Review: Darkness Lash Strips

Remember how I said I was going to get lash exte? Well I am terrified of people with sharp pointy things in front of my eyeballs. Sooo I'm gonna go ahead and stick with strips.

Unfortunately, I bought these Darkness #4 lash strips. They suck. Is that overly blunt? Ah well. Let's try again.

Pros
Light-weight
Long enough for my big eyes

Cons
Sharp and pokey at the ends
"Stiff as hell" is an understatement
Curling is next to impossible

I did a video review, but it wasn't so awesome. Nope. My whole video was dark. Next time, I'm not using my webcam. But I digress.

I tried rolling the lashes around my pinky ti give them some curve. IT helped, but not much. When applied, the ends were poking my eyes. That was an itchy nightmare of doom. Aside from that, they were also a real hassle to curl. I only got one bend out of them before calling it quits. That's ridiculous.

At first glance, these are pretty falsies. Yay doll eyes, right? Wrong! Don't be fooled.

See. It looks like I'm not wearing lashes.

L'oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara, Carbon Black

Woo Hoo. I'm a big fan of this stuff. It doesn't make my lashes look like falsies (as you can see), but it feels good. I don't get flakes in my eyeballs at the end of the night. It doesn't come off easily, but it isn't a beast to take off. L'Oreal did something right with their formula. And the little spiky ball applicator is nice. Not awesome, but nice. My main rave about Telescopic Explosion is the formula. I rub my eyes a lot, but there are no flakes or smudges. Also, my lashes feel soft. They're not stiff and gross. I've had other mascaras that were great (especially by Clinique and Maybelline), but this is a nice addition to the arsenal. This is my new favorite for when my eyes are being super sensative and I can't wear much eye make-up.



Here's a peek at what it did for my medium-long, but sparse lashes:

One coat.

My NEW Straight Hair Routine

This post is long overdue. I upgraded my styling tools from Farouk's Biosilk line to the BabylissPro brand. I'm not sure what other people's qualifications for the term "upgrade" are, but it used to take me 2+ hours to get my hair straight. Now it takes 30 minutes to blow dry and style.

Here's what I typically use to get my hair straight.
- BabylissPro Nano Titanium Profino Hair Dryer
- BabylissPro Diamond Titanium Flat Iron (not pictured)
-Conair Brush (nothing fancy about it)
- John Frieda Root Awakening Strength Restoring Smoothing Lotion

Now truth be told, I use other products as well. But the reason is more about scent than anything else. I love to make sure my hair smells great, but I need the smell of my hair to complement my body's scent as well.

Back to straightening. It takes me 6-8 minutes to dry my hair. Need I repeat that? It's a glorious thing. When drying is done, my hair is soft and shiny, with tremendous body. The only reason I use the flat iron is to super smooth my ends. The plus to using the iron is that my hair gets even softer and shinier. I used to dread washing my hair. It meant I might not feel like straightening it. That meant not doing my "gal curls" Now I'm on a regular straightening routine again. The beauty of it is that there is no increased damage from the heat. I expected there would be, but there isn't. Yay!

Oh yeah, I have bangs again.

Vlog Action

Samples are Loved!

Pretty decently sized, eh?

So I went to Lord & Taylor to get another bottle of Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel and came out with a bunch of unexpected samples. Two of my favorites are the High Impact Mascara and the Quick Eyes Cream Shadow in #05 Rock Violet.  I swear this shade can work for every complexion.

Anyway, the products are both great in coverage and long lasting. That's pretty important to most of us, right? Also, they really do help in making a 5 minute face that pops. Couple with some eyeliner (I use MAC fluidline gel liner) and all is well. Crease contour is optional, but I find myself doing it often (with MAC eyeshadow color Embark). I chose to stick with just the Clinique Quick Eyes Cream Shadow in the photo below.

Blurry, but you get the point!

My Hair's Holy Grail List for Straightening

I wouldn't say I'm a total product junkie, but I do like to try entire lines of hair care products. At one point I bought ALL the Garnier Fructis products for going from curly to straight. My favorite is the Smoothing Milk. I also bought all the CHI products-- and ended up giving most away because they smell like man. I still love the shampoo and conditioner and use them like once per month.


Splurging aside, here is my real group of top hair goodies:


Twice a week, I use Aveda Damage Remedy shampoo & conditioner along with the Aveda Smooth Infusion (which also serves as a heat protector). For the coarse section of my hair, I sometimes use the Aveda Brilliant Universal Styling Creme. These are my holy grail products.

If on a tighter budget, BioInfusion (at Walgreen's) has a decent line of product and the polishing serum is a great alternative. You just have to be your own judge of how much to use based upon your hair type. I can also give my approval for the ApHogee line of products. If you're okay with sulfates, Organic Root Stimulator has great products, too. The conditioner is my favorite and the Olive Oil Hair Lotion is a great moisturizer. Everything from all of these lines has a great smell.  

