Mirror Mirror on the wall..Who has the best lashes of all?

Flash those Lashes!

 

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the best lashes of all?

You do my dear!

Well Kats and kittens I have fallen a bit behind on when I was going to post about my favorite mascaras but today is your lucky day! I’m going to share with you a little bit of hard earned knowledge and some of my most favorite mascaras. (Notice I made that plural. I actually switch it up depending on the need for the day…I jump ahead of myself though.)

Mascara is, without a doubt, the most transformative and easy way to come out looking ready for the day. In my opinion it is the one product to take on that deserted island, tuck into your purse, pack in your tiny overnight bag or just hurriedly apply when you are pressed for time.

You apply and go. Beginners can use it. Experts use it. Ladies…never skip those lashes.

But did you know what the secret to the best lashes possibly is and how to get those luscious lashes?

Your brush! The next time you go apply your makeup, take a moment to look at your mascara brush. As mentioned in a previous blog, the mascara wand is relatively a new player in the makeup game. The earliest wands were simple brushes. Today you have a wide variety of brush shapes, bristle textures and density. All of those things are important in choosing the right mascara.

Let me be the first to admit that when I grab mascara I only pay attention to the formula when it applies to color and water fastness.  But there is a lot of science behind that formula! Lengthening mascara adds fibers to extend those blissful tips. Thickening has serums that add density. Honestly…you definitely should pay attention to what ingredients you are packing on your peepers. As I’ve mentioned a hundred times, makeup should make your skin glow and not add distress or be a health risk.

Enough about that because I’ll be bringing it up as a reminder later!

My favorite mascaras currently are:

·         Tarte’s Lights, Camera, lashes

·         Lancomes’ Hypnose Drama

·         Makeup Forever Smoky Extravagant

·         Ulta’s Amped Lashes

It is really hard to narrow it down to just one because each offers something different. The Smoky Extravagant wand shape is hard to beat for an all around mascara. It is usually the first one I suggest to someone else. The formula is rich, thick and holds true. And it is easy to apply without looking like you put it on while riding a roller coaster. Perfect for the mascara novice!

 

 
 
It has bristles that are tightly packed which are going to add some volume. It is easy to build some length. You can purchase at Sephora or on the Makeup Forever website. Price: $24

Tarte’s Lights, Camera Lashes is my current daily wear. My one complaint is that it lacks the thickening power due to the bristles. (Notice how most everything comes down to that one trait? Hint…it is all the time.)

This does have the limitation of not being curved so you have to ensure that you use your eyelash curler properly. If you tell me that you don’t prep your lashes with an eyelash curler then I’m not certain we can continue our relationship.

You can purchase at: Tarte, Sephora and Ulta. $21.00

*If you purchase it on  3/26 from Ulta…it is only $10.00*

Just kidding! You’ll get one from me at Christmas. (Just don’t expect a high dollar one.)

Too Faced’s Better than Sex is PHENOMENAL. I love the formula, I love the shape of the brush and I love how my lashes look. My one complaint…it can go on too thick sometimes and you can wind up looking like you have those crappy fake Halloween lashes that are made from plastic. This is one brand that requires diligence when applying. You are definitely going to need to prep the mascara wand with removal of excess product and you’ll have to comb through your lashes to stop clumping. (It’s still worth it!)

Purchase at: Ulta, Too Taced, Sephora. Price: $23 *Get the Deluxe one from Ulta and you will only pay $12. It’s the “trial” size but there is a lot!

Lancome’s  Hypnose Drama: I got a sample from a purchase at Sephora and it may go on my “To Buy” list when the credit card goes down from my recent makeup purchases. This is marketed as an “Instant full body, volume mascara.” And it is an all around great product. I’m not a huge Lancome fan because I believe that they are often overpriced based on Brand name.

BUT…this mascara beats all others in the brush category. It is the perfect blend for volume, length and shaping. I love this wand!

Nab this at Sephora for $27.00 or you can visit any department store and they probably carry it.

Now for the dark horse of mascara, Ulta’s Amped Lashes. This is only making my list because I use it to separate my lashes and add that tiny bit of length. The formula is okay but I hate the rigidity of the brushes. They definitely feel plastic and hard. I can name several drugstore brands that are continuously making that mistake. Stop giving us something so hard! I get that it is about lash separation to lengthen but geez!

See how sparse the bristles are, how flat the shape? Use it as a separator and you’ll do fine but don’t go into it expecting to have those “amped” lashes because it doesn’t do that.

So there you go. It’s my favorite mascaras currently. The Tarte, Too Faced and Makeup Forever mascaras are pretty great and while they don’t give you the YouTube lashes (which you gals already know are just fake lashes? Right?), they do their job extremely well.

One minute before you jump off…I want to remind you, again, about the safety of your eyes. Please toss out those mascaras you’ve had sitting around for more than 3 months. The tubes are an absolute breeding ground and the wand is probably the only makeup brush in your arsenal that does not get cleaned daily or weekly!

