REVIEWED! Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara in Black

This review will be based on the travel-sized version of this mascara, which is 5.11ml/0.18floz versus the regular-size version which is 9ml/0.3floz. I received the travel sized as the 100-points perk at Sephora a couple weeks ago.

The description on the box says:

"Not since your first spiral perm have you been this excited about something that curls. Our protein-packed Supercurl Curling Mascara boosts, curls, and sculpts your lashes, while conditioning incregients like silky proteins, meadowfoam seed oil, and shea better keep them sleek, smooth, and feathery-soft."

Before we go into the review, I have to apologize for these photos. They were taken around the same type as the photos from the Peach Revlon Colorburst and both turned out with a weird haze. I, however, am too lazy to retake. Temptalia or Karla Sugar, I am NOT!

The packaging of the Supercurl Curling mascara is so pretty. I love the contrast of the matte black swirls on the gunmetal chrome tube. I always have a weakness for Urban Decay's packaging - while brands like YSL and Guerlain are classy and elegant, Urban Decay to me is the younger black-sheep sister who wears stompy combat boots and biker jackets.

The bristles are short and evenly spaced. I find this type of brush makes it easier to apply to the shorter lashes although I personally don't bother with my teensy lower ones.

The bristles are close enough together to deposit mascara onto the lashes without much wiggling, which is a problem I have with some mascaras (looking at you Too Faced LashLight!!). However, I don't find that it's as volumizing as a longer denser brush.

The brush itself curves slightly which is suppose to contour to the eyes and I guess "sculpt" the lashes. It looks and sounds good in theory but I've never found it particularly helpful. I prefer to do my own "sculpting" by hand, moving the wand this way and that until I've evenly applied mascara along the entire span of lashes.

I will not be purchasing this mascara again. First, I only use waterproof mascara as they hold a curl much better than any non-waterproof mascara, even the ones that claim to curl. This mascara does not currently come in a waterproof version. Secondly, I don't find that this curls any better than other non-waterproof mascara formulas I've tried. It also doesn't do anything for me in terms of length or volume.

I think if you already had a good base - long, dense lashes that hold a curl - then you'll love this because the black is VERY black. I compared this against my L'Oreal Voluminous Lash mascara in black and I could see a difference. Once held up against the Urban Decay mascara, Volminous "black" looked more charcoal.

So there you have it. I recommend spending your money on Urban Decay's buttery-smooth long-lasting 24/7 eyeliners instead.

The Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara can be found at Sephora for $20US/$24CDN. Travel size is available on the UrbanDecay.com website for $9US but US shipping only.

REVIEW: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Bourbon

I'm not much of an eye pencil person. I prefer liquid liner, specifically the felt-tip pen type. But being a "makeup enthusiast" (new phrase?), I do like to have a few to round out my collection. And some of those few are actually one and the same.

What I mean is...

This is my 4th, yes fourth Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyeliner in Bourbon. My first one came as part of a 2008 holiday 5-eyeliner gift set called "Velvet Rope" (read original review here). My 2nd and 3rd came as part of Urban Decay's 2009 Summer "Get Baked" palette (read Makeup & Beauty Blog's review here). All 3 previous ones were travel sized and quickly used up.

Recently I purchased my fourth and perhaps final one. And I have to make it clear that the only reason this may be the last one is to give other eyeliners out there a chance. But if I was left on a lonely island with one hot firefighter and one pencil eyeliner? I'd stick with the UD 24/7 Glide-On in Bourbon.





I love the packaging. I love that the cap and end are metal, that the color is metallic. I'm also a fan of Urban Decay's gothic font these days.

Below is the ever present Revlon lipstick as a size comparison. This full-sized version I would keep at home. UD frequently releases smaller versions of their eyeliners as part of gift sets. The holidays are right around the corner, so this is the perfect time to pick one up!



Bourbon is described as a "glimmery dark brown" on Sephora's website. I would describe it as a chocolate brown with fine specks of gold glitter.

In short, it's BEAUTIFUL.

The longer winded description is that this eyeliner goes on buttery smooth, is long lasting, and gives just the right amount of sparkle. I hate liners and shadows with too much glitter you end up looking like a disco queen. I also hate liners that pull at the soft skin of your eyelids. I also also hate liners that line the lid of your eye because they have absolutely no staying power.

Which is why I love the 24/7 Glide on Pencils. Why Bourbon? It's the perfect transition between my daily eyeshadow and my daily eyeliner. It's that friend that gets along with everyone.



My default look is two eyeshadows - one lighter, one darker - usually in some variation of a brown or champagne and then dark black liquid eyeliner. I sweep the lighter color over my lids, then the dark color on the corners. Bourbon is perfect just above the black eyeliner to soften it out.

And if I'm going dramatic or need something very long lasting, it's also soft enough to act as a base shadow for a similar shade as shown below.

Isn't it beautiful? I think this particular color works well on all skin tones, light to dark, pink to olive to yellow.



The full size is 0.04oz/1.2g and sells for $18USD/$22CDN at Sephora.

