On the cheap: Review of my latest elf haul

About a week ago Elf Cosmetics had their 50% off sale (this was off of everything, something they only do about once/year) and I placed an order. You had to spend $20 to get 50% off and at between $1 and $3 a pop, you can really pick quite a few items. I ended up with 10 items at $26, less the discount and add shipping I spent $19.95. That's still under $2/product WITH shipping. So, enough of the price breakdown, I wanna get to the good stuff!

Product #1: Gold Pressed Shimmer powder from the core line. The size is fantastic, the color is beautiful and the texture is so-so. You get enough pay off of product to see a highlight (I like it on the temples and upper cheek area best), but it doesn't rival the more high end pressed shimmer powders. Doesn't seem to have much longevity either. I'll use it here and there. 5/10

Product #2, 3, and 4: I'll combine these as it's the same product in 3 shades.The jumbo lip gloss stick is a knock off of the Revlon Lip Balm Stains that are a knock off of the Tarte Lipsurgence. The other 2 brands make the claim that it will stay for most of the day, which I do not find to be true. That being said, I still LOVE both of those other products and use them nearly daily topped off with a gloss. Elf doesn't bother to claim that it stays all day, but it does seem to have a little more lasting power than a regular lip gloss, for sure. The colors I got are all gorgeous- though I probably could've narrowed it to just 2 of the 3 are there are 2 that are a bit too similar for my liking. The best color, hands down is Movie Star! I freaking LOVE this shade!! It's a peachy nude with mega shimmer and absolutely no grittiness at all. And for the first of the somewhat similar shades, Sangria is a warm neutral reddish mid-tone shade. It may be a little too warm tone for me. And finally, Summer Nights is a sheer deep burgandyish, wineish, red. This is actually a great evening color and I'll end up wearing it for holiday parties this year...and keep it in my purse for touch-ups.
Color: Movie Star: 10/10, Sangria 4/10, Summer Nights 8/10. Texture: 8/10. Wear: 5/10. Overall: 7.5/10. I'll be using Movie Star until it's gone and reordering!

Product #5: Soiree, Long-lasting lustrous eyeshadow. This is a whipped texture pot of eyeshadow in a pinkish lavender. The color is really wearable for everyday alone for a quick eye or you can certainly go all out and use this as part of a smokey look if you want. I haven't tried it as a top off to other shadows as it always makes me nervous to put a cream over powders, but I think the shimmer alone with read beautifully. It's probably a Chanel dupe and I think it does a pretty awesome job. I prefer it either alone or with some highlighting colors under the brow and in the inner corner so that you can see all the gorgeous shimmer. It's microfine and really dense without being glittery. Pure shimmer. I have noticed that worn alone the color will fade throughout the day and you're left with just the shimmer, but even that still looks intentional and stunning. There are a handful of other colors and I will definitely be ordering a couple more of them. 8/10.

Product #6: Maximum coverage concealer in sand. This tube is so huge, that when I opened the package I thought they mistakenly had sent me a foundation or tinted moisturizer. Alas, it is a ridiculously huge amount of concealer that perhaps I should try it out as a foundation (sheered with a little moisturizer). Sorry to report though, as a "maximum coverage" concealer, it is lacking coverage. It goes on nice and smooth, so I was hopeful. But after being spoiled with MAJOR coverage from Hard Candy's glamoflage, it's tough to use anything else claiming to cover my circles. I can still use it on redness on my face, but for my under eyes it's only so-so. And that just doesn't cut it. I'm going to try it out a little more and perhaps try layering it with glamoflage and see what happens (I predict lots of creasing). So far, it's fine- just not fine enough for my standards. 4/10.

Product #7: Pitch Black waterproof eyeliner crayon. Funny, I'd already forgotten that I purchased this. I tried it the moment I unwrapped my order, lining my eyes with it and topping that off with some shadow. It created a great smokey eye. Then I tried it again just as an eyeliner and I found that it wasn't as Pitch Black as the name would suggest. Also, it isn't nearly as smooth, creamy nor have the payoff of something pricier that I like, such as Smashbox's chubby pencils (not the technical name, mind you). I'll have another go at it, but for now it's getting a 3/10.