I have super thick hair so I blow-dry in small layers with a round brush using my Conair Infinity Ceramic Tourmaline blow dryer. It does a great job but now I want the BaByliss Pro Diamond blow dryer that matches my new flat iron. After blow drying, I flat iron in small layers to get it silky smooth. 


My hair is half damaged from a bad dye job. That section is very porous and fluffs up quickly in high humidity. The Aveda Brilliant USC and the BioInfusion Glossing Serum are great at fighting/blocking the humidity. I have the Aveda Anti-Humectant Pomade and it's okay for my healthy hair, but not for the damaged parts. I just don't bother buying it anymore-- though I may buy a jar when I get my hair chopped short. It gives a great shine which means using less products. 


My thick hair absorbs moisture like crazy, yet it dries out easily. How does that make any sense?! I find it altogether annoying, but I'm sure it could be worse. 

Review: Babyliss Pro Diamond Titanium 1" Straightening Iron

BaByliss (l), BioSilk (r) - You can't really tell
from the photo, but the BaByliss iron is
a little thinner and a lighter weight.

I received the BaByliss Pro Diamond Titanium 1" Straightening Iron for my birthday. Well technically I got an Amazon gift card and used that to buy it. Either way, I absolutely love this iron. I have type 3C and 4A hair (some pinky-sized curls, some kinky) and this iron leaves my coarse hair silky and super shiny. Also, it has Swarovski crystals for kirakira power. 


Since I had extensions in 90% of my hair at the time of purchase, I used the flat iron on my friend Andrea. her hair has a natural wave and is dry and damaged at the ends. I think the results are pretty nifty. You can't tell after styling.


Below are a couple of photos of Andrea from when I styled her hair using the BaByliss iron. They're cell phoine pics in crappy lighting, but the purikura post I did a little while back shows her hair in better light with my real camera (Canon 40D).

New Hair

I've decided to be hardcore and post a not-so-purdy photo on my blog. BAM!!!  I just got real on ya'll.

So anyway, I decided to just get the relaxer. I wear my hear in its natural state only once per week anyway and sometimes that is only for a few hours. I'm saving myself the headache of extended straightening sessions. My stylist used the Mizani relaxer but I think I'll try the PhytoSpecific relaxer (Index 2, of course) because the back of my head is more nappy while the rest is curly. That area is where the Mizani failed and I'm hearing wonderful things about Phyto.

As you can see, I got bangs cut. I haven't had bangs in nearly 10 years. This is a big change for me. I've been wanting them for a while, but I know my husband is on Team No Bangs, so I was extremely hesitant. On the plus side, I think they fit my face better now that it's rounder. Might as well have them while the weight is there. Hopefully my face will be a lot thinner by the time they grow out! (#^__^#)

One special thing that came from this hair experience is that I'm drooling over Babyliss titanium flat irons. The one I've just linked to is not the exact iron she used (hers was blue).  She told me she swore by her CHI (ceramic) for ages, but after using a Babyliss (titanium) iron at a hair workshop she was hooked. I have to say the difference was incredible. I need to buy that iron while it's still on sale (~$50 vs ~$160)!

Anyway, night night. I'm knackered.


P.S.

Tell J-List you want more gyaru magazines. 
Remember that it's all about supply and demand.
We need to generate a demand so that we can obtain our goods at an economical rate.

How I Get Down

So my husband's band is playin in Delaware tonight and Xavier is at my mama's to spend the night, so I decided to stay home and read/write/game/clean/sew in peace. So far I've only done a few of those things. I was gonna go downtown for a bit but that seems like it ain't gonna happen. That's just as well because my side-back area still kinda hurts. 

Luckily I made time to do some make up! I did a purple smokey eye. I guess you could call it that. I used the Buxom Stay There eyeshadows I bought from Sephora. I got Schnauzer (purple) last week and didn't think it held up to the "Stay There" name at first. Yay for being wrong. It was my fault for improper application. I just did it like a newb. I apologize, Buxom. 

I picked up Golden Retriever and Black Lab yesterday. The colors are obvious, but I would like to note that Black Lab has tons of teeny tiny rainbow glitter dots. Golden Retriever reminds me of Urban Decay's Corrupt-- only with a little more orange to it. It's like a gold foil. Going beyond color, these eyeshadows feel great to put on. I didn't have to bother with a primer either. Also, if I were to just use my finger, the color would go on bold with little to no effort. The only annoyance is that the glitter spreads a little  if you touch your face a lot like I do. The color truly lasts and it's never creased for me. I've been wearing the Schnauzer way too much and have had no creasies. 

