The Great Mascara Hunt: Estee Lauder Lash Luxe

Review from cavewoman
photo from osmoz.com

The end of May has me wondering about how fast this month has gone by, and also wondering about the huge change in the weather in the last ten days. Annie and I went to Cleveland last week in cashmere sweaters. Today we're just in sweat.

I wanted to finish the few reviews that I've done with an apology to Annie for not reviewing more mascaras. I learned early in this project that I don't like wearing mascara every day because I tend to lose lashes that I can ill afford to lose.

But, I also wanted to pay tribute to one of the best mascaras I've ever used. Don't get your pen and paper out. This wonderful mascara was a limited edition from Estee Lauder, exclusive to Saks, and available only once. Of course I had to cave on it. I dug it out of my makeup storage case this week just to look at it. The mascara was named Lash Luxe, and it came in the most beautiful brushed gold tube, with the Lauder initials in script across a band below the cap. I opened the tube and to my surprise, the mascara was still moist and creamy! Let me tell you about the brush. It is a traditional bristle but it's twisted. It is hard to describe. The bristles are larger toward the tip. It makes perfect sense to me. I decided that I didn't just want to remember how good this mascara was, I wanted to use it again, and I did. With just a few strokes of the brush, I had the prettiest black fringe of eyelashes of any of the mascaras I tested for this project, perhaps the best lashes ever of any mascara I've used. That little weird brush gave the separation, length, and lift that I remembered. I think I put this mascara in my makeup case because I never wanted to be without it. I'm a stasher. I'm glad I stashed this one.

And so now I will ask the Lauder company to go dig around in their stash, too, find their archived tube of Lash Luxe, and beg them to bring it back.
Oh, I think I will ask them to bring back their Moisture Powder, too.
Product Rating, 10

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman

Check out papierdolls blog entry for May 30th.

http://www.papierdoll.net/papierblog/?p=848

Cavewoman instructs the masses on how to score free samples.

I am a huge fan of Papierdolls site and without question I am the #1 fan of cavewoman. My only competition is Pattyg. She was a fan first.

Lets show some love to cavewoman in the comments!

Congrats P! You are bigger than US Steel!

photo: gettyimages...of course!

The Great Mascara Hunt: 4th Week Wrap-Up

Mascara Madness winding down:

picture from getty images: Japan's cosmetic giant Shiseido researcher Hideki Takahashi, known as "Dr. Eyelashes" Note to blogdorf readers: I keep humming the Kiss song "Calling Dr Love". , and his fellow worker try to apply mascara to his eyelashes at his laboratory in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo, 30 July 2003. Mascara development is challenging work for Takahashi all the more because Japan's mascara market is booming. Sales grew to an estimated 43.2 billion yen in the business year ended in March from 19.5 billion yen five years ago.

Emily sent me some great reviews of mascaras. The first one Physician's Formula Lash-in-a-Tube Full Coverage Cream Mascara.

She writes: I tried Lash-in-a-Tube Full Coverage Cream Mascara. I'd heard that it was a cult favorite, and I've always been interested in trying cream mascaras. I figured that at about $6.00, it was worth it.
Physician's Formula promises "big, lush lashes" with this formula. It certainly didn't make my lashes any bigger or lusher, but it did make them seem a little longer and fuller. I noticed some lift, even though it didn't last all day.
Here's my big revelation from using this product: the packaging sucks. I ended up breaking the cap after trying to close it tightly. This also happened with another Physician's Formula mascara, but I'm not sure it's still in production, so we'll leave it unnamed for now. The crack in the cap meant enough air got in to dry the mascara out and I couldn't use it after a month and a half.
So I'll give this mascara a 7 for the actual product and a 2 for the packaging. I'd give it lower, but I still think the tube is cool.

I've also tried Max Factor 2000 Calorie Straight Brush Mascara in 101 Rich Black. This is another cult classic that I've heard Mally Roncal rave about. According to maxfactor.com, it "volumizes lashes up to 200%." Unable and unwilling to believe that, I gave it a try to see what it really did.
Again, I wasn't impressed. I love dramatic lashes, and this mascara promised plenty of drama, but little of it transferred to my lashes. It's a very dense formula, and I spent probably a minute or two each morning trying to get all the excess formula off the brush. If I didn't, I ended up with spider lashes after just one coat. Even after cleaning the brush off first, I still ended up getting lumps on my lashes. This mascara does volumize - it just doesn't do a great job of it. It also doesn't provide any lift. I'll give it a 4 for performance.

From Revlon, I've tried Lash Fantasy Primer & Mascara in Blackened Brown. This is yet another volumizing mascara that I haven't liked. Revlon promises this mascara gives "5x the impact." I say it gives five times the hassle.
I'm not an expert in mascara primers, but I know that this one really doesn't do the trick. The primer went on clumpy, no matter what I did, and it didn't help volumize or lengthen. Once I put the mascara on, my lashes looked completely natural - not what I'd expect with this product. However, I can't tell if this is a result of using a brown mascara or the product itself.
After a few uses, I got tired of dealing with the primer. I started using the mascara by itself. I found it liked the product more this way. The mascara doesn't clump and leaves very natural, defined lashes.
I'm going to rate this primer a 2 and the mascara an 8.

Despite my unhappiness with these mascaras, there is one I tried that I really loved, L'Oreal's Lash Architect in Blackest Black. This mascara probably has the most dense formula of any mascara I've tried. Although it took a lot of time to get all the excess mascara off the brush, I found that the extra time was worth it. This mascara didn't clump or give me spider lashes. It did provide an amazing lengthening effect and some volume. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn't believe that one coat of mascara had made my lashes look that intense. I found some smudging throughout the day and it took a little effort to get all the mascara off at night, but I consider those things unimportant compared to how dramatic my lashes looked with this. I'm going to give this product a 9 with the caveat that if you're after natural lashes or an easy, fuss-free formula, this is not for you.

I love Emilys reviews and hope she considers starting a beauty blog. We need her!!!!

