My Makeup Collection 2018: Mascara

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're all enjoying a nice three day weekend.  The kids I watch don't have school today, so I thought it was going to be a regular work day for me, but their dad ended up getting the day off too.  Hooray for an unexpected day off!  :)

Anyway, I recently remembered doing a series here on my blog where I went through my makeup collection and show you everything I own in categories.  I thought it would be fun to do it again since that was two years ago and my collection has grown a bit since then.  I'm nosey and I love to see other people's makeup collections and I know there are many other nosey people just like me out there!  There's no particular rhyme or reason for the order that I'll be posting each category, so I decided to start out with mascara.

Full size:
Givenchy Beauty Noir Interdit, L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black, Touch In Sol Stretchex, and Tarte Tarteist.

Deluxe sample size:
Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes, Dior Diorshow, Marc Jacobs O! Mega Lash, Clinique High Impact, Smashbox X-Rated, Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye, Tarte Lifted (brown), Nars Audacious, Benefit Roller Lash, and Lancome Monsieur Big.

Needless to say, I'm probably never going to run out of mascara.  If I'm not getting them free with purchase or in a kit, I'm constantly receiving them from my sister from her Ipsy Glam Bags.

What are some of your favorite mascaras?  Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a great week.

Boxycharm Unboxing - December 2017

Hello, everyone!  How has your week been so far?

For today's blog post I have this month's Boxycharm to show you.  Boxycharm is a beauty subscription service that offers 4-5 full size beauty products for only $21.00 per month.  This month's theme is Glitz & Glam and my box has a total value of $120.99!

Real Her "Be Fearless, Be Limitless" Blush Kit - $32.00
This is a decent blush kit.  The shades aren't bad though they are a bit dry and hard, but I would never pay $32.00 for this.  To be fair, I'm really not into blush.  I'm quite fair so blush can be a bit overpowering on me.

Bella Pierre Cosmetics "Pro Concealer Palette" - $29.99
I really did not want to receive this.  I'm not into color correcting these days as it's just another unnecessary step in my already too long routine. Not to mention, and I feel bad saying this, the quality of this is awful.  The formula is very greasy and it smells like its gone bad.  I'm honestly afraid to put this on my acne prone skin.

Pretty Vulgar "My Lips Are Sealed" Liquid Lipstick in Weeping Willow - $24.00
This is one of the items that I was hoping to receive.  Naturally, of the three shades available I received the one that I doubt I'll ever wear.  I really wanted this because I've never tried anything from the brand yet, but I don't like brown lip shades on me.

Tarte "Tarteist" Mascara - $23.00
This mascara has a rubber wand which I don't typically like, but hopefully it's good.

Crown Brush "Pro Blush Brush" - $12.00
I was hoping to receive this item as well, but the quality feels different from other Crown brushes that I own.  My other brushes feel so soft, but the bristles on this one feel a bit scratchy.  It feels like cheap quality, which surprised me because I really like my other Crown brushes.  Anyway, I read that a lot of people prefer this brush for foundation since it's smaller than an average blush brush.  I didn't like this for blush either, so I'll try it again for foundation.

What do you think of this month's box?  I have to be honest, I'm not that impressed.  So much so, that I actually unsubscribed from Boxycharm.  I just hate getting products that I'll never use and products that I would use but receive in a shade I won't wear.  For a "Glitz & Glam" theme, this box was very underwhelming.  I'm quite sad about unsubscribing, but I haven't been that excited about my boxes lately.  I used to look forward to getting my box in the mail every month and was always happy (more often than not) with the items I received.  I haven't felt that way in a while, and I'd rather use the $21.00 each month on products that I know I like/want/need.

What products did you receive?  Are you happy with your box this month?

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great weekend.

Influenster Givenchy Beauty Voxbox Product Review

Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?

I received the new Givenchy Noir Interdit mascara from Influenster to review for you.  This mascara retails for $29.00 and has 0.31 oz of product.  There's only one shade available and it's called Deep Black.  This mascara will be available soon and you can find more information on the Sephora website here.

There's a strong floral fragrance to this mascara that doesn't quite go away.  I catch whiffs of it every now and then while wearing it throughout the day.  The packaging is high quality, but the square shape makes it a bit uncomfortable to hold.  The 90 degree wand is new and unique, but not at all necessary.  Bending the wand helps me to reach my very outer lashes, but for the rest of my lashes I prefer to use it the traditional way.  The brush has a plastic applicator with bristles only on one side.  Personally, I prefer fiber brushes to plastic ones.

The end result gives me plenty of length, but not as much volume as I'd like with one coat.  You can build this mascara up for more volume, but I have other mascaras that give me the volume I want with only one coat.  I like that it's pitch black and doesn't clump, flake, or transfer on me.  It has a lightweight formula that doesn't weigh down your lashes.  (After picture was taken a few hours after applying one coat of mascara - my camera battery died right before I could take a picture immediately after applying it.)

Final thoughts: I really like the formula of this mascara.  It's lightweight and doesn't flake or transfer.  The wand is a bit gimmicky though.  If you want to use the wand traditionally, there are only bristles on one side of the wand which I find a bit annoying.  Honestly, if you have the budget and just want to try something different, give this one a go.  However, if you're saving up for one high end mascara that gives you effortless volume, I recommend the YSL Effet Faux Cils for just a few dollars more. ;)

What are your thoughts on this mascara?  Would you try this?

