Urban Decay's Supercurl Curling Mascara

Urban Decay - Supercurl Curling Mascara

Aside from the cute packaging that this tube of mascara comes in, Urban Decay's Supercurl mascara I have found to be a great product that really does add some lift you your look. Unlike other curling mascaras, this one feels relatively light on your eyes and tends not to clump as long as you don't apply excessive amounts. The downside of this product is that it is difficult to apply more than one coat as it tends to start to clump more and more and it dries quite quickly.
The curved brush allows you to sweep along your lashes once or twice and get complete coverage, and the small flexible prickles along the brush separate slightly as you go, further reducing its tenancy to clump.
As you can see in the photograph below, (and please excuse its quality, all I had with me today was my phone camera), my left eye has had a single coat of Supercurl mascara applied and my right is natural, with no eye product. The eye that has Supercurl on it has clearly been lifted and appears more open with the lashes curling up and away from the eye. This mascara also adds depth to your look, and with a little black eyeliner on your water line and top eyelid, gives your eyes that classic elegance and some serious eye drawing attention without the need for fake lashes that move and stick and are just a pain to put on.

left: has one coat of Supercurl, right: has no mascara at all

Price: $20 from urbandecay.com

Weight: 9mL

Clumping: very minimal

Colours: black

Volume increase: medium increase

Lengthening: minimal

Curling: quite good

★★★★/★★★★★

M.A.C Eyeshadow -Idol Eyes

M.A.C single pot eyeshadow - Idol Eyes

M.A.C eyeshadows are all fantastic, with the exception of a few very odd shades that don't match any look... Today however we are looking just at M.A.C's single colour Idol Eyes, a silver glittery shimmer which is fantastic on its own with a black mascara and eyeliner (a gel one works best) or as a colour on the top lid over a darker colour like a black, blue or pink/orange to add some sparkle to your look, this is great if you want to add some shimmer to your night out if you are going straight from school or work and don't want to lug around a big container of makeup.
This shade is also great as a finisher, all you need to do is put a dab in the corner of your eye to really make them pop.
As it is a single pot this shade obviously doesn't come with its own brush but M.A.C and other brands like Napoleon Set make great reasonably priced brushes, but remember to clean your brush after you use it because otherwise you will end up with sparkles in all your eyeshadows.
If you are using this product on its own, you may want to consider using a primer such as Urban Decays 'Original' or a Napoleon or Too Faced alternative as it does tend to come loose and is easily smudged but it doesn't really seem to crease.

Price: $33
Weight: 1.5g
Creasing: not really, but use a primer so that it doesn't all come loose
matt or shimmer: shimmer
waterproof: no
colour true to package: yes
★★★★★/★★★★★

Maybelline New York define-a-lash volume mascara

Maybelline's define-a-lash is a great, relatively cheap product that is readily available. It adds a great slight curling effect to lashes without having to cake it on in a hundred layers and keeps your everyday look more natural and less Barbie. Personally, brownish-black is a great colour that goes with darker hair and a natural colour eye shadow or none at all.
The brush that is standard with this product I found to be surprisingly good with a slight bend in it to curl lashes, it is small and flexible allowing you to get all your lashes without missing the ones in the corner of your eye or the outer edge of your eye. The applicator wand, whilst it may have a reasonable amount of product on it does not come up in clumps that get stuck to your lashes, glueing them together or getting it around your eyes when you blink, ruining your look when you have to clean it off. As you can see below, mine is very well loved and has been a part of my standard daily routine for a number of years, least to say this is not my only one.

Maybelline New York define-a-lash volume mascara

Price: $20
Weight:6.5mL
Clumping: very minimal
Colours: black and brownish-black
Volume increase: moderate
Lengthening: moderate
Curling: slight curl, benefits naturally curled lashes
★★★★/★★★★★

waterproof make-up removers - L,Oreal VS Revlon

So when the day is over and the flashy makeup must come off, although it is sometimes all too tempting to face-plant in to bed. Waterproof makeup, whilst protecting against panda eyes and awkward running and also that need-to-look-in-the-mirror-every-five-minutes syndrome can be a pain to remove in a hurry or when you just don't feel like working at it.
So today we are looking at two relatively cheap, common brand waterproof makeup removers that will get the job done without the need for excessive effort.
1. L'Oreal Paris, Dermo-Expertise waterproof makeup remover for eyes and lips