For the look pictured, I used the Schnauzer and Black Lab. I used my Shany large eyeshadow brush and the Sephora large eyeshadow (#25 & rounded crease (#13) brushes. Buxom has a brush specifically for these eyeshadows but I seriously don't need any more effing brushes.  My Shany & Sephora brand brushes worked just fine. I have also used just my finger with these shadows and been very pleased. As a side note, the Sephora 13 is great. I used to use my Nyx contouring dome brush with no major complaints, but the Sephora brush is clearly the winner of any debate. The price wasn't even horrible. Maybe someday I'll pick up a MAC blending brush. I like both the 217 and 222. The Sephora 13 brush I have is similar to the MAC 222 so I don't intend to get the latter any time soon. I said I don't need any brushes-- I never said anything about wanting them. ^_^

For fun, I thickly lined my eyes (top and bottom) with the Blackened Teal end of my Milani Black Magic Liner & Eye Glimmer. The eye glimmer (in this case: Teal Magic) sucks donkey bollix. Seriously. It's a mess of crumbly crap. 

To complete the look, I used MAC fluidline in Blacktrack on my top lashline, the waterproof pencil in Engraved on my waterline, and the MAC Zoom Lash in ZoomBlack on my lashes. I then used my MAC Studio Fix pressed powder (NW-45), MAC blush in Raisin, and Nyx lip lacquer pot in Caramel Fudge. I used a cheapo N.Y.C. lip liner pencil in a very warm brown shade of 952A. It's better suited for eyebrows than lips because it's too dry. It just doesn't feel good to put on the lips. Either way, I had to do something for those furry brows. They'll be waxed tomorrow!

So I hope this post makes up for my absence. I'll be back tomorrow with an outfit post.  XOX

Gyaru Gyaru Everywhere!

Hey hey. So I think it's good to think about gal inspiration outside the magazines. For this I will NOT be linking the obvious gals Euro & American gals. You know who you are and so does everyone else ^_^ I will also avoid listing the wonderful gals in the Lovely Blog-sa. Overkill is lame. Well unless you're gaming. Then it's just funny.

These gals have either inspired me through-out the years or become a recent addition to my real life gal inspiration list.

Robyn, Xti, whatever your name is :-p This gal has been a great source of information and inspiration for me since before I was doing bad banba make on LiveJournal. She is known around the net as "EggVIP" and runs a nifty blog, Honest Unique Beautiful.

Naka has the sewing skills I wish I had. I'm Jealous! Check out her blog, Naka's Net.

Anya is a crafty mom-to-be who has great gal style. Visit: The Veiled Bump.

Tori seems to always have great outfits. It's to the point where I think she made a pact with Satan. Seriously. Well no, not really serious. But still... Cherri Story <-- go there.

Cheap Face Challenge!

So I decided I would try to do a look using as many inexpensive products as possible WITHOUT relying on my 120 palette. For this, I turned to Nyx and couldn't be happier. I used my MAC Studio Fix powder compact as usual, but I could have just as easily used my Revlon Colorstay Foundation (liquid). I also used my MAC cream and pencil liners, but could have used my Maybelline Line Stiletto (liquid) & Define-a-Line (pencil). I just couldn't find them! I have too many make-up bags and such (and that's another post entirely).


So the rest of the products I used were simple and all by Nyx save for the Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara. 
I decided to go with:


Nyx 10 Color Palette Eye Shadow The Runway Collection: 01 Jazz Night
 (silver, dark grey and blue), 
Nyx Mosaic Powder Blush in Paradise, 
and 
Nyx Lip Lacquer Pot in Caramel


* Notice I didn't use any primer at all and the colors worked out well. They also lasted at least 8 hours. I will check out the Nyx Eyeshadow Base soon to see how it compares to my Urban Decay Primer Potion.


Now my Cheap Face Challenge wasn't just about the make-up. I also wanted to use cheap brushes. I used my Shany 12-piece brush set for this. They performed very well but the set has one major flaw: no blending brush. I ended up using my Nyx Contoured Dome Brush because it's cheap and awesome. 


I will have to post photos of the look later. It will more than likely also include my semi-matching nails. If i feel like it, I'll also post my outfit. We'll see. I have to rush to my in-law's for dinner now.

CHI Product Review

How's this for funny? This is the first and last video I've posted for teh interwebz. I really hate my voice. It sounds like my nose is stuffed up all the time. Also, now I believe my husband when he says the Small Bear gets his funny facial expressions from me. This is an old review but it's still relevant to this blog.

