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