D.I.Y! Y? Because we want to!

                                                               Park

So here's something you might not know about me. I heart crafts.  I like psychotically love crafts.  I'm one of those obnoxious people that looks at stuff in trendy stores, rolls my eyes and says "I could make that myself".

I know, it's super gross.  But, if you're completely honest, don't you secretly want to scoff at things in Urban Outfitters too?  Thought so!

Well welcome to an ALL DIY LINKS! Time to make your friends jealous and/or make people a bunch of gifts that they will graciously pretend they like because you made it so they have to (oh the power we DIY'ers have)

Let's start this off with a woman who is my personal style hero: Paloma Faith! Faith's music is amazing and her style is so balls to the wall bizarre that I've wrecked many a glue gun trying to make my own versions. (What Renee Made)

Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer: Never Creases To Amaze Me

Dixie

There are few cosmetic mishaps that I despise more than creased eye shadow. When you look in the mirror and see that the eye shadow you carefully applied that morning has migrated entirely into the crease of your lid, it's disheartening. It's like, I know I'm tired and ready to go home, Face. You don't need to produce enough oil on my eyelids to make sure everyone else knows it too.  Unfortunately, my Face never listened to me scolding it. So, I defeated it with the magic of MOAR COSMETICS.

Er, well, not at first. I've been through many an eye primer. Most of the brands I have used in the past simply didn't work. They just added another layer of oil to make my eye shadow slide into my crease, but with the added paradoxical benefit of not blending out due to the primer. Once again, Sephora samples to the rescue. I first discovered the Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer in a 500-point sample kit. After using the entire tiny bottle, I happily shelled out $26 for a full-size bottle.

Pro-Curl Tweezerman Eye Lash Curler: Serious Business

Metric Jenn

It was a warm summer day back in the year 2000 when I was over at an old friend's apartment, just drinking the last bit of instant coffee and lounging about. We were bored...the kind of bored that only broke university students can be. No money for anything, not even enough to go out to the cheap movie theatres. We didn't even have enough money to put gas in the car. Basically, we were beyond white trash poor. Even the tv was disconnected. This obviously leads to desperation: we decided to get drunk on the last bit of boxed wine and the shitty Coors Lite beers (left over from the asshole that brought them to the last party) and do each other's makeup.

The result of that night still resounds in my life today.

Hawaiian Tropic Aloha Kiss Moisturizing Lip Gloss

Pinky McLadybits

Influenster was nice enough to choose me over the summer for their Beauty VoxBox program. One of the items I reviewed was Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen SPF30. Influenster enjoyed my review enough to choose me as one of the winners of their Hawaiian Tropic Prize Pack. 

The prize pack included a beach towel, a t-shirt, a full-size of the sunscreen, and Hawaiian Tropic Aloha Kiss Moisturizing Lip Balm SPF20 in Island Berry. I was pleased with everything in the prize pack, especially the lip gloss. I already have two or three gloss/lip balm sticks in my purse, but I can always use something else!

Halloween Tutorial Part 2: Dude Looks Like A Lady

Rusty

My brother agrees to submit himself to my makeup skills to help teach people how to make a man look like a lady for Halloween.

Halloween Tutorial: Lady Looks Like A Dude

Rusty

With the assistance of common drug store makeup items, I turn my delicate feminine features into a paragon of masculinity. Featuring a special appearance by a cat.

Rimmel Extra Super Lash: Superman Does Good. This Mascara Does Well.

Pinky McLadybits

Yes, another Rimmel Mascara! Obviously it isn't that I don't like the other Rimmel mascaras that I have used, since they all rated quite well. It is rather that I would like to see if any of their mascaras are terrible. I want to see if the less expensive choices in their mascara line are as good as the more expensive choices. (Not that Rimmel is at all expensive. Less than $8 for any of their mascaras? SCORE!)

My latest pickup is Rimmel Extra Super Lash Mascara. It cost less than $3 and purports to "lift and build" lashes by being a "body building mascara". Let's have a look, shall we?

Rimmel London Glam'Eyes Day 2 Night Mascara: I Traded The Day For Night

Pinky McLadybits

Mascara is usually the only makeup I'll wear for stretches of time. It's all very tied into my strong conviction that without some very black mascara on my lashes at all time, I look like I have no eyelashes. It makes for a weird ginger-albino kind of look.

