Thursday, February 25, 2010

Eyebrow Extensions?

Hi! =)

One of my magazines recently (I think "Shape"?) talked about the new trend: Eyebrow Extensions.

Um, Say what?

Let's investigate a little bit more, shall we?

After some googling, I found a spa in NY that offers "Semi-Permanent Eye Brow extensions ($385), individual
human hairs that are meticulously attached to your real ones with surgical-grade superglue." The results last 14 days.

So, they're like false lashes but for brows.?

I blame Megan Fox!
(Who BY THE WAY is lucky enough to be able to fill hers in since they're so dark. Oh? Don't believe me? Look at the brow on the left! Uh oh...)































Anyway! The whole idea with brow extensions is to look more youthful. Which is the purpose of all this "fix" stuff, right? Plumper lips, thicker and longer hair, firmer skin, etc. Blah blah. Personally the whole fear of aging disgusts me. And is there such a stigma with men aging? Think about it..

So apparently having fuller brows makes you look more youthful? Not sure how I feel about all of this, haha!

To me this is along the same lines as women who would wear false lashes on a daily basis. (Do you knot anyone who does? Cause I don't.) Just seems like too much effort and money to only
slightly alter your already beautiful self!

I don't know though-- what do you think of this idea? Would you be interested in trying it? What do you think of this whole eyebrow obsession?

Until next time~
Beauty Maven

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Review: DiorShow Black Out Mascara

Hello! Happy Wednesday~

Today I have another review for you! Aaand -- It's Dior again =)
(Yes, the other duo in my mini set, haha! You're so smart.)

DiorShow Black Out Mascara
Full size - $24 at Sephora

What it is:
An extreme-black mascara.

What is does:
DiorShow Black Out Mascara gives your lashes a little more oomph and a lot more drama. Intensified by ultra-black, kohl pigments, the formula glides on smoothly and draws each lash out to show-stopping lengths. Wear it alone, or layer it over DiorShow to glamour-eyes in an instant!

Well, that's exciting!
Let's take a look at it on~

No mascara--



























With DiorShow Black Out--
































Oops! Sorry for the kinda blurry shot~ but I think it gets the point across =)

This Dior mascara definitely is a more intense black than the original. But it didn't seem to give me as much length as the original, and I'll tell you why! The brush is a little different-- the bristles on the Black Out brush are a little flimsier and not as densely packed as the original. The brush astually reminds me of the bristles on Fresh's Supernova mascara, (though Dior's brush is larger and tapers).





























I also tried layering Black Out over DiorShow, as said above, to "glamour-eyes in an instant!"






























Definitely made my lashes like WHOA! Haha! Good for out partying, but a bit too clumpy for day, in my opinion.


All-in-all, not a horrible mascara, but I don't think I'd recommend purchasing the full-size unless you have $25 to throw around. ;) There are drugstore brands that will definitely do the same thing for less than half the cost.

What do you think? Fan of Dior? Love it, hate it? Leave me some feedback! Especially anything you'd like for me to try!

Until next time~
Beauty Maven

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Review: DiorShow Mascara

Review tiiiiime!!

Today I have for you... *cue the trumpets* DiorShow Mascara!
(I found a little duo at Sephora and couldn't help myself!)

The full-size mascara is $24 at Sephora.

Ok! As per Sephora's website, let's learn about this puppy!

What it is:
A cult-followed mascara that leaves lashes ultra thick, long, and curled.

What it is formulated to do:
DiorShow Mascara is Dior's original, must-have mascara that delivers ultra-glam, catwalk-length lashes. Makeup artists all over the world use this product to create the longest, thickest, curviest lashes ever.

Well! I'm excited-- I don't know about you!

First of all, some pictures:

No mascara:

























And with DiorShow:



























This mascara was pretty great! It did indeed give length, volume, and some curl! The fromula was great-- thick enough to build but not too thick that it easily clumps. The only dislike I really have is that the brush is HUGE. This is one of those mascaras that you'd want to put on
before you do your eye make-up because you'll most likely have to clean mascara off your lid with a QTip, haha!

Here is a picture of the wand.
(Keep in mind I have the mini trial size.)





























See how big? Reminds me of Benefit's BadGal mascara.

As a whole, I tend to like smaller wands because I really like to get in my lashes and all that jazz, but this mascara really did surprise me! The brush really grabbed my lashes, and maybe if I was more careful I wouldn't have a big mess on my lids after application, haha!

If you're wanting to try this mascara, there is a link above the wands (click on "mini") but there is also another value set~ DiorShow Lash Essentials Set from Sephora which includes a full-size of Dior's Iconic Mascara, which has received great reviews, and also the two mini's of DiorShow and DiorShow Black Out. I wanted this set but Sephora didn't have it at the time, aww.