Farouk Biosilk Tourmaline Ceramic Flat Iron

Click for Full-Sized Image

$55 , bought for $53, Reg price $99.95

My hair is super thick and layered to my shoulders. I  have 2 types of curls- tight and soft, then the coarse naps at the middle-back of my head (about 3″ in diameter). This iron is FANTASTIC. Seriously. I have a Conair ceramic iron that does okay, but the poof comes back to my hair too soon. This Farouk Biosilk iron is big time goodness. It’s totally fighting the friz for me. I also use the CHI Iron Guard Spray. I almost bought a CHI (original), but this was $20 cheaper and allowed me to control the temperature. The CHI Turbo was more than I wanted to spend because I’m a pretty cautious spender. What else? Oh! Some irons get HOT on the outside, but I had this one all the way up to 420F at some parts and the outside never got hot.
My only concern is that the “on” light quickly flickers once it’s at full heat.  My Conair’s light flashes slow and steadily until it’s reached the desired temp. That makes sense to me. The way this iron flickers just seems a little odd, so I’m checking www.farouk.com to see what’s up.

Anyway, BUY THIS IRON. Seriously. I don’t leave a LOT of immediate reviews (not many at all for that matter). I’m in hair love.

PS -
I even left this review on Amazon (which is where I bought it).

PPS -
This post is from a while back (pre-micros, pre extensions) when my hair was still super healthy.

Red Lipstick Gal!

I'm so so so happy right now. My hubby and I took Xavier to the mall today to walk around for a few hours, have dinner, and walk some more. Of course we did a little shopping, but nothing major and no clothes for me-- just X. Our first stop was the MAC counter at Bloomy's.

In case you don't know, MAC has the Back to MAC program where you turn in 6 empty product containers and get a freebie. At the standalone stores, you can get a free lipstick, lip gloss, eyeshadow, and something else. At department store counter stops you can only get lipstick. This is fine. I was really eager to look for another nude (something closer to a true nude for an NW-45 gal such as myself)  or a new red (since they no longer make the Looks Like Sin Cremesheen lip gloss.

After trying a few different lipsticks-- including some peaches for some odd reason-- I settled on a red. It's a lustre lipstick called Spice it Up (pictured) and I think it looks great, as does my husband. I love that mode-kei is including red lip sometimes.  I think it's a win and am happy to know this lipstick isn't a limited edition color. I can't tell you how pissed I was when I found out MAC had the audacity to not keep Looks Like Sin around. I've bought like five tubes and eventually ran out of it. You can only rain-check the inevitable for so long, right?

 I bought some MAC Ornamental lip gloss, a while back but it is more of a gold-red.  I still haven't finished the tube. I realized I didn't love it then gave up and stuck with my go-to nude Viva Glam VI. I have been going with that for what feels like ages now. It's a mauve type of vibe and seems to be better for me than the oft-recommended Viva Glam V. I'm referring to the lipsticks of course. The lip glosses are too sparkly for my taste.

While at MAC, I decided to take some advice from a commenter and buy the Fluid Line gel liner in Black Track. OMG x 10. Finally a black-black for lining my lower lash line. I have this problem where the lower eyeliner never stands out. I've complained about it before. I even have failure with the MAC water proof pencil, despite recommendations from all over. I think that pencil is one of my most pointless make-up purchases, but you live and you learn. I've been using the Maybelline's Line Stiletto in black on my upper lash line since it first appeared in stores. It makes for a killer cat eye and lasts a really long time. Add the fact that it costs less than $10 and that's a WIN sandwich right there. I'll just use the MAC pencil for my waterline, but not for that dramatic black-around-the-whole-eye look. For that I'll use the gel liner.

In closing, I'd like to say that no matter how obsessive this post may sound, I am not a MAC addict. I can see how some people get there though. The foundation is a perfect match. Raisin is my perfect blush. Viva Glam VI is my best nude so far... but I may have a new one soon. That'll be a few posts from now. I love make-up!

Shany Cosmetics Brush Kit

I recently acquired this set of brushes from Amazon. Luckily I received the red ones and not some other mystery color. Most of the brushes are made of squirrel or badger. I believe the fan brush and brow brush are both nylon. Overall, the quality is okay. These inexpensive but stylish brushes are nothing to write home about. To be honest, I bought it because it was under $20 and I was going to spend that on a liner/definer brush by MAC or Sephora anyway. Now I have more in the collection to help me brush up (NPI) on my make-up artistry skills. 

Plus it came with this nifty red pleather case which is just fun times if you ask me. And sure you didn't ask, but I'm telling you. So BAM. 

Yep. Between the array of brushes to practice with and the case that came with it, I'm 100% certain I got more than my money's worth.I will be sure  to readdress the purchase later to let you all know whether or not they stood up to my heavy-handed style of clumsiness. 

The brushes I currently use are great quality and varied (by brand). They range from Sephora and MAC, to Nyx and Bare Essentials (an all natural bamboo fibre line of brushes from CVS). How funny is it that the latter batch of brushes is my favorite? 

Variety is the spice of life and all that jazz.