|
|
Archive for the ‘Eyes’ Category
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
|
Wow. That’s $425 of eyeliner, right there.
And OK, they’re not actually charging $425: this is currently available at Sephora for $249, but that’s still a helluva lot more than I can imagine ever spending on eyeliner!
Still, no one could say you’re not getting a whole lot of eyeliner for that: there are 25 pencils in this kit, and I don’t expect you’d ever find yourself stuck for a particular colour if you were the proud owner of this set. Would you want to be, though? If you would, get it here.
|
Monday, February 8th, 2010
|
There are so many products on the market at the moment that promise to give you naturally long, luscious lashes, and as tempting as that thought is, the one thing they all seem to have in common is the fact that they’re all really expensive, which makes me reluctant to splash out on them in case they don’t actually work.
Tarte, however, is a brand I’ve been impressed with in the past, so I’m a little more likely to hand over my hard-earned cash to them, than to than a brand I’ve never heard of. Their MultiplEYE Lash Enhancer is $65, but they DO make the claim that 100% of test subjects reported an increase in softness and length on their lashes, with 90% reporting an increase in thickness.
These results are achieved using ingredients like soy, cellulose and vitamin C. This makes me wonder again why, exactly, it needs to be so expensive, but if the results are as good as the brand suggests, I guess that’s my answer! If you’d like to try it out for yourself, you can buy it at Sephora.
|
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
|
 I love products like this. I’m sure no one reading this needs me to tell them the difference well-shaped and defined brows can make to your appearance, and I always find a good brow highlighter is one of the easiest ways to give your face a “lift”, which, funnily enough, is exactly what this product promises to deliver!
It’s Clinique’s Instant Lift for Brows, it costs $15, and has a brown pencil on one side and a highlighter on the other. My only quibble with this is that there are only three colour combinations available, which makes me wonder if there’ll be one that will work with my hard-to-match colouring. Only one way to find out, I guess!
|
Monday, February 1st, 2010
|
 I mentioned a while back that I’d made only two beauty purchases during my December holiday, and it’s a good job I DID only buy two things, because although these two items are small, they’re not exactly cheap, and by “not exactly” I mean “not at all, really.”
In fact, let’s just get the bad news out of the way first: the Corrector (right) is £16.50. The Creamy Concealer Kit is £23. Just under £40 for the two, then, but it was a price I was willing to pay because these two items promised to cover up my under-eye shadows, and by that point I’d probably have sold one of my limbs for that.
The dark shadows under my eyes are currently the absolute bane of my life. They’re caused purely by lack of sleep: if I get enough of it, they disappear, but when I don’t, it shows all over my face – or under my eyes at least. The two products you see above are designed to send the bags packing (Sorry!), and they’re designed to be used together, although you can, of course, use them separately if you wish (or if your shadows aren’t quite as stubborn as mine).
On the left of the image, then, we have the creamy concealer kit, which is actually two products in one jar. On top, the creamy concealer that gives the product its name; on the bottom, a loose powder which goes over the top to set the makeup. For those with very dark shadows, meanwhile, the product on the right of the image is used as a base, to neutralize the shadows before the concealer goes on top.
So, how well do they work?
(more…)
|
Monday, January 25th, 2010
|
 Not a mascara, but literally a “varnish” for your lashes, this product is a top coat which goes on after your regular mascara, and is designed to make your lashes look glossy, with a hint of sparkle. The comb will also help separate them, and remove any clumps of mascara, and if you fancy giving your lashes a hint of blue colour (I’m not sure why you would, to be honest, but each to their own!) just apply it on its on, on bare lashes.
This is by Laura Gellar, and costs $20, which seems quite expensive to me, but if you want to try it, it’s available over at QVC.
|
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
|
 Now, I love Tweezerman, I really do. Considering all of the times my tweezers have been either lost, put through the washing machine (I wish I was making this up) or, in the case of the point tweezers, dropped on the floor, thus blunting the points and rendering them useless, I’m thinking £75 tweezers are probably NOT a great idea for me.
They are pretty, though.
(Available from Harrods, in three different colours.)
|
Friday, January 15th, 2010
|
 Another new release from Benefit!
