Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils Waterproof, in Signature Violet

What I am looking for in a waterproof mascara: I usually use a waterproof mascara for when I know I am going to be in a wet environment and dont want mascara all over my face. I prefer a colored waterproof mascara when going to the beach or pool because I dont feel its is appropriate or necessary to wear any other eye makeup to these places.  A mascara in a subtle color which enhances your eye color will make your eyes stand out without eyeliner or eyeshadow on. (Purple brings out golden eyes and can bring out the warmth in blue and green eyes, Plum or red based browns enhance blue and green eyes, Greens and blues look great on brown eyes, Navy and dark blue will make the whites of your eyes brighter).  I want something that isn’t brittle on my eyelashes (which many are) and will withstand a day at the pool.  I want the mascara to give my eyelashes a bit of length and volume while not looking overdone at the beach or pool.

My lash type and concerns: I have long, stick straight lashes which could use a bit of definition and volume.  My skin can be oily and I use oil based moisturizers so under eye smudging can be a problem.  In addition, I need my mascara to hold a curl well.

The Product (as stated on their website): MASCARA VOLUME EFFET FAUX CILS WATERPROOF for a dramatic false lash effect now available in a waterproof formula. The unique brush is designed to work specifically with the new formula for to maximize lash volume and 24-hour hold.

Ingredient list: (I found this on Sephora.com.  Its for the black version because they dont sell the violet color and I threw the box away when I purchased this product, before I decided to review it for the blog.  This is the most reliable list of ingredients I have found)

Charcoal Black

Isododecane, Cera Alba / Beeswax, Copernicia Cerifera Cera / Carnauba Wax, Disteardimonium, Hectorite, Aqua / Water, Allyl Stearate/Va Copolymer, Oryza Sativa Cera / Rice Bran Wax, Paraffin, Alcohol Denat, Polyvinyl Laurate, Vp/Eicosene Copolymer, Propylene Carbonate, Talc Synthetic Beeswax, Ethylenediamine/Stearyl Dimer Dilinoleate Copolymer, Peg-30 Glyceryl, Stearate, Silica, Parfum / Fragrance, Candelilla Cera / Candelilla Wax, Panthenol. May Contain: Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499 / Iron Oxides, Ci 77007 / Ultramarines, Mica, Ci 77891 / Titanium Dioxide Ci 75470 / Carmine, Ci 77510 / Ferric Ferrocyanide.

My thoughts: The Ingredients, although not all natural, are of pretty good quality. The wax in the ingredients keeps my lashes soft and plush, while the mascara stayed in place all day no matter what.   The violet color really brightens up my eyes and seems to make them glow. I remove it gently with a bit of jojoba or coconut oil and then wipe away with a cotton ball and rinse. The formula is wet and goes on wet but, my lashes stay curled and in place.   If you have used the non waterproof version of this mascara, please note that this brush is thinner and I feel that the mascara does not apply the same. for instance, the look is less dramatic but still buildable.

Pros: 

– Leaves lashes flexible and soft for a waterproof mascara

– Violet color seems to make my blue eyes glow.  Comes in several subtle, yet eye enhancing colors.

– Does not flake or smudge

– Is very waterproof

– Buildable

Cons:

– May be difficult to remove

– Not the same as the Effet Faux Cils regular formula

– May not create enough volume for those who like a really intense look

– $30 price tag may be considered steep

Overall: This is my new favorite waterproof mascara. I was using Chanel Inimitable Waterproof mascara, but it started smudging on my sometimes oily skin.  This, on the other hand, stays in place all day. It really enhances my eyes so I can wear minimal makeup but still look great at the beach or by the pool.  I love that it leaves my lashes soft and flexible so I know its not drying out my lashes.  The gold tube of this signature YSL packaging makes this product feel luxurious to use. I would recommend anyone looking for a good waterproof mascara to try this in any color of their choice.

(Available at Nordstrom; $30)

Tarte BB tinted treatment 12-hour primer

“BB tinted treatment 12-hour primer
Broad Spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen”

What I am looking for in a BB cream:  When testing and purchasing a BB cream I look for a product that provides moisture, even skin texture and tone, with sunscreen and skincare benefits.  I want something that will let me use less products in my morning routine, especially in the summer when I dont want a bunch of layers on my face.

