Nighttime Cleansers for the Slacker

Every so often, I just don't feel like taking off my makeup. It's really late when I get in or I'm in a bad mood or I fall asleep while reading. Whatever the cause, I turn into a slacker. I'm convinced I'm not alone.

Last month, I mentioned the amazing Ponds towelettes that I took on a trip with me. I didn't stop using them once the trip was over, though I did return to my normal routine for most nights. I just used the towelettes when I felt lazy. And then they ran out.

I planned to buy more because I really liked them, but when I was browsing the aisle to find them, I realized that there were other brands. Much like my Infamous Quest to Find a Good Eye Makeup Remover, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a different brand of towelette. . . The new brand would be something to blog about, right? So I chose Garnier's version, the Nutritioniste Nutri-Pure Detoxifying Wet Cleansing Towelettes ($5.99 at drugstore.com). Do I like these as much as the Ponds? No. Do I still like them? Yes.

They both do the same thing, and they both prevent my face from feeling oily and dry (oh the joys of combination skin. . .). The biggest difference for me is the smell. Garnier has an okay smell. It's citrus-y. I prefer the cucumber smell of the Ponds to the citrus. Is that just pickiness? Of course. Both work just great. But next time I'll go back to the cucumber.

Picture courtesy of ulta.com.

Liquid Eyeliner Blues

First of all, I'd like to apologize for my long hiatus. I let life get in the way of my makeup ventures, but now things are finally getting back to normal.

But back to why you're really here: the reviews.

One of the things that I'm not particularly good at is applying eyeliner. I absolutely hate using pencils because I find them uncomfortable. I'm bad at applying liquid eyeliners, too, for the most part, but I practice daily in hopes that one day I will become someone who can properly apply eyeliner. Given that I've worn it for years, I'm not so sure my hopes will be realized. But still I try!

Because I'm not good at eyeliner, in the past I haven't used much - just a very light line in black or brown - in hopes that it would be sufficient and no one would notice that wobbly place or that darker splotch where I let the brush sit for a moment too long. But then I discovered colors.

From reading along here, you likely already know that I'm a mascara fanatic. I have several colors, including the lovely Fatale Brilliant, which merely adds sparkles as an overcoat. Given that I'm so keen on the colors there, it probably sounds odd that I didn't use different colors of eyeliner.

Enter NARS ($27.50 from narscosmetics.com). Though it looks as though many of the colors have sold out, I've gotten really excited about two colors of eyeliner that I bought from NARS: Blue Nile (pictured) and Ghost (a pretty purple). They're liquids, which is still a bit of a hassle, but the brush that comes with them is actually good - something that I've found is hard to find. It doesn't spread apart as I apply the eyeliners, and though there is still the problem of my wobbly hand, the new secret I have is an eye makeup remover pad folded over into a thin line, which I use to wipe away any mistakes.

See, even the worst of us can learn new tricks and still have pretty, colorful eyes. And now my eyes are even more colorful, thanks to NARS.

Photo courtesy of narscosmetics.com.

Snap, Crackle, and Plop

Most of the time, I'll admit, I'm relatively easy to please. I can give a product the benefit of the doubt, or find something good to say. In this post, I'm going to really be reaching.

How disappointed am I? I love many Too Faced products and would probably fight anyone who tried to take my Like a Virgin color palette. Those are really great shades of eye shadow and lip gloss!

I had heard good things about the Frozen Lotion ($22 at toofaced.com), so I decided to try it. Good for me, I went to eBay to see if I could find a steal. I did, and it included the aforementioned Bella Il Fiore products that I am in love with now.

When the package arrived, I took it out of the box, and it was in the new as promised condition. The seller, by the way, was lobilori. You can end up with the good, the bad, and the ugly on eBay, and this lady is definitely one of the good.

So I now had my Frozen Lotion. Happy day!

