Fall Mini-Haul

I hauled a little bit when Ulta had the 40% off sale about two weeks ago. I picked up some Maybelline eyeshadows & a lipstick, and quite a few NYX Jumbo eye pencils.  I also hit up my local CCO at Tanger outlets and scored some choice MAC finds.  They have a great singletons basket that they kind of hide behind the counter unless you know to ask for it!  It usually has one of a kind stuff that they don't even have testers for. So I got two LE Dazzleglass Cremes, a pigment (in the old jar!), a lipstick, an eyeshadow and a creme blush.  I'll be haunting them again, because they should be getting the LE summer items in soon.

Drugstore Mascaras

When I think back to how much money I wasted on high end mascaras!?!?!  I could have bought several Coach bags or some new jewelry. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I cannot justify paying 3X the price for a mascara when you get the same amount of use out of it as you would a drugstore brand.  I've been working my way through drugstore mascaras that I've bought over the past year. I've picked up plenty that have been on sale and as I use them up, I move onto another, keeping track of what I would buy again.  I'm a big fan of CG Lash Blast (the original version), so I've been using that as a comparison.  Let me say that I'm a contact lens wearer and I use the water-based Almay Eye Makeup remover pads to take off my mascara.  Also, I have decent lashes, longish and somewhat full, but blond.

CG Lash Blast Fusion - Like an idiot I bought the wrong color-brown mascara really does not do it for me. So it seems nice, but I can't really tell.  I'm leaving this one at work for emergency use only.

Rimmel Sexy Curves- Meh.  The brush was a pain in the ass, and the formula was just okay for me.

Rimmel The Max Volume Flash-LOVE IT!!!  It has a big, fat, honking wand that reminds me of the Dior Show mascara wand.  The formula lasted, it didn't really flake by the end of the day and it was easy to remove. Would totally buy again!

L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion- I had such high hopes for this, because I almost caved and bought the Givenchy one, but $30 geez!  This is not that great, it's not even that good.  The product clumps and the wand is really only good for getting into the corners, but it dumps a ton of mascara onto your lashes. So bummed about this one!

Maybelline The Flasies Volum' Express- I like this one a lot.  It does start to flake a little by the end of the day, but I'm in love with the brush.  It's not like a regular curved brush..it's cupped, and it fits my bottom lashes perfectly!  

L'Oreal Million Lashes-currently using this one.  I like that it does a decent job with just one coat.  The wand is a dupe of the CG Lash Blast wand. It takes a little bit to get it off my lashes though.

Purchased but not yet used:

NYX Doll Eye

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Mascara Duos

My First Post-a little history

Greetings everyone! I decided to get my feet wet and blog about something that has been a part of my life for a long time...makeup (well beauty products in general!)
My first makeup experience was my mother putting some light blue eyeshadow and frosty pink lipgloss (it was the 70's) on me for my dance recital, I was six at the time. As soon as I was allowed to wear makeup to school-7th grade, I was hooked. My first store bought makeup was some blue mascara from Maybelline and a lipstick from Coty (remember them??). My godmother would also give me the parts that she didn't use from her holiday free gift with purchase from Estee Lauder. I was such a makeup enthusiast that I decided that one day I was going to have my own makeup line called (get ready for it) "Good Looks" by Julia. Yeah, I was maybe a tad pretentious. I went as far as typing up (yes, I'm that old) little labels which I taped over all my makeup products. Flash forward 30 years and I'm still addicted to all kinds of beauty products, hair care, nail polish, perfume, makeup and the like. I haven't created my own makeup line (yet), and after a brief stint as a nail technician in college, I became an art teacher. But makeup always holds for me the promise of a smile, a little lipstick and some mascara go a long way! So this blog will be my contribution to the vast world of beauty blogs, vlogs and whatnot. I will be posting reviews, photos and videos. Maybe you can find something here to inspire you or at least make you smile! Best wishes!!