Beautiful Makeup Search reviewed L'Oreal's Voluminous. I would venture this is the top drugstore mascara out there just based on our fellow bloggers reviews. BMS states that it gave her thick lashes with just one coat. No clumps or mess. There is a drawback: No length

It scored 7 out of 10 http://beautifulmakeupsearch.squarespace.com/

Beauty Blogging Junkie reviewed Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara, Guerlain Divinora Supercils Mascara and Jane Fanclub Waterproof. Which one is her favorite? Which one gives her a kicky curl? Find out at: http://beautybloggingjunkie.blogspot.com/

Tbone from Brain Trapped in Girl's Body set off to NYC Barneys to investigate the Serge Lutens mascara. What is a $50 mascara like? Is Serge off his rocker? What rating is "crap"---is that 1 or 2?

Check out the answers at: http://braintrappedingirlsbody.blogspot.com/

Blogrenee discussed the wildly popular Dior's Diorshow. She states that is highly pigmented and thick and dense in volume. It gave a little curl but did not lengthen her lashes. No rating but I would guess there are points taken off for clumping issues.

http://blogrenee.com/?p=327#more-327

Fighting Mad Mary at The Customer is Always Right wrote about a cult favorite called Mirenesse Secret Weapon Mascara. It has great staying power. It does not smudge or smear. Mary has even slept with the mascara on and it has not budged. It did not even leave a mess on the pillows. Drawbacks are similiar to Kiss Me. There is no curling or lengthening action.

It rated a 8 and is available at cosmeticMall.com

http://whereisgoodservice.blogspot.com/

Capital Hill Barbie also wrote about Voluminous by L'Oreal. She tested the original and full definition versions. She was impressed with the darkening effect and staying power of full definition. It is hard to remove but rated a very solid 7.75

And she brings up a very serious question: Why the heck is Great Lash so popular?

http://caphillbarbie.blogspot.com/

EbeautyDaily inspired me to buy the Shu Uemura's Basic Mascara. I agree 100% with her review. It keeps lashes curled with no flakes. Very impressive and well worth the $27 price tag.

She also reviewed Sherani mascara. It performs like high end mascara with a great $4-$5 price tag. Gotta love that!

http://www.ebeautydaily.com/ no ratings available

The Daily Obsession did a review on Estee Lauder's Lash XL. It delivered on its promise for "extremely long, way-out-there lashes that defy reality" but failed when it came seperating or thickening the lashes. There was clumps, flakes and some smudging action. It did not rate well with a 4.5 rating. Still...lashes that defy reality is very attractive. See how easy it can be to hook me? http://thedailyobsession.wordpress.com/

Koneko's Mostly Beauty Diary wrote a review for the discontinued slightly infamous mascara by Stephane Marais Mascara. If you ever read makeupalley you know that there has been much sorrow since Mr Marais has closed shop. Legend has it....it is the best mascara ever produced. Reading this review made me wish I had grabbed one when I was at Barneys. Alas I had no vision of the future. Now I must suffer knowing that this "could have been the one".

Read about Koneko's lost love at: http://beautydiary.blogspot.com/

The Non-Blonde reviewed Lancome's Hypnose. It has great consistency, does not leave mess with clumps or smudges, kept a curl and gave added length. However it failed when it came to thickness and volume. This is one of the main promises of the mascara. Here is the promise from the Lancome site:

Custom Volume Mascara- Dare to go up to 6 times the volume. With each stroke, the patented POWERFULL™ brush intensifies lashes from root to tip. Exclusive, fluid SoftSculpt ™ formula, enriched with Vitamin B5, wraps lashes one luxurious layer at a time without smearing, smudging or clumping."

No rating but I am guessing it fared well. She stated that it might give her beloved Clinque High Impact a "run for its money".

She Finds has reviewed a Kevyn Aucoin's Curling mascara(gives dramatic curl), L'Oreal Voluminous Original, L'Oreal Double Extend(a primer+mascara), Dr.Hauschka Mascara(very promising with natural ingredients) and Sephora's waterproof mascara.

Check out the reviews and site at: http://shefinds.com/lashes.htm

Sweet Diva reviewed Sonia Kashuk’s Lashify Mascara. The SK mascara received high marks for its packaging and overall performance. However....there might be some potential disasters during application. I have to say I will remember the safety pin trick for future sticky situations. This one scored a very impressive 9 and will be put on my future buy list...just based on this review.

The other mascara Sweet Diva reviewed is MAC's ProLash. Gloss.com states the virtues of Pro Lash as “lengthening, thickening, non-flaking, non-smudging…totally hard-wearing. Sassy and lush. Works on the catwalk, soups up the sidewalk."

Any ideas on what "soups up the sidewalks" means?

If it means smudges....then it has that in spades. It rated a four due to the excessive souping and difficulty in removal. http://sweet-diva.blogspot.com/

I truly hope I did not miss anybody this week! If I did...you know the drill. Just email me! Only 1 day left for mascara month! Lets go out with a bang!

The Great Mascara Hunt: Serge Lutens Mascara

Is there bourbon in Serge Lutens mascara?

Tbone from Brain Trapped in Girl's Body went to Barney's to test the Serge Lutens mascara.

Did it perform curling miracles? Did it give magical ooomph to her lashes? Is it the holy grail of all mascaras?Is it worth $50?

Here's a tidbit from her review:

This mysterious mascara comes in one color: black-brown. Serge is not about choice, people. To be more exact, it is about Serge's choice. He is telling you that to wear any other color of mascara is to live by less than optimal guidelines. It has no brush; instead, it uses a comb, like the now discontinued Stephane Marais mascara did. Lest you feel jaded, note that the Lutens mascara comb has a slight curve. Whether this makes a difference is for humans of greater sensitivity than I to discover.

Check out the rest of this review at: http://braintrappedingirlsbody.blogspot.com/

From Pulp Fiction:

Vincent: Did you just ordered a five dollar shake?

Mia: uh-hm

Vincent: That's milk and ice cream

Mia: last I heard...

Vincent: That's five dollars? You don't put bourbon in it or anything?

Mia: No

Vincent: Just checking

photo of Serge lutens from gettyimages/quote from Pulp Fiction via the moviequotes site.

I just caught this on makeupalley:

Stila's having a warehouse sale.
Friday, June 2
Saturday, June 3
Sunday, June 4
9am to 2pm each day
11128 Gault StN. Hollywood 91605

Cash only!

