Milani New Mascara & Eye Liner Releases for 2013: Review

Good morning! I have a couple of new eye products from Milani to review for you guys today. First is the Grandissimo Lashes mascara, which is a new voluminous mascara.

These are my bare lashes on the left and wearing the Grandissimo mascara on the right. I'm very impressed with this mascara! It applies very evenly and doesn't clump or smudge.

I also received some eye liners to try out as well. The four swatches on the left are the Liquid Eye Liquid-Like eye liners (here and here) and the two are the right are of the Eye Tech Bold liner. The Liquid-Like liners are sooooo smooth and creamy! From left to right the colors are: Perfect Purple, Brown, Graphite, and Black. The Eye Tech liner is a little too thick for my liking, but it works pretty well. You need at least two swipes to get a solid black line, but if you like your liner thick, this will surely be a great product for you.

These new products are available online on Milani's website and in drugstores nation wide. Are there any of these that you are thinking of picking up? The Liquid-Like liners will sure be getting a lot of use from me!

Products provided for review

bareMinerals Remix Collection Swatches/Review

Hey guys! Happy Monday! I have some awesome new stuff from bareMinerals to show you all today. All of these products are from their Remix collection for Spring 2013. The eye shadow quads and loose powders come in limited edition "aqua sheen" packaging that is absolutely gorgeous.

The Natural High blush is a beautiful peach/pink shade with a nice subtle amount of shimmer.

The Next Big Thing quad consists of a four warm, beautiful eye shadows.

The Wild Thing quad is a mix of four cool-toned blues and greens.

The Flawless Definition mascara comes in two shades, Black and Aqua Blast. There is also a black Round the Clock waterproof eye liner in this collection not pictured, color is called Midnight.

On the far left here is a heavy swatch of The Natural High blush. Secret Radiance All-Over Face Color is swatched in the center and blended out on the far right. I used my finger for these, so using a fluffy brush would blend it out even further.

How amazing are these shadows? This is one quick swipe over primer using the sponge applicator that comes in the quads. The Wild Thing shadows are the four on the left, clockwise from the top left are Elitist (taupe shimmer), Sensational (sea foam shimmer), Icon (chartreuse sparkle) and Controversy (midnight blue shimmer). The Next Big Thing shadows are on the right, clockwise from the top right are Rising Star (yellow gold shimmer), Smash Hit (coral matte), Ensemble (plum matte), and Hoopla (golden copper). On the far right is the Midnight liner. This stuff rocks. I used it on my waterline and it stayed and stayed and stayed. I haven't found another liner that can stay this long.

I used all four shades in the Wild Thing quad for this look. Sensational is all over the lid, Icon is in the inner lid, Elitist on the center of the lid, and Controversy on the outside corner and as lower liner. They are shown over primer and they applied great. These are a lot more opaque than I expected them to be, especially Sensational and Icon.

I used the Flawless Definition mascara in Black here and the Round the Clock liner in Midnight on my lower waterline. I have a sample size of this mascara that I absolutely love, so I'm thrilled to have a full size version in my collection now. I love how it enhances my lashes but doesn't look fake and unnatural.

And here is the Flawless Definition mascara in Aqua Blast. It's not as colorful as I expected it to be, which is great actually. I was afraid that this would be way out of my comfort zone, but I think I could definitely feel comfortable wearing it with some simple shadow.

Here's a close up of the Secret Radiance All-Over Face Color in it's container. I used this on my face and with a light application, it gives you a really pretty glow.

The Bronzing Mineral Veil is definitely more suited for my skin in summer. It's a very light wash of color for sure, but I do prefer my translucent Mineral Veil for now, until I get a bit of a tan at least.

The bareMinerals Remix Collection is available now on the bareMinerals website. My top picks here are definitely The Wild Thing eye shadow quad, the Flawless Definition mascara in Black, and the Round the Clock eye liner in Midnight. But I'm curious, would you guys wear the Aqua Blast mascara?

Products provided for review

blinc Mascara AMPLIFIED Review/Photos

Hey guys! I have a review of my new favorite mascara, blinc Mascara AMPLIFIED, for you today! :) If you aren't familiar with the brand blinc, let me enlighten you. They create awesome products like "tubing" mascara that forms tiny tubes around each individual lash and is totally waterproof, yet easy to remove.

