Battle of the Inexpensive Mascaras

*Note: Yes, I call Miss Manga, Miss Magna....Magna made more sense to my brain, but it is in fact Manga.
Hello my lovelies!!!  Today I'm talking about Mascara.  Anyone who knows me can tell you that I 100% do not believe in buying expensive mascara.  There is absolutely no need for it.  I've tried them all.... and you can get an amazing mascara that does what you want for under $10 (Knowing what you want it to do is the trick).  IF you pay for luxury brand mascaras you are an idiot and a fool... No offense meant, but really.

So, I have been a Maybelline mascara addict for a very long time.  The Volum' Express line is amazing, and I've tried most the variations of them.  (Note, they have a new one I have not tried, Pumped Up! and I'll have to try that one soon...).  I personally like a curved brush, so I usually bounce back and forth between the Falsies Black Drama and The Colossal Cat Eye products. The Cat Eye mascara has a little stiffer brush, and I sort of like that... so that's what I've been using mostly for the past year.  I totally love this mascara.  One swipe and I was good to go.

I've been reading how MakeupGeek's Marlena loves L'Oreal's Voluminous Carbon Black.  The more I read about it, people compare it to and like it BETTER than DiorShow, which is sort of the holy grail standard of mascaras.  So I've been thinking about stepping out of my comfort zone and trying it.  I've walked the makeup aisle at Target several times.... went so far as to put it in my basket... but couldn't bring myself to try it.  Then I saw a new product in the Voluminous line pop up, Miss Magna.  Interesting.  I did some more reading, and people tend to like the original Voluminous vs. the spin offs... so I sort of wrote of Miss Magna.

Well, then I read on Facebook my friend, Molly Johnson, purchased Miss Magna.  Her initial reaction was that the brush looked like something an "alley cat chewed on", but then she was really amazed with the product.  That sealed it.  I was going to have to pick up both the Carbon Black and the Miss Magna... and I did, today.

So this is what my lashes look like with no mascara....no makeup at all here. I will admit I was blessed with pretty good eyelashes, they are just light.  I don't care for lengthening mascaras because with the natural curl I have in my lashes it just makes them too long and I get mascara all over my lid.  I prefer volume building formulas.  (And yes I know I need to do some eyebrow grooming, I'm going next week to get threaded... I was letting them grow out after a technician got them just a bit too thin for my taste, and I've been a little lazy...so don't judge.)

This is my much loved Colossal Cat Eye... ignore the bottom lashes, I didn't do a great job of applying it here.  This is 3 coats and as you can see quite lovely.  I love the stiff curved brush... This has been my go to mascara for the last year.  And yes, I mark on the tube with Sharpie when I opened it, so I know to throw it away after 3 months if the mascara makes it that long (It never does though).  This is non clumping and builds great volume.  One coat will just color your lashes, and looks pretty natural, just better.  I still really love this mascara. 

Here is the L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon black.  I accidentally picked up the waterproof version, and I really dislike waterproof mascaras.  It's nice, but I think I like my Cat Eyes better.  I'm wondering if it is because it is waterproof, so I'm going to return it and get the non waterproof version.  Actually, the original Voluminous (not the carbon  black) had a curved brush version.  I think I'll give that a go.  You can see it goes on really nicely, isn't clumpy and is very black.  This is my crazy eye with curly eyelashes, so I have problems applying mascara and not getting it all over my lid.  The fat straight brush did a pretty good job.  I did wipe the brush off before using though, I don't know why makeup companies can't come up with a tube that wipes more product off the brush as you remove it... but that is a cosmic question I can not answer.  This is a good solid mascara.  I do give it a thumbs up, but think I would stick with my Cat Eyes over this.  I will update if I like the non-waterproof curved brush version better.

And here is the Miss Magna.  Wow.  I think I like this a little better than my Cat Eyes.  I feel like I'm betraying an old friend.  The brush does indeed look like an alley cat chewed on it, but that is what makes it great.  The bristles going in crazy directions ensure that every lash is coated from every angle.  There is also a "joint" below the brush so that it moves a little when you apply.  I'm usually not a fan of the wiggly brush, I do like my stiff curved brush.  I feel like the brushes that are stiff let you push the product onto the lashes...and the wiggly brushes let your lashes push the brush.  Does that make sense?  But I think I could get used to this brush.  I did have to wipe A LOT of product off of the brush before using.  Keep that in mind before you cry that this is a clumpy mascara.  I think the pictures of Miss Magna and the Cat Eyes are pretty similar, but where I saw the difference was in just putting on one coat.  Miss Magna wins hands down if all you have time for is one coat.  BUT if you want something that is a little more subdued for daytime, Cat Eyes is pretty versatile. 

