NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara

Swatches & Review

I recently won Sephora's twitter holiday giveaway and as the prize, I received NARS Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself kit. The kit includes full-sized NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing mascara.

Like all other NARS products, the tube has a rubberized feeling to it.

The brush for this mascara has a honeycomb style.

For the swatches on my eyelashes, I have shown one with no mascara, then one coat, then two coats.
Be prepared to see a lot of eyes O_O

The picture on the left is with my lashes uncurled and no mascara. The one in the middle shows my lashes curled with one coat of NARS Larger than Life mascara. The one on the right shows it with two coats.
As you can see, the NARS Larger than Life mascara enhances my lashes a lot! With two coats, you can definitely see the lashes a lot better.

From my previous reviews of mascara, I mentioned that it was quite hard to keep my eyelashes curled because they normally go back to being stick-straight after a while. NARS Larger than Life mascara is not very wet, so it dries very quickly, which actually keeps my eyelashes curled! I have been looking for a mascara to keep my eyelashes curled and I think this is it since I have been loving it so far. This mascara also does not clump when applying, so my eyelashes won't stick together into one single piece. The downsides to this is that it is hard to wash off, even with makeup remover. I always use Bobbi Brown's makeup remover and it wipes everything off easily, besides this mascara so if you do not need to use more than one coat, I suggest only using one coat for an easier time removing it. The other downside is the price. It retails for $25, which is pretty steep considering mascara's dry out real quickly. Out of all the mascara's I have right now, I would definitely choose this over the others until I can find a cheaper alternative.

What do you think about NARS Larger Than Life mascara? Have you tried it? What mascara would you recommend for me to keep my eyelashes curled?

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Sephora Birthday Gift 2013

Sephora Beauty Insider News:

It has been a stressful few days for me so today since my boyfriend is off, he took me out shopping. When I went to Sephora (I can never not make a Sephora stop), I noticed them putting up a new birthday gift since it is the end of December and Sephora has new gifts for their Beauty Insiders/VIBs every year. This year was FRESH's Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Duo & next year, it will be.....

From Benefit Cosmetics!

The birthday gift in 2013 will include Benefit's mini They're Real Mascara & a mini Watts Up Luminizer/Highlighter. This set is called Real Birthday Turn-Ons, how cute is the packaging & the items itself? If you have a BI/VIB account, your birthday should be on the account and you can redeem the items the month of your birthday.

Personally, I like how Sephora has been included brands carried in their store as gifts in recent years because the years before Philosophy, it has usually been Sephora brand items (mini eye set from 2010, mini lip gloss set from 2009).

What do you think about this? Do you like the Benefit items Sephora chose for next year? Were you able to get the Sugar Lip Duos from this year?

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theBalm The Body Builder Mascara

Swatches & Review

In this review, I will also review two eyeliners:
Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner in Trooper
&Be a Bombshell's Eye Liner ins Onyx

I received theBalm's The Body Builder Mascara in my October Glam/ipsy Bag and I have been trying it out this week. Normally, I do not wear mascara because it does not hold my curl for me anyway so I feel like it is pointless, I was hoping for theBalm's mascara to hold up, but does it?

In the first photo, I am using theBalm's The Body Builder mascara and Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner in Trooper. I purchased the Draw the Line set from Sephora so I decided to try this one first. Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner is a pen liner. It is thin enough to draw a thin line, but I drew a thicker line on to make it look similar to Be a Bombshell's eye liner.

In the second photo, I am using theBalm's mascara and Be a Bombshell's Eye Liner in Onyx. Like Kat Von D's Liner, this is also a pen liner. The tip of this eyeliner was thick, so it was hard for me to draw a very thin line so I made it thick.

Both of the eyeliners look similar in color, so no one can even tell that I am wearing two different eyeliners. Comparing both of them, I definitely like Kat Von D's more because it is thin so I would be able to draw a thinner liner than Be a Bombshell. However, both of them last a very long time, which is good. You will need makeup remover to remove both of these eyeliners.

For theBalm's Mascara, I love that it is not clumpy, it makes my eye lashes look a lot darker. Does it hold up my curl? Not really. I was hoping it would hold up my eye lashes, but it does not. I am not disappointed because I have the hardest time with mascaras holding my eyelashes up, so it was expected. The mascara held up my curl for a good ten minutes until it started to go back to being stick straight. The mascara itself does stay on the lashes for a good amount of time & I have not seen any flaking from it, which is also a good thing. Sadly, it is just not for me.

What do you think about these products? Can you tell a difference between the eyeliners? How do you feel about mascaras? Any recommendations for me? :)

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CoverGirl Lash Blast: Volume

Swatches & Review

I am not too big on wearing mascara because my eyelashes are hard to curl. I purchased the CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume mascara because I have heard good things about it & I had coupons, which made it a good deal for me to try.

This mascara comes in an orange tube with the orange fiber bristles. I have never actually felt bristles since the mascaras I usually buy have the wand already in the tube, and it felt like some silicone toys I used to have when I was younger. The orange wand does not really matter since the mascara is going to cover it up anyway.

The color I purchased was black. When I put the first coat on, there were clumps all over my eyelashes so I had to use a second coat (after wiping some mascara off the wand) to even them out & get rid of some of them. That was a bit irritating since some just flaked off my lashes and went into my eyes. Although it did add a bit of volume to my lashes, it took a while to dry so by the time it dried, my eyelashes were barely even curled anymore.

I have tested this mascara out a few times and it always gave me the same results. I have other mascaras that dries faster that actually holds my lashes up for a few hours so I guess I will just stick with those. I do not think I will even grab this to use anymore since it is such a hassle. This, I do not like.

What are your thoughts on CoverGirl mascaras? Are there any drugstore brand mascaras that you love & would recommend for me? Let me know! :)

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