Maybelline You Surprised Me...

So I hate drug store make-up. Strong statement, I know. Why?

First off aside from the lower-end department stores, drug stores have horrible lighting. We're talking full on bright lights that know how to highlight every perceived flaw. Bad lighting and make-up just don't make a good match. I always end up buying things that seem like a good idea in the store but as soon as they hit daylight it's pretty obvious that the pale shade of pink is really full on florescent fuchsia. Not pretty.

Second, do you know how hard it is to choose make-up hidden behind plastic? Incredibly hard. As much as I hate the thought of everyone's grubby hands and lips rubbing all up on the department store testers, at least you can rub it on the back of your hand and hope for the best. In drug stores, you're stuck holding a plastic and cardboard container up to a tiny mirror in the hair department. Hmm I think this looks ok... And again in the privacy of your bathroom it usually looks like complete junk.

And third, I haven't been overly impressed with drug store make-up. It usually feels cheaper to me. Like a knock-off version of their more expensive sister. Snobby maybe? From experience, I've found the shades don't always look the way you would think (lighter or darker), the consistency isn't always as great, and the staying power isn't always there. I've had eye shadow fade out by 11 am and I work a desk job.

Still, my one hold out was Maybelline. I love their mascara. Swear by it. (I really like it but mascara is also the one thing I refuse to pay over $10 for). So the other day when I was depressed I couldn't afford to buy out the Clinique counter, I wandered over to the Maybelline aisle at the grocery store and I ended up buying an eye shadow and liner. I justified that the costs - probably $10 for both - was cheap enough that if I hated it - I could toss it.

The thing is, I was delightfully surprised. I've gotten their mousse blush before and liked it so I don't know why I was so terribly shocked. Maybe because I've tried other brand's eye shadows and been horribly disapointed? At any rate ... I found myself looking in the mirror today and thinking - wow that is actually really pretty. And, it's after 7:30 pm and it still looks just as good as it did at 7 am. So I had to go on here and brag about them a little bit. I mean hello, if you can save $10 over the department store, why not give it a try? I got Sunkissed Olive (see photo above) and I think it'll be perfect all summer. I mixed it with Maybelline Cinnamon Spice (a hint from the Clinique counter to tone down green with a copper color). I'm in love. It might replace Clinique's Beach Plum as my go-to this summer... or at least be my alternate.

I took the lighter color that came in the duo and ran it across my lids, up to my brows. I always put a lighter color in the inner corners of my eyes to wake-up a bit so this works perfectly (and not too much shimmer that you look like you're clubbing at 8 am). Then I took the green and ran along my upper lash line and in my crease. I took the Cinnamon Spice and filled in most of my lid (minus the green areas and stopping a little past my pupil). Then I blended and lined my eyes with a green/gold eye-liner. Actually also Maybelline but I can't find it on their site.

So, what's your favorite drug store make-up?

Make-up Review: Almay

Ok I can't write the whole product name in the title because it's like three thousand words long. Seriously. Ok so this review is for Almay Intense i-color powder shadow trio for greens [eyes]. What? I don't have green eyes... I bought this one because the one for brown eyes was gross and this one was greens and purples.

So what does it look like? It's three shadows - a light green, a dark green and a dark purple. I was on a kick of getting something that I don't already have and it was also free with the mascara purchase see here.

I will have my disclaimer here - I've tried it twice. One, I don't wear green eyeshadow a lot and two I've been super lazy recently and been using my Bare Minerals Heart (purple color) and Blush (pink color) shadow. Super pretty if you just need some quick color. So anyway, yesterday I tried again.

Here's what I've found each time. The shadow goes on bright (as in wow are you wearing green eyeshadow?) but quickly lightens and a creases by the end of the day. You could say why don't you wear eyeshadow primer? My answer, I don't wear primer with any of my other shadows and they don't crease. I usually run concealer over my eyelid and then powder to set - my other brands are always okay with just this and frankly and I don't want to add the costs or time of primer to my list.