So I would say all 3 of these are really great mascaras.  As I mentioned above, the key to getting a great inexpensive mascara, is knowing what you want it to do.... and what kind of brush you like.  If you want lengthening, get a lengthening mascara.  Thicker lashes, get a mascara that builds volume, like one of these 3.  Want both?  Get one of each, and do a coat of lengthening first, then the volume mascara.  I go through a tube of mascara in about a month.  I find that even though it might not be empty, after a month I don't like the texture anymore.  This is why I've never spent more than $10 on mascara.  With a little experimentation, you can find a really great mascara that you love.  Keep in mind that not everything works for everyone, this is my opinion on these mascaras.  I know people who SWEAR by the Cover Girl mascaras, and I personally can not stand them. So, get out there and find what works for you!  If I helped, I'm glad!

Kisses! ~Paula

**** Update:  While I really do like the Miss Magna, I find myself reaching for my Colossal Cat Eye still.  L'Oreal needs to improve the packaging to wipe more of the product off the brush when pulled out of the tube.  Having to wipe it off manually is getting to be a bit tiresome for me.  I still really like the mascara, and it is my go to when I'm doing "good" makeup... (aka non quickie work makeup).  But for my everyday needs, I grab my Cat Eyes.  I have yet to make it back to Target to exchange the waterproof Carbon Black for non-waterproof.... I will give status on that as soon as I can!!

***** Update x2:  I got the Original Voluminous with the curved brush.  I like it!  The brush is curved but fat too.  I think the formulation of the product itself is similar or the same to Miss Manga, it's the brushes that are different.  Again, it is all up to preference.  But this is a very solid choice for a mascara.

I also wanted to say I got a sample of Makeup Forever's mascara.  Meh... I like these 3 inexpensive products much better.

Just a quickie today... I'm ready for the holiday!!!

So I was looking on the interwebs today... and found this... I knew Lancome was a Loreal brand... but I had no idea so was Urban Decay!!!  Oh and my favorite mascara is Maybelliene... yep L'Oreal brand too.  (FYI I'm going to break my loyalty to my FAVORITE Maybelline mascara and try L'Oreal's Voluminous Carbon Black.. I hear it's better than Dior Show, but I love Maybelline's Colossal Cat eye brush, so I see myself going back and forth between the two)... And No wonder I love L'Oreal AND Garnier hair products... Yep... Garnier is a L'Oreal brand too.  Interesting what you find when you are counting down the minutes waiting for the holiday weekend to start.

So to augment my last post, just because it is a drugstore brand... it still could have a pretty amazing pedigree...

Texas Rangers Inspired Makeup

So, one of my besties had tickets to go see a Texas Rangers baseball game.  Of course their colors are red/blue so I felt the need to do some Rangers inspired makeup.  Here you go!

NYX HD Eye Shadow primer

NYX Eye Shadow Base in white

Coastal Scents Shadow - Chamois Nude

Coastal Scents Shadow - Icicle Blue

Coastal Scents Shadow - Vibrant Red

Sephora Long Lasting Liquid Eyeliner - Color has been discontinued, unsure of the name.  (It looks like it is the same color as Revlon ColorStay Skinny Liquid Liner in Electric Blue... which you can buy now)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner - Chaos

Maybelline The Colossal Cat Eye Mascara in black

I used Vibrant red in my outer V, and blended it lightly in the crease. I then swept it under my eye.  I used Icicle blue on the lid and blended it over into the Vibrant Red.  Be careful and don't blend too much or you will get purple! I just lightly buffed them together to soften the lines between the 2 colors. I used Chamois Nude on my brow bone and blended into the Vibrant Red and Icicle blue to soften the line in the crease.   I did a winged eyeliner with the bright blue liquid eye liner and used UD's Chaos on my waterline.  

Since I was doing such bright colors, I kept everything matte.  My cheeks were a soft pink, and my lips a red sheer gloss.  

 Yea, the flash washed me out some... please ignore the pancake face! (And the green shirt!)  :)  

At the Game! 

Green Goddess....

