Kevin Aucoin The Eyelash Curler; Must You?

Kevin Aucoin Eyelash Curler
$21

Kind of...That is if if you want to achieve a big bump in curl that holds, directly from the lash line.

I have a 5 year old Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler.  For years, it was the Holy Grail of EC's by anyone's standards.  Why they chose to stop selling this iconic product at U.S. retailers is an enigma; profit, is good...No???  For die hards, you can still purchase it on their website though.

I am a little obsessed with my equally beauty obsessed cousin Karyn's lashes.   After seeing her recently, I wanted a full report on every product in her current arsenal.  She, unlike me, is someone who can successfully use Latisse, without looking like a bunch of fire ants march over her irises.  Her lashes are spectacular.

Besides that, she also uses Kevin Aucoin's The Eyelash Curler, which she swore was even more effective than her old Shu.

Good 'nuff for me...

Flashback Friday: Almay Smart Shade Butter Kiss Lipstick

Almay Smart Shade Butter Lipsticks

When I put on my face each day, I find it important to see everything in balance, lip included.  As such, I always have and extra of my Holy Grail MAC Soar Lip Pencil, and whatever my lipstick du jour is,( Bare Minerals Chase Your Dreams) in my, none too organized, makeup drawer.  This keeps me from having to rummage in my, none to organized, handbag for said accoutrements.

This morning I gave up Chasing my Dreams.  When it was nowhere to be found, I reached for Almay's Smart Shade Butter Kiss Lipstick in #50 Berry Light/ Medium.  Wow this is a fabulous creation!!!
I loved them (I bought several) after originally blogging about them last January.

A hybrid of lipstick and gloss, they do feel positively buttery and moisturizing on the lip. Added bonus? Rich pigmentation and staying power...I'm in love, all over again.

MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick; Dreams do come true

MAC Amplified Cream Lipstick
$16

I've never had much luck with MAC Lipsticks, even though MAC Soar Lip Pencil is my Holy Grail nude pink liner, so much so that I hoard it.

I'm not a mall goer. I can never remember where I entered, which makes exiting a challenge... I had to go to the Westchester Mall recently, so as long as I was trapped  there, I figured I might as well visit the MAC store to pick up an extra "Soar". (They were, BTW, sold out of Soar.  Everywhere...their stores, their website and at all of their retail partners.  This would be tragic for me if I didn't already have a back up stash.)

Once there, I couldn't help perusing the lipsticks.  MAC makes 14 different types of lipsticks, not including glosses or palettes.  It is nothing, if not overwhelming.  The last MAC lipstick I purchased was from their long wear collection. Like many lipsticks that provide hours of wear, it also felt like sandpaper.

One Perfect Thing; Chantecaille Peony Long Lasting Eyeshadow

Chantecaille Long Lasting Eyeshadow
in Peony $28 for starter for refillable compact

The one thing, I'm not sure you Darling readers truly grasp, is that my raison d'etre, is to find the Holy Grail of every beauty category, so I can scratch one more off my list. 7 years in, don't you see I'm really just trying to simplify my routine and yours by extension?!

How do I know when I can't live without something?  When I use it down to the nub, or have to eek out the remnants with a Q-tip or makeup sponge and then buy it again and again.

One example is my lip pencil---Nothing can or ever will come close to the utter, rosy nude perfection of its color and semi dry consistency of MAC's Soar. I've tried and failed and now I just buy it bulk.

I love the look of a very full lid. The best way I have found to achieve that, is with a barely pink hued shadow, that is not matte but doesn't shimmer. I have scoured. The difference is very subtle. It can't be too beige or too bright.  I have bought and returned at least a dozen, each time thinking I found, "the one".

And then I did...

Cheap and Cheerful: EOS Lip Balm

EOS Lip Balms
3.29-4.99 at Ulta and Drug stores nationwide

.
No...these are not Easter Eggs, just cheekily packaged lip balms from EOS aka Evolution of Smooth.

Mine is Sweet Mint, and it resides on my bedside table.  Applying it, it my last beauty do, every night before I fall asleep.

I picked this up on a whim at CVS a few months back and I'm so glad I did.  Infused with vitamins, Shea butter, and antioxidants it's got all of the good stuff and none of the bad: petrolatum and parabens. It feels luxe, tastes delish and makes my lips feel plump and lush.

In the morning, my lips are perfectly primed for a day of my Holy Grail lip pencil, (MAC Soar) and my latest obsession, Pur Minerals Chateau Kisses Lip Plumping Gloss (a lovely hybrid between a stain and a gloss.)

Can you really ask for more for under $5 bucks???

