Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes Mascara

I live with a man who, in the realm of all things beauty, does a pretty good job or paying attention and getting it. He knows how much beauty interests me and patiently listens to me while I yammer on about what one product does over another. When I buy his mother beauty products and she's asking me about what they do, he offers colour commentary on how to use it meaning he's actually paid attention.

Still, at the end of it all, he's a man, an attentive man, but a man none the less. There are things that guys just don't see. They might not notice that you're using a different mascara, just seeing that your eyes look pretty, like normal. Because of this fact, when he notices and comments on something I'm doing with my makeup, I take note. If it brings him to the point of speech, it's, like, a certified big deal.

I got Givenchy's Phenomen'Eyes mascara for christmas ('Twas on my list cause it looks so cool). The idea with this mascara is the ball-like brush that works at any angle and gets the littlest and shortest of lashes. While it looks kind of terrifying, it's really easy to use and the effects are absurdly awesome.

Case-in-point, when I'm putting it on in the morning, my husband actually stops what he's doing a just says "Wow." Cause it's insane what it does to your lashes.

It gets the short little lashes at the bottom so it actually looks like you've applied a really thin line of eyeliner. It's no secret that I have a long-standing eyeliner addiction, however this mascara has given me enough oopmh to forgo eyeliner almost entirely for the last week.

Did I mention the ease and the fact that it takes about 5 seconds?

There is a downside, sadly. While it's all kinds of awesome, it can be smudgy. So if you're runny-mc-rubs-my-eyes-a-lot you may want to wait for a waterproof version.

The rest of you, get to Sephora (I think it's an exclusive), buy with confidence and may your lashes be plentiful.

HRH

DiorShow Blackout Mascara

Dawn and I had a happenstancial meeting at the Eaton Centre during lunch this week that, unsurprisingly, ended in a visit to Sephora. That place is always more fun with your friends. While there I realized that it had been awhile since I'd been in there which meant that it had also been awhile since I replenished my mascara supply.

Mascara is a gateway makeup. You start with something innocuous like Great Lash Mascara, one of the beauty world's best bang-for-your-buck items. And as great and cheap as it is, there comes a point where you just need something more.

So you walk into a beauty store and view the wall of great eye-enhancing options. I've tried out my share of mascaras. I will always hold a special place in my heart for Lancome and the love I will always have for Flextencils and Hypnose. I've flirted with items from Stila, been underwhelmed by Shu Umerea and even dabbled in some Benefit BadGal Blue. All good steps towards my latest mascara love.



So with much pride I share with you DiorShow Blackout Mascara. Admittedly I wasn't blown away by it's original recipe, but this kohl-based, blackest-of-blacks version is awesome in a tube. I get lashes so long, full and dark and it's almost inappropriate. Blackout is my new normal. So much so that I find it hard to go back to anything else. I think the only place I can go from here is false eyelashes.

I used it on a client recently who was going for a very dramatic Bridget Bardot look and I don't think any other mascara would have been up to the job of such deep, dark, sultriness. Needless to say, this one gets a huge endorsement from me.

Awesome in a tube.

HRH

Rejoice! Goth eyes are fashionable again!

So I'm looking through the Sephora runway report for fall beauty trends and I'm seeing much of what I expected. Straight hair, red lips, old Hollywood glamour and I saw a trend that made my heart go pitter patter. Goth eyes. I'm so happy I could purr.

Smoky, heavily lined eyes are like a warm cozy blanket on a cold day for me. I'm sure everyone has an item of clothing or a cosmetic element that makes you feel awesome. Lots of eyeliner, mascara and brown or purple shadow make me feel powerful (I was going to say invincible, but I concede that I am overselling it). I've been scaling back on it all as I've gotten older, acknowledging that if I did it as a teen, then odds are I shouldn't be doing it as an adult and it's not in style.

But I've gotten old enough that the trends have come back in. So this fall, as the temperatures cool, you can expect me to put on my warm blanket of dark eyes. Best to invest in some really good eye makeup remover, no?

HRH

Benefit: BadGal Blue

Bear with me here for a moment. I'm about to talk about how awesome blue mascara is.

No I have not been possessed by the 80s fashion daemon. I mean, I've learned that coloured eyeliner and mascara don't actually make your eyes that colour. Like last week... (I kid, I was nine).

