Kat Von D Sin-full Mascara

I always feel like I am on a never ending search for that perfect mascara. I want one that creates volume, length and is very black. I have found a few I like but none that I particularly love. About a month ago one of my model friends tweeted about how she was using Kat Von D's Sin-full mascara and strangers were asking if she was wearing fake eye lashes. I immediately went to Sephora and purchased the mascara. I love Kat Von D products and wondered if I had been missing out on the holy grail of mascaras.

The Sin-full Mascara is only available at Sephora, like the rest of the Kat Von D line and it retails for $19. I consider that a bit pricey for mascara but I figured if it works, it will be worth it. It comes in a black "tattooed"  box and is visually appealing like all of the products in her line. The description states that mascara "turns up volume by curling, lengthening, and thickening each and every strand." Perfect, I thought! Those are the exact things I am looking for. Here is a photo of the product:

I was ready to apply to my fresh clean lashes and be impressed. There are actually instructions for the best application method. I followed them to ensure that I had the best looking lashes possible. I held the wand horizontally and worked from the lash root to the tips of the eyelashes. You need to let the first coat dry before you apply a second. Most people say that you only need one coat. I applied two. Here are my before and after photos.

 After I applied the mascara, I was less than thrilled. Maybe I had convinced myself that it was going to be stellar and therefore nothing may have allowed it to meet or exceed my expectations? There are things I liked about it though. It certainly delivered on the curling and lengthening performance. It was also very black which was striking. What bothered me was that it was clumpy. It caused my lashes to stick together at points and made my lashes look like thick stubs. I checked the reviews on Sephora.com and those who did not like the mascara cited the same issue I experienced. I have tried it a few times since then and there have been moments where it has delivered and has not clumped to this extent. For the most part it has disappointed. I primarily use Maybeline's Falsies mascara which definitely lengthens and creates volume without clumping. It is not my dream mascara by any means but for more than $10 less, I will stick to that for now. The quest for my "perfect" mascara, however, will continue.

Iron Fist Shoes

Like most other women, I have an obsession with shoes. Oddly enough, even as a corporate career woman, I don't care as much about my every day work shoes. I want to be comfortable at work, but when it comes to play, well, that's a whole different story. I also like comfort but if I want the hottest and coolest shoes I can find.

As someone who prefers the pin up look and the rocker chick look, I love funky shoes. I like shoes that make a bold statement about who I am and I like my heels high. I am talking over 3 inches. In the past I have often bought my shoes at specialty shops in NYC, and sometimes from Pleaser. But in the last few months, I have discovered a shoe company that must live in my brain. That company is Iron Fist.

Iron Fist began in 2001 as a Men's clothing line, and after 4 years they began to launch women's shoes. THANK YOU!! The women's items were so successful, they basically took over the brand. Iron Fist shoes are definitely bold and full of life. The range from tattoo artwork, bold bright colors and designs to hard core rock and roll with skulls. They make boots, ankle booties, platform heels, sandals and even flats! There are so many options to choose from. In the last three months, I have already purchased three pairs of shoes and trust me that I am not done yet. Here are the three I have bought so far:

 
I have two of these in size 10 and one in size 9. Iron Fist is supposed to run small and they do not have half sizes so they suggest you size up. I am normally a 9.5 so I got the 10, but found it was a little loose in the back. Easy fix with heel inserts. You will notice a trend of purple and skulls with the shoes I bought from them. Skulls are a top design in their collection, but not the end all be all. As for the purple, well, I just can't have enough purple shoes.

So, you have to be thinking at this point, how much damage will these do to my wallet? Flats range from $15-$50, heels from $25 to $65 and boots/booties from $35 to $130. I think the cost is very reasonable. There are also plenty of ebay retailers selling brand new IF shoes for less and you can catch a great deal. Many retailers also sell them, like Sourpuss, Pinup Girl Clothing, Hot Topic and Torrid to name a few. Make sure you look for a good deal. I really did my homework. In fact I got the black shoes for $26!! Can't beat that.

Iron Fist is not just a shoe retailer. They sell clothing, accessories, purses and of course what they started with, men's clothing. I own clothes, shoes and a really kick ass purse that has, surprise, skulls and purple! :)

What can I say? Iron Fist is my new addiction. I have cleaned shoes from my closet to make room for new Iron Fist Shoes. Check them out now! Happy Shopping!!

www.ironfistclothing.com

Kat Von D Ludwig Palette

I will begin by saying that I was so excited when I first learned that Kat Von D was launching a makeup line with Sephora. I have been a big fan of hers for years, starting with her appearance on Miami Ink. I love her Rock N Roll look and love her confidence and her fearless spirit. As a rocker chick, I knew whatever she was selling, I would be buying.

