Covergirl Flamed Out Mascara Review with Before & After Photos!

Covergirl Flamed Out Mascara

Covergirl Flamed Out Mascara ($6) is a new mascara that provides maximum volume to create a bold, winged-out look. The unique wire brush coats your lashes and curves them up and out. This mascara doesn't claim to add any length, so keep that in mind. 

The brush awkward. It's very large and full, and has an hourglass shape. I find that slightly rolling the brush at the base of the lashes while moving the brush upward works really well. The middle of the wand hugs the lashes as you coat them, and does a pretty good job of coating the lashes evenly. But because the tip of the brush is large, you can't really reach your corner lashes with it. Often times my fine corner lashes get missed with this mascara, otherwise I'll end up with mascara on my lids trying. The brush seems to deposit more product to the base of the lashes, so it gives almost a dark, liner effect to the the top lid. I despise any brushes that aren't your standard mascara wand shape, but you get use to it after a few uses.

It doesn't do anything for lengthening, but it works really well for building volume. The formula is on the drier side, and because of this, even when there is too much product on the brush and I apply it to my lashes, it doesn't stick all of my lashes together and make them look stubby. If I do end up with small clumps, they comb out easy with a spoolie without removing the mascara. For a volumizing mascara, I found that it separates fairly well and makes my lashes look thicker and fuller. You can build coat after coat of volume with no problems. 

It holds a curl well and doesn't flake or smudge all day. 

If you're happy with the length of your lashes and just want volume, this mascara is excellent. But, if you're looking for length and volume, I'd skip this mascara or use it in conjuction with a lengthening mascara or a good mascara base because it layers really well. 

Revlon Rich Raspberry Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel Review with Photos!

Revlon Rich Raspberry Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel

Revlon Rich Raspberry Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel ($5-6) is a raspberry pink with a super-glossy, gel-like finish. Indoors in low lighting the color appears much more raspberry/magenta, but when in bright lighting, the purple hues really come out and it shows more of a true fuchsia.

I don't know what it is with nail colors, but I get sick of every single polish after one manicure. It's very rare for me to find a shade that I want to wear continuously. Is anyone else like this? I'm beginning to think if I should stop buying nail polish all together and just get a weekly manicure at the salon. Anyway, fuchsia is one color that I don't find myself getting sick of on my nails.

I prefer darker shades of polish in general as pastels and light shades become discolored after a few days (I'm hard on my hands). This shade in particular really seems to flatter my skintone whether I'm pale or tan. Berry shades are typically most worn during Fall, but I love breaking the rules and wearing it all year round when I'm sick of everything else in my collection.

The Revlon Colorstay Nail Enamel line claims to keep your manicure fresh for up to 11 days - it's barely been 24 hours since I applied the color, but I'll update this post to let you know how well it holds up. I'm super lazy when it comes to painting my nails more than once a week, so if this polish stays put for a week, I'm definitely going to purchase additional shades.

The formula is fantastic - creamy, opaque and perfect with two coats. It didn't take forever to dry between coats and the finish is shiny. The brush is large with a rounded tip for precise, streak-free application. Only, my applicator wasn't cut evenly which is a bit annoying during application, but I was able to paint my nails mistake-free.

Two (2) Coats of Revlon Rich Raspberry Colorstay Nail Enamel on my nails (w/ Seche Vite Top Coat)

Have you tried the Revlon Colorstay line of nail polishes? Did they stay true to the 11-day claim for you?

Revlon Dazzle Brilliant Strength Nail Enamel Mini Review with Photos!

Revlon Dazzle Brilliant Strength Nail Enamel

Revlon 010 Dazzle Brilliant Strength Nail Enamel ($8) is a lovely warm, light pink jelly nail polish with iridescent shimmer/micro glitter and what appears to be golden iridescent flakes. It's a super pretty shade and a bit reminiscent of the much sought after limited edition OPI Pink Me I'm Good.

It's sheer but if you don't have discolored nails, it's actually pretty wearable with one coat. The color builds well and is fairly opaque with three coats. Although it's totally fine to wear alone, it's probably better suited when applied on top of a light pink nail polish if you're into a more opaque look. I've worn it both ways, and actually have it applied over Essie Van D'Go on my toes and I really like it!

The Brilliant Strength line combines a base and top coat in a nail strengthening formula. Despite that, I still like using my own base coat (Orly Bonder is my favorite) and a top coat (Seche Vite) as I prefer a shiny, glassy finish.

The formula was a bit watery, but really easy to work with. The brush is a bit large and flat, it's easy to coat the nails with a couple swipes.

I found that it holds up quite well on the nails. My only complaint is that the enamel doesn't grip onto the tips of my nails well, and I had tip wear within a couple of days. No chips though for a week.

Three (3) coats of Revlon Dazzle Nail Enamel on my nails

What's on your nails right now?

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.