Damn.
There are no Stila warehouses in Ohio. We miss out on everything.

BTW: Can anyone identify the gal in the photo?

Check out the beauty site Bombshell Bargains for great beauty gems at amazing prices. I have been looking for a place like this.

Some things I have spotted:

Nars Duo eyeshadow Persepolis $29.99
Nars Single eye shadow Thunderball $17.99(and a huge selection of colors)
Chanel glossimers ovation $21.99
MAC lipglass in Nico, Flight of fancy, Scent me and many more $12.99
Nars lipgloss in Stella $22.99
Scott Barnes Flossy Glossy $19.99(unboxed)


http://www.bombshellbargains.com/home.php

photo of Bond bombshell Ursula Andress with Woody Allen from gettyimages
Can you name a movie they starred in together? I can think of two.
No prize available...just the praise of fellow readers.

The Great Mascara Hunt

Fighting Mad Mary wrote a great review for Mirenesse Secret Weapon mascara at The Customer Is Always Right. This is her holy grail mascara. She had me at the before and after pictures.

Note: I have been waiting to use this picture of Penelope Tree for a Mary themed post.

Check out the review at
http://whereisgoodservice.blogspot.com/

Check out the new look at Monkeyposh.
http://monkeyposh.blogspot.com/
Notice the ponytail and the Hermes.

also check out the new look at Perfume Posse.
http://www.pdawwg.com/blog/
I am months late with this rave...but the site looks fab.


photo: poshbetty

Great shoes on Sofia Coppola.
gettyimages

La Mer The Treatment Fluid Foundation Review

My new holy grail foundation. It has offically kicked my precious Chantecaille to the curb.

I fell under its spell on Monday. I was not in the market for a new foundation. I was satisfied with my Chantecaille. I had given up on the dream of a perfect shade with coverage that managed to hide flaws yet appear light and natural on the skin. Can you tell I dream big?

La Mer's The Treatment Fluid Foundation took me by surprise and knocked me to the ground. I was a convert after the first dab.

The thing that slayed me about this product is the staying power. No foundation lasts longer than this bottle. I have played the field. I have dabbled in high end foundation and crossed the tracks and flirted with drugstore. After a full hellish day at work my makeup looks fresh and perfect. No touchups. No fiddling. It is a foundation miracle. Huge rave from me and Cavewoman.

Blogdorf is smitten.

Some scoop from saks:

Gemstones reflect light to hide imperfections *spotted tourmaline & azurite in the ingredients
Marine and plant actives immediately add radiance
Skin looks lifted, firmer and brighter
Over time helps skin's ability to renew itself
Protects against UV damage with SPF 15

If you ever decide to buy: Call the Beachwood Saks store at 216-292-5500 and ask for Sean or Alesha(at the Nars counter).

They are amazing and I love them.

Disclosure: I purchased this foundation at my local Saks Fifth Avenue

Beauty Blogging Junkie has joined the mascara madness gang! She reviewed her favorites Jane's Fanclub Waterproof(gives lashes a "kicky curl"), Clinique Lash Doubling mascara(her personal favorite) and Guerlain's Divinora Supercils Mascara. (photos from nordstrom.com, cosmeticmall.com& jane cosmetics.com)

http://beautybloggingjunkie.blogspot.com/

Other mascara bloggers to visit:

http://beautyaddict.blogspot.com/

http://beautybloggingjunkie.blogspot.com/

http://gigigoesgaga.typepad.com/beauty/

http://beautynews.blogspot.com/

http://www.beautifulmakeupsearch.com/blog2/

http://blend10.blogspot.com/

http://braintrappedingirlsbody.blogspot.com/

http://caphillbarbie.blogspot.com/

http://www.ebeautydaily.com/

http://thedailyobsession.wordpress.com/

http://maisondumei.blogspot.com/

http://beautydiary.blogspot.com/

http://www.ladybuglife.blogspot.com/

http://monkeyposh.blogspot.com/

http://blog.mystical-beauty.com/

http://thenonblonde.blogspot.com/

http://scentzilla.com/

http://after-so-much-thinking.blogspot.com/

http://sweet-diva.blogspot.com/

http://www.blogrenee.com/

http://victoriasown.blogspot.com/

Note: If I forgot anyone(I am doing this list by memory...and my memory is shot!) or you do not own a blog but want to write a review for a mascara not reviewed yet.... email me at annieytown@yahoo.com

Also: It is never too late to join. There are no rules or hassles. Just post review and then call my attention to it.

EbeautyDaily reviewed Shu Uemura's Basic Mascara and a great find at Sally's Beauty Supply called Magnified Mascara by Sherani.

First up is the Allure award winning Shu. This mascara "goes on smooth and sleek from start to finish" and keeps lashes curled. There are no flakes or smudges. The down side is the price and it takes several coats to get dramatic eyes.

***From Annie:I just bought this mascara this weekend based on the raves. I am giving it a test run today. So far there is no smudges and my lashes are still curled.

The second review is the Sherani mascara. It is priced at $4 to $5 but performs like a high end mascara. It gives a dramatic eye and does not flake. A potential negative is that it goes on heavy and might clump. Ebeauty suggests running a comb through the lashes during application.

