Lancome Hypnôse Star Mascara Review with Photos!

Lancome Hypnôse Star Mascara

Lancome Hypnôse Star Mascara ($28) is a mascara that provides ultra-volume at the lash line for a "sensuous curve from root to tip". The formula's "black-diamond effect" imparts a glossy gel-like finish. The dual-action brush has a flat side for optimizing product deposit at the lash line while the rounded side separates, defines, and lengthens.

When I'm looking into purchasing a new mascara, I always go for the mega-volume formulas. I have never tried any of the Hypnôse formulas, but I've always sort-of wanted to from the rave reviews. Lancome "Hypnôse" is Lancome's popular volumizing mascara, and because of it's crowd favoritism, Lancome has come out with a few additions to the Hypnôse line - Hypnôse Drama, Hypnôse Doll and the latest - Hypnôse Star.

I would consider it to be a wet formula, especially when the product is fresh. With the first use, I hated it because it was too wet and clumped my lashes together too much. But after breaking the tube in, the clumps were less, but it still didn't completely win me over.

Because the formula is wet, I found that even when I tried my best to separate my lashes through the application process, once I blinked a few times, some of my lashes would stick together. Is there such thing as no clumping with this mascara? No, I don't think so. But on the bright side, the clumps aren't excessive and they don't cause my lashes to look spidery or stubby.

It gives my lashes more of a spikey look, as it doesn't define each individual lash. I find the result to be much, much better with a mascara base, but even then, I'm not able to achieve a voluminous, thick, lots-of-lashes effect.

Wearing two hefty coats of Lancome Hynose Star Mascara.

Lancome Rose Fresque Blush Review, Photos & Swatches!

Lancome Rose Fresque Blush Subtil

Lancome Rose Fresque Blush ($30) is described on the Lancome website as a dusty, rosey pink. It has a bit of a plummy tone to it, yet it's pretty neutral overall. It doesn't get very ruddy on the cheeks, so it will work well for cooler skin tones, and it doesn't pull too purple, so it will equally flatter warm skin. *Please bear in mind that the blush featured in this post is a sample size, so it is much smaller and doesn't include a brush.

One helpful way of picking out a good neutral for your coloring is by having a look at your natural lip color. Our lip color differs from skin tone to skin tone - look for tones of red, purple and pink. My natural lip color is a light-medium, rosy pink with a hint of red. A similar shade would flatter my cheeks. Always remember that "nude" or "neutral" differs with every shade of skin.  

The consistency is very soft, and it's not overly pigmented, so it provides a soft wash of color to the cheeks. I like using a soft, fluffy blush brush such as the Real Techniques Blush Brush, and lightly tap and swirl the color on my cheeks.

It has a soft, natural matte finish that doesn't look dull or powdery.

Lancome Artliner Precision Point EyeLiner in Brown Review!

Lancome Artliner Precision Point EyeLiner

Lancome Artliner ($29.50) is a product I've been curious to try for the past few years. Many have dubbed this liner pen as their favorite liquid liner, and with it's relatively high ratings, one can only wonder what the fuss is all about.

I use to be a liquid liner on the upper lid and kohl pencil on the waterline type of girl, but after realizing that just about every pencil irritates my eyes, I actually gave up wearing both and resorting to gel/cream liners and deep, dark eyeshadows (used as liner) for the past few years. MAC Liquidlast Liner was my Holy Grail liquid liner for several years (it still remains a favorite), and only recently have I started reaching for the liquid after I developed a little love relationship with Physician's Formula Eye Booster (it's just quick and easy). So I felt like it was time to give in to the Artliner, after several occasions of swatching it on my hand on my frequent trips to Sephora.

It's basically a liquid liner pen that offers dramatic color and precise product product placement that is said to last all day. Many love this liner for it's ease-of-use, smooth application and long wear-time.

There are seven (7) shades to choose from: Noir, Ice Black, Smoke, Brown, Navy, Forest and Aubergine. Naturally, I would have gotten black, but I opted for brown, for a softer look.

Wearing Lancome Artliner in Brown 

(list of products I'm wearing are at the end of the post)

Lancome Sienna Sultry Color Design 5 Shadow & Liner Palette Review!

Lancome Color Design 5 Shadow & Liner Palette

An all-in-one five-shadow palette for brightening the eyes.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: These alluring palettes feature silky, lustrous, long-wearing powders that transparently wrap the skin resulting in a seamless layering of pure color and a radiant finish. Build with absolute precision and apply the shades in five simple steps (all over, lid, crease, highlighter, and liner) to design your customized eye look. Contour, sculpt, and lift with soft day colors or intensify your look with dramatic evening hues for smoky effects. 

There are 12 palettes available. To view them all, click HERE to be re-directed to the Sephora product page.

Sienna Sultry contains a matte soft pink-beige, bubble-gum pink shimmer, matte soft brown, golden copper shimmer and a deep brown shimmer. All shades are suppose to go together to create a certain look. Lancome gives you a little guide for the color placement of each shade. In this particular palette the colors do go well together. I have to say though, I was really disappointed with this palette.

READ MORE FOR ADDITIONAL PHOTOS, SWATCHES AND REVIEW!

Review: Lancome Effacernes Waterproof Concealer!

Lancome Effacernes Concealer

I've been looking for a good, heavy-duty liquid concealer that will provide as much coverage as my cream concealers for quite some time.

The current concealers I use are MAC Studio Finish Concealer, MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer and Ben Nye Concealers. All three concealers are cream based in pot form. I always opt for these types of concealers because they tend to provide the fullest coverage. The only problem I have with these types of concealers is, they sometimes tend to cake.

After looking up reviews on makeupalley.com for a liquid concealer, I stumbled across Lancome Effacernes. It is one of the highest rated concealers with a rating of 4.1/5 based on over 300 reviews, with a repurchase rate of 76%. The rating is about the same for the much higher end Cle de Peau Concealer, which has a 4.2 rating with a 76% repurchase rate.

Lancome Effacernes Concealer is promised to provide a complete, natural-looking coverage, even out the skin tone, covers dark circles and minimize fine lines around the eyes. The result is a soft, matte finish that is long-wearing and waterproof.

There are 12 shades in total: Ivoire, Porcelaine I, Light Buff, Light Bisque, Clair II, Camee, Medium Buff, Beige (Neutral) III, Medium Bisque, Dore, Bronze IV and Suede.

I originally tested out the shade Beige III Neutral, but it gave my under-eyes a gray cast. So I ended up going with Light Bisque.

 Lancome Effacernes Concealer in Light Bisque swatched on my hand.

You can see that it almost fully covered the freckle on my hand, which is visible in the first swatch photo.

The consistency is light and creamy - somewhat similar to MAC Select Cover-up. I like applying it with my ring finger in light, patting motions. I sometimes use a concealer brush, but I actually prefer using my fingers with this particular concealer. I feel that with my finger, I can build the most coverage. 

The coverage is very good. It provides a medium, buildable to an almost full coverage without looking heavy or cakey. Even though I don't have a problem with fine lines, sometimes heavier concealers can accentuate fine lines that barely even exist, and this one doesn't at all for me.

Also, I found that the claims for this concealer to be long-wearing very true. I don't notice any fading or creasing by the end of the day.

I definitely recommend picking up a sample next time you're near a Lancome counter!