Makeup Haul, Because Every Makeup Guru Does It! Duh!

And why shouldn’t I, a pretend makeup guru, do the same thing?

Lancome

The thing I love, love, LOVE about Lancome is when they add gifts to your purchase. Buy one item and receive major beauty product haul! LOVE IT! I think I only purchase items from Lancome three times a year and usually when they have gifts!

What I actually purchased: Lancome Progres Eye Cream.

From where, you ask? Nordstrom.

I received similar products that are in this photo. Nordstrom gave me a slew of options to pick from, so I chose High Resolution Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream, High Resolution Anti-Wrinkle Cream SPF 15, the lip pencil with brush in IDEAL, one Juicy Tube (instead of the lipstick) in Pink Horizon, the eyeliner in Black Ebony, a small tube of their popular mascara Definicils in Black, and the purple makeup bag!

My favorite items from this haul are the lip pencil and Juicy Tube! The lip pencil color is absolutely gorgeous and it looks pretty awesome topped with the Juicy Tube gloss!

Next, I went to M-A-C.

I decided to take a gamble and swayed away from my normal foundation brand, which is Make Up For Ever HD Professional ($40). I love MUFE HD, but I wanted to see what all the commotion was about M-A-C and I’ll probably do a video blog review on the two in the near future.

What I purchased:

I purchased the Studio Sculpt SPF 15 Foundation in NC35 ($29.50, significant price difference from MUFE), Studio Sculpt Concealer in NW35 (for contouring purposes), Brush 193, and Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder/Pressed.

I haven’t tested these items yet, but I plan on it this week! I’m especially excited to use the Transparent Finishing Powder, because I normally use MUFE HD Powder for a finishing touch, which is a loose powder that leaves your face looking flawless and natural. So we will see!

Until next time!

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DIY on a Budget: Natural Make Up Remover, Bitches!

Economic crisis, what? Unemployment, what? How am I going to stay looking beautiful??

Why pay $5 - $20 for a make up remover when you can make one at home?

Hey! Look what I found around the house?

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Witch Hazel

An Empty Plastic Bottle

Did you know that Romans used Olive Oil to remove grime from their body? Not only does it cleanse, it also moisturizes, regenerate skin cells and soften tissue. Look at that . . . and we thought Olive Oil was for cooking! What an awesome natural all-in-one!

Witch Hazel is useful for fighting acne and shrinking pores. It’s also a nice little remedy for relieving eczema if you ever have one of those horrible eczema breakout days.

Not only can you use Witch Hazel for skincare but it also has medicinal value! It’s good for treating bruises and insect bites. And did you know it’s also an active ingredient in many hemorrhoid medications? Crazy. Speaking of hemorrhoids, or around that area, olive oil is a mild laxative, which can act as a stool softener. I thought you should know.

So how do we make this cool makeup remover concoction?

Step 1: Find or buy an empty travel or makeup bottle.

Step 2: Pour equal parts of Witch Hazel and Olive Oil.

Step 3: Shake the bottle until the two ingredients are mixed together.

I may have poured a little more olive oil this time, but it worked nicely, too! 

Step 4: Use a cotton ball and pure some of your new makeup remover on it.

Step 5: You know what to do. Have you noticed how soft it made your skin?

This makeup remover may not remove waterproof mascara as well. However, if you can be patience and leave the remover on your lashes for 2-3 minutes it will allow the olive oil to break down the mascara.

Step 6: Rinse.

Well, there you go! You learn something new everyday! Or maybe just a little bit more than you wanted to know! Ciao!

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Damn You Raccoon Eyes!

 In my last post, I briefly touched on preventing mascara smudges. However, it was a “tip”, not an in depth “how to” apply powder appropriately to stop the damn smudges!

You know how men get that sexy 5 o’clock shadow?

*growl*

Well, Raccoon Eyes is not a sexy Clive Owen with a 5 o'clock shadow. It's more of a 2 hours later, hollow-eyed, dark circle shadow. It also causes people to say, “Wow, you look really tired!” Which causes this thought through your head, "Well, no, asswipe. I'm not tired. It’s my @&$#ing MASCARA!"

DAMN YOU MASCARA!

DAMN!

YOU!

There are so many ways to prevent the Raccoon Eyes Syndrome, for instance, by trying to coat lashes with waterproof mascara or using a mascara sealant. Unfortunately, these two methods do not always work well. I found that the best way to prevent mascara smudges is by using makeup powder.

Step 1: Start off with a clean face and apply a moisturizer. Why would you ever want to apply makeup on a dirty face? Gross? What are you? A savage?

Step 2: Apply foundation, including under your eyes and on your eyelids.

Step 3: Apply enough makeup powder, especially under your eyes and eyelids, without making it look cakey. 

I like to use a loose translucent powder like Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder with a Mineral Powder Brush or a Kabuki Brush. Normally, loose powders do not cause a cakey finish, unless you apply too much or if you haven't exfoliated your skin in weeks. However, you should use a makeup powder that works best for you.

How to use loose translucent powder, if you decide to choose this route:

1. Take your Powder Brush or Kabuki Brush, dab it into your powder jar.
2. Since we don't want a lot of powder on our brush, tap the brush on the jar to relieve the excess of powder.
3. You want to tap the brush on your face to apply the powder instead of making a circular motion as you would with mineral powder foundation.
4. Evenly apply the powder on all areas of your face, under the eyes and eyelids.

