So far, I am loving CoverGirl's new Outlast Lipstain!  I'm always on a quest to find a perfect long lasting lipstick/gloss/stain, and not all of them hit the mark.  A lot of them completely dries up my lips, making it super tight and uncomfortable.  A lot of times they don't come in pretty subtle colors, instead, they come in loud pinks or reds!  Definitely not usuable for everyday work wear.  Some of them also comes off in funny chunks, so after a few hours, your lips resemble a mosaic.

CoverGirl Outlast Lipstain Lip Color, Bit Of Blossom 410

$7.49 at drugstore.com

 

I was intrigued by CoverGirl's Outlast Lipstain when it first came out, but didn't pick it up until last night.

It looks like a marker and applies like a marker too.  This makes application pretty darn easy.  I like to outline my lips first with it, similar to what you would do with a lip pencil.  Although I think it's even easier to use than a lip liner, and the result is much smoother.  Afterwards, I just swipe it a bunch of times on my lips, and the end result is almost like I've been drinking some yummy cranberry use - a soft light berry color lip.  It's neither matte nor glossy, but it just looks like your lips, but with more color!  A stain!  Absolutely gorgeous!!  There's a soft yummy scent to it thta makes me want to lick my lips.  Some sort of berry flavor.  Yummyyy

I'd wait about 3-5 minutes before eating or drinking anything, as the formula takes a bit longer to dry.  There is no tight dry feeling you would get with other long lasting lipsticks/stains.  You can apply any sort of lip gloss on top, from clear to opaque, and it'll look really pretty.  I topped mine yesterday with my Laura Mercier gloss in Bellini, a shimmery coral color, and my sister commented on how pretty that looked!

There are 2 problems with it though.  The first problem with this, and other pen/marker like cosmetics products, is that the tip always seems to dry out quickly.  I feel like no product is going to the tip after the first 2-3 times of using it.  I tried shaking it really hard, and some products do come out, but in a lesser amount.  The look is then even more sheer!  I'm considering writing to CoverGirl to address this product, because it's such a great formula, I just want to be able to use it normally more than 5 times!

The second problem is that if you top it with lip balm or gloss, it will come off when you wipe your mouth after eating.  Your lips will still have a stain, but it won't be as deep.

So overall, I think it deserves 4 stars.  It does still stain your lips after 5 uses, but the color isn't as deep, and as for it coming off, it does come off evenly, so it's not that bad.  Yep, 4 juicy watermelons!

It's no doubt that Maybelline's Great Lash Mascara is a favorite amongst all the beauty editors.  For some odd reason, they just love it!  Lindsay Price's character on Lipstick Jungle uses it!!  For some odder reason, I never purchased a tube until recently just so I could see what the fuss is about.

To put it short, people either LOVE it or HATE it!  There's no in betweens at all.  Some of the complaints include:

1. It does nothing to enhance the lashes
2. It clumps
3. It smudges and smears

 

Basically everything you don't want in a mascara.

But the people who love it say:

1. It never clumps or smudges
2. Their lashes has never been longer or more beautiful when using any other mascara
3. It's their holy grail!!

 

Obviously, very very different opinions.  For a while, I thought perhaps it was due to a lack of consistency between each tube, so some people got great ones, while others were on the bad receiving end.  Another time I read that makeup artists loves it because it goes on very well on top of false lashes, almost like a glossy black coat.  So I thought, perhaps if a person has naturally long lashes, then perhaps that's all they need!

But what about us normal gals with normal lashes?  I have very light colored black lashes (well, they are black, but they aren't very dark.. argh.. you'll see in the pictures later), medium length, with a lot of curl.  I don't use lash curlers and my lashes just curl.  My left lashes curls a lot more than my right, but my right ones are more feathered and uniform.  The left lashes do this weird tangly thing, so it looks ugly up close, but from a distance they look great.  Odd, I know.

So like I previously mentioned, I bought 2 tubes (1 package, 2 for the price of 1 from Target!) a while ago, and I absolutely hated it!  I applied it, and nothing.  If anything, my lashes were just sticking together.  The wand is so tiny, I feel like I'm not properly getting any mascara on it!  When I applied more, I felt like my lashes just looked shorter, stumpier, and like they were glued together.  I tried it a few more times, and results were the same.  It also did smudge while it was super hard to get off!

Then came along an message from Diana at AdoreBeauty, asking if I could send her some Great Lash to Singapore.  Apparently her and all her friends are crazy for it!!  I shot back a surprised reply, asking if she was in fact crazy since it's such a shitty mascara.  I told her I would do a review, take some pictures, and prove to her that it sucks!!