Check out ebeautydaily reviews at http://www.ebeautydaily.com/

The Great Mascara Hunt: Week 3 Wrap-Up

Weekly Mascara Wrap Up with the Mascara Madness Bloggers

This last week Beautiful Makeup Search reviewed Lights, Camera, Lashes by Tarte Cosmetics. They say that good things come in small packages. Sometimes "they" are wrong. Size does matter. This little number carries a big stick...I mean wand. It is housed in a snazzy purple snake skin-like case that screams "I am confident and ready to party on your lashes". The secret ingredient: special esters from olives Score is an impressive 9 1/2!http://www.beautifulmakeupsearch.com/blog2/

Birthday girl Beauty Addict reviewed Duwop Lash Lacquer. It delivered on its promise for "buildability" and produced no clumps after several coats. This mascara also comes with a sidekick. The robin to this batman is a waterproof topcoat that gives "shiny, smudge-proof, perfectly separated lashes". It stood up to the mean streets of NYC and kept its promises. Points off for lacklaster volume. Score a very high 8. http://beautyaddict.blogspot.com/

Capital Hill Barbie dished about politics and mascaras. They actually go together. Sometimes they can change the world for the better or never deliver on their grand promises. One mascara that actually delivered on its promises was Rimmel Volume Flash Waterproof Mascara. It has all the makings of a great leader in the mascara world. It is traditional with its handy brush applicator, has excellent pigment and darkens lashes dramatically, and holds onto a fabulous curl all day. Capital Hill Barbie also reviewed another Rimmel product this week called Volum' Eyes Lash Comb Mascara. This one did not fare as well. There were issues with application and removal but it did give more volume than Lash Exact. Scores: 8 1/2 for Volume Flash and a low 6 for Volum' Eyes. Favorite quote: "From what I can tell, I might be the Eastern European judge of the Great Mascara Hunt" http://caphillbarbie.blogspot.com/

The Daily Obsession discussed one of Blogdorf Goodman's favorite things. Primers. We go nuts over primers on this blog. The product is called Cils Booster XL Primer by Lancome. It promises to give lashes an "XL" kick in the pants to maximize results. It looks like it delivered on that promise. She had some dramatic night time worthy lashes. It scored a strong 7 with points taken off for not seperating lashes very well. http://thedailyobsession.wordpress.com/

Future Ohio gal Koneko also reviewed a primer. This one is from the cult favorite brand Kiss Me. Primers are supposed to help with issues. This little guy delivered lackluster results even with a lot of blood, sweat and tears. No mascara routine should take 10-15 minutes unless there are fabulous false lashes involved. Thumbs down with a low score of 6. http://beautydiary.blogspot.com/

Toya at The Life of a Ladybug has fallen in love. The worthy mascara is L'Oreal Shocking Volume. It slammed the competition with magnificent lengthening results. She has crowned it the best drugstore mascara. Sorry Maybelline. There is a new sheriff in town. The score is a high 9.8 with points removed for the large tube. http://www.ladybuglife.blogspot.com/

Our other Birthday girl Peej from Monkey Posh talked about her love of the Covergirl's Fantastic Lash. She raved over the curved brush that managed to make her lashes long, lush and dark. It received a rating of 9. Peej also discussed her love of Gary Gulman. http://monkeyposh.blogspot.com/

Sarah from Mystical Beauty's Musings reviewed Maybelline Lash Discovery. It delivers most of its promises. It lengthens and defines lashes with minimal clumping(do not let mascara dry between coats) or globbing. The mini brush gets high praise for getting those hard to reach lashes. However the wand bent after the second use. The score was a respectable 8. The second mascara reviewed was Loreal's Voluminous Mascara. This one scored higher with a 9. Voluminous gave Sarah thick dark lashes with no clumping or irritation. She also highly recommends this mascara for contact wearers! Read all about it at http://blog.mystical-beauty.com/

Sweet Diva has recently joined the mascara gang with a bang. Her first post is titled "Like Ted Nugent, but with a Mascara Wand Instead of a Gun". I love anyone who can tie in crazy Nugent with a mascara review. Diva lets the readers know that she is fickle with mascara and deals with anarchist lashes. Her first review is for Bobbi Brown's Everything mascara. Miss Brown promises that this mascara will lengthen, thicken, and condition your lashes. Diva discovers that it does in fact give wonderful definition to the lashes but fails at thickening. It also smudges and clumps by mid-day. The conditioning promise is shady. Hell to the No....for this mascara. (Sorry...could not resist!) Rating a very low 6. The second mascara reviewed was Neutrogena Weightless Volume Mascara. This mascara is wax free which is supposed to prevent clumping. The best benefit: no smudges, no flakes, no smears, after fifteen hours of wear. Long and seperated lashes! This rates a high 9. Make sure to also check out Diva's Ormonde Jayne perfume reviews. They are wonderful! http://sweet-diva.blogspot.com/

Favorite quote from the review: "Thank goodness the package had these helpful instructions: “Apply to one eye and then the other.” I’ve been doing it wrong all these years, going back and forth between individual lashes on each eye. This cut my morning routine time by at least an hour".

Blogrenee reviewed several mascaras. The one that caught my eye....Fasio 3D+curl volume mascara. Was it first line "cult brand from japan" that hooked me or the orange snazzy tube? Well Renee had my attention riveted. The promises are pretty heavy:

The double effect of mascara’s first “Smooth and Separate” ingredient and “Volume and Separate” powder ensures individual lash definition with no clumping, adding volume to the entire lash line. Containing Curl Set Polymers that provide outstanding curl and hold, this mascara maintains lash-line definition until it is cleansed off. Micro Multiscreen Polymers provide strong waterproofing against sweat, water and tears and enable truly lasting color with no smudging. The original 3D peanut-shaped brush fits eye contours perfectly.
With no need to pinpoint location from the inner corner of the eye to the outer and down to the lower lashes, the “Curl & Separate” effect is perfectly achieved, with each lash made conspicuous.

Have I ever told you that I have a fondness for polymers? If you say something has special polymers....chances are I will buy your product. This might be the waterproof mascara that kicks Kiss Me off the winners stand. It also delivers on curl, length and thickness. No rating provided but this one sounds like a 10.

Renee also reviewed Shu Uemura’s Mascara Basic. It requires a lot of coats to achieve a dramatic look but if natural is what you are after....this is up your alley. It has decent lasting power and does a fine job of lengthening. Make sure to check out Renee's reviews for Dior Maximeyes http://blogrenee.com/?p=265 ! Visit her fabulous blog at http://www.blogrenee.com/

I hope I did not forget anyone! If anyone wants to join in our fun just email me at annieytown@yahoo.com
photo is from fashionspot and the graphic was designed by Katie at Scentzilla.

Some news:

I promise to update my links soon. Let me know if you want to be added!

Benevolent Blogging was a wonderful success! I am sending $50 to FINCA this week. Thanks for participating and I hope everyone had a lovely Mothers Day. Huge thanks goes to Katie for organizing all of us and being so damn cool.

Have a great sunday!!!

