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Category Archives: Polls
Save or Splurge: Mascara
My post earlier today about lip treatments got me thinking about my spending habits, and which kinds of products I like to save and splurge on..
As I said in that post, lip balms generally fall into the former category. While I swear by my Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream, I'm also happy to settle for something much cheaper, like a Chap Stick, or a tin of Vaseline, and would probably prefer to buy something cheaper so that I can save my money for my "splurge" items.
One of those "Splurge" items, it will come as no surprise AT ALL to you to learn, is mascara. I'm not saying I'd never buy a drugstore mascara, of course: I have, and I will continue to buy them, and if I found one I loved, a very happy Dollface I'd be. It just so happens, though, that I've yet to find a cheap mascara I've really liked, and the ones I really LOVE are all higher end brands. I don't grudge spending a little bit extra on them, because I find a huge difference in the quality, but I got to wondering what everyone else does. Do you splurge on mascara, or is it one of the items you prefer to save on? You'll find a poll under the jump, but feel free to leave a comment too!
Beauty Poll: How often do you replace your mascara?
This week I was forced to admit that my existing tube of Lancome L’Extreme waterproof mascara was finally dead, and spring for a new one.
As I lovingly placed the shiny new tube in my train case, though, it occurred to me that I do this a lot. Buy new mascara, I mean. And not just because I’m a mascara junkie, either – although I buy new brands to test them, I stick to the same one for my day-to-day use, and I’d say I’m currently having to replace it every couple of months, maybe slightly longer.
Now, I know women who have the same tube of mascara for years, so this got me thinking: is it just me that gets through so much of the stuff. Sure, I use a lot of mascara, but am I unusual in this? Mascara manufacturers recommend replacing your mascara every three – six months to prevent bacteria build-up, but do you follow that advice? Do you keep yours for longer, or replace it more often? And do you replace it because you’re worried about "bacteria", or do you wait until it’s used up? Tell me in the poll below or in the comments…
Beauty Poll: What’s your beauty obsession?
Given that you’re currently reading a blog about beauty, I’m going to take a wild guess that you’re probably interested in makeup in all – or at least most – of its many forms. Unsurprisingly, so am I! But most beauty addicts I know have one special item that obsesses them more than others – that one item that they love, can’t live without, and buy much more of than anyone would ever really need.
For me, that item is mascara. I own more mascaras than there are days in the week, and yet I still can’t stop buying more, so consumed am I by the thought of finding the perfect, lengthening, curling, volumising mascara. And even if/when I do find that fabulous, Holy Grail product, I somehow doubt that it’ll stop me buying more.
My obsession with mascara goes back a long way, and is pretty easily explained. As I’ve mentioned here before, I have very fair, almost see-through eyelashes, which were the absolute bain of my life right up until that point in my teens when my mother finally allowed me to start wearing mascara every day. Since then, I’ve been addicted to the stuff, and even although I now dye my lashes most of the time, I still think I look so odd without my mascara that I wear it all day, every day, and can’t stop buying more!
What about you? What’s your makeup obsession? And why?
Do you wear makeup to the gym?
This post over at Fashionista.com today got me thinking about how different people’s opinions can be about what is and isn’t acceptable in the world of beauty.
I have to admit, you see, that I’m one of "those" girls who wears makeup to the gym. Now, this isn’t totally deliberate: I always go to the gym in the afternoon, by which point I’m already wearing makeup anyway, and it feels like too much of a faff to remove it all only to have to reapply it again as soon as my workout is over. There just isn’t enough time in the day for two makeup sessions, I’m afraid, and I’m dammed if I’m going to spend most of the day bare-faced, just so I’m not accused of vanity at the gym.
The thing is, though: I AM vain at the gym. In fact, let’s be honest: I’m vain almost all the time. As well as being one of those girls who wears makeup to the gym, I’m also one of those girls who won’t leave the house without at least putting on a slick of mascara. I have see-through eyelashes: I look really odd without it (yes, odd enough for people to comment any time I’ve tried it), so seeing as we’re being honest I will hold my hands up and admit that even if I did get out of bed and go straight to the gym first thing in the morning, I’d probably stop to slick on some waterproof mascara on the way.
Now, I don’t take this to ridiculous extremes. I don’t wear makeup on the beach, or at the pool for instance, so I’m not a totally lost cause, but I’m wondering what everyone else thinks. Do you wear makeup to the gym, or is it strictly au natural?
Would you buy a used mascara?
Even although I already have more mascaras than I know what to do with, I can always use another one, so I hit up eBay this afternoon to see what I could find in my (very budget) price range. Well, it is the week before pay day…
Within a few minutes I had found a tube of Lancome’s Hypnose, which was ending soon for the bargain price of just over £1 – with no bids. I couldn’t quite believe my luck… until I re-read the description and discovered that the mascara in question had been "used a few times".
The seller insists that it came from a "clean home" and I have absolutely no doubt that it does, but there’s still something really icky about the idea of gently used mascara to me. Foundation I could understand: I mean, the foundation that hasn’t been used is still in the bottle, untouched by human hands. That mascara wand, though, has been touching someone else’s eyes, and I’m paranoid enough about eye infections to want to steer clear, no matter how "clean" a home it came from.
What does everyone else think? Would you buy a used mascara?
Dollface Decides: Should Amy Winehouse lose the beehive?
Amy Winehouse’s hair terrifies me. Seriously, I have nightmares about waking up and finding that thing suddenly attached to my own head. I mean, God, imagine the hairs you’d get down the plughole! As far as I’m concerned, the beehive needs to go: it’s a big ol’ rat’s nest of a thing (do rats live in nests? I don’t know, but they’d sure live in Amy’s hair if they could), and it looks dirty, messy and tangled.
Unbelievably to me, though, Ive heard quite a few people lately say they admire this ‘do, so I’m putting it up for the vote. Is it time Amy lost the beehive and went for something a little bit less like something a very large cat coughed up? You tell me…
Beauty Poll: Do you use fake tan?
I’m a redhead, which means that I have pale blue skin that burns if I so much as stand under a light bulb. No sun-tanning for me, then. Most of the time I quite like my pale skin, but when it comes to summer (or any occasion where I need to get my legs out), well, there’s no denying I look better with a bit of a tan. It makes my legs look thinner, my skin look healthier, my stomach look flatter – or it does when I get it right, anyway. Every summer, then, out comes the fake tan and I begin the process of trying to maintain that sun-kissed look. And every winter, back it goes into the cupboard, and I once again embrace my milky-white looks. I love having a little bit of a tan, but I hate the high-maintenance aspect of staying that way, and so a constant battle rages between me and my fake tan bottle. Gah.
Enough about me, though: what about you? Do you use fake tan religiously, or do you prefer the pale and interesting look? Cast your vote in the poll below (the results will become visible once you’ve voted).
