Manolo for the Beauty

I know, I know.  Based on my penchant for plummy-colored eyeliner, I’m fairly positive that I would look good in some plum mascara.

But, I’m not 100% positive.

And it just hasn’t really been on my radar to go and find a nice plum colored mascara and try it out.

I just might be scarred from the 80’s, when I did brave some blue mascara (SO HOT at the time) and thought I looked great.

Except in retrospect, I’m sure I didn’t.

I am well aware that the pigmentation on mascaras is much different here in the 2000’s, and the only time you are going to get neon blue mascara is if you are purposely looking for neon blue mascara.

As much as I hate to say it, I’m thinking that maybe 41 is a bit old for colored mascara.  A trend best left for the young ‘uns, as I had a go of it on the first round.

What say you?  Is age just a number and flaunt that purple mascara no matter what?

The perfect mascara.

For me, anyway. Mascara is just one of those things that is so individual, it is almost impossible to recommend one that is great for everybody.

May I introduce Make Up For Ever’s Smoky Lash mascara.  Finally a Make Up For Ever product that I like!  I’ve tried so many that didn’t impress that it’s nice to find something from the brand that makes me happy.

Now I don’t actually recommend this product too much for everyday wear, but as I work from home, usually I only apply mascara when I’m going somewhere special.  I like Laura Mercier for a “natural” look mascara.

There’s nothing particularly natural about Smoky Lash.  It is one of those products that totally looks like you are wearing mascara, but in a very good way.  It’s nice and thick and deeply pigmented, more so than any other mascara that I’ve tried.  It almost looks like fake eyelashes, and I’m OK with that.  But it isn’t clumpy and I’ve not had any flaking, which is sort of amazing for such an intense-looking product.

It comes in quite a few colors, including plum and blue, but I stuck with good old black.

So if you like a strong, thick-looking lash, this product is worth checking out.

OK, confession time.  When I was a young lass back in the late 1980’s, I totally wore gold lipstick.  And I rocked it.

Today, probably not so much.

Hmmm, maybe on top of another color?

I’ve no desire for the nail polish, and the bronzing palette is cute.

Not pictured is a gold eyeliner that would actually work well on me.

via

Very pastel, very soft, ultra feminine.  What interests me the most is the green, in all the different forms, especially the lip gloss.  I need to get to the store, stat!

A big thumbs down was given to the new Marc Jacob nail colors.  65% of you yawned mightily and took a nap, while only 35% of you thought it was nice enough.  The only way those particular shades could be fantastic is if the color depth is phenomenal, and I haven’t seen it in person, so they very well might be.  But, I still think I’ll pass.

Today I’m about the metallics.  They are a hot trend right now, and I’ve got a question.  Be honest, now…

Have you been feeling a little evil lately?  How about judgemental?  Or maybe your ego is getting to be the size of a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.

Then have I got the makeup for you.

Introducing Karl Lagerfeld for Sephora.

Because everybody wants to take a swipe at Karl, right?

The perfect gift for your non-sleeping toddler, a Kuddly Karl doll!  That’ll teach the little squirt to stop making a fuss at bedtime. “Go to sleep, or I will bring out Uncle Karl!”

And the snowglobe is simply the product of a very deranged mind.

Just the thing I want to see right before I put my makeup on. “YOU. NOT PRETTY ENOUGH. TRY AGAIN. AND AGAIN… FAIL.”

Only Europe is lucky enough to have access to these.

I am fully cognizant that tweezers aren’t really cosmetics.

But I don’t care and I’m going to do this anyway.

So, we’ve got a pair of tweezers pitted against each other that basically came about because I moved right after having a baby and lost my favorite pair of Tweezerman tweezers somehow.  In a haze of sleeplessness, I grabbed a pair of Revlon tweezers at Target, thinking to myself that tweezers were tweezers.

And the more I type the word tweezers, the more I realize what a truly ridiculous word it is.

I will be judging each set of tweezers on three set of criteria: durability, cost, and performance.

Durability

Revlon’s tweezers start out looking all nice and shiny and surgical instrument-like.  But keep them on the bathroom counter for a while and they start to quickly dull in both appearance and sharpness.  I suppose if you were the type that polished your tweezers daily this would not happen as fast, but I am not that kind of gal.

