The Clunkster

Beauty Review

nyx total control drop foundation review!

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hello hello hello! I hope your week has been going well so far. I’m heading into a busy couple of weeks, but it’s a fun busy, which is nice. Since I graduated in December, it hasn’t set in that the end of the school year is quickly approaching for everyone else, and all ~those~ activities are happening. Wild.

I am so excited for this review! I’ve reviewed a couple foundations in the past and I’m usually annoyed with them. I felt like any foundation I used had something wrong with it and I was just waiting for the bottle to run out. But then! I saw the NYX rack at Target and rubbed some of NYX’s Total Control Drop Foundation on my wrist and loved it. It blended into my skin so well.

This is definitely a new favorite product of mine. This foundation checks all of my boxes (again, sounding like a Bachelor contestant). It’s cruelty-free, smells amazing, blends so well, lasts all day, and looks great on my face. I use the Light Ivory shade.

I think the only bad thing I could say about it is that it runs out pretty quickly, but that could also be because I always squeeze too much out of the dropper. I’ve never used a drop foundation before, and it was definitely an adventure. I love it, but it wasn’t horrible, aside from me possibly wasting a lot of foundation and making a mess sometimes. My Spatty doesn’t fit in the bottle, which makes me sad. There’s not a lot of ways to stretch it along without shaking it and hitting it on your hand a lot.

Overall though, I’m a really big fan of this foundation, and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something new. I’m not surprised, because everything I have from NYX is amazing. I just started using their primer, so I’ll have that review coming for you soon!

For more information about going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database or Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands.

bite beauty's matte crème lip crayon (in glacé)

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hey cuties! I have another cruelty-free beauty review for you today. I got a birthday present from Sephora back in November (thanks, VIB rewards!) with a bunch of goodies from Bite Beauty. I’ve been wanting to give them a try since I wrote an article about them for a past internship, and learned about how cool they were. They’re a certified clean brand on Sephora’s website. Today, I’ll be reviewing Bite’s Matte Crème Lip Crayon in Glacé.

I’d never used a lip crayon this thin before, so I was a little nervous about giving this a try. I started by lining my lips, which I never do (I tried once and it was a fail), and continued coloring in my lips from the outside in, playing with the angles of the crayon a little bit. Because it was so fine, I could use as little or as much as I wanted, and touch up little areas. I had a lot of control, which I loved.

Hands down, my favorite thing about this lip crayon is the color. I did my nails a similar color when I took these photos, so I was thriving. I really love the way this color looks with my skin and features. I’ve been looking for a neutral-ish berry pink color like this for a while, so I’m really happy this was in my birthday present.

As much as I love this color, this formula does have its drawbacks. For starters, I don’t find it as hydrating as its description boasts, but I also haven’t tried it with my Agave Lip Balm yet, so stay tuned! The dryness made it difficult to reapply. Since my lips were a little too matte and dry, the crayon would sometimes snag or clump.

This is also supposed to be a long-lasting formula, and it definitely is, but I find that the color fades and changes into something more tan, and I have to reapply it more often to make sure the color remains the same. It dries out like a lip stain, which I really don’t like.

Though I’m hesitant to fully endorse this formula, I personally think the color and precision of the lip crayon are worth it over the dryness and fading. I definitely want to give more Bite Beauty products a try, like the Amuse Bouche Lipstick and Agave Lip Balm that were also in my birthday present. Stay tuned for more cruelty-free beauty reviews coming your way!

For more information about going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database or Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands.

shea moisture's 100% virgin coconut oil daily hydration conditioner review

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hey beauties! I have a new review for you! I truly love doing these reviews, I just tend to take more time with them because I like to give you guys the most accurate information. I like to give things enough time to ~do their magic~.

Today, I’m reviewing Shea Moisture’s 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Daily Hydration Conditioner. I ran out of Lush’s Jungle a while ago, so I decided to switch things up a bit and try something from Shea Moisture. I reviewed their 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Daily Hydration Glow Priming Moisturizer a while back, and I loved it so much! So when I saw this conditioner at CVS, I knew it would be just as good, and I was so right.