I went back to the bathroom, and immediately squirted some of the lotion in my hand. Or, rather, I tried to. But Frozen Lotion has this horrible habit of squirting in all directions, and then the crackly sensation makes it splatter even more.

The noise didn't bother me (and it is rather loud), but the runny nature did. The front of the Frozen Lotion bottle advertises it as "cooling, crackling, shimmering, moisturizing body mousse". It is cold. It is loud. It does shimmer. But it is not a mousse by any stretch of the imagination. Even as I attempted to spread the runny substance on my arm, it was dripping onto the counter.

The other issue I take with the label is the "moisturizing" claim. I don't think so. After spreading it on my arms, they didn't feel like there was anything on there, and they certainly didn't feel soft. Honestly, they felt a tad itchy.

I'm not at all impressed with Too Faced's Frozen Lotion. From now on, I think I'll stick to outright makeup from them. They do that really well, unlike this particular product.

Photo courtesy of toofaced.com.

Boutique Beauty

We all grew up near a drug store, so brands like Maybelline, Revlon, and L'Oreal are second nature to us - nothing out of the ordinary. Too are brands like Clinique and Estee Lauder, which can be found everywhere from Sephora to Dillards to Macy's to Saks Fifth Avenue. Of course, there are some brands that are less well known, but beginning to make a larger splash, such as Smashbox and Benefit. But then there are some really good quality brands that are still largely a secret to most of us.

How do we come across these brands? In my case, I'll admit, it was eBay. I had been wanting Too Faced's Frozen Lotion for a while, and I happened to find a really good deal on it. Included with it, however, were two palettes from Bella Il Fiore. I'd never heard of the brand, so I did a little online snooping. I easily found their web site, www.bellabeauty.net, and poked around on it until I decided they weren't clown makeup makers. So it was settled. I bid on the small lot of items and won them.

The frozen lotion deserves its own post, which I'll write later. For now, though, I wanted to give Bella Il Fiore some space, a little splash of its own on a little beauty blog. Hey, their accolades have to start somewhere. . .

The two palettes I received were both sealed. One was the Rio mini-palette, which included two lip glosses, two eye shadows, a blush, and an applicator. This is the smaller version of the Radiant in Rio palette, which has additional features. The other I received was the Touch and Go Lip Kit palette in Kiss Me, which holds eight lip glosses in different shades.

Both have adorable packaging. The one small downside to the Rio palette is that there's not a blush applicator included, but I normally use my brush set anyway. For those who don't have brush sets, this could be a problem.

The upside is the color. Firstly, I love plum colors on my face, so the Rio palette was off to a good start before I applied it. There is a light lavender and a medium purple eyeshadow duo that looks lovely together. The blush is a little on the dark side for my face, but when paired with the eyeshadow, it makes a nice combination. Speaking of the blush, I ran my blush brush across it, getting about as much blush as I normally need when wearing other brands, and swept it across my cheeks. Apparently, the blush is very pigmented, though, so it ended up being too much. So word to the wise: start light! The color was still showing up nicely on my eyes and cheeks at the end of the day, which is rare. I'm really impressed by the fact that I have to use less makeup to achieve the normal effect. This means the palette should last me a good while.

The lip glosses are pretty shades, both in the Rio palette and in the Touch and Go Lip Kit. Sadly, they don't have the staying power of the blush and eyeshadow, so they need to be reapplied throughout the day like any other brand. That said, the colors are still lovely, so I'll be putting them to good use.

I don't know how long it will be before Bella Il Fiore gets a wider audience. I'm smitten with them. I had to do a bit of looking for pricing on the Rio mini palette and the Touch and Go Lip Kit since neither is still available at Bella Il Fiore's web site. Amazon.com has the Rio mini palette in stock at $12 and the Touch and Go Lip Kit in stock for $16. I'm going to keep my eye on this brand, because I'm convinced they're going places in a big way.

Pictures courtesy of amazon.com.

