Make up talk and MASCARA

I love make up. It's one of the funnest things! It's an art form...on your face!! 
Some people use make up to "cover" things. I like to use make up to ENHANCE features. 
When putting on make up think about the things you really like on your face! Not the things you don't like or wish you didn't have. That's not going to make make-up very fun. Make up is art and it's supposed to be fun! 
Some times we use make up to make ourselves feel pretty and sometimes we use make up more artistically. Both ways are awesome and totally fun. 


Now that i'm done ranting on about the ideas of make up, let's talk about MASCARA 


Everyone loves having long full eyelashes, right? 
I think that's pretty safe to say. As we get older (and by older I mean not 5 anymore!) our eyelashes just aren't as long and full! Or maybe you were totally blessed with big beautiful lashes. Then, awesome and all the power to you, baby!


I just have medium length and full-ness to my lashes. And I really love mascara!
I want my lashes to be super dark, full, lots of volume, thick and long. Now that i've said almost the same thing about 3 times I'll tell you my dilemma with mascara...
It always flakes on me! If it doesn't flake, it smears. But that's almost better than flaking! Flaking looks like a ton of fall-out from your black eyeshadow! The worst part is when the flakey mascara-flakes fall under your eye and mix with your concealer creating the most amazing grey paste under your eyes! Might as well have not worn any concealer. Because now I look like a drug addict. 


                                          No. Thank. You.


So what do you do about flakey and/or smearing? Don't wear mascara? nooo...
Don't wear concealer under your yes? So not going to happen. 


Ah yes, that's where we come to waterproof mascara. Seems great in theory, but trust me it's not! Now I do have to say, it lasts all day...and all night...and until tomorrow when you think you got it all off- until you get in the shower and come out looking like a raccoon. Now, if you're emo...all the power to you, yet again. But now we're scrubbing and rubbing at our eyes. Using up all our eye-make-up remover. Also not fun! Haha


I guess this means, we're still on the search for the best mascara, right?
Exactly. 
                           But guess what... I found mine!! 


I decided after using this old dumb mascara, screw this, I won't spend 20 dollars on something I don't really even love. (The brush/wand was total crap. Formula was awesome though.) 


So I figured i'd go to Target. Looking around and see what's up in the drug store land of mascara. I've heard a million great things about L'oreal Paris Voluminous mascara. I heard this gave lashes a full dark look while still staying light and looking feathery. Seemed pretty cool. But mascaras typically always flake on me. So, I bought the waterproof one. "Waterproof Voluminous Carbon Black" 
When I first tested this out, it smeared on me. Didn't flake. Just smeared. I decided I'd let it dry out a bit over night. I unscrewed the top and let the air get to the formula. By that morning I had the best mascara! Super dark, super full, still flexible(my lashes didn't feel hard, brittle and/or  break, that's never good), Also super build-ible.
              This mascara was perfect. Except...It never came off. 

In all it's shining black glory 

I tried to go back to target and buy the non-waterproof. But they only had the original. The original doesn't come in carbon black. it's just black. You wouldn't think it, but that makes a huge difference! The formula also was a lot dryer. Almost too dry. It still din't flake, but it was still hard to get off. And not very worth it because it wasn't super black. 


A month or two later I googled this mascara to find out if they make carbon black non-waterproof. It said they did! I went to target that day, found it and bought it!

The very perfect mascara wand

Man, it's the best mascara I have ever used! And it's only like $6! So cheap, right? 


So if your mascara sucks, i'd try looking at your drug store again. You could buy two mascaras and still be paying less than you would in the department stores, like sephora. 

  Some Mascara goop on my wrist.
See, look how dark it is!! 

So that is my very very long story about how much I love L'oreal Paris Voluminous CARBON BLACK. In the other words, the best mascara ever ;)


You just might wanna leave the lid off for the first night, at least for the waterproof one. 






Happy eyelash batting!! ;)


XOXOX

Those aren't freckles, are they?

         


        
       Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque.


