My Nails are Back!!! My 2 Step Recovery Program

I have pretty much, always had nails like granite.  Then one day, like your first rogue chin hair or the moment you think every publisher has changed their print to mice type, my once lovely nails, were splitting and bending.

It was then that I discovered Nailtiques Formula 2, a strengthener designed for weak brittle nails.  After that, I used it with routine and once again my nails flourished.

Combating Dark Circles

NYX Dark Circle Concealer
about $6.99

Well, yuk...I've always been lucky enough not to have an issue with dark circles. I'm a good sleeper and I'm not feeling particularly tired.  Usually just a swipe of any concealer would do the trick and a few days of vacation eliminated the need for using it at all.

Sadly, my luck seems to have run out!

Naturally, I needed a quick fix and fortunately, I found a simple two step solution. The first is a lucky, random find, the second, something I decided to order from Amazon, after reading a rave review on Makeup Alley.  Nicely, they are both inexpensive...Cheap and cheerful!

Yippee!

L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Primer

L'Oreal Voluminous Primer
$7.99

Now here's a happy addition to the L'Oreal family.  I LOVE primers.  They make an enormous difference in volume and length and technically, the first coat (best done one eye at a time) can just be slapped on with abandon. Follow up with your favorite mascara and you will be  thrilled with the enhancement.

Pinkie swear.

A "pro" tip on their website suggests applying two coats of primer for maximum effect.  Oh joy! I was tempted to remove my eye makeup now, just so I could try it out for myself.  The morning can't come soon enough.

My first primer was Lancome Cil Booster XL.  It's a fantastic product.  It's also expensive and dries out fairly quickly.  My cheaper cheerful cheat, was to purchase stepchild  L'Oreal's Superstar Mascara, which is a two stepper with a built in primer.  Hate the mascara. LOVE LOVE LOVE the primer and it lasts for months. For $12.99, it was less than half the price of Lancome's, so I still feel like I was getting the better deal, even though it was a bit wasteful.

Nicely, L'Oreal has now created Voluminous Primer as a stand alone product for $7.99.  I haven't bought it yet, (since I still have plenty of Superstar left), but I'm hoping upon hope, they didn't try and reinvent the already perfect wheel.

If any of you Lovelies try it before I do, please let me know.  I'm pretty sure, this is a winner...

xox,
DD

Speaking of Brows...

Benefit Gimme Brow 3 Shades
$24

L'Oreal Brow Styler Plumper
Light/ Med, Med/Dark and Translucent
$9.99

A few years back I discovered Benefit's Gimme Brow a tinted gel with built in fibers. It's a fabulous product and surprisingly, has not been copied in the mass cosmetic market until now.

Benefit has now increased their Gimme Brow shade options to three, they also seem to have shrunk the tube by a third.  I was, frankly, shocked and a wee cranky, when I took it out of the package.

Wha happind???

L'Oreal Revitalift Volume Filler

L'Oreal Revitalift Volume Filler
$21

It's been a loooong time since I've found a moisturizer that I like as a night cream.
This cream is very rich so I could not imagine using it before makeup, but at night, it feels just right. If I wrote about every night cream I have bought and returned lately I would have to change my blog name to DivaDowner.

More importantly, my skin does look plumper and perkier! Mind you Lovelies, I am a devout nightly user of my Jenu Ultra Sonic Infuser.  I got a wee lazy and took about 6 weeks off from using it nightly.  Let's just say you gradually return to a hag.  It doesn't hit you quite  how effective this little gizmo is at making your creams and serums considerably more effective, until you start using it again.

Lessen learned...Now it even gets packed for vacations and long weekends.


Revitalift Volume Filler and Jenu are a formidable duo.  Don't let the big box or nice size jar, fool you though...I will probably get 3 weeks out of it at best, but if it gets the job done, it's worth it's weight in La Mer.

Reviews  for Revitalift Volume Filler are fairly stellar....I always prefer reading them after I've formulated an opinion.  I also like trying and reviewing products that are readily  available to my readers, despite receiving numerous pitches each week to sample little known brands.

I know it's loaded with good old Hyalluronic Acid which does help keep skin plump and hydrated, and some other proprietary ingredients to add volume.  Do I see a difference??? 

