CoverGirl Disappointing Eyelights

As you can probably surmise from the title, I wasn't a fan of CoverGirl Exact Eyelights. I think it is overly hyped, messy, clumpy, and difficult to work with, without the benefit of full, pretty lashes.
I have loved coloured/tinted mascaras for as long as I can remember, because they do such pretty things to your eyes and are a nice way to change your usual day-to-day make up without being too drastic. Navy blues are great for a morning after not much sleep, as it brightens your eye area, browns and greys are a softer alternative to black, and plum is beautiful for gals with brown/hazel eyes, because it pulls the "muddyness" out.
After a long deliberation, I bought Exact Eyelights in the shade "black sapphire," and as far as I can tell, it's just a pale black with a bit of shimmer in it. The colour itself isn't anything special, I actually think it's very "ho-hum," and out of the corner of my eye, I can see the shimmer on my eyelashes, which I find extremely distracting.



Even at close range, you don't detect the "sapphire" that's supposed to be in it.

Now, I realise that in the pictures, my eyelashes don't look too clumpy- that's because I applied a coat of mascara, combed my eyelashes, applied another coat, and combed them again. To get my eyelashes to look moderately decent whilst using Exact Eyelights is too much work and impractical for every day use.



I particularly dislike the mascara wand, because I prefer the classic wands over the rubber, nubbly ones that are supposed to be better at preventing clumps. In my experience, the rubber, nubbly mascara wands cause more clumps than they prevent, and they're a bit difficult to work with.



Cost: $7.24 at Target.com
Grade: C

Lather, Rinse, Don't Repeat

I'm a Clinique gal, no doubt about. I've been using their skin care line on-and-off for the past seven years and it's one of the best, if not the best skin care lines I've come across. A few weeks ago, I got a full-size tube of Clinique's Rinse-Of Foaming Cleanser Mousse, which I was extremely excited to use.



The first three days I used the cleanser, I loved it- it did every thing that I want a cleanser to do, including removing all traces of that day's make up. However, on day four I noticed that my skin had become extremely dry, flakey, and red throughout my T-Zone. I was, understandably, distressed! You can't have lovely, flawless looking skin if it's red and peeling. At first, I thought that it was perhaps the colder weather we've been experiencing here in Texas, but after testing all of the products I had been using lately, I found the culprit: my Clinique Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser. Alas.



If you're like me and you have normal/combination skin, I'm going to go ahead and tell you to pass on this product. BUT, if you have extremely oily skin that does not dry easily, this may the perfect cleanser for you.

Cost: $18.50 at the Clinique counter
Is It Worth It: Not so much

Best Foot Forward?

I know you've all seen the commercial for the Ped Egg. It's egg shaped for ergonomic comfort and ease of use, boasts ~150 wee little blades, and best of all, has an internal reservoir to catch all your nasty foot shavings.
I was really excited about getting the Ped Egg, because I like foot mantainence to be as quick, easy, and painless as possible. I wear heels a lot and I'm on my feet all day at work, so I get those lovely little calluses that are annoying to get rid of. I bought the Ped Egg, hoping to be blown away by how wonderfully well it worked and how it made my feet feel baby soft and sandal ready in just a few short minutes. I had hoped that I could call everyone I know and enthuse about how amazing the Ped Egg was, but my expectations fell short. If I were to talk about how great I thought the Ped Egg was now, it would be in a very sarcastic tone.

The Ped Egg was awkward and uncomfortable to use, my hand cramped instead of being in a 'natural' position, and the callus shavings went everywhere in a fine, chalky dust. The stick-on emery pad you're supposed to use to do the fine smoothing with doesn't work particularly well and wears down very quickly.
Now, before you start thinking that perhaps I have mutant, dragon lady feet and that's why the Ped Egg didn't work well for me, hush your mouth. I spoke to several of my girlfriends and they all came to the same conclusion: The Ped Egg is a dud.

Cost: $9.95
Is It Worth It: No. Save your ten bucks, by some Sally Hansen Deep Callus Remover, and a good pumice stone.

A disappointing purchase

A few weeks ago, I started seeing commercials for Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick. I was hooked as soon as they said that it was last all day without being drying, since it was supposed to have a moisturising topcoat built in. I promptly went out to the closest Walgreens to find the perfect one for me to test out. I chose Top Tomato, a red, which to me is always the right choice, went back out to the car and started applying.
To say that I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. ColorStay has a doe-foot applicator, which I usually love, but I feel like a brush would have given better control and product distribution in this case. The doe-foot seemed to give a more pronounced line at my lip line and it was hard to fill in the center of the lip. I also found the ColorStay formula to be EXTREMELY drying and it made any lines in my lips stand out, making my lips look like they belonged to a 60 year old.
I dislike this product so much, that I'm not even going to post a picture of it being worn.

Price: $10.99
Is It Worth It? Absolutely not. Buy a nice matte lipstick and just use a base of foundation and you'll get much better results.