Bad: the eyeshadow fades and creases.

Good: The colors are really pretty - however the creasing and fading is annoying - I don't like looking like Mimi from Drew Carey in the morning just to have color by 5 pm. I'd probably try to find similar colors in other lines next time.

Price isn't bad - I can't remember how much it was since mine was free but I want to say typical drug store line $8 range.

My advice? I can't say buy it - I don't feel like it held up. Eyeshadow to me should pretty much stay put. It's fairly inexpensive so if you want to try it with primer be my guest. I would rather invest my money in products next time that I know have staying power - I know Clinique and Bare Minerals both have greens and purples in their lines.

Make Up Review Clinique Vitamin C Lip Smoothie

I'm a lip gloss junkie. Open my purse on any given day and fifteen lip glosses in various shades of pinks and nudes will tumble out. So when Clinique came out with the Vitamin C Lip Smoothie I had to try it out. And by try it out, I mean buy 2 of them.

Pros: No messy wands. Not super sticky like some glosses. Beautiful semi-sheer colors.

Cons: You have to twist the bottom of the tube to get the color to come out on the brush. The first time you do this, it takes forever and then a glob comes out. I'm not sure I like the brush better than the messy wand... jury is out on this. Price vs. quantity. At almost $18 a pop that's a little steep (I think) for a rather small tube of gloss.

I picked up:

Pink Me Up - a sheer almost bubble gum pink. I'm scared to say bubble gum because that makes me think 1985 but it is a pretty pinky pink. Goes on fairly sheer though so you're not talking bright grandma lips.

Raisin the Bar - a more neutral brownie-pink.

I like the lip gloss but I don't feel like it does anything dramatically different from my hoards of other glosses. Bottom line - its worth a try but I'm not sure it will land in my all-time must have favorites.

Make Up Review Almay intense i-color play up thickening mascara

Wow long name. Okay, let's start by saying I love Maybelline mascara. The only time I usually use anything else is if it came with a free gift from a department store. Nothing against Clinique or Estee Lauder mascara but I've never seen how they are any better than Maybelline and they are at least twice as expensive. My feeling is if you can get a great product for around $8 why spend $20 plus?

That being said I was inspired by my recent writer's club meeting. A woman there had on royal blue mascara. I liked it because it was unexpected.

So off to CVS I went. Unfortunately as far as I can tell Maybelline does not make colored mascara. So I settled for the Almay mascara mentioned above. I'm not a blue girl so I chose the Purple Amethyst and as an added bonus apparently this brings out my eye color.

The pros: the mascara goes on and comes off easily. No eye make-up remover needed. Also, it didn't clump on me even after I added multiple coats.

The cons: It's not my blackest black Maybelline? Actually this is a complaint. It's so subtly purple you can't even tell and on my naturally black lashes it looks almost brown - and if you know me you know that I detest brown mascara (it might be okay for people with pale lashes but bring on ultra-black for me). In Almay's defense this mascara would probably be okay on someone with fair lashes (or someone who doesn't like to use the darkest mascara known to mankind).

The first day I wore it by itself (two coats on all lashes top and bottom). When I grilled my husband he couldn't even tell it was purple and in his defense I had to test it on my hand to be sure it was. Today I tried layering it over my black mascara. I'm pretty sure I'm going to try to exchange it for a new tube of my Maybelline Intense XXL.

On a side note and an unofficial review. I also bought Almay intense i-color bring out powder shadow. Seriously, they need to work on their names - well known make-up colors always have short quirky names not names that take half a sentence to write. I didn't like the color choice for brown eyes so I bought the one for green eyes - its two green powder shadows and one purple. I need to try it again but the day I wore it, the colors go on pretty intense and then faded to almost nothing by the end of the day. I will say it didn't crease (just like their website promises). Anyway, I'm going to say this is unofficial since I've only tried it once but once I play with it some more I'll give a final verdict.

So my quest for a colored mascara continues. I'll keep you posted on what I find.