Welcome back, all! I hope everybody enjoyed the long weekend and soaked up every last minute of summer. It has been a long while since I’ve rounded up my monthly beauty favorites. This mostly is due to the fact that I’m trying to use up products before I buy new ones, and I’m overall just happy with what I use on a daily basis. However, I I recently purchased a few new-to-me products to fill some gaps in my makeup collection. A new month and new season should justify a few new products, right?! So, let’s get to it – new beauty first impressions.

EYEBROWS & EYELASHES

I used to be a huge fan of Benefit’s Gimme Brow, but I never felt the need to repurchase it given the price. Thanks to a recommendation from Elle, I picked up Essence Make Me Brow. You guys, this practically is an exact dupe for Benefit and IT’S LESS THAN $5. You can’t beat that! I have the shade 01 Blondy Brows, and it works great with my blonde/taupe eyebrow hairs. I haven’t used this on bare brows yet, but I do notice a difference when I use it over eyebrow pencil – my brows look more defined and full.

Eyelash primer is a staple in my beauty routine – it lengthens my lashes and helps to hold the curl post-eyelash curler and mascara application. While I’ve never been a fan of the L’Oreal Voluminous mascara, I knew I had to try the new Voluminous Primer as an alternative to my go-to Clinique lash primer. This is a great drugstore lash primer! It applies evenly, dries pretty quick, and my mascara goes on smoothly over it. I would say it’s darn near identical to the Clinique product, and at $10 or less for each, either one makes a good choice. I’m interested to see how long this tube will last until it either dries out or the product becomes clumpy.

LIPGLOSS

It’s rare these days that I stray from the NYX Butter Glosses, but Revlon won my lips over again. I’m a huge fan of Jessica (LolaMarie7) on YouTube, so when she recommended the Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Super Natural, I went and got it the same day. This is the ultimate your-lips-but-better gloss. It looks good alone or with any lipstick. My favorite combination as of late is a nude lip pencil filled in all over my lips and this gloss on top. Easy peasy! The formula is super smooth and doesn’t feel heavy or sticky.

KAT VON D #LOCKITREVOLUTION

Thanks to Influenster, I was lucky enough to receive and test some new Kat Von D beauty products. The Lock-It Concealer Creme is a great concealer for under eye circles, especially if you prefer a doe wand applicator. I don’t think I would use this product to conceal blemishes because of how thick it is, and it can take a little time to blend out. This won’t replace my MAC Pro Longwear Concealer, but it’s a good alternative.

Along with the concealer, the Lock-It Setting Powder is one of the best loose translucent powders that I’ve ever tried. It’s lightweight, oil-absorbing, and doesn’t accentuate fine lines or create cake face. My makeup seems to last longer when I use this powder to set my T-zone, and I haven’t noticed any flashback (when your face appears white in photos) with photography.

As part of the same collection, I also received the Lock-It Edge Concealer Brush and Lock-It Setting Powder Brush. Let’s get the obvious out of the way – these brushes are straight-up pretty. I’m a fan of the sleek design, and I find that they are very comfortable to hold and work with. However, I don’t find either of these brushes to be anything groundbreaking. At their price point ($24-$38), I have brushes that cost drastically less (hello, e.l.f.) and work just as well. So, if you’re in the market for new makeup brushes, I recommend checking out less expensive alternatives first.

It’s always a promising sign at the beginning of the month when a majority of new beauty first impressions are positive ones! I hope that there’s a few products here that you want to try out for yourself – best part is that most are affordable and accessible at the drugstore.

What new beauty products have you tried lately? Anything I should add to my shopping list?