Mascara AMPLIFIED is blinc's newest mascara and the brand's first volumizing mascara. The mascara's packaging is incredibly sleek and minimalist and I am a huge fan of it. The wand is also fantastic; it's thick and has a lot of bristles, so it really grabs and tubes every single lash.

This first image is of my eye with absolutely no make up on and the second is just wearing blinc Mascara AMPLIFIED. I have an issue curling my lashes, so they are not the nicest looking ones, but as you can see, the mascara gives me a great your-lashes-but-better look. Perhaps this is the reason I've worn it almost every day since I first tried it out!

Removal may be the best part of blinc mascara, though. And not in a bad way! Don't you hate using make up remover around your eyes and have to basically scrub your mascara off? That's not how blinc works. All you need to do is wet your fingers with some warm water and softly squeeze and pull the tubes off. You'll actually see the little tubes on your fingers as you pull them off; it's really neat! blinc Mascara AMPLIFIED is available for pre-order now and should be shipping in early November, so any time now! You can view the product and pre-order on the blinc website. Have you ever tried blinc mascara? What did you think?

*Product in this post was provided for my honest review.*

Beauty Box 5 Review

I recently become really obsessed with finding monthly subscription beauty boxes and Beauty Box 5 was one of the first ones I found that sparked my interest. Beauty Box 5 subscriptions cost $12 a month, but you also have the opportunity to subscribe quarterly and yearly to get a better deal! The boxes contain four or five beauty samples each month. You can get more info and see the brands that could end up in your box on their website: www.beautybox5.com/. The lovely folks over at BB5 were kind enough to send me a sample box, so I have the review of that for you all today.

These were the four product samples that were included in my box, from left to right, Curls Gel-les'c, Spongeables Pedi-Scrub Foot Buffer, Blinc mascara, and Bodyography Makeup Primer.

1. Curls Gel-les'c - This is a gel that is meant to help keep curly hair in check. It supposedly helps to reduce frizz, make your hair shinier, and keep your curls in place. My hair is naturally wavy, not curly, so this product didn't really do much for me. The full size of this gel retails at $25.

2. Spongeables Pedi-Scrub Foot Buffer - This is an interesting little product. I don't generally use buffers on my feet, but I tried this one out and really liked it. It made my feet nice and soft and wasn't painful at all. And at $2.99, I would definitely purchase these!

3. Blinc Mascara - I've heard of these "tubing" mascaras before but never had the chance to try any previous to getting this sample in my BB5 box. I LOVE IT. If you are looking for a waterproof and flake free mascara, look no further. I experienced absolutely no smudging or flaking at all after wearing this mascara for at least a week. The best part? All you have to do to remove the tubes is wet your fingers with warm water and pull them off! The full size tube retails at $26, which I know is kind of steep, but it is truly worth it in my opinion.

4. Bodyography Makeup Primer - I'm having a really hard time deciding if this or the mascara was my favorite product in this box... this primer is like silk on your face. I literally went "ooooh" when I first applied it and I have definitely noticed a difference in the wear-time of my make up since I started using this. The Bodyography primer is oil-free and helps reduce the look of fine lines. This one retails at $30, but again, totally worth it.

So in conclusion, I'd say three out of four ain't bad! I'm very, very excited about this box and so glad that I got the chance to review it. Thank you BB5!

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Maybelline Emerald Smokes Eye Shadow Quad

Hey everyone! Hope you're all enjoying your weekends... I'm sitting at work freezing ;( Buuut I have another eye look for you today! This time I used a Maybelline quad calling Emerald Smokes. I didn't use the all of the shades the way that they are labeled in the quad, but I will be referring to them as Base, Lid (the upper right shade in the compact), Crease, and Liner.

I started out with Urban Decay Primer Potion and once that was applied and dry, I applied the Base shade over my entire lid and up on my browbone. Then, I used the Lid shade on the outer two-thirds of my upper lids.

I blended the Crease shade into the Lid shade on the outer corner of my lids and brought the Base color down into the inner corner of my eye.

I finished up by using the Liner shade as an eyeliner along the top and bottom lash lines. I love the little gold flecks in the dark green Liner, it's so pretty! I completed this look with a coat of Bare Minerals Flawless Definition Volumizing mascara and some Urban Decay Zero eye liner on my upper and lower water lines.