My skin type: Combination (Oily in t-zone, dry in cheek area)

My skin concerns: Controlling oil without drying skin, keeping my skin youthful and radient, minimizing pores, evening skin tone.

The Product (as stated on their website): 

“Indulge your skin with tarte’s innovative BB tinted treatment primer, a powerful multi-tasker that works as a primer, moisturizer, light foundation, anti-aging treatment and sunscreen to give you a youthful-looking glow.

Product Performance: Indulge and nourish your skin with tarte’s innovative BB tinted treatment which offers multiple skincare and makeup benefits in one eco-chic tube. This powerfully pure formula not only works as a skin-soothing treatment, but as a moisturizer, sunscreen, primer and foundation that visibly improves skin’s overall appearance for a youthful-looking glow. This 12-hour longwear, anti-aging, oil-free tinted treatment primer offers light-to-medium buildable coverage that helps even skin tone and conceals discoloration, acne and other skin imperfections. The creamy, silky formula goes on smooth, hydrates skin and blends easily leaving you with a natural, flawless finish while the broad-spectrum, chemical-free SPF 30 offers ideal protection from the sun’s harmful UVA/UVB rays.

Powered By: tripleB complex: a proprietary blend of natural diamond powder, plants and lipoamino acids that diffuses light and minimizes the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores while improving the appearance of skin luminosity

Broad-spectrum, chemical-free SPF 30 offers ideal protection from the sun’s harmful UVA/UVB rays.”

Ingredient list: (from their website)

1 oz/ 30ml

Active Ingredients: titanium dioxide 4.55%, zinc oxide 3.50%

Fair Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, mica, polysilicone-11, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.
Light Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, polysilicone-11, mica, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.
Medium Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, polysilicone-11, mica, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.
Deep Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, polysilicone-11, mica, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.

formulated without parabens, formulated without mineral oil, formulated without  phthalates, formulated without sodium lauryl sulfates, formulated without synthetic fragrances, formulated without gluten.

My thoughts:  I love Tarte cosmetics; Their ingredients are safe, their products work, and they have an amazing color selection. Therefore, I was really looking forward to trying their BB cream, as I have been on the hunt for the perfect BB cream for a while now and loved the idea of one with mostly natural ingredients from a brand I enjoy.

I tried the “Light” shade out of the four shades they offer (Fair, Light, Medium, and Dark). In the morning after washing my face I used the BB cream without  a moisturizer or a sunscreen underneath, as this was supposed to provide those benefits in addition to coverage.  Immediately I was put off by how “siliconey” (Yes, I just made up this word) this product felt.   I should have known it was going to be a silicone bomb based on the fact that it is called a BB primer, but the silicone texture of this product actually left my skin looking and feeling more dry than before I put it on.   Throughout the day my skin felt semi dry, even in the T-zone.  I also noticed some flakeyness.  The good news was that I didnt have any oil in the t-zone area all day, but the dryness of the product left my skin looking a bit aged, and as stated before, flakey.  From the distance my skin looked flawless, because the product did smooth out my pores and evened my skin tone without looking matte.  But, the dryness make my skin look horrible when looked at closer.

Sometimes heavy silicone products break me out, but this did not break me out after a few uses.  The product did last all day, and the color blended well with my light to medium light skin tone.  The formula from a distance left my skin looking natural and not dewy nor matte.

Pros: 

– Leaves a great finish

– Good for a light to medium-light coverage

– Is also a primer which smooths out pores

– Ingredients are better than other comparable products (even though they are not all natural)

– Did not make me oily

– Did not break me out

– The colors seem to blend well

Cons:

– Leaves skin dry, flakey and aged looking

– Is loaded with silicones (all BB creams I have tried have silicones but this had a lot more)*

Overall:  I would not recommend this to those who are looking to wear only this product, as I felt I needed a moisturizer underneath, even with my oily t zone.  Worn with some sort of moisturizer on those who do not have dry skin, this product may be a good option for a natural look with semi-natural ingredients. In addition, this product may do well in wet and humid environments.

*Note: I tend to avoid skin and hair products with silicones. I will cover the details of why in another post.

Benefit’s Stay Don’t Stray eye primer. Review by Luisa.

I am very lucky to know some very fun and beautiful ladies who will be helping me and contributing to my blog.  Luisa is a Brazilian woman, who has lots of knowledge and a love for cosmetics.  She will be writing some posts on here and sharing her reviews with all of you.  Enjoy…..

