Confessions Of Makeup Newbie

I started wearing makeup later in life, and when I finally decided to hide the uneven tones and redness from my rosacea, I tried several products before I found one that I loved. And to this day, I feel like the absolute best investment I have ever made in my beginnings of a makeup collection is the Bare Escentuals Customizable Get Started Kit. This kit comes with everything you need to get started with using the Bare Minerals foundation – three brushes, a brush shampoo, a get-started DVD, and the three basic powders you need to start your day. I was hooked from day one, not only because of the $100 savings from not buying everything piece by piece, but also because I found I enjoyed the loose powder over other foundations I have tried.

Eventually, this lead me to wonder how I would like loose powder for my eyelids. I began with a neutral color, something that would look very natural. Because of my new desire to dress up my eyes, I was gifted with the Big & Bright Eyeliner Kit. The whole kit is fabulous, however, one of my favorite things in this kit is the Brightening Opal eyelid primer. Unlike the plain primer I was using to dress up my eyes, this one has a slight sheen to it that helps accentuate my eye shadow. I recently started to use the Brightening Opal primer instead of water as a base for making eye liner from my loose powder. The tricky part to this is cleaning up the brush after use, but the results are amazing. (My tip: use a little Jojoba oil to clean the brush, followed by the Well-Cared For brush shampoo.)

My number one secret to beautiful, healthy skin isn’t in the powders or primers though. If there was one thing that I believe helps my skin, whether I wear make-up or not, it would be moisturizer. Even though I am new to make-up, I have tried many moisturizers over the years. My current choice is the Purely Nourishing Cream for Dry Skin. This moisturizer has a fantastic floral and citrus scent, and even though the cream feels thick, which I love in the winter time, it doesn’t sit on top of your skin. Having become a huge Bare Escentuals fan, I even tried another one of their moisturizers and didn’t find it nearly as pleasant as the Purely Nourishing Cream.

Being relatively new to make-up, I have found the kits to be invaluable to building up my beauty collection. I haven’t cast anything aside in my BE kits, because everything works so well together. But, whether I am putting on my make-up, or taking it off, nothing beats a great moisturizer.

About Our Guest Blogger: Lynda lives in Northern California with her boyfriend and their two dogs. She currently is going to school to learn web design, training for her next Olympic weightlifting competition and enjoys reading, writing, and goofing off on Facebook when she finds some free time. You can find her blog at http://crazynerdybeautiful.wordpress.com and she has a private account on Twitter @lovelylynda (though she will probably add you if you don’t look like a Twitter spammer).

Straightening Out Under Eye Circles? Maybe Not.

I have an ugly little secret that I’ve been hiding for years. Dark circles under my eyes. Horrible, ugly circles that make me look tired and a little zombielike. I have tried about a billion products and voodoo and offered to sell my soul for a little miracle product that would make me look refreshed.

I was strolling through the aisles at Target the other day and found something shiny and new that promised to get rid of my circles of shame, Garnier’s Anti Dark Circle Eye Roller.

It looks like a giant tube of lip gloss, but instead of rolling out bubblegum flavored shininess, it rolls out a light concealer enriched with caffeine and lemon essence that promises to instantly correct dark circles.

Does it work? A little bit. I washed my face, put on moisturizer, then applied the concealer under my eyes.  I closed my eyes while I rubbed it in and then leaned into the mirror before letting my eyelids fly open. Could I see a difference? Yes. I did look a bit more refreshed and my eyes appeared a little brighter. The problem is that it doesn’t last.  The product tells you to apply in the morning and then “as needed during the day.” I don’t want a product that I have to carry around and apply over and over, I want something I put on in the morning and don’t have to worry about again.

At $15.99 a pop it’s not that expensive, but I still don’t think it’s worth it if I have to keep applying it all day long. I will keep it in my drawer to use if I’m going out for the evening or if my allergies make my eyes look particularly bad, but for everyday banishment of the ugly black circles I’ll keep searching for a miracle!

