Les Tai Tai Model Mirrors (with LED lights?)

I hate mirrors during the day - I mostly avoid them. I figure if there’s something on my face, hopefully someone will have the decency to tell me (which is definitely not always the case - gah).

However, I saw these cute mirror compacts and thought having one might be not-so-bad (though I’d probably just show everyone how cute they are and never, ever use it).

Top of compact

Inside compact (with LED lights on)

According to Holt Renfrew, they are selling these for $39 - and would make a good gift for that friend that has unique taste!

You can find more designs on the Les Tai Tai website (though I personally dig the skull… hint hint… just kidding!)

BallBuster hand cream

One thing that I dig about the colder weather is… moisturizer! I love products. I own LOTS. In pretty much every scent imaginable (think I have at least 4 variations of vanilla, and 3 variations of a coconut). The winter season gives me an excuse (like I need one) to try all different kinds of moisturizers - and I think I found one that I absolutely need to try.

Corner Office Beauty’s BallBuster Hand cream

I am totally digging the name. The description of the product also seems pretty enticing.

Loaded with shea butter and natural hydrating oils, BALLBUSTER is easily absorbed by your capable hands. Green tea and aloe vera soothe so that, even after you’ve stormed the corner office, you will retain the youthful, deceptively delicate hands of an apprentice. Fragrance is a clean smelling blend of citrus and floral essentials oils - the sweet smell of victory.

You can find it at Well.ca. You can also find more information on their other products in an article on BeautyBuzz.

tasty lip balms

i have to confess: i have a fixation with lip glosses/balms/sticks/you-name-it.

After Katy blogged about her mini shipment of handmade lip balms from Martinsville Emporium, I had to get some too… who can pass up all those random flavours?

The jury’s out on whether or not the consistency is something that I dig (it’s pretty creamy, slides right on), but I am definitely excited that I have more lip stuffs to add to my ever growing collection of shinies!

Review: L’Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara

I love mascara - it’s one of my staples in my cosmetic bag. I have tried my fair share (Dior, Lancome, all different kinds of drugstore wands), and I seem to find safety with L’oreal’s Panoramic Curl Mascara - so when Matchstick offered to send me a trial of L’Oreal’s newest mascara beauty (currently in Europe, but is debuting here in the great land of Canada sometime in early December), I squeeeeeled.

As you can see in the promo shot, it has 2 ends. A nourishing end (white) and the actual beauty tubes side (black). I don’t generally dig using 2 types of formulas on my lashes (I am usually pressed for time) but I figured this would be the perfect time to give it a shot.

The science behind this particular mascara is that it lengthens your lashes by creating a tube around each lash (instead of just painting them). It’s an interesting concept, and ever since Kiss Me Mascara came out a couple years ago, I have been dying to try them (but was turned off by the price at $30 a pop).

My Thoughts

• Well, waiting for the nourishing white end to dry wasn’t as big of a hassle as I thought - and the idea that it helps protect and prepares my lashes was definitely a selling point.
• My lashes certainly did look much longer. They seemed to look considerably thicker, as well, which is definitely a plus because I have the dinkiest eyelashes in the world.
• Trying to remove them was… interesting. They came off pretty easily with regular old eye makeup remover (I used MAC’s Gently Off Eye and Lip Makeup Remover), and also came off with a couple rubs with a cleansing oil (MAC Cleanse Off Oil) without much of a fight. The weird part was that you could actually see little tubes on the cotton pad/your fingers. WEIRD. But, really neat. In a weird kind of way. Also, they claim that you can actually remove this with just water - I’ll have to test that also.

I think I may try the mascara on without the Nourishing end just to see how it goes - in case I am in a crazy rush (90% of the time).

Additional Details

This is available as of December 5th, 2008 at your local drugstores - you can find more info @ www.beautytubes.ca for only $14.99 (and with that price tag, it’s definitely worth trying - there aren’t many drugstore mascaras that dance this particular dance).

Conclusion

I’ve only had the chance to use this twice so far - and they didn’t send me a waterproof one, but I think that this particular mascara would actually stand its ground against my headliner, Panoramic Curl. It definitely makes more of a difference than any mascara I’ve ever used - and the price is certainly right!