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Review: Benefit They're Real! Mascara

Monday, September 23, 2013

Hey ladies, 

So I had the pleasure of being on of Ipsy's and Benefit's lash bash hostess. As I couldn't actually host the part myself (later post), I was able to have the honor of getting one of Benefit's They're Real! Mascara for myself in the regular size. (Retailing at $23) I just have to say from the start, I absolutely LOVE this mascara. & I will tell you why. 



This is what the mascara looks like. Don't be alarmed by the picture, it's a bit bigger than what it's showing. The packaging is just amazing because it's a sleek shiny gray/silver that makes the "Real" in They're Real stand out. That's the whole point of the mascara right? To look like you have falsies without actually having to wear falsies. 

What I have to say I love most about the mascara is the way the brush is actually made. The brush is a typical straight edged brush with the same sized bristles that cover it completely. However, the tip of the brush has the bristles sticking out on an angle. I tried to get a good picture of it but my phone just wouldn't focus on it. (Time for a professional camera huh?) What I love about this part of the brush, is that it's perfect for getting just the right amount of product on my lower lashes. 




This is just perfect in particular for someone like me because I don't generally like to wear mascara on my lower lashes. Only because I ALWAYS end up getting it on my waterline then end up having to put eyeliner on it to blend it all in. I don't like this because generally the eyeliner and mascara tend to smudge and by the end of the day, my eyes just look horrible. I might as well had put the mascara on and cried all day. However, with this mascara, using the top bristles to coat my lashes then the rest of the brush to smooth it out gives my lashes this perfect coat of mascara. It's wonderful!



Please bare with me. I couldn't get my photo editor to get both of the pictures to come correct in the editor. So this is what my lashes look like with just about 3 coats of the mascara. I have very light, thin, and sparse lashes. It takes a lot to make them look wonderful. This mascara gives me awesome length when applying it. Definitely gets better the more coats that you put. Also a tip would be to put the mascara as close to your lash line as possible and wiggle your way up. This helps to darken the lash line making it appear fuller. The mascara doesn't give me that much volume unless I load it one, but nonetheless it's doing its job. It really looks like I have natural looking falsies on. Talk about a product that lives up to its name ;).


Now, I made this picture in black and white so you can really see the differences of my lashes with and without the mascara. My eyes on the left are with the mascara and my eyes on the right are without. (My gosh, what a difference mascara can make) It truly helped to lift my lashes. They already practically curl by themselves, but the mascara just gives it that extra bit of enthusiasm. It gave them such length and like I said, if I put on a few more coats, I would have loads of volume. 

Not only does this mascara define, life, give volume, and lengthen, it also lasts a really long time. You know how you put some mascaras on and after a while, it's like it just drifted away? Yea, it doesn't happen with They're Real! It will last you literally from the moment you put it on, to the moment you decide to take it off. Trust me. Testing it out, I fell asleep with it still on and I woke to loads of product still present on my lashes. Not to worry though! When you take it off with a gentle makeup remover, you won't lose any lashes either! Sometimes my lashes tend to rip off when taking mascara off or even just by playing with. However, it didn't happen with this mascara. 

This mascara is like the BEST mascara I've ever had. I love it so much. Definitely worth the $23 and I would go back and buy more when I run out of. Now only if they made a drug store mascara that could compete. ;) You can layer it with different mascaras if you don't want to give up your ultimate favorite one either. It's easy to remove and lasts all day. What more would you want from a mascara? Have you tried They're Real! Mascara? If not, I challenge you to give it a try! Tell me how you like it. From one beauty lover to another, see you soon!









Avocado hair mask for Dry & Damaged hair/Split Ends

Hey ladies, 

So this weekend I experimented with some avocado and other ingredients for a hair mask that will nourish my hair after applying heat to it since school started. Before the hair mask, my hair felt very dry. You can practically see my split ends from a distance. I didn't want to just hurry up and cut away the split ends before trying to repair them. My mother bought an avocado, that I know she wasn't going to eat, so I used it for the mask. I was looking around for some recipes to use with the avocado, and I saw one from a website I can't remember. I tweaked it around a bit for my hair. Since it's long, thick, and curly. So here's the recipe that I used. 


