$25 Sam's Club GC Winner is...

Kate Freebie!

She has been notified via email.

Her Facebook Share entry was the randomly generated entry via Rafflecopter.

Thanks to Kate and everyone else for coming to the blog and making the giveaway a big success.

I really appreciate your participation.

I hope to have another giveaway very soon.

Don't forget to save money at Sam's Club by buying the products listed here.

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MyBlogSpark for providing

the product, prize pack, information,
and giveaway.

You can visit their websites by clicking here (links toward the bottom of the post, just above the Rafflecopter).



It's Potent! Eye Cream...Is It, Actually?

I detest my genetically inherited dark undereye circles. I'm forevermore trying to find a product that will help diminish them, if not make them disappear completely (a girl can dream, right?). They really age me and make me look like I'm tired and haggard. Doesn't matter how much sleep I get. Really, I've come to expect that there isn't anything out there to treat this, short of seeing a plastic surgeon, but I keep hoping that the great minds of cosmetic science will stumble upon the answer to this dillemma that a great many of us gals (& guys) have. So when the sweet rep at Ulta gushed about how fab Benefit's It's Potent! Eye Cream was, and how she herself used it with great results, I was suckered in.

My main eye issue is the darkness, not really crow's feet or such. So this review is centered around that aspect, not others. I will go ahead and tell you that it's super creamy, smells lightly nice, seems highly moisturizing, but it DID tend to sting my eye. It kept stinging many times even though I was very careful after the 1st time to make sure I didn't get it in my eye, just around my eye. 

I started using the product 4 weeks ago. I applied it to my right eye only (your left as you look at the pics) and had my left eye as my "control" eye (only my standard face moisturizer went on it). Oh how I hoped and looked and stared and wanted for there to be some change, some difference.

What do you think?

Yeah, I don't see any difference either.

*Sigh*

Another one bites the dust.

Save your $32 if you want dark circle reduction. If you want eye moisture & wrinkle repair, perhaps this might be a winner for you. I know a LOT of ladies swoon over this cream, as the reviews on Benefit's website will attest.

Maybe I'm just unlucky? Or didn't use it long enough? Or have rebellious skin? My sample has run out, so I can't continue to use it and see if more time gets better results. But I'll bet I'd have seen SOME change in 4 weeks if there was gonna be one.

I've got one more dark circle eye cream I picked up the other day that I'm about to start testing. After this next one, I'm done. I give up all hope that there exists a non-surgical solution to this problem. I guess I'll start saving up for a trip to my local dermatologist. By the time I save up enough for a procedure, I'll probably be old enough to need a complete face lift! Perhaps this next cream will be magical...but I doubt it. Until then, concealer is a girl's best friend!

How To Protect Your Hair From Heat Styling - Inexpensively

If you use a blow dryer, flat iron, or curling iron, you really should use a heat protection product. They are simple to use, yet they really help protect your hair from the damage that intense heat inflicts. You are not required to spend a great deal of money to protect your hair, either. Suave makes a fabulous heat protection spray that they claim to be as effective as Redken Hot Sets 22. It's called "Suave Professionals Heat Protection Spray".

Why I recommend it:

• It is pleasantly, lightly scented with a sort of fruity smell. It is not heavily scented at all.
• It seems to do the job effectively. I use it before I blow dry, spraying liberally all over my hair and combing through . It can also be sprayed on sections of hair before applying a flat or curling iron, although the directions specify that you should blast the section with the blow dryer to assure the section is not damp before using the hot tools.
• It doesn't weigh down the hair, nor is it tacky or sticky.
• It has a reliable sprayer, unlike the Pantene Pro-V Heat Protection & Shine Spray I tried, which simply sprayed out like a garden hose in very nearly a soaking stream.
  
(I detested that suped-up looking spray nozzle, which looked quite fancy but worked most horribly. It was also awkward on the wrist and made me feel as though I were doing wrist aerobics trying to spray my hair with that silly trigger function.)


• It is very inexpensive. You should be able to score this for a couple of dollars at your local discount store. Bonus: Suave is fairly consistent about putting coupons in the Sunday paper about once a month. Use one of those to save even more. 

So now that you are armed with the necessary information, you have no excuse. Get out there and get yourself some heat protection for those beautiful tresses!

Inexpensive Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Copycat?

I recently tried out a sample of Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer I picked up from those kind ladies at Sephora.

I'd never used a foundation primer before, so I was quite impressed with the way it felt gliding on. It is a silicone-based product...clear, slippery, and a bit like hair gel without the sticky. It's supposed to make makeup easier to glide on. It did seem to do this task with ease.

I smoothed it over my face, paying special attention around my forehead, eyes, cheeks & nose. These are areas where I have more wrinkles, crepiness, and larger pores...all things that a primer is supposed to help camouflage. It seemed to help with the crepiness a little, the pores a bit more, but not so much the deep wrinkles in my forehead (sigh).

Primer is also supposed to make your makeup last longer. It really didn't seem to...but then my makeup tends to last pretty well anyway. Maybe I'm just expecting too much for it to last any longer or better than it already does?

