I am a certified mascara junkie and I am not a snob about it at all. Everything from YSL to Wet & Wild, you can bet I have tried it. With all my mascaras, I have to say that my tried and true HG mascara is the Buxom Lash Mascara.
There are other Buxom mascaras, however my favorite is the basic one shown here:
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| The Buxom Brush |
The PRETTY about this mascara:
- Lengthens like crazy
- Provides awesome volume without looking fake
- No clumping
- Awesome brush allows even application and separation
- This mascara works well from the first application to the last dispensing the perfect amount. You don’t need to wait for it to dry out a bit or worry about too much product getting on the brush.
- Although not super pricey, this mascara does cost $19 which is still a lot in my opinion.
- You can only buy this mascara at Sephora, which can be a bummer.
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| Photos provided by Glaamspot |
Several mascaras I have tried out recently…
I recently went on vacation and somehow lost my beloved eye makeup remover. This is a product that I use multiple times daily – after showers, at night, and for countless touchups throughout the day. I have tried numerous brands – high to low. I have always used a liquid formula and my current favorite is the WalkMart Equate Oil-Free Liquid Eye Makeup Remover.
The claim is that this is the generic equivalent to the Neutrogena Oil Free Liquid Eye Makeup Remover. After using numerous bottles of the Neutrogena brand I decided to try the generic brand and actually found I liked it way better. I also have to add that the Equate brand is $3.97 for a 5.5 oz. bottle. The Neutrogena brand is $5.97 for the same amount. Neither are very expensive, but I truly do prefer the Equate brand. Here are my thoughts about Equate:
THE PRETTY: It works, minimal lash loss (if ever), no harsh smell, inexpensive, the bottle lasts a long time.
THE UGLY: When traveling can be messy.
THE VERDICT: This is my HG eye makeup remover. I will gladly spend my money on other high end products.
I was about to purchase my beloved Equate when I came across a new product by Neutrogena called the New Neutrogena Eye Makeup Remover Lotion. The cost for this is $6.97 for 3 fl. oz. A bit more expensive than the liquid version, however as I am getting older and I am constantly trying to find ways to keep the fine lines around my eyes at bay, I really liked the idea of a moisturizing lotion to take my eye makeup off. I decided to purchase this and wanted to share my review of what I liked, didn’t like and whether or not I would repurchase.
THE PRETTY: I really like that this came in lotion form, I did find this product to be moisturizing and this did do a pretty good job of taking off my eye makeup. I also liked that this form of remover would likely be much less messy when traveling since it is a lotion and for some reason my liquids can sometimes tend to leak. The scent is an extremely light, fresh and barely there which was nice.
THE UGLY: I felt like I had to use a lot of this lotion to get a full eye makeup removal. Although my skin felt soft after removing, I also felt that I was wiping and tugging at my eyes, which is NOT a good thing. I also used this for some touch ups during the day which was messy and goopy. With the liquid form, I simply stick a q-tip in the bottle and dab up any smudges. With the lotion, I felt like it was getting everywhere. I also lost a couple of eyelashes when using – this could be a complete coincidence, but I love my lashes and hate when they shed.
THE VERDICT: The Neutrogena Eye Makeup Remover Lotion is a pretty good remover. I will keep this for travel and when I am in a pinch. If you do like lotion eye makeup remover please give this a shot as this was not a bad product by any means, just not my choice for removing eye makeup.
Hopefully this helps in the event you were in the market for a new eye makeup remover or if you were wondering about this new Neutrogena product.