I grabbed my camera, applied concealer all over my eyes (so this way in the up close picture, my lids and bags don't look soo discolored and gross), and began snapping pictures of my naked lashes.  I dug out that tube of Great Lash mascara from my box of "everyday" makeup, and began applying it.  Wait, hold on, how come my lashes are looking so pretty?  No way, this cannot be the same mascara I tried just a while back?  It's the same tube!  It's not dried out or anything!  I applied more coats, and my lashes are just looking more pronounced and prettier.  I won't say it lengthens, nor did it really add much volume, but it made my lashes pretty!  It's like my own natural lashes, but better!  Glossier!  Darker!!  And at the same time, natural!

Then I got it.  I have an obsession with false lashes, and I love mascars that can give me that false lash look without actually wearing falsies.  But when i'm doing a natural no makeup look, super voluminized lashes won't work as well.  That's when you need a mascara like Great Lash, something that just transforms your lashes into a better, but still natural looking version of your lashes!  It does like a little long to dry (more than a minute), so wait a while before you put a shirt on so it won't smudge everywhere.  Take 10 minutes out to blow dry your hair then get dressed!  It does smudge a bit over the course of the day since it's not waterproof, so if you have oily lids and watery eyes like me, you might just want to use it for a night out (where you aren't sweating tons!).  Otherwise, it's really a pretty nice mascara. I think I'll give it 3.5 watermelons out of 5.

 

So what do you guys think about Maybelline's Great Lash Mascara?  Do you strongly love it or hate it?  Don't be shy and tell the truth!

*Sorry for the redness in my eyes.  I have seasonal allergies, so my eyes are constantly red and watery.  As you can see, it's not caused by the mascara.  Also, click on the pictures to view a larger version.

No mascara on:

 

With Great Lash Mascara

 

With black eyeliner as well:

If you love it and want to buy it, click on the picture below for the link!

 

My friend just had an fmylife.com worthy moment.  His/her mom popped in and asked him/her what he/she was up to for the night, to which he/she responded, "nothing.  I'm just going home for the night."  The mom replies, "oh, well i'm going out to dinner and then leaving for chicago tomorow.  I'm kind of worried.  I'm having more of a social life than you."

Burn!!!

I don't think he/she reads my blog anyways, so hopefully he/she won't be too mad if I post this up.  Anyhow, I'm loving my hair right now.  My nose didn't feel like getting assaulted by the killer L'Oreal Everpure conditioner today, so I reached outside my shower and grabbed something else.  What did I end up grabbing?

This:  Pantene Pro-V Red Expressions Conditioner, Color Enhancing, Auburn to Burgundy

I got it at my local CVS because it was on sale, and I've read a lot of good reviews on Pantene products.  I got the red one since my hair is dyed red, but do note that this does not contain any color depositing ingredients.  Whether or not it really makes a dye job last longer is debatable.  I bought it because honestly, there was too much other conditioners to choose from the Pantene line, so I just reached for this.  The bottle was red and again, it was marked on sale.

I'm glad I got it though, because it works just as well, if not better, than other salon brands I've tried.  The moisturizing and conditioning level reaches that of Joico's Moisture Recovery Conditioner. My hair just feels so soft, I can't help keep my hands off them.  It glides on my hair smoothly, and it feels like it's coating every single strand.  The fragrance is very soft, a typical "Pantene" scent that smells clean.  When you wash it off, your hair still retains a nice good slip.  My hair styled easily, and I just want to keep on touching it!

The ingredients are below for those that likes googling all the chemicals up.  I know I do, though i limit my searches to the first 5 ingredients.  Most of the time those are the ingredients that makes up the bulk of a product.  The rest are just fillers, preservatives, coloring, and/or ingredients-thrown-in-for-marketing-purposes.  From what I can understand, this contains a lot of silicones, which are great if you want nice soft hair!

Whether or not this really helps my color last longer, I cannot say.  It is however, a really great conditioner for a reasonable price, and they're always on sale at local drugstores.  =D  So why not, right?

Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cetyl Alcohol, Behenamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Panthenol (Pantene Pro-Vitamin Complex), Panthenyl Ethyl Ether (Pantene Pro-Vitamin Complex), Prunus Serotina Bark Extract (Wild Cherry), Dimethicone, Glutamic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Fragrance, EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Caramel, Red 4, Green 5

*Sales at my local CVS is the death of my wallet.  I can resist gorgeous items at Sephora or the Nordstrom counters, but once you put a big "Sale" sign, I cannot resist.

How I managed to get through life without the Fekkai Glossing Cream, I do not know.  Of course, I've read all about it on my fav. blogs, particularly Kristen from Beauty Addict.  But I always thought that I had so much cream/goo/stuff in my bathroom, I don't need another cream.

How wrong was I?

This cream goes beyond everything I've ever tried, and trust me, I've tried my share.  The Glossing Cream acts as a detangler, a refresher, a heat protector, and overall, a hair beautifier.  Yes, that's what it is, a hair beautifier.  It makes your hair beautiful.