Product #8: Mystic Moonlight Body Shimmer. This is actually a twist up solid highlighting stick. The name is really deceiving. The color reminds me of a Nars Multiple in Luxor and so does the texture. I'm almost certain this was the inspiration and you can use it in the same fashion. Because I purchased the highlighter type color, as opposed to a bronze shade, I will only be using it under brows, Cupid's bow, and upper cheeks. But with a bronze color, you could use it anywhere. I may just have to get that next... It seems to hold up well throughout the day and blends in well on top of foundation or powder. So far, so great. 9/10 (docking a point for payoff, as it's a harder texture so that it stays on better)

Product #9: Lip gloss in Trendsetter. The color is an indescribable combo of 5 shades: plum, nude, brown, pink, and peach. This is the type of color that I recreate by combining colors for people all the time. The texture is pretty good- medium weight and not overly sticky. The major problem that I have with the gloss is how tough it is to get out a decent amount. I must have dipped the wand in 10 times to cover my lips with a moderate amount. At first I thought (after 3-4 dips), "maybe I'll just use this to highlight the bottom center of my lip as so many people like to do". Then, determined, I forged ahead, wanting to know if I could actually achieve a full-on lip color with this gloss. What a shame, elf. Such a pretty color and good textured gloss- give it a brush tip applicator! 3/10. With a better applicator 7/10.

Product #10: Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder in Turks and Caicos. The blush/bronzer duo that Elf came out with about 4 years ago as a dupe for Nars Orgasm/Laguna was a huge hit and has become one of the must talked about dupes ever. Another shade choice has been a long time coming and I was thrilled to see a darker bronzer shade that is a VERY close dupe of Nars Casino (a kit staple of mine) and the blush is a dupe for Nars Desire. When people talk about the difference in pigment often being what separates the expensive products from the drugstore products, they are NOT talking about this product. This is almost TOO pigmented! I never thought that I'd say that, but truthfully- it is THAT rich. It doesn't get powdery, but it goes on so strong that you have to barely touch the product with your brush when applying. Then trying to blend such a small amount of product can be tricky. I've noticed a few hours after applying that it either isn't holding up too well, is going streaky or I'm going to need to try a new application approach. I am so in love with these colors that I am determined to make it work! For now it's a 6/10, but I hope to discover a good brush to apply it with and knock that way up :)

Have you tried Elf products? Have any favorites? Share them below!

I admit it, I'm a girl.

I've been interested in trying the NYX girls nailpolishes, which I assumed were meant for those under the age of 10. No matter, at $1.99 a bottle, worth a shot. They are carried on cherryculture.com amongst other sites (ebay, of course). For $40 you can get free shipping, so I thought, why not buy enough to qualify? I picked out a ton of colors, not knowing if I could narrow down the choices. Then when I started putting them in my basket online, at least half were temporarily sold out. I found that there were maybe 12 of my original choices of over 30 that were available, so I then chose a few from Sinful Colors, which retailed at $2,49.

Recently, a 17 year old girl (I'm 37) has been shadowing me on some jobs. I wanted her opinion of each of the colors too. So we set out to do an experiment. We each tried all 18 bottles of nailpolish and made our own notes about them (as well as took pics). I felt as it was called "NYX girls", a younger girl's opinion would be interesting on this particular product. Pictures to follow....
Thumb color #1: Buzzworthy- Packs a powerful punch of nude/gold glitter. Thought it would be a slightly more grown up version of the glittery nail as it is nude. The payoff of glitter was a bit more than sheer, but far from opaque. About 30% glitter payoff. The color reads almost rose gold when on the nail. I would suggest using it to top off another polish. Really pretty thought.
17 year old's thoughts on buzzworthy- It's goldeny and sparkley. Kinda sheer, needs 2 coats. It's a light and fun look. Would purchase.

The other thumb color is robotic. I find it in person it reads like a super shimmery/glittery emerald. It reminded me of these rings we'd get at the dentist for being good patients in the 70's. Awesome. A couple of coats and you get a full fledged deep greeny blue tinged baby glitter nail. Of course our photo doesn't show what it would look like if we'd taken some time to clean it up a bit ;)

17 yr old reaction to robotic- A dark shimmery turquoise color. Very runny and needs a few coats. Fun and edgy.

