Ardell Fashion Lashes Starter Kit
I am actually blessed to have long, dark, and fairly thick eyelashes. My only complaint is that no matter what I do I cannot get any curl into them. They are pin straight and stick straight out. Bleh! I want magazine photo shoot worthy long beautiful curvy lashes darn it!
I picked up an Ardell Fashion Lashes Starter Kit. My kit includes lash adhesive, an "easy to use" lash applicator, and Ardell #116 lashes.
And so, I started by lining my upper lash line with black eye liner. Next I placed the lash in the lash applicator, spread glue on it as directed, and applied it to my eye. I then repeated on the other eye. In theory the lash applicator sounds like a good idea, it grips onto the lash and curves it to fit so you can just place it against the curve of your eye, but in the end I actually ended up removing both lashes, reapplying glue and placing them on again with just my fingers for guidance. I found that the lash applicator actually made it harder to see what I was doing so I could never see where to start and end the lashes or judge how close I got to the lash line.
I don't have a lot of patience and I am actually very surprised at how I was able to get the lashes in place with very little difficulty. Not to say it was a perfectly smooth first effort but with a little practice I feel like I will have it down pat in no time.
Once on (after a few upside down and oops, wrong eye blunders) the lashes looked amazing! They were long and curved and slightly flared at the outside corners and seemed to blend well with my own lashes. I usually wear mascara but with these I could probably get away without it. It is amazing how they made my eyes pop. I am very excited now to try out different styles and brands. I did a little research and found that there seem to be three most commonly recommended lashes to buy. MAC lashes are well known for their quality, Shu Uemura is a bit on the pricey end but gets consistently high marks for their lashes, and in the more reasonably priced range people have been raving about Ardell lashes. Some people even prefer the much cheaper Ardell lashes to MAC lashes.
At $5.99 CDN a pair Ardell lashes are certainly less expensive than MAC lashes at $15.50 a pair. Ardell lashes are made with real human hair and, if taken care of, can be worn a number of times before being thrown out. I bought mine from London Drugs but I bet some place like Walmart or Sally Beauty Supply would be several dollars cheaper.
If you are thinking about trying false lashes but are a little intimidated just go for it! If I can do it anyone can and you will love the results.
Covergirl Exact Eyelights Eyeshadow
I decided to give Covergirl Exact Eyelights eye shadow a try even thought I was not overly impressed with the Covergirl Exact Eyelights mascara. Since I do not have a knack for co-ordinating eye shadow colors on my own I liked the idea of having eye shadow colors co-ordinated specifically for my eyes with an explanation on the best way to apply them.
When I first saw the Covergirl Exact Eyelights eyeshadow I thought the colors were not that pretty and a bit of a weird combo but I decided to buy it anyway. Covergirl make up artists selected these colors and should know what they are doing, right? Well, that’s my theory anyway. lol
Covergirl Exact Eyelightseyeshadow comes with its own real brush (instead of those horrible and cheap sponge applicators) which is actually a half decent brush that I will probably use for my other shadows as well. I tried one attempt using the one brush to apply all the colors and it came out a bit blotchy and uneven. The Covergirl brush works great for larger areas, like lid and brow, but not so good for the crease or for trying to smudge the #4 color across my upper lash line as asked to do in the directions. I removed it all and tried a second time. The second time I used the Covergirl brush to put on the brow bone color and then the lid color (I used the coppery brown color across my whole lid under the crease instead of just the corners of my eyes, like the instructions say, to give it more pop), then I used my pencil brush to do the crease color and corner V, and then I used a very tiny tipped brush I have to apply the #4 color like an eye liner across my lashes on my upper eye lid. It ended up looking much better. I will say that, since the colors go on fairly light despite how dark they look in the pan, you would want something on your lids to prime them first to help the color stay and to keep the colors from fading. And, lastly, the sparkles, oh the sparkles! Between Covergirl Exact Eyelights mascara and Covergirl Exact Eyelights eye shadow there are a lot of sparkley bits that end up everywhere! The sparkley bits add shimmer and dimension to the eye but also ended up on my cheeks, on my forehead, on my nose and on my contact lenses. Aarrgghh!!! Talk about annoying!
The verdict is I do like Covergirl Exact Eyelights eye shadow. It is not super amazing, just nice. The colors may not be super vibrant but you just end up having a very pretty accented eye, which, I guess is the point of this particular shadow. It may just be my imagination and wishful thinking but I do think that my eyes, while not really brighter, do stand out a little bit more when I wear the Covergirl Exact Eyelights shadow.
Covergirl Exact Eyelights Mascara
My local drugstore recently started stocking the new Covergirl Exact Eyelights mascara. I have seen the commercials for it and was a bit skeptical, but, it was on sale for under $6.00 so I gave in to my curiosity and purchased it.
I bought Covergirl Exact Eyelights waterproof mascara for brown eyes in Black Pearl (#730).
The back of the package states "The unique eye brightening formula combined with the patented No Clump brush technology brings out the color of your eyes and gives you gorgeous clump free lashes!"
Covergirl Exact Eyelights mascara applies really nicely. Very few clumps and a very nice smooth application. The wand was quite easy to use. As a basic everyday mascara I am very happy with this product.
As for an eye brightener? Honestly, I did not notice any difference. None at all. There does not appear to be any shimmer, shine, sparkle, or glimmer. I believe there are supposed to be little flecks of glitter in but, if so, they are few and far between. It looks like a basic black mascara to me. As a matter of fact, it has almost a flat finish to it when it dries which really doesn't give much depth or fullness to the lashes. This probably would not be a great product for people who are trying to pump up thin lashes.
I will continue to use this as a basic everyday mascara because I think, for the price that the quality is quite good, and I like that it is waterproof so I don't have to worry about it staying in place all day. But…for an evening out, when I want to make my eyes really stand out, Covergirl Exact Eyelights is not the product I will use.
Urban Decay Primer Potion
As described on the Sephora website:
"This Eyeshadow Primer Potion is an ultra-sheer, totally nude eye base that glides on with the wave of a wand and then disappears instantly. It's the ultimate eye prep for smoother, more vibrant shadow and all-day wear, with absolutely no creasing."
My only complaint with this product is the packaging. It can be hard to get all the product out of the tube. Many people, myself included, have risked chopping off a finger to depot the primer potion into a screw top jar or other tightly sealing container. I have just recently read that Urban Decay has redesigned the applicator that comes with it to help get more of the product out of the package. It will be interesting to see if the new angled applicator makes a difference.