Loreal Telescopic Liquid Eyeliner

I love the look of liquid eyeliner.  I love the drama that it adds to a face.  But let’s face it- with most liquid eyeliners, you almost need to be a professional artist to make it look good.  It smudges, is hard to apply, and will drive a woman to distraction.  Those little brushes that you dip into a bottle make you feel like you need to be Monet to make it look good.  I had almost given up on liquid eyeliner until I discovered Loreal Telesopic Liquid Eyeliner.

Loreal Telescopic Liquid Eyeliner is the very best liquid eyeliner I’ve ever tried- and I have tried them all.  I am currently using it in dark brown, but it also comes in charcoal and black.  What makes Loreal Telescopic different than other liquid eyeliners, is the brush.  The brush on the end of most eyeliner wands, has individual bristles. (and one of those bristles always seems to want to be a renegade, ruining your polished look with a tiny smudge!)  But  the applicator brush on Loreal Telescopic is all one piece- there are NO individual bristles.  The applicator comes to a perfect point and the brush tip is solid.  The firmness of the brush keeps the application easy.  No more of that “slapping paint on” look and feel.  While the brush is solid, it is not hard, so it feels smooth on your eyelid.  It makes application so easy.  With Telescopic, the construction of the applicator gives you  the ease and precision of an eyeliner pencil, but the dramatic look of a liquid eyeliner.  It is truly the best of both worlds.  Telescopic gives any eye the perfect polished look.  Use the tip of the brush for a thinner daytime look, or use the side of the brush with more pressure upon application, for a more dramatic nightime look or to complete the perfect smokey eye.

I bought my Loreal Telescopic at Target and paid &7.49 for a .08 oz. bottle.  It can be purchased at any drug store or retail chain or purchased on Amazon.

The Eyes Have It: Best Mascara(s)

I am a serious mascara connoisseur. People, I have tried it ALL.  Why? Because in real life my eyelashes look like this:

You’re saying ‘what eyelashes’? Right? Right. And I just can’t live like that.

So, here’s where I talk about my love of mascara. In fact if I was only allowed to have ONE make-up item, it would be mascara. That is how much I need it to look somewhat normal.

With vast amounts of money spent on mascara through out my life, I have come to rely on 2. Yes, this review is about 2 different kinds. I have my reasons.

First, my very favorite is Arbonne’s mascara. {Defines, lengthens and volumizes lashes to the fullest with a smudge-resistant, long-wearing all natural formula.} It is wonderful stuff.

But, this has to be ordered. Therefore, since I really stink at timing my orders correctly, I had to find a drug store equivalent. Enter Cover Girl Lash Blast (the orange one!). {Instant volume and fullness, smudge and smear-proof, hypoallergenic, suitable for contact lens wearers, no clump brush}. It too, is wonderful stuff. Only just a tiny bit less wonderful than Arbonne.

The reason I love these two? Because in a few quick swoops, I can look like this instead:

Okay, there may be eyeliner and shadow involved too, but you get the idea. One side Arbonne, one side Lash Blast. Can you tell which is which?

Now, go forth and mascara.

Feature photo by pumpkincat210

Mascara Help for Hazel-Eyed Girls

Today, I want to tell you about CoverGirl’s Exact Eyelights Mascara… or what I like to call only the most AMAZING mascara EVER!!!

I have hazel eyes.  Until discovering this product, the only option I thought I had was plain black mascara – and it’s been my staple since I was about 15.  I don’t put on a lot of makeup.  I’m not the girl that usually puts on foundation, blush, eyeshadow and all that jazz.  Sometimes I will, but my daily beauty routine usually consists of mascara and lip gloss (sometimes a lip plumper underneath).  Don’t look at me like that, I have 3 boys ages 4 and under.  I’m lucky if I do my hair in something other than a pony tail these days.

So, I can’t live without my mascara and lip gloss.  For years, depending on what I was wearing, I would get the questions “What color are your eyes?  Brown?  Green?”  It was not always easy to tell.  Of course, if I was wearing a green top my eyes looked a lot more green.