I saw some improvement, but honestly, it didn't seem to be enough improvement to pay the big bucks they want for Smashbox Photo Finish Primer ($36 for 1 fl oz).

So, I shopped around a bit, and saw a big "Ulta Brand" buy 2 get 2 free sale. I investigated their line & discovered that Ulta has a Fabulous Face Foundation Primer.

I grabbed the tester from the shelf & tried some on my hand. This stuff felt & looked EXACTLY like Smashbox! I grabbed 2 of them along with 2 Ulta lip stains and checked out. I couldn't wait to try out the Ulta primer to see how it performed.

I'm happy to report that it did just as well as the Smashbox, for nearly a third of the cost! The regular cost for 1 fl oz is only $12.50, coming in just a scant 50 cents over a third of the cost of Smashbox. Wait for a great sale like I did and you can make it a fourth of the cost of Smashbox!

I decided to put the primer on only one side of my face (right side) so I could look for a difference. I then applied the same amounts of concealer under my eyes, and foundation all over my face, followed by some loose powder. Then I took a few pics to show you my results.

Here are some pics showing the larger pores on my cheeks.

(Note the captions in all these pics describing which is the one with primer vs the one without.)

Right side (with primer) shows less obvious pores just beside my nose

Left side (no primer) has noticeably larger pores beside my nose

Checkout my forehead wrinkles...no discernible difference, sadly.

Right side (with primer) no difference in wrinkle appearance

Look at my eye area in the top two photos. It's subtle, but you can see a slight difference in the crepiness.

A few things that bear telling:

1.) Smashbox offers tinted primers in flesh tones, as well as in corrective tones like green, purple, etc. To my knowledge, Ulta has only clear. If you want the tones, you must pay for them.

2.) I have pretty normal skin (not oily, not dry) during these cooler months.

3.) It is winter. I have no idea what kind of results I might get during the hotter, more humid, sweaty summer months here in the Deep South.

**You may get different results if you have a different skin type or a different climate.**

If you are young, you probably can skip primer altogether, honestly.

If you have skin aging issues, though, you might like to try out a primer to see if it helps hide them.

The difference, in my opinion, is not huge. I could probably go either way and feel just as confident.

Since I scored mine on sale for only $6.25 per tube, I'll gladly use them on days that I head out the door.

As always, this is my opinion, based on my own, real-life results.

I feel like they do accurately reflect a "typical" result.

Please feel free to comment with your experience with primers.

Stila Stay All Day Eye Liner...Well, Does It?

So you already know that I've been hunting "the" eyeliner.

I used Ulta's refund policy and exchanged the Essence Liner I reviewed previously, because it was not waterproof, and DID transfer to the tops of my eyes.

Review is here.

After speaking with a couple of the helpful employees, I decided to try out

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner.

Why?

It supposedly covered my 3 wishes:

1) not a pencil (I dislike pencil liners, I much prefer to use a brush so I can quickly control the width of the line, plus I'm just used to using a brush)

2) would not transfer to my top lid

3) would work on my waterline/inner rim

I was assured by the lovely lady helping me that this would NOT transfer to my upper eyelid and that it should perform fairly well on the waterline, too.

(She had it on her uppers, but not on the waterline, and it looked great on her.)

At $20, I hoped I wouldn't be let down.

And I wasn't, for the most part.

Here are my "before" shots:



And here are a few better shots showing the waterline:

About use on the waterline:

This eyeliner didn't want to "stick" to the waterline, even during application. I managed to get a decent yet fine line right near the lash line/edge. I couldn't get a broad line to stick no matter what.

But, it looked pretty good, so I went with it as it was.

I checked it a few times throughout the day, half expecting to need to dab or tissue off runs.

Gladly, I didn't need to.

Here are my "after" shots:

And a few "after" shots of the waterline:

So you will notice that the waterline didn't last very well.

But then, it wasn't very heavy to start with, either.

I'm thinking that if I want to line my inner eye, perhaps I'm going to need to buy a

specialty liner, such as

Tarte's

EmphasEYES Inner Rim Eye Pencil ($18, Ulta).

At any rate, I'm keeping this liner. I really like it a lot, except for the fact that it doesn't work very well on the inner lid.

It was easy for me to use, lasted 12+ hours, didn't transfer, created a nice, bold, black line, came off easily with face wash,

and could either create a super fine line, or be built up into a thick line

(thanks to it's very fine, precise tip).

As always, I love comments and am open to whatever eyeliner tips/comments you might want to share...especially if you have experience with Tarte's EmphasEYES Inner Rim Eye Pencil.

Thanks guys!

$30 Gift Card Winner Announcement

A big Congratulations to

Laurie E!

Laurie E, an email has been sent to you.

Thank you everyone for participating,

and be sure to sign up for my other 2 giveaways happening right now, also:

iPad 2 & Kindle co-sponsored giveaway

&

$25 Sam's Club gift card giveway.