Category: Mascara

My Current Routine

thealtruisticface

For the sake of documenting a moment in time, and perhaps to reflect in five years to ask myself “why on Earth did I use that?”, I wanted to list some of my current skincare favorites. I recently went on a short trip, which is always great for forcing yourself to decide on which products are truly must-haves (and also useful in those moments where you think to yourself, “why did I forget to pack that?!).

Now, of course, I don’t use all of these every single day, but everything listed is in heavy rotation. All of these products have been in my routines for a minimum of five months — some have been in my routine for over six years. I can say that all of these have maintained or improved my sensitive, acne-prone skin. Everyone’s reactions are different, but if I had to recommend products to someone with skin issues, these would all be included in that list.

AM Routine

  • COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser
  • Mario Badescu Rosewater Spray
  • Melano CC Gel (although I’m not 100% sold on this one yet…)
  • Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel
  • Rohto Skin Aqua Super Moisture Milk SPF50

PM Routine

  • COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser (I obviously love this)
  • Mario Badescu Rosewater Spray (same with this, I would spritz this every hour on the hour if I could)
  • Thayer’s Witch Hazel Toner

PM Exfoliant Options:

  • Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA
  • The Ordinary 5% Lactic Acid
  • Epiduo
  • Derma-E Anti Wrinkle Eye Cream

PM Moisturizer Options

  • Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel
  • Cerave PM

PM Heavy Moisturizers — “Last Step”:

  • Bio-Oil
  • CosRX Honey Ceramide Cream
  • HadaLabo Gokujun Hyaluronic Solution

Makeup

  • IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Illumination – Medium
  • Maybelline Stick Corrector Concealer (under eyes, and on/around eyelids with careful blending)
  • NYX Tinted Brow Mascara in Brown
  • L’oreal Lash Paradise
  • Physicians Formula Eye Booster Pencil Eyeliner
  • Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls in Bronze (used as bronzer)
  • Maybelline Master Chrome Metallic Highlighter in Molten Rose Gold
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Physicians Formula Organic Wear Fake Out

thealtruisticface

Physicians Formula got it right on their eyeliners for me, so I was hoping I could say the same for their mascaras. In general I get sucked in by PF products because they’re hypoallergenic, but this time around I will admit, it was DEFINITELY the cool packaging. I mean, look at that mascara. That is a cool looking mascara. (turns out though, it doesn’t make it any easier to hold).

But this $14 mascara really missed the mark for me. The implication of the name “Fake Out” is that this will mimic false lashes, but this mascara accomplishes the farthest thing from that. The overall effect is that lashes will be combed into pin-straight (but not elongated), separated lines, with minimal color to boost them. I’m not saying we should be buying mascaras that purposely turn our lashes into clumpy spider legs, but false eyelashes should add volume, and fan outward.

I guess if you were looking for minimal boost and an extremely low-effort look, this might be the way to go. But even the longevity is terrible. Within an HOUR, I found debris of the mascara under my eye. By hour three, the mascara was entirely gone from my lashes, and it looked as though I had applied nothing at all.

Now I’m no packaging expert, but it seems to me that the wand itself is just not conducive to picking up product in the tube — either that or the product itself is very dry. And it’s kind of a pain to go back into the tube to get more product, since the cap of the wand is really annoying to hold, and there’s a “suction” going into the actual tube that you have to push a little harder to break through. Not that getting more product is going to make too much of a difference anyway — it simply doesn’t stack, and you won’t notice a difference in the overall effect by adding an extra coat or two.

Big time “no thanks” to this mascara. It’s definitely not worth $14. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 1/5

Longevity: 1/5

How much I actually like this product: 1/5

Maybelline Volum’express The Falsies Mascara

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Maybelline Falsies.JPG

For as long as I’ve been interested in makeup, I’ve been impulse buying Maybelline mascara based on the cute packaging and the occasionally deceptive makeup buzzwords that make me think this mascara is going to change my life. The Falsies is no exception, although it does appear that it delivers on it’s product names’ promise!

This comes in a really cute purple tube and retails anywhere between $4 and $13 (low end was Target on a sale day, high end was Ulta, who almost always overprices all of their product anyway). The wand is fairly long and has quite a few bristles to pick up more of the product. Apparently this also comes in four different colors including brown and blue, but I’ve only ever seen “Very Black” in stores.

Application is fairly good, since there are a lot of bristles you will get a lot of color and product on the first swipe or two. But, also by nature of having a lot of bristles on the wand, I would also advise you go light-handed because having all of that product = potential to clump! Although this mascara is admittedly pretty easy to separate lashes once the clumping occurs.

The overall effect of this is actually pretty good. This probably provides some of the longest length I’ve ever seen in a mascara, and the volume is pretty good as well. You don’t really need more than two or three coats to get the true false eyelash effect.

Now, the longevity… meh. This stuff has some pretty bad fallout from start to finish. Most of the mascara’s effect will remain with you throughout an 8 hour period stretch, but over that period I’ve ended up flicking away quite a bit of black dust from my cheek. And that stuff sticks — it’s not like the tiny particles you can just shake off, some of it will end up absorbing into your skin and you’ll have to apply water to get it out. Weirdly, all this said, I didn’t feel like I had any issues with this stuff getting into my eyes, and if it did, it didn’t cause any over-the-top irritation.

So for overall effect, I really like this. I was extremely impressed by the length and the non-spider legs volume approach it took to get there. But if you’re going to wear it, make sure you’re close to a mirror with a sink — it’s not a good “wear it to the office” mascara!

Merry Christmas! I hope all of my readers have had a wonderful holiday season! ~A

Perceived efficacy: 4.5/5

Longevity: 3/5

How much I actually like this product: 3.5/5

L’Oreal Lash Paradise

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Loreal Lash Paradise

I have super-sensitive-to-makeup-eyes, seasonal allergies and contacts, the trifecta combination of “crying in the middle of the day for no reason”. Lash Paradise was probably the most frequently suggested waterproof mascara on Reddit, so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s reasonably priced at $7-8.

This stuff won’t give you length, as the advertisements seem to suggest, but it will certainly give you volume. It’s the good kind of volume, too: it makes it appear as though you have more lashes, and doesn’t clump to make that point. It’s noticeable enough to give your eyes a bit of a natural pop, without the false eyelash effect.

For the most part, this holds up pretty well throughout the day, although applying a few layers from the onset, and a re-application after a few hours seem to be the key to longevity. It doesn’t commit the dreaded “mascara fall” where clumps and specks of black end up on your face; however, you MIGHT experience a small line of black under your eyes at the 6 to 7 hour mark.

Most importantly for me, this mascara did NOT irritate my eyes — no burning, no redness, nothin’. I think it’s held up pretty well in water, as well. I’ve cried with it on, and it also seems to take a few washes to remove it at the end of the day.

All in all, the effects of this mascara won’t blow you away — I would say this falls into the category of “subtle” added volume. However, if your eyes are sensitive like mine, I do absolutely recommend Lash Paradise. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 4/5

Longevity: 3.8/5

How much I actually like this product: 3.8/5