L'Oreal Paris

price: about $15-$19 from Target, Myer, David Jones, Kmart etc, readily avaliable
suitable for sensitive skin: yes
volume in bottle: 125mL
ease or removal on eyes: pretty good, may take some scrubbing for stubborn mascara
ease of removal on lips: good
ease of use of bottle: bottle is slightly difficult and if you tip it up to get some of the product on to a makeup removing pad, chances are that it will leak a little
oily residue on skin: yes, you will need to rinse your face after makeup removal
rating:★★★/★★★★★



2. Revlon Colorstay - dual phase eye and lip makeup remover for long ware

Revlon Colorstay

price: about $20-$29 from Target, Myer, David Jones, Kmart etc, readily avaliable
suitable for sensitive skin: not specially formulated
volume in bottle: 118mL
ease or removal on eyes: not bad, may take some serious scrubbing for stubborn mascara and lip tars
ease of removal on lips: ok
ease of use of bottle: bottle is considerably better than the L'Oreal one, it does not drip or leak when you tip it up
oily residue on skin: yes quite a lot, you will need to rinse your face after makeup removal
rating:★★/★★★★★

Overall, I would suggest for a cheap waterproof makeup remover to purchase the L'Oreal Paris one. Whilst the bottle is annoying, it is formulated for sensitive skin and doesn't take as much work to get mascaras off.

Paint Box temporary hair dye by FUDGE

Whilst Manic Panic dye is popular in the states, as far as I'm aware there is only one place in Sydney that actually sells it, and it isn't exactly the cheapest thing either, although it isn't too bad (about $25 per colour). As an alternative Paint Box by FUDGE is a great temporary dye that washes out in 3-30 washes (I'm not kidding, that is what it says on the tubes) and works on most hair types. 

Like all peroxide-free hair dyes, it works better on lighter hair, but if you are like me and have very dark hair with a few honey/tiger coloured streaks, this product gives your hair colour in the sunshine and will turn those blond streaks in to streaks of vibrant colour. The tubes recommend that you leave the dye to sit in your hair for 15-30 minutes, but because of my hair colour, I leave mine for up to 45 minutes with my long hair pinned up on to the top of my head and two or more plastic disposable shower caps on my head to trap in heat which helps the dying process. You can also go ahead and dye certain segments of your hair like bangs and tips, but as a beauty tip - cover the bits of the surrounding hair that you don't want dyed with conditioner as it will stop the colour from bleeding, especially in lighter hair.

Whilst I go for reds/blues/purples, Paint Box makes an amazing range of colours and shades which can all be mixed with a special product called 'Whiter shade of pale' which is a thinning type paste that is similar to the colours so that they can be mixed and your ultimate colour achieved if you seek something different from their selection of 16 vibrant colours.

Goldfinger

Goldfinger is a great all over colour and slightly lightens darker hair or streaks, giving a shiny, almost gold colour. This is one of my favourites.

★★★★★/★★★★★

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet is one of Paint Box's richer tones and I love it, however whilst it looks great when it first goes on, after a wash or two, you may find that your hair goes a nasty green colour for quite some time, so be prepared to have to maintain this colour, or if it is just a once off colour for a party or night out, be ready with some permanent hair dye for the next day to cover the green and go back to your natural colour, but beware, you may, depending on your natural colour, need to bleach your hair to do this.

★★★/★★★★★

Cherry Bomb

Cherry Bomb is a fantastic bright colour for summer fun. It gives a warm red glow to hair and doesn't look horrible as it fades out.

★★★★/★★★★★

Clockwork Orange

Is a TERRIBLE colour, this thing instead of dying my hair orange dyed it a sickly shade of blonde-in-the-swimming-pool green. NEVER AGAIN.

0/★★★★★

Purple Haze

A nice warm tone for winter. In darker hair I found that it made blond streaks look more of a mauve colour than a true purple, it was still pretty though and faded out well.

★★★/★★★★★

Pretty Flamingo

One of my favourite all over colours, when I use this one I usually do my entire head and I love the vibrant pink over the top of my blonde and the subtler shades of pink over the dark brown. For me, this is a colour that can not be beaten.

