Maybelline Falsies Mascara

Not too long ago, I praised Maybelline for their newest eyeliner, and still love it to pieces. And me, being one to try every single mascara you can buy outside of a department store, had to try their newest mascara, after my bestie said she liked it. I wanted to like it too. But after my usage - i'm pretty sure they named it "falsies" because false eyelashes are what you're going to need after you use this mess. My eyelashes were so crispy. and not full in the slightest! I wanted to pluck them out. I know we all have different eyelashes, and I need to remember to post photos - I'm gonna work on that. I may even come back and update this later this evening with a photo. But I plan on donating this tube to my best friend, and never purchasing it again. I don't even want to mix it with anything. I much preferred the Colossal mascara, and even it wouldn't make my top 5. Lash Stiletto beats them both by far.

Anyone else used any of the above? Would love to hear your opinions.

Hairstyles

I almost wanted to title this Hairstyles Unlimited. You know, 'cause that sounds semi-cool. Tack on unlimited to anything, and it does that... but in reality, my own hairstyle is indeed pretty limited. I'm sure the possibilities are pretty endless, but i just dont ever fix it any different. I blow dry it, or half-way blow dry it and leave it alone. Unless it's a special event...then it might see my large barrel curling iron.

Have you checked out that before and after picture in my sidebar? See where i had...bangs? They used to be super poofy. That was 10 years ago. I havent worn bangs since the end of my freshman year of highschool.

Until today. (Mind you, they got a little wet thanks the weather...) And the other pic is a year ago when i first cut them to even be side cut bangs. I huge puffy heart the length tho. And im always wondering how far im gonna let it go before i decide to change it.

today i just needed a change tho. That change was bangs. I uploaded it to facebook mobile about an hour ago and it has 11 likes and 7 comments. My friends are nuts. Most action a photo has had in awhile! haha Whaddya think, a nice change for every once in awhile?

 I think Angelina Jolie is my hair idol. She looks great either way! (Photos from Star)

Hair Product Reviews

I dont know why I dont just stick with a routine and use the same products continuously. I think recently has been the longest time I've gone without changing. I suppose I found some stuff I actually like enough not to try new things? Lol

First up, Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo. I've mentioned dry shampoo on my blog a few times...and Veronika recently reviewed this product also. I've also tried Rockaholic (my least favorite) and Big Sexy Hair (my fave! but it's pricey for a small can). Enter Tresemme:

Love it. I actually quite like the smell, and it does a very good job on my hair. Much better than Rockaholic. and it's like 5 bucks. which is way awesome.

Then there's Pantene Pro-V Fine Hair Solutions line...the Volumizing Spray Gel/Root Lifter... My first experience with root lifter was the Catwalk Root Boost. and well, i always fall back to comparing things to it, but have yet to buy another can. Note to self, ask for some for my birthday, haha

I like it. I could live without it. but i will probably buy it again. It's actually not much like a gel at all. in fact i was google for a spray and this popped up and i almost didnt think it was the same thing...but it is. I didnt take any before pictures or anything, but i use it every time i blow out my hair these days. And i do feel like it helps. And one time i got it in my bangs and they were super fluffy. haha

The last few times I've bought shampoo/conditioner, I've been grabbing the L'Oreal EverStrong Bodify

It's sulfate free, and my hair is fine these days, so i like to buy anything that will attempt to enhance it. But i would definitely recommend this shampoo. I dont know what else to say about it other than that I woudl recommend it. I love the way my hair feels, its less greasy...and i dont know what kind of positive effect sulfate free is supposed to have, but i like it.

Next, Sebastian Whipped Cream - I do usually wait to buy with coupons at Ulta.

I use this when i want soft waves for a few days. Day 1, I'll use this, blow dry, and use a curling iron. Day 2, this just gets scrunched into my hair. It's not crunchy, and it smells nice. Leaves my hair soft.

Last up - Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly - my most recent hair product purchase

I use this when im feeling lazy and dont wanna use a curling iron. I did find that when blow dryed with a diffuser, I like it. If i let my hair air dry, this does become a bit crunchy and stiff.

If you have any ideas for products for me to try, let me know!

And because well, It's been awhile since ive had a self portrait up...and i just got an iphone 4 and the new camera is pretty freaking cool... here's a photo. My hair was pulled back since the minute i woke up. I didnt even brush it. hahaha I just pulled it back. I took this pic 8 hrs later when i finally took it down and brushed it.

Dear Maybelline,

Dear Maybelline - thank you for making a super spectacular new eyeliner!!!!