Fig- This was my first choice to purchase on my order. There was something peculiar and alluring about the dreamy blend. It's sort of deep plum, sort of bluey, and black with the faintest hint of silver shimmer. Loved the payoff, and would be a really pretty pedi color.
17 yr old reaction to fig- super dark purpley gray with a tiny bit o shimmer. Good for a datenight.

Sunday Afternoon- Fine shimmer in a taupey gold. It strikes a balance between typical satiny polish and glittery polish. Serious enough for a professional/adult, but certainly fun enough for a party.
17 yr old response to Sunday Afternoon- Nude shimmer, with a slight pinkish undertone. Simple, but fun.

Blue ink- I'm on a blue kick of late. This one is almost cobalt, but with a touch of grey (Grateful Dead reference not intentional) and a hint darker in person than it goes on. This wasn't my personal favorite once it was on the nail. It looked to me like what I spent on it was about right.
17 yr old reaction to blue ink- Dark navy, pigment payoff was good. Fun and slightly bold.
The taupe- There are a ton of these shades on the market nowadays and I have hesitated before. I didn't want to jump on the nudey/taupey/brown bandwagon. This guy stood out to me once it landed on my nails. It's a mid-tone taupe, sure, but also has the faintest kick of lavender. I ended up wearing this one after doing the test with 18 choices! Love. It.
17 yr old response- More gray than taupe to her. Slightly dramatic, professional. Maybe too grown up (gasp, does that make ME grown up??).

Sinful Colors Coco Diamond- Looks like a mid-tone non-descript pinky/reddish/lavenderish hybrid shimmer. The payoff is much lighter in intensity and the shimmer is actually pretty impressive. Definitely one I would reach for regularly.
17 yr old response to Coco Diamond- Shimmery nude rosy-pink, slightly sheer (a couple coats). Reminds her a little of the desert sunset.

Lapis- This is a milky base blue with a small hint of cooler tones. It seems a bit young and dated to me once on, but was much fresher looking in the bottle. Has more robin's egg appearance on nail, reminding me of the original Hard Candy nail polish that started the blue polish craze of the 90's.
17 yr old's response to Lapis- Powdery sky blue, very sheer and light and fresh. (Because she can't remember the 90's...)

Sinful Colors California- In the bottle it looks like a feminine swirly pinky shimmery with a soft baby nude. On the nail it's a snoozefest for me. Borrrring. You could coat this up til the cows come home and you wouldn't get anyone to even notice you'd done nailpolish. Nearly invisible, barely shows. If you're into that kind of thing, this is a homerun.

17 yr old's response to California- Very light shimmery pink and iridescent. Sheer! Something a "baby" would wear. Didn't like it. 2 passes from us (old and young both say "blah")

Moonwalk- Bottle color is a very deep plum black and on the nail it's a more sheer buildable plum. It seems to darken up with photos. Would be a good winter everyday nail color. Be careful with streaking and take your time. I'd wear it!
17 yr old response to moonwalk- Plum good for going out or date look. More than one coat to darken it. Kinda fun!

Sinful Colors "Call you later"- This is kermit green glitter to the extreme. I had to get to my $40 free shipping total and this was my final pick. Wasn't thrilled about the juvenile shade of lime. But upon receipt, pretty cool and on nails it's a slam dunk. Looks to have a couple different types of glitter which catch the light beautifully. Yes please!
17 year old's response to "Call you later"- Chunky sparkly light green. Reminds her of St. Patty's Day. Best layered on top of something. (I agree- but in the most awesome layering way possible).

Sinful Colors "Boom Boom"- This is a true hot pink. Creamy and opaque, builds well and would be a fun vacation color. It looks to me like a off the shoulder dress would be apropos with this shade. I'm a fan of hot pink, so I love it. I could also see it on someone who idolizes barbie...;)
17 yr old response to "Boom Boom"- Very fun and bright hot pink. Like bubblegum.

Luscious Green- This is a lime again, but with a satiny gold undercurrent that gives it a fresh look. The picture does it do justice. The gold really makes it more sophisticated than a typical green polish. You could even wear it to Grandma's house without her passing too much judgment.
17 yr old says about "Luscious Green"- Reminds her of turtle green with a hint of gold that makes it pretty. Could wear it for non-specific cutesy look.