Hope you all are having a great start to the week!

Any new mascaras you want me to try for you? Let me know! =)

Until next time~
Beauty Maven

Monday, February 22, 2010

Accidental Post

Well, Hello world!

Sorry for the brief hiatus from the blog.. it's really been a crappy week and a half. I won't bore you with details but basically 1. My apartment flooded and 2. I had to have a minor surgery. Nothing huge! But enough to make me just want to cuddle with my heating pad all day.

Aaand now I'm back and I have a lot to talk about!
Just a peek at things to come:
- Many Reviews! Example: Dior mascara oooo
- Weird news in the beauty world
- Celebrity looks and how-to's
- And finally a review of L'Oreal's Lash Serum this Friday!

Ok, so -- As a general rule I like to at least learn something from bad situations, and indeed I did with the whole apartment debacle. I'll share with you the beauty parts of it =)

Well when I came home at around 10:30 that evening to find my apartment flooded, I called my mother (who doesn't live very far) and she came up to help me and the maintenance guys get the whole thing sorted out. At about 1:30 am we decided to go to a hotel and call it a night. Now, all of my living room is now packed into my bedroom so accessing my desk, closet, drawers, was rather difficult.

I guess I thought I would only be out of my apartment for the night, but I ended up being out of a home for 3 nights. Luckily, a very dear (male) friend of mine let me stay at his place until I could go back. *Thank you!*


I went back to my apartment the next morning to gather my work clothes, make-up, socks, etc. Well, for some reason, I remembered deodorant and toothbrush and make-up and forgot face wash and other various not-necessarily-necessities but things that a beauty girl always likes to have.


My first evening there I needed to shower and be clean, and since I'm not a funk nasty I checked his bathroom to find something to wash my face and hair with. Which.. guess what? All men's stuff. I don't know why I thought otherwise, haha!


And let me tell you—men’s products are different than women’s!!


First of all, I used LIQUID HAND SOAP as face wash. After alllll this time of lecturing my mom on how she needs to use products on her face that are designated for her *face* and then I have to resort to this!! Eeekk ehhh GROSS….


Um.. Kind of…?


Luckily, (and I’m sure accidentally), he had purchased hand soap with “White tea and vitamin E.” There are definitely worse ingredients out there, that’s for sure! And after a few days, my face actually felt kind of nice. Now, I’m not sure what kind of build-up would occur after prolonged use of that product, but for the limited time I had with it, that little puppy held its own!


Well.. then it was on to cure my attention-needing hair. I look in his shower and there are two products: a Suave 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner and Irish Spring exfoliating body wash. Hrmph. Great! Not that one day of this would kill me, but my poor hair needs a separate shampoo and conditioner for the sole fact that my ends have entirely too much color on them and are damaged and need super conditioner. Well, and that I have somewhat fine hair that gets weighed down but conditioner at the root.


But! I had no other choice, so there I went. Me, Suave, and the Irish stuff. The body wash actually wasn’t that bad, and the shampoo smelled nice. But the aftermath wasn’t so great. I had forgotten body lotion, and the exfoliating body wash just made me itchy. And without a hair dryer, (anoooother forgotten item), I was reminded of my hair’s natural texture: straight, flat, and frizzy at the ends. I even tried the twisty-bun-makes-Giselle-waves that I’ve read about, but had an epic fail. Thank you!


To tie this in to something that might be somewhat relevant, let me tell you what I learned:


1. As with the hand soap turned face wash, if you’re in a bind, there is likely something hidden in your cabinet that can perform a temporary double duty.

2. Everyone’s hair is different. Find what works for you and expand on that! Don’t believe the latest crazes, but also don’t be afraid to experiment with them~ you’ll never know what might be a surprise and what will make you appreciate what you already have!

3. Sometimes your face needs a breather. I’m guilty of wearing foundation almost every day—to work on weekdays and being social on the weekends. At least 1 day a week, spend a day with just moisturizer and a dab of concealer! You’ll enjoy it, I promise. =)

4. Don’t be dumb when you pack. Even if it’s for a couple of days, haha!!


However, this packing mistake did serve a great purpose. I was so inspired by all of this—now I want to look up ingredients, statistics, trends, flops and fails, and I’m sure more things that will hit me when right before I go to sleep.


Thanks for tuning in to this lengthy story! Have you ever had an experience like this? Anything that took you out of your beauty comfort zone? Tell me 'bout it! =)


Until next time~

Beauty Maven