I suspect that it could just be because it's so current, but I feel like this spring has been one of the most exciting for me in recent memory when it comes to new releases in the drugstore. I've been testing out new products from most of the major drugstore brands recently - look for more releases to come - but today I wanted to talk to you guys about a few products that I've been trying out from Revlon recently. Revlon is actually a brand that had fallen a little bit off my radar in recent years, but I feel like they're making a little bit of a resurge - have you guys seen the new, chic displays in stores?

Anyway, keep reading for more on these new Revlon releases!

When deciding what I wanted to try from these new collections, you guys knew that I was going to be most excited about complexion products. I'm not sure what it is, but where eyeshadow used to be the thing that whipped me up the most, these days I'm all about new base products. I was extra excited about the Photoready Insta-Filter Foundation* because I just recently rediscovered my love for the Revlon Colorstay Foundation and was excited to try out another foundation from the brand. I also chose the Color Charge Liquid Illuminator in Halo* and the Colorstay Brow Mousse in Soft Brown*. I mean... obviously those are what I chose, right?

The thing that I was initially unsure about when it comes to this foundation is actually probably the thing that most people are unsure about - the sponge applicator. Basically how this works is that you twist the bottom and it pushes the foundation up through a hole in the center of the sponge and then you can apply it to your face. I have to say, the hole through the middle definitely made this idea better for me than if it had worked the way some other products with this kind of sponge did and actually had to seep through the sponge to apply to the skin. If you happen to be uncomfortable with applying the sponge straight to your face, you can easily just apply a dollop of this to the back of your hand and blend it that way. 

Personally, I actually like to apply this with the sponge because it makes it easy to get the right amount of product around my face and I don't need to get my hands dirty. Personally, I think this sponge works much better for application than for blending and once I have the foundation dotted all over my face I like to go in with a kabuki brush and blend it out. I feel like this is definitely the method that works best for me with this foundation and the blend out is really easy when I go in with a brush.

This product claims to have medium, buildable coverage and all day wear, and I have to say it lives up to both of those claims. Because I don't tend to like a full coverage personally, I haven't tried to build this up, but upon application this is definitely a solid medium coverage. The wear time has been really solid and I find that at the end of a day wearing this, my skin still looks quite good and, though it does fade somewhat, I haven't noticed it breaking up or creasing on me. It also claims to have a natural finish, which I would say is fairly accurate. For me, this isn't quite as skin-like as some other foundations that I've been trying out recently, but it's fairly light weight and doesn't skew too matte or too dewy on my normal skin type. 

Overall, I think this is a really solid foundation at the drugstore and it's worth trying out for someone who's interested in the sponge applicator and is looking for medium coverage with solid wear time.

Revlon Color Charge Liquid Illuminator in Halo*

The drugstore has really been going hard with liquid highlighters lately and I was very curious to see what Revlon was bringing to the table. Packaged in a squeeze tube, this highlighter looks absolutely molten when you first squeeze it out onto the skin, and is highly, highly pigmented. I found it incredibly easy to blend with either a damp sponge or with my finger tips. You have a little bit of play time after application, but I wouldn't wait too long to blend because this does set. I actually really, really love the texture of this once it sets because it's not sticky at all. Seriously, you guys, the formula of this is really, really impressive.

But clearly, as I'm sure you can tell by the swatch photo, we have to talk about the shade. I do think that this shade is going to work for a lot of people - and when blended it out, it is quite a bit lighter than it looks in the swatch, but unfortunately, it's still a little bit too dark for my fair skin. When I use it on my face, I have to use very little and top it with a powder highlight so that I get that lift that I'm looking for in a face highlighter. That being said, I've actually found other ways to use this that work really well. I've tried this out underneath foundation as a sort of illuminating primer and it worked really well that way, and I've also applied it to my collar bones as a body highlight and it looks beautiful that was as well.  Because I'm so fair, I feel like this is going to end up being a summer body highlighter for me - and I can't wait to get my collar bones and shoulders out to show off a little glow. Like I said, this does blend out quite a bit lighter than it initially applies, so if you're not fair this could end up being a beautiful peachy gold face highlight for you as well.

I'm a complete brow gel junkie. Honestly, if I'm leaving my house, you can bet that I'm going to have some kind of gel or mousse in my brows even if the rest of my face is bare, so I was clearly all on board to try this out. I have to say, the applicator of this product is a little bit puzzling to me. As you can see in the photo, it looks sort of like a rubber mascara wand, and the way that it works is that you twist the bottom of the applicator and the product comes out through small slits in two sides of the applicator. While I don't necessarily think this is a bad design, it's just not my personal favorite way to apply brow gel.

While I'm not the hugest fan of the applicator and I do find that it gets a little bit gunky, I actually do think this applies fairly well into the brows. It gives medium hold so I would say that this would likely work best for someone with brows that generally behave and if you have unruly brows this might not give you the hold you need. Wear time is quite good and I find that my brows still have product in them by the end of the day, but they haven't quite held their shape as much as I would like. As far as this formula, I feel like it's pretty solid. Unfortunatley, this shade is a little bit too red toned for me personally, as I like an ashier tone for my brows. Overall, I think this is a product that would work well for someone who's looking for medium hold and a warmer toned brow product.

Overall, I have to say that I think these products are all good quality, even though they didn't all necessarily work for me shade wise. I will definitely be reaching for the foundation and the liquid illuminator in the future - dying for summer to get Halo all over my exposed body parts - but I don't think I'll be reaching for the brow mousse all that often. The foundation is definitely the biggest winner for me and I would recommend taking a look at it if you're in the market for a medium coverage, drugstore foundation. I'm actually inclined to head to the store and see what else Revlon has recently released, because I feel like they're solidly back on my radar these days after a bit of a hiatus.

All of these products are available now wherever Revlon is sold - but if you're thinking about picking up anything from the Color Charge collection, I wouldn't wait on it because it is Limited Edition!

Thanks for reading!