PR: Wet n Wild Coloricon Eyeliners

Hey lovelies! I'm so happy that I said I wanted to post, and I'm able to get a post done on the very same day! Woo! And I have been wanting to do this review foreeever. The pictures have been in my camera I don't know how long. It's ridiculous.

Top to bottom: Bronzed, Amethyst, Turquoise, and Taupe

I have the Wet n Wild Coloricon Kohl Eyeliner in 660A "Bronzed," Coloricon Eyeliners in 661C "Amethyst" and 659C "Turquoise," and Coloricon Brow & Eye liner in 648 "Taupe." I hate it when spelling isn't consistent within a brand. Sorry if it doesn't matter to you, but it's a pet peeve of mine. I don't know why the "Bronzed" shade is labeled as a kohl eyeliner, because it is sold right along the other eyeliners and it performs just the same.

There's no denying that some lovely swatches can be obtained from the pencils, but actually getting the color on your eye is a problem. The pencils are so hard, it's like trying to line your eyes with a rock. Not only is it unpleasant, but it's dangerous. I had to go over the same spot multiple times to get the swatches you see in the above picture, except for "Taupe," which is another problem. While it is labeled as a brow and eye liner, I don't like the color for around my eyes, so I would only use it for a brow product. The product is significantly softer than the other pencils, so a lot of product comes off in my brows. It's very difficult (if not impossible) to get a soft/natural look, and I'm not one for full-on, drawn on brows. If only Wet n Wild would switch their formulas!

If you're willing to scrape at your eye to get good pigmentation, then go for it (they're only around a dollar each), but I don't really see the point since the shades are pretty basic and lots of drugstore brands have shades very similar. If you're looking for a good, cheap eyeliner, check out Jordana. NYX and Rimmel have some fun-colored eyeliners that also have great staying power.

Thanks for dropping by, and I'll talk to you soon!
~Stacie

Life update: Where have you been?

Hey everyone! It has been a looong time since my last post, and I am sorry about that! I wanted to take a little time and just explain what exactly has been going on and what the plans are for the future.

To start off, the past year has been a crazy one full of moving and transferring and more transferring and tons of classes and it's just been nuts. I hate using the term, because I feel like it's too often said that "life is crazy right now," but the past year has been the craziest my life has ever been. I thought I knew what busy was, but I was WRONG. I thought I could handle 18 credit hours of pure, full-on math and science classes, but I was sort of wrong. I mean, I did survive the semester, but just barely. The past week has been me trying to rest while also running all over the state to do things with friends and family before I leave for an internship. Maybe I'll have actual time to rest when I'm at the internship? Or maybe I can rest when I retire in forty something years. Who knows?

So, in short, no blogging was done because there was no time to blog. Besides that, I had no money to buy things to blog about, so there's that. BUT, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, I do have an internship coming up, and it is paid, so maybe I'll have some time and money to blog during the summer. I'm hoping so, because I miss it.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I quit the no-poo thing a few months ago. I gave it a good month's try, but my hair was not getting any better, and I kept reading things that made me think using baking soda is actually not such a good way to clean your hair. Apparently the skin's natural pH leans more towards acidic and baking soda is basic, so it can lead to some bad results. The past semester involved two chemistry courses and both dealt in-depth with pH, so I know that it's nothing to mess with.

Now that we're pretty much caught up, I thought it would be good to lay some plans for the future. I did change the blog's name, and I'm ashamed to say that I will be changing it again. I'm not particularly fond of this name, and it definitely needs changing. I feel so flightly and unable to choose anything, since this will be the second name change, and I've changed my major twice as well. Can I not decide on ANYTHING? Why yes, I can actually. I think I'm getting close to a name and major that I like, so I really feel like the next year will bring some stability to my life. Along with the blog's name change, the layout will change. I don't know how long it will take, but hopefully it will be done by the end of the summer.

I hope to start posting again this week, and I appreciate anyone that has stuck around through the past years. I hope your lives are not nearly as stressful as mine, and I hope you're looking forward to the summer as much as I am!

~Stacie

Also, I'm changing the blog...

After that long post about going no-poo, I've decided to change the name of the blog, and its web address. I don't know if I have any regular readers, but if I do, I wanted to let you know. I'm thinking the name will be something like a beautiful mess or a hint of beauty or something like that. I just think the name "HMCO" is kind of dumb, plus I don't care about clothes that much--mostly makeup. So, I'll see you on the other side!

Stacie

PS I'm also hoping to revamp the look of the blog, yay!

On the path to going no-poo

Okay, y'all. I really hate jumping on bandwagons, but I am finally going to take the leap and the join the community of women who don't use shampoo. I've been thinking about it for awhile, but I finally made the decision to do it when I read this article. I got really stressed around the end of the past semester and lost a bunch of hair. While I don't think it has made an impact on the appearance of my hair, I can feel the difference, and I don't like it. So, I figured I should go for it. It's kind of nice that it's happening around the beginning of the year, so it's kind of like a New Year's Resolution. So if you are interested in what I've started reading, here are the links:

From the blog It's a Love/Love Thing:

How I (More Than) Doubled My Hair Growth (same link as earlier)

10 Tips for Going No-Poo

I like this blogger because she provides a lot of links and seems to really know what she is talking about. In the article "10 Tips for Going No-Poo," she provides more external resources that sound promising for good information. I can't wait to read more!

From thenopoomethod.com:

No Poo Methods

I had no idea there were more methods than baking soda and vinegar!

