Review: L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

Between job hunting, finals and graduation, I haven't had the time to try out many new products. But today I come to you with a (fairly) new product in hand, the L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara ($7.97+). It's advertised in magazines, has its own TV commercial and is talked about all over YouTube so naturally I had to try it.

Review: Pixi Lash Booster Mascara

I'm always looking to try new mascaras because I have yet to find one that could be considered my holy grail. I have straight and thin Asian lashes so I need something that can hold my curl and give me both volume and length. So when I received this Pixi Lash Booster Mascara ($17) as part of my August Ipsy Glam Bag, I was excited to try it.

Review: Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Set

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm pretty stuffed from the weekend so I figured I'd just sit in bed and type up this much anticipated review. If you recall, the product that I was most excited about from my Sephora VIB 20% Off Haul was the Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Set ($42). I had never tried a Too Faced product before and figured this set would be a great introductory product to the brand. Included in the set was: 1) Twelve Eyeshadows, 2) Too Faced Shadow Insurance Candlelight Eye Shadow Primer, and 3) Too Faced LashGASM Mascara.

The overall packaging of this product is beautiful, which can be expected from any Too Faced product. All the products come in a lavender felt box with gold writing. When you open the box there is a mirror cutout and all the products. I really like the packaging but I wish it was more travel-friendly because I would totally bring these shadows with me on vacation if I could.

The Shadows:

The twelve eyeshadows are roughly the size of a quarter, which is a good amount and I can see them lasting me for quite a while. I'm not sure how deep the pans are but according to the Sephora website they are .03 oz.

The shadows are all very neutral shades, but they include some wearable colors like purples and pinks. They're highly pigmented and mix and match very well to create a lot of different eye looks. You can follow the included guide or make your own shadow combinations.

The shadows apply on to the lid very easily and blend together beautifully. With the help of a primer they stay on all day and don't smudge, however the color does fade a bit as the day goes on but there's still a very good amount of color there and it just ends up looking like a softer eye look.

The Individual Shades:

Vanilla - A slightly beige-ish white that I like to use as an all over the lid color or as a highlighter. It's color payoff is probably the worst of the twelve but since it's a light shade and isn't supposed to be a stark white I can't really complain.

Cut The Cake - A lavender with silver micro-shimmer that looks very pretty all over the lid.

Framboise - A deep metallic purple that I like to use either all over the lid or in the crease.

Coffee Bean - A matte dark brown, it sort of looks like the color of coffee. I like to use this as a liner or crease color.

Peach Fuzz - A light peach with gold glitters that I like to use as an all over lid color or as a brow highlighter. It's very glittery and very pretty!

Hot Cocoa - A bronzed brown with gold shimmer. It looks wonderful all over the lid.

Candy Rose - A pink with silver micro shimmer. Very pretty and don't worry, it doesn't make you look like your eyes are irritated!

Lovey Dovey - A deep bronze shade with some pink undertones. It's another metallic shade and I love using it as a liner. It looks very sexy when smoked out.

Nude Beach - A sandy gold glitter. You definitely have to be careful of fallout with this one because it's extremely flaky. It's gorgeous however, all over the lids.

Cinnamon Sugar - A gold metallic shade that is beautiful all over the lids.

Marzipan - A dusty beige-ish brown. Probably the second worst shade in terms of pigmentation but it's great in the crease and can be used to tone down the other shades.

Licorice Latté - A brownish black shade with gold glitter. I haven't been brave enough to use it as anything but a liner shade but I can imagine it would go great as a smoky eye look.

LashGASM:

This mascara comes in a plain black tube but the writing and designs on it are what makes it look so pretty. I had never considered trying this mascara before but I figured since it was included in the set, why the heck not? I didn't know a lot about this mascara but it definitely impressed me.

The brush is made of short rubber bristles that easily separate and define all your lashes. The inside of the tube, where the stopper is to wipe off excess mascara, is very tight so it definitely takes off any excess. If you have problems with clumping or messy lashes then this mascara would be perfect for you.

The mascara also helps to lengthen your lashes a bit but I believe it's main focus is to define. I like to use this to define my lashes first then use a lengthening mascara to get incredibly dramatic length. It stays on all day and doesn't smudge or give you raccoon eyes.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Candlelight Eye Shadow Primer:

I had always been a UD primer potion kind of gal but I think I've been converted. My eyes are very dry and sometimes the UD primer potion accentuates the dryness in my eyes by clumping around any dry skin. This shadow somehow moisturizes the dry areas around my eyes and soaps up the oil on my lids at the same time. If you have drier skin around your eyes I'd recommend the Too Faced Shadow Insurance, but if your eyes are very oily then I'd suggest UD's primer potion.

I'll probably be buying a full-sized version of the shadow insurance once I use up this trial size because it's really great. The shade that was given in the set is a champagne shimmer that reminds me of Stila's Kitten shadow. There's also a translucent shade if you're not interested in a primer with color.

Overall, this set was totally worth the money to me and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's into neutral shades. If you or whoever you're looking to purchase this set for likes UD's Naked and Naked 2 then they'll definitely like this set. It has similar shades in terms of beiges and browns but it also includes fun shades of pinks and purples.

Review: L'Oreal Voluminous Full Definition Mascara

I mentioned this L'Oreal Voluminous Full Definition Mascara ($5.84+) in my latest Target haul. I was inspired to purchase it because I had seen MakeupByTiffanyD mention it in one of her videos and post pictures of it on Instagram, and it looked amazing. Her pictures showed long voluminous lashes, which is a look I've always been trying to achieve but could never find the right mascara for the job. On that note, I think I've found the answer to my prayers because this mascara is the best I've ever tried!

