Maybelline The Falsies

The Repurchases

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When you’re as beauty-obsessed as I am, indecisive to a fault to boot and easily bored, it’s rare that a product is impressive enough to warrant a repurchase so it speaks volumes when one is repurchased. In fact, when a repurchase occurs it must be nothing short of fantastic and I’ve gathered a few repurchases to share as of late. I’m not going to lie, this is totally inspired by Kate’s posts that I enjoy tremendously. Let’s get to it….

Bioderma Sensibio H2O($22)

I’ve raved about my love of the cult-favourite micellar water more than a time or two before but it is easily my most repurchased beauty product. Just like everyone and their second cousin twice removed suggests, it removes makeup like a champ gently, especially on the eye area when held to the lid for some seconds, but effectively and it’s the only thing that doesn’t ever go wonky in my dry sensitive eyes. It’s the gentlest thing out there.

La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP ($29.99)

This nourishing but lightweight body cream is definitely a more recent repurchase for me but it is an impressive one all the same. It’s formulated without fragrance, colour and the usual irritants and not only helps to intensely hydrate the skin and heal any sort of abrasions and skin condition, but also helps to decrease itchiness of my leg eczema over time. This is a great one for eczema in my experience for it is no frills where it counts but has a nice dose of niacinimide to help repair the barrier of the skin with the usual glycerin and shea butter.

Caudalie Vinosource Riche Intense Moisture Rescue Cream ($40)

Although I feel that including this moisturizer love of mine in a post here to be cheating, I couldn’t write this post without including it. If you’ve been around these parts for ages, you can probably recall how I loved the Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet back in 2013 and so after I finished up the REN moisturizer that I had been using, I couldn’t resist turning back to my old faithful line but I decided to purchase the slightly more nourishing option considering the season. I’m pleased to report that this offering is still lightweight and even more nourishing and soothing than the lighter option. It has that instant ‘breath of fresh air’ effect on the skin that makes me feel like it’s a treatment at the same time.

Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express Mascara ($8-9)

This was easily the most-hyped up mascara in the beauty world a few years ago and I tried it on account of that hype but to this day I haven’t found any mascara that surpasses this affordable one. It adds great volume with a little bit of length and curl thrown in but doesn’t go clumpy on the lashes and give that spider effect – even when the formula is at its wetter stage when it has recently been opened. It also doesn’t flake, smudge or anything but is not actually a nuisance to remove as many others seem to. This is at least my third tube of this mascara and I’ve felt horribly bereft without it, despite having way too many mascara bottles in my possession at the moment.

Have you repurchased anything as of late?
Maggie, x.

Revlon Grow Luscious Bold Lacquer Mascara

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I promise that I don’t adore every single mascara that I try, despite how things have appeared around here lately, it’s just that I’ve had very good luck in recent months in terms of picking up gems — first my staple Maybelline The Falsies, next the new love of mine, L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Excess and finally this one, the Revlon Grow Luscious Bold Lacquer Mascara. This mascara retails for the pretty standard $9 dollar pricetag and I have to say that it’s a really great mascara but it isn’t the be all and end all for me due to my preferences. As I’ve said before, I naturally have long and pretty curled dark lashes and I preliminarily look for volume and tend to favour drier formulas — because of this, the formula of this one is too wet for my liking. With this in mind, it’s much less of a wet formula than the hyped L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara and I prefer it as a result. It’s large brush is made of natural bristles and although I haven’t used it in a while, the mascara reminds me so much of an old mascara love of mine, the Benefit BadGal Lash Mascara and in a good way. The natural bristle brush ensures that on days like today when my eyes are sore and itchy (hayfever, woo), the brush does not feel like it’s jabbing into my eyeballs.

The mascara provides a good deal of volume, enough to be impressive on that front whilst not being the most volumizing mascara in the world. However, the mascara does not advertise to be, considering that it’s marketed as a volume and length mascara – on these terms it delivers. It’s really lengthening at the same time without verging into spider-lash territory. It doesn’t provide much separation or curl, though. It doesn’t flake or do anything else as annoying in my experience but actually removes fairly easily with my Bioderma and doesn’t cling to my lashes for dear life. This is a nice thing, by the way.

The bottom line? This is a really great mascara for volume and length that removes without much difficulty but it’s not so life changing that I will have to buy another tube as soon as this one dries out. And here are the before and after shots…

 

Recently Updated17From no mascara to close up with mascara, followed by a zoomed-out shot
 
What’s your current favourite mascara?
Maggie, x.

