Kai - Mascara Guard

Kai -Mascara Guard
Price: $4
I love random, weird, and possibly useless beauty tools....  Which is why I bought the Mascara guard.
It's a little plastic tool that is used to prevent mascara from getting on the eyelids.
It also has two different sizes of mascara combs for unclumping....

I thought it might be handy, since I occasionally ruin my makeup by the tips of my lashes, or the mascara brush hitting my upper eye lid.
Especially when I am trying to get my lashes to be as full as possible.

It sounds good in theory. The problem is i have to use one hand for the mascara guard and the other for my mascara. Which is really awkward.....
It's so awkward, that it is just easier to be careful, or at least more careful, when applying mascara.

The only real plus to the tool, are the two mascara combs on the handle.  The two different sizes are good for controlling how the lashes end up looking, a bit spiky and full, or fine individual lashes.

So this is definitely a gimmick tool, and not worth the couple of bucks I paid for it.

Favorite Makeup of 2010 !!!

Favorite Makeup of 2010

Mmmmm Makeup. I think I've bought more Makeup in the past year the the sum of my entire life... Korea has such a wealth of inexpensive, but amazing make up. It felt like every time I left the house I would run into something amazing that I just had to have.

But I had a hard time making this list. My favorite skin care list was Easy. Makeup, is harder. Even though I tried lots of things, and liked many of them, a lot of them weren't things that I would go back and buy again and again.....
But there are certainly a number of amazing things I've found :)

Foundation/ BB

Let me introduce you to the BEST BB cream ever!!! It's the 'Absolute total BB' by Skin79.

It's super expensive at 29900 won($30!!), but on g-market it can be  as cheap as $9 :).

It is light, but with great coverage, super natural, makes my skin feel better after using it, has an SPF of 37 PA +++. It's AMAZING. I am almost done my second tube!


Highlighter

I'm willing to bet most of you have heard amazing things about Benefit's liquid highlighter (high beam and moon beam). I myself thought it sounded so good, I bought it. It's true, It's lovely. But this, Lime secret shine base by skinfood is SO much better! For one thing, it's huge, 30g compared with High beam at 12g(.45oz)
For another, Skinfood lime shine base costs only $7 less than 1/2 the price of Benefit's($24)!
Plus it has a more liquid consistency (easier to blend), looks more natural, comes in 3 colors, and smells lovely.
I use it every day, I mix a little into my BB foundation, and I get SO many compliments on my skin. I have bought all 3 colors, and doubles of those.... It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Awesome!


Eyeshadow

It's skin Color play trio

I had a lot of trouble picking out a favorite eyeshadow this year. I found lots of nice ones, ones I liked. But some how all of them were less than exceptional. But then I remembered this BEAUTIFUL eyeshadow that I bought at It's skin. This gorgeous baked trio that was so smooth, so fine and blended so beautifully. It broke after I had used it maybe twice, then I couldn't it in stores... :(


Mascara

Holika Holkia -Enamel Magicara

For a long time Majolica Majorica has produced my Favorite mascara's. Their Mascaras are always exceptional. But Majolica is Japanese, and I have been living in Korea.
So when I encountered this mascara by Holika Holika, that looked freakisly similar to my fav from Majolica, I was sold.
And while the brush style is different, the mascara is exceptional. Big full lashes, long lasting, and not quite as hard to take of as Mojolica's.
It's a winner.

Lip tint

Etude House's Fresh Cherry Tint

When I was young, and I first got into make up, I thought lip tints were amazing. But as I got older I began to notice how immature the results were, how patchy, the colors odd, few choices, and a funny taste. 
The Fresh Cherry tint is beautiful, creamy, goes on evenly, has a lovely color (there are 3 options) and generally looks nice!


Nails

Face shop nail polish

Finally, my favorite nail polish.  There isn't just one..... Korean nail polish is cheap, good quality and comes in a million colors. It is an addiction.
Shown is one of my favorites, a subtle gold glitter(who would have thought), that is subtle and work appropriate. It just always looks beautiful!


So, that's it for my favorites of 2010, but coming up next, my MOST HATED products of 2010. Disasters, wastes of money and break outs galore!

