Clinique All About Eyes, $29

The best way to get the skin around your eyes looking lovely is to moisturize and get a good night's sleep. Well, we can't always sleep how we want (or, you know, how we feel we should--I, for one, love staying up late), so sometimes we need a little help. I have undereyes prone to blue circles, and a job (and hobby!) that involves staring at a glowing rectangle for hours. I felt like the perfect candidate for a cream that promises to "reduce circles and puffs."

I got a small size (0.21 oz.) of Clinique's All About Eyes in their High Impact Lashes Set ($20) that comes with mascara and makeup remover (reviews to come!). The regular size (0.5 oz.) is $29.

The first thing I noticed was its texture--it's very thin but super soft and lightweight. It immediately soaked into my skin and left it velvety, not oily at all (I hate that oily feeling some creams leave, especially eye creams). I used a tiny bit before bed and woke up with considerably less puff under my eyes. I put it on again in the morning and my eyes felt and looked even smoother throughout the day. I've been using it twice a day and I'm loving the results.

That being said, I still have darkness under my eyes, for which my genetics and skin tone might be to blame. I still feel the need to wear concealer, but All About Eyes does help that concealer work better by leaving a smooth, moisturized base.

Final verdict
Cost: $29 for 0.5 oz., $47.50 for 1 oz., or for $20 you can get a set with a small-sized cream, mascara, and makeup remover.
Texture: Lightweight, incredibly soft, not oily at all.
Effectiveness: I found that it moisturized my skin and reduced puffiness, but didn't really lighten my darkness as much as I hoped.
Repeat offender: This is my favorite eye cream I've tried. I love the feeling it leaves behind, its lightweight texture, and how it diminishes my puffiness, even if I need a little concealer, too.

Psst, like my nails? Konad Nail Art--will show more later!

-T

Sephora Collection Peach Beige 13 Eyeshadow, $12

First off, Happy New Year to everyone! After a little blogging break we are back and ready to review a whole bunch of new products.

I received this sample eyeshadow from a fairly recent Sephora purchase and wasn't too thrilled with it initially. I just thought it was a boring neutral that I probably wouldn't want to use much. But lately I've really been into wearing a neutral yet blended eye with a simple black cat eye so I thought I'd give this a go.

On its own, this shadow is pretty basic as you can see, a nice simple peach/beige color, true to its name. But when you blend the crease of your eye with a nice brown or shade in another darker color, this shadow is the perfect base color.

Final verdict:

Cost: $12 for a full size eye shadow. The size pictured here is smaller than the actual product but if you'd like to see what the full-size looks like you can see another Sephora Collection Eyeshadow I reviewed a few months ago, Tango Night.

Texture: The shadow is a nice soft texture which makes it perfect for blending.

Quality: I was very impressed with the quality and the lasting power of this eyeshadow. I wear it with a primer underneath and it doesn't budge. I usually use a YSL brown eyeshadow to shade my crease and the Sephora Collection shadow matches up perfectly to the high-end shadow.

Repeat offender? I will definitely be buying other Sephora Collection eyeshadows in the future.

-M

China Glaze Mummy May I, $2-5

China Glaze's Mummy May I is from their halloween collection (pretty appropriate for this week!). It is a dark cherry/black polish speckled with pinkish purple sparkles.

Mummy May I has a pretty thick consistency and requires 2 coats at least. Anything more might be too goopy. I don't really know why this polish is more thick and globby than others but it is. You have to be more careful and mindful about how much is on your brush.

I love that it goes on exactly as it looks in the bottle after two coats. The first time I wore it, it chipped in a day! I was a little disappointed but this time around I took the precaution and used a basecoat.

Final verdict:

Cost: This polish can be found anywhere from $2 to $5 depending on where you buy it.

Is it only appropriate for halloween?: Definitely not! I wore this polish along with a little black dress to a wedding. It is a fun way to wear a dark polish without it being a solid color.

Repeat offender?: I love the color of this polish but I don't think I'd buy it again. The thick texture and fast chipping turned me off but I wouldn't give up any new China Glaze polishes to try! I will continue to wear this polish but getting another bottle is probably out of the question.

-M

OPI My Private Jet, $6-$9

OPI's My Private Jet is a gray, off-black nail polish loaded with tiny, tiny bits of glitter (and controversy). It reminds me a bit of the 212 color, except a bit on the cooler side (less coppery) and with smaller pieces of glitter.


