Are All Lash Primers Created Equally?

Clinique Lash Building Primer
$15.50

In a word, NO.

Why do you even need to use a  lash primer? For starters, a good one, is a great first coat for top and bottom lashes.  You can't mess it up, so I apply it with abandon. It's all about what it does for the second coat, your actual mascara. Basically, it amps up your lashes, making them appear thicker and longer. Actually, they will be, thicker and longer.  One coat will usually suffice.

My friend Suzanne had told me how incredible her lashes looked using Lancomes Cil Booster XL Lash Primer. The beauty Gods must have been smiling down on me, because I was able to pick up a sample of it, with my VIB points at Sephora on my very next visit.

In a word, WOWZA.

Since then, I have gone through two tubes. Though I wasn't mad for the price, $26, I was mad for the result.

On a Sephora run recently, I noticed that Clinique sold a "lash building" primer for over $10 less. Considering we are talking about lash primers, it's not an inconsiderable sum.  Too bad they were sold out, as was Nordstrom's and Bloomingdales. Finally, this past Saturday, Sephora was restocked.

Naturally, I was only more curious about a primer that flies off the shelves.  I asked Roy, one of my favorite Beauty Advisors, at Sephora in Greenwich, for his input on Clinique's Lash Building Primer vs. Lancome's  "I think you are going to be disappointed, ultimately, it's thinner, the coverage isn't as good and the result doesn't have as much impact."

Well, if you asked me my opinion, having used it for two days, I would say re-read the above.  Roy nailed it.

If you are going to spend the time on a two step approach, you might as well go with the one that gives the best result; Lancome Cils Booster XL Lash, despite the additional cost.

I went to return it yesterday to purchase the above, when I made another lash discovery...a mascara and primer kit.

xox,
DD

P.S. False Alarm!  I thought Too Faced's lash primer and mascara kit was the answer to all my dreams. After three days of using it, I can see the primer is going to run out way before the mascara. Back it goes! This time, I will stick with Lancome Cils Booster XL Primer and keep searching for my HG mascara. And the beat goes on...

A Sharp Eye; a feature on Polyvore and Moi!

A Polyvore tutorial from the Lifestyle website A Sharp Eye

A few weeks ago, my friend Nancy Ireland, co-creator of one of my must read websites A Sharp Eye emailed me for a bit of help with an article she was writing on Polyvore. Nancy knows I am a self described, "Polyvore addict". You have all seen my Polyvore fashion sets, because whenever I create one, I post it to my blog as well as Instagram.

Nancy's website, A Sharp Eye, is a fun. informative daily read that gives you the 411 on all things cutting edge on topics such as travel, entertaining, fashion, events and happenings, gifts, technology, health, family and philanthropy.

I love love love websites that synthesize the world for me. A Sharp Eye, like my other daily read Need 2 Know, a news summary. are essentially my Cliff Notes on life. If you feel inundated with information, here are two places that take the toil out of keeping pace and I am ever grateful.

Nancy is also a wonderful client of mine at Richards. As her Personal Shopper, I have joyfully, attended to her and her families wardrobing needs for the last 15+ years. I also hope, I return the favor of simplifying her life, by taking the toil out of shopping; pairing down the trends, keeping my eye open for things that she will love and building on past purchases with new items to freshen them up. (For your complimentary appointment, please call me at 203 622 0551).


Imagine how pleased I was that Nancy decided to personalize her informative Polyvore piece, by siting DivaDebbi  as an example of how the site resonates professionally and personally for its users. You can read the entire article here.

Once again, she takes this oft misunderstood website, gives a synopsis of it's backstory and explains to the lay person, how you to can bring the shopping world to your finger tips in just a few strokes.

Case in point;  when I was one of the keynote speakers for the Breast Cancer Alliance luncheon in 2012, peplums were having a moment. I got it in my head that in October, I wanted to wear a pink peplum dress. Good luck finding it...

But find it I did! I was able to use Polyvore's shopping site to find something in minutes, that I could have fruitlessly shopped for, for weeks.  5 minutes later, a pink peplum dress was ordered and on it's way to me from Matches in London.

DivaDebbi and friends
Breast Cancer Alliance Luncheon 2012

So here's to friends and all the tips we share to make every day of our fast paced lives, just a little bit easier.

Happy reading, happy shopping and my thanks, Nancy...

xox,
DD

Review: Maybelline's The Falsies Push-Up Drama Mascara

Maybelline's The Falsies Push-Up Drama Mascara
$7.49 anywhere on the planet...$9.49 in Greenwich, Ct.

I know I'm like the proverbial dog chasing it's tail...I just keep hoping, upon hope, that one day, very soon,I will find my Holy Grail mascara. Not only will it add volume and length and neither flake nor smudge, but it will also be a cheap and cheerful find.

Thus, I couldn't resist picking up Maybelline's newest entry The Falsies Push-Up Drama Mascara whilst on my latest CVS run...

Dinner at Eight

Dinner at Eight by divadebbi featuring heels & pumps

Oscar de la renta dress, $6,930 / Christian Louboutin heels & pumps, $915 / Alexander McQueen pre owned handbag / Dr Hauschka lips makeup / Givenchy eyeliner

Wanted!

