To Lash or Not to Lash That is the Question

So you see the girls on TV with their long thick lashes and you know that they're falsies so you think should I? Will they be too hard to put on? Will I not be able to get use to them? Will it end up costing too much? Well let me just say DO IT!!! You'll love them! Now first let me say it's going to take time to get use to them AND it's going to take time to learn how to put them on correctly. Don't think that the first time you're going to be able to just slap them on perfectly and that they're not going to bother you in any way.

Alright so first things first... I highly recommend you go and watch this video by Vintage or Tacky... Lash Tut  I watched a gazillion videos about applying lashes and none of them helped me like this one. Then you'll need to get your supplies. First you'll need a brush to apply the glue. I got a cheap slanted brush from Walmart....

Then you'll need some good lash glue. I use LashGrip, it's cheap and it works really well. 

Okay now it's time to decide what lashes to buy. You have to ask yourself, are you looking for a dramatic effect or are you just wanting an every day look that's just making your lashes look a little longer and thicker. So here are some I've bought and what I think of them.....

#1 Hot Kandi lashes Classic #138

Now Hot Kandi has a number of different styles so you're not limited to these. 

The problem with Hot Kandi is they're based in the UK so you have to order them online and have them shipped to you. Now if you were in the UK these would be a great deal however once you add shipping to them it's about the same cost as the lashes I buy here in the US. These have an almost invisible lash line which is a definite plus. But for some reason I have a heck of a time getting these on. However when I used them to do my cousins makeup I had no problem what so ever putting them on her so who knows. These are great lashes but perhaps you should wait to try these until you're a bit more experienced. 

#2 Modlash

Modlash is my favorite brand. They run about 4 dollars a pair and you can find them at Walmart, Sally's, Target, Ulta and just about any other drugstore. I wear the top pair #26 for everyday and #28 when I want to be a bit more dramatic. I highly recommend these for your first pair! They also have cool ones like this....

Add a little bling to your look :) Now the bling lashes I've only found at Sally's and they have quite a few different kinds with the bling on it. 

#3 Eylure

I just bought these for the first time yesterday at Ulta. These are a little more expensive at 6 dollars but they're double lashes so they're a little more thick and VERY dramatic. 

I really like these but they're definitely something I will save for special occasions. 

Now something else to know.... you can reuse your lashes as long as you make sure you carefully clean the glue off of the lashes after you wear them. Make sure you keep the packaging to store them because you're going to want to stick them back on the rounded packaging so that they keep their shape. I highly recommend Neutrogena oil-free eye makeup remover to get the glue off. Gently remove your lashes, put them back in the package and then use the eye makeup remover to remove your eye makeup and the glue. Just a tip... make sure you shake the remover before using it. I literally went through a whole bottle thinking this was the worst remover ever then realized.... DUH you have to shake it up to combine the ingredients! If you take good care of the lashes and keep them clean you should be able to get a week of every day use out of them. Well now that you've got some info get out there and start using those eyelashes ladies!!! 

The Search for the Perfect Mascara

We all go through it. That seemingly endless search for the one mascara that makes you feel like you don't really need the falsies every day. It can be a spendy search for sure and a very frustrating search sometimes as well. Today my cousin mentioned wanting to find a good mascara for her wedding and in the hopes of saving her from that impossible search I immediately recommended my favorite mascara. Oh no I'm not going to tell you what it is quite yet. What fun would that be? You may not finish reading if I told you right off the bat! LOL So here's the search I went through and what I thought of each brand.

#1 Great Lash by Maybelline

I'm sure at some point we've all given this one a go. It's the mascara you remember seeing your Mom use when you were a kid. And I mean come on it has a pink tube! Who isn't drawn to a pink tube? Well if you've never used mascara and never seen a woman who has amazing lashes this mascara might work well for you. However if you know even a little about makeup you know that this just doesn't cut it. It gives no real length and clumping is a serious issue with this one. So out of 5 stars I'm going to have to give this mascara one star. 

#2 XXL Mascara by Maybelline

This one really isn't that bad. I actually used this one for about 9 months before deciding to try something else.  I really like the conditioning side, it seemed to help to lengthen the lash. And at this point having only tried a few mascaras I thought this was as good as I was going to get as far as length went. One of the downsides was because there is the conditioning side you run out of mascara before the typical 3 month mark. Also I did notice that it would flake off. Not a lot but enough that it was annoying! So for this mascara I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. 

#3 Glam Eyes by Rimmel

I have to admit I bought this one because I liked the tube. Hellooooo it has pink on it! LOL But I quickly was disappointed. I really didn't like the brush on this one. Soooo skimpy! I didn't feel like it covered my lashes very well. And because of that you keep putting more on and you get the lovely spider lashes. No one wants spider lashes! I also felt the mascara itself was rather thin, almost like it was watered down. So for this mascara I give it 1 star out of 5. 