  • Half of an Avocado (mines was already large so it was enough)
  • 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 tablespoon of Honey
  • 1 Egg yolk
To start off, I just used a bigger sized bowl since my avocado was fairly large. I was going to use the whole avocado only because my hair is really thick, but the half was just perfect. You can save the other half in a container for your next hair mask or just eat it on some toast or a sandwich. Then I just added the rest of the ingredients. 2 tablespoons of EVOO, 1 tablespoon of Honey, and 1 Egg yolk. Now in order for me to separate the egg white from the egg yolk, I took an egg and with a fork I punctured a hole in the bottom. I then watched it carefully as all the egg white came out so that the egg yolk wouldn't come out with it. After that, I just put the egg yolk with the rest. Using a fork, I mashed all the ingredients together until there wasn't really any clumps left over. 


This is what it should look like 
 Now it's time for application. What I felt was best to do, was to actually apply it in the shower. Not while taking a shower, but in the tub so that if there's any mess (which there was) I can easily wash it down the drain. Another way that I made this easier was to first split my hair in half and then apply it. It wasn't really thick, so do expect a bit of a mess. It also depends on how much of each ingredient you actually put into it. I started from my ends first and worked my way to my roots making sure to cover all of my hair and use up all of the product. After you put it all in, just tied it up in a bun or clip it up for 20 minutes. 

This is what it looked like after putting it in my hair 
After 20 minutes, you want to rinse it out of your hair. Since I put 2 tablespoons of EVOO in my mask, it felt a bit oily when I was washing it out. After, you just want to make sure to shampoo before conditioning just to get any extra out of your hair. I let my hair rest for a while at its natural state (curly), then I went ahead and straightened my hair. 

When I straightened it, I noticed how sleek and shiny it looked. It was really soft and most of my split ends seemed to disappear. It was easier to work with and just a whole lot better. I was definitely satisfied with the results. I highly recommend this if your hair is feeling dry and damaged. Also if you have some split ends. I will definitely be doing this hair mask every 2 weeks or so to condition my hair since I will be using heat for the rest of the year. What hair masks have you ladies been using to condition your hair? Leave a comment below and I'll try it out! From one beauty lover to another, see you soon!






UPDATE: Urban Decay; Revolutionary Lipstick and 24/7 Glide on LipPencil in Venom

Monday, September 16, 2013

Hey ladies,

It's fall, so that means bring out the deep toned plum lipsticks. Dark plum maybe magenta type lipsticks are definitely my go to lip color for this season. Because I'm a member of Ipsy, I'm able to participate in special offers straight through Facebook or Youtube called IpsyMe. Now with these events, you either go to Ipsy's FaceBook or any of the participating beauty guru's Youtube in order to purchase these products. The products usually fall into the categories of what's inside the participating month's bag. The products are always full size and can range from anywhere from palettes to lipstick combos like the one I got. The prices are usually discounted enough where they become a steal. ;)




What I purchased for last month's IpsyMe event was the new Urban Decay Revolutionary Lipstick and 24/7 glide-on lip pencil in the color Venom. I can't remember the name of the other color that was featured but this was the color I chose because I was originally looking into these colors for fall. I was a little hesitant at first because in my Ipsy bag last month, I got the revolutionary mini lipstick in the color Anarchy. Now that color would be another blog post, but lets just say it was extremely too bright for my color preference. The revolutionary lipstick is $22 and the 24/7 glide on lip pencil is $19. All together that is $41. Through IpsyMe, I paid $35 plus I got free shipping. You get to save $6 plus shipping, which would roughly be around $12 that your saving. Now if that's not an impulsive move I made, I don't know what is. 


This is what the color generally looks like on my skin tone. (Sorry for not better quality pictures, I'm working on that) On my arm, the right is a swatch of the lipstick while on the left is a swatch for the lip pencil. To me, the lip pencil has more of a matte finish to it and you can definitely go without. (Just make sure to hydrate your lips before) The lipstick has a bit of a classic feel to it. It's shiny, but not too shiny where it overpowers the color. 

For the texture of the products, the lip pencil was smooth to begin with. After application however, my lips felt pretty dry putting it on. I wanted to go without the lipstick because of the matte color I was getting, but the way my lips felt wouldn't allow me to. Sure if I put some lip balm or gloss on top, it would of solved the problem, but again I wanted it to be matte. When I put the lipstick on on top of it though, my lips became very smooth again. The color still had a bit of matte to it with a nice sheerness of shine. I just loved it! It felt moisturizing to my lips and I couldn't be happier. 