I've discovered the hardest part about beauty blogging is taking photos. But... Here I share with you a green look I decided to do today. All the shadows are from the Coastal Scents 252 Ultimate Pallette.  I used Emerald Ice as a base color on my lid... Chamois Nude (sorry not in the Pallette... But a great nude color for us fair skinned girls)  for the brow bone. I then used Fresh Chive as a crease color and in my outer V. I patted a little python green on the middle of my lid for highlight. Green Goddess liquid liner by Bed Head. (It's old,  I'm sure they don't make it anymore)... And NYX waterproof eyeliner in Green Papaya under my lower lashes.  My favorite The Colossal Cat Eyes mascara by Maybelline. Whew!  I do want to note that Fresh Chive is a bit hard to work with. If you apply it as a color on its own it goes on a bit chalky and splotchy.... However if you put it over a shadow that is smooth and blends well it gives you a great sheer dark green accent. The Python green is a bit sheer too... But was perfect for a little green highlight. Cheers!  Stay tuned for my Texas Rangers look soon!   Yep... Going to a baseball game today. Remember...  Take chances... Getting older doesn't mean you can't have fun with your makeup.

Beauty Bargain Huntress....

Hi guys!  I know... it's been a while... but I'm new at this... :)  So today I want to talk about beauty bargains.  Eventually I'd like to do some reviews of specific products, but today I'm going to speak in general terms.  Well, I will give you a heads up on some things I love!

So, all my life I have been a beauty snob.  Grocery store makeup just wasn't good when I began my journey into makeup madness.  Remember, this was almost 30 years ago.  My mom was kind enough to buy me Clinique and Este Lauder makeup when I was a teenager... But in recent years, grocery store makeup brands have come a LONG way.  I think mascara was the first to make the leap into "as good as expensive brand" territory.  For a long time I've refused to pay $20+ dollars for expensive mascara when a) you are supposed to throw it away after 3 months (mark dates on the tube with a sharpie!!) and b) some of the cheap stuff is BETTER than the expensive stuff.

That being said, there were some things I just wouldn't skimp on.  Foundation, eye shadow and eye liners mostly.  I am an Urban Decay junkie... I found that nothing could touch their eye shadows and eye liners... I never joined the cult of MAC, but UD was my holy grail.  I'm also a BareMinerals girl.  Nothing gives the kind of natural look as mineral makeup.  But dang, it gets expensive to keep me in "good" makeup.

So I have started experimenting with inexpensive cosmetics... and you know what?  Some of them are AMAZING!!!  I also have found that I like Garnier and Loreal hair styling products better than the expensive stuff I got from my salon.  The key is, you have to be willing to experiment some, and you won't like everything, but you just may love a few things.  At the cheaper prices, it won't hurt so much if you don't love something.  And hey, don't be afraid to take something back if it just doesn't work for you or is the WRONG color.  Below are some of my favorite finds:

Makeup Geek - www.makeupgeek.com
I stumbled on this website and instantly fell in love with the hostess, Marlena.  She cracks me up, and she created her own very high quality makeup line.  I have tried a few of the eye shadows (5.99 each!!) and while I didn't love them all, I sure loved them enough to buy them again (but there are expensive shadows I haven't loved too...it happens!!). The ones I loved I would put neck and neck with Urban Decay shadows. Her gel eye liner pots are also amazing.  Best gel liner I've ever used. She also has great reviews and convinced me to give Revlon Color Stay foundation for oily skin and NYX cosmetics a try....(see below) Actually I blame Marlena for opening my mind to inexpensive products.

Sigma - http://www.sigmabeauty.com/
So, makeup brushes are expensive.  But I love them.  In my searches for value cosmetics I kept hearing that Sigma makes the best brushes and they won't break the bank.  SO TRUE!!!  They have really great quality brushes (most are about 12-16 bucks).  They are very high quality, the handles have a nice heft to them so they feel balanced.... just good darn brushes.  They have cosmetics too, but I have not tried any of them.  Their eye shadows run about 12 bucks and since Makeup Geek is less expensive, I just ordered brushes from them.