Dorothy- This is the ruby slippers and then some. Major deep red glitter of varying sizes on a sheer black backdrop makes for a STUNNING color that I now crave for the holidays. I want this coating everything I own- it's THAT gorgeous. $2??? It's a steal and Chanel wishes they had made this.
17 yr old response to "Dorothy"- More black with red sparkles. Really pretty and reminds her more of Alice in Wonderland more than Dorothy (The Red Queen).

Boho- Can you tell I was on a green kick when purchasing?? Another almost lime green shade. Less yellow tone and plenty of fine silver shimmer. I promise you I'm not 7 years old...But I love, love this color. I'm gonna rock it for Christmas, you best believe. I don't see what's "Boho" about it though...would need more of an olive tone to be named that in my opine.
17 yr old's response to Boho- A pale sea green, very refeshing- like a cool drink. She's picturing the ocean, even though it's green.

Woman- Deep ruby, red shimmer. This one doesn't stand out in the bottle to me. The pic is a bit of the dark red boringness too. But it actually looks really pretty. It's the look you want to sport when your outfit is already got a lot going on. Also suitable if you're wearing all black and want a dark and wintery nail to accompany.
17 yr old's response to "Woman"- Sparkly pure red. Reminds her of a "Wow" factor. Grown up. Hear that, guys? GROWN UP!? :)


Alaskan Wild- This is somewhere between grass green and forest green. Not much brown undertone in this green- reads like a true pop of deep bright green. The pic is pretty spot on. I had purchased some cheap gel nail polish on ebay that was supposed to be army green and it ended up this color. I hated it then and now I'm lukewarm at best on this shade. We'll see...my mind changes with the wind.
17 yr old's response to "Alaskan Wild"- Boring, pure green. Didn't do much for her. (We agree!).

Fame- Bottle versus payoff is the most disappointing of all :( Looks like a gorgeous true purple glitter in the bottle and like a clear with some specks of purple on the nail. Would be fine if you wanted to add a clear top coat to something that needed a little sheen. Stress LITTLE.
17 yr old's response to "Fame"- Really fun looking, but on the nail very sheer. Reminds her a bday party.

The moral of the 18 bottles of nailpolish experiment? If you pay $6 in person, you may end up with the same amount of winner as I did with $40 of online fingers crossed purchases. But with my experiment comes your guide....hope it helps if you want to spend far less on a few bottles. And also from this, I can see that I like glitter as much as the 17 year old, but I finally like a few tones that may be "grown up". Who knew??

Lip palette DIY

I've always been a fan of a palette. When it comes to lip palettes, they don't sell well in retail and for good reason. The average person wants to grab a lip color in the morning and apply it- not brush it on from a palette where they have to make too many decisions. And when applying my own makeup in the morning I adhere to this concept. Don't get me wrong: I usually apply a lip stain and then a gloss, so it's not exactly a low maintenance approach.

When it comes to makeup artistry, I have a completely opposite approach. I like to stare into a palette and chunk out a bit of one color and a bit of another (and another and another) to achieve the bestest color I can for any individual. What better way to do this than to make a custom palette?

Too faced had a coolest lip palette a few years ago as a limited edition that was called "Box of Chocolates" and featured about 24 deep welled lip colors that were a wide range of shades. I liked that it had a decent size of each color, so you could potentially chunk some out into a touch-up lip jar (provided for every person in the bridal party). But I wasn't doing weddings much at the time and it wasn't where my head was at....coulda, shoulda, woulda.

So now I have to come up with a clever(er) way to get that great big deep well with lots of choices of colors. Hence, the custom palette. Purchasing an empty palette from a company such as Japonesque with the deep wells will run you about $40 and it still doesn't provide deep enough to chunk out some for others.

One of my makeup artist friends (Allison, hello there) found a fun solution at a craft store: A bead organizer. She can fit about 2 lipsticks worth in each little container in this organizer. This probably ran about $15 and is the size of a phonebook. A little more cumbersome than I want to fit in my kit, which is expanding at a ridiculous rate.

Then, I found the pill separater. You can get the little Mon-Sun containers, all separate and click closed. Perfect. THEN, I found the mother of all pill separaters (after already making 2 smaller palettes): It has room for taking pills 4 times/day, meaning 28 compartments. I picked one up at the Kroger Pharmacy counter area for a whopping $5! Genius. And if I were a more orgaized or particular person I would've labeled each compartment with colors. It actually started off that way and then I messed up/gave up. I'm excited to use my new HUGE variety of colors on a wedding today. And probably still blend 4 colors to achive the desired shade.