The Great Mascara Hunt: Lancome Hypnose and Revlon Fabulash

Review by cavewoman
Photos from ochkov.net and Revlon.com
graphic from Katie at Scentzilla

It is mascara madness indeed when I decide to review two mascaras at once! I had this crazy notion to try two mascaras in one day. I just felt like comparing eye-to-eye. So my choices sort of had to be kind of a bit similar in style, that is, I did not want to compare a volumizing mascara to a lengthening mascara, and I wanted to be fair in what I was choosing. And I also had this weird idea in my head (maybe because of yesterday's review for Fresh Supernova in which I stated that I had paid $25 for a mascara!) that I would make this comparison "pricey versus cheapie" and see what results I would get.

So, off to the mascara stash I went. I chose Lancome Hypnose and Revlon Fabulash for my comparisons. I've been wowed by both of these in the past and now I wanted to see if there would be any discernable difference. Plus I was going to go shopping with Annie, and I could ask her opinion too.

Onto the right eye went the Hypnose. As usual it gives great mascara payoff in practically no time at all. The brush is unusual in shape. There are actually 'sides' to the bristles and if you look at it from the tip end, you see that the brush has a squared-off shape. That's great for working the mascara into the lashes and also for coating lower lashes. I love Hypnose. It's just about perfect. No clumping, no need for combing, nicely thickening without goopiness, and decent length without dotting my upper eyelid. Hypnose gave my lashes a slight lifting effect, too. It's just good stuff.

Now to the left eye and Revlon Fabulash. This mascara also has an unusual brush. The bristles on one side are very short and on the other side very long. Again, it makes application very easy, the short side helps to coat every lash, and the long side evens out the application. I was able to build very respectably visible lashes rather quickly, and again no clumps, globs, goops, smears, or dots. I noticed a bit of the lifting effect with Fabulash, too.

Neither one of these mascaras flakes in the least. Both of them are wet formulas that make working through the application very easy. I like a wet formula because a second coat can be applied without the clump-and-comb factor. Fabulash dried more quickly than Hypnose.
When I was finished applying both mascaras, I chose an amateur for my first evaluation. The DH was nearby and I thought there would not be much better of an amateur mascara evaluator than he would be. He put on his reading glasses and looked intently at my lashes, taking his role very seriously. I asked him if he could see any difference between my two eyes. After a bit of studying, he said that the lashes on my left eye appeared to be a bit fuller. That was the Fabulash eye.

Later in the day I asked the same question of our Annie. She could not tell the difference between the two mascaras.

At the end of a very long day, I checked my lashes one more time. Neither one of these mascaras left a single flake under my eyes, no smudging, no dots, no post-application clumping, and no uneven wear. Both of them are easy to use, with well-styled brushes that help to coat all lashes and even out the coating. Both of them are easy to remove with my Almay pads. Both of them are excellent! All that needs to be decided is price. Hypnose is more than twice the price of Revlon. And with the weekly drugstore specials on cosmetics, it's worth the wait to stock up on Fabulash when it's on sale. I don't need to buy Hypnose anymore. I am glad I acted on my wacky whim and tested these two together. I may even do this again soon, with two more mascaras.

Product ratings:
Hypnose: 9
Fabulash: 9

Disclosure: These products were purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman

The Great Mascara Hunt: Fresh Supernova Mascara

Review by Cavewoman

photo from Sephora and a picture of a supernova from wps.av.com
The supernova is called Supernova 1994D in the outskirts of the galaxy NGC 4526.
Graphic from Katie at Scentzilla


Pretty packaging always grabs my attention and turns my eye. I like girly things, cute things, unusual things, and when I saw the Fresh Supernova mascara box I did not hesitate. Off to the checkout at Sephora I went, plunking down the $25 without blinking an unmascara'd eye. Supernova! The name promised super lashes. The shiny black box, decorated with delicate white swirls and red and white stars, had me convinced that Supernova could perform lash miracles on my stubs. Inside the box, the black matte, rubbery-feeling tube was girly-cuteness to match the box. I'm pretty sure that much of that hefty pricetag went into the packaging of this mascara. The tube is just a delight to have and to hold.
But a cute package and a pretty container do not always mean a well-made product with good performance. So I brought home my new mascara and set out to see if I could have superlashes with Supernova. I liked the long, thick brush with no taper, and the bristles were spaced well enough to show that plenty of mascara was loaded onto the brush without having to work the brush inside the tube. Supernova was super easy to apply with no dotting or flaking, and I was able to achieve a nice lift on my straight lashes and decent length too. Nothing outrageous, no Liza effect, and very little volume or thickening, but a nice sooty darkening because Supernova is very black. I did not have to apply coat after coat to get beautifully separated and defined lashes, and I did not need my mascara comb because my lashes did not stick together even after a second coat. Later in the day I checked how the mascara was performing. No flakes! No clumps! No more 'lift' either, but I never expect my lashes to stay lifted, and they don't, whether or not I even bother to curl them. Most of the time I don't.

I am very pleased with Supernova. It is not perfect, because I got no thickening or volumizing with it, but it did lengthen a bit. There was no smearing, flaking, or clumping at the end of the day, and it was easily removed with my Almay Non-Oily Eyemakeup Remover Pads. And even though the packaging is adorable, I would not repurchase. I'm sure there are better mascaras out there (for less greenbacks,) maybe not so pretty on the outside, but that will build thick, long, lush fringe. I'm still in search of. I'll be reporting as I search.

Product Rating: Cuteness, a perfect 10.
Product Rating: Performance 7.

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman

Another friend had a birthday yesterday.

Here are her hints:

1. She is a NYCer
2. She has graced the cover of the NYTimes
3. She appreciates a great grilled cheese sandwich
4. She was amazed by the Galliano look-a-like at Barneys...but was too shy to take his picture...and I begged.
5. She owns a fab pair of Pucci shoes
6. She encourages "caving" on beauty products and knows her way around any NYC Sephora
7. She might be Parisjasmal's long lost sister!

Happy Birthday! I hope your day was great!

