I originally wrote a Thrive Causements review in 2019, but since then, Thrive Causemetics has discontinued some products and added new ones to the collection. I wanted to update you with my honest, unpaid thoughts as a Thrive Causemetics customer and woman over 40.
Who I am Determines my Review…
We all know that beauty reviews have a lot to do with age, genetics, skin tone and type, how one cares for their skin, and how one likes to apply makeup.
I love the look of luscious lashes and am particular with my mascara and occasionally bump it up with a bit of liner right at the lashline. For the rest of my face, I like it evened but letting my freckles show through and love blush in the winter and bronzer in the summer.
I am usually a medium-light color of concealer and foundation, with a neutral undertone. I like the sun, and even with sunscreen, I get darker in the summer. I have some sun damage from college years in tanning beds, dark circles and veiny eyelids from a lifetime of seasonal allergies and rubbing, and am prone to breakouts and rashes from salicylic acid and foundations/CC creams/BB creams that claim to be hydrating for dry skin. Otherwise my skin is pretty happy and calm.
What is Thrive Causemetics?
For those unfamiliar with Thrive Causemetics (which is impressive because each time I open Facebook or Instagram, I see an ad for the brand), it is a beauty brand that is vegan, cruelty-free, free of parabens and sulfates, and that gives back with every purchase (over $140 million at the time of writing this piece).
With over ten years of impact benefitting cancer survivors, veterans, survivors of domestic abuse, homelessness and poverty, supporting LGBTQ+ individuals, under-resourced youth, education, and racial and social justice, Thrive Causemetics is the kind of beauty brand I feel good supporting.
Thrive Causemetics Review as an Over 40 Woman
So many of you asked for my thoughts about Thrive Causemetics or raved about its products I HAD to try it! I started with their mascara. Because I liked it so much, I ordered several other products. I took a break, and tried more products from Thrive Causemetics and revisited products I had tried before to see if they had changed. Below is my Thrive Causemetics review after trying several products from the beauty brand:
Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions Mascara Review
A few years ago, I started noticing that no matter what I did, my mascara would smudge under my eyes. I was complaining about this in the bathroom at a concert, and another woman said it’s because as we age, we lose fullness under our eyes, which affects how our lashes lie, causing smudging.
I found waterproof mascara took care of it, but waterproof mascara was causing my lashes to get brittle and occasionally break. Doing research, I learned about tubing mascara and tried several brands. The one I found to give me the best length, volume, and impact was Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions.
This mascara is thick and doesn’t dry fast. Your first couple of uses may have you resemble Tammy Faye. Try wiping the wand a bit before application. The product becomes utterly amazing after a few uses, maybe due to air getting into the tube. Seriously, my lashes get compliments from strangers, this stuff is so good. No smudging, no flaking, no brittle lashes. Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions is amazing… until it’s not.
After 6-8 weeks, the mascara stops being amazing and becomes ordinary. And then it becomes clumpy and flaky and gross. And it happens so gradually you wonder if that month of awesomeness was a fluke. But it’s not. I have gone through many tubes of Liquid Lash Extensions and find a couple of days of gloop, a month or so of the best lashes in my life, a week of meh, and then it’s over.
For $26, only one month of greatness isn’t wallet-friendly. It’s why I am not committed to Liquid Lash Extensions and keep trying other tubing mascaras in hopes to find one that works as well until I use at least more than half the tube. But every couple of years, I do come back.
Thrive Causemetics Review of the Buildable Blur CC Cream SPF 35
I decided to check out the Thrive Causemetics Buildable Blur CC Cream. With an SPF of 40, a price cheaper than the last foundation-like product I purchased, and better ethics, it sounded like a good buy. I guessed the color I needed, and I chose one far too pale. No worries, I went to the site to start an exchange, was able to return the wrong color for free, and received the correct color before they even received my return!
A CC cream provides more coverage than a BB cream or tinted moisturizer, but fits my no-makeup makeup ideal as the goal is to color correct, not cover completely. I found one light pump is enough; I pump it on the back of my hand, tap my finger into it, tap dots all over my face, then blend it with a damp BeautyBlender.
The Thrive Causemetics CC Cream doesn’t emphasize my pores, nor does it disappear over the day. I set it with a small brush and translucent powder.
