Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
I find it both hilarious and totally fitting that Burt’s Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Sugar Scrub ($13 for an 8-oz. jar) has a warning on the label that reads, “do not consume.” Seriously, they have to tell you not to eat the product because it looks and smells THAT good — like a jar of berry-licious preserves or a sugary frozen treat. 
When I heard that Rimmel designed Volume Flash Max Bold Curves mascara ($7) to boost lash volume by 1,400% (OOH!) and lift by 70% (ahh…), it was like teasing a dog with a piece of bacon.
Shauna the Wonderdog!
Released earlier this summer in a single shade called Black, Volume Flash Max Bold Curves sports a fancy-shmancy brush built with something called “Perfect Fit technology.”
LOL! It seems like every week there’s a new phrase being coined. Perfect Fit’s flexible bristles were shaped to fit lashes perfectly and coat them for maximum lift and volume, and the mascara’s formula, enriched with keratin and collagen, strengthens lashes, getting them ready for serious volume-boosting action.
I gave the waterproof version of Max Volume Flash a try last week, and while it didn’t pump up the volume of my lashes as much as I’d hoped it would, I kept my fingers crossed for Bold Curves. “Please,” I prayed to the makeup gods, “deliver me the tranny lashes I desire so very much.”
Come on, what do ya say?
Well, my prayers went partially answered. I mean, I detect a difference in length and thickness as well as above-average lash lift, and the formula does hold up nicely throughout day, resisting smudges and flaking…
Have you been watching the US Open? I’m probably the world’s worst tennis player (sports involving projectiles = not a strong suit) and only know the bare basics of the sport, but I sure like watching it. Team sports are great, but there’s just something about watching two world class athletes go one-on-one, ya know? Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that most of the dudes are cute, heh!
WERK, Andy!
Today was all about the ladies, though, and watching Maria Sharapova duke it out with Caroline Wozniacki got me thinking about — big surprise — makeup.
If, by some miracle of modern science, I morphed into an elite 35-year-old tennis player, I’d be all about waterproof mascara. With that unlikely future in mind, today I gave Rimmel’s Max Volume Flash Waterproof Mascara ($7, available in a single shade called Black) a try.
Rimmel designed it to quickly add dramatic volume, so I took two layers with me for a test drive on the treadmill this morning.
So how’d she fare?
Well, after four miles of pounding the fake pavement through a raging torrent of sweat, there were no smudges to speak of beneath my eyes. 🙂 They remained clean and mascara-free (no panda eyes whatsoever!). Just for haaay of it, I left everything on when I jumped in the shower. Even after THAT, inky black Max Volume Flash hung on like a champ.
And its extreme aversion to water isn’t the only thing that makes it stand out from its competitors. It doesn’t clump, either, and remains easy to remove with my regular Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser.
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As much as I love Pacifica’s Body Butters, there are some days when I just don’t want to wear a scented moisturizer, like when I’m loving on a new fragrance.
I’ve been wearing a couple of new scents lately and haven’t wanted my body lotions to clash, so when I spotted this bottle of fragrance-free Olay Quench Advanced Healing Body Lotion ($6), I had to snap it up.
Talk about happy drugstore lotion accidents. 🙂
Olay recently revamped the bottle and the name, so I must have found one of the leftovers from the older packaging. The new version looks a little different (same formula though) and goes by a new name, Quench Advanced Healing Intensive Lotion.
I hadn’t been crazy about the other lotions I’ve tried from Olay’s Quench line because all of them had strong scents and contained mica (hello, shiny finish!), both of which Olay kept out of Advanced Healing. Good call, methinks, because not only will sensitive schnozzes appreciate Olay’s thoughtful little omission, but most dudes will too (I’m pretty sure El Hub’s been using my bottle on the ‘low).
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My combination skin’s been acting up lately (annoying little pimples on my chin, clogged pores on my cheeks, dry patches around my nose… the usual crapalicious bullsh*t 🙂 ), so last night I took it as a blogger’s blessing and decided to test oil-free Boots Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask ($9) for the first time.
Just shake (it sounds like canned soup!), slather and let dry for between 10-20 minutes before rinsing with warm water. The mineral-rich clay, which is harvested from the sea and combined with burdock root extract, contains a negative electrical charge that, according to Boots, draws the crud from pores without over-drying the skin.
Whenever I come across a new drugstore makeup morsel, I follow a familiar routine.
With the prospective product in hand, I’ll track down a reflective surface in the store (like the edge of a nearby shelf), and hold the item up to my face to gauge how the color might look on my skin.
Admittedly, it’s a rather unscientific approach…
Since most drugstores don’t provide open testers for products, beauty shoppers are often left to guess based on how products appear through their unopened packages.
But the times, beauty lovers, are a-changin’! Drugstore retailers like Wal-Mart have begun testing new technology that could help.
The new EZface Inc. “virtual mirror” lets ladies (and gents) see how beauty products might look on their skin without actually having to try them on (kinda like Daily Makeover’s Makeover Studio in a box).
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Hey, boo. 🙂 Howzit? Sorry if I’ve seemed a little distracted lately, but I’ve been trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with my in-laws before they head back to Hawaii on Friday. Yup, it’s been an interesting beauty balancing act — trying to be a considerate host while also being biologically incapable of resisting makeup for more than a few hours at a time, ha!
But like any self-respecting member of the Borg collective knows, “resistance IS futile.” Keeping this beauty fiend away from her makeup is like trying to keep Tabs away from gravy (read: hard). Today I even locked myself away in the bathroom for an hour just to be alone with the new NYX Studio Liquid Liners ($4.50 each).
NYX Eye/Eyebrow Glitter Pencils from left: Aqua Glitter, Lavender Glitter, Sliver Glitter, Gold Glitter
The glittery tips that top each of NYX’s nine new Eye/Eyebrow Pencils are thrilling me almost as much as their price ($3.50 each).
This week, after swatching four of the new colors, all of them additions to the company’s stable of permanent products, I did a little shimmy (insert boogie down dance *here*).
POW! These colors look amazing.
The pencil tips also feel fantastic. Because they’re firm, they maintain a fine point longer than I expected them to, but all their glitter comes at a price…
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