The first item I purchased was one of the eyeshadow palettes, called Ludwig. Anyone who knows about Kat, know she is a big Beethoven fan. This palette intrigued me because I felt the colors were perfect for someone with my eye color, hair color and complexion. I love to wear browns and I love the smokey eye look so this was a must have. The palette features eight colors which are: Lucifer (Black Matte Charcoal Black), Orbi (Golden Green Shimmer), Dimebag (Metallic Lime Green), Tequila (Metallic Cornsilk Shimmer), Clay ( Beige with gold glimmer), Downtown (Metallic Light Copper Shimmer), Baroque (Golden Bronze Shimmer), and Leather (Deep Chocolate Brown Sheen).

I love these colors. I love the pigmentation. I love the way that they can be used together to make dramatic looks or beautiful toned down everyday looks. I find that the color last longer when worn with a primer, as it also is intensified, but even when worn without the primer it lasts fairly long. I think this is probably the most tame of all her palettes in terms of the colors. There are others with bolder colors like bright blues and purples, which are also beautiful, but this is a great introduction to the colors. One thing I will say is that you need to be very careful with the palette. I don't recall dropping it but maybe I tossed it into my makeup case to hard but the black has now crumbled and is barely usable. The others colors are still intact.

Overall, I love this palette. I have other Kat Von D products which I also love but this is my favorite. The palette can be purchased at Sephora for $34. Well worth the money.

www.sephora.com

Lime Crime Candy Eyed Eyeshadow Helper

I am fairly new to the Lime Crime product line. I recently purchased a few lipsticks, then some glosses and then some more lipstick. I follow them on twitter and a few weeks ago they tweeted about a flash sale. Certain items on their site were significantly discounted. The biggest discount was on this Candy Eyed primer. I decided to purchase it along with two lippies I had been eying.

Primer is an important tool in any makeup fanatics toolbox. I have tried quite a few over the years and for the last few I have been a dedicated Urban Decay user. I have always loved the shimmer that the Sin style offered. I think there is a new favorite in town now. Lime Crime describes the primer as guaranteed to keep your eyeshadow on no matter what. I tried the primer for the first time when I went out to a friend's gig. I applied my eye makeup at around 8pm, went out and came home around 2am. It was warm in the bar and I noticed a lot of people who by the end of the night had faded eye makeup. My eyes, however, looked exactly as they had when I left my house. I used the primer again last night for New Years Eve. I did a silvery smokey eye and applied it at 6pm. I went to bed around 3am and I glanced in the mirror before I took off my makeup. Again, my eyes looked exactly the same. It was as if I had just applied my makeup at that moment. I LOVE this product. The only downside is that it becomes difficult to actually remove your makeup. You will need waterproof makeup remover. I actually ran out, and I had quite a hard time getting off but I eventually did! :)

The primer is on the expensive side at $17 for .25 ounces plus sipping. I happen to have purchased it during a flash sale for only$10. In retrospect, I should have bought two of them, which was the maximum you could purchase during the sale. Damn! Hindsight is always 20/20. The Urban Decay primer I usually buy is $19 for .37 ounces. Not really a huge difference in price.

I highly recommend this primer. It not only intensifies your eye shadow color but it really does last. It is well worth the price and what's better than not having to worrying about touching up your makeup at work or during a fun night out. Go buy it!!

www.limecrimemakeup.com

Avon Glimmersticks Eye Liner

Eye liner is essential for any makeup lover's kit and there are so many options to choose from. I prefer to keep a variety of eye liners in my makeup case, to pair with whatever look I am aiming for. I keep a few key colors but black is usually my weapon of choice.

Today I am reviewing two newest additions to my eye liner collection, both Avon Glimmersticks, but two different types. One is Glimmersticks Diamonds Eye Liner in Black Ice and the other is Glimmersticks Liqui-Glide Eye Liner in Black Plum. Here are swatches of both, the first without flash and the second with. Black Plum is on top.

The Liqui-Glide is supposed to give the intense look of a liquid liner, while providing the ease and precision of a pencil. It is self sharpening and smudge resistant. I ordered the black plum because I wear a lot of purple eye shadow and I thought it would make for a beautiful contrast. As you can see from the swatches, the black plum is very dark and it is almost black. I wore it on top of a plum eyeshadow and could barely tell that it was plum. Nonetheless it is a beautiful color. This eye liner goes on the lid very smoothly and does look like a liquid eye liner on. It was very easy to do a winged eye look and easy to fix if I made an error. I love this eye liner as a substitute for liquid eye liner which I always have trouble keeping my line perfectly straight with. It also stays put. While my shadow lightened, this color did not fade. The only downside is that it doesn't come in many colors. Avon sells four colors, black, brown, graphite and black plum. It retails for $7. Here is the picture from the Avon site:

I also really like the Diamonds eye liner in Black Ice. This product is a top seller at Avon and it is clear why. It is a self-sharpening liner that adds a touch of sparkle to to your eyes. This liner went on pretty smooth but I did have a little trouble with the winged look because it was not as smooth an application as the liqui-glide. It is also very unforgiving if you make a mistake (which I did, several times, oops). I really had to scrub to get it off. With that being said once it was on and I had the look I was going for, it stayed put! It has a smudgy formula which makes it great for creating a smokey eye. I love that it comes in 8 great colors, including silver, gold, plum and emerald. I will have to add more colors to my collection for sure. This retails for $7 but they are on sale for $3.49 right now. That's right 50% off so stock up!!