Yes. I do. This version of Revitalift Volume Filler was created for day and night use. Since I don't use it by day, I will pick up the one that is intended for night time use only when this runs out next week. 

If this is good, I'm hoping for even better. 

Stay tuned....

Xo,

DD 

P.S.  I purchased the night time only version.  Oddly, the consistency is far thinner than the day and night cream.  I actually prefer the thicker one.  If I'm slathering before bed, I want to feel like I'm doing some "good" and yes that means a heavier cream. I will return and repurchase my original pick.

News Flash: Finally Found! The Drugstore Mascara of My Dreams and Maybe Yours!

I've really gotten to spend more time with my equally beauty obsessed cousin Karyn.  We had a bite out recently and the waitress thought we were fraternal twins.

Essentially, we have been snapping pictures and texting each other scads of "must have", "Cant. Live. Without."  products from our home arsenals.  Karyn is a Latisse user, but her eyelashes are spectacular and I immediately had to know what mascara she was using...

As someone who cottons to the really good stuff , I was ecstatic to learn her Holy Grail mascara was CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume.  Music to my ears.  I ran out to CVS the next day to buy it.  I also found the newly launched Maybelline Colossal Spider Effects Mascara, that I had searched for a few days before. 

As you may recall, it was on the most loved list of a TotalBeauty editor who swore off her prestige cosmetics for a month, replacing it with drugstore products only. I made a list of what I was interested in trying and this was at the top of it.

Flashback Friday: L'Oreal Superstar Mascara

L'Oreal Superstar Mascara
$11.99. Cheaper when purchased anywhere else than Greenwich Ct.

If any of you are wondering how I fared with the original Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara, you would have to ask the lovely man at CVS who accepted it's return.  I found it to be no more inspiring than the new "Luscious" Lash Sensational Mascara, that they recently added to the already brimming portfolio and I had already boomeranged back.
While there, I did purchase a new 2 step, L'Oreal Superstar Mascara...not that I will actually be using it...to clarify, I purchase it because the step one primer is the real superstar here.  I LOVE primers.  I adore being able to slap on that first "coat" with abandon.  A good primer will thicken and lengthen anything that goes on after it. Pinky swear.

I used to always buy Lancome's Cils Booster XL Lash Primer for just this purpose.  When I ran out one day, I decided to try the primer that comes with L'Oreal Superstar Mascara and hope for the best with the mascara.  The mascara disappointed, but not the primer!  It far exceeds big sister Lancome's primer (they are owned by the same parent company, as most of you know), and at a fraction of the price!

Once you use a primer, you will be a lifetime convert.  Rather than thinking of it as yet another product, think of it more as your first, best coat of mascara.

As always, you are so very welcome.  Happy Weekend All!

xox,
DD

Review: Maybelline Skinny Precise Gel Waterproof Eyeliner

Maybelline Skinny Precise Gel Waterproof Eyeliner
$7.99 ish

Not surprisingly, I have about a million VIB Rouge Beauty Points with Sephora.  It's a nice program and if you shop at Sephora, it certainly makes sense to sign of for their generous rewards program.

Often, I just take a pass on whatever is being offered when I checkout; who knows why?  The last time I made a purchase, something finally did appeal. Marc Jacobs Ulta Skinny Blacquer Gel Eye Crayon had the teeniest, tiniest tip I'd ever seen. Yes please do give me one of those.

What I loved about using it was the level of control I had. It is nearly impossible for me to line my inner upper and lower lid with a liquid liner, without somehow getting it in my eye. Not. Pretty.

With the use of this tiny pointed pencil, I was able to achieve the "doe eyed" look I covet, handily. The trick is to line both the lid,  especially the inner most corner and the upper waterline and then connect it after flaring out beyond the eye, with a full sweep underneath to the inner most corner.  Hard to describe, but this should give you the idea:

The problem unfortunately with the Marc Jacobs Eye Crayon, is that it both ran and faded, leaving me with a gloppy mess in the corner of my eye and no liner on my lid.

Oh well.  I had never saw a pencil that skinny and didn't think I would again but dreams do come true! There it  was front and center with the newest offerings at CVS in the Maybelline section.