Veronika loves her gel eye liner from Bobbi Brown... but i wasnt about to spend that much money on eyeliner. I've seen a few people mention MAC's eyeliner also, but i just wasnt sure about it. All i knew was that my purminerals and revlon pencils just werent cutting it in this heat around here. I'm outside alot for work and play, and my eyeliner was just smearing all over the place under my eyes. It looked AWFUL. Anywho - I was reading a magazine on my way home from Vegas last month (blog about that shortly), and it was either Glamour or Cosmo (cause i found something i wanted to try in both of them), and i came across the ad for Maybelline's new EyeStudio gel eye liner. I of course bought it in black. And now i want it in all 4 colors. It goes on super easy and it also blends really well. I use one my Revlon Beyond Natural pencil (in buff) with it sometimes when i wear it alone. This stuff lasts and lasts... I have softball practice after work some days, and my whole face was drenched in sweat yesterday - but my eyeliner - was in. tact. Incredible. And it's only like $10. even better. I love it!

New Hairstyle

For me anyway - it's probably not new to a single one of you.

I decided to take some fashion inspiration from my 14 yr old sister and part of what i got her for christmas...just not as extreme. She's getting some elaborate feathery headbands from Forever 21. Well, Saturday i went shopping with my bestie for a scarf, and happened to try on a headband myself. Loved it (strange!). Wasn't even considering paying that much. So went back to forever 21. I kid you not - all the cool ones were gone. Gone gone gone. Then bestie remembered there was an icing a couple stores down, so we went there, and i walked out with 4 completely different looks in headbands. I got a black sequined one that can be dressed up or down, a really shiny double row one perfect for a night out, a crazy swirled wire one that was just too cool not to get considering it was buy 1 get 1 half off, and then the one im wearing today, that basically looks like i pinned a metal flower in my hair. I think it's a cute touch for my otherwise plain work hairstyle. Check it out:  (it's actually more on the side than directly on top like this pic kinda looks like)

And if you have any other simple (keyword - SIMPLE) ideas for me...please say so. lol!

Follow-Up Review...

...to the dry shampoo. I like it. I guess i didnt shake it up very well on Monday. Or perhaps i should've sprayed it in the air or something to make sure it was coming out. I've never used it before, i didnt know what it was supposed to look like!! This morning it had more color/white/powdery look to it and i was like, well damn, monday was a waste. ha. But it works very well. im not going to make a habit out of using it, but i wanted to use it this week to make sure i liked it.

AND, I went to target yesterday. Lord help me, i bought another new mascara...Revlon DoubleTwist.

I had no idea what to expect, but i remember seeing the commercial for the 2 in 1 kind of brush. I used it this morning. It made my lashes happily thick, without clumping. It didnt add any length whatsoever, but the lashes are thick enough, im ok with that. And im perfectly happy not topping this mascara off with the lovely Lash Stiletto either. Which isnt the norm for me. But it's a good out of the norm. This new Revlon probably goes in my top 3 fave mascaras now. Keep in mind - i do not use mascaras that cost over $12. Been meaning to try a few from Ulta, but i dont go shopping the mall counters. This also rings true for eyeshadows and blushes. Why, i do not know. Because i will spend money on powder foundation and moisturizer. Probably because i wear them every day, and moisturizer is important.

If you have any mascaras you recommend - regardless of price range - let me know.

20% off at Ulta? Dont mind if i do...

I got the little mailer on Friday w/ my 20% off coupon. I planned on going Saturday. Coupon wasnt valid til Sunday. I went Sunday (more on that in a minute).

I had planned my trip to ulta with a mission to get some new mineral powder foundation. I'll try anything once just about - and so i had this massive collection of mineral powder foundations on my counter... So many, none that i lovvvvved, that i just started mixing them and making my own little concoction of powder... It was combo of maybelline, revlon, ulta, cover girl, and pur minerals (cause i dropped my compact, normally, this is not loose powder). was working ok. Then my bestie tried clinique powder - im not sure which one, but she has a hard time finding something that makes her not look orange. She liked it. It's bonus time. I thought - well hell, i wanted to try their mineral foundation too! So, i made a pit stop at Macy's prior to arriving at Ulta...My intitial thought, was holy crap that's a large container. But it's cool because you get to twist and grind your own loose powder and so it's not messy - at all. Huge friggin plus for me. So i grabbed it in Natural 2 and got my bonus bag and went on my merry way.

