I thought I was doomed to live forever with dark circls under my eyes. I’d always read that they were caused by capillaries below the skin, and that allergies make them worse (I have those!) and that lack of sleep contributes (I don’t have that!). So imagine my surprise when I read a dermatologist say that for some people, dark circles are caused by too much pigment in the skin beneath the eyes, and that to find out if your problem is pigment, you can press the skin below your eyes and if, when you let go, the spot where you pressed is lighter then turns dark again, capillaries are causing your dark circles, but if there’s no color change, it’s too much pigment, and you can use skin lightening products to lighten your dark circles. I fell into the latter camp! Holy cow! Can it be that there’s hope beyond concealer (and the search for the perfect concealer) for many of us? Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not a huge fan of LORAC; it’s not a cosmetics line designed for me, but rather for women who work in offices, serious women who wear suits and need to look serious and officious and want to look as if they’re not wearing makeup. That’s why I was surprised to find that my quest for a sparkly black liner ended at the LORAC counter with LORAC’s Midnight Sparkle Eye Shadow/Liner Pencil. Every now and then, I need something with a little pizzzaz, something that pops more than flat matte black liner, and had been looking for a frosted black. I didn’t find one, but found this instead. If you’ve read my previous posts, you know I’m no fan of glitter (it belongs only on teenagers, hookers, and transvestites), but LORAC doesn’t do the kind of garish glitter that gets in your eyes and abrades your corneas. This is much more granular and less garish, and just adds a hint of gilmmer instead of a whole huge pile of Halloween effect. Read the rest of this entry »

When I was first on my own, making my own money and buying my own clothes, I was easily hypnotized at the cosmetics counter. I’d see bright colors and shiny cases and hear the come-ons from the sales girls and then arrive home larded down with all manner of products, many of which went into my junk drawer, never to be used again (or else given to friends and sisters), because they weren’t very practical (or else the colors were hilariously wrong for me). One category of item that simply has never proven useful to me is palettes combining different types of cosmetics. Oh, they seem great in theory, but in practice, they can’t work unless you carry them around with you. After all, if they have lipstick or lipgloss in them, what good will they do you sitting home on your vanity table? You’re gonna need to reapply your lipstick or gloss at some point. And unless you’re one of those girls who lugs around one of those ginormous handbags orthopedists warn against (I’m not), then you can’t take it with you. (When you do, you risk banging the palette against something and breaking the powders inside and ruining the whole kit.) And who needs to keep reapplying shadow and blush and day and night anyway? (There is an answer to that question, but those girls most likely don’t read blogs.) (Or anything else. It’s hard to read on your back.) Read the rest of this entry »

tarte has a reputation for, uh, tart-iness, and their Lights, Camera, Lashes! is as tarty as anything else they’ve done. The tube is covered in a tacky purple faux lizard skin (which is kind of pretty, if you’re into that kind of thing) (I imagine aspiring LA starlets and tarts are totally into that kind of thing, and picture Kim Kardashian owning several tubes of this she never uses, but likes to have in her handbag because of the way the tubes look). But what of the mascara? tarte’s packaging claims it’ll volumize, lengthen, and curl, and that’s a lot to expect from a single mascara, and in fact it is: the product is largely composed of waxes, so what it excels at is lengthening. But boy, does it ever lengthen! And it does so without clumping (the bane of every mascara-wearer’s existence). It goes on smoothly, and you needn’t imperil your eyes with a sharp metal comb (or for those of you brave, scary types, a pin) to separate your lashes and get the goop out. So inside that tarty packaging is, after all, a terrific mascara, so long as you’re not looking for volume and curl, too. (Use your eyelash curler for the latter) (I love tarte’s Picture Perfect Eyelash Curler; it’s a dream). As for volume, you’ll need an additional mascara for that (or false lashes), because this one doesn’t deliver much in the way of thickness. Still, insofar as length is concerned, this won’t become yet another of those mascaras you toss into a drawer as a failed purchase; this one will make your eyes flutter for all the right reasons. $18.00