The Power of Powder

What a makeup powder does is it sets your foundation and gives it a finished and natural look. It can also help absorb oil that your face can/will produce throughout the day, depending on your skin type. Powder will also prevent that ungodly Raccoon Eyes . . . unless that’s what you’re going for.

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Four Mascaras Later

I absolutely love trying out new brands of cosmetics, no matter if I’ve found my perfect match. So my latest obsession involves seeking for the perfect mascara. I have been seeking far and . . . not so far at stores and websites. I’ve used inexpensive ones to “HOLY SHIT THAT COST A LOT!” Needless to say, I have tried many types of mascara throughout the years, but for this post I am going to cover four different ones that I’ve tried recently.

Lets start at the lower price spectrum:

Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Mascara – Very Black

Purchased for $6.94 at Target

A few years ago, I purchased Maybelline Lash Stiletto Ultimate Length and it was one of the most amazing lash lengthening mascaras I had used. Regretfully, the sister mascara, Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Mascara, does not own up to the original. It boasts of not only lash lengthening, but also adding volume creating thicker lashes. It only did one thing: length and a piss poor job of it, as well.

Mascara Fail.

I would rather stick to the original Maybelline Lash Stiletto Ultimate Length for a desired lash lengthening mean machine for under $10.

Best used for women with short lashes. 

Overall Score: 2/5

Moving on to. . .

Maybelline The Colossal Volum’ Express – Glam Black

Purchased for $7.49 at Walgreens (Hello? You can purchase this for $4.99 at Target!)

I was in a hurry when I purchased this mascara. I might as well had been sleep shopping. It was a cool morning and I needed mascara. Pronto. Don’t ask why or where I was or what I had done the evening before. I just needed mascara, among other items. I glanced at the wall of Maybelline products and the bright ass yellow mascara tube screamed at me, “THE COLOSSAL! LOVE ME!”

Love you, I did not. Didn’t I sound like Yoda just now? I could be the Yoda of mascara. Another fail at mascara Maybelline. Did it give me volume? Well, yes, but it also give me the case of the clumps and hard to get rid of! Thank goodness it’s not contagious, like, the Clap after a bad one-night stand.

I’m definitely not a fan of this, but unfortunately I still have a full tube of it that I’ve been combining with above-mentioned mascara. Hey, why not? One gives me length while the other gives me the clumps.

Tip: If you do use lengthening mascara and you’ve already purchased The Colossal (for some crazy reason), give your lashes a “once-over” with The Colossal after using the other mascara. It will build on from the previous mascara and it will coat it without "the clumps".

Overall Score: 1/5

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! – Rich Black

Purchased for $19 at Sephora

I absolutely love this mascara! I loved it so much that after stretching out my three sample tubes of this glorious stuff, I finally caved in and purchased the damn thing. This 4-in-1 mascara is so groovy that it’s encased in a purple vinyl fabric . . . thing.

The 411 on the 4-in-1: It claims to lengthen. Check! It claims to curl. Half-&-Half. It claims to add volume. Check! It conditions. I’m not sure? I’m not exactly sure how to measure conditioning, since I don’t feel my lashes on a daily basis, let alone . . . at all.

There are a few of cons to this mascara though. Just a few. Not so bad. It doesn’t curl well. For someone with shorter and coarse lashes, this mascara has a hard time curling all of the lashes, plus the ingredients used in the formula and the brush on the wand can weigh down the lashes. So by mid-day, some of my lashes became a little less lifted (like an extremely used bra lacking support), which caused a bit of smudging below the lower lashes.

Overall, Lights, Camera, Lashes! did a fab job making lashes look nice and long and full. It is worth the price.

Tip: Best remedy to do to prevent smudges? Remember to use a translucent powder after applying foundation. Add a little more powder below the lower lashes.

Overall Score: 4/5

Benefit They’re Real! – Black

(I wish it was called, "They’re Effin’ Real!") Purchased for $22 at Sephora

Newly discovered mascara! So far, this mascara is pretty sweet. What does it do? Well, let me tell you! It gave my lashes a pretty natural look while lengthening and adding a nice amount of volume. What I love about this mascara is that it lifts and curls, which I believe is due to the wand. The design of the bristles on the wand grabs and defines each lash; in turn, preventing clumps that could weigh down your lashes, thus allowing the formula to help curl lashes like crazy Aqua Net we used in middle school to make our bangs stand up 10 inches high. Only this is Aqua Net for lashes and without an aerosol spray. Plus, it isn’t the early 90s.

There is . . . one flaw, however. Damn it! This is an almost a perfect mascara. Almost. When using this mascara, you want to be careful how many times you build your lashes. Applying it twice is plenty to create a nice natural look, anymore beyond that will cause weird, spider leg lashes. We certainly don’t want our lashes to look like spider legs, now do we? So apply accordingly and don’t be greedy! Greed will give you "the clumps". Remember what I said about "the clumps"?

Overall Score: 4.5/5

Not all lashes are created equal. Not every person will agree with my opinions. I recommend trying all types of mascara to see which one fits you and ask yourself what type of lashes do you want? What type of lifestyle do you live? Do you want thick lashes? Do you want longer lashes? Do you want both? Do you want a short cut to curling your lashes? Do you want a natural look? Et cetera. Like dating, you might have to go through a lot of brands and lines of mascara before finding . . . The One.

Until next time, happy mascara hunting!

   

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