Review - Almay One Coat Dial-Up Mascara

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!

<3

-WW

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Note - this review is my opinion, was not compensated for and I purchased the mascara myself, for personal use.  If I'm ever paid for a review, or receive a product for free, I'll let ya know....Hell, I'll probably be so excited I'll let everyone know, but will always use my honest opinion no matter what.  If someone wants to send me free stuff to review or pay me for one, I think that's great, but I'll still not kiss ass for it.

This stuff is ok.  Not the best, but I'm not pissed I bought it.  I'm not sure what it goes for retail because it seems to have been discontinued in my area and I got it on clearance.  I have no idea what settings 1 and 2 do on the clicky thing, but seriously, who the fuck cares?  I can't imagine anyone using those settings because, to me, mascara is all about dramatic lashes.  If I want to look natural, I'm honest about it and don't wear makeup.

This goes on brilliantly and I've never, ever had a clump out of it.  Although it is advertised as one-coat, it truly does look better with two.

I could only find it in black-brown, which isn't usually a color I'd use, but I love it in this.  The brush has plastic-y knobby things instead of the spiral wire-twirl brush (loving those descriptions, aren't ya guys?).  Somehow the mascara seems (to me, anyway), to go on much smoother and I attribute the non-clumping to the brush because when you pull it out of the tube, you can look at it and tell right away if there's any clumpy problem-causing parts on it and wipe them off.

The only drawback is that this stuff is rather thin and takes for.  fucking.  ever.  to dry.  After you put it on, for the next 3 or 4 minutes, you'd better not dare even think about sneezing, eyeliner fixes, blinking, or anything else.  If you can go into a deep meditation and slow your breathing, all without closing your eyes, that'd be great.

Its a good thing to keep around for when you have lots of time to do your makeup, but I can't tell you how many times I've ended up with smudged mascara because I was in a hurry and had nothing else to grab.

This exact mascara?  Not bad, but not a re-buy for me due to the drying time, which is a pity because I liked everything else about it, but I just had to clean up WAY too many times and it gets frustrating after awhile.  This type of brush?  I will  hunt down to the ends of the earth.  Or clean this one after the tube is empty and use it on my next mascara of choice if it doesn't have this same kind.

<3
The Wookie Wifey

Review - Hard Candy Beauty to Go Hypnoteyes

Another review!  I know, you're shocked, right?  This one was a total impulse buy.  I'd been on the lookout for a good purple liner to replace mine.  Mine is Make Up For Ever and it is getting close to croaking and as much as I love it, I can't afford to replace it with another of the same brand, so when I ran across this Hard Candy set with the purple glitter liner, I had to try it.

Yep, blurry picture.  That's my fault.  You can thank blogger for the sideways part.  I edited the picture and had it right side up, but for whatever reason blogger insists I can not replace it, so oh well.  You can't win 'em all.  Either way, this was $4, I think, for the set which comes with one mascara, one eye liner, and one glitter mascara.  They are supposed to be minis, I think, but honestly only the liner looks small to me, the others look pretty standard size compared to some products I have.

When you open the box up, everything is wrapped in pretty pink tissue paper.  Maybe kind of stupid, but its the little things that get me and opening a store-bought cosmetic product to see something so frilly and gift-like is nice.  Add this to the fact that Hard Candy always has adorable packaging anyway, and I'm kind of smitten.

This is the Flat to Fab mascara and it is pretty damn awesome.  It didn't do as well on my lashes as the Buxom, but it did do a damn fine job.  I'd say this is one of the best drug store mascaras I've tried to date.  Pity my eyes hated it.  While this is a great mascara, I'd say to stay away if you have sensitive skin.  This stuff made my eyes water, itch, and sting something awful and I've never had trouble with another Hard Candy product.  Unfortunately, even the best mascara doesn't look so great once you've cried it all off.  If you don't have sensitive skin, however, this is one you should check out.

On to the lash tinsel!  This is made to go over a plan mascara, according to the directions, and god do I love this stuff.  This is the only glitter mascara I've ever had actually come out glittery, and it looks GORGEOUS when worn with Sephora Eye Glitter.  I guess the magic in this is that it is made to be worn over another mascara, therefore the glitter gets to shine to its full potential, and it does.  Serious twinkly lashes, for sure, and the glitter actually stayed put and didn't fall all over my face throughout the day and, oddly, this one didn't make my allergies go apeshit the way the other mascara did.

This is what drew me to the kit in the first place.  Take Me Out Liner.  It looked super glittery and the Make Up For Ever one I have is a metallic purple Aqua Eyes, so I was hoping for something comparable.  Did I find it?

Well, not exactly.  Kitteh is helping me review it and she isn't too impressed, either.

You can see how it comes out thin and almost sheer in some places then crumbles off in others.  I think this is due to the glitter drying it out because this stuff is just quite crumbly.  It goes on smooth, but just leaves chunks behind sometimes.  You can get them to smooth out easily with a smudge brush and still keep the line quite clear, but it is still sort of annoying and, to boot, the glitter doesn't show up.  Like, at all.  It pretty much crumbles off in the clumps and you get left with the lighter purple you see on the tops of the loops, which isn't bad, but not really what I was in for.  Basically, if I find absolutely nothing else, this will do in a pinch, but it (hopefully) won't have to be my new go-to to replace my old one.  Guess for now I'll keep trying.

Overall, I'd say the set was worth $4 just to find a good glitter mascara, though I can at least work with the purple liner.  The Flat to Fab, however, isn't going to make the cut since my skin is ridiculously sensitive, which is sad as it is such a good product.  Verdict?  Unless you have sensitive skin, go for it.

<3
Wookie Wifey

Estee Lauder Mascara Review

*This product was a gift, but opinions are 100% honest and my own.

This is Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume Lasting Mascara.  And that is a mouthful.

For such a pretentious-sounding name, I have to say it doesn't really raise the bar.  While it is something that was fun to try and I did get a bit of mileage out of it, my feelings on this are simply, "meh".

It has a standard brush, but I didn't notice a particular boost of volume OR length.  It colored my lashes nicely and lasted all day, though, so that's a plus.  If you already have long, thick lashes then this may be for you as all it seemed to do for mine was coat them, but if you're looking for something more, then don't look here, especially as their products tend to be rather pricey.  I didn't look this one up, but I can guarantee you that if it is more than 4 bucks, you won't be getting your money's worth, so this won't be something I'll be buying.  It isn't a bad product, just seems a bit mis-leading as I didn't see any extra volume from it.

<3
WW