#4 Lash Blast by Cover Girl

Now I don't know if I'm just hugely picky about my mascara or what but this one is another one that I didn't like the brush on at all. I felt like the bristles weren't long enough to really grip your lashes and transfer the mascara to your lashes. Once you did get it on it just didn't seem like it was giving me any help with the length at all. However I suppose if you have fairly long lashes this one wouldn't be too bad. So I will give it a 3 out of 5.

#5 Total Impact by Femme Couture

I bought this one at Sally Beauty Supply thinking that because I was buying it from a beauty supply store it was bound to be a good one right? Not so! The brush on this one is pretty good. But once you get this stuff on you either have to do the old toilet paper blink trick that your Mom use to do or not blink for at least 10 minutes because that's how long it takes this stuff to dry! I can't tell you how many times I messed up my concealer under my eyes because this stuff got all over the place. And considering it didn't do much for the length it was SO not worth the hassle. I give this a 2 out of 5. 

#6 Curl Up & Dye by Hard Candy

Let's be honest, who wouldn't want to buy this adorable mascara tube? And I think that's what they're hoping for. You're walking down the aisle looking for a good mascara and this adorable packaging jumps right out at you and you think.... I MUST have that mascara! Well I'm here to tell you to STEP AWAY from the cute packaging!! Let's start with the brush.... NO NO NO! It's long, skinny & curved weird. I'm gonna give it a big fat F in the brush department. Let's then move on to the mascara itself.... it's really thick and hard to get on without clumping or spidery lashes. Oh yes and let's not forget it doesn't dry very fast either. Yet another messy application. Oh and the worst part of all.... put the brush back in, screw it down tight and mascara starts ooozing out of the lid. Not a fun mess to clean up! So this I'm sure you've guessed gets a 1 out of 5! 

#7 Hyperlash by Smashbox

This mascara has one flaw.... the price! It's 21.00 for one tube. So even if this had been my favorite it's not something I could continue to buy every 3 months. I like the brush on this one and the consistency and time it takes to dry is great but I have to say that for the price I was not impressed with it's lengthening capabilities. In that department it didn't compare to my favorite. I would give this one a 4 out of 5. 

And now it's time for my favorite of all time!!!!

Are you ready?

Not sure if you're ready for this. 

Wellllllll ok guess I'll tell ya....... 

#8 Healthy Volume by Neutrogena

At 8 dollars this is an absolute steal! I love this mascara. I love the brush, the consistency, the dry time and most importantly how long it makes my lashes look! I have been using this mascara for over a year and love it. I don't know that I will every switch. So if you want to skip the search and move straight to the good stuff I highly recommend this mascara. And of course I give this one a 5 out of 5!! 

Tinted Moisturizer

I got this tinted moisturizer by e.l.f at the beginning of summer and I have to say I love it. If you are looking for an affordable tinted moisturizer I would highly recommend you give this a go. You can get it at Target for just 3 dollars and there's a great selection of colors. I think I am most impressed by the coverage it gives. I've never really liked tinted moisturizers strictly because I always felt like it didn't even out my skin tone good enough but not so with this one. I like using this on days when I'm just hanging out at home or if we're going to be outside all day at the lake or the pool. It has SPF in it as well so you get protection for your skin as well as the coverage and moisturizer. Now the consistency may seem a little off when you first use it.... LOL It's kind of lumpy. But don't let that scare you off, this is great stuff! I give it 2 thumbs up!! Get down to your local Target and pick up a bottle, you won't be sorry!!

Goodies Galore!

Well I have gotten a lot of goodies over the last couple weeks! So I had to narrow it down to some of my favorites to tell you about!!! So here's what I'm going to review today.....

e.l.f's Conditioning Lip Balm, Silk Elements' Heat Protection Spray & Revlon's Photo Ready Compact Makeup and Concealer

We'll start off with the e.l.f Conditioning Lip Balm! I got three different colors.... Peaceful Pink, Nice & Natural and Bombshell Brown. 

I love love love these!!! They don't add a ton of color so they're great for days when you're not wanting to wear a lot of makeup. And they definitely condition your lips! At 3 dollars for one of these I definitely recommend them! 

Next the Silk Elements Heat Protection Spray....

Another product I love! This product makes your hair so silky & shiny. 

Just be careful not to use to much or it can make your hair oily. 

Last but definitely not least the Revlon Photo Ready Compact Makeup & Concealer.....

I'm on a roll lately with great products! This is really good makeup. 

The only thing I dislike is that the compact makeup has a screen on it to liquefy the makeup and it can make it hard to get out at times. 

But this is probably the best match to my skin tone that I've ever found. 

I always end up with too dark or too light but this one was exactly right. 

I love the way it goes on as well, a smooth application! 

So that's it for today ladies! 

Hope this has been helpful in some way ;)