As you can tell, I'm still in the "getting started phase," but I was just so excited I had to share! And sometimes it's easier to stick to things when others are with you, and maybe my energy would energize others? I don't know. In one of the links, the author talks about a no-poo journal, and I think that's a good idea, since both resources talk about everyone having different hair and therefore different needs. So I want to start a hair journal as well as I talk you through things. I'll blog about the big steps, and keep a page up for the reset of the more mundane details that might only be helpful to some.

Let me know if you have gone no-poo and what your experience was, or if you're starting an interest as I am! I hope your New Year has started well! I'll talk to you soon :)
Stacie

Heads Up: EOS lip balms on sale/clearance at Target!

Photo from eos's website

Hey everyone! I know it has been a very long time since I have written a post, but I had to share something really quick with you. I probably need to get a twitter for these types of things, but I will deal with that later.

So, I really like EOS lip balms, and I get the feeling that a lot of people like them, so I had to share this. This holiday season, they came out with a trio of tropical flavored balms by Rachel Roy, and they are super cute and smell delicious! But, at Ulta I think the set was going for around $10. I don't care if it is a set, that's a lot for lip balm.

To my surprise and delight, I found the set at Target the other day. It was labeled as $7.99, but that evens out to around $2.66 a piece when they are normally $3 or $4 when sold individually. I caved, and was even more surprised when the cashier told me it was only $4.23 with tax. They must have been on sale and the sign hadn't been changed yet (this was after Christmas, and that's when holiday sets start going on clearance). So if you're interested in them, you should hurry over to Target now!

I hope your holiday season has been merry and bright and that your new year brings you much joy!
Stacie

Pic credit: http://evolutionofsmooth.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/420x/602f0fa2c1f0d1ba5e241f914e856ff9/r/a/rachel_roy_3_pack_-_english_-_2_3.jpg

PR: L'Oréal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

Hey guys! It's been such a long time! I've missed this so much. I cannot wait to be done with this summer class so I'll be a little less busy. I am NEVER taking a summer class again if I can help it. It has taken up all my little free time. But somehow I was able to squeeze in some time to do this review! Yay :) Onward!

I got this tube a couple months ago, so it says "Lash Out," but the picture on the L'Oréal website just says "Voluminous Butterfly," so I guess they changed the packaging. I don't understand the point, but whatever.

I'm kind of late on the review train, especially on this product. I know there was a lot of hype when it first came out, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to add my review, since lashes are such a varied part of the face.

This mascara has a rubber brush that has two "wings" that are supposed to help fan your lashes out at the end to get a butterfly effect. Honestly, I think the wand looks like a butterfly, but the effect is cat-eye amplifying lashes. I don't think that the shape really did anything for application. I just move it to different angles until all of my lashes look the way I want. Since the brush doesn't really matter, the formula is what is going to either make or break this mascara.

This has a very wet formula. It's so goopy that it forms peaks at the end of the brush when you take it out of the tube (as pictured above). The shine of the product on the brush also attests to the formula's er... wetness. Because of the abundance of moisture, it takes a bit more effort to build. It can be done, but to get the level of drama I like, it takes about two coats and a lot of brushing through to make sure the lashes are separated and where I want them. That being said, let's take a look at what it looks like on my lashes.

Here's my lashes with the mascara freshly applied at about 8:30 am right before I went to work:

And here's my lashes at around 5:30 pm, after work:

The longevity of this mascara is impressive. The curl is the same, the length is the same, and there are practically no smudges at the end of the day. And my mascaras get a true test of wear since my job is more active than most, and sometimes it gets hot. I've never noticed this mascara having smudging issues, and that's a huge bonus in my book. Of all the mascaras I've got going right now, this is at the top when it comes to staying power.

Unfortunately, there are some real deal breakers for me. It finally hit me that there was a connection between my eyes bothering me and wearing this mascara. I never thought I had sensitive eyes, but this formula really bothers them! Ever since I stopped wearing this, my eyes have been a LOT better.

Another problem with this mascara is how it wears off. When I keep it on and then take a shower, it smears into my eyes and creates strings of black goop. The mere fact that a foreign object is in my eye is bad enough, but the formula makes my eyes BURN. Even when I removed it before hand with makeup remover, it still created strings no matter how tightly I shut my eyes while removing it. There was no winning! It was a pain every night. I need to be careful from now on, because I think there's a connection between wet formulas and formulas that create strings. Maybelline's The Falsies also did that when I removed it.

Needless to say, I don't recommend this mascara on my own experience. But none of the reviews I've seen ever mentioned the problems I had, so maybe most people won't have a problem with it. If you have sensitive eyes, though, I would proceed with caution.

I hope you're having a great summer! School isn't too far away! Aaaahhhh! I need to start preparing for that.

~Stacie

Life is crazy!

So I thought I should just post something really quick to let y'all know what's going on. The past two months have really not gone the way I planned in the way of blogging. I starting getting really good about posts, but then life happened. My life has pretty much turned upside down. I came home from school and I'm transferring to another school, so that took up a lot of my time while I was still at school. Now that I'm home, I have a summer job already and it is full time. It's actually kind of more than full time so I don't really have a lot of free time to blog. Besides that, my best friend is going to be leaving for an internship in a few days, so my after-work time has pretty much been spent hanging out. Hopefully after she leaves, life will calm down and I can get back to blogging. That being said, I will have to work out a rhythm on how to take pictures for the blog since I'll be working during prime sunlight hours. It'll probably be a few weeks before I get things figured out, so I'm sorry in advance. It's probably going to continue being pretty quiet here for a while. I hope things are well with you, though!

~Stacie

PS Yesterday I bought the Too Faced A La Mode Eyes palette! I'm so excited!