Fast forward to the first commercials for the Exact Eyelights Mascara.  It is not often that I run right out and buy a product the second I have seen it, but this time I did.  A mascara for hazel eyes?  I had to try this!  I ran right over to CVS and perused the choices. ’ Black Pearl ‘ for brown eyes, ‘Black Sapphire’ for blue eyes, ‘Black Ruby’ for green eyes… ‘Black Gold’  for HAZEL eyes!  That was me!

I drove home, put it right on and fell instantly in love.  CoverGirl advertises the product as a way to ”get 4x brighter eyes… Light-reflecting metallics and a hint of tint bring out your blues, browns, hazels and greens, while our patented no-clump brush helps define lashes”  While I can only speak for the hazel eyed girls out there, it is Totally True!  Goes on easy, no clumps.  And the best part?  People were no longer asking me if my eyes were brown or green, because the mascara brightened my already hazel eyes and really made them stand out.  I do not go anywhere without it, it’s definitely a must have.

And it’s affordable.  I bought mine at CVS, where it retails for about $8.99.  HOWEVER, you can also find it on Amazon for the totally amazing price of $2.70.    HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT?!  Try this mascara.  I guarantee it will make you look adorable!

Do drugstore eye primers work?

I have been trying to find ways to cut back on my beauty budget.

That means giving myself pedicures and at-home facials.  It means going a little longer between hair cuts and letting my girlfriends wax my eyebrows for me.  And it also means buying drugstore brands whenever possible.

Several weeks ago, I ran out of the eyelid primer I use to make my eyeliner smudge proof.  Instead of replenishing it immediately, I began searching for a drugstore eye primer.

A few trips up and down the beauty aisles of Wal-Mart and Target proved to be fruitless.  I turned to Google, thinking perhaps there was an alternative similar to my Monistat Chafing Gel As Foundation Primer that I hadn’t heard of.

What I discovered online were several reviews for L’Oreal’s De-Crease Eye Shadow Base.  It was the only eye makeup primer I found mentioned that would be available at a local drug store.  Fortunately, I thought, all of the reviews were positive.  This stuff, it seemed, was exactly what I was looking for!  And it would only cost about $8!

Someone on a Yahoo! beauty forum owes me $8.

I’m not sure what, exactly, L’Oreal’s De-Crease Eye Shadow Base is supposed to do.  Maybe it gives you a smoother surface for applying eye shadow.  My shadows did go on slightly better with the base than they did on bare skin.

But the number one reason I use an eyelid primer is to extend the life of my eye makeup – and this eye shadow base did absolutely nothing for me in that department.  I should have suspected as much when the primer/eye liner mixture washed off the back of my hand with water and a quick swipe.

While L’Oreal’s De-Crease Eye Shadow Base is half the cost of Bare Escentuals bareVitamins Prime Time Eyelid Primer, the bareVitamins Primer actually works.  It makes my eye shadow colors more vibrant, it mixes with my liner powder to give me smudge free eyeliner, and it makes all of my eye makeup stay on all day.

You can’t buy Bare Escentuals at Wal-Mart, but you will get a free sample product when you buy it from Sephora.

Use Eyelid Primer for Smudge Proof Eyeliner

Getting your makeup to look good in the morning is easy.

Getting your makeup to still look good in the afternoon is like trying to live on a diet of chocolate cake and ice cream:

some people do it, but no one knows how.

I had tried every eyeliner known to man and still couldn’t keep my eyeliner from either disappearing completely or dissolving into smudge circles under my eyes.  I used liquid eyeliner, eyeliner pencils and even tried my hand at powder liner with an eyeliner brush.  All of it yielded the same results – fabulous at 9am and craptastic by noon.

And then a Bare Escentuals makeup artist changed my life forever.

Now my eye makeup stays perfectly in place until I wash my face at the end of the day.  My eyeliner survives rubbing, sweating and late afternoon naps without even a hint of smudging.

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