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.

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.

Funny &*$@ My BF Says

After neurotically practicing for weeks, my boyfriend couldn't master "Neon" by John Mayer.  Apparently it's one of the most difficult acoustic songs played on guitar.  Zeus, himself, would have trouble with the chords... or something like that.  Boyfriend had searched out youtube videos... web notes.... you name it.

Then one day he calls me on the phone, very excitedly.  He says he's figured out why he can't master "Neon."  As a fan of the song and his enthusiasm, I continue the convo.  Boyfriend says he just read online that John Mayer can play that song because "he has an opposable thumb."

I wait.05 seconds to see if he's joking.  His silence means - he's not!  I quickly respond, "So do monkeys."  More silence on his end of the phone ... followed by "huh?"  I say, "Yeah... everyone has opposable thumbs, darling.  Everyone except Barkley [our dog].  That's what makes you different from her."

Boyfriend's disclaimer here:  Mayer does use his thumb to wrap around the guitar neck.  This is something most people cannot do unless they have really long or really strong fingers... and yes, opposable thumbs.  But that $#&^ was hilarious!!

As I'm looking over facebook..... okay.... cyber stalking all my friends -- I make the comment that it's so strange to see former gang banging boys changing.  Back in the day, they drank.. smoke.. and did very, very bad things --- and now, they have their infant daughter as their profile picture and they're quoting Bible verses as their statuses.  It's ridiculous.

I say it's weird to go from being an "Old G" in the Crips to pretty in pink and Jesus.  It's just odd!  Boyfriend says, "that guy was never in a gang.  You're from a small town in the south.  Where I'm from, no one pretended to be in the Cripts because they would get beat up."

I say... honey, no one pretends to be in the cripts because that's the word game I play in the newspaper.  Really, Cripts???  Cripts??  And he's gonna lecture me about my gang knowledge.

                               

The BF gives me lots of wonderful content.  I'm sure this is a post that will be updated often!  Enjoy.

Revlon Satin Eye Shadow

In an effort to beat the winter blues, I'm primping.  My mother always told me that it's painful to be beautiful.  However, she never really talked to me about how friggin' expensive it can be.  So... here is an option for blissful beauty for under five bucks.  GET IT HERE

Revlon Satin Eye Shadow pulled me in with some pretty snazzy colors.  There was black... and purple... and something with a name like peacock lustre.  Personally, I spell it "luster"... but whatever Revlon... it's your name on the package.

I digress.  I was instantly thinking about drama and glamor.  I nearly went with the black shade because it had some sparkle.  However, I'm glad I did not.  This stuff has some serious pigmentation!!  That's a good thing.  It is, however, something you should know before purchasing the product, though.

I chose Polished Bronze as my color.  (by the way... brown shades really pump up blue eyes if ya got 'em)  This was a great choice.  Had I gone with peacocks on my eyes.... we would have taken a trip back to the 80's.  {disclaimer:  not that you shouldn't buy the beautiful color -- just don't wear it as an all-over eye color}

I chose a light rose color as the highlight shade with the satin product.  It blended well.  A male co-worker noticed the color immediately... surprisingly.  He noted it looked like a smokey eye.  This seems to be the effect many women are going for these days.  I was very impressed.

So what's in a name?  It's called satin, right?  Revlon claims velvety smooth textures.  And it does feel pretty fantastic on the eye lid.  It glides on pretty smoothly.  For blending... I still recommend the good ol' finger.

So the price is good - color choices are good - pigmentation is good... what about the wear ability you ask?  Well... it goes nowhere!  Unfortunately, I have a really bad habit of going to bed in my makeup.  (I know.... spare me the wrinkle lectures)  After my midnight slumber, I awoke to find that my eye makeup still looked amazing -- minus the flaky mascara and highlighter shade.

One tiny negative is that Revlon's website is kind of a waste.  It has little, to no information for consumers.  It's pretty, but pretty useless. SEE FOR YOURSELF 

Other than that, I'd have to say Revlon Satin Eye Shadow is worth the purchase.  There's no risk here.

Loreal Paris Hair Color - Spice It Up

Ya know... it gets pretty difficult to feel like a goddess in the winter.  The dry air makes your skin feel all itchy... the frozen, whipping wind can actually give you wind burn... and you feel like the kid in the Christmas Story movie because you're wearing more layers of clothing than the law should allow!  That is just my feeling right now in the midst of January -- so it's time to spice things up!!

For my entire life, I've tried to maintain a natural beauty.  I never had my hair colored until I started working full time in television.  Even then, it was always done in a salon.  I decided to spread my wings and be adventurous -- I would color my own hair (dum dum dum... that's the dramatic music).

I decided to go with Loreal Paris Feria.  There were a gazillion options to choose from in the stores, but the reason I chose this product was because it promises "multi-faceted shimmering colour" and three times the highlights as other hair dyes.  Plus, the under $10 price tag made me jump for joy (on the inside) because of all the money I was saving.  It fits the bill -- BE FABUless (that means be fabulous for less money).

