Zoya Noel: A Pretty, Shiny Bright Blue

I love the bright, cheery and shininess of this blue. So fantastic for the holidays! This took 2 coats for opaque.

Zoya Nail Polish

L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes Mascara Review: Is it Falsies in a Wand?

I have to admit, this mascara took a lot of practice before I felt comfortable taking pics of how it works. And I'm still not really happy with how things are turning out a few days later, I think I don't quite have the hang of it with this mascara.

According to L'Oreal, this mascara is quite different from their previous Voluminous products.

Super-fine nylon and rayon fibers perfectly adhere to natural lashes, enveloping them from root to tip thanks to an exclusive polymer in the formula. Meanwhile, an architectural precision brush with a 40-degree angle and reverse twist bristles ensure optimal application, making lashes appear fuller, longer, curled and sculpted. No clumps or messy results – just flawless lashes from every angle.

I tried for a looooong time to get a pic of the brush, but my spiffy dSLR was just not having it. I think the amount of mascara, and then the fibers, that come out of the tube (which is how I typically like to showcase the brush, since that's what you'll be dealing with), my camera simply could not decide it was focused. Even in full manual mode, it refused to actually snap a reasonably in focus picture. Over at Addicted to All Things Pretty you'll find a few great pics of the brush with mascara wiped off, this should give you some idea of what the brush looks like underneath all of the mascara!

Basically, this is a mascara with fibers in the formula that adhere to your lashes, improving the length and volume of your lashes. I think that it takes quite a while to get used to using this mascara, and until you do it is clump city. For real, not even remotely joking. I can't even tell you how many days I pulled out my metal eye lash brush and spent about 5 minutes picking all of my lashes apart. It was rough.

I'm finally getting the hang of application now. What I've discovered:
• Do not wipe the mascara wand off with a tissue. For me, this created more clumps on the brush that then simply transferred to my lashes.
• Start at the very base of your lashes and sweep the brush up to the tips, but also a bit diagonal across lashes as you apply. This actually pulled apart the clumps for me.
• I did best with 2 coats, applied immediately together without any drying in between.
• Have a lash brush handy!

Once applied correctly it does a good job of lengthening and volumizing. The day I took these pics I was at work, so I applied about 6:30 am and nightly pics were at 9:30 pm or so. The mascara looked perfect until about 8:30, so the 9:30 after everything starts to disappear isn't entirely accurate. 14 hours of good lashes is a success in my book.

Would I buy this mascara in the future? I probably would, now that I have the tricks of application down. Prior to that, I would have said no. Now I get great volume, a bit of added length and it looks great.

L'Oreal Paris
L'Oreal's Facebook Page

Disclosure addition: I was actually asked to make this a sponsored post, in which I would receive both the product sample and money to write this review. I wasn't sure how this worked with my new BlogHer Contract, and I had this mascara on my shopping list anyways. So, I accepted the sample and said no to the sponsorship. They were requesting that I provide my honest opinion anyways, so that's exactly what I've done.

OPI: Warm and Fozzie Swatch

Are you as excited as I am about the new Muppets movie and the related products?

Warm and Fozzie wasn't on my list of "must have" Muppet colors (I was a big sucker for the shiny pinks), but OMG.... this is amazing. I wore it to work and the number of compliments was insane. It apparently sold out at my local salon within just a few hours. I can see why.

3 coats to completely opaque with thin coats.

OPI

Lippie Love: Revlon True Red

While the name of this lip stick is True Red, I do think that it has a little bit of a cool toned, blue base leaning. To me, this does make it more wearable. The lipstick applies very easily and it does feel somewhat hydrating. I definitely recommend this as a great drugstore red lipstick.

Revlon

Clairol: What's Your Hair Color Alter Ego and How to Get Amazing Hair Color at Home!

A few weeks ago I had the chance to talk to Marie Robinson, a hair color expert for Clairol. She had some great tips for at how to get great at home hair color, plus we had a lot of fun with the Clairol Facebook page!

First, you'll want to head over to Clairol on FaceBook, where you can take a Hair Color Alter Ego quiz. It has fun questions such as your plan to spend a million dollars, and they translate that over to what your hair color should be! Probably no big surprise, but my answers gave me the Alter Ego of a brunette. I'm a "reliable brunette", which sounds horribly boring. But really, it is a good description. Would you want someone wild and crazy as your kid's ICU doctor? Probably not.

So, after figuring out that I'm a brunette, the next step is picking a color! Clariol has quite a few product lines. Semi-permanent, demi-permanent, permanent, foam.... sooo confusing! So, once again head over to Facebook for some help. On their page, Clairol has an amazing app to give expert hair color advice, and it is serious fun to play with! I found it best to upload a picture of myself looking straight at the camera. You answer a few questions such as how much gray you're trying to cover, pick a color range you're interested in, and the app will offer up suggestions and show you the results!

Based upon my Alter Ego, Marie picked out a color selection for me. You can see that this is just a little punch up in color, it warms up my complexion just a bit. I really like it!


Marie had a few great tips for at home color application.

Choosing the correct color/formula
• Marie suggests that you should first know what your skin tone is. My favorite test comes from The Girls in the Beauty Department. In general, cool tone girls have bluish undertones, look best in silver jewelry and wear colors like pink, blue, purple and other jewel tones. Gals with warm tones usually have gold jewelry, reddish undertones and look great in browns, tans and oranges. Think warm fall colors.
• Once you know your tone, you'll want to make sure you have a color that is in the same range. Yes, it is possible to be a warm or cool blonde!
• Stay within 2 shades of your natural color. If you mess something up it will be much easier to fix.
• If you have more than 25% grey Marie recommends using a permanent color. If you have less grey or are making less of a color change then a demi-permanent color should be fine.

Application
• Consider a swatch test! A small section of hair behind your ear is perfect to color an then pull over to hold against your skin to check results.
• Don't wash your hair the day of application. Day old hair will have natural oils to help protect your scalp.
• A layer of Vaseline around your hairline can help protect your skin from color.
• Divide your hair into 3 even sections prior to application. If you have particularly long or thick hair consider using even more sections.
• Marie says that Nice‘n Easy Color Blend Foam has quite a bit more hair color than the other products. If you have thick or long hair consider using the Color Blend Foam or buying 2 boxes. You should have enough to coat your hair evenly, without trying to scrimp.
• During application, apply to your roots (especially near your hair line and part) and then work hair color through the rest of your hair.

Keeping Your Color Fresh
• Clairol comes with a Color Seal Conditioner which makes your color last longer and maintain shine. Use it once a week to help prevent fading!
• Use shampoo/conditioner for colored hair. They are usually a bit gentler than other products and will help maintain your color.
• When roots are a bit obvious, try using a product such as Root Touch-Up every 3 weeks or so. Concentrate on your hair line and part, those are the most obvious areas when you need a touch up.


Clairol on FaceBook