Can you guess whose Birthday it is today?
Here are some hints:
1. She is creamer deprived
2. She often covets gay men
3. She loves beautiful shoes
4. She owns a Dr. Mcdreamy mug
5. She rocks the ponytail

Have a wonderful and amazing Bday!!!!!

The Great Mascara Hunt: Rimmel's Volume Flash Instant Thickening Mascara

Review by Cavewoman
photo from Rimmel.by
graphic from Katie @ Scentzilla


I am an equal-opportunity mascara tester. It does not matter to me the name of the brand or the price, or where I find it. Drugstores, discount stores, department stores, or Sephora, I will try them all! And so today I am reporting on my experience with a drugstore/discount store brand called Rimmel London. Kate Moss has been the 'face' of Rimmel for some time now, and her eyes always look so exotic and beautiful to me, so of course I'm thinking I can achieve that same look if I buy Rimmel. Isn't that what advertising is supposed to do? I succumb.
My Rimmel choice was Volume Flash Instant Thickening Mascara in Black. "Super-charged lashes, in a flash" said the package and the tube. Sounded good to me, since it takes forever for me to build anything close to super-charged lashes. I wouldn't even mind if it took more than a flash or two of my time!

I curled my lashes and opened the red, chubby, stubby tube. Volume Flash is a very pasty-thick mascara that has a brush with a tapered end, and the bristles are spaced well- enough apart to coat the lashes and yet close enough to keep the lashes from clumping together too much. I applied the mascara to my right eye, switched to the left eye, and repeated the process. This mascara dried quickly without dotting the skin around my eye, and I did not need a comb to separate my lashes. I was pleased. The curl did not hold very well after an hour or so, but it never does, so I was not put off by that result. What I did notice, and was pleased to see, was that this mascara dried down to a very velvety, non-glossy finish. Sort of sooty, I'd call it. There were absolutely no globbies or blobs at the tips of my lashes, and my lashes did not feel stiff or crispy. My lashes felt as if I had no mascara on at all. At the end of the day, I was pleased to see no flaking at all. Rimmel Volume Flash is a very dense product and it took many Almay pads to remove it. But it stayed where it was supposed to stay until I removed it.
For a few bucks at the drugstore, this is a worthy mascara that really does give good, fast fringe. It's one of the blackest blacks I've tried. I don't look much like Kate Moss, but I have lashes. Nice ones!
Product rating, 9.

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman

Happy Mothers Day!

Katie at Scentzilla asked me to be a part of Benevolent Blogging. Today a group of bloggers will make a donation to a charity for every comment left in their mothers day post. I joined for many reasons but the main one is Miss Katie. I have never met her personally but she is one of the best mothers I know. So friends & lurkers post in my comments and visit my fellow bloggers below. If you do not have a blogger account and normally post anonymous...I need you to put a name somewhere in your post.

Visit Benevolent Blogging for the list of fellow bloggers participating. For whatever reason I can not get the code to work and my head is starting to pound.

Here is the link: http://benevolentblogging.blogspot.com/

The Great Mascara Hunt: 2nd Week Wrap-Up

Weekly Mascara Wrap Up with the Mascara Madness Bloggers(EDITED):

Beautiful Makeup Search's Beauty blog has reviewed Benefit's BadGal Lash and Revlon's FabuLash. BadGal's big brush surprisingly left no clumps and little smudging. It got high marks for great dramatic lashes and fair price at $19. Its score is a high 9.
Revlon's FabuLash was a bust and received a low rating of 2. It has a unique sparse brush but leaves lashes heavily coated. Even after she pumped and primed the mascara for a second go it still performed very badly.
She has pronounced it " Fabu-not!"
I love these type of reviews!
Visit this amazing beauty blog: http://www.beautifulmakeupsearch.com/blog2/

Kristen at Beauty Addict ranted about "runt siblings of great mascaras" that are included in gift with purchases. My rant is for the bronze lipsticks and lipglosses. My collection was massive until I became friends with a bronze lipwearing co-worker. She is now stocked for a lifetime. I have never had a great gift with purchase. Have you?
Visit K at: http://beautyaddict.blogspot.com/

Elke at The Beauty Newsletter tracked down Cover Girl's Lash Exact Mascara due to the raves from Lucky magazine. Elke found it to be "glumpy"(another description that needs to be copyrighted!) and dry. It took her three coats and the effect was spidery.
Read Elke's other past mascara reviews. She gives thumbs up to Lancome's Hypnose and Revlon's Fabulash.
Visit E at: http://beautynews.blogspot.com/

Tbone at Brain Trapped in Girl's Body might have finally cracked the davinci code on why Maybelline's Great Lash is a favorite with beauty professionals:
"when you need to break out some mascara for touchups at a show or shoot, you need it to be new so you don't go spreading pinkeye among models"
The great mystery has been answered.
Tbone had high praise for L'Oréal Voluminous. She called it the "gateway mascara bridging the gap between drugstore and department store mascaras."
It is great but not so great.
Then tbone visits Barneys with one of my favorite people on the planet who she calls F. Others know her as "felish delish."
F schools her on YSL's Faux Cils and it changes our tbones life. Dior Show saunters onto the scene and turns tbone's head.
Then tbone shares her real secret for incredible lashes.
What is her secret? You gotta go visit and look for yourselves.
http://braintrappedingirlsbody.blogspot.com/2006/05/my-life-my-eyelashes.html#brainwaves

Capital Hill Barbie has joined the mascara blogger gang. Her Holy Grail mascara was Maybelline's Lash by Lash. Alas it is gone and all of us understand the pain of a great product being yanked from the shelves and other lesser products being allowed to live. So Capital Hill Barbie begins her quest for a new holy grail and we will all read her journey....
http://caphillbarbie.blogspot.com/2006/05/big-love-for-lashes.html


The Daily Obsession discusses the infamous Maybelline’s Great Lash. This is the most popular mascara according to Allure and every beauty poll out there. No one knows why this is.
Check out Daily's take on the classic: http://thedailyobsession.wordpress.com/2006/05/09/maybelline-great-lash/