Majolica Majorica

Majolica Majorica - Bk999
Price:

I Love Mascara. I think I might have mentioned that before... Maybe...
This though, it the best, most wonderful mascara ever.
My old stand by, cheap and reliable was covergirls Lash Blast.  I have discovered, that for my lashes a comb, or silicone brush is better than a traditional brush.
But until I picked up the Majolica mascara I wasn't toally sold on the comb. They generally work well, but it's rare to find a mascara that is actually exceptional/
This mascara is exceptional.

The comb despoits color evenly, extending the lash tips, while sperating and thickening. The result after one good swipe, beautiful, thick long lashes.
It only takes a swipe or two to be perfect, any more and clumping will eventually happen, as is true with any mascara.
However, unlike other mascara's you really don't need to keep swiping. Hell, I look like I have false lashes on after two swipes.
It's perfect.
And the mascara formula is both very darkly colored and wet enough that it does dry out, in the tube or on the lash (so no lumps...).

The only fault of the product, is it's staying power. It's intense. The mascara stays on FOREVER! No regualr eyemake up remover is match for it. It's definitely the most difficult to remove mascara I've ever encountered. I have to use a heavy duty mascara remover, and sometimes I will still find traces the next day, or two days later....
But I've cried and sweated, and rubbed my tired eyes in this mascara, and it doesn't budge. It's fail safe.
I love the Majolica Majorica mascara.
Love love love!

Skinfood Allantoin clear mascara

Skinfood Allantoin clear mascara

Price: $4.50 (4500won)

Clear mascara might possibly be one of the most pointless makeup products out there. I have no idea why it exists… It’s not like it’s a top coat for mascara. I have one of those, although I think they are pretty pointless too.
What in the world is the point of having a clear Mascara? Seriously, someone comment and explain it to me!
I have fairly well behaved eyebrows (complete topic change I know, but bear with me). But I like to have perfect eyebrows.
Back in Canada I use a cheap New York Color (ie. Walmart) brow powder and wax.
The wax is sooo wonderful, it makes my brows lay perfectly flat without making them hard.
Here in Korea, there are tons of Brow powders, but nothing to make the brows keep their shape, or to stick down fly away hairs.
Sure I can use hair wax (I know you’re thinking well duh.) But that’s completely impractical for carrying around in my purse, or travel, or…
Hence the clear mascara.

But… The mascara doesn’t do anything….. At all…  It just… sits there. It’s not like actual mascara, it doesn’t seem to coat anything, or glue anything together. It basically even more useless than I thought. Which is completely perplexing to me.

So hair wax it is.

Rimmel Glam eyes

Price: ~7.25

One might wonder why I bought the Rimmel Glam eyes mascara when I already am in love with the CG lash blast. It might seem like a waste of money.

… Well, there was a cute little crown on the mascara, and it came with a free eyeliner….

Damn gimmicks, they get me every time,

Anyway…

The Rimmel glam eyes does come in adorable tube. Its black with a matte black lattice and a shiny pink crown.

Inside the brush is silicone and curved.

The little spokes though are very short…. Especially compared to other Mascara’s. I have no idea why this is…

The result though, is barely done eyelashes.  It does darken them, and thicken them a little. But not much. Not much at all.

The composition of the mascara is pretty good though. it’s a good dark color (sometimes black just isn’t very black), it doesn’t clump, and it only smudges minimally. It’s not waterproof, so crying/ rain does make it run some, but not terribly, and it isn’t advertised as waterproof, so really this is to be expected.

I think the issue is mostly the brush.

In the end the mascara isn’t terrible. I keep it in my car for emergencies (*laughs*). I wouldn’t buy it again.

Maybelline pulse perfection mascara 

(Vibrating)

Price: about $15 (ewww for a drugstore brand)

Ok. Ok. I was taken in by the glittery and new…

And its maybe line. I don’t know why I even buy their mascara, I hate them ALL.

This one is the worst though.

The whole gimmick is the brush vibrates, separating the lashes, supposedly making them fuller.

It doesn’t work. My cover girl BIG LASH gives me bigger fuller lashes.

I can’t even tell the difference between using the mascara with and without vibrations.