I have heard lots of great things about this mask. People swear by it. I've always wanted to try it, but could never find it!
One day while I was in New Seasons, buying more MyChelle products- I looked down and there it was in all it's mint green shining glory!
Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. I picked it up right away. Something I love about it is just the packaging, right on the front it says:


"Helps dry up acne pimples, rinse away blackheads & shrink enlarged pores"
Lately I had noticed some blackheads on my nose. I thought "Wow I sure have a lot of freckles left from summer...Oh wait."  
I had also noticed that my pores were huge! I've never noticed pores on my face before. Actually I always thought about the fact that I couldn't really see my pores. 
Well guess what. Now I can! They're pretty big too!! My make up kept seeping into my HUGE pores and making them look more HUGE haha! It was very unusual for me. And of course the classic pimple is always around somewhere ;) So these 3 things sounded pretty awesome to me! Along with the fact that so many people love this mask! It's also really cheap! This seems like magic right? Well it is.


As soon as I got home I washed my face and applied my new mint julep masque. 
I decided I just wanted it where I needed it. My nose and my new big pores. So basically starting below the pupil of the eye along my nose. It looked like I had a green sun burn haha! 
The mask is really minty, super fresh smelling. I love the smell. It's green, which I think is always fun with a mask!! It also tingles a lot. I feel like that means it's working! Once it started to harden, I could see my pores under the mask. It was really seeping into my pores! It started to harden and tighten on my face. 
After it started to dry some, I applied a second layer. I think that really helped,
a nice, thick layer. Once it felt like I had cement on my face, it was time to wash it off!
Now, let me preface this by saying, i've tried lots of masks. Every time I wash it off, I feel like nothing changed in my skin. It looks the same. Maybe it feels smoother but nothing super great. No drastic changes to my skin.
Maybe if I kept doing those masks, my skin would improve over time.


Once I washed this baby off... All my blackheads on my nose were totally gone!! 
I mean totally. Nothing was left. Squeaky clean! Then on the top of my cheeks my pores had totally vanished. It was so crazy! I couldn't believe it! I knew right away I needed to write about this! But wanted to give it a full week before I wrote a whole post about it. 
Now I've used it a few more times. Still awesome. I think this mask also works super well for spot treating. 
I've had this little bump under my skin on my chin for weeks! It wasn't turning into a pimple and it wasn't going away. I put the mint juelp masque on it, washed it off about 15-20 mins later. When I woke up in the morning that little bump had turned into a puss filled pimple. I know that sounds super gross, but it's actually a really good thing! It means it was coming to the surface of my skin. and finally pushing out the bad stuff, now it can heal up. No more bump! 
I've never had anything work that fast and effective before! I was super impressed. 
But remember doing clay masks like this WILL pull out impurities from deep in your skin. Which means, it can cause pimples. This is a good thing. you're pulling out the yuckies. But if you were planning on going to a party in a few days, now you may have a pimple or two to deal with. It's bitter sweet. 
That's so with all masks. The cool thing about this mask is it draws out impurities, dries up active pimples, shrinks enlarged pores while sweeping away black heads. I feel like this is the best mask I have ever tried! 
I've tried a lot, expensive ones too. This was only like $6! 
Next time I got to New Seasons i'm going to check out the other Queen Helene products! I saw a purple bottle that said it was a peel. I love peels! There was another product, but i'm not sure what it was. This has really been the best mask. Really gets deep into pores, shrinks pores, dries up pimples, pulls out impurities. What more could you ask for? 
This is what the back of the tube says 
"Mint Julep Masque is the original natural home treatment developed by a dermatologist that helps dry up acne pimples, rinse away blackheads and shrink enlarged pores. Simply apply Mint Julep Masque to your clean face and neck. Within minutes it firms and hardens, drawing out impurities from your pores. After the masque is removed, your skin will feel clean, refreshed and smooth. Even for individuals who are fortunately free of skin problems, Mint Julep Masque is refreshing facial treatment that helps relax tired muscles and eases tension lines on the face and neck."

I totally agree with everything this mask claims to offer. That's pretty rare too!
My mom and my sister love it too! We're all walking around like scary green faced monsters! Hahaha!

Hope you learned something awesome!!












XOXOX