bunnyshop shopping fashion blog

Beauty Review: Dior Liquid Eyeliner

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Dior Liquid Eyeliner

What Sephora says its does: "An automatic, total-control pen eyeliner that delivers precise contouring and a flawlessly clean line. The click-action applicator with its soft tapered brush deposits just the right amount of color on the lids, guaranteeing an even line in just one stroke."

What we think: We generally don't like negative reviews, just as a lifestyle positioning point. We were reading through Amazon reviews of one of our very favorite books—We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver—when we found one that read, we shit you not, "the author likes to use some difficult words.  If this bothers you, you may not be interested in this." Oh, we don't know, but we just feel like if the problem is difficult words, the fault is not the author's. Anyway. We just don't get negative reviews—if we learned anything from our six weeks in PR hell, it was that the worst publicity is no publicity.

Hand-wringing aside, we found this eyeliner incredibly goopy and annoying. It was impossible to control, and then when we went to wipe it off, it just refused to budge, even and after we actually sponged our eyes with alcohol. Compared to our delightful (and much cheaper) Sephora liquid eyeliner, this was a disaster. We would have just left it alone—per our general anti-negativity position, or maybe our pro-positivity position—but we were so freaking annoyed that we had to walk around all day with mammoth raccoon eyes.

 

Stars(!): *  Argh. Dior Liquid Eyeliner, $30

The Daily Touch-Up: Reader Mail

In today's Reader Mail:

Dear BS,

This is going to seem like a pretty random question, but I must ask: How often do you touch up your make-up? I was just in the park and I saw this girl, at three in the afternoon, with the most perfectly made up face. I just can't bring a battery of make-up along to work with me. Am I in the minority here? I don't get it. What does everyone do?

Love,
F.

We know this type! We are always like, where do you get the energy from, to be adjusting and blushing and all this, all day long? We will say that when we leave the house, we will take with us (if we can find it) our Benetint, and that's about it. More general maintenance-wise, we stopped wearing mascara because it would just destroy us in a couple hours—though problem solved since we started wearing Fibrewig, hurrah! But other than that, there are just not enough hours in the day.

But we feel that we and F. may, indeed, be in the minority. What sort of make-up does everyone else leave the house with? Blotting papers? Finishing powder, pictured above? We're baffled.

Above: Make Up Forever finishing powder, $30

Today's Beauty Review: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

What Sephora says its does: "Packaged in a precious, genie-like bottle, Eyeshadow Primer Potion is an ultra-sheer, totally nude eye base that glides on with the wave of a wand and then disappears instantly. It's the ultimate eye prep for smoother, longer-lasting, crease-proof eyeshadow."

What we think: The reason we don't wear eyeshadow more frequently is because it all slips right off our eyelids. Totally, unbelievably annoying. This is the reason we don't own any eyeshadow. But we gave this an official test, and we at least saw a remnant of our eyeshadow four hours later. For us, this is a record. Is it worth $16? Probably. Maybe. We think so. We're not entirely sure.

Stars(!): * * 1/2. We know lots of people who would call this a favorite, so we're keeping an open mind. Maybe our expectations are just too high here. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, $16

Today's Beauty Review: Laura Mercier Creme Eyeshadow

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Color

What Sephora says its does: "Lush metallic color floats across the eye leaving a gorgeous, shimmering sheen. High metallic pearl. Waterproof, lightweight, and non-greasy."

What we think: We were all excited about cream eyeshadow after last week's huge success. But this did everything our Shiseido choice from last week didn't—but, er, in a bad way. It creased, it was hard to apply, it rubbed off in like twenty minutes. There were also only five colors to choose from. We were not at all amused.

Stars(!): * 1/2. We'll stick with the great Shiseido from last week. Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Color, $22

Stila All Over Shimmer Luminizer: Beauty Review

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer

What Sephora says its does: "Light up your look from lids to lips, cheeks to collarbones, with this lightweight way to add flirty sheen and luminosity to the skin. This Liquid Luminizer allows for added application control and will last longer than traditional powder or cream shimmers. The glass bottle has a built in brush for mess-proof application."

What we think: Let us begin by saying the part about "mess-proof" is just, we swear, completely false. We may act like an eight-year-old in public, but we are not so wedded to that role that we want to walk out of Sephora covered in luminizer, whatever that is, but that is exactly what we did. This shit got everywhere. And as far as the luminizing is concerned: A., we fail to recognize "luminizer" as  word. B., it just looked like glitter-face. Maybe we need to use a lot less, and be much more tactical about where we applied it, but. Still. Glitter-face. We're not sold, figuratively or literally. And we love Stila, so this was a bit of a disappointment.