Coastal Scents - http://www.coastalscents.com/
So after I ordered from Makeup Geek and Sigma, I stumbled on Coastal Scents.  They also do inexpensive brushes... way inexpensive!  And all kinds of makeup.  I wasn't sure about the makeup, the palettes looked sort of like what you would get as a kid, so I figured I would just order some brushes to see how they stacked up against Sigma.  They were 1/3 the cost of the inexpensive Sigma brushes.  (Can you say kabuki brush on a stick for around 6 bucks?  YES PLEASE!!).  The thing I loved about CS is that they have SO many brushes, and all of them come in synthetic and natural hair bristles.  I like synthetic for liquids and cremes, natural for powders.  But I could get any brush in either bristles!  Score!  Now I will say that I love sigma brushes, they feel expensive and luxurious... but the CS brushes are very high quality too.  The handle isn't wood, and doesn't have the same "heft" but the brushes themselves are great.  There is a little shedding till you wash them a time or two (you do wash your brushes... right????) but they are really amazing for the price.  Most kabuki brushes run you at least $30 bucks.  I got one for under $5.  The crazy thing is... they sent me an eye shadow sample... and it was pretty darn good!  I decided to order one of the crazy 252 color shadow palettes (it was $15 bucks I think... way cheap).  Well, the amount of shadow you get for each color is small.... about the size of a dime... but OMG, I'm a convert.  Not every color is a winner...but some hit it out of the ball park. It is like you get samples of most of their colors (they have over 300) to try and see what you want in full size.  Pretty darn amazing.  Color payout is great on some, they are silky and blend well.  Best part, their website is pretty descriptive.  They tell you if it is matte, shimmer or satin.... opaque, semi-opaque, semi-sheer or sheer (not sure what the difference is between semi opaque and semi sheer, but I like that they tell you).  Best part:  Individual eye shadows are 1.95.  Yep, under 2 bucks. They also carry ingredients if you want to make your own makeup, fair trade black soaps, etc.  Yes, I'm sure the makeup is made in China, but dang... it feeds my addiction without breaking the bank.  I've been experimenting and loving it.  The colors shown for the eye shadows will vary from computer monitor to monitor, so buying a specific color may be hit or miss... but for 2 bucks....  Read the reviews, that helps tell you more about the colors.

NYX Cosmetics:
I could go on and on like I did for Coastal Scents.  But I'll just say NYX (pronounced Nicks, NYX is a greek goddess or something) is inexpensive and great.  Again not everything is a hit... but try some things.  My favorites are the Butter Glosses (OMG GO GET SOME NOW) and the Butter Lipsticks (watch for the lighter colors, not every one is a winner).   The HD powder is the exact same thing as Makeup Forever's HD powder.  How do I know?  They both have one ingredient, Silica.  (Which, you can buy silica powder in bulk at Coastal Scents... just saying).  MUF's is 40 bucks I think.. NYX, 9.99.  WIN.   I also like their blushes, their powder foundation, their Stay Matte not Flat powder, pore hiding primer (just like Benefit's POREfessional... feels exactly the same!!), the shine control primer.... etc... etc.  Really good stuff.  Oh, I like their eye shadow primer almost just as well as Urban Decay's. Great every day inexpensive alternative.

Pallidio Cosmetics:
Their eye shadow primer feels exactly like Urban Decays and is cheaper (but you don't get a WHOLE lot in the tube).  The ingredients are similar as well.  (The NYX primer feels a little different, but not better or worse in my opinion just different...) They also have great tinted lip balms.  I haven't tried much else, oh, but the Rice Powder is legendary.

Maybelline Mascara.  I love the Falsies line... and the Colossal line.  There is one for everyone.  If you don't like one formula or brush, try another.  NEVER BUY EXPENSIVE MASCARA.  I've heard that Loreal's Volumionous Carbon Black is Similar BUT BETTER than Diorshow. There is no need to spend 20 bucks on mascara. I'm going to try the L'Oreal mascara soon. .. I'll let you know what I think. I also love Maybeline Elixir lip colors.  But NYX's Butter Glosses have moved into my #1 spot in my heart.

Revlon Colorstay foundation.  Ok, I tried it when it first came out and it was super heavy and cakey... But they have come out with an oily skin formula.  Yea, for every day... it's pretty darn good.  I'll probably still wear my BareMinerals for going out and such... but for work... this stuff is the bomb.  Stays well, has a nice finish (you can mix it with a little moisturizer if it is too thick) and cheap.  

Hair Products:
I love Loreal's new line.  I have their Curl Taming Creme and their Slick It frizz vanisher.  LOVE both products.  Garnier... oh... Garnier... I love their hair products. They do tend to discontinue stuff then bring it back with a new name and a slightly redone formula... but they still work better than the expensive stuff I buy from my stylist once a year or so out of guilt... And in hopes I'll find something I like better... But it never happens.

So my bottom line... experiment.  Inexpensive stuff isn't always great... but when it is... it is.
Kisses!! Paula