The Makeup Monologues

Here are my empties for the month! I'll be posting the trashed products that weren't totally used up in a separate post. Here we go! L'oreal Voluminous Naturale Mascara Oh, boy, I used this mascara for way too long but I did love it so. I purchased it at Beautiful Brands in Guelph, Ontario back in the start of November, and it had already been discontinued. It really was a natural, non-gloppy, waterproof, foolproof mascara! I miss it already, but about a week ago I pulled the wand out of the tube and a rancid burning rubber smell hit my nose, so it was time for it to go! Repurchase? If only I could! First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser :  Meh. FAB has so many exciting products and Sephora chooses to send me this? It's boring. The consistency was nice but I hated the smell. It smelled like plastic. It cleaned my face, but not in an absolutely amazing way, and at what cost?  Purchase? No. MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Pressed Powder : There was barely enough to po...

I used to turn my nose up at Laura Mercier. Only normal, boring people use Laura Mercier, I thought. Everything in that line is so colourless, and boring, day-to-day office-job fare. And then I discovered her eyeliners. Look at 'em cute little pots! (L-R) Graphite, Violet (L-R) Graphite, Violet Graphite isn't really a gray, more of a green-grey. It's pretty distinctly greenish on the eyes, and the first thing I thought of as soon as I swatched it was Ponyboy from the Outsiders and his eyes that were greyish, but he wished they were green. Violet is a beautiful royal purple. Once it dries it looks more black, so it takes an up-close look to see that it's purple. Their consistency is super fluid. It really is a cream more than a gel eyeliner, so they at least got the naming right! One problem I have every time I wear these, though, is their fluidity. It's hard to get a thick, opaque line with a brush sometimes. Now, I suck royally at any eyeliner ...

I have quite a busy weekend planned! Saturday I'm waking up early to go to Manitoulin Island to check on the family trailer- then as soon as I get home, I'm going to my friend Jen's sleepover party! We'll spend the night partay-ing, then my friend Kassidy will be picking me up at six AM Sunday and we're travelling seven hours to go to Brock University's open house and then back home again in the same day. Whew! But the real important question is: what makeup am I going to bring? Here is my little bag, in all of its tiny cute glory. However, it sure can hold a lot of stuff! Ta-da! Would you believe this all fit in there? Here's what I'm bringing to do my makeup: Smashbox 24 Hour Shadow Primer deluxe sample : I've been working through this for about a month and a half. It's small but not as messy as those Urban Decay card samples, so in it goes! Too Faced Jingle All the Way phone palette : Indispensable. Contain...

Do you ever have a brand that tends to be hit-and-miss for you, but you irrationally love anyway? For whatever reason, the brand that receives my irrational love is Joe Fresh cosmetics. The first product I ever tried from them is this Longwear Liquid Lipstick in the shade Baie Sauvage (which is French for redberry, or mixed berry or something). It claims up to 6 hours of wear and comes with a flat-edge, rounded-top sponge applicator. Baie Sauvage is an electric neon purple that's guaranteed to turn heads. It's a lot more wearable than it first appears, though, so don't be shy! On application it's thin and smells kind of vinegar-y, just like my Kat Von D Liquid Lipstick. It takes about two even coats to get full opacity. Dry-down takes about two minutes, and then you've got a cream appearance rather than liquid. Does it last six hours, though? Honestly, I don't think so. This reminds me more of a lip cream than an actual liquid li...

Today, I learned something important: loose eyeshadows are suffering. I am not good at using them whatsoever. However, I'm going to show you my attempt at a look today.  Here are the products I used: Face Maybelline Master Conceal in Fair Essence sun club all in one highlighting bronzing powder in Light/blonde  -Maybelline Dream Matte powder in Cream -theBalm Mary Lou Manizer -The Body Shop All in One Cheek Colour in Bubblegum Eyes Ardell Brow Powder in Medium Dark Elf Makeup Mist & Set for foiling Smashbox 24 hour shadow primer Shiro eyeshadows in Evolve, Champion, and I Understood that Reference Benefit They're Real Mascara Maybelline Great Lash coloured Mascara in I See Blue Lips Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Rhubarb Here's how this looks.  I applied Evolve in the inner corner, I Understood That Reference all over the lid, and Champion in the crease. It was suffering. So much fallout. Covered whole face in concealer to hide it. Applied They're Real to top la...

My friend was generous enough to get me this for Christmas, and I'm just reviewing it now! Here is Flower Cosmetics' Sheer Up Lip Tint in Dewy Rose. It's a chubby lip pencil that's nearly identical in size and shape to the Revlon Balm sticks, but the packaging is a bit less substantial. The logo is cute, though, printed in gold and evoking all sorts of 1920's flair. Though the product is called Sheer Up, there's nothing sheer about it. Dewy Rose is a bold candy red. It's slightly waxy, hard and draggy in consistency but not in a bad way- in a way that makes it last a lot longer than your average chubby lip pencil. It's got a bit of a shiny finish and the pigmentation of a lipstick. It's fun and cute. I don't know if I'd pay full price for it (more expensive than Revlon's) but if you see this on sale then go ahead and pick one up! It's easy to apply and lasts for hours! Nice job, Drew Barrymore! You'v...

You know, for something that is the first neutral palette I ever bought, this thing isn't very neutral. It is, however, a diverse but approachable collection of good-quality eyeshadow. I wouldn't say that the quality of this is on par with Urban Decay, but definitely Too Faced, if a bit denser. The Comfort Zone has eight shadows arranged in two "looks"; therefore, each look is organized into four categories: browbone, eyelid, crease and definer. I wouldn't recommend using them in the order specified, but for the sake of this review I'm going to show you what that looks like later on. Here is what I'm going to say is look 1. Browbone is a shimmering straw colour. It tends to be a bit powdery. Eyelid is shimmery butterscotch. The texture of this one is very impressive and smooth. Crease is a medium warm brown satin. This one is a bit stiffer than Eyelid, so I reccomend using a densely-packed pencil brush to apply it. Definer is ...