One of the things that really stands out to me whenever I use Shea Moisture products is their amazing list of ingredients! I love cruelty-free brands, but Shea Moisture is free of so many things I didn’t even know were bad for you. I added them to my list of things to learn about, so I’ll let you know what I find out! This conditioner is free of sulfates, parabens, mineral oil, propylene glycol, phthalates, and petrolatum. So many funny words.

Anyway, I’m so happy I gave this conditioner a try! Shea Moisture did not let me down. I really love the pump design of this bottle. It’s really easy to use in the shower. It also smells freakin’ amazing. You all know how much I love my scents, but I especially love them when I’m showering. It completes the experience! And who doesn’t love coconut?

Scents aside, this conditioner really works. My hair is thick and gets dry really easily, but this conditioner does an awesome job of keeping it super soft and hydrated. Conditioner tends to make my hair greasy, but Shea Moisture’s doesn’t. This conditioner checks off all my boxes and more. I sound like a Bachelor contestant.

I highly recommend this conditioner. Since I’m running out of shampoo, I think I’m gonna try some from Shea Moisture next! Have you tried any of their products before? Let me know in the comments!

For more information about going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database or Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands.

milani conceal and perfect 2-in-1 foundation and concealer

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hello, my lovelies! I’m back with another cruelty-free beauty review. I told you guys a while ago that I’m trying to think out of the box more and try some new things! This time around, I decided to check out Milani’s Conceal and Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation and Concealer. When I was researching cruelty-free foundations, this one came up a lot! People said it had a really great finish and amazing coverage.

I definitely agree that this foundation is great with coverage, but unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan of this formula. Obviously, coverage is essential with foundation, but I think because this is both a concealer and a foundation, the formula is super thick. I had a really hard time applying this evenly, so I didn’t get that flawless finish I read about.

This also wasn’t really my shade. There was a limited amount of shades at CVS, and the darker shade was too dark, so I went with this one, 00 Light Natural. Now that I’m looking at Milani’s website, I see that there are way more shades, and 00A Porcelain, which is Fair with Neutral Pink Undertone, would probably be better for me. This one made me look really yellow, most likely because it has a peach undertone. Maybe if I really needed the coverage, this would’ve looked better (even though this is considered light-to-medium coverage).

Overall, this foundation was just a little too thick, so my face looked really cakey and unnatural. Most of the time, I had a really hard time matching my face to my neck. If you’re looking for something full-coverage, definitely give this formula a try and let me know how you like it in the comments! It’s just not for me.

If you’re interested in going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database and Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands. If you have any cruelty-free recommendations, please comment them below!

miss spa 24k gold radiance mask

Cruelty-Free, Beauty Review, BeautyKristenComment

Happy Saturday beauties! I realized that I haven't done a review in a while, so I decided to pull this posts out of my drafts and share my review of this Miss Spa 24K Gold Radiance Mask! I got it in a goodie bag and was very intrigued. I was picturing my face sparkling and glowing gold, but it was much harder because I hadn't tried a ton of paper masks at the time. I'm trying to do more; I'm definitely a fan! 

Apparently, Miss Spa is the first skincare brand to have brought the paper face mask trend from Korea. All their products are cruelty free, paraben free, and sulfate free, which is pretty cool! They use lots of botanicals, antioxidants, and other healthy ingredients in their masks, and the masks themselves are infused with more vitamins and minerals.

I left this on for twenty minutes, and to be honest, I didn’t really feel it working on my face as much as I have with other face masks I've done. I didn’t look super glamorous since I looked orange instead of gold, which was a little weird.

After the twenty minutes was up, I took it off and rubbed the orange-y stuff onto my face. This was actually pretty cool since my face was a little sparkly and shiny, but I didn’t feel a major difference in my skin. My roommates told me I looked glowy! 

I don’t necessarily have anything bad to say about this face mask, but it doesn’t stand out compared to the ones I’ve tried. I’m a little disappointed, but it was fun to sparkle for a bit! If you’re interested in going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database and Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands. If you have any cruelty-free recommendations, please comment them below!