Sunday, September 20, 2009

My First Makeup Review!



I LOVE eye make-up. I don't always wear it but when I do I like to apply it creatively and have fun with it. I'm addicted to buying all kinds of eye make-up products-- especially when I find them on sale. I mostly buy and wear drugstore brands but do occasionally splurge on more up-scale brands. I have a weakness for Sephora, but usually just browse unless I'm specifically looking for something.



I use the following products to create this look:
* L'Oreal Carbon Black Voluminous Mascara
* L'Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense
* L'Oreal H.i.P. high intensity pigments Bright shadow duo in Brazen
* NARS Blush in Orgasm
* Avon Big Color Eye Pencil in Vanilla
* Mark by Avon Glossblossom Ripening Lip Tint



Review time...

I'm a big fan of high-pigment eyeshadows. It's tough to find this at the drugstore but there's the occasional exception. L'Oreal H.I.P high intensity pigments Bright Shadows are pretty decent for the money. I purchased Brazen-- a duo of bright pink and chocolate brown, which is what I am wearing in these pictures.

These shadows are true to the hues in the pot and are pretty blendable. Not as blendable as my Urban Decay singles are but considering that they are half the price at $7.99, these shadows are well worth their cost.

Avon Big Color pencil in Vanilla is a great shade to use as a highlighter. I applied it to my brow bones and the inner corners of my eyes to brighten my look. It's a nice blendable formula and a great shade. Just wish it didn't have little flecks of glitter. Shimmer is fine but glitter isn't really my thing, though it's not terribly noticeable with this product.

Last week CVS had a special on L'Oreal Carbon Black Voluminous mascara Carbon Black Lineur Intense. $4.99 each sounded good to me so I brought them home. I'm not a huge fan of L'Oreal Voluminous mascara usually because I find that it's too natural, but I wanted to see if Carbon Black was more dramatic. In my opinion, there's nothing worse than putting on makeup and not being able to tell that it's there. I guess if I wanted "natural" I forgo the makeup!

Let me just say that I really like the long, thin shape of the felt applicator that the Carbon Black Lineur Intense has. It makes it much easier to apply the liquid liner with precision and creates a thin line that you can gradually build up by adding a little liner at a time without it becoming caked on and flaky.

The Carbon Black Voluminous mascara needed a couple of coats and wasn't as dramatic as the L'Oreal Extra-Volume Collagen mascara but the formula applies very evenly and NO CLUMPS! This, I like.

NARS Blush in Orgasm is totally not something I would normally buy just by seeing the shade. This shade has gotten a lot of hype from people saying that it is a universal shade that is flattering on everyone. When I first saw it as Sephora I thought that there was no way that this peachy-goldy tone could look good on me until I tested it. And...I loved it. It's now my go-to blush.

Mark's Glossblossom ripening lip tint is a nice thinner-consistency gloss that "ripens" to a rosy pink shade once applied to the lips. It's actually a knock-off of Smashbox's O-gloss Intuitive Lip Gloss, but I think that it is actually a superior product comparatively. I like the consistency of this product better-- O-gloss is a bit sticky-- and I like the Glossblossom's shade is slightly more intense.

So there ya have it.

Any suggestions for what I should review next?

1 comment:

susannahbean said...

I love this post! I went out and bought a HIP eyeshadow because of your review! I haven't tried it yet though. I'm totally wanting to play around with makeup, I've been stuck in the same routine for a while. I'd love to see a post about how to wear and apply really bright colors...!

xo,
sus<3