Tweezerman tweezers look rather unimposing but are surprisingly well-made and I have never observed any dullness.  Even after years of use.

Round One goes to Tweezerman, hands down.

Cost

Revlon will run you a cool twelve bucks or so, which in my opinion is awfully expensive for what you get.

Tweezerman comes in at not quite double the price, but is sooooo worth the extra money.

I’m not coming across biased or anything, am I?

Winner of Round Two is Tweezerman.  Again.

Performance

Using Revlon’s tweezers is like trying to dig out that one tiny piece of eggshell you dropped in the batter.  Difficult, frustrating, and sometimes an utter failure.  I don’t consider my eyebrows to be especially difficult to tweeze, but using the Revlon tweezers took twice as long as it normally did because  I would have to pull multiple times.  Forget about getting the really small ones just starting to grow back.  Not gonna happen until they are much longer.  Which kind of defeats the purpose of tweezers, does it not?

Tweezerman tweezers do the job and do it right.  A nice firm pull and they are out of there.  Minimum amount of pain, and minimum amount of futzing around with the smaller hairs.  I am a big fan of scientific terms such as “futzing.”   You’re in, you’re out, and you can quickly move on with your life.

Winner of Round Three is Tweezerman.  Big surprise.

The Ultimate Victory without a doubt goes to Tweezerman.  Don’t even hesitate for a second about spending the extra ten bucks or so.  Totally worth it.  I will never consider buying any other brand again.

The captivating Accidental Tangoiste emailed moi with the following:

I’m beginning to seriously wonder what I’m doing wrong in my use of eyeliner. I got home after an evening out last night to find that once again the liner on my lower lids had settled into every crease, despite the primer I’d used and what I think is a relatively light application.

I generally use a brown pencil–Maybelline, I think–to slightly dramatize the simple brown shadow that I like to use to bring out my baby blues, for evenings. My nights out mainly involve dancing, and I do tend to end up perspiring in a most unladylike manner, so I don’t know, maybe there’s nothing I can do but keep periodically checking it in the restroom.

 

Hmmm, yes, dancing and perspiring (ladylike manner or not) is always tough on eyeliner.

Here are my top tips for helping your eyeliner stay put:

1) Choose a gel or liquid eyeliner over a pencil.  This is probably the best choice to ensure no eyeliner slippage occurs.

2) Make sure your eyeliner is described as “smudge proof” or similar adjectives.

3) If you must use a pencil liner, try freezing it for about ten minutes before application.

4) Then, apply a similarly colored eyeshadow with an angled brush over the eyeliner to help keep it in place.

Anyone else have any tried and true methods that worked for you? Do tell!

And next week, the best smoky eye tutorials on teh internets!

One of the bigger trends coming out of the runways for spring is that of the strong eyebrow.  As I was putting together the Icon posts for Elizabeth Taylor and Sohpia Loren, I couldn’t help but notice and admire their wonderful dark eyebrows.  I think a strong brow brings out your eyes much more than thin ones.

Maybe I’m just blind or in denial, but I have never used an eyebrow pencil, and I like to think that I have fairly strong brows without them.

Not counting, of course, that time in the early 90’s when I almost plucked them into oblivion.  Thank you, hearty Italian hair-growing genes!

I suppose almost anyone could use an eyebrow pencil to further shape and define their brows, but for the most part, I’m pretty happy with just tweezing mine and letting them be in their au naturel state.

Now that I’m writing about it, though, I almost feel like going to Target and getting a cheapie one just to see what I would look like.

Hmmm, you may be hearing from me soon about that.

And if you are a big fan of eyebrows, then don’t go here!  Some of those pics are just downright freaky.

Have a great weekend!

It seems that I can always count on the Mulleavy sisters to throw a nice curveball on the runway when it comes to their makeup and hair.   I kind of hate the slick hairstyles that so many designers default to.  Rodarte always tries to do something different than most of what is out there, and I applaud them for going their own direction.

Can you tell that the inspiration for the collection was Van Gogh?