It's a nice deep color and the glitter gives it a lot of dimension. It may be dark but it's definitely not boring. The glitter/shimmer is mostly silver, though in the sun it has some (slight) color variations. It reminds me of the sun sparkling on wet gravel or cement. A little badass, but not too dangerous! The texture, of course, is amazing, easy to apply, and dries nicely. True to OPI, it doesn't chip for days and days.

Final verdict
Cost: $6-$8 (standard for an older color, depending on where you buy it).
Color: Dark gray with small bits of silvery glitter. It's like a cooler and more refined 212.
Repeat offender: I love this color and have already painted my nails a couple times with it. It's easy to apply (read: hides mistakes) and looks great as a dark neutral. Goes great with fall colors and will definitely transition into winter.

-T

CoverGirl Fresh Complexion Under Eye Concealer, $5-$7

Well, the going to bed late and waking up early has caught up with me. I needed a quick way to make me look more awake, so I bought some CoverGirl Fresh Complexion Under Eye Concealer (I think the shade is called Creamy Natural). It's packaged like lip gloss with a sponge-tip applicator, which makes it more portable and easy to use than a tube.

The concealer works really well. It's smooth and soft, and blends in evenly. A little bit goes a looong way with this stuff. Use less than you would think at first and then add more if you need it. It covers pretty well, so you probably won't have to use a lot. Like all face makeup, it's going to look more natural when used sparingly.

Final verdict
Cost: $5-$7.
Texture: Smooth and silky, and blends easily. It covers up the darkness under my eyes evenly.
Color: I was able to find a color that matches my skin tone pretty well, though they seem to carry only light to medium shades.
Repeat offender: I would definitely buy this again. It's a good concealer, and helps my eyes look a little more awake!

-T

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Professional Size, $29

By now, readers of this blog and everyone who knows me (or Tori) knows that we swear by Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion. We originally reviewed the product when we first started this blog and gave it a rave review and even a "where have you been all my life" tag. You can read the review Tori wrote of why this product is so great here. So when I saw that Urban Decay released a Professional Size version of my favorite beauty product I knew it was something I must have.

The Professional Size is a big tube full of the classic Primer Potion in the original nude shade. I prefer the nude shade to all of the other primer shades. The main difference between this and the original bottle is that this doesn't come with application wand. I find that the absence of the wand is actually a great thing! You get more product out of a bottle and you don't have to mess with the wand getting all goopy.

Since I used this product every single day this Professional Size is actually a great value for me. I get a lot more of the primer for $29 which is about $13 more than the original genie bottle. I think that this tube will last me longer and that I won't waste any of the primer. In the genie bottle I think that a lot of primer just gets stuck and doesn't have a chance to get out.

Final verdict:

Cost: $29 for a big tube. This is made for professionals but available for anyone to purchase.

Do you need any kind of tool to apply it?: I find that using your fingers is the best way to apply the primer evenly.

Any tips?: You don't need to use a lot of primer per eyelid. If you take a look at the third picture, I use just about that much primer for my top lid. I have big eyelids so someone else might need even less. I would apply a little less of that on my bottom lash line if I want to line beneath my eyes.

Repeat offender?: I would never buy the genie bottle again now that the Professional Size bottle is available, so yes!

-M

BY THE WAY: The nailpolish in the photo is OPI's Mad As A Hatter, from the Alice in Wonderland collection. I reviewed it here in January.

Kat Von D Perfumed Body Velvet in Sinner in gift set, $68

Kat Von D has two fragrances: Sinner and Saint. I got a deluxe sample of lotion in the Sinner scent, called "perfumed body velvet." (Ooo, sounds special!) Sinner is the more powerful of the two scents--musky, spicy, with hints of vanilla and florals to balance it out. The body velvet is available in this gift set.

I tend to be drawn toward more light, citrus, summery scents, but this one is really nice. The musk isn't too strong, and the softer undertones aren't overpowered. It especially gets softer as it sits for a little while. (I would still probably only wear it at night, or for a special occasion.) The texture of the lotion is super rich and creamy, and it does leave a feeling on your skin kinda like velvet! The great thing about a scented lotion is that it lets the scent linger a little longer and more softly than a perfume, so a little bit goes a long way.

Final verdict
Cost: Right now it's only available in a gift set (that has perfume, lotion, and a rollerball perfume) for $68 ($91 value).
Scent: If you like mature, musky, spicy scents, you will probably like this. If you're used to softer, younger smells, give it a chance! I didn't think I would like something like this, but I do.
Texture: The lotion is definitely high quality. You would probably only want to use it as a hand lotion--using it everywhere might make the scent a bit overwhelming!
Repeat offender: I would probably just use this scent for special occasions, so I probably wouldn't buy again. But, I would recommend it.

-T