Product Review: L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara (Waterproof)

I, for one, did not buy into the initial hype of the L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara, just because I have several mascaras that I'm using and they all do a decent job of adding volume and length so I didn't need another one in my life. That is, until I found this to be on clearance for a measly $3 at Walgreens - then I just had to try it.

I'm surprised by the packaging, it feels very well-made in my hand and I dig how sleek and reflective it looks, it even *clicks* closed. I didn't make a conscious decision to pick the Waterproof edition but it was the only one they had, so against my own reservations I decided to take the plunge.

The shape of the mascara wand is... odd. It's unlike any other wand I've ever used and it's clearly made of synthetic fibers, which sometimes I am a fan of because I find that they separate my lashes well and don't cause much clumping. I found the formula to be neither too thin nor too thick, but definitely steering closer to the thin side, so you can easily layer this mascara with others or using multiple passes of itself. I find it akin to the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara, except I think the Butterfly wand makes it much easier to apply the mascara precisely and all the way to the ends of your lashes.

Photo of eyes with 1 pass of L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara (Waterproof)

I only quickly applied one coat of the mascara to my lashes at 7AM in the morning and then I took this photo at 11PM (after 16 hours of wear!!). You can see there has been no transfer, no flaking, and my lashes looked just as good as they did in the morning despite the fact that I spent about 30 minutes walking through a pretty bad downpour of rain. I apologize for the jankiness of the photos but I was pretty tired and lazy so I just used my phone to snap a eye-selfie (an eye-fie?). While I wouldn't say it added a drastic amount of volume to my lashes, it definitely lengthened them well, even curled them upwards and was very comfortable to wear (non-irritating to my eyes which can sometimes be sensitive to new mascaras).

Overall, I'm highly impressed by this mascara and although I am not a fan of waterproof mascaras, this mascara is a definite must-buy if you're looking for something to last you all day, not flake, or transfer. I can't comment as to the efficacy of the non-waterproof formula but the waterproof formula gets two very eager thumbs up!

E.L.F. (EyesLipsFace) Smudge Pot Review & Swatches

I'm so excited to bring you this new review of the ELF Smudge Pots! These are an ELF dupe of the Maybelline Color Tattoos and they offer a wide variety of colors (I hope they add more to this) and the website sales apply to this product (recently they had a 50% off new products sale which I took advantage of to pick up the entire line for $9!). These smudge pots used to retail for $2 but were recently increased to $3 (thanks to reader Renate for this info), which makes them a very affordable alternative for cream eyeshadow, seeing as the Color Tattoos retail for $6.99-8.99.

Look created with ELF Smudge Pots

This is a look I was able to create with the following:

• Cruisin Chic all over the lid
• Poppin Party in the crease
• Pearls of Wisdom as browbone highlight
• Gotta Glow in the inner corner of the lid
• Ocean Bound as lower lash liner
• Ain't That Sweet? on the inner corner of lower lash line
• Supplemental products: Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara (black), Chella Indigo Blue liquid liner, and Jordana Fabubrow eyebrow pencil (02 medium brown)

The formula of the lightest three of these shades (Pearls of Wisdom, Ain't That Sweet? and Gotta Glow) is thicker and you have to warm the product up with your finger to get decent color payoff - these are definitely the most sheer shades. The rest have a more mousse-like consistency, softer than Maybelline Color Tattoos and the darker shades have the best color payoff.

ELF Smudge Pot Swatches natural lighting

 Hit the Town looks like a medium gray in the pot but really comes across in swatches as a mixture between gray and brown, more wearable than just a straight-up gray. Pearls of Wisdom, Ain't That Sweet and Gotta Glow work best as highlight colors or can be used in looks that require just a slight wash of color, and also make fabulous eyeshadow bases.

ELF Smudge Pot Swatches indoor lighting

 Gotta Glow would make a nice highlight for a look featuring Back to Basics, Cruisin Chic or Brownie Points. Cruisin' Chic is a taupe, Brownie Points is essentially a copper, and Back to Basics is a true wearable gold.

ELF Smudge Pot Swatches with Flash

Poppin Party appears fairly scary in the pot, but when swatched it is a beautiful and easily work and blended out eggplant color (it's definitely not a saturated clownish purple). The same goes for Ocean Bound, which is more of a smokey blue than a true bright electric blue. 

I highly recommend these, especially if you can purchase them for 50% off on sale. If you have multiple color tattoos then you will definitely see similarities between these shades and the ones you already have. Maybelline's Caramel Cool is very similar to Brownie Points (they are a few shades apart with Brownie Points being slightly darker), Gotta Glow  is a more gold version of Barely Branded, and Pearls of Wisdom is a more sheer and less metallic version of Too Cool. You will find similarities but you will not have exact dupes of colors, so I think it's safe to say you can add these to your collection! Happy shopping!

