Glossi--Yay or Nay?

Will this post be groundbreaking? Not necessarily.

Do I want to share my findings after spending an inordinate amount of my 22nd birthday money on Glossier? Yes, absolutely.

SO I went a little rogue, and bought every product from Glossier that I have been eyeing since the brand came up on my radar years ago. Buckle up, because this is going to be a rather lengthy post. I figured we could go product by product:

1. Future Dew

I was intrigued by this product because the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter (for a Superstar Youth Glow) has been a staple product in my makeup collection for two years now, and the claims seemed very similar.

Both products can be used under makeup to promote a dewy complexion, or on top of makeup on the high points of the face as a natural shine highlighter. I personally wouldn't use either products on top of makeup because I find that they are both too thick and would move my foundation underneath, but when worn under foundation, my suspicions were right; they are incredibly similar!

Both products create a gorgeous dewy finish, but I will say that the Hollywood Flawless Filter is more intense, whereas Future Dew is a tad less detectable once covered by foundation. It seems to me that Future Dew is more of a natural, sweaty-in-the-best-kind-of-way product that is gorgeous for daytime and evokes feelings of summer. The Hollywood Flawless Filter gives this effect, but for the red carpet, so it is perfect for special occasions and events. Or, my personal favorite way to wear it: a night look that gives off a I-went-a-little-too-hard-in-the-club-and-it's-final-call-but-my-makeup-miraculously-held-up kind of vibe.

2. Glossier Play Colorslide Technogel Eye Pencil (in Nectar)

I was so excited to try this product out because I had seen a photo of a model with a yellow and black liner and I HAD to recreate it. You could barely see it in any of my photos due to lighting, but you can see my finished product in the image.

This liner comes in all kinds of amazing, vibrant colors and promises to glide on smoothly without tugging at the lid. That last part was key for me because I have never really trusted pencils. Liquid liner has always been my liner of choice, seeing as it was the only type that didn't tug at my skin and skip (meaning the color skips and you get a spotty application, instead of a clean, sharp line).

Upon application, I found that this pencil did, in fact, tug at my lash line and the color was not as pigmented as I had wanted it to be. When I tried to layer up the liner, the entire tip broke off. I was...less than pleased. I then resorted to crushing the broken product onto the back of my hand and using a precision liner brush to try to build up the color. It worked to a certain extent, but I never quite got the color payoff that I was looking for. I need to try this liner again with much less pressure (they are softer than you expect) and with a more natural, less editorial look.

3. Haloscope (in Quartz)

This was a product that I had my eye on for a while. I had nothing quite like it in my collection. I have highlighters, but they are all powder and tend to look chalky and artificial on my incredibly pale skin. Haloscope seemed like one of the original dewy, lit-from-within solutions.

I chose the Quartz shade because the website claimed it was "universally flattering" and this seemed to be the shade that most people had. The baseline, if you will.

You can see the effect of this product on the high points of my face in the image. I found that swiping the stick over foundation did disturb my base a bit, so I started applying it with my fingers. I was having a hard time seeing any kind of added sheen, so I resorted to running a brush over the stick and applying it that way.

This seemed like the best way for me to build up some kind of effect, but I was surprised at just how subtle this effect was. I wear a lot of glowy base products because I have dry skin, so I think it may be hard for me to see its full effect while wearing those particular foundations. I'm just placing dew over dew. I am excited to try this out on days when I don't wear any foundation and I can apply this straight to bare skin.

4. Lidstar (in Herb)

So I am really not an eyeshadow person. I know, I know, how can you love makeup so much and not like eyeshadow? I have just always found that I have very little actual lid space and lots of space between my crease and my eyebrow. This means that the bulk of the effect on the lid gets hidden when I open my eyes and it is incredibly easy to blow out the crease shade so that I resemble a racoon. And not in the normal, smudged mascara kinda way that most people mean when they refer to racoons, in the I-look-like-Zorro kinda way. (I know, two references, sue me.)

