M.A.C. Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

HG powder....with one annoyance

This stuff is amazing. Exactly what I've been questing for! It provides a beautiful, natural finish that literally melts into your skin, allowing the natural texture to show through but providing excellent coverage. I have problems with an uneven skintone and was wearing liquid foundation to fix it, which was much more coverage than I need. Then, I discovered MSF and am hooked! Now, I just throw on some concealer over undereye circles and blemishes, buff the MSF on with a kabuki brush, and I'm flawless. My one complaint -- the compact has no mirror in it! This is a serious annoyance for someone like me, who likes to keep the purse size at a minimum, because now I have to carry both a powder compact AND a mirror. Mac should get on putting a mirror in the compact, because then it really WOULD be perfect.

August 25, 2008

Benefit BADgal Lash

Doesn't live up to the hype

I had high hopes for this mascara, but it's let me down. I have very sparse, short lashes and need a very dramatic mascara, and this stuff did little more than tint my lashes black. Held a curl decently, smelled nice, and I really like the big full brush. But otherwise, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

August 25, 2008

Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils

For those of you who can afford it.

I really loved this mascara. It totally gave the effect of false lashes! Great volumizing with no clumping whatsoever. No need to brush through with a lash comb afterwards. My lashes looked the best they ever have! On the negative side, it does have a tendency to flake and leave little black specks on your face at the end of the day, is a little too heavily perfumed, and dries up much too quickly. UPDATE: I've found the perfect dupe for this mascara, and at a much better price! L'Oreal Voluminous Full Definition mascara gives the exact same lash effect, but without the weird flaking and the heavy perfume! Also comes in a pretty gold tube (obviously not as classy as the YSL one, but still nice).

August 25, 2008

M.A.C. Eye Shadow

Blanc Type (Matte2)

This color, texture, and finish combination is an absolute MUST HAVE. I love it as a lid color, with a darker or more dramatic color in the crease. My eye shape is hard to explain, but basically the area between my crease and eyebrow is chubby and tends to sink down over the area under my crease. This color optically negates that effect without making my eyelids look puffy (like a lot of shimmery eyeshadows do). Just a really awesome, polished and professional looking color. It's also a great base eyeshadow to put over your primer to make blending a little easier. The only reason I rated it a 4 is because I recently discovered that Flirt makes an eyeshadow EXACTLY like this one in every way (color, texture, quality, staying power) and winds up being much cheaper if you factor in the amount you recieve (something like $5 per unit as opposed to $8). The color is called Cream Puff, and while I despise Flirt's packaging it is Blanc Type in every way.

August 25, 2008

L'Oreal Paris HiP Studio Secrets Professional Color Truth Cream Eyeliner

A solid drug-store find

I don't generally wear colored eyeliners so much, and didn't want to blow a ridiculous amount of money on my favorite Bobbi Brown gel liners in non-basic colors, so I picked up a few of these HIP liners in a BOGO sale. My expectations weren't particularly high, and I was pleasantly suprised. These were quite impressive. I didn't have any of the problems with a dry or flakey consistency. It was INCREDIBLY creamy and emollient...almost too much so. I had to apply three coats to get the color payoff I wanted, but the color was just beautiful and worth the extra minute or so. And it dried very quickly, and once dry was practically unbudgeable. My BB gel liner doesn't ever really dry completely, and I have to set with an eyeshadow to keep it from sliding off my lower waterline, and even then it will gather in the outer corners of my eyes by the end of the day. But it is smudgeable, which is better for smokey looks. The HIP, by contrast, dries completely and stays essentially in the same spot the whole day, but will "wash" off with tears. You won't get the little gob of migrated eyeliner in the outside corner of your eyes like you would with the BB, but you may get blank spots where the liner has washed off. All in all, a good buy if you don't want to expend tons on something you may not wear regularly and get it on sale. I would invest in the BB for basic black or brown colors.

August 25, 2008