So, I really go through mascaras. I think those of you that have read this site for any length of time probably noticed my near-constant state of trying out different mascaras. There are so many brands, sub-categories within the brands, and promises to be made by the mascaras. It gets crazy. However, I seem to have found a new favorite brand, replacing the old stand-by of Maybelline Great Lash (which stinks terribly and irritates my eyes now).

Birchbox Treats: Japonesque Beauty Fixation Makep Remover

Pinky McLadybits

My Birchbox had a little card with two q-tips attached to it. "Have they lost their minds", I thought. Nope. The little cotton-tipped danger sticks were actually Japonesque Beauty Fixation Makeup Remover.

That's much better than a product people use in their ears while being specifically told not to put that product anywhere near the inside of their ears. It's also handier than my usual method of barely wetting the end of a q-tip and using it to scrape away morning mascara smears.

Vee Shows You: Prep Your Eye for Eyeshadow

Vee

Via

"Vee, what's the difference between eye primer and eyeshadow base?"

We've done a few eye primer reviews on Hot Ink (here, here, and here) but we've never talked about eyeshadow base.  I'm here to me drop some beauty knowledge on you.

Eye primers are made to create a barrier between your eyelid and the product you are wearing.  By doing so, they keep the oils on your eyelid from building up and causing eyeshadow creasing or fading.  The primer creates a smooth surface for your eyeshadow and makes blending easier.  Primers often will improve the vibrancy of your shadow.  Most primers are milky or translucent and will blend clearly on your lid, but you can now find some with pigment in them to be worn alone or to boost eyeshadow color.

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner: Save The Drama For Your Mama!

Vee

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner has gotten some good buzz around the beauty blogosphere for being similar to Bobbi Brown gel eyeliners but without the expensive price tag.  I'm always up for a drugstore dupe so I picked up a pot in Espresso a few days ago and gave it a whirl. 

I should have remembered that I hate whirling, twirling or spinning in general. 

These Lips Were Made for Talkin': Lush Honey Trap Lip Balm

Metric Jenn

Lush...oh Lush...Why can I never quit you, even though you give me a scent-overload headache every single time I enter one of your stores?

So of course you all know the story: Girl meets boy....errr...I mean lip balm. Girl pays a lot of money for lip balm because it's all natural and makes lofty promises. Boy...I MEAN LIP BALM does something stupid and breaks girl's heart/lips/wallet. I think this analogy totally went off the rails, and I've been watching too many early Sandra Bullock romantic comedies. Yeah, While You Were Sleeping has permeated my brain.

CoverGirl LashPerfection: More like "TrashRejection", Amirite?

Nora

My love for CoverGirl's LashBlast mascara has been documented here before, but upon a bored trip to Target one day, I decided to branch out the tiniest bit and try a different CoverGirl mascara. Read: CoverGirl LashPerfection Mascara was a dollar cheaper, and I'm broke, so I thought I would try it. I didn't think anything could go wrong; it has “Perfection” in its name, after all.

You'd think that I'd have learned by now that sometimes spending just the tiniest bit of extra money pays off big time in the end. For example: the $20 Brazilian bikini wax I once tried, dying my hair blond in my friend's basement sink, and buying CoverGirl LashPerfection mascara.

Cargo Bronzer: It Gets the Job Done-Kind of Like Cargo Shorts.

Metric Jenn

Hej! Glad att skriva för er alla igen! That means "Hello! Glad to be writing for you all again!" in Swedish. I've been slowly learning Swedish for the past year, and I still don't have the proper sentence structure down. And now you all are probably wondering WHY the hell would I be telling you this completely un-related story instead of talking about the Cargo bronzer I tried out. Well, to tell you the absolute truth? I don't have that much to really SAY about it that doesn't have a "meh" tone to it.

Keep reading, though, because of course my reviews are terribly amusing and worth it in the end.

Revlon PhotoReady Eye Primer + Brightener: Where Did You Get Those Eyes?