Powder review first : first full day wearing it was yesterday. I didnt touch it up all day. I got home, and it was still perfect. Buildable coverage, covers my red cheeks, I love it. No more mixing it up...sticking with this one. In the bonus bag (which was white with green apples on it) : mini bag, a small compact with pink blush and ivory & brown eyeshadow, Lash Doubling Mascara, Different Lipstick (in Spiced Apple), 7 day scrub, and Dramatically Different Moisturizer. The mascara - im not a fan of. Id tried it before with their last bonus bag it came in. I like volume in my lashes, and this gave me none. I could tell they were coated, but they looked thin. I used it again this morning, same results. I topped it off with Lash Stiletto (like i do just about everything - i like it better as a 2nd coat of mascara than i do as a first), and then it looked great. Surprisingly, i like the lipstick. it's a very soft red color, that when dabbed on, is almost sheer. I dont do red lipstick - but i will this one. Havent tried the scrub yet. I also tried to dramatically different moisturizer from their last bonus bag. Not my favorite moisturizer. Probably not even in top 5. I dont really like it all really. Id have to use it again to give an honest review, cause my memory sucks - but im pretty sure it actually made my skin kinda flaky. Daily - I use Estee Lauder Hydra Bright - it's my favorite by far.

And then i made it to Ulta. No more need for powder tho! But i wasnt about to waste my 20% off coupon. I grabbed my makeup removing wipes (they're way more convenient for me), and then wondered off to hair products. On thenest.com one day, there was a discussion about how often you wash your hair/washing hair after you workout. My response was - that i usually just wash the roots of my hair if i find them oily/dirty... I pull my hair into a ponytail with my usual part in my hair. The front layers usually fall out of the pony tail too and ends up getting washed. I stick my head under the bathroom sink or the tub and look down so the part in my hair gets wet, dab on a tiny bit of shampoo, and then rinse it. I spray on some volumizing spray, blow dry, and off i go. Its so much quicker, because i have really long hair. Well, Veronika asked me if id ever tried dry shampoo. I hadnt. Not that i hadnt tried to try it, because i had tried to find some, with no luck in recent years, and then well, i just forgot. So im browsing the shelves at Ulta and i miraculously saw a can marked Volumizing Dry Shampoo.Ya I grabbed it. I used it briefly yesterday just to see how it worked, and it looks promising. It did absorb some oil, and my hair wasnt flat - so i suppose it does what it says. Im not sure how long it lasts tho, or if i just didnt spray it as far back as i thought i did, because the hair near the back of my head was oily by the end of the day. But I cant wait to try it again. Also using Veronika's advice, I picked up a bottle of Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Serum. Used it this morning. Hello love. When people say oh she has such shiny hair or i see shiny hair in beauty columns, im like, what are they talking about!? I never notice/call hair shiny. But y'all - I've got shiny hair today. Shiny soft SMOOTH hair. It's beautiful. I did the same as Veronika and did not apply to my roots for the same reason she didnt - i like volume in my roots. It could just be the lack of humidity in the air today, but i dont care - hello great hair day today.

Let me know if you've used any of this stuff too - i dont think you'll ever get a post with so many links in it ever again.

New Domain Name!

I just bought www.iraceinheels.com.

But dont bother clicking there - yet. There's nothing there - yet. I seriously just bought it like 10 minutes ago. And I have no idea why. Well almost.

You see - I designed these shirts, the best selling one being "I Race In Heels."

I was also partly involved in getting this other forum for female racers going. And I have this blog. And while im not quite as active in the car world in recent months, it's still very much a passion of mine. In fact, just this weekend, my mom had her black 2002 V6 mustang over at our house to work on, and Justin was NOT in the garage by himself ;) We changed her fuel filter and O2 sensors and then found what caused her O2 sensor to go out - her exhaust manifold gasket and the idiot shop she let work on it last time. And I cut my knuckle on her car. You're welcome mom! LOL Oh and Justin almost smashed my wedding rings on the jack. I was under the car and didnt want to get them covered in fuel so i took them off and put them on the jack. I went back inside and came back out to Justin with the jack under the car. I was like WAIT! NO! I saved my rings. They're fine.

Back to the new site. I dont quite know what im going to do with it yet. I might have it point to the cafepress site. I might have it point to this blog. I might start a forum. I might make a splash page that directs to all 3. I dunno. Any ideas for me?

I do plan on redesigning a few more shirts. I dont think id ever make it to the point of just selling the shirts myself instead of through cafe press. I mean i guess i could? But that'd take a lot of upfront costs? Maybe in a few years. :-p I'm perfectly content right now and mainly just wanted to snag the name before no one else.