The packaging is a tube with a pump. Thrive Causemetics offers 28 shades—not bad, considering the formulas are meant to adjust to your skin tone. I like this product, but I am not obsessed. I’ll admit I used my tube until it was empty, but I never repurchased it. Updating this review is making me consider revisiting this product as I haven’t found a Holy Grail alternative since.
Thrive Causemetics Brilliant Eye Brightener Review
I’m not fully on the highlighter train. I keep trying it: powders, creams, liquids, sticks, even different methods of application and it usually just makes me look sweaty.
The Brilliant Eye Brightener didn’t appeal to me until my friend Tammy said she loves it. And there are so many reviews from women over 40 stating it was a gamechanger. So my next order I bought it to get to free shipping. I ordered Stella (Champagne Shimmer).
I applied the Thrive Causemetics Brilliant Eye Brightener to my right eye – under the brow, in the inner corner, and along the lower lash line and waterline. Yeah, I don’t really see the difference either.
Yeah, I still don’t get it. Maybe I need an application tutorial? I will dab it in the inner corners of my eyes, under my brow bone, along my waterline, and… eh. It clumps a bit, I blend it so it’s not clumpy and it’s nearly invisible. I just don’t know if I am the right customer for this product. If you use it and love it, can you share how you use it in the comments?
Thrive Causemetics Lip Filler Long Wearing + Plumping Lipliner Review
I still love the look of lips filled in with liner and topped with a gloss. For YEARS my lipliner of choice was Wet n’ Wild 666/Brandy Wine. I wondered if Thrive Causemetics liner would be a good replacement in a softer more “my lips but better” color.
I went with ‘Jesse’ in the lip pencil, described as a pale rose ginger. It is exactly the same color as my lips. I could fill half of one lip with it, and you seriously can’t tell the difference. It’s not really better than my actual lips, except it can be used to prevent bleeding without needing to be an exact match for my lipcolor.
I have Thrive Causemetics ‘Jesse’ lipliner on one side of my mouth. Can you tell which side? It’s my right, your left. Yeah, it’s essentially the color of my lips!
It glides on easily, feels nice, and’s a quality lip liner. It’s not anything revolutionary. Thrive Causemetics says it plumps, but I haven’t experienced it. It’s $24… besides the ethics and really nice packaging I don’t see it being any better than Wet n’ Wild which is under $2.
What Thrive Causemetics Should I Try Next?
Updating this Thrive Causemetics review makes me realize that beyond the mascara, I haven’t tried the beauty brand in a while and there are a lot of new products to choose from. I had to delete a few products from this review as they are no longer available, and I am really curious about the line now, especially the following items:
- I have found that even though I color my grays, I still find brunette brow products to now look too harsh. A brow pro told me to try taupe, and I am a convert. Thrive Causemetics now has taupe brow liner and taupe brow gel. I have heard great things about Thrive Causemetics Instant Brow Fix™ Semi-Permanent Eyebrow Gel and think my next order will contain this, and possibly also the Infinity Waterproof™ Eyebrow Liner. Have you tried? Thoughts?
- Especially in the summer, I love tinted lip balm. I currently am using the one from RMS in “Peacock Lane” (ALISONG20 for 20% off) but would like a berry color and a warmer color. Have you tried the Sheer Strength™ Hydrating Lip Tint from Thrive Causemetics? Worth it?
- Now that I’m over 40 and have fewer fcks to give while still giving a sht, the only time I wear eyeshadow is when it’s a stick so I can get a subtle smoky look by drawing around my eye, smudging it, and then maybe adding a bit above the crease for dimension. I want it easy, I don’t want it to smudge, and I refuse to use more than two colors. I have used shadow sticks from Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, and Julep Beauty and they’re all fine but not Holy Grail. The Infinity Waterproof™ Eyeshadow Stick from Thrive Causemetics is tempting me; “Shaney Jo” looks like the no-makeup makeup color I prefer (and no shimmer!), and I am really digging the fun colors for special occasions. Thoughts?
Is there anything I am missing? I am tempted to place an order in the next few weeks so I can properly update this Thrive Causemetics review with highly recommended products.