Summer Beauty Picks from H-E-B & Product Reviews

The thing I love most about my partnership with H-E-B is that every few months, I get a box of beauty goodies to test out. I used to do a lot of beauty product reviews on my blog and I feel like that has really fallen a little by the wayside. One of the main reasons is because I continue to repurchase products I've been using for years so there's nothing new to share. 

My goal when testing new products is to see how they look, feel and last on my skin---but something else I look for is how the products can be a part of my everyday look. I don't have time in the morning to try different looks or play around with eye shadows and do all kinds of highlighting and contouring. I used to watch a lot of YouTube beauty tutorials and loved the final looks, but 20-30 minutes of work is too much time (for me). It usually takes me about 10-12 minutes to do my makeup in the morning.

So the look you'll see below doesn't look different from my regular makeup in the sense that I tried to achieve my usual look, by using new products in the same way.

The products I got to test are:

Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara by L'Or�al Paris  |  Almay Intense Shadow Stick for Brown Eyes  |  Revlon Colorburst Lip Blam  |  Milani Blush- Dolce Pink  |  Essie Polish in "I'm Addicted"

I'm going to start with my favorite product, the Milani blush, because if you read any part of this post, I want it to be THIS! I petty much exclusively wear Bobbi Brown's peony blush, unless I'm testing out a new product. None have quite lured me into becoming regulars in my makeup drawer. High end or drugstore brand, some have been good quality and nice, but the colors didn't capture my heart---until now. This blush is staying in my makeup drawer indefinitely and deserves to share some makeup drawer real estate right next to my beloved peony blush. The color is absolutely gorgeous, with a slight sheen and made me feel so pretty. It just added that beautiful touch of rosiness to the cheeks and the color worked perfectly with my skin tone. I have to admit I always go back to peony blush because I feel the others don't do as much for my skin, but this is a game changer, friends. So if you get one product from this list, let it be this one. 

I took the photos for this post on my iPhone in front of a window because I wanted the colors to show as true to life as possible, in natural sunlight. I like using filters on my Instagram photos, but since I'm reviewing makeup, I don't want the colors to become distorted. I did use Afterlight's "clarify" tool (which sharpens the photo a little) on a couple of them at about 30%.  It's currently my favorite editing app, I would say it's a must-have if you take a lot of photos on your iPhone. Oh and excuse the breakout happening on my chest right now...

Next up, we have L'Oreals Miss Manga mascara. I loved the brush on this one and it's the first non-waterproof mascara in recent memory that didn't make my lashes droop down, which in and of itself is pretty great. The color I tested is the dark brown, which normally I wouldn't purchase, but it was actually really nice and I liked using it on my bottom lashes too. As far as staying power, it lasted all day. It's a solid mascara.

Revlon's Colorburst lip balm pencil in "Sweetheart Valentine" surprised me. It was a really bright pink when applied to the lips and I ended up layering a nude pink toned lipstick over it. It was the perfect combo since the balm acted like a stain. It's 8 p.m. as I type this and my lips still have a beautiful tint of color to them---in fact, now that the tint has faded, it looks perfect! On its own it definitely packs some bright color, but paired with a subtler lipstick, it was perfect for me. I liked how long it lasted because I felt like my makeup looked better all day from not losing the color on my lips like I normally do.

Okay, let's talk eyes. I used the Almay eye shadow pencil (the shimmery nude color) on the inner corners of my eyes to brighten them up. I've been using this trick for years and it's such a small step that has a big impact on making eyes like wide and awake. I don't know that I'd use the other side of the stick (the green color) but the shimmery nude color was lovely.

Lastly, I also received the H-E-B brand "Dead Sea Skin Care" energizing bath salts. I have to be honest and say I haven't used them yet because I don't take baths, but they smell incredible. It's a rich, invigorating scent with a eucalyptus undertone to it. 

I also wanted to share some of my favorite Essie polishes in the blue/purple color family- perfect for summer! 

lilacism  |  bikini so teeny (wearing this now)  |  butler please  |  i'm addicted

Here is Essie's "bikini so teeny" on my nails---note that this photo does have a filter---now you can really see the difference in the colors. The blush looks a lot darker here and less pink than it is in real life.

H-E-B�s Summer Beauty Picks are all about bringing the brightness and vibrancy of summer to your make-up routine. H-E-B has a fantastic beauty section, so they next time you're shopping for groceries, some of your favorite new beauty items could be just a few aisles down the way.

Thank you for reading and if you've tried any of the products I've reviewed, let me know!

FTC: This post is sponsored by H-E-B but all opinions are related to my own experiences after trying the products.