I googled it for a bit and came across a couple sites linked to my cafe press site. That's a cool feeling! Even if it was only a couple ;) And one site had an awful horrible copycat of my i race in heels shirt. And i think im going to go ahead and register my design with the copyright office, even tho technically it's ALREADY copyrighted the second i created it.

I spent more than $13 on jeans.

Let me first say - I dont get to wear jeans to work. Except some Fridays. I used to, but then we made this deal to get a golf cart, and none of my department can wear jeans. Which is actually perfectly fine with me - I love to look nice at work. Except, when i get here, i kickoff my fantastic heels and trade them for socks and steel toe boots that dont match my outfit. My boots brown. I mostly wear black slacks. On those days, i try and put my heels back on the minute i come back indoors - (I'm outside at least 3 times a day). So you see - I dont really wear jeans that often. On the weekends mainly. When i was in high-school, I used to wear the Levi's 518 Superlow Bootcut jean or a pair of Bongos or something. But mostly the Levis. I found what i liked and stuck to it. Im bad about that. My problem with jeans - is that im just not into the whole worn out torn up faded got holes in it styles. And thats mostly what i find. Call me boring. But if i wanted a $70 pair of jeans with holes in them, I'd buy the cheapest pair i could find and make the holes myself. I love Kohls. And Kohls has the SO brand jeans. I hate Kohls website, so i dont really know what to link you to, but it's a basic jean classifed as a "stretch flare." except it reminds me more of a bootcut, not flare, and their boot cut reminds me of straight. ya. But anyway - they are frequently on sale for $13 and i probably have 5 pair, 2 of the same color, and i pretty much rotate those same 2 out all the time cause they're so broken in and comfy. Well dangit - im going to Vegas. And I want a new pair of jeans. Did I mention im going to Vegas? I was getting my hair cut (see below post) last weekend and was waiting on my husband's mother to finish her hair appt and i just went walking the mall. I happened upon the Juniors department at Dillards. $69 jeans everywhere. oh look - Levi's on sale for $30. I dont dare try on the 518s. They're not very flattering to me anymore. I'm curvy. Good curvy. But curvy. Then i saw these. The Levi's 528 Curvy Boot Cut Jean. i was like - for reals?! And off i went to the dressing room. I only saw the dark ones. and some weird dark ones. and i want to go try to find this other lighter wash i see online... I got the dark ones. I love them. They fit fantastically. I'm trying to adjust to the darker wash and finding shirts already in my wardrobe to wear with them. But i look in the mirror and LOVE the shape i see. Must go buy another pair.

New!

got lots of new stuff. A new haircut, new shirts, pants, shoes, shorts, makeup. aaaaah. That usually means im going somewheres. And that somewheres this time is Vegas! Oooooh yes, Las Vegas. We got engaged in Vegas in April 2008. We're considering this trip our 2nd honeymoon since we left Disney early. i'll take it. I think we've pretty much traded & upgraded all of our camera gear since the 1st trip. Seriously. We dont have a single body or lens that we took last year, anymore.

this was taken from the Bellagio last year :


If you didnt go to Dillards within the last week - you totally missed out on a killer sale. It was like 40% off in addition to clearance prices. i snagged a pair of hot pink jessica simpson peep toe heels for less than 20 bucks. Justin got 7 polo shirts. and i got some pants and 2 shirts.

I got side swept bangs :



That was the day of the cut. They look different all the time. depending on how i swing my head. or the humidity. or whatever. But i looooooooove it. Had more layers added too. It was time for a change, glad i did it.

new makeup : http://www.purminerals.com/
My bestie and I went to Ulta - and it was the last day of this promotion. And usually im just like eh, it's a promotion, they're supposed to try and get you to buy this stuff. For some reason we were like what the hell, and let em tell us about this stuff. I like to wear mineral powder foundation daily, as opposed to liquid foundation (i use estee lauder double wear) for only special occasions. Well up until saturday - the loreal bare naturale had been my fave. and when i ran out of it a few months ago, i picked up oooh, the maybelline one, the revlon one, and the covergirl one...you know...just to try them. haha. well i didnt like any of them as well as loreal, and said what the heck, and tried the ulta one too. it was pretty good. but i still hadnt picked up loreal again, so i started mixing all the different ones i had together since it was loose powder anyway. haha! it's been working tho! quite well. except when i was outside at work and i would sweat - and it got clumpy or came off or both. so the pur mineral lady showed us this 4-in-1 pressed powder compact and put it on Mander's face. It went on light-weighted and covered her red spots. She also put on some kick-ass eyeliner. Which was what sold me. Cause when i sweat outside, my eyeliner goes away too. This purminerals stuff does NOT come off. It's like waterproof. i wore the powder and eyeliner all day saturday after my little mini makeover and at the end of the day it still looked great. And well, we got this eye shadow pallette and concealer brush for free too. haha. im not too impressed with the eyeshadows yet, but ill definitely never buy anyone elses eye liner again.