Stars(!): * *. Eh. We want to be luminized, but this wasn't the product to do it for us. Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer, $22

Shiseido Hydro-Power Eyeshadow: The Beauty Review

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Shiseido's Hydro-Power cream-to-powder eyeshadow

What Sephora says its does: "Intense and lustrous, this dewy cream eyeshadow transforms into powder that creates a glaze of brilliant, shimmery color. Crease-resistant. Long-wearing. Color looks brilliant alone or in combination."

What we think: We never wear eyeshadow, because the whole thing is just too annoying: We put it on, and five minutes later, it's gone. (What is the problem? Greasy eyelids? We have no idea.) Sephora promised us better this time, and we have to say: The color went on nice and bright, just like we wanted, and it stayed on while we drove home, went to Baja Fresh, ate our taco, and then fell asleep. When we woke up, it was gone, but we're pretty sure it stayed on for at least an hour, which is a record for us. We like!

Stars(!): * * * 1/2 . We need to do further research (where we do not fall asleep at the end), but as far as we could tell, this eyeshadow lasted longer for us than any we can remember, and even pale colors looked appropriately bright. Shiseido Hydro-Power eyeshadow, $23

 

Today's Beauty Review: Kiehl's Facial Fuel

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Kiehl's Facial Fuel scrub

What Kiehl's says its does: "Our efficient and energizing skin buffer sloughs away dead surface skin cells and other impurities from the face. Made with highly effective scrub particles derived from Apricot Kernels, this super scrub alleviates roughness and helps break down tough facial hair for a closer, more comfortable shave, while minimizing ingrown hairs and other skin irritations related to shaving."

What we think: Er, so as all the, like, facial shaving references above might suggest, this is from the men's line. We've had it for ages, after getting it on the recommendation of a Kiehl's staffer, but never used it, partly out of laziness and partly out of a concern that it would be too rough for our non-male skin.

We finally broke down, and we are glad we did, because we thought it was quite fantastic, and though we're not entirely sure if it was, indeed, too rough, all we know is that our skin is really very soft now (aided in part by our Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream) and we would use it every day if not for the label warning to use it three times weekly, max, and, again, the laziness.

 

Stars(!): * * * * *. Soft skin! We're into it. Kiehl's Facial Fuel scrub, $16.50

Today's Beauty Review: Benefit Foundation

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Benefit's Some-Kind-A-Gorgeous foundation

What Sephora says its does: "This lightweight, translucent, foundation-like product smooths out imperfections and evens skin tone with a silky, smooth finish that's super natural and super gorgeous."

What we think: We hate, we just hate, foundation, and we hate it not just for our skin but for pretty much everybody's: It looks pasty, it looks creamy, it looks like just too much. We greatly prefer primer and some tinted moisturizer—we are a bit pseudo-science about this, but we always feel like foundation covers up flaws, and makes them worse (so you need even more foundation), while primer and moisturizer makes our skin feel healthier. So clearly, we were biased.

On first application, we felt like this was just one big foundation-y disaster: It looked gunky and streaky and fake. So we were quite annoyed, and we were thinking of taking it off, but then we realized our skin also looked a bit ... crepey, we think the word is, and we realized it was all a bit dry. We slathered on a whole lot of Philosophy's Hope in a Jar, and everything actually looked quite reasonable—at least reasonable enough that we didn't feel the need to remove it. And then we took the subway home to Fresco Tortilla Grill and as we waited for our tacos to show up, saw our skin, and it all looked totally even and nice. And it wasn't, as advertised, too heavy or anything.

Stars(!): * * * *. We would totally buy this, as long as bought the moisturizer along with it. Benefit's Some-Kind-A-Gorgeous foundation, $26

Today's Beauty Review: Cupid's Bow Lovely Lip Shaping Set

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Cupid's Bow Lovely Lip Shaping Set

What Sephora says its does: "Play up your pout with this lovely lip shaping set! Want a fuller effect? Highlight the area above your cupid's bow with the bow maker and define by shading beneath your lower lip with the pout shaper."

What we think: Okay, so we still have no idea how this works, and we tried very hard at it. Here is some more information: "Use the dual-ended pencil to highlight & shade, and the dual-ended applicator for precision application. Our step-by-step lovely lip-shaping lesson makes it as easy as blowing a kiss." But it was not easy! It was hard! Maybe we're morons, but we found the lesson ... let's say, non-explicative. So we used the shading part, and then the highlighting part, and there was barely any difference, and it felt like quite a bit of work, and honestly, we found whole thing rather overwhelming and pointless.