Packaging: The mascara comes in a pale gold tube and while that may seem to make it look more luxurious looking, it actually has the opposite effect of making it look like a drugstore mascara imitating a department store one. The brush is very thick and fluffy and the stopper inside the tube does a great job of evenly dispersing the mascara about the brush and taking off any excess. I've yet to have too much mascara on the brush when I take it out that I have to wipe it off.

Quality: I did say this mascara was the answer to my prayers so that should let you know right off the bat that this product is amazing. My lashes are on the longer side but they clump very easily since they criss-cross and like to clump together naturally. This mascara does a great job of lengthening my lashes even more, almost to the point where it looks like I could be wearing false lashes. It also does an amazing job of actually separating my lashes and defining each one.

Application: My lashes never clump when I use this mascara, which is rare to me because I normally have to try really hard to prevent clumping with any mascara I use.

Longevity: This mascara lasts me the entire day without smudging! That's also another amazing feat to me because my mascara always smudges, especially underneath my eyes. This one stays put and refuses to budge so I don't end up looking like a raccoon by the end of the day.

Overall: I would recommend this to anyone who is on a budget but is looking for lots of length, volume and definition (really, what more could you ask for?!). The formula in conjunction with the brush creates, in my opinion, the perfect mascara. It also applies easily and stays put all day. This mascara does a great job making my lashes appear much longer and fuller and people have actually complimented me on my lashes when I was wearing this product. The amazing quality and the fact that it's a drugstore brand, so it's a much more affordable product, make this mascara definitely worth checking out.

What are your favorite mascaras? Do you prefer drugstore or department store brands?

Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara

I recently mentioned this Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara ($19) in my July Beauty Favorites, it's the one mascara I've been reaching for the most this month and I'm sure I will continue loving it in the months to come. It really lengthens my lashes while at the same time maintaining a natural look, which is great for the daytime. It also stays put all day and I have bad smudging problems, so I give it some serious props for not making me look like a raccoon by the end of a hot summer day.

The packaging is unlike any other mascara I own, it comes in a squeeze tube instead of a regular tube so you can put every last bit of this mascara to use. It also came with this plastic "smudge shield," which I'm pretty sure is just a guitar pick, that you're supposed to use when applying your mascara to get close to the root of your lashes without smudging it onto your eyes. I think I ended up just throwing it out because it was too bothersome to use.

The brush of the product is nothing fancy, it's as the name states, it's a skinny brush with short tough bristles in a spiral, but I do like it. It doesn't clump my lashes together and applies just the right amount of mascara, not too much and not too little.

Overall, this is a great product and it is relatively inexpensive for a specialty store mascara. I recommend this product to anyone who wants to add length to their lashes while still maintaining a natural lash look.

July Beauty Favorites!

Well July sure flew by quickly for me. The first half of the month I spent in Florida at Disney World and Universal Orlando and the second half I spent in summer classes. Clearly, the first half of my July was the better half. But, at last the month is coming to a close and that means July beauty favs!

I'm still using a lot of my faves from June, like the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish and the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil, but there are a few new additions to my summer beauty routine.

First up we have probably the most expensive beauty item I've ever purchased in my life, the Cle De Peau Beaute Concealer ($70). Now I'm not in the habit of buying extremely expensive products but I decided to make an exception for this one. My entire life I've been searching for a concealer for my under eye circles and I could never find one that had the right coverage and consistency. I had all but given up until I heard about all these rave reviews regarding this concealer. I feel it was totally worth the $70 because it covers my dark circles like magic, and since I've been waking up at 6:45AM every Monday through Thursday for summer courses I have some serious circles to conceal.

My second favorite is this Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara ($19). I bought this a while ago from Sephora and I never paid much mind to it until recently. I don't know what came over me to go on and grab this mascara out of the bunch I have but I'm glad I did. It really lengthens my lashes and holds my curl.

I actually just purchased this Herbal Essences Hydralicious Shampoo ($8.67) & Conditioner ($8.67) about a week ago and I'm already completely in love with it. I couldn't quite put my finger on the scent for a while but in its description on Amazon it says that it has the scent of water lily nectar and passion fruit, all I can say is that it smells amazing. Most shampoos and conditioner weigh my straight and thin hair down but this duo leaves my hair soft and bouncy. I actually wake up in the morning with perfect looking hair, something that used to never happen to me with any other shampoo or conditioner I've used before.

Another drugstore and monthly beauty favorite is a longtime favorite of many beauty gurus, the Maybelline Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balm ($2.97) in Pink Punch. I'm pretty late to the game because when they first came out I figured it was just a glorified lip balm but now I see why everybody loves it. It definitely gives your lips a good amount of moisture and on top of that it gives your lips a nice hint of color. This shade in Pink Punch gives a hot pink sheen to your lips and I love how it feels lightweight, which is perfect for these hot summer days. It's a great product to take with you to the beach.

And finally, I've been really into my MAC Hey, Sailor! Blush ($21) in Fleet Fast! Like the Eyeko mascara, this was just lying around in my makeup arsenal for a while until I felt the urge to take it out again. It gives a nice peachy coral tint to the cheeks, giving me a nice and healthy glow for the summer.

So what are your July beauty favorites? I'd love to know! If you have a blog post please link it below, and if not then feel free to comment.

XOXO,
Elle