Product Review: Maybelline The Falsies- Flared Mascara

If you read my review of the waterproof version of this mascara, you're probably thinking I'm positively insane for spending my money on the regular formula of this particular mascara. Maybe I am, but this made its way into my collection regardless.

For the record, I'm glad it did. When I bought the waterproof version, it was so horrifyingly terrible that I was actually a bit upset that I'd even bought it, and that Maybelline was marketing this product, and that people were saying it was even remotely okay. Then I bought the regular formula. Now, I'm not going to say that it completely changed my mind, but it is definitely an improvement. The mascara doesn't add heaps of volume, it doesn't lengthen your lashes remarkably, but the one thing it does well is that you can shape your lashes, and they stay in place. So if you want your lashes to be shaped a certain way, you can use this to your advantage. That being said, I use it with a primer, and another mascara over it to get the full look that I want, but it does do that one thing well enough to almost make it worthwhile.

So I will still not give this product a great review, but if you can get it on sale, and want to sculpt your lashes instead of wearing false ones, I guess you could probably find some merit in this.

Product Review: Maybelline The Falsies- Flared Mascara (Waterproof)

Let me start off by saying one thing- While wearing this, there is no way whatsoever anyone will mistake you for wearing false eyelashes... Unless they're drunk and gullible. Even then, it's doubtful. Well, let me rephrase that- Someone might accuse you of wearing those really gross, crusty Halloween lashes for the unsexy witch costume. That's more accurate.


I normally love some Maybelline mascaras, but this one... Not so much. In fact, it might take over Urban Decay's Skyscraper as the worst mascara ever. At least when you layered Skyscraper, all you got was one sad, pathetic layer of nothing. With this, I am currently suffering from mono-lash. That's right, I pretty much have one giant, chunky, crusty eyelash. Ew.

This is the "spoon-shaped applicator". I actually like the applicator- it does a pretty good job of getting a nice curl. Too bad the formula is so terrible!

Here's a swatch, after several layers.

I'm hoping that it's just because it's waterproof that the mascara is so bad. Look for a review of the non-waterproof pretty soon!

Kat Von D Green look

I have to confess... I've been having a love affair with the Kat Von D True Romance eyeshadow palettes. They've pretty much become my go-to palettes for just about any look that I could possibly come up with. It's almost become an addiction, really. I don't know what to say... I guess I just love these things.
Here's what I used:
Face primer- Hard Candy illuminating face primer
Foundation- Maybelline Fit Me! in 115
Blush- Hard Candy- Fox in a Box in Smooth Talker
Blush- Nars- Orgasm (Over Smooth Talker)
Bronzer- Cargo Mini bronzer in medium
Lipstick- MAC Viva Glam Gaga 2
Mascara-  Maybelline Great Lash in Very black
Liner:
Top- Physicians formula lash booster serum in blackest black (Flare out to make the cat-eyes look)
Bottom- Maybelline Define-a-Line in Ebony Black
Eye Primer-
Kat Von D High Voltage Primer in Smoky (from lash line to almost the brows)
Kat Von D High Voltage Primer in Skin (between Smoky and brow line)
Shadows: Ludwig Palette:
Kat Von D shadow in Lucifer (lids)
Kat Von D Shadow in orbi (outter edges of eye, to cover smoky primer)
Kat Von D shadow in Dimebag (center of eye, above lid, next to Orbi, covering smoky Primer)
Kat Von D Shadow in Leather (eyebrows)
Truth palette:
Kat Von D Shadow in Snake Eyes (inner corner of eyes, covering the last bit of the smoky primer)
Kat Von D Shadow in Sugar Skull (Covering Skin primer)