Future Ohio girl Koneko's *Mostly* Beauty Diary discusses the wildly popular Blinc's Kiss Me Mascara. I have said it before and will most likely say it again....this mascara is worth all the hype.
Direct quote from K's rave:
"The results are what you would expect from a mascara. Nicely defined lashes, with just a hint of volume and more emphasis (in my humble opinion) on lengthening. Makes sense, as if it were too thick, it would dry very weirdly, and the tubes ultimately formed could prove to be problematic, not pretty! It lasts through the day, and it doesn't budge. Not a bit. I have cried with it. Slept with it, swam with it, showered with it (just don't run your eyes when you dry off!) Because of it's non-smearability ( ha, I like making up words!) and lengthening qualities just about everyone raves about how ideal it is for the bottom lashes. "
Rating was 9.5
http://beautydiary.blogspot.com/

Toya at The Life of a Ladybug also tackled the legendary Maybelline "Not So" Great Lash. My favorite quote from this review:
"It's not as ridiculously ineffective as L'Oreal Panoramic Curl, but it did not make me have a mascara-induced orgasm."
Cause its all about curl action and lash orgasms when it comes to a great mascara. She rated it at a 4. She saw some lift and length.
She did fall for other Maybelline lash products. Toya rated Maybelline's Sky High Curves at 7.5 but it was her other mascara review that stopped me in my tracks. She rated the Lash Discovery Mini Brush in soft black a very high 9. She needs to copyright the phrase "mascaragasm-heaven".
Is this not perfect? This mascara moves to the front of my lemming list.
"I will have what she is having"
http://www.ladybuglife.blogspot.com/

Peej at MonkeyPosh reviewed Chanel's Cils a Cils and Urban Decay's Big fatty Mascara.
The Chanel was fair and rated a 7 while Big Fatty scored a respectable and high 9.
The UD mascara survived Chicago rain and a nerf ball with no clumping, running, flaking and smearing. Make sure to check out its curling properties. Peej has lashes that are like fans.
Favorite quote:
"With a name reminiscent of a certain herbal ciggie, and the very posh Pucci-esque packaging, what is not to love about Big Fatty Mascara already? I mean seriously--I loved it before I even opened the box. It had me at hello."
http://monkeyposh.blogspot.com/

Katie at Scentzilla went on a mascara posting spree with reviewing her favorite lash products.
Physician's Formula Retro-Glow gives her the look of false lashes and emphasizes every lash. The mascara comes in a cool looking victorian tube that could be tricky to handle.
Another quote that needs trademarked: oomphasizes (a combo of oomph and emphasize)
Other lash products from Physicians are not worthy of testing. Their Lash In A Tube was deemed awful. Here are my favorites from K's brillant review:

What is the brush like?
K's answer: the brush is so huge it seems to have been sized for the eyeballs of people straight out of Margaret Keene paintings

Does it flake?
K's answer: prone to flaking off like so much asbestos on a 1970s popcorn ceiling

What about other mascara products from the line?
K's answer: looks like I just coated my lashes in some random dark gunk I pulled out of a broken sink drain

Katie also reviewed:
NYC Lengthening Mascara, Smashbox Layer Lash Primer(thumbs up), and Revlon's Lash Fantasy. I leave you with this final great Katie quote:
Alas, if this is a fantasy, then it’s the fantasy of someone who is so timid they can’t be expressive even in their own dreams.
http://scentzilla.com/

Debra at She'll Be Feverish After So Much Thinking reviewed two mascara's. The first being Prescriptives False Eyelashes. Debra has been cursed like myself with poker straight lashes. This mascara gives her lift and a bit of curl. Other pluses are a plush brush, velvet color, natural finish, and no clumps or spikes. The only drawback is some smudges under the lower lash due to the size of the brush. Sounds like a winner and future purchase for me.
Ulta's Maximum Volume Soft Curl Mascara performed very badly. The formula was dry, had stiff bristles, and just gunked up the lashes.
Pass this mascara by when you visit Ulta. It only rated a 5.
http://after-so-much-thinking.blogspot.com/

Newest member in the mascara madness bloggers is Sarah at Mystical Beauty's Musings. Looking forward to reading her reviews soon!
http://blog.mystical-beauty.com/

Renee from Blogrenee has also joined the mascara gang. She recently reviewed L'Oreal's Double Extension mascara. This one was very difficult to apply due to the medium size brush with the bristles placed far apart. Product was lost in the crevices. Renee did feel the product delivered what it promised. 7
0% thicker and longer lashes.
http://www.blogrenee.com/

Check out Gigi at Beauty Jones review for Maybelline's Lash Discovery. She breaks it down for us. It lengthens and defines lashes, the mini brush is a great invention and gets the hard to reach lashes, no clumping and long lasting and contact lens safe. It was a huge thumbs up! Way up! http://gigigoesgaga.typepad.com/beauty/

The Beauty Brains posted a very interesting post concerning how mascaras work. Scroll down to the May 11th post.
http://thebeautybrains.blogspot.com/

If I missed anyone please contact me and if anyone wants to join drop me a line in the comments or email me at annieytown@yahoo.com.

Mother's Day Fragrance Musings:

I grew up surrounded by Estee Lauder junkies. My mother and Aunt Frances loved Lauder fragrances and skincare. My mother's holy grail fragrance is Knowing. There is no other. I tempt her with Bonds and other niches but she will not budge. It is her holy grail and that is final.
My Estee HG was a toss up between Private Collection(this is quite possibly the best green fragrance ever produced) and CP Perfectionist(skincare). That was until yesterday when I tested Pure White Linen.

This is an updated version of the Lauder classic. It shares the original's main notes of aldehydes, rose and crisp greens but stirs in fruits such as grapefruit, italian mandarin, raspberry, pear and granny smith apple. These additions make the scent effervescent and bright. The fragrance also has my beloved note of cardamon along with white ginger, iced rose tea (finally! Someone has heard my pleas concerning rose tea scents. Make more of them!), white freesia, red tulips, honeysuckle, gardenia petals, jasmine, iris, osmanthus and a touch of tuberose. This is a lovely mix for the mid notes. The drydown consists of white cedarwood, patchouli and white heliotrope. I have been falling under the spell of heliotrope. I find myself loving anything with the note.