Because You're Worth It

It's no fun because down all the time. Especially with Spring just around the corner! I wanted to follow up yesterday's Negative Nancy post about overpriced cosmetics, with a writeup on the products I think are worth their price.

You'll notice the products I chose are no where near the prices of the items mentioned yesterday. Once you're over a certain price point, I feel like you're just paying for the hype. Until I see it in a science journal, I'm not going to believe it's worth $500 for a eye cream because of "secret space-technology"!

Disclaimer: This is just the experience of my complicated combination drama-queen skin so don't take it as the end all, be all.



♥ Nioxin 4 System for Fine/Thinning Chemically Treated Hair I inherited very fine and thin hair from my father. Coupled with years of dying black hair bright red, blond, etc., my hair is nothing to smile about. I have tried many volume and conditioning treatments and the only thing they do is gunk up my hair. To be honest, I'm not 100% sold on the shampoo and conditioner in the kit, yet but the Scalp Treatment works. It's a foam you pump near your roots and brush in (I like to massage it into my scalp instead). After a couple weeks, it seemed like my hair was falling out less and thus fuller. There is a number for every type of hair, from Natural but Fine/Thinning to Chemically Enhanced and Thick/Coarse.

♥ L'Oreal Lash Boosting Serum
If you want to grow your lashes, this absolutely works! Just dab it along the lash line nightly. For me, it took about two weeks to notice a difference. For now, it doesn't seem to make my lashes thicker but it has definitely grown in length. There's also a mascara from the same line which I have not tried yet. Ardell makes a lash serum, too at about half the price. However, I found their formula very irritating when it accidently gets into the eye.

♥ L'Oreal Visible Lift Serum Absolute Foundation
I was on the lookout for a new foundation a few months ago and ready to splurge on the high end brands like Armani and Dior. My problem is more with the colors than the formulas. I usually stay away from drugstore brands as they're hard to try out and often times too pink but I kept seeing this product hyped by people with similar skin color. It was indeed a perfect color match but even better is the amazing staying power. I don't know if the lift serum also works as a primer but this baby stays on all day and provides excellent coverage.

♥ Urban Decay 24-7 Glide On Eye Pencils
These are not really a secret. Urban Decay makes amazing eyeliner colors but where they stand out is in the ability to glide on like a gel but stay on like a regular pencil, if not better. I love Bourbon, a shimmery dark brown and Oil Slick, which is black with silver glitter. They're $18 a pop but there's currently a 15 year anniversary set of 15 pencils and a sharpener for $92. I doubt you'll need to purchase another eyeliner for quite a while!

♥ Persagel 10
This thing is INSANE! I've only seen 5% in Canada but in the US you can get 10% at any drugstore. The extra 5% makes a big difference. It's a small tube but a little goes a long way. This thing literally burns the acne off your face. Sounds horrific but it works. Very drying but did I mention it works?!

♥ Redken All Soft Shampoo & Conditioner
I love the smell of Redken All Soft. It's like a creamy coconut. Mmm. Not only that, it really does make your hair very soft. There is a few other items that are part of the All Soft line including a deep conditioner. I find the regular conditioner already very moisturizing but in the dead of winter, the former is a godsend. As with the rest of the Redken line(I've pretty much tried all of them...even the Fresh Curls line I got on sale!) this does not leave my hair feeling heavy.

♥ GHD Classic 1" Styler
My Asian hair is relatively straight but unlike some lucky girls, it's not perfectly straight. I would call it lazy hair. It doesn't want to hold a curl but it doesn't want to just lie flat. The GHD styler is solidly built, heats up in seconds, and can straighten my hair with a single pull down it's length unlike some cheaper versions. It's also very gentle despite the temperature of the ceramic plates and my hair has never fried. There is also a 30min auto-off feature and international voltage for you jetsetters. The CHI straightener also has great reviews but there seems to be complaints that it likes to break right after the warranty period. Might be one to look into if budget is a concern, though.

You may also want to check out this post I did on my winter essentials. All are items I think are worth repurchasing, too.

REVIEW: Sephora Beauty Insider Haul

At the beginning of this month, Sephora held a 20% off Saturday morning event at their Bloor Street location for all Beauty Insider members (their rewards program). Badly needing some essentials, I wrote a list the night before and set my alarm for an early weekend morning (BOO-WHOO!!).

The event was held prior to regular hours from 8:30-10:00AM. There was starbucks coffee, juice, fruit, and baked goods to be had. I arrived just after opening with the following items on my list:

1. Foundation
2. Concealer
3. Mascara
4. Primer

I walked around the store for an hour, picking up and putting back numerous items including Bare Escentuals primer, Lancome Definicils mascara, Make Up For Ever High Definition foundation, etc. Finally I called the boyfriend to ask if he wanted anything and arranged to meet up at 10AM. With that deadline, I became more focused in my search. I ended up with 6 items and not ONE of them was a recurring squatter in my makeup bag!

I didn't want to make a post right after as I find reviews done with only one or two uses (or sometimes just swipes!) of a product are neither accurate nor helpful. Now after a few weeks of consistent use, I feel I can give you a better review of my purchases. So here goes!!


