“If you’re wearing lipstick, use concealer just outside and around your lips. It’ll brighten up that area and make the lipstick pop louder.”
MAC Cosmetics Recycling Program
“By returning six [6] M·A·C primary packaging containers to a M·A·C counter or M·A·C Cosmetics online, you’ll receive a free M·A·C lipstick of your choice as our thanks to you.”
Humans of the world, were you aware of this? I've been taking advantage of this program for years and don't have any plans to stop. You can find more information on what can be recycled here.
e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit
$3
$3
If a) you're not picky and b) it's not raining outside - then this is the eyebrow system for you.
Every time I'm in the vicinity of e.l.f. products, I find it extremely hard not to overindulge and buy everything in sight. Their prices are insane and some of the products actually work better than some I've sampled from Sephora.
Normal, sad eyebrows (left) & e.l.f-ed up eyebrows (right)
I'm sorry you have to look at my creepy one eye shots (I'm purposely not making that an image you can open/zoom - in fear of someone walking in on you looking at such an enlarged eye photo and labelling you a serial killer), but you can see the difference that an eyebrow filler makes.
The worst part? If you touch your face a lot, it smudges like mad. I tend not to touch my face, so I haven't really run in to this problem. But also, why would you touch your face a lot? That's gross, stop that.
I started using this kit as the backup (or sometimes in conjunction with) the Anastasia one I like and there's probably no going back for me now. I will continue to sample new eyebrow pencils and systems until I magically find one that isn't over $20 and is somehow all-weather friendly.
Grace Hair Design & Beauty Parlour
The only reason to go here is to get your eyebrows threaded. It's $4 and it's done perfectly every single time. I've been going here for roughly thirteen years now and whenever I'm in town visiting my parents, I get them threaded. I will purposely wait and not get it done anywhere in New York, since I know they'll do it exactly the way I want it done here.
And when you go, if you have a specific request (like "keep it as thick as you can" or "I want a higher arch"), then make sure to tell them otherwise they'll do what they want.
The place is usually rammed with people since they're so popular and good, but the most I've ever waited was around twenty-five minutes or so.
You can find their hours here (they're closed on Tuesdays), and they're less busy in the earlier hours of the day. Love this place so much.
Another Pinterest Pin That Blows
Have you seen the one for an at-home lip scrub/exfoliator? There are a lot of different ones, but I tried the honey and sugar one. Verdict? Absolute trash. I can understand how in theory these might go together to work towards a softer lip, but not so. Once you wash it all off, you're left with really tight feeling lips, I had to put some Soft Lips on immediately.
And when there are actual good and inexpensive lip exfoliators available, there's no need for this homemade recipe at all.
BONUS TIP: Sometimes I'll try out a pin on Pinterest, hate it and then forget I tried it already and try it again in a few months (I'm not the smartest...?). One way to curb this habit is to keep a Pinterest board solely for things you've tried and hated (and if you think that's too mean, then keep it as one of your private boards so only you can see it).
You can find more pins that you should stay away from over here and here.
MAC To Launch a Marge Simpson-inspired Makeup Line
Why? No idea. Oh wait, I do know. It's 'cause of the 25th anniversary of the show.
Am I intrigued, MAC? Of course!
The 10-piece line includes lip glosses, false eyelashes, nail stickers, brightly coloured eyeshadows and blushes. The limited edition line goes on sale online on August 28th and will be available in MAC stores everywhere September 4th. You can take a look at the products below.
- Two different four-piece eyeshadow sets ($53/each)
- Fake eyelashes ($22)
- Tinted lipgloss, available in four different shades ($20)
- Powder blush, available in two different shades ($28.50)
- Nail stickers ($19)
My thoughts? Way too expensive. And I'm a huge fan of MAC and The Simpsons. But $20 for a "Nacho Cheese" coloured lip gloss? Get real. I am considering buying one of the blushes since I'm not happy with the Nars one I'm trying to get through right now. (Why do all blushes have to have that tiny hint of sparkle in them? I don't want to sparkle! I want a subtle glow, damnit.) Anyway, all of these products are way too much money and they will all definitely sell out so I guess I'll just shut my mouth.
e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer
Eyeshadow primer, $3
Eyeshadow primer, $3
Did you know that e.l.f. stands for eyes lips face? Do you even care? Well, I did/do so that's why I passed it onto you.
ANYWAY, in a world where you can spend upwards of $40 on a MERE PRIMER - I always applaud the day when someone turns me onto a product that's actually quite useful and not a billion dollars.
If you ever wear eyeshadow, please buy this primer. Not only is it amazing, but it's three dollars. Three dollars and it lasts about six months with casual usage. And I, in no way, fully support all e.l.f. products (my favourites so far are this primer and their lip exfoliator), since their "blushes" are a little cake-y and scream fifth-grade-play to me.
Balea Face Masks
Are people supposed to exfoliate their face more than once a month? Who knows. But that's what I do. And when I'm doing it - I use these babies. For three reasons mainly:
- Cheap as hell (3 for $5)
- The flavours are fun.
- They don't overly dry out my skin.
Maybe one day I'll become loyal to some fancy brand that will do all the things that face cleansers are supposed to do, but until that day arrives, these masks are my everything. You can find them at Shoppers Drug Mart, usually at the end of the hair products aisle. They also have some hair, body and foot masks that are pretty killer, too.
Lessons of the Week
1. Pinterest Tip: Highlight text on something before hitting “Pin It” and the highlighted text will automatically appear in the description box.
2. Twitter Tip: You can create lists for people whose tweets you don’t want to miss. Am I the only person who didn't know this already?
3. A beautician just told me that the best (least painful) time to pluck your eyebrows is right after you get out of a hot shower. I just tried this, and she's completely right.
For past lessons of the week, you can find them over here: July 2013, October 2013, and December 2013.
Beauty Tip of the Day - Write Down Purchase Dates
An ongoing goal of mine has been to become (simply put) less gross. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but I can't seem to get away with as much as I used to. And I guess that's a good thing. One thing that I've really got to get better about is throwing away things that I have no use for and/or are expired. I'm mostly talking about makeup/beauty products here. (Does this post affect men at all? Yes, it does. No matter what kind of man y'are, I know there's at least one secret beauty product you're using that may go bad at some point. So I encourage you to label it up, guy.)
I only just clued in that using expired facial products can cause blemishes. Not washing makeup brushes can cause them, too. If you're reading these points and going, "Yeah. Duh." Well, I apologize. I guess you're better than me. In any case, writing the dates on when you buy products is such a smart move. I'm surprised I didn't read about this in Martha Stewart, to be honest. Though, to be fair, Real Simple, is considered a poor man's Martha Stewart to anyone with an ounce of intellect.
Start doing this! It'll change your life! Or, at the very least, it'll make you feel like you're becoming less gross. Also, I've found this especially works well with nail polishes. (The question of whether or not a nail polish ever really expires or goes bad is up for debate, but truthfully if I bought a certain bottle of nail polish eight years ago that has gone unused for that amount of time, then maybe it's time to spice things up and possibly buy a new colour? Just a thought.)