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