{review: fairy drop scandal queen mascara}

Fairy Drop's Scandal Queen mascara met all my expectations.  I do love this mascara -- from it's curved uniqued wand, to it's staying power, to it's volumization.  I have nothing bad to say about this mascara.  The Japanese have done it again!  :)

Rating: 5 out of 5

Pros:

• Unique brush coats every lash with mascara
• Formula curls lashes
• Waterproof and sweatproof 
• Color intensity 
• Volumizes and lengthens 

Cons: 

review: make up for ever smoky lash mascara

Verdict for Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Mascara: Either I had a defective item or this product sucks big donkey arse.  I'm a HUGE fan of Make Up For Ever and I had high hopes for this mascara, but man, has this product really disappointed me.  Worth $23???  HECK NO.

Rating: 0 out of 5

Pros:

• Color Intensity of the black

Con:

• Dry, flaky formula
• Could hardly get any of the formula to transfer from the wand to my lashes.  
• Had to apply a gazillion layers of this to make it look remotely like I had some on.

{battle of the winter whites}

Bone freezing weather comes pale winter skin.  If you're not much into the "fake 'n back", as I am not, here are some of my favorite products to warm up that white winter skin.  

St. Tropez Wash Off Instant Glow Face Lotion

*I'm using this right now.  I first put on face primer then put this bronzer lotion on all over my face and neck.  Instant tan.  I love it.*

Tan Towel Plus - Half Body

*I use "Plus" because I have a neutral beige undertone/skin tone. (Reference: I use #35 in Make Up Forever Mat Velvet Foundation.)   If your natural color is lighter or if you have pink undertones, I would recommend the "classic".  This is my current favorite self-tanner.  It hardly has that nasty self-tanner smell, I haven't had it streak on me, it's easy to apply (make sure you wash your hands thoroughly after use), and it doesn't give an orange-y color.  I bought the half body box -- I use one towel for my left arm/leg, one towel for my right arm/leg, and one towel for my stomach/back/chest/neck/shoulders.  I don't apply this on my face because I have sensitive, acne prone skin.*

 bareMinerals A Little Sun All-Over Face Color

*I've used this all-over face color for some years now.  A Little Sun gives a hint of warmth and glow to your skin.  I use it any time I don't use the St. Tropez face lotion.  I'll even add touches of it to my face when I have a natural UV doused tan.  Note: It does have some shimmer in it.*

NYX Matte Bronzer

*I use this for contouring and I love it as an alternative to the oh-so-expensive Christian Dior Matte Bronzer.  Use  it for bronzing or contouring.  Great for both.*

{review : sephora advanced lash booster mascara}

My co-worker gifted the Sephora Favorites Lashstash to me last Christmas and I am, slowly but surely, going to review all the mascara in the set for you.  

The set comes with a pretty impressive selection of (click on each link to read my review):

• Bare Escentuals -- bareMinerals Flawless Definition Volumizing Mascara
• Fairydrops -- Scandal Queen Mascara (most excited to try this one!)
• Hourglass -- Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara
• Josie Maran -- GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara
• Make Up For Ever -- Smoky Lash / Extra Noir Smoky Lash
• Sephora Collection -- Advanced Lash Booster
• Stila -- Forever Your Curl Mascara
• Tarte -- Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara
• Too Faced -- LashGASM
• Urban Decay -- Supercurl Curling Mascara
• Clinique -- Take The Day Off Makeup Remover

I've been using the Sephora Collection Advanced Lash Booster and I would give it a 3 out of 5.  Here's why: 

Pros:

• Color intensity (A nice intense noir color, which I prefer.)
• Volumizes 
• Lengthens 

Cons:

• Takes WAAAAY too long to dry.  The mascara always smears onto the skin under my bottom lash line because I'm too impatient to wait the 28473 minutes (sarcasm) for it to dry.  I've been using a different mascara on my bottom lashes to prevent this & to save myself time.  
• Clumping.  I've noticed this with  most intense noir volumizing mascaras -- they tend to clump.  My solution is to take the wand out at an angle so excess mascara is removed onto the side/edge of the tube.  Or, you can wipe the wand with tissue paper to remove excess product.  

Would I buy this product?  Probably not.  

{make-up remover towelettes}

I was using regular face wash to remove my make-up before doing a deeper cleaning with my Clarisonic Mia.  I noticed the brush on my Clarisonic was dingy with make-up after the wash, meaning the pre-wash with regular face cleaner wasn't doing what I hoped for -- to remove my make-up.  That's when I decided to buy make-up remover towelettes.  I picked up Up & Up Makeup Remover Cleaning Towelettes Compare to Ponds Clean Sweep. 

I, now, don't understand why I never thought of using them before!  The towelettes are doing what I hoped for (YAH!) and the brush on my Clarisonic barely has traces of make-up on it (confirming the towelettes are doing their job.  Double YAH!).  I haven't explored the different towelette brands so I wouldn't be able to give you a fair assessment of these, however, it's been working pretty well.  It hasn't caused any redness, tightening, or breakouts on my sensitive skin and it removes waterproof make-up while being safe for contact-wearers.  All which I love.  P.S.  I do store these in a Ziplock sandwich-sized bag to keep the moisture longer lasting.  


Which make-up remover towelette brands do you love?

{foundation : airbrushed}

I think I've finally found the way of creating an airbrushed, natural look with foundation!  The main tool?  

Sigma Beauty's Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki brush (F80)

This brush works best with liquid foundation in a stippling motion.  My prior foundation tool was a wet beauty blender, however, that tended to apply a thick application and I could tell I was wearing make-up.  The F80 brush gives plenty of coverage while also looking natural... AND... your make-up still looks airbrushed 10 hours later!  (At least for me it does.)  At the end of a work day I had a co-worker comment, "it (my foundation) still looks airburshed!".  Definitely a keeper and a tool I will be recommending!  I also bought the Round Top Synthetic Kabuki brush (F82) (couldn't decide between the two so I did what I usually do... GET BOTH!)  but haven't used it yet.  Once I do I'll make sure to post my review.  

{pregnancy must-haves}

During this pregnancy adventure, I've discovered 2 of my pregnancy must-haves.  The 1st is...

... the Beband.  I'm still able to wear my pre-pregnancy pants due to this nifty invention!  With my growing belly, I haven't been able to zip my pants but the BeBand does the trick of holding my unzipped pants up & hiding the fact that they are unzipped.  It also feels great that I am still able to wear my pre-pregnancy pants and not have to always wear maternity pants!  

My 2nd must-have is...

... Bio-Oil.  This was recommended to me by a friend.  I know studies have shown products like this can't prevent stretch marks and stretch marks are genetic, but just let a girl dream, okay??  LOL.