★★★★★/★★★★★

Price: $19 from Priceline pharmacies and hair salons

Weight: 75mL per bottle

Range of colours: total 14 and one mixing colour ('whiter shade of pale')

colour last: semi-permianent (3-30 washes depending on hair type)

colour true to package: in most cases the end result is lighter or less bright when complete and hair is dry)

RATING: ★★★★/★★★★★ (depending on the colour, beware oranges, greens and light blue)

NARS cosmetics blush

A very well loved pressed powder

NARS pressed powder blush, whilst not a new product on the market is still a great blush. It feels light on your face and when applied with a large brush, doesn't clump or leave annoying streaks where smaller brushes or puffs may miss. This blush also blends relatively well over the top of both liquid and powdered foundation without much fuss and doesn't give that super-apply cartoon cheek look to your freshly made up face like paste or stick blushes do as you have to rub and blend them.
I love this product and it has become part of my every day wear, mine is very well travelled and the case has seen better days but never the less, I wont let it go. In its time it has also seen a number of brushes come and go but believe it or not whilst blush brushes are great, I find that this works well with a foundation brush, in fact because i travel with this one, I use a cheap Chi Chi foundation brush, as unfortunately it isn't one that gets cleaned all that often.
The only thing that gets me about this product is that it doesn't come with its own application tool, but thats OK, it gives you the chance to choose what works best for you.

NARS blush colour 'Deep Throat'

Price: $29 from narscosmetics.com

Weight: 4.8g

Range of colours: total 28

matt or shimmer: slight shimmer

waterproof: no

colour true to package: yes

RATING: ★★★★/★★★★★

Urban Decay's NAKED2 palette

Whilst the first Urban Decay palette brought us a range of browns, naturals and blue-grey in both shimmer and matt-style tones to create a palette perfect for everyday wear, the NAKED2 palette brings a whole new ball game with 12 new tones (with the exception of 'Half baked' which featured in the original NAKED palette) and a double ended brush featuring Urban Decays crease brush and shadow brush which unlike many larger palettes is full sized making application a breeze. The combination of the double ended brush means that with minimal effort a range of looks can be achieved without the need for more tools, and more brush cleaning.
Personally I love this palette for everyday wear but it can be spiced up for an evening out with a little shimmer powder.
Whilst you do not really need to apply a primer with this eyeshadow, it doesn't necessarily crease to an alarming extent, but without a primer such as Urban Decays original Primer Potion, you will need to reapply if your wearing it all day and in to the night, and reapplication on the move with this palette is a bit of a pain simply because it is large in size and isn't necessarily something that you want to be carrying around in your handbag all day.
This palette will run you $50 but is well worth the buy, as it includes 12 diverse shades and a full size double ended brush. The box that this comes in also includes a sample sized (3.23mL) LIP JUNKIE, which is cooling on the lips with a very minty smell and taste to it.

(left to right) Foxy, Half Baked, Booty Call, Chopper, Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout (MY SKIN TONE IS A MEDIUM TO LIGHT BROWN)

Price: $50 from urbandecay.com

Weight: 12x1.3g

Range of colours: total 12

creasing: not too bad, may need some re-application after several hours wear, improved with use of a primer

matt or shimmer: mix palette

waterproof: no

colour true to package: yes

RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

SEPHORA Jumbo Liner 12H Wear Waterproof

SEPHORA's Jumbo waterproof eyeliners definitely bring on the bold. With a fantastic range of colours including shimmering gold, peacock blue, taupe, beige, black, white, silver and several shades of  blues and greens amongst a total of 28 colours of BOTH matt and shimmer finishes these pencils will bring some colour to your day or simple cover to everyday looks.

I have found that whilst these liners are fantastic just around the top lid of the eye, the bright colours in particular serve well as eye shadows, although when applied liberally they bring a serious pop to your look, they can feel a bit sticky for a while, you can set them with a make up all night setting spray or a de-slick powder, but beware of the tool that you use to apply powder over the top of them as the colour may rub off a little, so be gentle.

I love these pencils and would definitely recommend that you give them a try, there really is a shade for almost every occasion. My personal favourites are 11 turquoise, 14 violet and 10 green.

(bottom to top) 11 turquoise, 10 green, 14 violet

Price: $14 each from sephora.com

Weight: 0.10oz 

Range of colours: total 28

creasing: not too bad, may need some re-application after several hours wear

matt or shimmer: available in both

waterproof: yes

colour true to package: yes

RATING: ★★★★/★★★★★