All the best,
Catherine
I love pretty, pink lipsticks. They are girlie and remind me of my Barbie dolls growing up. I remember one of my first lipsticks I began wearing in middle school was called Zinc Pink. It was an ultra nude, ultra frosty Revlon shade that my girlfriends and I wore incessantly. The look was so 80’s and so not good. Ah, live and learn…
I recently became obsessed with these princess pink shades of lipstick. I like to put a sheer, mauve colored gloss over them to achieve a shiny, feminine look. Two of my favorite lipsticks of the moment are YSL #7 in Lingerie Pink and NYX #595 in Strawberry Milk. The price difference between the two is quite shocking – the YSL can be found at department stores and Sephora for $34.00, whereas you can pick up a tube of NYX for $3.99 at your drugstore or Ulta. From a quality perspective, they are relatively equal. I do feel that the YSL lipstick is a bit more moisturizing and YSL packaging is second to none. That said, you could save $30 and pick up a NYX tube and be perfectly content in my opinion.
As you can see from the swatches below, the two colors are nearly identical. If you are looking for a pretty pink lipstick you can’t go wrong with either of these pretty shades.
Here are some celebrities featured on Glaamspot sporting some beautiful princess pink lips:
I have an unhealthy obsession with nude-pink lipsticks. I have so many from different brands that resemble one another, however my favorite without question is Tom Ford’s Spanish Pink.
I stumbled upon this color by total accident. I was racing through Nordstrom and was sidetracked by the gorgeous display of Tom Ford lipsticks. I swatched several shades but was instantly enchanted with Spanish Pink. I told the gal at the makeup counter I would take it and proceeded to fork over my credit card. I didn’t think to ask the price but was expecting to spend anywhere from $25 to $35. Imagine my shock when, with tax the total came to $54 and change. OMG, I was stunned, but rather than part with this stick of pink perfection I paid and went on my way.
Truth be told if I knew the cost I am not certain I would have made the purchase. I mean $49 before tax is outrageous for a lipstick. However, since I do have it I must admit that I really love it. The color is creamy, opaque and the perfect shade of pink. This stuff is also super moisturizing. My lips tend to flake quite a bit and get very dry and I have no bleeding or feathering with this stuff. Yes, for this much I do expect perfection and I will say this stuff definitely delivers, but I have been looking for a dupe and until recently I was not able to find one.
Fast forward several months later…I am in Wal-Mart and come across the Milani lipstick in #26, Nude Creme. This is almost an exact color match for the Tom Ford Spanish Pink. In terms of creaminess and opaqueness they are a replica. As much as I love my Spanish Pink now that I have a great dupe and can save myself close to $50 I am going to stick with my Milani Nude Creme.
I recently posted some fabulous looks featuring women wearing this nude-pink lip on Glaamspot. Here are some of my favorite celebrity makeup looks featuring this lip:
I was at my neighborhood Rite Aid and saw these pretty glosses in gold tubes and was super excited to try them. They had three pluses right away: pretty colors, pretty packaging and the were from L’Oreal whose makeup I tend to think is consistently above average in terms of quality. Rite Aid was having a BOGO deal on all L’Oreal products so I picked up three of these new glosses and one of my tried and true favorite felt tip L’Oreal eyeliners.
I have to say since swatching these and trying these on once, I haven’t used them any more. I am not impressed with anything regarding these glosses. Unfortunately they are one giant disappointment. The two things I was looking for in these glosses – pigmentation and smooth feel, they just don’t have.
Let’s start with pigmentation. I love me some Carmex and if I need a slightly glossy look my natural lip color is pigmented enough where with a bit of Carmex I am good to go. If I see a lip gloss that looks to have a pigmented color I want some color payoff. The coral color does give a bit of a color, but the two pinks are hopeless. They will blend right into your lips and basically be unnoticable. See here (the color I had on is Rose On and On):
The product claims are as follows, “Colour Riche Caresse Liquid Lip Lacquer by L’Oreal is a water based stain formula with high shine. The luminous lip color is more comparable to a traditional lipstick, although this product too is lighter weight than a traditional lipstick.”
Unfortunately I found these to be nothing like a true lipstick, just a watery, slightly sticky mess that did not apply with much pigmentation or last very long at all.
In case you were curious, here are the colors I tried on:
