Review: Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner 'Blackest Black'

I've been trying to get my hands on this product for SO long but anytime I'd look for it it was sold out in the black color...I think that if a product is constantly sold out, its a sign that it's gotta be good! The Maybelline EyeStudio gel liner is no exception to that assumption!

This gel liner is blacker than any other gel liner in the market.  If you set this up next to the MAC black track fluid line it actually makes the MAC liner look a bit gray.  This product is super creamy and easy to use.  It comes with a small brush that works just fine, but I prefer to use my Sigma angled liner brush to apply this to my upper lash line.

This liner lasts all day on the lids and will remain blackest black from application to when you take it off at the end of the day.  Gel liner definitely takes some getting used to if you've never applied it before as it takes a bit of artistry. After all, you're basically using a paint brush to paint on eyeliner! The easiest way to do it is pull your lash line taught from the side and to use tiny strokes while pushing the brush against your lashes. If you like the winged out look, that will come in time with some practice. 

This gel liner is as good as its MAC and Bobbi Brown counterparts and its only $7.  Get your hands on it when you see if if you're in the market for a good gel liner!

xxSJ

Empties! Products I've Used Up #1

Time to go through my trash and see what makeup I've used up in the last couple of months! I feel like its quite the feat to finish a makeup product in its entirety... all of these things I enjoyed to a certain extent otherwise I would have tossed them before I managed to empty them out!

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Foundation and Concealer- I love this duo and have gone through a couple of these products. These are both very lightweight products that leave a great finish on the skin! I have already repurchased the concealer.

Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder- I did repurchase this product but I have since found other powders I like better than this one!

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer- This is my moisturizer I use every single day with out fail. It leaves my skin moisturized with a low amount of SPF to protect my face through out the day.

Tresemme Heat Tamer Spray- this is my favorite heat protectant and it leaves my hair feeling healthy even after taking a straightening iron to it!

Urban Decay Primer Potion 'Sin'- I love the champagne color of this primer potion! I would have purchased the full size of this had I not already purchased the MAC paint pot in Bare Study which gives the exact same effect.

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder- This stuff is an awesome powder! It leaves a perfect finish on the skin and is under $5.

Covergirl Clump Crusher and Maybelline Falsies Mascaras- I liked both of these mascaras a lot and would repurchase both.  The Clump Crusher is great for day to day wear and gives perfect looking lashes while the Falsies chunks up the lashes giving them intense volume for a night look.

Maybelline Dream Wonder Powder- This is my new favorite powder. It gives a silky smooth finish and has no scent to it!

Back 2 MAC items- eyebrow pencil in 'Lingering' is my go to brow product. I will use this pencil until I find something better! The paint pots are in Rubanesque and Painterly... I just love paint pots and there will be many more empty paint pots in my future!

xxSJ

Life Hack! How to Pack Necklaces

 I'm beginning to pack all my things for my big move to New York which means its time to get creative! I always HATE transporting necklaces because all of my longer multi-stranded ones get so tangled :( Well not today, folks!
By simply stringing my necklaces through a plain 'ol paper towel roll, the strands will remain separated enough to remain tangle-free! So much better than tossing all the necklaces in a zip-lock baggy and hoping for the best.

If you're wondering, yes I have a golden snitch necklace. Duh.

Keep this life hack in mind next time you're traveling! If you have super dainty necklaces with small chains that tend to tangle easily, a way to further tangle-proof your jewelry is by stringing them through separate drinking straws. This will ensure the chains stay in their own little tubes rather than getting knotted with other chains.

Hope you enjoyed this easy life hack!

xxSJ

My Boyfriend Picks Out My Makeup! Featuring MAC Patisserie Lipstick and Floating Lotus Lipgloss

In an attempt to include my boyfriend, Lucas, in my hobby (...okay, obsession) with all things makeup related, I decided to do something fun! Well, at least I thought it was going to be fun... I gave Lucas enough cash for a MAC lipstick and asked him to go in to the store and pick out a lipstick for me to wear on our date Saturday night. I told him what my favorite finish was (lustre) and the name of 3 lipsticks to avoid as I have brand new tubes of them.  Lucas agreed and hesitantly wandered in.  He walked out with the lipstick 'Patisserie,' a soft muted pink that I had never heard of before! He also surprised me with a Cremesheen Glass (my favorite gloss!) in the color 'Floating Lotus.'