Stars(!): * * . And that second one is (a) half because we generally love Benefit so much, and half because we're definitely not above thinking that we're the big idiots here. Benefit Cupid's Bow Lovely Lip Shaping Set, $28

The previous Beauty Review: Dior Lip Maximizer

New Feature, Perhaps?

So yesterday was  apparently the day of beauty reviews! We spend far more time reading product reviews than we should - and we've learned that sometimes, it's just complete garbage. We haven't actually LEARNED anything USEFUL yet, which as one can imagine, is really annoying. We've seriously been to the Kiehl's counter 6 times in a month, and returned probably 10 products that we read were good. Jerks.

Here is where our potential new plan comes in. We are not experts, we fully admit this. And everyone can have different experiences.  But would it be interesting for us to review products suggested by you, our awesome readers? We'd have to be kind of selective - like we can't afford to go out and buy a tub of La Mer or whatever the fuck, just to see if it makes our skin feel nice. And we definitely wouldn't try anything dangerous, like LipoDissolve (as Lovely Friend so desperately wants, and we keep telling him absolutely not). But we're game to be your guinea pig, if it'd help. Plus, while we are far from scientific, 3 of the 4 people in our immediate family work in science, so we could try to help determine why something works (or doesn't). We can't be sure they want to be involved, but you never know.

What do you guys think about this? Yes? No? Should we just stick with randomly buying things and writing about it?

Above, Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment ($24) - the one new product we've actually really liked, reviews be damned.

-LB

BS Tries: Listerine White Strips

We have never had Chiclet-white teeth; honestly, we've never really thought about it. Someone very close to us once had their dentist try to upsell them on teeth whitening and we were appalled. Seriously, what dentist tries to upsell you? Ours only asks if we want nitrous, but that may be because we have given him the equivalent of a year of college tuition. But recently, we've wondered if we should make more use of our 2 hour long commute each day, and whiten our teeth while driving. Seems perfect, right? We decided to try the Listerine Whitening Strips; they dissolve in a few minutes, we generally like Listerine. What's the worst that happens, they don't work?

We trudged to Target on a Sunday afternoon (not advisable, by the way) and added these to our basket. We balked at the $25 price tag, but figured it was in the interest of science. Plus, whiter teeth! And they give you 56 strips, which does seem like an awful lot (it's really not, it's a 2 week supply).

This morning, we brushed our teeth as normal, and slapped these puppies on before we left the house. The foil packs didn't open, so we had to wriggle the sticky little bastards out. They're easy enough to apply, but holy mother of  the baby Jesus, they taste TERRIBLE. We figured we could get past the taste - they were easy to apply, clear, we could totally talk with them on. We thought the taste would subside. And then, then the feeling kicks in. It feels like your teeth are wearing sweaters made of gummi bear guts. Or rubber cement.

And the 5-10 minute dissolving they claim? Seriously? We clocked 42 minutes, do we get some kind of prize? We stopped counting them because we wiped off the remaining goo with a dirty napkin in our car because we could not handle it. 2 Diet Cokes and 1 bowl of cereal later, we can still taste it. But we'll try it again tonight. Ugh. Interest, science, etc.

Listerine Whitening Strips, $22.99

-LB

Today's Beauty Review: Dior Lip Maximizer

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Dior Lip Maximizer

What Sephora says its does: "Get luscious, full lips without injections or surgery. Pump up your volume naturally with this revolutionary vanilla mint flavored formula with instant plumping action. Rich in collagen, it also stimulates better collagen production in your lips, too."

What we think: So this was actually very exciting, we think. We were totally oblivious to the plumping part and instead put it on, over our Tarte lip gloss, to make everything all glossy and shiny, and we have to say, it did that super well. We remember seeing a Vogue cover with those super shiny, almost glassy lips and being, like, How do we do that? But this totally did it! It was perfect! And it lasted for longer than we expect from our shiny lip gloss things. (Er, until we had dinner.)

As for the plumping part: We didn't notice a tremendous difference except in how the mint part made our lips freezing cold, which was weird since it was also very cold outside. We're scared of ending up like Melanie Griffith or those weird Upper East Side women with the giant lips. So we're trying not to move too far in that direction. Not that this product did that.

Stars(!): * * * * and 1/2. It's just like being a film critic again! Without having to sit through Mad Money! Dior Lip Maximizer, $29