Expensive, over the top lashes you want to use more than once? Keep them clean by dabbing them with eye makeup remover. Use a q-tip/cotton pad for gentle cleaning until glue and residue is removed. Gently rinse with water and air dry. Store them in an eye lash case so you don’t end up with lashes chock full of dust!
Easiest way to speed up your morning makeup routine? Organize your vanity/makeup bag! The easier it is to find what you need, the faster your routine be. You can organize them by the order you apply too.
Makeup Etiquette 101: Never, ever apply makeup in public. Especially at the restaurant table! Maybe a swipe of lip balm in class - but the rest, head to the restroom and save yourself the dirty looks.
Now that finals & provincials are over for our high school clients, we can now focus more posts on Prom (or Grad Dinner & Dance for our Vancouver readers)! If you are planning to go Kate Middleton on your makeup for prom (doing your own makeup), just keep a few important pointers in mind:
#1. This is not the time to surprise your grad class with a full blown makeover. If you wear makeup on a daily basis, you maybe tempted to do something dramatic and out of this world. Our advice is, do what you do well and add something special. Dramatic faux lashes? Sexy pigmented lipstick? Or even cat eyes! Just don’t throw all of it on at once. Simple, unexpected changes will make you look extra glam on your special day.
#2. Clean your makeup brushes a few days beforehand. The last thing you want is an unexpected pink eye from an eye makeup brush or inflamed acne from an unclean brush. You might get away with dirty brushes every morning, but big events comes with big surprises.
#3. Brighten your teeth for a mega watt smile. Yellow teeth shown in a close up flash is a major downer. Try Crest whitening strips for a couple of days to brighten up your smile - and even make your lip color go that extra mile.
#4. Exfoliate your lips and pluck your brows the night before. need we say more? No matter how pretty your lip color is, or how saucy that lip gloss looks, flakey lips and bushy brows are a major prom faux pas. Chapped lips definitely ruin Close up photos with friends!
#5. Don’t be lazy, pack the essentials - like eyelash glue! One downside of doing your own makeup is the short life span. Regular sponge and foundation combo just can’t beat a makeup artist’s secret finishes or airbrush. So pack a eyelash glue (incase of oily lids, your faux lashes will slip off!), compact, oil blotting papers, and a glossy lipstick!
#6. Avoid acne drying masks the night before. You don’t want unexpected allergies, flakes or acne that maybe be extra hard to cover up. Do facials a few days before instead.
#7. Take a test pic before heading out. Applying makeup under the bathroom mirror may look completely different after a flash from the camera. Take two pics, one without flash and one with so you can catch anything out of place in terms of color and proportion.
Take a look at Givenchy’s Fall 2011 whimsical mascara wand, Demesure Audacious Lashes! Just when we’ve seen it all - the ball bristle, the vibrating wand and the notorious rubber bristled wand - the beauty world surprises us yet again. Are we really that hard to please when it comes to wands that cosmetic companies have to keep on inventing new ones?
Check it out:
Creates Density: the mascara wand has 16 grooves that holds the mascara formula. Like rubber bristle wands, this picks up a lot of formula so you get a nice thick coating in one application.
Creates Definition: press a button on the base of the cap and a clean elastomer separating lash is released! A great finishing tool to define lashes and “clean up” any extra goop that may way down lashes.
Colors in Audacious Black, Audacious Brown and Audacious Green (limited edition).
Available in Fall/Winter 2011
**Check out our previous post on Mascara Wands Decoded! Everything you need to know about almost every kind of mascara wand - and making it work for you!
Ahh..the things we do for beauty! This story is submitted by K.C., from Vancouver BC. We give extra props for this girl who lost many lashes to tell this story :o
BBA Lesson #2: Never Curl Lashes after applying white Mascara Base topped with your fave Mascara. Mascara bases have a different, thicker texture than regular mascara, making them stickier. You may get away with curling after applying regular mascaras, but you definitely couldn’t after using a base!
