A Piece of History (Tag)

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Hi All!

Ari from A Passionate Obsession tapped me to post something about the first makeup item that made its way into my hands.  Thanks for the tag, Ari!!  :-)

This is a Maybelline shadow that I'm sure is a brow powder. It's been so long since I saw the actual description for this shadow that I don't remember what it's called.  I depotted this back in 2010 so I can't look up the name, either.

Anyways, the reason I bought this was that I one day realized, at 27, that my eyebrows were really thin and pictures of myself looked like a face with eyes, nose, and a mouth, but no eyebrows!  You know how everyone says that eyebrows frame the face?  Well, I didn't have that frame, so that's why I went out and bought a dark brown brow powder.  

And ever since then there has been no looking back!  If there is anything in my makeup drawer that I will not leave the house without it is this brow powder. In fact, I will go out without foundation or anything to cover up my blemishes, but I will always have/make the time to do my brows. 

Thanks for reading!  

Please keep the tag going.  I tag everyone!  ;D

Battle Mascara: NYX Doll Eye vs. Maybelline Volum'Express One by One

I've had to say goodbye to my Lancome mascara.  It's almost time for me to say goodbye to my NYX Doll Eye mascara as well.  So, I went out to Walgreens and got a new mascara in anticipation of being mascara-less.  Welcome to my vanity: Maybelline Volum'Express One by One in blackest.

I have to be honest and let you know that today is the first day of my using this new Maybelline mascara and I'm so excited by it that I felt compelled to post something.  But if my opinions on this Battle Mascara change from today onwards, I will update this post.

Click to enlarge

And below, we have the following pictures.  First up: NYX.  I think these pictures are a lot better than what I took in Battle Mascara 1 because I've finally learned how to position the camera and tilt my head and wait for good lighting opportunities.  *forehead smack*

Second, we have the newbie: Maybelline.  All these pictures of were taken today and the difference in curl between the NYX and Maybelline is astounding!

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UPDATE: 6/7/2011

I decided to experiment with the Maybelline Volum'Express One by One mascara and the NYX Doll Eye mascara.  Maybelline is great for retaining curl throughout the day.  NYX is great for not smudging.  Putting them together ought to give me the best results possible.  So here are the pictures from my experiment.  Here are pictures of my lashes 3 hours into the experiment.

Here are pictures of my lashes 9 hours into the experiment.

If only these two were ONE mascara, this would be the perfect mascara for me.  ^_^

Product Review: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector

I bought mine in # 710 Light.  This product has both concealer and highlighter in one.  There are only 4 available shades for the Double Face Perfector: Light, Light/Medium, Medium, and Dark.

Claims for concealing:

~ covers adult imperfections: age spots, broken capillaries, blemishes

~ complete coverage, doesn't settle into fine lines

Claims for highlighting:

~ light reflectors brighten away undereye darkness

~ add a luminous touch

My thoughts regarding the claims for concealing
This is by far one of the best concealers I've used!  It conceals my undereye darkness without looking cakey, without settling into fine lines, and without looking like obvious concealer.  I dunno if it hydrates, but it definitely does not dry my skin.  These qualities also make the concealer ideal for covering blemishes.  It has great coverage and eliminates the concealer/imperfection color code.  My personal preference is to apply concealer right before the setting powder or powder foundations.  The only problem I have is that I chose a shade that is too light for my skin, so I have to apply this very sparingly to avoid the entire "white blotches on my face" effect.

My thoughts regarding the claims for highlighting
Yes, it does add a hint of luminous touch to my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose, but it's almost imperceptible.  Xteeener mentioned a while ago that she didn't think very highly of the highlighter.  I am in agreement with her.  However, I think that the highlighter could be a base under a powdered highlighter.  I'm not going to try it because my face is naturally oily and the last thing I need is to look shiny.

I would definitely buy the concealer part again (in the proper shade!)

--
Kusanagi

Smile On!

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Product Review: Maybelline New York Great Lash Mascara

In soft black, waterproof.

The claims:
A mascara that conditions as it thickens.

• Lash-doubling waterproof formula glides on smooth to build great-looking smudge-proof lashes
• Lash building brush makes it easy to get a full lash look without clumps or globs
• Contact lens safe and hypoallergenic
• Waterproof; also available in washable formula and washable with curved brush

I haven't had great luck when working with my lashes, so I'm going to make my best effort here to cover the product and my experience using this product objectively as I can.

I don't know if this mascara conditions as it thickens, I didn't use it enough to get a good feel for that; however, I really liked how thick yet still natural my lashes looked after applying the mascara.  I was surprised by how well this mascara holds curl in the lashes.  I'd apply it at 7:15am and I still had a nice little curl 12 hours later. 

Smudging and raccoon eyes, however, were a constant problem for me.  I learned that I needed to curl my lashes just right and be vigilant throughout the day to avoid smudging.  If my lashes were curled properly, I wouldn't see smudging until 6-7 hours later and that would be it.  But if I didn't curl my lashes just right, I could expect to see smudges by 11am and raccoon eyes by 3pm.  Constant vigilance be damned if my lashes were not curled properly to begin with.  Most of the time, I didn't know if my lashes were curled properly or not until after the smudging occurred. 

Side note: I have never appreciated the importance of curling lashes until I started using this mascara.  Curling one's lashes not only opens the eyes and makes one look good, but it also serves to lift lashes off one's cheek when one blinks or closes one's eyes.  However, I have hooded monolids and my curled lashes wrap around the hood of my eyelids like a taco shell to taco filling.  Judging by the pictures I take, you wouldn't be able to tell a difference if I have mascara on or not, unless it was a close-up picture.  But really, how many people do you come face-to-face with on a daily basis that you allow to stand within 2-3 inches of your face?

I can't comment too much on the contact lens safe or hypoallergenic statement because I've had 3 eye infections since beginning to use this product.  I don't know if I contaminated the product, or if I truly am one of those people who develop allergies with age, but I have not fared well with this mascara in my beauty repertoire.

So, now's the question:
Would I repurchase this product again?  I would not because I may be allergic to it.  If I weren't allergic to it, my answer would be different.  ^_^

--

Kus

"Smile on!"