It’s been a long time since I’ve tried anything new by Covergirl, so I was pretty pleased when I was selected for the Influenster Exhibitionist campaign!

For those unfamiliar, Influenster is a site and app where you can apply to get makeup for free. You don’t have to be a blogger or YouTuber – you just have to have some kind of social media account and be able to provide reviews on the products you try out on Influenster’s own web site. 

The Covergirl Exhibitionist box contained their Exhibitionist mascara, the Exhibitionist cream lipstick in Hot, and the Gel In Line Liquid Liner in Major Matte Black.

And my initial reaction? Well, it wasn’t a good one.

1. I hate curvy, fat mascara wands because I find them difficult to use. So I wasn’t pumped about the mascara.
2. I *massively* dislike the smell of Covergirl lipsticks (ugh, horrible old lady scent anyone??). So I wasn’t pumped about the lipstick.
3. I haaaaaaate dip-pot style liquid liners with a felt tip applicator. So yeah… I wasn’t pumped up the liquid liner either.

Why am I telling you all this? Because this freaking box changed my dang mind on every single one of my preconceived opinions on these products, and it was kind of eye opening!

The end result of all three items was not only gorgeous, but it made me fall in love with new products!

Let’s dive right in. The shade I got to try in the Covergirl Exhibitionist Lipstick range is the shade Hot – a colour I was deeply, deeply interested in since I’d read years ago that Taylor Swift used to wear this colour and I was always madly in love with the reds she used to wear. I remember looking at the shade Hot in stores years ago and thinking it was pretty, but I just could NOT get over the horrific scent that Covergirl lipsticks used to have so I always put the shade back without purchasing it. When I realized that this shade was in my box I was excited to see what the colour would look like on me, but I figured I’d end up junking the lipstick because if there’s one thing I can’t handle in makeup, it’s a nasty/funky tasting lipstick.

So imagine my surprise when I sniffed the bullet and realized Covergirl had put a touch of vanilla in the lipstick. Okay… I can get down with this. There’s still a hint of old lady makeup scent, but it wasn’t as disgustingly overpowering as it used to be. So I put the lipstick on, was immediately wowed by the colour… and then I quickly realized that the scent completely dissipated! It didn’t taste or smell like ANYTHING at all! I was elated! With that terrible scent out of the way, I was now free to enjoy the lipstick!

And enjoy it I did – I wore this sucker for 6 hours straight without really thinking about it. The shade Hot has amazing longevity, and it’s likely because the lipstick is quite staining (you’ll need an oil based remover to get most of it off). The formula claims to be a cream, and it does apply like one, but it goes matte within thirty minutes. It’s not uncomfortable matte though – this is really, really lovely to wear. And the shade? WOW. I’m in love!

On to the eyes!

I scowled at the dip-pot liner as I pulled the applicator out of the tube to apply it to my face the very first morning. Dip-pots, by and large, are messy to me – I find the product ends up  getting on my lashes because the applicator style is clumsy (or maybe I’m clumsy, who knows) and I’ve always preferred pen or a real brush as an applicator. Fortunately, the Get In Line Liquid Liner ended up being less messy than I had anticipated, and I was suddenly struck with how much I missed using a truly matte black liquid liner. While I love my pen-style brush tip liquid liners because they’re so incredibly fast to use, it has to be pointed out that there is no truly matte formula on the market – they all have a hint of a sheen and I’d kind of forgotten that over the years. I was blown away at just how matte this black was on my eyes. The longevity is also on point – I had no flaking or transferring, and it looked just as good at the end of an eight hour work day as it did when I first put it on in the morning.

The only real downside to this product is that the felt tip applicator is very, very flimsy – it has too much give to it in my opinion. This can make it a little bit hard to really follow the edges of your eye. That’s the only thing stopping it from being truly perfect in my eyes. That being said – I’m 100% going to use every last drop of this product and I would absolutely consider repurchasing it.

And lastly – the Exhibitionist Mascara. I have never really fallen in love with hourglass-shaped mascaras as I just find them to be cumbersome and quite messy. I’m prone to getting mascara on my upper lid during application, and large wands have a tendency to exacerbate this problem (which is why I prefer small, conical wands). But I’d been sent the mascara in the box, so of course I was going to give it a good go.

And it was good. So good. I’m a one coat mascara wearer, so what you’re seeing in these photos is only of a single coat, but you could easily build this up if you had to as the formula isn’t super crusty which to me has always meant that it can layer well. The volume isn’t unreal, or out of this world, but it’s a solid mascara that gives me that bit of extra boost I’m going for on a day to day basis. It’s more on the wet side of things too – not super soaking wet, but it’s not as dry as I was expecting which made me really happy. And, rather impressively, I had no lower lash transfer to the hollows under my eyes. This has always been a problem spot on me – even waterproof mascaras tend to transfer from my lower lashes onto the skin underneath and I’ll end up with black spots which just look really terrible (this is why I generally avoid wearing lower lash mascara to work). Covergirl Exhibitionist Mascara though? No transfer! And it’s not even a waterproof formula either!

So… Covergirl… you did GOOD! This Influenster box knocked it out of the freaking park as far as I’m concerned. I went into this box/product review with a seriously negative attitude just based on my past experiences with certain aspects of each product, and yet each one managed to completely turn my head around. As a blogger I try to go into reviewing each product with an open mind, but after years and years of trying products, you start to learn what your preferences are, and for me… an hourglass shaped mascara, a dip-pot eyeliner and (what I thought was) a nasty smelling mascara were 100% at the bottom of my list of products I ever wanted to try again. So I’m happy to say I’ve got a fresh new perspective on these products and would absolutely recommend them!

And, in case you hadn’t heard, Covergirl is now 100% cruelty-free!

So with my change of heart in mind – maybe YOU can tell me about a product that you tried out that you thought was going to be bad based on your past experiences but turned out to be amazing!

The products featured in this post were sent to me by Influenster. Post contains affiliate links.