Tag: eyes

Maybelline Eye Studio Master Drama Eyeliner

In a blind test, I know I would guess this liner is far more than its $7 price tag. The pigment is insanely rich, the roll-up pencil glides beautifully, and staying power is unbelievable.

I created a cat eye with Midnight Master – easy to fine tune, worked well on lower lashes and dramatically pigmented. The packaging, overall, is adequate. There were a couple hiccups rolling up the pen, but with the quality product and amazing price, I am not going to complain.

This fall, bright hues are huge, so I plan on picking up Sapphire Strength or Vibrant Violet. This is a great option to experiment with a trend with a relatively small investment.

Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Collection

Excellent quality at a super low cost. Impossible, you say. But, Eureka! Wet n Wild offers some of the most highly-pigmented, blendable and vibrant colors just at your local drugstore. I found mine at Walgreens for $4.99. That’s right – eight colors for under $5 (I just had to pick up two).

I figure a budget buy is an awesome opprotunity to try out a color outside my comfort zone. I read somewhere that blue eyeshadow – even if it is subtle – can tame red eyes. With lots of late nights that come with a new business, I am no stranger to this problem. So I picked up Blue Had Me at Hello:

For a more neutral option, I snatched up Pedal Pusher (someone told me purples enhance hazel eyes):

What is so super cool about the palettes is they come with instructions. While they are super pigmented, they offer a “how to” on what they call a “sweet look”: the lightest shadow to the brow. Next “Flirty Look”, adding second color to crease. “Dramatic Look”, adding third color in the crease. Last, “Wild Look” with the definer. The two darkest colors in both palettes are almost too pigemented for me. I use them both as a liner. They work really well over a liquid liner like Le Métier de Beauté Precision Liquid.

These shadows perform so well – I don’t know how they do it? For those who want a more neutral look, the palatte also comes in Comfort Zone:

Maybelline Volum’ Express The Falsies Spoon Brush Washable Mascara

In honor of @Maybelline Great Lash Birthday Bash (40 years! Wow!) and the GreatLash Twitter party is from 7pm-9pm EST tonight, I had to mention my new, most favorite mascara. Since you must really trash your mascara after three months of use, drugstore offerings are much more economical. Especially when there are some serious super-power performers like, Maybelline Volum’ Express The Falsies Spoon Brush Washable Mascara.

This mascara has the staying power of Great Lash, but with dramatic effects. I love the way the spoon brush can lift and separate my lashes. For evening, I like to build this mascara to mimic false lashes. Clumping just doesn’t happen – how do they do it? But for everyday wear, this mascara adds just the perfect amount of volume while coating my lighter lashes with great color (always very black for me).

Guerlain ‘Terracotta – Terra Inca’ Khôl Kajal

I love a tight, neat pen liner but sometimes you crave some smudge and ink. And inky eyes are definitely “in” for the fall. So heavy your hand and don’t look back. And might as well do it with a cult favorite.

The Khôl Kajal by Guerlain reminds me of a crayon, and I couldn’t fathom how I was going to get a precise application when I saw it. But, trust. It delivers. Marcus, the absolute go-to artist, recommended applying it to the bottom lid and blinking to lift the liner to the top. Amazingly, this works! The line is precise but thicker. You can freely work with it on the eye to smudge and blend. If I want to go bolder, I apply it on top too.

What is so dreamy about the liner is its rich color. Don’t be intimidated about the packaging… just glide the tip of the marker along the lash line and you can’t go wrong. It is creamy in application and then a champ in staying power. I won’t let this gem out of my sight this fall, while rocking an inky eye with a nude lip.

Guerlain Four-Color Eye Shadow Palette

I am somewhat new to Guerlain cosmetics, but so far, they have impressed me completely. I was sold on the new Four-Color Eye Shadow Palette for Fall 2011 because they are seriously mistake-proof, blendable, simple and a mix of finishes. For those who want a finished look with more dimension to their eyes without a lot of fuss, these are worth the lux price tag.

I tried both the Les Fumés and Les Noirs with smashing results. For me, the Les Noirs (pictured below) was more sutable to a big look and a night on the town. I layered the shades and got a bold smokey look. The palette contained quite a bit of pigment. The Le Fumés was more neutral and can easily be worn at work or during the day. The matte base shade, top center, worked really well with the natural color of my lid. This quad is pictured bottom left in the second image.

The texture of the shadows is silky but you still get a powder effect so they are easy to work with and blend. You can easily wear the shades separately, but I encourage trying all four layered because the effect is a total wow. I applied the lightest shade on my lid to the brow. Second lightest to the crease, third in the crease and fourth over my liner.

If you are out and about at your Neiman’s this is worth checking out.

Hourglass Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara

I have been through IT chaos this week and needed something to cheer me up. All it took was the receipt of Hourglass Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara.

The Film Noir’s hourglass-shaped brush is smaller than other mascaras, but this lends to more precise application and is great for bottom lashes. The brush does a great job adding volume evenly and with good separation of the lashes. The effect isn’t intense, but appropriately inky.

The mascara contains Pro-Vitamin B5 which really keeps lashes supple and not “crispy”. Polymers provide staying power – I haven’t had any issues with it falling below my eyes. This product was a collaboration with Hourglass Creative Director Gina Brooke, who is a well known celebrity make-up artist, so no surprise that the mascara photographs beautifully.