Getting Thicker and Fuller Eyelashes

As we age, we inevitably lose a lot of our youthful allure, and along with this comes the thinning out of eyelashes. In a society that covets beauty and eyelashes that touch the sky, most women are highly concerned with keeping the drapes of your eyes beautiful. Eyelash loss can occur from aging because your lashes will shorten and wear at the ends and grow more sparsely, appearing thinner. Some people have allergic reactions or trichotrillomania where they inadvertently pull out their eyelashes because it feels good to them. Allergic reactions can be to various chemicals in the makeup you're wearing (specifically in mascara, eye pencils and eye shadows). One way to avoid makeup reactions is that Sometimes we have to be conscious of the fact that even the creams and cleansers we are using to keep ourselves looking 'young' may be causing hair loss due to allergy. Certain medical conditions, such as the reaction to chemotherapy for cancer treatment, alopecia (systemic hair loss due to autoimmune condition whereby the immune system attacks the host) and hypothyroidism can result in losing your eyelashes and all over the body.

Obviously if you are playing with your eyelashes, try to keep that down to a minimum or do not touch your eyes at all, if it can be helped. If there are products that you suspect are inhibiting the growth of your lashes, stop from using them. Make sure to stop using your mascara after every 3 months, replace it immediately. If you use the same exact one every day, you will probably want to replace it every month even if the bottle is not finished because there are contaminants on the brush and you don't want to be passing bacteria. You never, ever want to share your makeup with anybody under any conditions because eye infections and other diseases are highly transferable this way. If you suspect that you have a serious medical condition and that is why your eyelashes are falling out, make sure you visit your doctor and do a thorough investigation.

How to fake longer lashes

There are some beauty tips and tricks to use if you quickly want your lashes to look longer and fuller. Make sure you use a lengthening mascara with false fibers and volume that will add to what you naturally have. Apply your eye liner very close to the base of your lashes to give the appearance of fullness and to frame your eyes. You could place false lashes on your eyes if you feel comfortable with it, and if not, you can visit a cosmetologist to do it for you.

What can you do aside from wearing false eyelashes on a daily basis or tons of coats of mascara? These options are much more difficult and unnatural-looking than just having naturally beautiful eyelashes. So let's review the options for how to grow our own eyelashes more plentifully.

Natural remedies
First you may want to try applying Vaseline on your lash line while you're sleeping as the petroleum jelly may promote moisture in the environment and increase lash growth. Olive oil and vitamin E oil can have the same effect, just make sure you don't get it into your eye during application. Remember to remove anything you apply to your eyelashes at night during the morning before you apply your makeup. Brushing your lashes with a designated lash comb can improve circulation and promote hair growth, so do this as often as possible if you know that you do not have a rash or skin problem. Improving what you eat  and your overall nutrition can affect your body's vitamin balance which will promote hair growth. A deficiency can lead to thinning of hair all over your body and not just your lashes.

How to Simply do the Perfect Smokey Eye

Following a few simple guidelines, you can create a simple smokey eye and tweak the various steps to create a look that is truly unique and beautiful; truly you.

First you will want to, as always when applying eye makeup, prime your eyelid with concealer or a primer, in my case I used MAC's NC20 concealer to create a flat surface to which the eyeshadow can adhere. Then take your favorite black pencil eyeliner, in my case Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliner in 'Zero', and draw a line overtop of your lashes. Continue this line and smudge it up over your eyelid and even in the crease. Use a brush to smujdge it out and create this 'smoked' effect, don't worry about being too clean about it, the fabulous thing about a smokey eye is that it's supposed to look uncontrolled and sultry. Make sure to color in between your lashes so you don't have patches of skin that show underneath the smokey eye; fill in your lashes. Then use a black eyeshadow or a dark eyeshadow (in my case it is MAC's 'beauty marked') and apply it liberally over top of the smudged black liner. I suggest that if you have lighter skin like I do, you stick to a darker shade of a color rather than going with black. This is simply because you will have huge contrast between your eye makeup and your skin and might end up looking like a raccoon if you overdo it! That being said, you can truly use any eyeshadow for this as long as you blend, blend, blend it in!!!

The next step consists of taking a shade lighter than the shade used to cover the eyelid and contour the shape of the eye, I used Urban Decay's 'Last Call' eyeshadow also available as 'Queen' from the Alice in Wonderland palette. Accentuate the arch of your eye, this is where you can play with scale and shape and give yourself the desired shape you want. Some people choose to not blend in their shadow here but, as you can see, the color will look very potent and this may not be appropriate for wear during the day or at work. I choose to continue blending it in. I also apply a highlighter, usually just a white eyeshadow or a very light neutral, lighter than my skin-tone. I blend the contour color and the highlighter together thoroughly until no edge can be seen. The final step is an application of liquid liner, I used Stila's liquid liner and some black mascara to give it that polished look. Finally, you can line your waterline (underneath your eye, above your lower lashes) with one of the colors used and apply an eye pencil on top just to make the colors pop. This last part is entirely optional in the look, some people prefer not to do it because their eyes are too sensitive.

I chose to go in a purple/plum direction with this smokey eye look, particularly because purple makes brown eyes pop really nicely as it is a complementary color. However, this same look can be done using any color, or any neutral you'd like, just remember that the base color should be the darkest and anything you apply on the contour should be a shade or two lighter. Experiment with your looks and let me know what creative ideas you've come up with!