1. Vincent Longo Lip & Cheep Gel Stain in Cupid's Breath
I have been looking for a lip stain for the longest time. I've tried Benefit's Benetint but the balm version is simply a tinted lip balm and the bottle version has a useless nail polish type brush. I've also tried lip markers but the product always dries up after a few uses. This stain comes with a sponge-tip applicator just like regular lip glosses. The color is buildable; a light sweep just gives you natural flush but a few layers gives a beautiful brownish deep red (great for Asian skin tones!) which reminds me of silver screen sirens from back in the day. The only downside is that the stain is very drying. Putting balm on BEFORE applying will block the stain from...well, staining! So after application put on a balm or gloss to keep your lips moisturized. This product is very versatile, I keep this at work so I can look natural during the day and apply a few more times before going out for after-work drinks!


2. Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner set in Velvet Rope
I am so impressed with Urban Decay. I used to love it in high school with all the funky colors and glitter but eventually grew out of it. I recently just came back to it and am so glad I did. This set is $35 and is approximately 3/4 the size of the regular pencils. It claims to be smudge-proof. When I applied it I immediately noticed two things. It is incredibly PIGMENTED, and SMOOTH! I usually hate pencil eyeliners but this has changed my mind. However, my experience is that smooth and pigmented equals smudgy. THIS IS SO NOT TRUE!! After wearing for an entire day, even the deep black one did not smudge one bit! I have a MAC eyeliner in the same incredibly black shade and it smudges like crazy. I may just go back for the other set which is more blues and greens. I highly recommend these as gifts. Great price, incredible quality!


3. Shiseido Dual Balancing Foundation in O40
For the past couple years, I've been MAC liquid foundations and Everyday Mineral loose powers. I first started with liquid Studio Fix SPF 15 in NC35 then moved on to Select SPF 15 in NC37 which provided slightly lighter coverage. Both were good but not GREAT, slightly too yellow. I've long forgotten what shades from Everyday Minerals I had mixed together but I don't like highlighting dry winter skin! The Shiseido Duan Balancing shades are I = ivory, B = beige, 0 = ochre from 00 = pale to 60 = deep. Ivory is very fair and beige is too pink. I picked 040 for my medium Asian skin. It looked GREAT in the stores, finally a perfect match. Unfortunately in the past week I've noticed that it's actually a shade too light for me! I have stopped using bronzer (ran out!) so this might be emphasizing it. In terms of quality, I really like this foundation. I have combination skin and this has indeed done a good job of "balancing" my skin. While I still do get the oily forehead, it combats it like a powder foundation would. I rarely use my MAC blot powder now. The formula is also very smooth and thinner (although still providing medium coverage) unlike MAC. I give this a thumbs-up!!


4. Cargo Blu Ray High Definition Mattifier
I am so in love with this mattifier. The first time you try it, you might be scared. It comes out in a poopy light brown. However, once you blend it into skin it's completely clear. If you have tried Smashbox Photo-finish Primer, this one is more matte to the touch. When you're blending, you can slightly hear a sound similar to running your fingers over paper whereas with Smashbox it feels a bit more silky. However, this is actually a GOOD thing if you've got anything but dry skin. Two great things about this: 1) It feels light and mattifying 2) Does not bead up when you layer with foundation, moisturizer, etc.!! The price is also excellent at just $24, one of the cheapest compared to other popular brands (Makeup Forever, Smashbox, Bare Escentuals, etc.)


5. Tarte 4 Day Stay Lash Stain in Black
YUCK! HORRIBLE!! Imagine if you put your lashes in a dehydrator and turned them into chips. Sounds nasty? Well, that's what you get with this! Supposedly a 4 day lash stain, the formula is so thin it almost feels like I'm applying ONLY the brush itself to my lashes! Finally after a few coats it goes on but with NO curl, NO volume, NO length. Then the next day when you wake up, you see a slight shadow under your eyes. After a shower? A wanna-be Panda! If it's not going to stay on, at least let me take it off! This went back the very next day! I'm going to stick with just waterproof mascaras if I want staying power from now on.


6. Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer in NSA
I never use concealer. It's too much hassle and never really conceals. Yes, it's probably because I'm doing it wrong but it's too much effort to do it right (flawed logic? maybe. reality? yes.). This is where the 24/7 Concealer pen comes in. I tried this in the store and the consistency was VERY smooth. The product is very pigmented (full coverage) yet feels light. I bought it in NSA which is a deep beige for medium to dark complexions according to Sephora. In reality, this would NOT suit dark skins. I am an NC35-37 in MAC (medium shade) and this is just right. This is so easy to use. I simply make a couple lines over any blemishes or dark spots and smudge with a finger tip until blended and covered. Then I put my foundation on. Voila! Fully covered, natural, light, AND lasts all day.

All in all, the trip was VERY successful. I stuck to my list instead of buying more lipgloss and eyeshadow and every product I kept is now a key player in my daily makeup routine.