I still have my default bag of long wearing lip colors, lip liners, stains etc. And one bag of assorted glosses. But now all of my regular lip sticks and lip creams are compiled into pill separaters.

Good night makeup fans and friends,
Joy

Recent pic of me and Jay:)

Jay and I just did our photo shoot for our invitations and response cards. I got a few shots that fell into good lighting. But the real star of this shoot (besides our friend Jenna who took great pics!) were my fake lashes. I found a seller on ebay that sells these sets of 10 lashes, 30 lashes, or 60 lashes for next to nothing. Of course, I purchased the 60 pairs, since I go through them so quickly with weddings. There were 6 different styles of lashes in this set (totalling under $10 WITH shipping. Yes, it was sent from China and 5 year old orphans probably made them under awful conditions.) Of this, only 30 are wearable for the majority of people. That leaves a fun 30 for me to play around with and not feel too guilty- at 5 cents per lash, I should be popping these on daily.

I chose the boldest, chunky lashes for our photo shoot for a mod look. As usual, it looks SO much more natural in pictures! Well, it's bold, but not compared to how they look in person. I felt like I was wearing a visor of lashes. I even snipped off about 30% of each lash so they were the right length.

Besides the bold lashes, I added black liquid liner, soft nude shadow, airbrushed my face, and finished with a creamy 60's pink lipstick (mac lovelorn). Again, in the photo it's pretty natural looking. This leads me to my own wedding: I want to keep it simple, but bold: Plenty of eyeliner on top, highlighter and some liner on bottom even (softer), big lashes, bright lip stain, and bright pink blush. But eyeshadow barely reads, so that will be nude, and no inner rim liner (too pedestrian and doesn't last more than 2 hours no matter how you apply it). Still debating on tanning or not: I'm not really a "tan" kind of girl, but it'll make my exposed skin look better (read: thinner). I have an appointment next week to try out airbrush tanning to see if I like it. Will keep you posted- My friend, Jessica travels and does airbrush tanning for $35 per person (STEAL!).

In this shot with Jay, I'm obviously directing him. It's funny since I am on set for shoots doing this with models regularly. I guess it's become a habit. The other pic has Jay cropped out- I got the good lighting on this one and shamelessly made it into a headshot. I think it looks vaguely cinematic. The day was scorching hot and I started out with my hair down and that lasted about 10 minutes. Our invitation cover shot does have my hair down, then it was bun city time.

I don't want to post any more from the shoot because it will ruin the invites for anyone who's on the list.

lifelong obsessions

With beauty products, even the most low maintenance of us will get wrapped up in our own personal vortex of obsessiveness with a particular issue or issues that we want to fix. For those that know me (and even those that have read my other blog www.ineedamakeupfix.blogspot.com), you know that my issues with beauty are: dark circles, darkness around my eyes, and did I mention dark circles?! Yes, overall this trait has taken over, though I could spend a little time focusing on my puny lashes, pale lips, redness on the bottom half of my face (Ugh, why?!) and nose breakouts.

When I think "Oh, I'll just throw on some mascara and gloss and run out the door", next thing I know I'm tapping on concealer under AND over my eyes, worrying about setting it so it won't crease, then knowing I'll look silly without my eyebrows done if I have on concealer. Then I may as well just do the whole kit and caboodle.

Though there are days when I enjoy the markings of my ethnic background (For those who wonder what my "nationality" is aka WHY ARE HER UNDEREYES SO DARK!, I have Ashkanazi Jewish heritage that originated in Latvia.) Those are the days that I don't touch the circles and also the ones when I end up fielding at least a dozen inquiries of "Are you sick?" or "Are you tired?" So, I cannot rest on my ethnic laurels and allow my heritage to make me look unwell. Instead, I must traverse all the products the world over, to cover these blasted things.

I recommend Clinique's All About Eyes concealer over the others since it's not drying. However, it doesn't set without a crease or twenty. The only one that does this also dries me out- Estee Lauder Double wear concealer. It really does cover AND stay put, but makes me a little dry. Tarte's eraser was a favorite for years, but it really doesn't work for more than a couple of hours (great on the face though).