'Floating Lotus' is seriously gorgeous.  It is a bright peachy pink with a ton of shimmer running through it. It's a gloss I've had my eye on for years but have never just gone out and purchased!

'Patisserie' was such a surprise to me! I have never heard any hype around this lipstick but it has quickly become my favorite color.  It's one of those perfect colors that you don't need a mirror to apply since it is so neutral, but it bumps your lips up a notch on days where you don't feel like wearing a bright color. It is an awesome everyday color.

I was worried at first that 'Floating Lotus' might not look great paired with 'Patisserie' since it looks so bright in the tube, but after swatching them I can see that they so clearly belong together! Go Lucas! They both have a soft pink, mauvey tone to them that makes them complimentary.  

Blank lips on top, lips with Floating Lotus on bottom

Blank lips on top, Patisserie lipstick on bottom

Floating Lotus layered on Patisserie lipstick

Overall, Lucas managed to pick out such a beautiful lipstick and lipgloss combination! Unfortunately, there's some bad news to this otherwise charming tale. The girls at MAC were apparently not very friendly to Lucas which made me feel like I threw him to the wolves!!  I thought that when the MAC girls saw a guy walk in they would immediately go over to help him out but instead, he was completely ignored when he first walked in followed by berated when he started touching and swatching the lipsticks.

 I'm so letdown by MAC!  What was supposed to be a fun activity ended up being an awkward and uncomfortable experience...but at the end of the day it leaves me all the more surprised and impressed that Lucas managed to pick out such beautiful colors with out any help! Who needs help anyhow?? Apparently after the berating, another employee tried to jump in to help Lucas apologizing for the other employee's behavior, and Lucas basically just said 'nah, I got this. Don't need your help.'

Hell yeah! I knew I picked a good one :)

I recommend this lipstick and lipgloss both separately and as a combo wholeheartedly and if you're thinking about doing something like this with your SO, I suggest going into the store with them to act as a buffer from potentially rude employees!

xxSJ

Erase Paste Concealer by Benefit

Did you know that the 'f' in Benefit stands for 'fun?'  They certainly have the cutest and most fun packaging!! I'm always drawn to the Benefit section in Sephora and Ulta because of the fun packaging and bright colors, but I really haven't tried many of their products. I was recommended to try their 'Erase Paste' concealer by a past employee, so I thought I'd give this a shot and see if there is some quality product underneath all of the adorableness.  

Inside the little pinky purple box is a lesson right on top to teach you how to correctly use this concealer.  

The box also contains a tiny spoon to scoop out product if you don't like the hygienic implications behind dipping your finger in the same pot over and over again.  I myself will admit that I don't mind dipping my finger in to get product out so the spatula won't be useful until there isn't much product left and I'm scraping out of the crevices!

I picked the color Medium (no. 2). There are only two shades available for this concealer which is definitely a downside if neither of the colors work well for you.  This concealer is meant to be a brightening product which is why there is such a limited color selection.  The concealer is a salmony pink color rather than color matching to your skin.

This concealer is SUPER creamy and easy to blend on the skin.  I recommend applying it with your fingertips because the warmth from your fingers helps melt the product onto your skin, further blending it in.  Since it is a creamy product, setting it with a light powder will keep it from creasing or sliding around. 

I learned a little trick while buying this as I was complaining about my dark under-eye circles.  The tip is to layer or mix concealers! I never thought of doing this before as I was worried about creating some serious cakiness on my skin, but it makes so much sense! Laying down a skin tone concealer on its own does a pretty good job of covering the dark circles, however it can leave an ashy-gray tone behind since it can't completely cancel out the purple.  Putting a highlighting pinky concealer on top brings liveliness back to the skin color! 

The top picture above is my blank skin.  The second picture is with Maybelline Fit Me concealer in Light (a nude concealer).  The third picture is with Benefit Erase Paste added on top of the Maybelline Concealer.  It does a great job with further canceling out the purple tones of  my undereye area.

For some reason this concealer gets a bad rap from what I've read in other reviews online.  I recommend trying this out in the store layered on top of a nude concealer because I'm telling you, this stuff works! Benefit can be found in Sephora, Ulta, some department stores and a few free standing stores in America. It costs $26 for 0.15oz of product.

xxSJ

Review: L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm 'Rose Elixir'

Today's review is of the L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in the color 'Rose Elixir.' I totally didn't go into the store expecting to pick out this product but it caught my eye! Just look at the pretty packaging!

