Cover FX - Full Coverage Without The Cakey, Heavy Feel!

Late one night after a particularly fun evening out (aka drunk night) I decided to do a little online shopping and I decided to FINALLY indulge my desire and satisfy my curiosity for some Cover FX makeup.  I've long had an interest in the brand and wanted to try their foundation and concealers that SO MANY ppl rave about but for some reason still hadn't...even though I had a 40% Pro Discount (yes pros sign up and get 40% off - AMAZING!).

I had even been to Shoppers Drug Mart several times and played around w/ the products and even figured out what my colours were and yet I still for some reason hadn't ordered.   Anyway, maybe it was the fact that I was tipsy + the fact that I was running VERY LOW on my Yaby concealer and powder foundation + my skin was(is) a mess that I decided hey enough is enough I want to look decent and pretend I have good skin right now so let's give this stuff a try!  

So I ordered and waited patiently for a few days for the order to arrive (they were shipping from Canada so I expected it to be quick).  I'm not going to lie - I'm not sure if it's always the case but their shipping was EXTREMELY slow...it may have just been a one off but if their products weren't so FUCKING AMAZING I'd probably not order again...man you're lucky your products are GOOD Cover FX!  If you're just a reg. person w/out a discount just go to Shoppers or where ever and get the products...Pros I hope your shipping experience is better than mine that's all I can say (to get the discount you have to order online).  

Once my products FINALLY arrived I was SO EXCITED to finally try them and can I just say I was NOT disappointed!  I really do LOVE them!  I got a shit load of stuff: Camouflage Concealer (Light), Natural FX (Water Based Liquid Foundation) E20, Cover FX (Total Coverage Cream Foundation SPF 30) E20, Powder FX (Pressed Mineral Powder Foundation SPF 10) E20, Primers - SkinPrep FX & ClearPrep FX, Setting FX Translucent Powder and 3 Brushes - #160, #170 & #190.  The SkinPrep FX, Translucent Powder, Cream Foundation & Brush #160 came in the Maximum Coverage Kit which was already a discounted kit + I could use my 40% discount on it so it was an even BETTER deal!

I know a lot of ppl in the past have complained about the products being too heavy or cakey but I have to be honest I just don't think they are using them properly.  It really is about TECHNIQUE here...LESS is MORE w/ this stuff TRUST ME.  It is SUPER pigmented and FULL COVERAGE so A LITTLE  really does go A LONG WAY!  Even I was a bit worried which is probably why I had waited so long to try them out.  I mean I had seen different sales associates at Shoppers raving about the products only for me to look at them and think 1. You are wearing the wrong shade of foundation 2. You are wearing WAY too much of the wrong shade of foundation lol.  

Okay so back to me and my experience.  I'm going to do something VERY scary in this blog post just to illustrate how GREAT I think these products are.  I'm going to show you pictures of me w/ LITERALLY NO MAKEUP on - NONE.  Like I literally stepped out of the shower - you'll notice the wet hair - no moisturizer, no primer, no wrinkle creams - NOTHING!  I'm doing this to show you what a difference they can make...this is VERY scary for me b/c I'm not going to lie - I look like SHIT in these Before Pictures but I'm just doing it to illustrate an important point.  Right now my skin has been going through a bit of a prob phase for the past couple of mths.  I've mentioned before I have/had some skin issues and well it's not good right now...it was worse and has improved a lot in the past mth but I'm just getting over some side effects from a medication I was on and I guess it really messed up my hormones or whatever but anyway my skin has not been pretty lol...I'm talking lots of rock hard cystic pimples on my jaw, neck and chin area - really attractive...plus all the usual skin issues lol!

Okay here are a couple of BEFORE shots - notice the uneven blotchy skin, zits, freckles (I actually like the freckles), under eye circles...all of that!  In truth my skin was A LOT worse a couple of wks ago so I guess I should be happy lol! FYI if you didn't know this before you'll know now...I have really jacked up eyebrows from over waxing and tweezing in my teenage years.  Lesson to the girls out there DON'T OVER TWEEZE!  I use to have a unibrow - I would die to have a unibrow to tweeze again lol!