This is called ‘Stay Don’t Stray’ (you’ve no idea how many times I’ve gotten that the wrong way round in my head, and thought of it as “Stray Don’t Stay’, which obviously has the exact opposite meaning!), and it’s what Benefit describe as a ‘360 degree primer’ for the eye area. What this means is that you basically spray it in a circle covering your entire eye (you’ll want to close ‘em first, obviously), and the product will prime the area ready for the application of under-eye concealer and eye shadows.
The shade is said to be “universally flattering” (I never quite trust claims like that, but the proof is in the wearing…), and it will also brighten the eye area and minimise the appearance of fine lines. Once it’s on, it claims to keep your concealer crease-free: ditto for your eyeshadow, which should also stay put and retain the vibrancy of its colour.
Want to try it? I do, but of course you knew I’d say that.
It’s $24 from Sephora.
|
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
|
Well, you can see why THIS little set appeals to me, can’t you? If it has the words “lashes” or “brows” in its name, I’m almost guaranteed to want it, and if the word “enormous” is also present, you can definitely count me in. (Er, only if the “enormous” is a reference to the lashes, not the brows, though. Enormous brows aren’t quite so much of a draw, somehow.)
This set is by Beauty Society, and would make a particularly generous gift (ahem!) because all of the products are full-sized. As well as their Enormous Lash Enhancing Serum (I’ve yet to encounter one of these that has actually worked, but I live in hope), you also get a tube of Enormous Mascara, Draw the Line eyeliner and Brow Doctor Eyebrow Enhancing Gel. All of these products claim to enhance eyelash growth, using a mix of peptides and conditioners: I haven’t tried any of them myself, and as I said, I tend to be a little skeptical of these claims, but if you want to try them out for yourself, a set like this offers an excellent opportunity to do it. This is £61.72 at Nordstrom.
|
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
|
This product was something of a panic buy. My regular eye makeup remover (Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover, which I SWEAR by) had run out, the Boots website was out of stock, and as I normally wear waterproof mascara, which doesn’t come off easily, I picked up a bottle of Garnier’s Clean & Fresh Eye Makeup Remover in the supermarket, thinking it would at least do the job.
I was wrong.
This definitely didn’t work on my waterproof mascara. Even after a couple of minutes of rubbing (which I really don’t like to do because it’s so bad for the delicate skin around the eye) I was looking a lot like a raccoon, with most of the mascara still clinging determinedly to my lashes, or gathering around the eye area. Even when I thought I’d removed it all, I’d cleanse my face, look in the mirror and discover that, nope, still looking like a raccoon.
“OK,” I thought, “I’ll switch to a NON-waterproof mascara.”
But I didn’t fare a whole lot better there either. Sure, the product did manage to remove more of the mascara than it did with the waterproof stuff, but it still took lots of rubbing, and a couple of attempts to get rid of it all. The final straw came this weekend when I started to apply my makeup and then decided to wash it off and start again, because my foundation looked terrible. The only product on my eyes at that point was my usual Urban Decay eyeliner, and this product didn’t even remove that very well – all it did was shift the liner from my eyelid to the under eye area and then force me to do a lot of rubbing to remove it from there.
After that, enough was enough- I headed out yesterday and bought two bottles of my usual eye makeup remover, so at least this time I’ll have a backup. If you’d like to give this a try, though, it’s £2.93 at Superdrug.
|
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
|
Confession: I actually bought these lashes to wear as part of my Halloween costume this year. (I was Lady Gaga. Yes.) They were a last minute panic-buy, and were the most dramatic style I could find at short-notice, although Eyelure’s new ‘Vivid’ range does contain some styles that are much more “out there” – think peacock feathers, crazy colours, etc.
These would’ve also looked a little more dramatic if I’d actually used them properly: the set comes with top AND bottom lashes, but by the time I started to get ready I was running so late I didn’t have time to put the bottom ones on. So I’ll have to report back on those another time.
As for the top set, I actually really liked them. They’re very long and felt quite heavy at first (I was wearing sunglasses, too, which didn’t really help because the lashes kept hitting off the glasses and I was sure they’d come off), but they stayed put all night (and it was a looooong night!), so no complaints from me.
Eyelure Vivid Lashes, £7.75
 |
|
|