Anyway, products like this seem like a godsend to me, because the concept is that I can just do a single wash of this gorgeous, herbaceous green shimmer color and be done. In short, I was wrong? This shadow is INCREDIBLY sheer if you just swipe on one coat, and the edges DO NOT want to blend out. In fact, a brush seems to do little to nothing to move the product around and your finger only picks up the product and redistributes it to a section of skin that has yet to to be graced by its presence.

I ended up layering on three coats of this to really get the shape right and fix all of the patchiness that I created with my fingers. I did eventually get the color I was hoping for, as you can see in the photo; however, in person the eyeshadow looked kind of... chunky? It did not layer over itself well. The sections that were getting the most product became kind of thick, whereas the patches where the lid only took one or two of those coats were noticeably thinner. All in all, I love the color and the idea, but the formula of this product was far more challenging to work with than I had hoped.

5. Cloud Paint (in Dawn and Dusk)

I love everything about this product. Truly. It looks incredibly authentic, both on the face and in the packaging. I can't get over the fact that these blushes look like little tubes of acrylic paint.

I picked up the shades Dawn and Dusk, Dawn being a brighter, tangerine color, and Dusk seeming to be a more neutral, universal blush shade. I say "seeming" because my findings were quite different than my expectations with these colors.

In the photo, I am wearing Dusk on my cheeks and across my nose (tried out a little wave technique and loved it, but that's beside the point). Going into this, I had thought that Dawn would be the shade to give this bright of a flush. This means that Dawn is even brighter than what you see here. I have no problem with it and will still be using both shades, but they are quite bright and lean more red than expected.

Additionally, when people say a little goes a long way with this product, they mean it. I had been putting some on the back of my hand and then dabbing it on with my fingers, but even the smallest amount that will come out of the tube is too much sometimes. I have learned to squeeze the tube and place my finger directly at the source, so that I can get the product I need out, and the excess will go back into the tube.

6.Skywash (in Pool and Lawn)

I was PUMPED for this shadow because I just knew it would make me feel like I stepped out of a Jane Austen novel. Now, this might not make much sense in your minds, but the powder blue color of the shade Pool evokes images of that iconic Regency gown that is associated with Austen. The one that features an empire waistline and puffy short sleeves, which probably served loosely as my inspiration for the top I chose to wear in this photo.

This shadow, although a gorgeous color, performed almost identically to Lidstar; however, I would say that Skywash has a better color payoff in its first layer. In fact, I found that I should only really be using one layer when applying these shadows because when you layer them, they tend to make your lids look heavy and dry. To be fair to the product though, it is a matte formula.

I ended up layering the color slightly because I was surprised by how fast it dried down and I didn't quite get an identical shape on both eyes the first time around. I ended up with more layers on one eye than the other, which subsequently made one eye a brighter blue and the other more of a wash of blue. I would suggest that if you are going to layer up the color, layer both eyes evenly.

I have not tried this formula in the shade Lawn yet, but it is a lime green shade that almost identically matches the title banner on my homepage, so I am basically bound to love it!

1 Product I Have Yet to Try: Moisturizing Moon Mask

Due to my perioral dermatitis, I am incredibly wary about skincare products and quite particular about when I can introduce a new product into my routine. I don't like to try more than one new product at a time because my skin is so sensitive that anything can really set it off. If I have too many new things to question, I won't know what the source of the irritation is. For this reason, I have yet to try out this mask, but I have heard phenomenal reviews!

I have been using the Fresh Rose Face Mask after treating my perioral dermatitis recently, and it has been hydrating my skin, but I wouldn't say it is a life-changing product. The patches around my nose are still dry in the morning and makeup still doesn't quite sit right on top of them. I am praying that this mask might provide more hydration for my skin after exfoliation, but I will have to get back to you on this one!

Whether or not I absolutely adored a makeup item on this list, I will be keeping all of the products and using them regularly, seeing as I have only just tested them and I don't (yet) have the money to be wasting product. (Just kidding, I am very against letting product go to waste. I literally feel guilt surrounding unused possessions...But that's a story for another day.)

I hope this post has been resourceful and fun!! Let me know if you have any tips for using any of these products or if you plan to purchase any of them yourself!

xoxo