fantastically. It’s something that I absolutely stand by 100 times over and feel comfortable recommending to you guys. So I hope you enjoy!!! Let me know YOUR go to summer makeup products! And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram @dlynnesposito 

Xoxo – Donna