This honestly was a process that terrified me.  I kept telling myself if it was awful, I could wear a baseball cap until I could shell out the $150 it takes to get my hair professionally cut and colored.  Surprisingly, it was easy though.  The directions were made for dummies... mix this with that and shake.  Okay... no problem.  Got that.  The only thing I wish I would have better understood was the conditioner around the hairline.

The directions tell you to rub conditioner around your hairline so the dye doesn't turn your face, ears and neck a funky color.  What they don't tell you, is that you shouldn't let that conditioner touch your hair.  Although it is minor, my hair-dying virgin mind didn't know that it would keep the color from attaching at all.  There is a tiny, tiny line near my forehead that is missing some color.. but it's not noticeable until I have the hair slicked back in a pony tail (according to boyfriend).  :-)

Now for the actual color.  The color on the box isn't an exact match to the color my hair turned out.... but that's not a bad thing for me.  I love the shade it turned out to be on my hair.  I chose shade number 51 - Brazilian Brown.  Not that it would really mean anything to you other than if you're deciding if you like my color.

So... the smell is pretty typical.  It smells like hair color products, but they do give you a little packet of smell good liquid to pour into your mixture.  The conditioner inside is to die for!  I really enjoyed the fact that my hair felt so soft after piling all those chemicals on to it.  I wish I could buy just that conditioner to use once a month for a deep conditioning.  I'll have to look into that for you -- my devoted fans ;-)

This is a look at how my color turned out.  I wasn't overwhelmed by the highlights they promised.  It seems like a uniform color all over.  However, this may change when I spend a few days in actual sunlight.  It's been about three days since I took the leap.  I'll have to update this post if it fades, makes my hair fall out or magically turns purple on my head.  However, I'm not hoping for any of these options.

As it stands now.  I give this product a four out of five.

Rock It Like You're Gaga

  In lieu of a product review, this post is all about how you wear a product.  You wear it... it shouldn't wear you.  Remember that, always!  Whether you're sporting a $10 top from the Salvation Army or the latest collection from Marc Jacobs... you have to own it.  My advice is to rock it like you're Lady Gaga.
  Gaga is the perfect example of looking gorgeous, while sometimes also looking like a hot mess.  However, no matter if she's wearing a meat dress, studded bra or Chanel... she is always FIERCE!  It's all in how you carry yourself.  This applies to men and women.

 Lady Gaga rubs some people the wrong way.  They think she's a nut job or a corporation's brain child of poppy concoctions.  Love her or hate her... you have to admit that she catches the public's attention.  I'm not saying you need to wear puppets to get noticed, though.  Maybe you could just embody her confidence and edginess.  That can instantly turn you into a goddess... if you're imagining you're a sexy, confident and successful person.  Think it - Own it - Become it.

  The sexiest thing you can slip on in the morning is confidence.  That's the secret people!  You won't need the pouting red lips or perfectly curled lashes... but hey... those things can't hurt.. right?

  Although how you wear things is more important than what you wear, I thought this list of the top 10 worst fashion trends of 2010 was quite fun.  CHECK IT OUT

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain + Balm

This product was the inspiration for becoming a blogger.  After trying out the Just Bitten lip stain, I put my opinion on facebook.... and the comments rolled in from tons of my female friends.  That was the fuel to my cosmetic bashing/highlighting fire.

You've probably seen the commercial.  The smoldering hot Jessica Biel... the haunting and taunting music... and the lip stain that promises to be different than all the rest.  (Exhibit A:  the commercial) 

The commercial was all it took for me to hit the store and after much deliberation, finally purchase the $9 lip stain.  I tried Twilight as my color.  The tube looked like a really pretty nude.. with a kick.  I was a bit nauseated at the fact that this was the last tube on the shelf -- because teeny boppers will buy anything affiliated with their vampire movie.  But I digress, it looked to be my color.

Color seemed to be the biggest problem.  The nude tube threw me off.  When I carefully applied the lip stain to my clean lips, it turned into this hideous Bordeaux color.  It was way too dark.... and no matter how much gloss and light colored lipstick I put on top -- the darkness bled through it all.  I scrubbed my lips throughout most of the day in the lady's room at work like a friggin' mad woman.  I was almost embarrassed at how raging my lips were all day.  I swore off the lip stain and went on a facebooking rant.

However, like most things... we should give at least one more try.  The second go 'round, I didn't carefully apply it.  I lightly smeared it across my lips, not filling in the creases when my lips pursed.  It worked like a charm (surprisingly).  The color more closely resembled the tube.  The balm makes the color just a bit lighter, but not much.  I find it more useful to put the stain on in the morning -- not apply the balm -- and add some thick, colored gloss throughout the day.  However, the balm is nice and soothing.

Just Bitten claims to be smudge proof -- I'll agree.  It stays with me for most of the day.  Revlon promises a kiss proof shine -- that's debatable.  I give the teeth brushing test.  It doesn't pass.  If you put on the stain... wait the 30 seconds they suggest... and then brush your teeth... you still get a light center and a darker rim on the outside.  I assume a juicy make out with Jessica Biel would result in very little product on the lips.  I have yet to test steamy kisses... however... it is nephew's cheek approved!

I give this Revlon's Just Bitten.... (drum roll please).... a 3 out of 5.