One thing that the mascara does well, is it clumps very little, even with a couple of coats.

The vibrating helps with this, but barely….

The reason I hate this Mascara though, it flakes.

It flakes like crazy.

I admit, I tend to rub my eyes. But this is ridiculous, After like an hour my boyfriend is saying I have black stuff all over my face.

And I do… It’s so bad.

Even when I don’t rub at my eyes at all, the stupid stuff still flakes.

It’s so bad it’s un-usable.

CG exact eye lights 

(black ruby) 

Price: ~6

Cover girl has never let me down when it comes to mascara, well, that it until the exact eye lights collection.

They SUCK.

The brush design is basically the same as CG’s Lashblast. So really there are no complaints there.

But the mascara itself is Shit.

It wasn’t worth the money I paid for it.

I have Hazel eyes…. Which I know can mean pretty much anything. Technically they are blue and brown, but they come across green. So my eyes look fantastic with subtle red. I have a gorgeous liner by Sheer cover that’s subtle, but makes the green POP.

So when I bought the  Eyelights in Black ruby, that’s what I was hoping for.

I didn’t expect to open it up and find a tube of red mascara.

 I didn’t expect dramatic results.

But I had hoped for something. 

For my whites to look just a bit whiter, and the green a bit greener….

No…

In fact, the color, though slightly red, tends to turn ashy on my lashes.

So they end up looking like I have white primer on my lashes.

It looks wrong.

I’ve even tried putting it over/under other mascaras.

With no success.

The Eyelights line is a complete rip.

CoverGirl lash exact 

Price: $6
Until Cover Girl came out with their Lashblast mascara, this was my go to Mascara.

I think the brush design is amazing. It applies a good amount of product, while separating the lashes.  The result, longer fuller lashes, with minimal clumping.
Now of course the soft silicone brushes are everywhere.
But even still I  keep a tube of this around.
The mascara itself is dark, long lasting and doesn’t flake.
I find the non-waterproof version to be better than the waterproof. They seem to be equally long lasting…. But the water proof is hard to take off, even with make up remover, so I always end up with raccoon eyes when taking a shower, because there always seems to be some I missed….

Covergirl lash blast

Price: $6

This is my FAVORTIE mascara.  I’ve used everything from wet n’ wild to Lancôme and Buxom (from Sephora). But I always always always come back to Cover girl Lash blast.

Why?  It’s cheap, and it always works.
I get consistently big, beautiful lashes, with almost no clumping. With barely any smudging ( I am  an eye rubber) and NO flaking!
This mascara gives as good as any of the Big name mascara’s! I was hooked on the comb mascara by Elizabeth Arden for quite a while. But CG is just as good, at nearly a quarter of the price!

Maybelline intense xxl  volume +length micro fiber mascara

Price: $6.34 @ Walmart US

Since I madly love big full dark lashes, any product that promises to make my lashes bigger, fuller and/or darker is a must try.

Since maybe line isn’t a brand that I normally like for Mascara I’m not entirely sure why I even bought this particular one… 

It’s the standard duel mascara, a white base coat, that adds length and fullness to the lashes, and a second, black coat to make them dark.

The base is pretty good. It goes on smoothly, and does add a bit of length, and a tiny bit of fullness.

It’s not exceptional. But it’s good.

The mascara portion, alone is also pretty good. It’s a nice deep black, it clumps some, but nothing major, and it adds some fullness on its own.

Perplexing the base and Mascara are not a good combination…

With the addition of the base, the mascara all of a sudden clumps like crazy!

I’ve tried letting my lashes dry after the base, gently combing them through before and/or after they are dry, then applying the mascara.

Still, they clump, a lot.

The Mascara worn alone,  fairly rub and smudge proof. It lasts a whole day, then removes easily with make up remover.

With the base, all of a sudden it flakes…. And smudges.

Its idiotic.

Mascara mascara mascara!!!!!!!

In honor of my obsession with mascara, this week I'm doing All Mascara reviews! There are a number of normal back home brands, cover girl, Maybelline; including the latest gimmick, vibrating mascara! But I've tossed in a few Korean Mascara's too.

So enjoy!!!!!!!!!!