2 Maybelline Mini-Reviews (and a random look!)

I have two mini-reviews for you guys today.

The first one is Maybelline Lots of Lashes mascara.  It has this nifty "heart shaped" (heart shaped?  Well, that's what Maybelline calls it--doesn't look heart shaped to me.) brush.  The idea is that the brush is tapered to make reaching the lashes in the inner corners of your eyes easier. 

As far as the product goes, it's just plain ordinary mascara.  It does what it's supposed to do.  It's not amazing, but it's not terrible either.  It cost about five bucks and I'd say it's exactly what you would expect from a five dollar mascara.

I suppose the brush is kind of cool.  My only question is this:  Do you guys switch hands or turn your wand around when you apply mascara?  Because I don't.  Which pretty much makes this brush only useful on one of MY eyes...and sort of awkward on the other.

The next one is Maybelline Unstoppable eyeliner.  I'm on a mission for the perfect eyeliner.  I hate Urban Decay 24/7 and Milani Liquif-eye is awesome but it causes irritation on my eyes.  My go-to drugstore eyeliner is Maybelline Define-a-Line.  But I'm searching for something with a little more staying power. 

This isn't it.

The displays at the drug store promised a product that glides on smoothly and stays put (boy, did I get sucked in!).  This eyeliner was much harder than I'm used to.  It also isn't retractable (unless I bought a faulty one).  It also didn't stay put.  At one point, I was trying to line my eyes and a big chunk of product popped out and broke off!  I paid almost ten bucks for this!  Worst eyeliner I have ever tried.  Even the pencil liner you can buy for ninety-nine cents was better than this!

Oh! One last thing.  I just wanted to share this look that I did for the Facebook group Never Too Much Sparkle.  The theme for this week was Lunar Eclipse.  I was really happy with the way this came out!

Eyeliner Woes!

Make-up has been my passion/hobby for roughly two years now.  I'd always wanted to learn how to apply eyeshadow without looking like a toddler that had messed around at her mama's vanity.  I had no idea the amount of information that would be available to me. 

Like so many people like me, blogs and videos supply us with ideas, recommendations, and opinions.  And even though opinions may vary from person to person slightly, I think there are some products that are almost unanimously thought to be the best at what they're for.

Like Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner.

I don't have a lot of disposable income.  I have four kids and a job that doesn't pay all that great.  I have bills on top of bills.  So when I do have money to splurge on makeup, I tend to think very carefully on my decision.  I have a wish list, of course, but I try to get the most for my money.  I try to *invest* in products that I know will serve me well based on what I've read.

Spending $17 for an eyeliner is a big deal--at least for me.  But it was last year's tax refund and I was rich for a minute so I bought two--a zero and a flipside.

I've always heard how smooth and creamy they are.  How they don't budge one you've applied them.  They are the mostawesomethingeveromgyouhavetohavethiseyelineroryou'lldie.

I had a really difficult time getting it to glide across my eyelid.  I had to press down really hard to get even a small amount of waterline coverage.  I shouldn't have to scrape across my eyes to get decent coverage...right?

I'm not sure why I even did this:  but I went to the store searching for a new eyeliner and I bought the Covergirl liquiline blast (or whatever it's actually called...did I get it right?  I'm nowhere near my "toys" lol) which is supposedly a knock-off of the UD liners.  I don't know what I was thinking but maybe I was hoping they'd at least be a little softer.

Nope.  I still can't get it right.

My go-to low end eyeliner is Maybelline Define-a-Line.  Which is more of a crayon consistency than pencil.  It glides like a dream BUT it's crap in the waterline and rubs off really easily.

I'm still learning liquid and gel liners so I've been buying cheapest of the cheap--for practice.  Truthfully, although I like the liquid look...I just don't like it all the time. 

I NEED a good pencil eyeliner.  I need one that goes on soft like my beloved Define-a-line but can deliver everything (or mostly everything) I had hoped Urban Decay would. 

I'm calling out to you guys, my lovely followers, to give me suggestions.

• What pencil eyeliners do you love?
• Is UD 24/7 your holy grail eyeliner?  Why?
• Did I get a faulty product?  Am I doing something wrong?
• What are your favorite high end/low end eyeliners?

Thanks guys!

Adventures in eyeliner (and all-you-can-eat buffets)

On Thursday, I set out to do the makeup look I neglected for the previous two days due to being sick.  I thought it came out well except for the liner.  Ordinarily I stick to pencil/crayon type liners but every now and then I like to play with liquid/gel because I do LOVE the winged liner look.  I suck at liquid liner...but I keep practicing!  It seems like the general consensus is that gel liner is easier but my previous experiments with it yielded awful results.