What are your personal beauty achilles heels? Do you have dark circle remedies? If you say pink undertones or cucumbers, I'm really not going to dignify that with a response since we're obviously dealing with different levels of darkness!

heavy rotation and a product steal at Marshall's

When you have far too many products to choose from, you know that you've found a keeper when you are reaching for it daily. Of late, I have a couple new keepers in my rotation of products.

1st I'm a long-time fan of liquid eyeliners and I've finally found the holy grail of black liquid liner: Stila stay all day waterproof liquid eyeliner, $20. It is by far THE BEST I've ever worn. And when I say I've tried a TON....check out these examples of the brands I've tried: Tarte, Benefit, Urban Decay, Christian Dior, Wet n Wild (I know, but sometimes you find great things dirt cheap and this one wasn't bad at all!), Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, MAC, LORAC, and several others. But the Stila marker style liner (only in carbon black) is firm enough so that it doesn't bend too much with pressure, but flexible enough to curve with the slopes of the eye. And after doing my makeup for over 20 years and professional makeup for a decade, I finally mastered the liquid liner vintage cat eye thanks to this little genius. I should also mention that it is smaller and more tapered than almost any of the others too so if you want a subtle "tightline", it makes it really simple.

To be fair I've heard the new Tokidoki liquid liners are amazing and I tried them on my hand in the store and had them on for over a day with some pretty frequent hand washing. I will update if and when I try it on my eyes, but I see a contender for the top prize.

2nd: Mark i-mark eyeshadow single in "nomadic". I bought about 10 shades of this eyeshadow after reading tons of rave reviews on the website about it and wanting to see if indeed they do live up to the hype. For the most part the answer is unfortunately no. The exception, for some reason is this color nomadic. It's the perfect beigey gold with tons of subtle shimmer that doesn't go frosty, but is more flecked in gold. If you read my previous post, you can see that I'm on a highlighter kick and this little individual shadow also doubles as a gorgeous highlighter for the upper cheekbones, inner corner of the eyes and temples. If you're going to make a mark order, go to my site http://tinyurl.com/25l6sxz I don't do much with being a "rep", but since I like to try so much stuff on the market, it made sense to get a discount...I have other recommendations if you're going to place an order so that you can qualify for free shipping. Just send an email to me at joydawnb@yahoo.com. I'll also be doing a couple posts on my picks from Mark.

3rd: Bodywash from Bath and Body Works in the new Summertime Vanillas collection in the scent "Lemon Vanilla". It's pretty much a combo of the 2 scents that I love the most. Generally anything with a citrus scent is a favorite, with lemon taking a generous lead over others. But the problem with lemon is that it can be a little too dishwashing liquid/Pledge furniture polish. And the problem with vanilla is that it can be a bit cooking/90's college student. But when you combine the 2, it cancels out anything negative about these scents and really brings out the pleasing crispness of the lemon and warmth of the vanilla. I want to drink and swim in this bodywash. Actually I wanted the moisturizer too, but I went right after the scents were released and I'm not the only person that made a point of seeking out the fragrance. I will be going back for more products in this scent.

You can find some great beauty bargains in places like TJ Maxx and Marshalls on occasion. They have plenty of hair products, but generally the makeup is shattered generic palettes, picked over closeouts- pretty hit or miss. But fragrances seem to have a constant array of new-in-box scents. What I've noticed is that the little-known sister fragrances to a more popular scent are flush.

I'm a big fan of Lolita Lempicka and their signature scent has been a best-seller for a decade. But their subsequent launches only seem to appeal to rabid users of the original that are jonesing for something new and yet, familiar. While I enjoy the original scent, it can be overly sweet for daily wear. Their 2nd scent "L de Lolita Lempicka" has some of that same sweetness, the super cute bottle (similar to the orginal), and is much lighter. I almost purchased it on vacation in Saint Martin a couple of years ago when it was brand new, but opted for Dior Cherie instead. Last week I lucked out at Marshall's and found "L" for only $19.99, a $69 value. Better than 'not bad', damn good. And the fact that I know that it was launched only 2 years ago means that it can't be any older than that.

