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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

ALMAY Truly Lasting Color

My mom gave me a tube of the ALMAY Truly Lasting Color lip duo.  She said it wasn't her color, but the color was gorgeous to me.  It is called brown sugar.  It's basically a golden nude, which looks great on my skin coloring.

ALMAY says this product's "Soft, shimmering shades ... wear comfortably for up to 12 hours, even through meals."  I'm here to tell you -- it's true!  I swiped the lip gloss over my lips, very proud of the hue.  After a few minutes, I applied the accompanying gloss.  I heart this gloss.  It's completely clear, so it doesn't affect the color of your lips and it's just the right amount of slick/sticky/smooth.

However, about midway through my afternoon.... my tune changed.  The color did stay through my lunch and drinks throughout the afternoon... as promised.  Around 2:00 p.m., I glanced at my reflection in my compact and noticed I a weird rim around my lips.  The product was not meshing at the interior line of my lips -- ya know, where the dry outside of the lip meets the moist inside of my mouth.  It was a strange caking of the product.  I tried to rub it off, but that didn't work so well.  All I could really do was add more lip gloss.  Since it's clear, it didn't really camouflage anything.  I eventually put a colored gloss on top to mask it. (unsuccessfully)

 The problem only got worse that night when I took off my makeup.  I washed my face with my normal cleanser.  My lips were still bronzed.  I used the oil-based, eye makeup remover pads they recommend.  They were still colored.  I took a wet bath cloth and scrubbed vigorously.  Although this worked as a wonderful lip plumping method, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a glutton for punishment.

Defeated and tired, I gave up and went to bed... resolving to try again the next morning.  After a shower filled with multiple cleanings... that crap was still on my lips.  ALMAY promised 12 hours of long-lasting color, but come on -- we're working on 24 hours now!  I topped it off with some towel scrubbing and eventually covering it up with makeup.  (This was way worse than my Bordeaux-colored and stained lips from when I tried the Just Bitten.)

I tried the product a few more times with the same result every time.  However, it remained something that was always in my purse.  --- Why, you ask? ---  Because of the amazing clear gloss.  If they sold it separately, it'd be worth the money.  However, the product, as a whole, is not worth your money unless you never want your lips to change color and you enjoy the caking.  If you want to attempt this product, despite my warning, please read the company's Tips & Techniques.


Overall, I'd pass on this lip duo.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

What the FLAKE?

Anyone who really knows me, understands that my lashes are of the utmost importance to my overall look.  I'll spend five minutes slapping on my makeup, but meticulously spend the next ten just on the mascara portion.  And why wouldn't I... the eyes are the window into my soul... and the window should have nice drapes.

So... I'm suckered into buying another product, promising me the most gorgeous eye lashes known to man.... and I'm intrigued.  I shelled out the nine bucks for L'Oreal Paris' Voluminous Million Lashes.  The fancy, golden packaging is oh, so enticing.  Plus, the product is said to be infused with collagen, which has to be good for the lashes, right?  This is also said to be a great option for people with contact lenses or allergies.

The first time I used this product.... I thought... hmmm... we may have a new favorite.  I loved the formula.  It is very wet, which can give you some time to do some lash shaping before it's dry.  There was just the right amount of product placed on the wand.  All positive here.

I continued using this product, implementing it into my everyday makeup routine.  However, the problems started showing up... on my cheeks.  After using the Million Lashes for over a week, I started realizing I had black specks all over my face.  Although the wand is really awesome and you don't get clumps during application.... you get face flakes.  It's really ridiculous the amount of flakes that would come off my eyes!  Seriously, without touching my eye area, hundreds of these things would appear on my cheek bones, on my nose and even stick to my lip gloss.  That is not kissable!

L'Oreal claims Million Lashes gives a "buildable" formula.  That basically means you can put on more than one coat without looking like you have spider legs on your eye lids.  The problem is, when I put on my first coat... I get flake face... the second coat is a mess!

Overall, I would not recommend this product to my friends.  I'm actually going to switch back to my old brand of mascara.  It's not worth nearly ten bucks.  This product gets a two out of five.