I wore this lipstick to school. (I'm in college, keep in mind) On a day where I would have 3 three hour classes back to back. To ensure I was testing out how long this lipstick could last without me having to reapply it. So lets start from the start of my day. I put my makeup on roughly around 8 or 9 in the morning. I had one class from 11:00-1:45. Lets just say I didn't need a touch up until after 2. The only reason why it even faded some, only in the center of my lips, was because of my coffee that I had previously. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have needed to touch up. I kind of like the ombre sort of look that it gave me however. It didn't completely wipe away, but it wasn't completely there either. The color was just perfect for that fall time dark ombre look. I didn't capture any pictures of that though. (Just take my word for it. I wouldn't lie to you lovely ladies) 

If you want a good lipstick that will last you all day. The revolutionary lipstick is the color for you. I haven't tried the lipstick without the pencil. (Only because I have the pleasure of having both, so why not use them both) I'm pretty sure that the color will look just as fabulous without the pencil as it is with the pencil. Just make sure to check yourself after you drink some coffee or eat your lunch. Other than that, I was extremely pleased with the lipstick and lip liner. My only wish was that the lip liner was more creamier and made my lips feel wonderful after applying it. I'm going to work it around a bit to see what I can do to improve the texture of it. 

Now for a little Ipsy promotion ;). I only purchased these products because it was available to me through IpsyMe. You can only and I repeat ONLY get offers like this if you're an Ipsy subscriber. If you would like to subscribe please click here. I can't stress enough how great Ipsy is. Especially if you want to try new makeup brands/products but don't want to go out and spend money of every little thing. There will be a post about this month's glam bag coming sometime this week. You can check out my previous reviews on past bags like AugustJuly, and June. With Ipsy, you get products based on your personal profile and makeup quiz that you get to take in the beginning. Don't like the products you got for that month, don't worry! Change your quiz before the 1st of the next month and I guarantee you things will be different. You also get to "rate" the products you got each month and you can even click to say you don't want products like these anymore. Don't forget to check it out and subscribe so you can participate in offer like these! From one beauty lover to another, see you soon!

- Leann

UPDATE:


Here's a better picture of the color with my skin tone. 









Favorite face wash of all time

Thursday, September 5, 2013

If you're like me and you have normal to sensitive skin, keep reading this post. I have been using the same face wash since high school and I just absolutely love it. It makes my face feel fresh, wakes me up, and takes care of my blemishes whenever they start to appear.


My ULTIMATE favorite face wash is this Deep Clean Oil Free cream cleanser from Neutrogena. When I first started using this face wash, I didn't use the oil free one. For my type of skin, both oil free and the normal one still worked wonders on face. I'm not one who gets a lot of breakouts or anything, but if something small is surfacing, this is my go to product. 

Immediately after using it, my face is super soft and doesn't feel dry at all. Applying a moisturizer right after will be an added bonus, but I generally tend to skip that test. (I know, I shouldn't) What I do is just get my hands wet a little bit and pat my face. I don't want my face soaked or dry before I wash it. Then I just take a little bit of the cleanser, you really don't need much, and wash my face. I like to rinse my face with luke warm to cold water, just so that my pores don't stay wide open or anything. Then after that, I finish my morning routine. 

You know when you find a product that you LOVE and just can't go on with out it? Yes! This is one of those products. It was the first face wash I ever tried and I fell in love since the beginning. I was supposed to be a Senior in college, but I'm a junior. So I've been using this face wash for about 5+ years. If you have normal to sensitive skin, I highly suggest you try out this product if you're looking for a new face wash. Since it's oil free also, it would be a great product for people with oily skin. What's your go to face wash? Leave a comment down below. From one beauty lover to another, see you soon!





It's that time again..

It's that time again ladies! Back to school. I'm going back to school as well. Which means, I'm not going to be as active as I want to be. I'm going to try to be very active and keep up with new reviews, posts, maybe some tutorials will be on way too. Just please be patient with me and if there's anything you would like me to review or do a post on, feel free to send me an email! Good luck this semester or school year if you're still in high/middle school!


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