Tamatha

I may not be the best person to review an eye primer, since until about a year ago, I didn't even know this stuff existed, but I'm going to do it anyway.  I swear, back in the 80s, which was the last time I was in the know about make-up, eye primer was not a thing.

Recently, however, some of my lady friends on the Facebook (and here) have been talking about eye primers, and I thought I should check it out.  Considering the infrequency with which I wear make-up, I wasn't about to invest in a pricier eye primer (for ex., Urban Decay or Too Faced).  Luckily for me, when I dashed to CVS on New Year's Eve, fingers crossed that my old standby, Revlon, would have one, they did!  Enter Revlon's PhotoReady Eye Primer + Brightener.

Birchbox Treats: Eyeko London Skinny Liquid Eyeliner

Pinky McLadybits

We all know that I suck at being a girl. I can't keep my nail polish on my nails. I can only walk in certain types of high heels. I like playing with makeup, but I'm no expert. So I've always been afraid of liquid eyeliners and what sort of mayhem they would create with my unsteady hand and inability to draw straight lines. Especially one in a bold color like purple.

Imagine my fear and excitement when my July Birchbox arrived with Eyeko London Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in Purple! I was happy that I hadn't shelled out the cash for something I might hate (well, I paid the $10 monthly Birchbox fee, but the eyeliner retails for $15, so I called it a steal!). I was afraid that I would be passing along another high end product to someone better able to use it.

Rimmel London ScandalEyes Mascara: Monocles Popping Everywhere!

Pinky McLadybits

I just can't help myself. I have to try different mascaras. Sure, Rimmel London Sexy Curves Mascara was nearly perfect. I still need to keep trying other mascaras to find the perfect one! Of course, how will I know that it is the perfect one until after using all of the other mascaras...

I digress. I decided to stay in the Rimmel London Family and chose ScandalEyes Mascara for my next go-round. The packaging is orange and sparkly, the brush is supposed to be the biggest ever, and it was under $6. SOLD.

Sample Roulette: Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer

Rusty

I order from Sephora kind of a lot. Because of this I have a giant box of samples just hanging out, waiting to be used. This… is… SAMPLE ROULETTE. Due to the brief nature of the use, I will assign ratings as 0 (stay away) 4 (I liked it, but didn’t love it) or 8 (love it and will probably be dropping my own money on it in short order). Enjoy!

Tinted moisturizers, particularly those with SPF, are a godsend for women who enjoy a morning beauty routine that lasts under ten minutes. That’s me, except for the days my morning beauty routine lasts no minutes because once I get my teeth and hair brushed I call it “good enough” and sail out to the living room, because I am drastically under-employed at this time. But I digress. Stila’s Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer seemed like just the thing for the days I would actually have to interact with other people. 

Sometimes a Splurge is Worthy: YSL Volupté Sheer Candy Glossy Balm

Cindy

Once in a while, it's nice to splurge--amiright? While I tend more toward shoes than make-up, I was recently preparing to attend an overseas wedding (followed by a child-free vacation) and I decided to try something new. I picked the two items I thought I'd use the most and set off to my nearest (online) Sephora. 

The first thing I was looking for was a nice lipstick, but when I started searching by the best rated items, I came upon Yves Saint Laurent's Volupté Sheer Candy. Yes, that is a mouthful and yes, it does sound a little pretentious. But the reviews were grand and, though I've only picked up a few YSL items in my life, they were always well done. 

Stay With Me Always!: Rimmel Stay Matte Face Powder

MelBivDevoe

via Shopping.com

You guys.  YOU GUYS.  I think I finally found it.  The right powder for my incredibly-difficult-to-shop-for face!  

It's been a long journey to get here.  Let's catch up, shall we?  After my last diatribe about the confusing nature of the beauty aisle, I've spent some time trying to figure out what's best for my face.  I spend a lot of time indoors (I live in the internet, basically), so I wanted something to match my light skin tone.  I have a mostly dry face with oily patches on my forehead and nose (the t-zone area, if you will), so I wanted to stick with a powder as opposed to an oil foundation.  Something matte would work best, I decided - I didn't need anything shimmery or fancy.  I wanted makeup that would even my skin tone, but doesn't make me look like I've got a pound of slap on my face.