If you are not sure you want to invest in a full size tube, go with samples or travel sizes. They cost less and let you experiment more.

Now it is your turn to tell me…what is YOUR favorite mascara and why?

Until we talk again, kats and kittens…MUAH!

Mascara: History, Science & the Magic Wand...

Mascara: History, Science & the Magic Wand

 

Hey All! Welcome back Kats and Kittens.

Today, let’s delve into those beautiful curtains to the windows of the soul, your eyelashes. I wanted to cover some of my current and even past, favorite mascara but when I pondered the subject I began to think about how much more information I could pass along. That being said…

Mascara has quite the history! Our earliest records regarding the first known documented uses take us back to 4000 BC. Ancient Egyptians used “kohl” as a way to protect themselves from those evil spirits that wandered all willy nilly around the place and they used it as decoration around the eyes. Some scholars believe it was also one of the earliest uses of sunglasses, but without the glasses. (The dark material rubbed beneath the eye helps glare and it is still used in this manner today!)

Ancient Egyptians used kohl to darken the eyes, eyebrows and their lashes. Their tools of the trade were pretty primitive though in comparison to what we have stashed in our beauty drawers now. Back then the ingredients were packed into pressed cake and then applied with a dampened brush.

Those ingredients? Uh yeah…charcoal, soot, honey, water, malachite and crocodile dung. Mmm mmm the smells of fragrant kohl crocodile poop from your local mascara dealer.  At least the brush was high quality though. Today we pay a pretty penny for real hair bristled brushes.

Our version of mascara didn’t arrive onto the scene until the 19^th century when Eugene Rimmel, a chemist, used a brand new creation called petroleum jelly to develop a new formula that was creamier. Still made a big mess though!

Much like rival movie studios that tend to produce similar movies at the same time (Armageddon vs. Deep Impact) a T.L. Williams was hard at work on perfecting his recipe for mascara too. His goal was better mascara for his darling sister, Mabel. Want to take a guess on the name he would eventually give his company? DING! DING! DING! We have a winner on computer number 3! Maybelline.

Let’s fast forward several decades to another intense rivalry between Elizabeth Arden (yes of that Elizabeth Arden) and Helena Rubinstein (not a well known name but you are about to start paying her homage). These ladies were single handedly on a mission to bring makeup mainstream. It would no longer be something looked down upon or brushed off as unnecessary on the fashion scene. They took the world and Europe by force. And as a result makeup grew in popularity.

Rubinstein was not content though and in 1957 she changed the game completely. Rubinstein had been hard at work on the problematic mascara. It was still being used in tins with rod brushes. It was incredibly messy. She worked to create a lotion like mascara she would then package in tubes. This eliminated the open tins and made it incredibly less likely to look like you’ve went to war in a Vaseline coal mine war. Later the mascara “rod” was replaced with the familiar wand shape we have today.

Now let’s look into the magic!!!

Just kidding. We are going to delve into the science, which I know will fascinate you just as much as it does me and because you want to know what is going on your face. You should always, always, ALWAYS know what is going on your body – especially your beautiful peepers!

Some of the most common ingredients found in all mascaras are:

·         carbon black (or in the case of brown mascaras it is iron oxides),

·         Oils: linseed, castor, eucalyptus, lanolin, turpentine, sesame

·         Waxes: paraffin, carnauba, beeswax

The actual ingredients change depending on brand and even the desired effect you want from a mascara. Water-resistant (there is no such thing as truly water proof) mascaras will often have dodecane. Non-water resistant will have water soluble ingredients.

The common ingredient all mascaras have is a stiffening agent and these could range from methyl cellulose, ceresin and gum tragacanth.

Lengthening/thickening mascaras have nylon and rayon fibers. Mascara brands that seemed so revolutionary with their fibers that took your lashes to extreme with the whole two step system? Yep…your favorite mascara had been doing that for decades. They just added in a shit load more fibers.

Speaking of shit…

Know that rumor that bat guano is in makeup, or rather that it is in the really expensive brands, or it was in makeup in the past? No it is actually a misconception due to a similar word. Guanine. That is the ingredient that many…okay probably like one or two affluent people made the mistake when reading the ingredients and then ran with the whole story. Guanine is actually an addictive for color that is taken from fish scales. You’re welcome. Mmm mmm…fishy fishy! (But when you think about it there was once poop in mascara but it was crocodile. No bats here!)

 

Now the stage is set for Part II, Return of the favorite mascaras. I promise that now we have the basics, the mystery, science and history out of the way we can now move on. Just remember! An educated consumer is an intelligent, safe wickedly beautiful diva!

 

Now go on kats and kittens...Be the Beauty in the Mirror and enjoy this day without worrying about poop :)

 

Often Imitated...Never Duplicated

Hey All!

I know I promised that the next post would be one about mascara but I felt that one about quality makeup should come first.

