Bigger Brighter Eyes [my way!]

Many people who wear makeup (men and women alike) are in search of the look that will make their eyes look bigger and brighter - and I am no exception!

I discovered this look accidentally one day when I was experimenting with different color combinations (I tend to like ones that people either will notice or that don't necessarily "go together" when you first think about them).  And so this look was born.

The key to this look is NOT to connect your crease color to the outer corner of the eye thus lifting the crease shape and keeping the eye looking nice and big.  Also, keep your liner thin so that it doesn't overtake the lid area - this is especially important for people who have a smaller space to work with (also, winged or not, keep it thin!  the trick to that is to make sure you feel your liner almost pulling along the base of the lashes so that it's just hitting the skin above them  - I'll do a quick tip video about it sometime in the future!)

and here are some pictures of other color combinations I use with this look if you're feeling like you're in a rut and don't want to do the same old thing ;)

LASH GROWTH! Tarte MultiplEYE Natural Lash Enhancer [Beginning]

Ok, so some of you may know that I had super success with the Urban Decay Lush Lash System (and yes, I'm still bitter that I lost the blog posts when I lost all of my photos with my blog...PISSED...) but I do have the before/after photos and my VLOG of it...soooo....yeah.

I'm embarking on a quest now to test out the Tarte MultiplEYE Clinically Proven Natural Lash Enhancer serum!  Much like the Urban Decay, it's painted onto the [clean and dry] upper lash line like a liquid liner and left to dry.  Interesting fact: the directions say you can apply makeup over it once it's dry - so you can do this day OR night!

So now my lashes are pretty long from the success with the Urban Decay system, but as I said before, I didn't find it gave me any thickness...so from the Tarte, I'm actually looking for thickness rather than length (though I am assuming I will get some kind of length from it!)

Tarte says the system contains their HydroPlant Peptide[TM] which is clinically proven to give the *appearance* of thicker lashes.  It also contains soy and amino acid proteins which are infused with cellulose (a plant derived thickening agent) and vitamin C (antioxidant booster).


Tarte's Clinical Results:
152% change in appearance of lash length (6 weeks)
100% of subjects reported increase in appearance of lash length
100% of subjects reported increase in overall lash health
90% of subjects reported increase in lash thickness

Firstly, this is very cleverly worded...APPEARANCE is a huge word to look for in any advertisement...just in case you didn't know ;)  They're basically saying your lashes LOOK longer, not that it actually grows them.

I'm going to look at the health of my lashes and the thickness and the length will be kind of the afterthought for me this time around.  Being that I wear mascara 5 or 6 our of 7 days a week, they take a beating and are prone to breakage and natural shedding...so I'm definitely watching for the health.

Here are my lashes as of RIGHT NOW:

So I will try to remember to photograph at least one of my eyes each week (over the 6 week course) so that we can keep track of how this works!

In case you wanted to see the Urban Decay results:

Urban Decay Lush Lash System (6 weeks of treatment)







*Both of the products mentioned in this blog post were provided to me via my job and this has no bearing on my opinions or anything I will say about these products during testing...I think the results speak for themselves*

YouTube Series: ABC's Once Upon A Time: Snow White Look #1 [Ginnifer Goodwin]

I hope that there are some people out there who are as obsessed with this show as I am.  I'm not an avid television or movie watcher by any means...ask anyone (basically, if it's super popular or a movie that "everyone and their brother" has seen...I've probably not seen it)...but this show? TOTALLY different story!

I think the storyline is different enough to keep the watcher interested, it's not a copycat of Disney (which, don't get me wrong, I do loves me some Disney adaptations but I know they're cookie cutter versions of the originals and I prefer not to always have the happy ending...LIFE ISN'T ALWAYS HAPPY! haha) and of course, the makeup is PHENOMENAL!

So I decided to do looks based on screencaps and the promotional photos that ABC has released...so up first:  Snow White played by Ginnifer Goodwin!

Head past the jump for the picture I used and the link to the video!

FotD: Poisoned by Purple

This is one of my absolute favorite looks I've done in a while...purple is my favorite color and I've been in such a neutrals or nude eye with a hint of colored liner that it was fantastic to just be able to do a multi-tonal purple smokey eye!

Head past the jump for the list of products I used!! :)

Comparison: MAC 217 v. Sephora PRO #27

The MAC 217, in my experience, is heralded to be one of the best blending brushes.  Recently, Sephora Collection's PRO line of brushes came out with a pretty decent dupe!

Head past the jump for more comparison photos!

First Impressions: Sephora Collection Brush Protectors

The brush guard has been circling around the beauty community for a while now...I'm pretty sure that I first heard of them two years ago and I'm positive they were around before that as well...but I never bought into them because I didn't think I needed them.

I deep clean my brushes once a week and spot clean them between each use so I wasn't seeing frays, splaying, or any signs of damage to the actual bristles themselves.  That is, until I looked at them last week and noticed the first signs of wear and tear.  I'd say that considering some of my brushes I've had for about 6 or 7 years, that's pretty good!  (at work, I'm prided on only having replaced 2 or 3 brushes in my belt in almost 2 years!)

I also never really got into them because I don't order a lot of things online (firstly because I'm cheap and secondly I hate paying S&H) so when I saw these in my local Sephora I got a little giddy!

Head past the jump for photos and my thoughts!