Benefit’s Stay Don’t Stray eye primer

I really like all the products from Benefit. They are fun, they are innovative and they work!I had never paid too much attention to it because I didn’t quite get  the reason behind the names of their products so I didn’t take them seriously.

I don’t know why I felt that way, but it all changed when I tried my first Benefit product, the High Beam highlighter. I’m not here to talk about this particular product though.

The reason I’m writing this post is to review the Stay don’t Stray Primer and Concealer .It is a product that was recommended to me at Sephora when I was looking for a concealer that didn’t cake and was as fair as my skin tone.I was having trouble finding a good concealer that stayed long, did not cake and was super light because I have very fair skin.

The Stay don’t Stray eye primer and concealer can be applied under the eye as a concealer and on the eye lid as a primer.

I really like the product because it’s very smooth and creamy, and it lasts all day as a concealer.You do need to apply it somewhat fast or it will dry out and it gets harder to blend.

Another thing is I noticed that it has a weird scent, it almost smell like hair dye so that’s a thumb down.

The product is a primer that you can also use as a concealer,but in my case I like to use more as a concealer than a primer as I feel that as a primer I can’t run my brush as smoothly when I have it on than when I don’t. Maybe I just didn’t allow it enough time to dry, so maybe I’ll give it another shot,but that’s how I feel about it.

Overall I like the product and I think it does a good job as a concealer,I still need to test it one more time as a primer so I can get a final impression on it. I’d give it an A-

Hope you guys enjoyed the review. Please leave your comments below!

Luisa

Chanel Inimitable Waterproof mascara in Nior

On my hunt for a great waterproof mascara I finally came across this beauty.  I have tried the Inimitable Intense regular mascara and loved it, but I felt I could get the same look from another mascara I already owned, so it took me a while to try this waterproof version of the inimitable mascara.

Chanel is known for quality, luxury and being the best of the best in many aspects, and this mascara is no exception.  It does everything I want from a daytime mascara, it lengthens, it adds volume, it separates and its buildable so you have control over how dramatic your lashes look. One coat gives a nice defined semi natural look, and with 2 coats it looks I am wearing falsies.  The look is not Drag-queen drama, just a lush lash look.

PROS

– lengthens

– Separates for feathery lashes

– adds a good amount of volume (may not be a good evening mascara for those who love lots of volume)

– leaves lashes soft

– easy to remove with an oil based remover

– waterproof for the beach or pool

CONS

– Price may be an issue for some at $30 a tube

– If you love lots of drama, and the most intense lashes possible, this may not be for you. The inimitable intense is more dramatic, but does not come in waterproof.  With that said, you can build this up for a false lash look.

Overall, I have found my perfect waterproof mascara for the summer.  I will probably use a different mascara for special events to get a more dramatic look, as I do love a super dramatic lashes in the evening.

(In the photos below I am only wearing a bit of liner on my waterline and the mascara)

Update: I stopped using this mascara because it would smudge by the end of the day due to my oily skin.  I would find black smudges on my brow bone and lower eyelid.  It really is too bad because everything else was so wonderful with this mascara.

 

New Beauty Test Tube from QVC Spring 2012

Hi I got my QVC New Beauty test tube in, which is a quarterly sample shipment program. This came with some great stuff. There are 2 different NB Test tubes you can get; the QVC version, or the one directly from New Beauty magazine and both have different things in them. I will do a review on that later.

More on Birchbox, Gossip Girl May 2012

My mother also got a Birchbox and hers ended up being good.  Watch for more info.

To see my original Birchbox post please click here.

My Glam May 2012

My Glam is yet another beauty subscription service. I got my first shipment in today and have shared what came in it and what I thought about it in the following video.  One thing I didn’t mention is that it feels like you get less stuff than with the Beauty Army shipment.  Watch the video for more info.

Turns out the lipstick is a $15 value

This is what the Studio Gear website says;

“Lipstick

…And Kisses

Pump up the color and plump up your lips with this luxurious lipstick that wears like a dream in several sensual shades. Revolutionary spheres contain mega-moisturizer hyaluronic acid and folic acid, a vitamin B derivative that actually plumps your lips.

Price :: $15.00″

I also noticed that “Winter Red” is not offered on the website, so maybe its a discontinued color? which would be silly to send old discontinued colors.

I also found out that this brand is available at Ulta.

