Makeup

BREAKING NEWS: Stila’s Multi-Effect Mascara ($20) creates thick, fatty-bo-batty lashes! Check out how my lashes go from zero to luscious in just two coats.

I gotta hand it to Stila for the curved brush they packaged with Multi-Effect Mascara. The thing flat-out rocks, helping the product deliver amazing thickness. The arch fits perfectly into the curve of my lashes (and probably yours, too), better than any other curved brush I’ve used before. With it I can really get into the lashes and coat them from root to tip.

I’m definitely loving the thickness Multi-Effect and its magical brush provide, but I was also hoping to see a more dramatic difference in length and lash curl. Stila says Multi-Effects is designed to create, well, multiple effects — longer, thicker and curlier lashes — but after two coats the difference I saw in length and curl were minimal. It held the curl but lengthened to a lesser degree than Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara does.

[Continue reading…]

Remember the MAC Cosmetics blue and green face of the day from a few weeks ago? Parrot ($14), a turquoise eyeshadow, and Sprout ($14), a sea green, featured heavily in the look. While I think they’re both fabulous colors, I wanted to find another more budget-friendly option, considering how $28 is a lot to pay for two colors that may not get a lot of regular use. Enter Sonia Kashuk’s Eye Shadow Duo in Double Whammy ($7.99). It offers two very similar blue and green shades for a quarter the price.
[Continue reading…]

“Here comes the sun, little darling, and I say, it’s all right.”

When I stare lovingly at Stila’s Sun Bronzing Powder SPF 15 ($28) compact I always think of Here Comes the Sun, one of my favorite songs by The Beatles. I love the compact’s cheerful design and pretty bronze case. How can something so small put me in such a wonderful mood?

Sun Bronzing Powder isn’t just pretty on the outside, though. This pressed powder delivers a glowy warmth and comes in two shades, codenamed 01 and 02; I’ve used 02, a warm brown matte with just the tiniest bit of sparkle.

I feel like my skin glows after applying Sun Bronzing Powder. It’s a very subtle glow that people may not even notice, but I can. I can really see the difference when I apply the powder shortly after putting on foundation.

Normally, when I apply foundation it evens out my skin color and tone. That’s a good thing, but sometimes foundation creates too much uniformity, aka mannequin skin. Bronzer helps spice up the canvas produced by foundation alone.
[Continue reading…]

G’morning! It’s pre-coffee early here, but I wanted to pop in to say hi. My younger brother’s graduating from college today, and I’m heading home to the East Bay (about 30 miles from here) to watch him cross the stage in his cap and gown. I’m so proud! When it comes to seeing or talking about my brother’s accomplishments, I turn to mush; a few years ago I watched him and his band perform on stage (he plays guitar) at a punk club and broke into tears of joy amid a sea of moshing mohawks and tattoos.

My little brother’s worked hard to reach today, and I’m so very proud of him. The odds that I’ll burst into tears during the ceremoney are high, so I’m wearing my new favorite waterproof eyeliner, Lancome’s Le Stylo Waterproof Long Lasting Eyeliner ($23) in Noir, a deep, rich black.

Le Stylo Waterproof reminds me a lot of my beloved MAC Technakohl liner. Like Technakohl, it has a twist-up tip and a creamy formula that glides on without tugging or pulling. Le Stylo outlasts Technakohl, though, when applied to the waterline, which is why I’m using it today. It also sports a sponge smudger on one end — handy for diffusing harsh edges and lines.

Le Style Waterproof comes in seven shades — Bronze (bronze), Cafe (brown), Minuit (blue), Prune (purple), Fumee (grey), Noir (black), and Green Buzz (dark green). I can’t wait to grab a couple more!
[Continue reading…]

Hot drugstore gloss alert! Sonia Kashuk’s Lip Glossing with No-Feather Pencil ($7.99) creates color-rich, high-shine lips … but there’s a catch (isn’t there always?).

Take a close look at the above picture. See how only half the tube contains gloss? The other half hides a lip pencil, which works a’ight, but it’s not on par with the gloss. If I could, I’d split the tube in half, take the gloss and ditch the pencil, but these two are a package deal, like the Sex and the City girls.

The lipgloss packs intense color and shine; it’s almost hard to believe it’s a drugstore product. I like the light vanilla-lemon fragrance. As far as taste, it’s not a flavored lipgloss. The semi-sticky texture lasts about three hours per application. I have four of the 14 shades, and I LOVE THEM!

• Sassy – shimmery peach
• Precious – creamy coral
• Vivacious – shimmery hot pink
• Scandalous – creamy red

Sassy

[Continue reading…]