My Birthday. I dont have pics yet, but i have shoes.

We went to the Kemah boardwalk last night for my birthday. Thursday night is "Rock the Dock" and one of my favorite cover bands was playing: Texas Unlimited Band aka TUBS. I think I've been watching these guys play since I was a baby. They used to play at the Thorndale Cookoff (my hometown) all the time, but i dont think they have in recent years :( I didnt find out they were playing til yesterday, and we'd been planning on this for a few days, so i was really excited when i did find out who was playing. Everyone that went with us seemed to enjoy the band too! I even joked to Justin's mom that we should've hired them for the wedding! ha! We had dinner at the Cadillac Bar, which i actually spent my 21st birthday there too. funneh.

Justin got me a new case for my iphone, a new camera bag, Grand Slam Tennis for the Wii, and new shoes. His parents got me shoes too. and a new dress. and i cant find the dress online for nothing so ill have to take pics later. but it's a Tahari and it's turquoise and im just glad to have a dress in general, and then a dress that isnt black like everything else i own! HA! And im going to take this dress to Vegas with my new shoes and look killer this year instead of being all boring in my jeans and solid color fitted tshirts from kohls. im so over that look. and i mean take it to Vegas for dinner. not for daywear at the casino. cause im pretty sure i have more comfortable walking shoes than my new heels.

Here's my new shoes (im so excited to have brown instead of black! hahaha!) :

Michael Kors Fulton Platform




and Calvin Klein Dail Peep Toe Platform



FYI - both shoes. on clearance. 60% off at Macy's. discount coupons in the mail. extra 10% off w/ Macy's card. There's no way in hell I'd have let them spend $140 on one pair of shoes.

Yes, No, Maybe So

I used to do a good job at telling myself no. But i find myself fighting to do that lately. Like last week, I was at Ulta... I have a tube of Max Factor Lash Perfection in my purse and in my makeup tray at home. It's my favorite. I like to buy a tube whenever i go to Ulta, because they only sell this stuff at Walmart and Ulta and not the drugstores and i despise Walmart. But the last few times i've been to Ulta, they've been sold out of my favorite mascara. Well I'm a mascara whore. I dont need any more. But I totally hadn't tried Covergirl's Lash Blast yet, and insisted that i needed to. Only, I'd just seen the commericial for this last blast, and im a complete sucker for anything at all that's black and silver, the word no completely jumped ship out of my vocabulary, and i picked up a tube of black and platinum. It was either that or Maybelline's Lash Stiletto. I used this to top off my lash perfection at my wedding, and really liked it...but there...there i said no. Except, after Ulta, i went to Target, and it was cheaper there than at Ulta, and I just had to get it 'cause it was a deal right? That doesn't sound too bad... until you look at my makeup tray, and you also see tubes of mascara from Estee Lauder and Clinique and other Maybelline (the colossal, which by the end of the day, im picking off my eyelashes, but it looks good in the morning?), and that's only three I can think of off the top of my head, even tho i know there's at least 9 tubes there. Mascara shouldn't even be on my mind today, because I'm wearing my glasses. And it's extremely hard to put my mascara on without my contacts in because I'm THAT blind.

Hold up - I still had amazon open from finding that link for the Lash Stiletto... and this little gem was on the side bar...

The Ice Cream Ball

First of all, holy price range: Price:$19.50 - $227.40. In reading the "How It Works" paragraph, you'll find this statement - "The consistency will vary based on the ice, your mix, the outside temperature, shaking frequency, etc." So basically, if you live in Texas, I hope you like milk, or you're making this indoors with the AC cranked up high. Cause making it outside at "camping trips, at picnics, barbecues," is totally out of the question in these 90+ degree temps. Heck, it was hard enough to keep it frozen making it WITH electricity when i was a kid. If you know anything about making ice cream in Texas, just enlighten me please.

PS - I'm impatient, and when I want something, I would rather go pay $50 more in-store to get it right then and there than to buy it online and save $$$. But my lord, do not forward me email #1 two hours after you sent it, because I did not respond yet. Seriously? I have thirty something other people downstairs that im buying stuff for, and your first email has just not made it to the top of my to do list yet.