Shakeup Your Makeup

A little bit different of a look for today, using Taylor Made Minerals in Mirage, Sassy Minerals in Star Struck and MAC Pigment in Quick Frost.  I have to admit, I completely forgot about my Taylor Made Minerals, and they are absolutely stunning.  I have found that they are even more beautiful now that I have discovered the Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, so that is a huge plus!  A lot of the shades from TMM that I have purchased were duochrome, and when applied dry they just didn't *pop*.  Mirage is a prime example.  In the pot, the product looks like a matte white with a light blue sheen.  When applied over the Pixie Epoxy, the shade takes on a whole new life!  (Click here to see pictures of the Taylor Made Minerals in the pot/swatched).  Instead of being just a basic white, the actual shimmer of the periwinkle blue shows up, and it's almost like a light has been turned on.  This is such a gorgeous pale lavender/blue shade with just enough shimmer to stand out.  Seeing as the dress I was wearing had the same pale blue shade, I chose Sassy Minerals "Star Struck" as the darker shade.  In the pot, this color looks like a deep navy/purple with silver sparkle.  Again, using the Pixie Epoxy made this color even more complex and beautiful.  Because I paired it with Mirage, the more blue/navy shades came through.  Add the MAC Pigment as the highlight, and the whole look is tied together.

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Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy - base

Taylor Made Minerals "Mirage" - inner corner, blended into crease

Sassy Mienrals "Star Struck" - outer corner, crease, blended along lower lashline

MAC Pigment "Quick Frost" - highlight

Physician's Formula Gel Eyeliners - Black from Gree Eye Set

Ardelle False Eyelashes (do not know #)

In addition to my post yesterday, I also bought essence's Lash Mania Mascara, which retails around $3.99 a tube.  Now, I'm big on first impressions, and when I pulled out the tube and looked at it, the first thing I thought was....

Dior Show Mascara!  Could we possibly have a dupe on our hands??

The brush in the essence Lash Mania mascara is quite similar to the Diorshow.  This is a larger brush, with the spiraled, individual bristles running down the brush.  I did notice this brush is a lot fatter than a typical brush, which is also reminiscent of the Diorshow mascara. 

The product itself is not quite as wet as Diorshow - but...that's not to say that it's dry in the tube.  It's just not as wet/thin as Diorshow.  Application was was a breeze.  Every lash was coated with mascara, and because of the fatness and consistency of the essence mascara, there was no clumping or glopping together of the lashes.  I also didn't get the smearing of mascara on the lid/under eyes that a lot of the fatter brushes tend to present - I think this has to do with the constency of the product as well.

On the other hand, although for the price I think this is an excellent mascara, there are a few things that this leaves me wanting.  For one, I don't think this has quite the lengthing power that some other mascaras on the market have, including Diorshow.  Yes, there is great volume and separation of the lashes, but the length leaves a little to be desired.  The color isn't quite as intense a black as some others, either.  Personally, I find that a really deep, intense, black mascara can really enhance the lashes and eyes, regardless of how thick or long they are. 

Overall, I really can't complain too much about the mascara.  I've been using this for two weeks and haven't switched back to any other tubes in my collection.  The pricepoint is unbelievable - there aren't even any other drugstore brands that come close to the $3.99 price tag this day and age.  The product wears well all day and doesn't flake or smear.  For a simple, not over the top dramatic mascara, this one is definitely worth a try!

Here are a few pictures of the essence haul I got at Ulta a few weeks ago.  I've been using the mascara for a while now, so I'll review that one in an upcoming post.  Today I wanted to show you the XXXL Shine lip gloss and the Crystal glitter eyeliner.

The eyeliner in Dazzling Silver is a mixture of irridescent glitter and silver glitter.  These are not large chunks, and actually apply quite sparingly, which I find to be a huge bonus.  This gives you the flexability of adding a little or a lot of glitz to your look.  The brush (pictured above) is a fine, synthetic hair.  The consistency of the formula isn't runny by any means, but isn't thick either.  If you click and look at the larger image above, you'll notice that there isn't anything chunky or gloppy, so this makes application a breeze.  Sorry I didn't take a closeup of the tube so you could see the glitter - I completely forgot!

I purchased the XXXL Shine lipgloss in Bubble Babe, which is a sheer powder pink with silver shimmer.  There really isn't any pigmentation to the gloss itself, its only the shimmer that has the color.  This is a great gloss for just a lot of shine on natural lips, or to add some shimmer and shine to a lipstick. 

The applicator is an elongated doe-foot.  I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of it, just because it's a bit ackward for me to use.  I actually prefer a brush to a doe foot. 

The swatches are above - lipgloss to the right and glitter eyeliner to the left.  I find that the eyeliner is great on top of black just to add some shimmer.  I applied two coats of each - can see the shimmer in both the gloss and the sparkles? 

I'll say that the price of the items in the essence line are really quite reasonable.  If memory serves, they ran from $0.99-$4.99 a piece, depending on the item.