It's packaging like this that reminds me L'Oreal owns YSL... this packaging is so reminiscent of the YSL lip product packaging with the shiny gold tube and twist up product... it feels so luxurious especially considering it was under $6! 

This product is a balm which means it is a sheer wash of color with an extremely moisturizing finish.  I'm in love with the color of this product and the moisture it leaves behind...it's amazing.  

You can see how sheer this color is in the picture above.  It really just adds a slight tint.  The selling point of this product is the moisturizing finish it leaves behind. I don't think I need to lament my nasty-ass chapped lips anymore on this blog as I've done that plenty already...but they be nasty. And chapped. And this product provides them with a bit of relief.  My one complaint is that the moisturizing effect only lasts about two hours. The great thing though is that since the color is such a sheer pigment, you don't need a mirror to reapply!!

The last great thing about this product is the smell. Usually all L'Oreal products make me want to run away screaming...they smell so stinky! The lipsticks smell like play-doh roses--I just honestly hate them and the smell is the reason why you never see L'Oreal lipsticks reviewed on this blog. I can't get past it.

The smell of this balm, however, is UH-MAZE-ZING.  It smells like marshmallows! Seriously! And the sweet scent lingers on your lips. Everything about this product gets a massive thumbs up from me. I wish it lasted a little longer but I can't expect these lips of mine not to soak up every last bit of delicious moisture this balm provides!
Do your lips a favor and grab this inexpensive colored balm. I'm lovin it!
xxSJ

NOTD: Butter London 'Slapper'

Today's nail of the day is Butter London's 'Slapper,' a  teal blue color. The color is seriously pretty and I don't have another color similar to it.  It reminds me of the ocean and is more green than blue in certain lighting (the picture above doesn't do it justice!).  The formula is also one of the best formulas by Butter London in my opinion.  It's the perfect thickness making it super easy to spread around the nail with out pooling at the cuticles and leaves a super opaque first coat.

This color is not a color I often grab for because it's one of those unique colors that unfortunately I tire of quickly when it's on my nails. It doesn't chip very quickly which means I usually have to remove it after about two days. During the time it's on my nails it garners many compliments, though!
Obligatory Jake pic:

The dope blinked for his picture! I still love him anyway!

xxSJ

Steph Reads: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

This story is about a king and his princesses.
It's about a serial killer and his victims.
It's about an under the sea creature who befriends a land animal.
It's a who-dunnit surrounding the death of a golden retriever.

Okay, so I lied. Or did I? This story instructs me to do one thing, and one thing only, which is to lie.
With out giving away too much of the story, this novel is a coming of age story about 4 teens who spend their Summers on an island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family.  After a mysterious accident, the protagonist Cadence must unravel the truth about the Liars.

Some people are really touched by this story and feel a strong connection to it.  I enjoyed it and liked the surprise of an ending,but I didn't grow attached to any of the characters. This isn't a book I would read again but I recommend to anyone looking for a quick and interesting read.  This story is certainly different from anything I've read before!


Check out my other Steph Reads posts!
The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

Stila Lip Glaze Trio 'Read My Lips'

Stila is a brand I have very little experience with! Apart from their famous liquid eyeliner and 'Kitten' eyeshadow, I haven't tried any other Stila products. I saw this trio of lip glazes at the checkout line at Ulta and for only $12, I decided to give them a go!

I got the trio 'Read My Lips' which includes a bright pink called 'Pink Punch,' a light nude called 'Pina Colada,' and an apricot color called 'Creamsicle.'  The glazes come in plastic twist up packaging with brush tip applicators.  You twist the bottoms until a nice bead of product is at the top.  These lip products are glazes because they are VERY sheer. They leave a hint of color and a lot of glitter and sparkle! Here are they are swatched on my hand in the same order as they are in the picture above:

Very light wash of color, but very shiny and gelly-like in finish.  I like these because they layer on top of vibrant lipsticks with out changing the tone of the color. They simply add a layer of sparkle and shine!! They also smell and taste very sweet, like LipSmackers lip gloss!

This is "Pink Punch' layered on top of MAC Angel lipstick.  The glaze is very sticky so doesn't slide or wear off the lips easily.  Be careful with your hair, however, because it will get stuck on your lips on a windy day!!

Overall I love these glazes because they are different than any other gloss I have in my collection.  Their sheer coverage and long-wearing power make them a versatile product that I can easily reach for on any given day.  Thumbs up for Stila!! I'm excited to check out more Stila products in the future.

xxSJ