FOTD- Kat Von D Angeles Palette/Tokidoki Robbery PaletteTeal and Blue

Products used:
Face primer- Hard Candy illuminating primer
Foundation- Maybelline Fit Me in 115
Blush- Nars blush in Angelika
Bronzer- Cargo mini bronzer in Medium
Powder- Physician's Formula Happy Booster in Translucent
Lipstick- Flirt Chickstick in Angel
Eye primer-
Kat Von D High Voltage eye primer in Smoky (eylids, leaving a gap below eyebrows)
Kat Von D High Voltage eye primer in Skin (between Smoky primer and eyebrows)
Liner-Maybelline Define-A-line in Ebony Black (line bottom, then top after shadows are applied)
Brow Gel- ELF Brow gel/mascara duo
Brows- Kat Von D shadow in Leather (Angeles Palette)
Shadows:
Tokidoki in Adios (on your lids, the whole way across, to the crease
Tokidoki in LA Gun (do a couple layers over Adios)
Kat Von D Shadow in Peggy (From the crease almost to the browbone in the innermost third of your eye)
Kat Von D Shadow in Bukowski (middle third of the eye, above the crease to just below the browbone)
Kat Von D Shadow in Bellbottom (Outer third, above the crease)
Kat Von D Shadow in Morphine (Covering the "skin primer up to the brows)
Tokidoki in Candy Cane (covering Morphine)
Lash Primer- Diorshow Primer
Mascara- Lancome Oscilation mascara in gunmetal

                                                      (close up on the eye- Ignore the rogue eyeliner in the inner corner of my eye.)

Product Review: Maybelline Great Lash- Colors

Maybelline Great Lash mascara has been around for a long time. In fact, it's one of the best-selling mascaras of all time. I've been a longtime fan of it, even though it's not necessarily the best mascara out there, because it does everything well, and for $4, with enough coats of it, you'll end up with some pretty awesome lashes. So when Maybelline released two limited edition colors, Green Envy and Teal Appeal, I had to try them out.




Formula-wise, they both have the exact same formula as all the other Great Lash mascara, which is nice. It gives decent volume, holds a curl reasonably well, and adds some length, all without giving you crunchy, spidery lashes.

As far as the colors go, the color is pretty subtle. If you were looking for a very noticeable, bright pigment, you won't find it here, but you will get a nice, decent subtle pop of color. Green Envy is a foresty green, and Teal Appeal is a bold, but not fluorescent teal.

                                               (Left- Green Envy, Right- Teal Appeal)
Overall, if you're already a fan of Great Lash, you'll like the colors, but if you're not, these probably aren't spectacular enough to change your mind. At the low price of $4, they're the best colored mascaras you could probably get. 

Another really fun purple look

I felt like doing something a little more dressy and elaborate than I normally do. Here it is. The colors from each palette that I used are marked with the green line.

Product list:
Face primer- Hard Candy Illuminating primer
Eye primer- Kat Von D high voltage primer in skin (not pictured... oops!)
Foundation- Maybelline Fit Me! in 115
Liner-
Top- Physician's formula Eye Booster lash growth serum in ultra black (fan out at the edges)
Bottom- Maybelline Define-a-line in ebony black
Blush-MAC blush in Flirt& Tease (applied very lightly with a fan brush, because it's really dark, and I'm really pale!)
Bronzer- Cargo Mini Bronzer in Medium
Lips-
Kat Von D painted love gloss in Homegirl (applied lightly, and blended out)
Rimmel lip gloss in Rhythm (on top of Homegirl)
Face powder- Physician's formula Happy Booster in Translucent
Lash primer- Diorshow primer
Mascara-
Top-Maybelline Great Lash in intense black
Bottom- Lancome Oscillation intensity in Gunmetal
Brows- Kat Von D shadow in Leather
Brow Gel- ELF clear mascara/brow gel duo (not pictured)
Shadows:
Make Up For Ever in Purple 92 (inner corner of eyelids)
Urban Decay Deluxe shadow in Freakshow (middle of eyelid
MAC Matte squared shadow in Fig. 1 (outer corner of eyelid)
Kat Von D Shadow in Skiba- Darker purple marked in right palette(inner side above crease, almost to brows)
Kat Von D Shadow in Babe- Lighter purple in right palette (Outer side above crease, almost to brows)
Kat Von D Shadow in Morphine- Left palette (Blend the cream shadow up to the brows)
Tokidoki Shadow in Candy Cane (on top of Morphine)
Then I attached rhinestones with lash glue to the wingtips on my liner.