In this instance I'm not talking about how the makeup goes on your skin. I'm talking about the actual ingredients in the makeup. One of the biggest problems in the makeup industry is forgery. High end makeup brands are often targets for scam artists. And scam artists NEVER have your best interests in mind. They definitely are after money and they do NOT care about your health!

I love that we live in a global technological age where we can be informed shoppers. I love a good deal as much as the next gal or guy. And I'll be the first to admit that I've been scammed. I'm always looking for a good deal because makeup can be really expensive. Who legitimately wants to pay wholesale on a bottle of foundation that can run up near $75? What about palette's of eyeshadow around $60??

Nuts!

I recently did a makeup walk-thru with my husband and he nearly had kittens when he did a mental math tally of my makeup collection. His response, "Well this should last you a couple of years!"

"Uh...some may last several months but some you have to replace due to safety reasons." I had to explain that all makeup has an expiration date. Some, granted, have a much smaller expiration window and rightfully so. Mascara is the number 1! Ladies...if you have mascara over 3 months old, throw it out. You are playing Russian Roulette with your eyes. And you do not want those beautiful peepers to weep infection and become crusted over. And you DEFINITELY do not want to risk your eyesight! Here is a great link. (You can take an MD's word for it)

So back to shopping and expensive products. There are Apps left and right to help you be a savvy shopper. I have several that I use consistently. There are several websites that I use to save money. And I get some incredible deals. I recently got a kickass Coach in near new condition for $45. SCHWWING! Steal. Love it! I love saving money.

On the same token several months ago I was so super jazzed about snatching up Urban Decay's Naked Palette 2 at $20. Score! That's $30 cheaper than Sephora, Ulta and Urban Decay's website. It was way cheaper than Amazon too! I caught it off one of those Apps and even saw it on Bonanza.com where people sell stuff. Like an online flea market such as Depop, Top Hatter etc. (I also saw this on one of them too)

I got it in and it looked exactly like Maesin's. It had all the same colors. It was labeled the same. The only apparent difference to the naked eye, without touching the colors, was that the metal to the palette didn't feel the same, it was much thinner. The tin was a muted, washed out shade. The "real" one is pretty solid with a vibrant color. And the smudger/applicator was pretty crappy quality. I dismissed the applicator because, in general, most applicators that come with makeup tend to not be the greatest. (Most. Not all)

I couldn't wait to put it on. I did all the right skin prep. I put on my lotion and primer and started to sweep on color. It started to crumble and the shade barely showed up! Absolutely no pigment. I had to rub the color with my finger several times and swatch it on my inner arm to even get a good swipe.

I read through the ingredients and compared them to my other Naked Palette's and while it seemed to be the same...I knew it wasn't. Time for homework. After reading and watching several experts, I realized the truth. If it seems to good to be true in the makeup world...it probably is. I had a fake. And it was even worse because it was an eyeshadow.

Eye product fakes are the most dangerous. They are near a soft, porous entrance to your body covered by only a small membrane. The people that make these makeup don't care about your health. A recent study by the Staffordshire Scientific Services (They were analyzing 10 products bought online. Only 2 were real.) The ingredients found: high levels of copper, lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and dirt.

Yep not only dirt but deadly ingredients that could endanger your life. The problem is that this is a very wide spread problem. The trick is to buy from trusted sites. And I hate to say but EBay is not a trusted site.

So what can you do? As I mentioned, develop a great relationship with products. The more you know the brands you love, and the type of product you love, the better you know how to spot a fake. Some of the top brands that get fakes are: MAC, Urban Decay, Benefit, Younique, tarte. These are mid-range in expense and are what predominately run the makeup market so these are easy targets. High end stuff like Charlotte Tilbury, Chanel etc are not as replicated due to the complexity of their product design and their packaging design. (Hard to replicate shimmering beads in a glass bottle)

If you are shopping online look at reviews. I know that on eBay there are some sellers that pedal fake crap that have rave reviews. That's because they have some ignorant people that don't know their butt from a hole in the ground. You are NOT going to find a pot of MAC eyeshadow for $5. If you do then it is either used (used eyeshadow is dangerous...that's like sharing a tube of mascara with someone with eye herpes) or it is a fake.

If you can, look at packaging. Forgeries never look as good as the real thing. They are out to make a buck and spending the money on packaging cuts into the bottom line. If you receive your product and it looks cheap...send it back. If you cannot get a refund then report them. Leave negative feedback. Protect your fellow makeup enthusiast! We have to stick together to protect each other for makeup scam artists out to make a quick buck at the expense of our health.

One last note. I've mentioned pigmentation a couple times now in a past blog and in this one. Forgeries and cheap makeup both have this in common. Cheap eyeshadow can often be just as bad for you as a forgery. It can have a lot of "filler" that is no muy bueno! Always just caution on anything that you put on your face. Take some time and do a little research. Ask around. You do a carfax on your car...do a makeup fax on your makeup.

Kisses my Kats and Kittens and you be the beauty in the mirror!