Wanted! by divadebbi featuring a graphic wallpaper

Lanvin short white dress, $1,190 / MaxMara leopard coat, $2,195 / Gianvito Rossi ankle high boots / Louis Vuitton brown leather purse / Tom Ford sexy eye makeup / Serena Lily graphic wallpaper

TotalBeauty's 9 Best Cream Blushes...and Mine!

TotalBeauty is one of my happy places.  Their beauty editors and writers are top notch, they publish DivaDebbi on their website and they compile results based on thousands of loyal readers detailed product reviews. As a result, they often put together Best and Worst Of slide shows, based on the aggregate ratings. I always end up taking notes.

This weekend they featured their 9 most highly rated cream blushes. While I was surprised that my HG cream blush, Makeup Forever High Definition Blush did not make the cut, I was delighted to see two cheap and cheerful entries; Revlon and NYX Cream Blush. I'm on the tail end of my third Makeup Forever HD Blush and I will definitely be trying one or the other based on their shade offerings.

Did your blush make the cut???

Transition to Fall

Transition to Fall by divadebbi featuring a crop top

Elle Sasson crop top / Chanel pencil skirt / Gianvito Rossi slip on shoes / Christian Louboutin leather messenger bag / Press / Kevyn Aucoin lipstick, $37 / Pressed Baby's Breath - Real Pressed Flowers

Flashback Friday: Vichy Liftactiv Serum 10 Eyes & Lashes

$36 1 oz.

I recently bumped into my colleague Joe and his beautiful wife Lucille at Serafina's in East Hampton. It is always gratifying when people tell me, this product or that which, I reviewed, became a game changing favorite for them.

Lucille said, "I can't thank you enough for turning me on to Vichy Liftactiv Serum.  Just look at my lashes!!!" True enough, they were lovely, long and lush...

I originally ran out and purchased Vichy Liftactiv Serum, after reading that my blogger friend Jane Daly of Daly Beauty had such great success with it, she was forgoing mascara! (click here for the original post).

I too, had fantastic results without any of the habitual redness I inevitably develop with prolonged use of any lash enhancer I have ever used.

A Little Liv

A Little Liv by divadebbi featuring a beige wallpaper

Etro embellished shirt, $680 / Alexander Wang mini skirt, $490 / See by Chloé suede bootie, $510 / Yves Saint Laurent shoulder handbag / Prada retro glasses / Charlotte Tilbury palette eyeshadow / Charlotte Tilbury makeup brush, $92 / Charlotte Tilbury bronzing powder, $75 / Serena Lily beige wallpaper

Micellar Water; What is it? And do you need it?

Bioderma Micellar Water
Europe's Leader in the Category
$19 USD

Simple' Micellar Water
$7.99

Two years ago, when I was in London visiting my dear childhood friend Nancy, she treated me to a magnificent whirlwind of cultural and culinary events, castle tours in the country side and of course our requisite shopping.

There we got down to recommending our absolute beauty must haves for each other to purchase.  I had never heard of Bioderma Micellar Water, but Nancy insisted it was one of those products that lives in the vanity of every self respecting woman in Europe and I needed it STAT. Oh-Kaaaaay...but can you tell me what it is and why I have to have it???

No.

Of course I bought it anyway.

 By definition:  

1. Micellar water is a skincare product that removes makeup and cleanses the skin, without the need for rinsing.

It took me nearly two years to use the entire bottle, partly because I still didn't completely understand how I was supposed to be using it.. Micellar water is far too gentle to be the only thing I use to remove my make up. As a toner, it doesn't have the requisite "ping" that makes me feel like another step actually happened. Mostly, I use it on a Q-tip to correct eye make up gaffes, or to gently refresh my skin if I am reapplying makeup from day to night.

So, as I hit the tail end of my bottle, was I going to replace it?  If Bioderma was my only option, at 3 times the price, probably not.  But I was doing an Ulta run,  (I can't believe I'm stalking yet another beauty emporium besides Sephora and CVS,) and spotted Simple's Micellar Water on sale for $6. 

Too good to pass up...

Can I tell the difference between the two??? Not a chance and  I use them exactly the same way. 

How about you?  Do you use Micellar Water?  Do you need it? Is it a case of the Emperor's new clothes? Is there any there, there???

Still not a clue.

I will be visiting Nancy again at the end of October.  I'm looking forward to spending time in the country house she and her husband have lovingly built, sheep and all, but if I know my Girl, there will be a tiny "Chemist's shop", somewhere, with something, " I absolutely, must have".

And have I will...and so may you.

Xo,

DD

P.S.  Nancy's marching orders:

You are wayyyy to funny!  Soak a cotton pad with the damm stuff!  Put it on your eye.  All the eye makeup.....  Every single bit of it.  Let the soaked cotton pad do the work.  Let it sit on the eye for a minute.  Then wipe.  It will handle anything you through at it! Oh. And don't forget...no rinsing! Ditto, the face makeup. 

I love you.