My Love Affair with Clinique Lip Products

Clinique is by far my favorite makeup brand. While I definitely tend to stay within drugstore brands because of the price, but sometimes I'll save up some money and buy Clinique instead. Their products are great for your skin and they make you look great - nothing not to love.

Last year the Dartmouth Bookstore got a Clinique stand (tip for all you ladies going to Dartmouth next year) and I went a bit crazy. The wonderful woman working the stand knew me by name by the end. 

This is a review of my lip stuff alone, because I'm particularly obsessed with their lip products. 

Chubby Stick Intense in Curviest Caramel

I am completely obsessed with Chubby Sticks (including the eye ones -  that'll come on a different post), and my goal is to collect all of them (and I probably will). They are moisturizing while still having a great color payoff and in my opinion they are one of the best This color is my absolute favorite out of all of them, and I wear it more than every other lipstick I own. It's a gorgeous nude color, and the best way to explain it is that this is like your lips - but better. 

Chubby Stick Intense in Mightiest Maraschino

This is the most gorgeous pinkish/red color, and it's soft while colorful. I don't usually like pink lips but this one is incredible. 

Chubby Stick in Oversized Orange

This is a color I would have never picked out for myself, but the lady at the Clinique counter recommended it for my coral-colored dress. It comes out so gorgeous on the lips, and it's a great way to jump on the coral trend without going overboard. Definitely one of my favorites.

Chubby Stick in Chunky Cherry

One of my favorite red lip colors of all time, tied with the Revlon Lip Butter in Cherry Tart. This is a gorgeous red color that looks good on most people (I've given this as a present to both my mom, who is Hispanic, and one of my really good friends, who is Asian, and this color looks great on both of them).

Almost Lipstick in Black Honey

This is Clinique's best selling lip product of all time - and for good reason. The only way to describe this color is "sultry". It looks great on everyone - it almost adapts to your lips in a way that looks both natural and glamorous at the same time.

Different Lipstick in Spiced Apple

This is a great nude, every day color. This is the color that I use when I want to look professional (interviews, work, meeting the parents, etc), since it looks good and still adds a little something. 

That's my collection (for now - it'll definitely grow!). 

xoxo. 

Favorite Red and Blue Nail Polishes

In honor of the fourth of July, of course! I'm obsessed with nail polish and I hope this inspire you for some amazing nail polish looks. Note: I used the official "stock" photos of these, but they really don't do the colors justice. Look up swatches online and you'll see how gorgeous these colors actually are. 

Red

Essie Fishnet Stockings

This is my absolute favorite red nail polish (and up there in my all time favorite nail polishes of all colors). It's a gorgeous deep red that flatters every skin tone and gets compliments every time it is used. If you're looking for a good red polish, look no further than this. It is incredible. 

OPI Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It

This is a gorgeous orangey-red that I have owned and repurchased for a couple of years now. It's one of the first nail polishes that I bought, and every time I wear it I receive compliments on it. The formula is great and stays on your nails forever. 

OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress

This looks really pink but it's actually a very shiny deep red with very subtle fuchsia undertones. Another gorgeous flattering color. 

Revlon Brilliant Strength Seduce

This is a gorgeous candy apple red with a bit of shimmer. Fishnet Stockings (above) has very dark undertones, while this one is brighter and more playful. 

Blue 

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Blue My Mind

This is a very playful, multi-dimensional blue that would be perfect for the fourth of July. This color does not flatter all skin tones though, and it can be pretty overwhelming. I love to wear it for occasions that call for it (like a day party or a holiday) but it's not an everyday nail polish. 

Revlon ColorStay Blue Slate 

A very muted, gorgeous, work-appropriate blue color that I have worn to death. I love it so much, and now that I'm going to start my big girl job I'll definitely be wearing it more often. I'll be doing another post on work-appropriate nail polish soon.  

L'Oreal After Hours

I'm obsessed with navy. It's my favorite color in the world and I own more navy clothes than I own in any other color, and I'm planning on decorating my room in my new apartment in mostly navy and white (there'll be a ton of posts about that coming up). Coming from a navy lover, I can tell you that this is the perfect navy color. It's deep, rich, flattering, opaque, everything you could want in a color. I wear this far too often, as I do many other navy things. 

Essie Borrowed and Blue 

This is such a beautiful soft pastel blue, perfect for spring and summer days. 

Happy 4th of July!

xoxo. 

Mascara Review

I absolutely love trying out new mascaras. Mascara is probably one of my favorite makeup items, and I love trying out different ones and seeing what works - this post will be dedicated to different mascaras and how much I love them (or don't). 

Disclosure about my lashes: I have naturally really long curly lashes. While you may think that this makes me worse at reviewing mascaras, I actually think it makes it harder for a mascara to impress me, because it's really hard to lengthen my lashes and because I smudge really easily. So when I like a mascara, it means it's withstood the test of length, time, weather, and anything else that may cause trouble when it comes to lashes.

So let's get to it! This is a compiled list of the mascaras I currently have or have tried in the very recent past. Again, all opinions are my own.

Physician's Formula Organic Wear ($9.99)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

I absolutely hated this mascara. The brush clumps up your lashes, and the formula is so bad that it smudged within an hour.

Maybelline Great Lash ($5.19)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

This was the first mascara I ever used when I was 16, and I used it for many years before I tried other things. I know this mascara sells fairly well, partly to do with the price. This is nothing special - it doesn't lengthen very much and it smudges fairly easily. Definitely not worth the hype. 

Side note: the clear version is incredible for setting eyebrows, and it really holds them in place throughout the day. 

CoverGirl LashBlast ($7.79)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Another bestseller I don't really like. The formula isn't very good and smudges very easily, and I actually think the Great Lash mentioned above is a much better deal than this one. 

L'Oreal Double Extend ($10.95)
Rating: ★★★☆☆

This mascara lengthens your lashes so much that it makes you look like you have false lashes on. This is the favorite mascara of many people I know who have short lashes. I'm really not a fan of the formula, however, because it smudges, but the deal breaker for me really was the fact that it's so hard to take off, you take a few eyelashes off in the process. Even after that, you're likely to wake up the next day with raccoon eyes. 

Maybelline The Falsies ($7.99)
Rating: ★★★★☆

This mascara is such good bang for your buck. The formula is excellent and even the non-waterproof formula hardly smudges. The only thing I don't like about this mascara is the brush, because it can be a bit clumpy, but if you wiggle it a bit as you put it on then it works wonders. Definitely the best drugstore mascara I've tried by far.

Benefit They're Real! ($23.00)
Rating: ★★★★★

The single best mascara I've ever tried, and it breaks my heart that it doesn't come in a waterproof formula otherwise I would use it every day. While the formula is certainly good, what really makes this mascara the best is the brush. That brush will get into every single one of your lashes and will extend them endlessly, and the tip will get even your hardest to reach corner lashes. If you're wondering whether it's worth the investment, there's a $10.00 mini version (at the same link above) that you can try to see if you like it (hint: you will).

Clinique High Impact Waterproof ($16.00)
Rating: ★★★★★

My current favorite mascara and the one I use every single day (except for special night-out occasions when I'll use my Benefit one). The brush is great, the formula's great, and I have a long-standing obsession with Clinique. Nothing not to love here.

And that's all! I hope some of this stuff is useful next time you're buying a mascara - leave your favorites in the comments!

xoxo.