Review: Neutrogena Health Skin Liquid Makeup

 Besides nail polish, one of my very favorite beauty products is foundation. Today I have one of my favorites to show you. Let's talk about Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup.

The good:
This foundation is a semi matte, very natural looking finish. Coverage is medium but buildable. My redness peeks through pretty much every foundation so it should cover more normal levels of redness and discoloration. It's not drying and doesn't cling to dry patches. For me, wear time is average. It doesn't wear away unevenly and I always think it looks pretty good at the end of the day. If you don't struggle with oily skin or need it to last 12 hours, you could easily skip any setting powders. This dries down pretty quickly but you definitely have plenty of time to blend it out. I usually apply with a brush, either a Sigma F80 or a MAC 187.

 The bad:
The packaging on this is just a really poor design. It's a glass bottle without a pump so it can be a huge mess when you try to pour some out and it's not really safe to travel with. I also find that this can be tricky to apply with fingers or a sponge. I find those methods make it go on a little too thick, at least for me. This is also a little pricey for drugstore foundation.

Final verdict?
With the right application techniques, Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation is a great every day liquid foundation for most skin types. At $10-13 in most drugstores, it's on the expensive side of drugstore foundation but if you buy it from a store with a nice return policy, I'd give it a shot.
Anyone else try Healthy Skin out? What did you think?

Project Pan November Update

It's hard for me to believe I'm even writing a November update for my project pan! Three months and I've had progress to share every time! I wore makeup a lot at the beginning of the month but only a few times in the past three weeks, while I was getting over a sinus infection.

I finally hit pan on my ELF studio blush in Tickled Pink! I think this happened like 2 days after I posted my last update so the pan grew a lot. I still just love this blush but I'm excited to get to wear some of my other favorites more frequently.

I also finished up my Neutrogena Healthy Skin Enhancer. This was a great tinted moisturizer and I definitely recommend trying it out if you are interested. I probably won't repurchase because I'm more interested in trying out other things. My method for applying was using a damp brush (which is my go to method with most foundations). I liked MAC Fix+ on my Sigma F80 but I've also used just plain water and ELF Mist and Set and both worked really well.

As for the products going into the basket, I chose three to get me back up to five products in the basket. Coincidentally, all three are ELF products. First up, ELF Essential Clarifying Pressed Powder. For $1 this is a nice powder. Not the most finely milled, but it gets the job done and provides a little bit of coverage as well. I'm just looking to hit pan on this because I would like to keep it in my collection. I also have the ELF Essentials Hypershine Gloss in Bubblegum. I got this in a set of 5 a while ago and I'm just not impressed. They all smell very plastic-y and don't have a ton of color. All 5 will probably go through the project pan because while I'm ready to be rid of them, I'd actually like to get some use out of them. Lastly I have the ELF Essentials Brightening Eyeliner in Coffee. It's not a bad eyeliner, I'm just not wearing eyeliner very often so I'm looking to pare down my stash of them.

Overall, my progress this month has made me more excited to keep going. Last month wasn't working for me but I think this month will be good. My makeup purchasing has slowed significantly in the past three months. I'll probably have a few new things to show you at the end of December since it's both my my birthday month and Christmas but I'm pretty proud of how much I've been able to curb my spending. I even went to the CCO at the beginning of November and walked out with nothing!

Project Pan

It's been a while but I'm back today to share my project pan with you. After Sam left I decided it was probably time to cut back on my shopping habits for a while, at least until we move. I've basically grown out of my current storage. I do have a new vanity waiting for me for when we move so I will re-evaluate once I get all set up at the new place. Another reason I'm cutting back is that I've never actually hit pan on a product. I almost never use anything up (besides mascara). To me, it's important that I appreciate the products that I have and get rid of things I don't want hanging around any more.

My rules are fairly simple. Items will be counted if I hit pan or use it up. I'm not completely banning myself from shopping but I'm not buying as much and trying to limit myself only to limited edition products. I put 5 items I'm really focusing on in this little basket that I keep on my vanity. Obviously everything in my stash is fair game but I'm really working on these 5 things. I don't really know how this project will end. It might be a number of products or a certain time frame, I just haven't gotten that far yet.

 These are three things I'm trying to use up. I've had this bottle of Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Enhancer for a long time. It's not really a tinted moisturizer as much as it's a light foundation. It has a slightly dewy finish, SPF 20 and it works well with dry skin. I also love airless pumps. But it can be difficult to work with and many days I struggle with it to keep it from looking slightly patchy. I probably won't repurchase this.
The EOS lipbalm is about half way, not including the wedges underneath. Lots of people love these but I don't really get it. It smells nice and the packaging is unique if not a little inconvenient. But it feels very waxy and it doesn't really hydrate my lips all that well. I'm ready for this to be out of my stash.
Maybelline's the Colossal mascara is probably my very favorite mascara! It makes my lashes look long and full and dark. But I have several other mascaras that need to be used up too so I'm working on getting this used up. It's very near the end of it's life.

Two products I'm just trying to hit pan on. ELF's Studio Blush in Tickled Pink is definitely one of my favorites. It's a little more peachy than what's showing up here. It works well with my skin tone and goes with almost everything. One of my things to do is layer it under a little bit of Benefit Hoola. It's the most natural way for me to look a little more sun-kissed.
I've had Maybelline Dream Matte Powder for as long as I have had the Neutrogena tinted moisturizer. It's a great powder. A little but not too much coverage, matte finish and it buffs into the skin really nicely. I've never found a foundation that this doesn't play nicely with.

So that's it! I'll update you periodically on this project. No hard and fast rules here, just trying to be appreciative of what I have. I love reading these types of posts so if you are working on one and blogged about it, let me know!