Okay to start w/ I put on all my daily eye creams, serums, moisturizers and primers (btw I LOVE E.L.F's Mineral Face Primer from their studio line...CHEAP but SO GOOD!).  Speaking of Primers I've tried the Cover FX CleanPrep FX which is a Primer for Acne skin and I gotta say so far it's the only thing I'm NOT a fan of.  Maybe I need to give it another try or use less I don't know but I had a prob w/ it rolling on my skin once I put the concealer or foundation over it...not good! After I applied all my usual skin prep stuff I started w/ the Cover FX Camouflage Concealer in Light.  I bought a full size version of this stuff and they also sent me a small little sample of it.  I've been using the sample EVERY day for like 3 wks and I'm still NOT out of it.  That's how little you need and how pigmented it is!  I find it similar to Keromask Concealer which is another Full Coverage Concealer and I find both run dark.  They do have an X-Light below the Light.  I'm definitely a Light and I imagine a Medium would actually be pretty dark but I guess this is good b/c that means  the X-Deep would probably cover even the darkest skin tone which is great for all those dark skin beauties out there that have trouble finding concealers and foundations for themselves.  

Here's me after JUST the Camouflage Concealer.  See what a huge difference just the concealer made!

 That's the sample I've been using for 3 wks!  Imagine how long the actual tube will last - no the stuff isn't cheap but it will last FOREVER!

As you may notice I really wanted to focus in on concealing around the chin/around the mouth area b/c that's where a lot of my probs right now are.  I would also like to point out that I left my freckles across my nose and on the top of my cheeks still visible.  I like them b/c I think they are fresh and cute therefore I don't think there is any need to cover them up w/ too much concealer.  I also mentioned that I bought some brushes and I have to say I have a new FAVOURITE brush now.  For years I've LOVED the MAC skunk brush for buffing liquid foundation and cream blushes into the skin and I still love it but you know what there is a new brush in town that I love for my liquid products - Brush #160 - it's a cream foundation brush and I really think it has made all the difference in my application of the product and helped it from looking cakey or heavy.  I use the brush to buff the product into my skin and in areas where I need more coverage like right on a zit I use it to sort of tap the product on to the problem spot and not just spread it around.  I LOVE this brush.  I also love my #170 Pointed Foundation Brush which is great for around the nose and under the eyes!  

After the concealer I used the Natural FX Liquid Foundation in E20...if my skin was better I might just use this as it does give very good coverage as well.  Also I have skipped the concealer and just used the Cover FX Cream Foundation which is also very good and has a very good coverage...works very well w/ brush #160.

After Natural FX E20

I finished it all off w/ the Powder FX in E20...my only complaint w/ this is unlike the concealer which I think runs dark I think this runs a bit light.  It goes from E20 to E40 and I really kind of wish they had an E30...esp. w/ Summer coming up.  I have to be careful not to over apply this and I don't think I could use it alone b/c it would be too light for me but I do think it helps brighten up my under eye area!

Okay so now I've laid all the foundation work down and it's on to the stuff that actually brings out my features.  I think my skin looks really fresh and even but after you take away all the imperfections things can look a bit flat so it's important to bring them back w/ your other makeup.

The following pics and also the first pic I posted at the top of the blog are after I completed my clean, basic makeup look for the day (as you can see my hair is still wet lol).  Btw if I wasn't taking pics in between all these steps this all literally takes me 10 mins (at most).  Also it should be noted that many ppl have already mentioned to me that the "After" pics look really fresh like I just stepped out of the shower and have NO makeup on lol!  It's like on TV or the movies when a girl steps out of the shower or pool and still looks fresh and beautiful lol!  Which is great but I can tell you and I'm going to steal and slightly modify Calvin Klein's famous quote - The best thing is to look Natural, but tt takes A LOT of FUCKING makeup to look Natural lol!

Just for reference in these After Pics besides the moisturizer, primer, concealer, foundation & powder I'm also wearing: Contour, Highlight, Bronzer, Blush, Lipstick, Lip Gloss, Eyebrow Pencil, Mascara & Translucent Powder...Very Natural lol!  Isn't amazing what a little mascara, eyebrow filler and lip gloss can do!

Okay so after all this I went out for coffee w/ a couple of friends and I was gone a couple of hours and it was pretty hot out yesterday.  This is me after coming back from coffee - no touch ups!  I still think it looks good!

Couple of more hours later meeting a friend for drinks.  Curled my hair, added a little eye shadow, touched up the bronzer and blush but not really the foundation or anything - might have touched up the powder foundation just a touch to control the shine!

Sorry this blog post is SO LONG and detailed but I hope it was at least informative!  And I think we ALL learned there really is no such things as Natural Beauty just Manufactured Natural Beauty (at least for me) lol!

Also Cover FX if you're reading this and you want to send me some free stuff to try b/c of the GLOWING review I wrote I'm totally open to it ;)