 

Weekly Medley #23

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(1) Just one of the many swatching-related fails of the week (2) The responsible Shopper’s purchases – gah (3) The beauteous “Weekend Makeup Staples” post over at VDM (4) I got a bit dressed up for my cousins’ graduation and took a picture obviously (5) I wrote and brought my “Summer Edit” post into fruition (6) The rediscovered love and a newfound one (7) My extremely lengthy favourites post is up here (8) My new Tom’s shoes (9) The glorious Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain in Milan Moment

 

Ahh, don’t you love lazy Sunday’s where you neither wake up, feeling as if you’ve just finished working up a sweat at the gym (without having the knowledge that for once you got off your ass and did something) due to sweltering summer heat or with a disgusting taste in your mouth as a result of questionable three am snacking? Well, I sure do. As per usual, I don’t feel as if I accomplished anything that can be likened to any sort of great feat but it wasn’t one of those weeks that rarely involved leaving the house and consisted of reading blogs, writing a post or two and watching copious amounts of Netflix and Youtube. It was quite a week filled with spending time with my lovely extended family down at the dock/ pool — we live by the ocean and my cousins have a lovely pool — and then eventually watching two of them graduate high school, later celebrating by going out to dinner and in the midst feeling suddenly a bit old at my mere two decades of experience. More on the getting old note, I had another moment of the same realization when I was excited to see that sunscreen was on sale. In my defense, it is a really great spray sunscreen.

I’ve been soaking up the hot weather but unfortunately have been really slacking on the photo documentation front. I’ve been swimming in the ocean all week and it hasn’t been cold so things have to be pretty great – am I right? While I’ve been doing less than ideal at general life snapshots, I’ve been making a real go of it, going out of my way to take swatches on the regular and attempt to capture them somewhat adequately with photography. I’m also rather pleased with the six posts that I put up during the week. Moving away from my blog in particular, Anna’s “Weekend Makeup Staples”post was phenomenal, perhaps even more so than her usual posts. She knows how to write these chatty posts that have me scribbling down a thing or six down on the wishlist whilst being so so so so much more concise than I have the potential of being.

Now, I’m moving onto my personal standout items and this week I have one that’s not of the beauty variety – my new Tom’s that I picked up long after completely destroying my last pair that somehow manage to be extremely comfortable and not too horrible for my feet while being rather attractive with their blue and white print. There’s another two products on the beauty-front this week, as well. First up, I’ve rekindled my love for my all-time favourite, the Maybelline Falsies Mascara;I’ve had this one for going on six months so I had been thinking that it was irritating my sensitive eyes so I had cast it off to the side and although it’s certainly not advisable to use a mascara for so long, I brought it out again and instantly remembered how much I love this mascara especially when it’s getting to be dried out. I’m one of those girls who adore drier mascara formulas, by the way. At the beginning of the week, I spotted the Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stains for the first time in stores here and although I hadn’t been particularly excited by the news of the release, I couldn’t resist picking up the muted tangerine-coral Milan Moment hue, even at it’s rather steep price but it was worth it because I’ve fallen in love. The staining power isn’t the most impressive in the world, the pigmentation begins on the sheer to medium side of things and the precise wand can apply the liquid lipstain in a slightly streaky way at first but the formula doesn’t irritate my lips, appears to be unfragranced, is a dream to apply with its lip-gloss wand, lasts through eating and drinking but doesn’t dry out my lips unless I leave it on for so long that shine has faded and feels weightless and balmy on the lips – without any hint of stickiness in sight. The shade also happens to be a unique one and one of those ideal everyday shades for me. It might just be worth the $13-15 that they retail for here.

I think I’ve summed up things rather nicely and the ocean is calling my name so it appears that this post has come to a close. Happy Sunday everyone! How was your week? I’d love to hear any thoughts!
Maggie, x.

 

 

 

 

Products I’d Be Incomplete Without

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I apologize about the lack of posts lately but it’s been a crazy week and one that I’m glad to be finished at that – Happy Friday to you all! Although I cringe about using the word “Holy Grail” let alone use the abbreviation that reminds me of nails on the chalkboard, I wanted to share a few of the products that I can’t see myself as being content with functioning without and therefore I felt obligated to use the wretched term. As always, I’m sorry if this post is a little repetitive — if you’ve been a regular reader for more than a few months, you’ll have heard me ramble on a good amount about these — but I find these posts incredibly interesting and helpful. As I enjoy reading them so much, I’ve decided to write more of these long-time favourites that remain my go-to’s for months on end.