 Close up on the eye

Tokidoki Green Look

I did this look using the Tokidoki Robbery Palette (available at Sephora/Sephora.com)

Product list:
Face Primer- Hard Candy illuminating face primer
Foundation- Revlon Mineral mousse in Ivory
Brow Gel- Elf brow gel/mascara duo
Brows- Kat Von D shadow in Leather
Blush- Too Faced blush in Papa Don't Peach
Bronzer- Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tropics
Powder- Physician's Formula Happy Booster in Transluscent
Liner-
Top- Physician's Formula Lash Booster Serum in Blackest Black
Bottom- Maybelline Define-A-line in Black
Lash Primer- Diorshow Lash primer
Mascara- Maybelline Great Lash in Green Envy
Eye Primer- Urban Decay Primer Potion
Eyeshadow:
Tokidoki shadow in Adios- Lash line to crease
Tokidoki shadow in Liberty- Left half of area between crease and brows
Tokidoki shadow in Soya- Right half of area between crease and brows
Tokidoki shadow in Candy Cane- Highlighting up to brows.
Closeup on the eye:

Kat Von D True Love Palette Look

Here's a look from the True Love Palette that I love. I wear this look like, Once a week. It's really easy, and it even holds up when I'm at work all day.

Products used:
Face Primer- Hard Candy Illuminating Primer
Foundation- Maybelline Fit me! foundation in 115
Brow Gel- ELF brow gel/mascara duo
Brows- Kat Von D shadow in Leather
Blush- Tokidoki blush in Momobella
Blush- MAC blush in Flirt &Tease (applied lightly with a fan brush over Momobella)
Powder- MAC Hello Kitty Beauty Powder in Tahitian Sand
Lash Primer- Diorshow
Mascara- Lancome Oscilation in Gunmetal
Eye primer- Kat Von D High Voltage Primer in Smoky(from lash line to just below brows)
Eye Primer- Kat Von D High Voltage Primer in Skin(Up to brows)
Eye Liner(bottom)- Kat Von D Autograph Pencil in Black Metal Love
Liner(top)- Physician's Formula lash booster in blackest black
Lipstick- Viva Glam Gaga II applied very light and blended with clear gloss
Gloss- Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush gloss in mint
Concealer- Calvin Klein in Bisque
Eye shadow-
Kat Von D shadow in lucifer(lash line to crease)
Kat Von D shadow in Cholita (blended over Lucifer)
Kat Von D shadow in Skiba (across remaining Smoky primer
Kat Von D shadow in Babe (Blended from mid eyelid across Skiba)
Kat Von D Shadow in Missy (under brows, in a heavy-ish coat to cover the Skin-colored primer)

Blend the whole thing with a blending brush

Here's a closeup on the eye....

and here's another distance shot of the whole look

Really Easy Sugarpill Burning Heart Palette look

I love this palette, because it's really easy to get a really dramatic look without a lot of work. This is the most basic look, but it has a ton of color, and makes a statement.

Product list:
Face Primer: Hard Candy Illuminating Primer
Eye Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion
Foundation: Revlon Mineral Mousse
Lips: Kat Von D lipstick in Celebutard
Blush: Cargo in  Polynesia
Bronzer- Cargo in Medium
Powder- Physician's Formula Happy Booster in Translucent
Brow Gel- ELF Brow gel/mascara duo
Brows- Kat Von D Shadow in Leather
Lash Primer- Diorshow
Mascara- Maybelline Great Lash
Liner (lower)- Maybelline Define-a-Line in black
Liner(upper)- Physician's formula lash booster serum in blackest black
Shadow:
Sugarpill -Poison plum (lower lash line)
Sugarpill- Love+ (upper lash line to crease)
Sugarpill- Flamepoint (crease to just below eyebrows)
Sugarpill- Buttercupcake (below eyebrows)