I first tried it out in Sephora.  My hair was already dried and styled, but I still dabbed on a small amount to just see what the fuss was about.  My hair literally went from fab to uber-fab instantly.  It brightened and shined, and guess what?  It didn't feel heavy.  Normally when I put on hair-goo on dried hair, it makes my hair feel heavier and grody.  This did not.

So I bought the biggest bottle they offered, and tried it later after I showered, and before I blow dried.  Again, hair detangler and heat protector all in one.  Most of my baby hair were in place, rather than flying everywhere like baby hairs are prone to (did I mention that I have tons of baby hair?).  Plus my hair shined and felt so so so soft.  This was right after I had my hair highlighted, which meant my hair was actually drier and more brittle than normal.  I kept touching my hair through work, and wanted to tell all my coworkers to just touch my damn hair.  I didn't since that's kind of a weird request, and they already think I'm a weirdo.  =D  This also offers UVA/UVB protection, which is really essential for color treated hair.

Anyhow.. run, don't walk, to get this ASAP.  Your life will change in front of you.

Frederic Fekkai Glossing Cream

$20.00 by Frederic Fekkai at Sephora

 

I'm baking cookies prior to heading home, so this post shall be quick and simple.  In the prior post, I had used Majolica Majorca's Lash Gorgeous Wing Mascara in black, and I figured I should do a proper review.

Picture from Ichibankao

When it comes to mascaras, I look for

• Drama - does it voluminize and lengthen well?  Will it curl my lashes or hold the curl?
• Stay Factor - will I be sporting racoon eyes within an hour?  This includes flake/smudge factors
• Ease of Application - is it easy to apply?  Will I get it all over my eyelids?
• Ease of Removal - will I end up with racoon eyes the next morning even after using an oil based remover?

 

The Lash Gorgeous Wing Mascara is a decent mascara, but not one I'll be buying again (not that I bought it myself).

Drama - 6/10.  It does not give my eyes much drama.  It lengthens a tad, but it's barely noticeable, but the lack of volume was so noticeable that my syster made a comment about it.  My lashes are naturally curly, but some mascaras seem to weigh it down.  This one keeps the curl where it is.  The color however, is a glossy black, so it helps draw attention to my eyes.

Stay Factor - 9/10.  It doesn't flake or smudge until about say, 10 hours later.  When it smudges, it's barely noticeable.  You don't get a real racoon eye.  Then again, this is about 10 hours after applying the mascara and nothing else, so my lids were super duper oily, and I was rubbing my eyes to stay awake.

Ease of Application - 7/10.  The wand is average size, but somehow I still end up getting some mascara on my lids when I apply it.  But removing it is pretty simple.  Your lashes don't clump as your applying it, which makes life slightly easier.

Ease of Removal - 10/10 - Removes easily with an oil base remover.  No problems there!

Here's a close up sideway view of my eye so you can see my lashes.  Click on the pictures to enlarge.  My eyes are red from a lack of sleep (which is also why I don't post as much FOTDs as I'd like.. my eyes are always red and puffy from a lack of sleep).

Alrighty, my cookies should have cooled by now.  I have to remove it so I can bake another batch.  I don't have an actual cookie sheet, so I'm using my pizza tray, which only holds about 10 cookies at a time.  =D  Have a great Christmas!

 

Ojon Rub-Out Dry Cleanser

$10.00 by Ojon at Sephora

 

Does any of this apply to you:

1.  Have color treated hair

2.  Have oily hair

3.  Live an extremely busy lifestyle

4.  Want healthier hair

If any of those apply to you, then you must try Ojon's Rub-Out Dry Cleanser.  It's a dry shampoo, with talc as a main ingredient, where you can spray on your hair when it starts to look a bit flimsy, oily, and dirty.  You ask, "if it's just talc, why not just rub some baby powder on my hair?"  Well, you CAN do that, but unless you have platinum blonde hair, people will be able to see white powder all over your hair/crown.  It's not a pretty look.

I like Ojon's version more than Oscar Bandi's version solely due to the smell.  Ojon's version has a floral scent that stays on all day.  If you spray too much, the smell could be a tad overpowering, but at least it doesn't have a lemon detergent smell that I find Oscar Bandi's version to have.  Plus, this really works.  My hair gets oily really fast, yet I don't want to wash it every day because it will wash out my color faster, so this helps keep it looking clean.  The other plus side of it?  The volume you get for spraying this near your roots!  My hair was totally va-va-vooming without a blow out!  Sweet!!!

Overall, it gets 4 watermelons from me.  -1 watermelon for the smell that gets well, for the lack of better word, nauseating.

 

 

 

Sephora sells a small can for $10, and a full size can for $24.  Get it before I buy it all up!