Bioderma Sensibio H2O ($22 CDN)
I know I know I know I know, I’m fulfilling the stereotype of the blogger obsessed with Bioderma’s famous micellar water but my love of it is genuine and not moved by the tremendous amount of hype that the product has. I have dry and extremely sensitive eyes and this is the only makeup remover that I’ve tried that both removes makeup effectively and does not irritate, sting or burn my eyes. I’ve been using this almost for a year and my only complaint is that I go through a bottle every three or so months. I haven’t tried any of the new micellar water alternatives that tend to be cheaper that have popped up in stores recently because I have a few backups left…

Indeed Laboratories Pepta-Bright Serum ($40 CDN)

Although I don’t mention this product nearly as much as I mention the above product, I don’t love it any less. This serum is moisturizing with its creamy consistency but contains a high concentration of exfoliating AHA’s and over time, it’s radically improved the texture of my skin, has helped to even out my skintone and has really brightened my complexion. This is one of those no-fuss products that work in the way that they’re intended but with none of those extra frills that can sometimes irritate the skin despite their luxuriousness. It’s gentle yet concentrated yet effective; what more could you want?

MAC Coquette Eyeshadow (12/18 CDN)

Although this eyeshadow has only been in my life since the beginning of this year but I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it; It is “the product” for my cool-toned brows. Most shades go rather red on me unless they are not dark enough but this shade is perfect for filling in my brows with – the medium-dark khaki taupe shade may look somewhat gross in the pan but it works both in the brows and as a fantastic shade to add definition to the crease.

MAC All That Glitters Eyeshadow ($12/18 CDN)

After repurchasing the golden-peachy shade at the beginning of the year, I’ve remembered why I adored it in the first place and it has to be my favourite no-fuss lid colour that doesn’t look super noticeable on the lids but adds that flattering brightness to my blue eyes. It’s my perfect lid colour and plays well with other shadows. What more can I say?

L’Oreal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black ($8-10 CDN)

I’ve mentioned this in loads of favourites videos and I’ve mentioned it for good reason. It’s the only liner that I’ve ever tried that creates the precisely-lined kitten flick without the effort of gel-liner. I’ve mastered the jet-black liner so that even with my shaky hands, I can pull of winged eyeliner in notably less than a minute.

MAC Patisserie Lipstick ($18 CDN)

This oft-mentioned shade might just be my favourite lipstick of all time and easily is my most-worn shade. It’s a flattering everyday no-fuss kind of shade with a comfortable and glossy formula. It’s a darker nude with warm pink undertones that adds some brightness to the face. It’s almost a my-lips-but-better on my ghastly pale lips. It’s a lustre formula and it’s extraordinary.

the lipstick in action!
the lipstick in action!

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara ($8-10 CDN)

I know I know I know that it’s no secret that this is my favourite mascara but it is a fantastic everyday one for me. Without being difficult to remove, the easy-to-apply buildable thickening formula applies like a dream in seconds. It’s not a particularly wet formula and this might be why it works so well for my long and curled wimpy lashes.

Maybelline Master Hi-Light Hi-Lighting Bronzer in Deep Bronze ($12-16 CDN)

I didn’t intend for this to happen but I couldn’t narrow down any more from these three blushes but to be honest I’m not surprised being a blush fanatic. Last month I was rambling on and on about this blush and my love for it has not wavered – it’s a smooth textured blush that blends seamlessly into the skin and gives it a glow and it’s at a drugstore price. The warm coppery rose shade is to die for and I highly recommend it if coral shades suit you.

Benefit Boxed Powder in Rockateur ($36 CDN)

Ever since picking this up in early fall last year, I haven’t been able to remove it from my most loved makeup stash piled on my desk. It gives the skin that gorgeous glow that I love and sits seamlessly on it. The glowy rusty pink shade with warm undertones has never steered me wrong and with its versatility, it just works.

MAC Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish ($35 CDN)

I’ve been going on and on about this lately and even though it’s available right now, I understand that it’s limited edition but I couldn’t be happy with this post without it. It has a similar formula to the two above – finely-milled and smooth as anything as well as pigmented on the skin and leaves the skin with the luminosity that I’m looking for – and it’s that rosy coral with a copper lean to it that instantly brightens my face. If I’m looking zombie-like and only have a few minutes to get ready, I always apply this and it solves it all.

What products couldn’t you live without? Have you tried any of these?

Maggie, x