061. beauty product post!

[empressearwig]

Come one, come all, to tell stories of the things you love and the things you seek!

(I am unlocking this, so feel free to link people I am not friends with on LJ!)

Comments

[empressearwig]

Has anyone tried this brow gel from Tarte? I am enchanted by how small the brush is. I've been using Benefit's Gimme Brow which works great, but I'm going to need a refill soon so I'd be interested in trying this instead.

Related question: when buying a brow product, how do you decide how dark to go? For context, my eyebrows in their natural state are basically white blonde. But my hair is in that fuzzy category between light brown/muddy blonde. Any additional color is good, obviously, but I'm never sure how dark to actually take them. Thoughts?

[theepiccek]

I normally go for the darkest/the shade below black, but that's because my hair is super dark.

[empressearwig]

I envy that color certainty.

[beth_shulman]

I wouldn't go darker than your hair color, but if your brows are really pale - can you try a blond pencil, like Anastasia, maybe, and see how it goes? (Also, even if you get reddish highlights - don't go redder with your eyebrows.)

[empressearwig]

Second question: after years of mother-related highlighting trauma, I might finally be ready to do something different with my hair color. The problem is, I don't know what and I don't know how to approach that if I make a hair appointment. I generally get my hair cut at the local Aveda beauty school and while they're complete supervised and I don't think an instructor would let them do something crazy to my hair, I don't know if I want to go in and ask "what do you think would look best" either. Thoughts? I have enough hair color related trauma already, I don't want to make it worse. But I really do want to do SOMETHING.

[katayla]

Ha, so I'm actually thinking of going into the local beauty school for hair color. So you can encourage me to do that and I can let you know how it goes?

(Not that they'd be identical experiences, but you know.)

[empressearwig]

Yes, do this! And then tell me everything.

Do you know what you want to do?

[katayla]

I want to go a little lighter! Which I've wanted for a while, but couldn't really figure out . . . uh, where to go, what to do? Then I finally thought of the beauty school!

[katayla]

Okay, so this is brand new to me (as in, this is my second day of using it), but Smashbox's Photo Finish Foundation Primer!!! It's seems to be REALLY helping with my super-shiny forehead, which is the thing I'm most self-conscious about in the world. It also feels SO NICE on my skin! I put some of the Sephora sampler on my hand and I pretty much HAD to buy it after how great it felt.

magisterequitum rec'd argan oil as making her hair really soft AND SHE IS SO RIGHT. I went with this Joise Maran stuff, which is just argan oil, nothing else. I kind of couldn't stop running my hands through my hair yesterday. (PS, a little goes a long way! I put too much in my hair at first and it was all oily. But then I washed my hair and it was still super-great.)

I've using Paula's Choice for skincare recently since it's all fragrance free. It's okay? One thing I really like is that you can buy samples of everything to try stuff out. I'm still looking for my perfect skincare, but this is fine enough for the moment. And I'll probably keep using their shampoo

[beth_shulman]

It's so funny that you mention using the oil like that - I've used a few oils before and my hair is so fine that it's usually a complete disaster, so now when I use them (which is rare, usually I just use a deep conditioner) I do it a few hours before showering, and then it's fine!

I need to try that primer now.

[katayla]

I've been putting a few drops in my hair when I brush it and that's been working nicely, too! I'll have to see what works best for me in the end.

Let me know what you think!!! At the end of the day, I was still really pleased with how my skin looked. (Well, I could use some better foundation, but that's not the primer's fault!)

[katayla]

I'm putting this in a new comment because . . . I am, but a look I'm really enjoying lately is lip gloss over lip liner! It kind of gives an interesting (but subtle) look to my lips.

[beth_shulman]

You know, I almost never wear lip liners because I find them so drying! Maybe I should try them again...

[katayla]

I really like Urban Decay's lip liners. Of course, they're really expensive. Sigh.

Possibly silly question: How do you apply your lipstick? Just straight out of the tube? With a brush? I have a really hard time getting it applied correctly and lip liner had helped some with that. Though the answer might be, "I have better hand-eye coordination than you, Katie. " :P

[beth_shulman]

I have a lip brush, but honestly, I don't use it much. I like keeping my lipstick bullets that slanted, pointed on top shape, because I find them easiest to apply that way! Although it's definitely easier to apply sheerer formulas, because they're much more forgiving. Anything matte/dark is so much more noticeable that the slightest shake is more obvious.

[scornedsaint]

Mascara recs, please! Preferably ones that really volumize. I just cut off all my hair and I'm obsessed with doing up my eyes now. I'm almost out of my Clinique mascara, and while I like it fine, I'd like to try something new.

[empressearwig]

I love Benefit's They're Real! mascara. I don't know if you use other benefit stuff, but I know right now you can get a sample with a $35 purchase at ulta or I think they sell small tubes for ten bucks if you just want to try it. But really. It's great.

[scornedsaint]

Ooh, I didn't realize it came in the small tubes! I try to buy mascara in that size when I can since I never use it all before of goes bad (I mean, I keep mascara long after I should, but still).

[crescent_yume]

I second empressearwig's recommendation of the Benefit's They're Real! mascara. I use Clinique's lash doubling mascara (this one) and then layer the Benefit mascara over it--I LOVE the result. Another good mascara that I use for volumizing (is that not a word??) is Too Faced's "Better Than Sex" mascara. I recommend getting a sample size if possible though--it dries up kind of fast.

Also, I have yet to discover a better mascara for the bottom lashes than the Clinique mascara. But I continue to search.