For more info please visit: http://shop.avon.com

Avon Clearskin Blackhead Eliminating Daily Cleanser

One of my biggest skin concerns are blackheads. I can never seem to truly get rid of these little buggers. I tried so many products and could never find one that really did the trick. The only time I seemed to be rid of them and only for a short while was after a facial, but facials aren't all that cheap.

I was placing a Avon order and came across their Clearskin blackhead eliminating line. There was a sale, so for the price I figured I would give it a go. I ordered the daily cleanser and the mask. Today's review will only be on the cleanser since I must admit I only tried the mask once and my husband laughed at me. ;) I did look pretty funny with all that gook dried on my face. The cleanser retails for $5.49 for 4.2 fl oz. It is very affordable and since Avon often has sales, you can probably get it cheaper.

We know it's affordable, but the real question is: Does it work? I have mixed feelings about this. The product description states" helps eliminate most blackheads and prevent new ones from forming", however I don't feel the performance of the product was consistent with the description. My biggest problem areas with blackheads are my nose, my chin and my the cheek area closest to my nose. I did see a reduction, though nothing drastic, on my nose. However, I did not see a reduction at all on my cheeks or on my chin. I also noticed that the product seemed to really dry my face, especially on my nose. I would see flaking skin, which is quite a nuisance. I also noticed that after using the product I had quite a few minor breakouts with those obnoxious large white heads, mostly on my lower jawline.

I am disappointed in this product. There were 19 reviews on the website, and the majority were positive yielding an average of 4.4 out of 5. The negative reviews seemed to be in line with my experience with of the product. I will use the product for a little while longer and try it in conjunction with the deep treatment mask, but overall, I would not suggest buying the product. It makes me sad to say that,considering my mother was an Avon lady for so long, but I need to be honest.

http://shop.avon.com

Lime Crime- My first order

I am not sure how many of you have heard of Lime Crime Make Up, but if you haven't, it's time you start listening...err reading. :)

I heard of Lime Crime for the first time a few months ago. I never actually took the time to check the site out until recently however. The first thing that caught my eye was Model Mosh wearing their gorgeous red lipstick. As a Pin Up gal, I love Mosh and I LOVE red lipstick and the many shades red lipstick can come in. I was fortunate enough to check out Lime Crime during their Cyber Monday sale which meant I could buy their lipstick and eye dust at a discounted price. Did you say sale? SOLD!!

I ordered two lipsticks, two different shades of red to be precise, although they have many amazing and unique colors. I ordered Glamour 101, a beautiful red wine color and Retrofuturist, a nice bright opaque red. I also ordered Mirror Mirror which is a nice shimmery silvery gray eyeshadow. Shipping was a flat $5.95. I wanted more but I figured let me start off slow.

A few days later a pretty purply pink lime crime box arrived at my door. Here's a photo of the adorable box.:

I opened the box almost immediately. The lipsticks come in these cute purple tubes with a holographic unicorn on them. The eye dust also has a purple cap with the unicorn on them. Very girly! Very cute! But how do they look on? Well, I was very excited to see!!!

The first color I had to try was Glamour 101. This is from their Lip Noir line.The color was so rich and intense that I was curious to see how it looked on. The color is amazing. The actual color is very different from the way it appears in the tube but still beautiful. It is very classy and elegant. Not the usual pin up red I wear, but I have to say it may very well be the best red I have ever worn. It has a pleasant odor and glides on smooth with great coverage. It doesn't dry out my lips like a lot of reds do. The Retrofuturist is more like the traditional pin up red I am use to. It is equally as impressive. My lips maintain the color for quite a long time and when wiped off leaves a nice stain on your lips. This is the PERFECT pin up red. I can't imagine this color not looking good on everyone. I also had to try the eye dust. I applied the eye dust over my urban decay primer. It applied well with great coverage. It was shimmery and not overly intense. I think it would look great with a smokey eye look which I will have to try next. Here is a picture of me wearing Mirror Mirror eye dust and the Glamour 101.

I have to admit. Once I ordered, I began reading reviews and watching you tube videos like a crazy person. Then I read that the Lime Crime new Carousel Glosses were available for a limited time. So, what's a girl to do but place another order which I did. I can't wait to get the glosses. I highly recommend Lime Crime. Well worth the price.

To buy these products: www.limecrimemakeup.com