One thing you should watch out for at these stores is expiration dates. You can't always tell, but use judgement. And as you can tell by my myriad products, I always use judgement when shopping. (How do you feel about me closing ever blog with a meta expression regarding my awareness of how absurd this makeup addiction is?)

Wal-mart? Really? Yes. Wal-mart.

As a general rule, I avoid Walmart. Not only is that particular big box store a bane on society in their practices with employment, manufacturing, gun-toting, price fixing (I could go on), but it's visually depressing. There hasn't been any reason to go there, since when shopping in mass retailers I'd prefer Target- who wouldn't?! I am not swayed by the BCBG jewelry pairing with Miley Cyrus. She is worse than Walmart, plus- after seeing the "collection" it's more cheaply made than the rest of the junk in that store. But I will admit that I wanted to check out the new(ish) Hard Candy collection. It's one the of the many brands that bit the dust in the past few years and to have it rise from the ashes is intruiging.

It seems that the graphic artists and merchandisers that drugstore brands rely upon eludes the brand so far. I walked by the display 2 times before finally finding it- It was easy to pass by since it had no signage. After the problem finding it, I became overwhelmed with the layout; it's is a confusing mish-mosh of randomness. I like order in my displays, so that made it less appealing. As I scanned further, I noticed that there were stock issues in many of the sections- tons of sold out products. I hope that they can get these problems fixed before Wal-mart drops them, because....wait for it.....everything I have tried is outstanding.

I've never enjoyed a $6 mascara as I do the Hard Candy Ginormous volumizing mascara in carbon black. It's a rubber bristled wand that gives immediate payoff, good separation and the blackest of lashes. If you're looking for subtlety, this is not for you. If you want soft, touchable lashes- again, a no-go. But if you have thin, pale lashes and hate working on them for 10 minutes, adding coat after coat....A goldmine.

My other favorite find is the blush crush baked blush in Honeymoon Peach. I'm often drawn to a peachy blush and find myself using them more often than the pinks, berries and nudes. This looks more like a highlighter in the packaging and sure enough, it doesn't give much of any color payoff. But guess what? Top off your favorite blush with this and you will glow like none other. I've been using it as a basic eyeshadow; makes a wonderful base. Then I put it on the top of my cheekbones for a day to day glow. Great for any age, do not fear glow unless you are seriously oily. I think there's a subtle holographic touch with the varied colors in this swirled pan that catch the light ever-so-softly. And at $7, as opposed to the usual $30 for the department store highlighting powder....or even the $55 Chanel powder I used to love, it's a can't miss!

I've also tried the split personality duo shadow wand in dazed (lavender/silvery purple). This one is really pretty as an under eyeliner since it's a perfect shape to give a softened line of color. You'll have to work a little harder than I prefer to in order to get the powder onto the tip. They could fill the cap a little fuller with shadow than it is, but after 3 times twisting it back on I have a pretty soft shadow under the eye.

The other 2 products I've had the pleasure of using are the eye tattoos and the "button your lip" set of click pen lipgloss and twist up lipliner. For $10 you get 3 "eye tattoos". I chose the glitter set (though I don't have much use for it), but I did sport it a couple of weeks ago just for fun and it was super easy to apply. I actually just used a little bit of one of them by taking off the plastic covering and transferring that to my eyelid- as opposed to the main portion of the shadow that lives on the paper backed side. I got plenty of product and there's probably 2 more uses for that one tattoo. That would mean 3 uses each! It felt more like a cream shadow and it comes with a colorless loose powder to top it with. I opted for my own shadow in similar colors to set it and it held up really well. It completely guides you to where each color should live on your lid.

The lip set was the best bargain at $8 for 2 products. I really just wanted the lip liner, since it's so difficult to find a rosy shade that isn't too brownish. I chose the pinky lavendar gloss color called "flirt" since it's accompanied by a rosy lip liner. Both are so perfect! I love the click pen design- not unlike the YSL gloss or it's low-end sister by mark cosmetics (love that one too!). This one tastes like a sugar cookie and has more pigment than the others click glosses, like a stain. I will definitely be purchasing a couple more colors. The liner is pearly and pinky, just as I has hoped, also with a surprising amount of pigment payoff as well.

Overall- makes me want to try more. And isn't that just what I need? As you either know or can imagine....no. That is exactly what I don't need. So, in essence: Thanks a lot Wal-mart. You've done it again.