Towelettes on the Go

I don't know about you, but when I travel, I tend to be lazy-ish about my nighttime beauty routine. At home, I religiously go through several steps, but due to limited space and lack of willpower, I can't make myself cart tons of products with me when on the go.

So, for the trip, I thought I'd try out one of those simple towelette face cleansers. I've heard good things about Boots No. 7's offerings, but my Kroger (where I was right before the trip to buy last minute essentials) doesn't seem to carry that brand. After looking around to see what was available, I settled on Pond's Institute's Exfoliating Clean Sweeps ($5.99 at drugstore.com) - a two-sided towelette that has a smooth side for makeup removal and a side with exfoliating microbeads to get rid of the dead skin. It looked promising.

The first night of the trip, I opened the package to a subtle smell of cucumbers. The cloths are moist, but barely damp. There was no loose liquid in the package. It took longer to get rid of my makeup layers than my normal face wash, but it left my face feeling clean, and my normally dry cheeks didn't feel dried out.

I was a little worried about my forehead. I have combination skin, and my forehead is the worst part - constantly oily if I don't care after it. I was worried that by using the towelettes, I might break out in the section of my face from several days' use. Good news, though. I continued with the towelettes through Friday and my face is as clear as ever.

Tonight I'll go back to my normal routine, but I have the Pond's towelettes as a good fallback in case I get lazy.

Photo courtesy of ponds.com.

Roll On Chocolate

One of the stranger products I've tried in recent history is the Chocolate Body Glosser from Sephora ($2 at sephora .com). Don't get me wrong, the idea is intriguing - after all I picked it up to try. However, I really can't get past the weirdness factor.

You see, at first, I was sure the body glosser must be a deodorant. That's how it's packaged. However, it's for use all over the body as a moisturizer, containing shea butter and other goodness. Still, it looks like a deodorant.

Not to be deterred, I tried it on, gliding it along my arms to get the advertised "summer shine year round" (even though I'm aware it's July, and therefore still summer). What I got wasn't a shimmer. It was more of a waxy look, which is unsurprising, given the consistency of the body glosser . It also feels like you're wearing Cutters. Again, that likely is because of the consistency of the product, but without the protection from bugs that Cutters affords the wearer.

At least the product smells like chocolate, but not the most aromatic of forms. One upside is that the scent doesn't fade away quickly. It stuck around for a good three hours after application. I'll just be frank here. I cannot get into this product. It's a great concept, but the actual item disappointed me.

Picture courtesy of sephora.com.

Sparkling Lashes

I'm a mascara addict. I admit it. No, I'm not seeking help for this addiction. But I do have an ever-growing collection of mascara around these parts. I know I've mentioned repeatedly that I had that recent purchase from Sephora - it's now inspired three posts alone. One of the items I bought was the limited edition Fatale Brilliant by Lancome ($23 at sephora.com).

Now, given that this is a top coat mascara, you have to put on your normal mascara before adding the sparkly Fatale. Well, of course, I got to trying it with my mascara collection, which includes a black, two different shades of brown, a plum, and a blue. (I am looking for a green and an aqua, if anyone has suggestions!)

The Fatale Brilliant looks especially good with the darker colors (the black, the dark brown, and the plum). I'm not as wild about it with the chestnut brown, and I can't decide how I feel with it over the blue.

I wore it to church yesterday with some shimmery eye shadow from Too Faced. I don't know about y'all, but I'm lucky enough to go to a church where sparkly eyes will totally fly on a Sunday morning, though I know some churches would find that trashy/flashy/irreverent/insert-your-nice-word-for-harlot-here. I was wearing nice clothes and the eye makeup wasn't overdone, I promise!

Anyway, I got several compliments on my eye makeup from girls - and one guy. How often to guys notice eye makeup?

I can find all kinds of uses for the Fatale Brilliant. While I wouldn't wear it to work, certainly I can wear it on weekends and when I go out. So to me, it's worth the $23.

Photo courtesy of sephora.com.