Dior Show Blackout Waterproof Mascara

My very first high end (or I should say luxury brand, as I had been using bare essentials for a very long time) mascara was Dior Show Blackout regular mascara. I had tried in the store the regular Dior Show and was not impressed, but fell in love with the creamy pitch black formula of the Blackout mascara which also seemed to stretch the length of my lashes.  So, now that I am on a hunt for a good waterproof mascara since the one i loved was discontinues, I naturally gravitated towards the waterproof version of this old favorite.

PROS:

– Brush is the same as the regular version

– Gives lashes a bit of volume and length

– Color is a deep black which is great for defining your eyes at the beach or pool when you wont be wearing much other makeup products.

– the formula is not too brittle

CONS

– Application can be messy

– The wet formula doesnt hold a curl the way a waterproof mascara should

– Is difficult to remove even with oil based removers, however most waterproof mascaras have this problem which also means the product is less likely to smudge on oily skin

– BUT it DOES smudge on my oily skin 😦

– Does not separate my lashes as I usually like

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall I will be returning this mascara because it left black smudges where my lashes touched my skin, and my lashes seemed a bit clumpy sometimes after i applied it.  This is not a bad mascara, it just isnt right for really oily skin.  It may work for you if you have dry to normal skin and are looking for a deep black mascara to wear at the beach or pool.  I have not tested it in the pool unfortunately so I cant attest to its waterproof abilities, but it got good ratings online.  It doesn’t give a natural or dramatic look but somewhere in between.  I do believe there are better waterproof mascaras out there, even for those of you without oily skin.

The price is $25 and is available at Sephora only.

Birchbox May 2012 Gossip Girl Box

Ugggg!! I am so unhappy! Watch this video to find out why.

I will update you on what happens once I talk to birchbox tomorrow about my missing item and my horrible box.

So far Beauty Army is wayyyyyy better 😦

Update; now I am just angry! The perfume stinks, and the little tiny tube the BB cream came in is mostly empty!!!!! I mean there is about the same amount of product in the tube as comes in those little foil packets you can get for free.

Update….. Birchbox issue solved

Yves Saint Laurent Singulier Nuit Blanche waterproof mascara in #3 Vibrant plum

(photo from sephora.com)

It seems lately all my reviews have been pretty negative, and unfortunately this review is no different. There are actually more products I like than dislike, it just seems like several of my latest purchases have been a miss. Fear not readers I have some exciting posts coming up about some products I love, and I will be having a friend contribute to reviewing items and sharing her views right here on my blog. But in the mean time let me get one more disappointment off my chest.

I purchased this product because last year in the summer I loved my YSL waterproof mascara that I had purchased. But unfortunately that mascara was discontinued, and I was left with a choice between this one and the effet faux cils in waterproof. I knew I should have gone with the latter choice, but I was tempted by the rich plum color that the Singulier came in. (Plum color on the eyes really enhances blue eyes, where as violet will bring out gold color in eyes, and blues and greens will make brown eyes sparkle)

This wasn’t a horrible mascara, it just didn’t do my lashes much justice. The pros of this mascara were that it holds a curl beautifully even though it goes on wet. Whatever shape of curl I achieved with an eyelash curler is the sharp it would stay all day with this mascara. Another good thing is that it was truly waterproof. It could stay on through anything and did not smudge on my oily skin. In fact when applying it was a pain to clean up any smudges. Also the color was beautiful. As far as the cons and reason I returned this mascara, because of the highly waterproof formula, even with using oil to remove the mascara it seemed near impossible to remove. I don’t recall having this problem with my other waterproof mascara from YSL. Also one of the reasons I loved my old YSL waterproof mascara was the soft feel my lashes had when using it instead of a brittle feel that waterproof mascara usually gives. But this mascara was more stiff on my lashes. Also the brush I felt gave an inconsistent application. Sometimes I would apply this and think “not bad” and other times my lashes would end up all clumped together. I think this is because the space between the bristles holds too much product. I also noticed some lash fall out and breakage, however I must also state I have been playing around with some different eyelash curlers so it may not be the fault of the mascara, I will keep you updated on that. But I only noticed it since I have been testing this mascara which is why I mention it.

The brush is made of plastic comb like bristles in a spiral pattern. The brush seems really cool, but it takes too much work to get to look decent, and applies inconsistently. For a high end mascara I don’t want to have to work so hard for great lashes.