Here's the thing about blue mascara, or Benefit's Badgal Blue mascara, it makes the whites of your eyes brighter, makes you look away and a smidgen sexier. A smidgen.

Badgal Blue is a deep-blue-violet colour so those with darker natural lashes can actually wear it on it's own and not look like they jumped out of a Scandal video.

And those with lighter lashes and use a black or brown and add a little on the ends. It can be a helpful trick to use the day after some exuberant revelry too.

HRH

Shu Uemera Mascara Basic

Because it's Shu Uemera, the Japanese brand of makeup I find so mysterious and interesting (mostly because it's not widely available in Canada and because Kevyn Aucoin swore by their brushes), I was expecting great things from this mascara. Would it be the product to sway me from my devotee status with Lancome's Hypnose?

No. It's good. It's fine. But it's not Hypnose. As you might expect, the applicator brush is quite nice. That's about it.

HRH

Revlon: Lash Fantasy

It is commonly known that I love mascara. I don't believe in a daytime look, but at the same time, I don't believe in looking like there are spiders bursting forth from your eyes. Lashes should be long, pretty and full, all the time. Yes. All the time.

I've been a long-time devotee to Lancôme's Hypnôse mascara. So much so that I am the first hit that comes up when you google it. The stuff is the goods. A makeup artist friend of mine says this is the only product that she will justify spending a lot of money on. Cause it's awesome.

So I feel some pity for any mascara that tries to woo me away from Hypnôse, but I still have to give them a shot. So I recently tried Revlon's Lash Fantasy just to see if you can, infact, get five times the impact.

Lash fantasy is one of those new-fangled mascaras with a primer. It's white and it's really hard to get it on. You have to coat and coat and coat just to see it. Then once you have a good base of it, you apply the mascara. I did get some good results, my lashes were not dramatically fuller, but they were longer. It also took me about five times as long as it takes me to apply Hypnôse just to get an acceptable effect.

If you're in a pinch Lash Fantasy is acceptable, but if you want to get the most lash for your cash, put it towards the Hypnôse. Save your time and keep your lashes light. This is truly a case where the extra money is worth it.

HRH

Dior: DiorShow Mascara

The quest for the best mascara continues. I've been using DiorShow mascara for a few weeks now, trying to see if it holds a candle to the present mascara champion Lancome HYPNÔSE mascara. DiorShow claims to only need one applciation stroke to create dramatic lashes.

And I have to report that it does a decent job. There's length, but not a remarkable amount of volume. I personally am looking for volume over length, but if you're the kind of girl we all love to hate, the kind with superfull lashes, then this mascara will work fantastically for you.

Stila: Fiber Optics Mascara

Mmmm mascara. The mighty tool that women wield to make everyone they encounter powerless. Some may say it's might or wit, but no; it's mascara.

I'd been going through a deceptively natural phase of late, using volumizing brown mascara so it wasn't patently obvious that I was using it, yet there was oomph. I'd nearly forgotten the power of lash extending black mascara until the recent Stila makeover experience. Oh the power is back.

The scoop on this variant of mascara is that it's formulated not to turn into the hard crusty mess that mascara usually dries into. You know what I'm talking about. You've had your eye makeup on for 12 hours and the mascara reaches a point where it can do nothing put irritate your eyes with it's dry crusty evility. Yes I just made that word up. Fiber Optics Mascara claims to stay soft for hours and generally speaking it does. In reality the fact that it stays soft at all is pretty impressive. Touch your eyelashes a couple of minutes after they've dried and you'll see what I'm talking about. Deceptively soft, full and thick. Evil in the good way.

HRH

Lancome: Hypnose

I decided the other day to expand my collection of mascaras. It wasn't a hard decision my any means, kind of like asking a junkie if they'd like a couple hits for free. Um Yes!

I wandered around looking for something that showed promise. I nearly opted for some of the Christian Dior Showtime line, but all that was left was Navy. A keen idea if you have blue eyes, but do I? No. So it was back to try more of the Lancome line of mascaras. Flextencils impressed me greatly, some years ago as I made the important shift from Maybellene to premium, even though my lashes are Naturally curly. This time I went for volume and I opted to make it extra challenging by buying it in Brown.

Challenge met. Hypnose is my new option for daytime. Thick lashes, but because it's brown it looks deceptively natural. Mwa ha ha.

Good makeup should always incite an evil laugh.

HRH