I think not...

xox,
DD

A Crisis! MAC's Soar Lip Pencil is out of stock EVERYWHERE

Over the years, I have written about MAC's Soar Lip Pencil at least a half a dozen times.  It's my Holy Grail Lip Pencil.  It seems incongruous, that NO ONE else makes a pink nude with brown undertones.  Believe me, I have bought every wannabe and dupe.  Besides the perfectly natural hue,  part of what makes it perfect is that it is not a waxy self sharpening liner, but a wooden one that can be honed to razor sharpness.

I usually horde them and can almost always find a stub or two stashed in a handbag:

It was time to replenish my stash, so I stopped into Bloomingdale's, my closest and easiest place to purchase MAC.  Quelle horreur! I blanched as she told me they were out of stock and would not have it again for about 3 WEEKS!!!  As a Bloomingdale's Loyalist, she offered to ship me
one from another store free--Big sigh...FINE.

It was then that her colleague stepped in and informed us both that it was sold out company wide and not just at Bloomies, but Nordstroms AND MAC's website as well!!! Sure enough, I checked and he was right. Panic immediately set in....

Bobbi Brown Italian Rose Creamy Lip Color; The Search is OVER

Bobbi Brown's Italian Rose Creamy Lip Color
$26

For as long as I can remember, I have purchased a new lipstick nearly every week. Sometimes they're class, sometimes they're mass...but it has all occurred expressively with one goal in mind; to find my HOLY GRAIL lipstick.

It has eluded me until now.  That's more years and more tubes than I care to tally. It required 4 separate shopping trips to find my new love, Bobbi Brown Italian Rose Lip Color.  My usual haunts, Sephora, Saks in Greenwich and Blue Mercury in Rye, were all sold out.  If Bloomingdale's was also going to disappoint me, I swear, the tester might 'accidentally' have ended up in my handbag.

So what is my idea of the "perfect lipstick"???

Take It All Off: Lierac vs. MAC

I first discovered LIERAC Paris Diopti Demaq, in well, Paris.  I had forgotten my eye makeup remover and happened upon it, in a beautifully stocked small pharmacy.

It has such a lovely consistency. Diopti Demaq is a crystal clear gel that contains floral water of rose, cornflower and mallow extract and gently and cleanly removes all traces of eye makeup.  It is also infused with vitamin B5 and keratin, which helps to prevent lash loss and will leave your eyes feeling contoured and refreshed.

It was best remover I had ever found and lasted for well over 6 months. Imagine my surprise when I realized Lierac Paris Diopti Demaq was available at CVS upon my return. It had been right under my nose and I didn't even know it.

I purchased it many times over the years, occasionally trying other products,
always returning...until it disappeared off the shelves and Lierac's website.

Tragique.

Review: MAC Mineralize Lipstick

MAC Mineralize Lipstick
$22 (Grande Dame 4th from left)

I went back to the MAC counter on Friday, but didn't brave the mall again.  I was curious about the lipsticks and gloss that Indian Makeup Blog paired with my Holy Grail Lip Pencil Soar so I went back to Bloomingdale's to see them up close.

Lovely as they were, they were too light for me. My last lipstick purchase from MAC was a huge disappointment. MAC has several different collections of lipsticks.  The one I chose was from the 'Satin' collection. It has languished nearly unworn for months.  The texture was as dry as paste...don't asked me what possessed...

I did of course ask if anything was new, and the lovely young woman who helped me was excited to show me the lipsticks from their new "Mineralize" collection.
I immediately honed in on 'Grande Dame' a gorgeous rose that manages to be both natural and bright. It looked perfect for Spring.

MAC's SOAR: The Ultimate Lip Pencil

MAC SOAR Lip Liner $15
Photo courtesy of Indian Makeup Blog

There are a few things that I consider my "Holy Grail" products.  Years of trial and error have taught me they are at the top of their class and nothing can top them...despite this, I am still at times either fickle or lazy and purchase other products.

Without question, MAC's SOAR Lip Pencil, (which I have written about many times before) is the perfect, natural, rosy, nude.  Since it is such a universal shade, one would assume there is a version of it in every beauty collection. Not SO.  Not even close. Even if it appears to be close, it won't be once you see it in sunlight.

I knew it was time to toss all my other look-a-likes, so I made a trip to Bloomingdale's, the only free standing store in my vicinity that sells MAC, since I am mall phobic. Tragedy struck, when I found out they were not surprisingly sold out of SOAR,

Good God, that meant I had to go to the Westchester Mall.  Those who know me, know my sense of direction is non-existent, so I might be able to enter it, but exiting is dicey...