This is a perfect spring fragrance. Just lovely and feminine.
It would make a great Mother's Day gift....if you do not snag it first or pretend to lose it so you can keep it.
1 oz/30 ml EDP $35, 1.7 oz/50 ml EDP $45 and 3.4 oz/100 ml EDP $65
Available at:
http://www.esteelauder.com/splash.tmpl?ngextredir=1
http://www.gloss.com/home/index.jsp

Do you have a favorite Estee Lauder fragrance? Let me know in the comments.

*picture of Estee Lauder from gettyimages

Pictures from my last NYC trip:
window from Bergdorf Goodman, Beauty Addict's grilled cheese sandwich from TAK and my French CanCan being poured from the urn at Caron.

Its all about the Pottle.
This week has been hectic and stressful.
What got me through it?

The fragrance called Luctor et Emergo.

What gets you through a rough week?

The Great Mascara Hunt Project: Yves Saint Laurent's FauxCils

Review by Cavewoman
Photo of YSL with Loulou de la Falaise & Betty Calroux from gettyimages
Graphic from Katie at Scentzilla

This review is dedicated to my product guru, ChattyKathy. She has sung the praises of Yves Saint Laurent FauxCils mascara for so long that I think I had an earworm from her voice! Kathy has never steered me wrong. When she says a product is great, she's right. Because of Kathy, I've found and loved the legendary Marais liquid and cream foundations, Paula Dorf cream blushes, and Shiseido Hydropowder in Whitelights eye shadow, just to name a few.

I caved on two tubes of FauxCils, basic black (of course) and also #3 which is a dark but bright ultramarine blue. I tested the mascara in the blue shade for this review. Inside the elegant gold tube, I discovered the longest, lushest, fattest mascara brush I had ever seen. FauxCils promises volume, and I set out to get some good blue fringe. The brush was easy to use despite its size, and soon enough I had nicely coated lashes with a slight lift and no clumping or spiking. FauxCils did not require coat after coat and stroke after stroke. The product coated well, the blue shade was noticeable but not weird or creepy or theatrical. I was able to build good lashes, not really thickened much, not really lengthened much, but I was very pleased with what I saw. My lashes were well-separated and even after the mascara was dry, my lashes did not stick together or look fake or unnatural. FauxCils did not volumize as much as I had hoped, but it did not cake or 'dot' my skin, and my lashes looked beautiful. What I liked best about FauxCils was that it did not take long to build visible lashes, and at the end of the day it was easy to remove with my Almay pads. I did notice a bit of flaking under my eyes at the end of a long day, but the flaking was minimal. FauxCils stayed on very well after a 16 hour day. I don't require that kind of longevity very often.

I bow to ChattyKathy for insisting that I try YSL FauxCils. I can't wait for her next product recommendation.
Product rating, 8.

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviwer, Cavewoman

Congrats to the following bloggers who were featured in WWD's Beauty Biz issue this week. Special thanks to Lauren at WWD who created a fantastic spread of blogger gems. There are more great beauty based bloggers in my links. These links are how I begin each morning. I read the blogs and have a cup of coffee with vanilla nut creamer. Some people do not know the joys of the vanilla nut creamer. By people...I mean Parisjasmal.

http://beautyaddict.blogspot.com/
http://www.delush.com/
http://www.ebeautydaily.com/
http://jackandhill.typepad.com/
http://www.product-girl.com/
http://blog.nadinehaobsh.com/
http://www.tiawilliams.net/blog/
http://scentzilla.com/
http://www.shaveblog.com/
http://beautynews.blogspot.com/

*Special thanks to Christina at Ebeautydaily for the scan of WWD and Gigi at Beauty Jones for sending it to me! And thanks again to Lauren from WWD for really doing an amazing piece on all of us!

The Great Mascara Hunt:Max Factor Lash Perfection in Deep Blue

Review by Cavewoman
photo from Eopinions
graphic by Katie at Scentzilla

Patty and Patti have made an amazing discovery! We have found out, through testing, that the Max Factor Lash Perfection in the color Deep Blue does not flake like the black shade does! Now honestly this does not make sense, and we don't know how it happens, but I conducted a side-by-side testing when Patty mentioned that she wears the Deep Blue shade and it did not flake on her. It's true! Patty sent me the Deep Blue to try, and I am so happy with it! It darkens the lashes almost as well as the black, the blue is hardly detectable, but it coats the lashes evenly and doesn't clump at all, just like the black version. But after an entire day of wearing the Deep Blue on one eye and the black on the other, the difference was clearly evident.

So, I have to rate Max Factor Lash Perfection in Deep Blue as a perfect 10! Thanks to PattyG for pointing this out to me and for providing me with the Deep Blue!

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman

Sweet Tea by Elizabeth W

I have been wanting to try Elizabeth W's scent called Sweet Tea for a solid year. I am a tea fragrance fan so the mua raves were slowly starting to kill me. A kind soul sent me samples and I was finally able to test several fragrances. I decided that I would take the samples to work and see what my co-workers thought. I thought it would make a very cute blog entry.

My co-workers all chose Sweet Tea. They went nuts. They talked of Lipton tea with wallops of sugar. They loved the sweetness. They starting eyeing my vial.

Sweet Tea's notes are oriental black teas, amalfi lemons and almond honey. It is a great summer fragrance perfect for hot july days in Ohio. If you have been to Ohio in the summer...you know what I am talking about.

The second well received fragrance was a surprise. The office chose Leaves.
Leaves has a woody base of atlas cedar, sandalwood, amber and greens. I was startled by this choice because I work in a office with floral fragrance wearers. Michael Kors is huge along with Vera Wang and Dior.

My co-worker Sue greatly enjoyed Magnolia. Sue stated that the fragrance smelled exactly like her blooming magnolia tree. Sue has a green thumb and was the one opinion I was after. She was impressed with the quality of all the scents. Her personal favorite was also a surprise. Sue loved the vetiver. It is balanced with bergamot.

Elizabeth W offers a full range of products from triple milled soaps to bath oils. My lemmings are the Sweet Tea bath gel and the Asparagus candle.

Visit the Elizabeth W site @ http://elizabethw.com/

30 thumbs up from Ohio!

Disclosure: A press sample of this product was provided by Elizabeth W