Review Time: Lancome Hypnôse Drama Mascara

Price: $24.50

Where to buy: Lancome.com, Lancome counters, Sephora, Sephora.com

Description: Hypnôse Drama mascara provides high volume lashes in a single stroke. The full contact brush, with its S-shaped curve, grasps and loads lashes for a fanned out, full body fringe.

My Opinion

As promised, here is my review of the Lancome Hypnôse Drama Mascara.  I got this mascara during my Memorial Day haul, I have been wanting to try it for a while since I read great reviews on it, so here is my own.

This Mascara is supposed to be used when you want that "wow!" factor, therefore the "drama" in its name.  But, does it really do as it claims?? YES! It does!

Let me tell you all... I LOVE this mascara!  It is so easy to apply and extremely hard to clump.  I know it has a weird "S" shape wand but that's what makes this mascara work so well.  I was very surprised to find that I was able to reach every single lash, even the ones on the outer corners of my eyes!  I didn't expect that from a mascara with a wand that is so big, but somehow it just works.

Lancome's website suggests ways of taking advantage of the "S" shape wand: The best way to apply Hypnôse Drama is to start with the brush at the root of the lashes. The curve of the brush should face up in a U shape. Using a zigzag movement, glide the brush up the lashes from root to tip. To create more drama, rotate the brush and use the longer bristles to fan out the lashes. This formula can also be layered and built for maximum volume without clumping.

Another thing, this mascara will give you a ton of volume and the look of false eyelashes with just ONE coat! How amazing is that!? Like I said earlier, it is very easy to apply, I didn't have to try hard at all and after the first time using it I was in love with it.  It won't flake throughout the day and it washes off with water and soap easily as well.  It does not irritate my eyes at all and when you make a little mistake (i.e. when you get mascara on your eyelid) it is easy to remove without messing up your makeup too much.  This is not a waterproof mascara, I haven't tried getting it wet and honestly I am not planning on doing that anyways.  I really like this mascara a lot so I do recomend it if you are looking to add volume to your lashes or to make your "smokey eyes" look more dramatic.  I give this a 5 out of 5.
Here are the before and after pictures:

Wearing no mascara at all.

After applying ONE coat on top and bottom lashes.

See the difference? 

Final look!

Just imagine how much more dramatic it would look if I had black eyeliner on!

Beauty Tips: Preventing Eyeshadow creasing

Have you ever applied your eyeshadow and a couple of hours later when you checked in the mirror it looks like this ==>

(photo belongs to http://confessionsofahairstylist2009.blogspot.com/ )

I know I have had this problem happen to me many times in the past, not anymore though, I found the solution for it and it's as simple as using an eye primer!
So, what is an eye primer?? I tried googling that question to come up with a better answer but found nothing, so here is my own definition: An eye primer is a product that you apply onto your lids before applying your eyeshadow. Eye primers usually come in very neutral colors and in a cream-liquidly form. A primer will prevent your eyeshadow from creasing and make your eyeshadow color pop!
How's that for an answer! LOL! There is a huge variety of eye primers in the market right now, they go from reasonable prices to the high end ones that are not easily affordable. But, is it worth spending the money on one of these? YES!! Absolutely YES!! If you are anything like me and love wearing tons of eyeshadow and want it to stay put all day and all night long, than you definitely need one of these babies!
A good way of getting introduced to eye primers is by using Mary Kay Eye Primer. This is one of the least expensive ones out there and it does do a good job.
I won't get into the ones that I have tested, that's a different post, but here are some examples of some really popular high end eye primers that will give you great results, the prices vary from $16.00 to $24.00.

From Left to Right: Urban Decay Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Bare Escentuals Prime time for eyes, Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer, Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer.

Another alternative for keeping your shadow on all day long is a shadow base. Just as with eye primers, there is a huge variety out there for you to choose from. But what is the difference between an eye primer and an shadow base? Once again, here is my own definition: Both, eye primers and Shadow bases, will keep your shadow from creasing. A shadow base, however, comes in a range of different color to choose from. They can be used by themselves or under your eyeshadow. So for instance, if you would like to wear a blue eyeshadow, then by applying a blue eyeshadow base prior to it, your shadow color will pop a lot more than if you used an eye primer underneath it, and it won't crease either (I really hope that made sense).
I personally use an eyeshadow base underneath my eyeshadow all the time, it doesn't make it the right or wrong way of keeping your eyeshadow from creasing, that is just my personal preference.
Here are a few examples of eye shadow bases that I would recommend you try, some are better than others, or more affordable, or come with more product in the jar, but again, I won't get into that right now:

From left to right: Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place ShadowCreme, Mac Paint Pots, Bobbi Brown Cream Shadow, Clinique Shadow base.
If you would like to try a drugstore eye primer, Loreal came out with their De-Crease Shadow base. This eye primer is supposed to keep your shadow on for 8 eight hours.

And finally, I haven't tried this method myself but I have heard that some people like it, is using a concealer underneath your shadow, I honestly don't know how well this works but I will give it a try soon and let you all know.
Ladies, now you know the trick to keeping your eyeshadow intact for hours and hours!

All About Eyebrows

The one thing that I get the most compliments on is not my lovely skin, or how great of a mom I am (LOL!), yeap, you guessed it, it's my eyebrows! People, well, not all people, girls mainly (guys don't look at these type of things, in my experience), think that I have the most perfectly shaped eyebrows ever, and I do => after following my daily routine of plucking them and filling them. Yeah! I know, it sounds like a lot of work, but if you are like me and your natural eyebrows are next to invisible, than all of the work is worth doing it.

Ladies, don't be fooled by this picture, this is NOT what my eyebrows look like in real life, nor my skin, LOL... thank goodness for makeup!!

The first step on having great brows is shaping them. You need to follow their natural shape and try to avoid at all costs overplucking, we all do it at one point or another, but please learn from your mistakes, overplucked eyebrows are not pretty to look at, neither is marking your face with a sharpie!

Like I said, you should follow the natural shape of your brow and start plucking from there. Some people follow certain rules on how to do it (I don't!) but if you are into those rules, use the picture below to give you an idea of what the "perfect" eyebrow supposely looks like:

So, let's get down to business. This is what my natural eyebrow looks like (after having plucked them). I pluck lightly (meaning I get rid of the obvious hairs coming out) everyday, right before doing my makeup, usually while I wait for my moisturizer to absorb, and thoroughly evey couple of weeks, this is when I use my magnifying mirror and pluck everything that needs to come out of my face, that usually includes the mustache area as well (don't act all shocked! I bet you have some facial hair as well!)

These are the things I use to do my brows, feel free to use whatever you have!

Anastasia brow shadows in Ebony

Anastasia brow wiz in Brunette; and

Make Up For Ever Angle Brow Brush # 12

My first step is to line my eyebrows with my brow wiz. I don't line all the way to the thin part, just till the arch begins.

If you make a mistake while lining, don't worry about it, makeup is very forgiving, just use a small concealer brush and fix the problem.

Next, I dip my brush ever so slighly into the dark shadow, usually dipping it once will do one whole eyebrow, the trick is in the blending.

And start blending away! Don't worry about not having put any product on the think part of your brow, you should have enough in your brush to fill your whole eyebrow.

And keep on blending, repeat same steps on the other eyebrow, blend until you see that they look natural enough for your liking. Apply more powder if you feel is necessary.

And voila! There you have perfectly arched and shaded eyebrows!