What: A department store Mascara Base.. let’s just say the brand is known for it’s pretty floral design packaging.
A makeup fanatic since high school, K.C. has always been a fan of thick, luscious lashes with a 90 degree curl (yes, an eye opening 90 degree curl!). She decided to take it up a notch and buy white mascara base and top it off with lots of curling mascara. The base mixed with the curling mascara dried up and ended up acting like a glue… and when it was time to give it a good curl from the good ol’ lash curler, it ripped a good chunk of lashes! They say it takes forever to grow out a bad hair cut - it turns out it takes even longer for a bald eyelid :o
For more juicy reader submissions, check out BBA Chemical Burns.
Thanks for the email submission! ♥
If you have any BBA stories to share (and to help warn our fellow readers too!) Please email us at: karebrush@gmail.com
A great tube of mascara has two things: a great formula and a great brush. So brace yourself, we’ve compiled the ultimate guide to decoding wands! From the trendy to the traditional bristle, we’ve got you covered:
#1. Ball-Shaped Brush: great for catching small inner & outer corner lashes. takes more time to apply, not great for morning makeup quickies. Tends to get clumpy easier because it concentrates the formula to a specific area - always dab it on a tissue before applying.
#2. Comb brush: separates lashes for a wide eyed look. prevents clumping, especially for heavy mascara formulas. Don’t use it if you have skinny, short lashes - you won’t see a dramatic difference in terms of volumizing.
#3. Curved brush: helps mascara hug closely to inner and outer lashes in one sweep. great if you are in a rush, grabs every lash at once. Easily smudged when used on lower lashes.
#4. Rubber Bristles: the most controversial yet rising to popularity mascara brush. purpose is to separate lashes like a comb and also give a thick coating of mascara. Usually needs one or two swipes from root to tip. Great if you want a lot of formula but hate layering mascara.
#5. Vibrating brush: usually more expensive than regular mascaras. try using a drugstore vibrating mascara first, then upgrade to a department store one if you end up liking it. Easy to over apply with vibrating brush, usually will cause clumpy, spider lashes easily. May also uncurl or weigh down lashes. wiggle a volumizing mascara wand from side to side and you’ll get similar results.
#6. Straight traditional brush: easiest to maneuver and get close to the lash line without feeling awkward.
Morning my fabulous friends, while you are putting on your favorite mascara, please answer the following multiple choice question:
What do you WANT in a mascara?
A. Length
B. Separtation aka. no clumps
C. Volume
Ok - tough choice?
We understand you need a D. ALL of the above in order to answer this question!
The search of the perfect mascara that does everything is an exhausting task. The absolute last thing we want you to do is to waste money on makeup that just doesn’t work. Through some general market research, we gathered the 2 newest Diorshow mascaras we found in our local Sephora store. Diorshow Iconic and Diorshow Extase and we are going to give you a honest review.
Don’t they look like twins? We see tons of girls holding one in each hand, looking more puzzled and confused than trying to read a book in reversed German!
We have done our testing, trial and error. We will share with you what we thought:
Diorshow Iconic
Love. This is the only word that can describe how we feel about this mascara. It lengthens, separates, volumes and does not clump. Their special comb-like wand makes it easy to comb through lashes. The formula is smooth like butter and adds length to lashes without making it look fake! It lives up to the Diorshow name. With this mascara you can layer on coats and coats to build volume! A total triple-threat.
Diorshow Extase
This mascara was a disappointment compared to the Diorshow Iconic, however we still like this better than the Diorshow regular. The formula of this mascara was a little thicker than Diorshow Iconic (and the Diorshow regular), it made it difficult to comb through the lashes without clumps. The brush was a little too big for our liking, and had a ziczac pattern that made it difficult to aim. Sometimes a bigger wand does not mean bigger lashes! All and all, the one only thing we really liked about this mascara was the packaging…….
In this battle, we have a clear winner here, it could be the formula or the wand, but we definitely highly recommend the Iconic over the Extase!