Product Review- Maybelline Eye Studio Color Explosion- Amethyst Ablazed

Here's what it looks like. It retailed at Meijer for $9.49. I would like to say that I have not put this product on my eyes. Nor will I. Ever. For any reason. The colors look really pretty, and with a name like "color explosion" you can't go wrong. right? Well, I'm pretty sure this is going to go horribly wrong. It starts out with four different coordinating shades of purple, silver and pink, which aren't bad. A little on the flaky and chalky side, but still reasonably wearable. Then, it goes horribly wrong. See that glittery atrocity up top? That's supposed to be worn as a shimmery topcoat over the whole thing. My god. It's so soft that when I put my fingertip in it to swatch it, it left a giant dent. I don't even want to know what would happen if you put the included sponge tip applicator in it, or even worse, a real makeup brush. Then, if you put it over the regular shadows, you are left looking like a glitter factory vomited all over your eyeballs, or you are a lost member of the Cullen family. I can assure you that there is no way that this shimmery "topcoat" will stay on your eyes, even with all the primer in the world, so you'll be left with glitter everywhere.

But glitter is fun! Well, yes, but as a contact lens wearer, I can only imagine the horrors this glitter would inflict upon my eyeballs, and I don't really fancy having my contacts resemble disco balls.

Bottom line: The colors in this are really fun, but they're not $9.49 worth of fun. Oh, and skip the topcoat, because it looks horrifying. Save your money for something more interesting.

Here's the swatch:
The bottom color doesn't even show up, just as a light shimmer. The bolder colors show up nicely, but when you put the chunky glittery topcoat over the whole thing, it just turns into a hot, glittery mess. (look at those chunks by my wrist!!!

Shiny gold look

This is kind of a more everyday type look that I wear. Here's the products I used

Primer- Hard Candy Illuminating primer
Powder- MAC Hello Kitty Collection Beauty powder in Tahitian Sand
Blush- Nars- Orgasm
Bronzer- Cargo Medium
Lash primer- Diorshow
Mascara- Maybelline Great lash- Very Black
Brow gel- ELF brow gel/mascara duo
Liner (lower)- Maybelline define-a-line- black
Liner- Upper- Physician's formula lash booster serum in blackest black
Brows- Kat Von D shadow in Leather (Ludwig Palette)
Eye Primer- Urban Decay
Eyes- Kat Von D shadow in Rebekah(True Love Palette)(lash line to crease)
          Clinique shadow in Strike it rich (crease to just below browline
          Kat Von D Shadow in Baroque(Ludwig Palette) (outer half just above crease)
          Kat Von D shadow in Peanut (True Love Palette) (just below brows)
Concealer- Calvin Klein in Bisque (undereye)
Powder- Physician's formula Happy Booster- translucent

All Drugstore Look

Let me just say, I'm mildly addicted to high end/designer makeup. Even though I love drugstore stuff, It's really hard for me to do a look entirely with drugstore makeup. But here's my first attempt.

Here's what I used:
Primer- Hard Candy illuminating primer
Foundation- Revlon mineral Mousse- Ivory
Eye primer- ELF primer
Brow Gel- ELF brow gel/clear mascara duo
Brow color- Revlon Matte #9
Eyeshadow- The middle 3 colors from the Physician's Formula Pop for Hazel eyes palette
Eyeliner-Maybelline  define-a-line in black
Eyeliner- Physicians formula lash serum in blackest black
Blush- Physician's formula Happy Booster
Mascara- Maybelline Great Lash in very intense black
Bronzer- Hard Candy so baked bronzer in Tropics
Powder- Physician's formula Happy Booster in translucent
Concealer- Wet & Wild liquid concealer
Lip Gloss- Bonne Belle Lip smackers Vanilla Coke Lipgloss

All in all, I like the look, and the only additions/switches to designer makeup I would make would be the lip product and the bronzer. Plus, I'd add some Diorshow lash primer.