I hope this was helpful!  Thanks for stopping by!

*I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes, but all opinions are my own.*

August 2016 Boxycharm Unboxing

Hello, everyone!  How has your week been?

Today I have my Boxycharm unboxing for you.  Receiving my Boxycharm box is definitely one of my favorite days of the month!  I love that they offer 4-5 full size products in each box instead of small samples that I can get for free with purchase.  There are a few different subscription options available, but the monthly subscription is $21 each month for $100+ worth of products.  This month's box is valued at $118.95!

Here's what I received this month:

Coastal Scents - Blush and Bronzer Mini Palette + Brush ($13.95 + $6.00)

Aloette - Aloe Pure Time Repair Serum ($48.00)

Doucce - Maxlash Volumizer Mascara ($22.00)

 

Beauty For Real - Shadow Stx in the shade All Day Latte ($19.00)

Dirty Little Secret - Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick in the shade Phantom ($10.00)

 And that's everything!  I really don't need anymore mascaras, but I'm very excited to try everything out.  I like that the shades on the outside of the packaging of the liquid lipstick and shadow stick are true to the color inside.  The blush and bronzer palette is pigmented and the shades are very nice for my skin tone, but I don't think the bronzer shades will show up on deeper skin tones.

I hope you have a great weekend, and thank you for stopping by!

 

My Makeup Collection: Mascara

Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?

I'm sorry that there wasn't a blog post on Thursday.  My husband damaged his muscle in his right shoulder last week and had to wear a sling, so I've been busy taking care of him. *He's doing better now, thankfully!*

 For this week's MMC, we're going to take a look through my mascara collection.  I recently went through and tossed ones I didn't like an gave away a few, but here's what I have left!

Full size mascaras: Rimmel London's Lash Accelorator Endless, Loreal's Miss Manga, Touch In Sol's Stretchex, and Urban Decay's Perversion.

Sample size mascaras: Too Faced's Better Than Sex and LashGasm, Bobbi Brown's Smokey Eye, Nars' Audacious, Benefit Cosmetics' Roller Lash, Make Up For Ever's Smoky Extravagance, and MAC's False Lashes Extreme Black.

I only have three mascaras open at the moment (Better Than Sex, Miss Manga, and Perversion), and of the unopened tubes I've only tried the Makeup Forever mascara before - the rest are all new to me.

What are some of your favorite mascaras?  I've tried quite a few, and some of my favorites are Benefit's BadGal Lash, Bare Minerals' Flawless Definition, and YSL's Volume Effet Faux Cils.

I hope you liked this and thank you for stopping by!

 

Purple & Gold Eye Makeup Tutorial

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're having a good week.  I had an extra two days off from work unexpectedly and the weather has been nice, so I've had a pretty great week so far!

For today's post I have my second tutorial for you.  It's a look that I saw Kiki (@luciferismydad on Instagram) do a few years back, and it's one of my all time favorites.  I love the look of gold and purple together.  Well, gold and any other color pretty much.  For this look I'll supply you with a list of products that I used, but you can use whatever you have on hand.

For this look I used:

Urban Decay Primer Potion (original)

Urban Decay eyeshadow in W.O.S.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On eyeliner pencil in Voodoo

Sugarpill eyeshadow in Poison Plum

Sugarpill loose pigment in Goldilux

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet eyeliner pencil in Black Velvet

Stila Cosmetics Stay All Day black liquid eyeliner

Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow

Smashbox Cosmetics Brow Tech

Benefit Cosmetics High Brow

Urban Decay Perversion mascara

First, I prepped my eyes, meaning I applied primer and set it with a shadow close to my skin tone (UD W.O.S.).

Next, I applied a purple eyeliner as a base for the purple shadow.  I only applied the liner to the inner and outer edges of my lid and lower lash line leaving an empty space in the center.  The eyeliner I used has shimmer/glitter in it.  If you have a matte purple liner, that would probably work better.  (Don't worry about it looking rough, we'll blend it out.)

To blend out the edges of the liner and to deepen the color, I applied a matte purple shadow over the top of the liner and blended until there were no rough edges.  I also connected the inner and outer sections in the crease for a halo effect.

Now for the gold.  I packed on the gold pigment to the empty sections on my lid and lower lash line.  Then I blended out the areas where the purple and gold touch so there were no rough lines.

Next, I applied a black pencil liner to my lower waterline.  I also used that same black pencil liner to tight line.  I then applied a black liquid eyeliner to my upper lash line.

I filled in my eyebrows using Gimme Brow and Brow Tech pencil.

To highlight my brow bone, I used High Brow from Benefit Cosmetics and blended it out.

Finally, I applied black mascara.  If you like to wear false lashes now would be the time to apply them.  For me, false lashes are uncomfortable and lash glue irritates my eyes so I rarely wear them.  But here is our finished look!

I hope you liked this tutorial!  It might be a bit too bright or dramatic for some, but I personally enjoy wearing looks like this.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!