Archives for 2015

How to Find a Good Mascara Fan Brush

December 15, 2015 · Leave a Comment

WHERE TO BUY A GOOD MASCARA FAN BRUSH

Here is our round up of the good and the bad when it comes to Mascara Fan Brushes. There is a wide variety of quality and prices when it comes to finding a good Mascara Fan Brush. Here are a few we have tried:

The most popular mascara fan brushes are both around $20. These are the Mac 205 Mascara Fan Brush, and the Paula Dorf Perfect Mascara Fan Brush.

The Paula Dorf is one of my favorites because it is the widest and longest, the right combo of soft enough to maneuver around lashes while stiff enough to “paint” and the easiest to wield. Found mostly on eBay.
Mac 205 Mascara Fan Brush
Mac 205 Mascara Fan Brush. Frequently used by bridal makeup artists, the MAC 205 brush is probably 40% smaller, but has tiny soft wispy guard bristles that make it easier to remove clumps. The MAC is:
- Easier for those with the steady hands of a true makeup artist than a regular makeup fanatic like myself to use. But a little practice went a long way.
- When using the MAC 205, try to load the mascara onto the shorter fan bristles, not the longer guard bristles. Do this by bending and holding the longer guard bristles away from the shorter bristles with your finger while only coating the short bristles with mascara.
  - At eBay
  - On Amazon, third party seller
  - The Mac Cosmetics 205 Mascara Fan Brush is generally available at Mac, $20.

Other Mascara fan brushes:

SEPHORA COLLECTION: Pro Lash Fan #34, $21. Not very fan-like, but quality bristles, good shape for a beginner to load mascara onto the lash, doesn’t have the ability to create wispy lashes like the Paula Dorf, Claudio Riaz or Mac 205. But, this brush can do cream and cake mascara much easier than the other fan brushes.

Surprisingly, there was only one kind of Mascara Fan brush at Sephora at this time. That seems weird. Does anyone else think that is weird?

Claudio Riaz Lash Touch Brush, at Barneys, for $65.
- The Mercedes Benz/Rolls Royce/Jaguar of Mascara Fan Brushes.
- A bit steep, but a VERY good brush with nice heft and ease of handling, which is good for klutzes like myself. Nice width to the fan which covers about half the lash line.
- Bristles are high quality and easy to work with, easy to get fluttery, wispy lashes with this one. I could argue buying a cheaper mascara or not being loyal to any one mascara or in a mascara emergency, using a drugstore brand (gasp!) and still getting a nice high-end look with the ease of use on getting a nice, clump-free look with this brush.
Royal and Langnickel BX-145 Revolution Fan Mascara Brush
- hard to find stateside, but ships to North America
- reasonably priced
- nice gentle guide feature on the bristles
- Easier to de-clump with, harder to get wispy lashes.
Ben Nye also makes a Mascara fan brush, it is around $8, haven’t tried it yet.

So far, I have not found a drugstore/beauty chain store version of a Mascara fan brush that I like. Most are too stiff to apply mascara or to wiggle it into the root of the lash line, and it is not really a fan shape, more like an eyeliner push brush.

For this reason we cannot recommend the Bdellium Tools Makeup Cosmetic Beauty Brush Travel Line – Mascara Fan Brush 731. Most drugstore and beauty supply store fan brushes seemed a variant of this overly rigid push liner brush style, but I would be happy to find a good basic mascara fan brush if anyone knows of a good one.

Product Update: Hairmax Lasercomb Professional 12

November 30, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Lee previously let us know her thoughts on the Hairmax Lasercomb, let’s check in on her progress!

Well, here I am at the halfway to anticipated regrowth mark.The program continues to be easy to follow, integrating almost effortlessly into my evening beauty routine.

My results to date: I wasn’t expecting any at this point, but to my surprise, hair fallout has dramatically reduced with very few strands accumulating in the shower drain or on my hairbrush. For me, Â this is especially noteworthy in that I’m one of the many gals who has distressingly increased shedding in the fall when leaves are dropping here in the Northeast.

So as far as my progress, so far, so (very!) good!

-Lee

Find the Hairmax Lasercomb at Hairmax.com and get a 15% CyberMonday discount through December 1st!

Black Friday 2015 Beauty Deals What to Know

November 27, 2015 · Leave a Comment

We have a few exclusive Black Friday deals to pass on to you!

Jeffrey James Botanicals Black Friday

Friday, November 27th through Tuesday, November 1st: Save over 85% when you purchase the Jeffrey James Botanicals FIRST VIP Subscription box for $29.95 and receive free shipping too (cancel anytime).

www.jeffreyjamesbotanicals.com

BioRepublic

Through Monday, November 30th: The eco-friendly facial mask line will be offering 30% off all purchases made site wide with code DEALSWEEK30

Black Friday & Cyber Monday: Additional 24 hour deals will be also be available both days, with deals will being announced at 12:000am on the day of the sale via social media and BioRepublic’s newsletter.

Discount codes may not be combined with other offers. Only one code can be applied per purchase.

Shop online via www.biorepublic.com

Key West Aloe

Cyber Monday: Spend more and get more with the following deals from the aloe based beauty and personal care brand:

Spend $75, receive a free towel, free shipping & a $15 gift card

Spend $100, receive a free towel, free shipping & a $25 gift card

Spend $150, receive a free towel, free shipping & a $35 gift card

Spend $200, receive a free towel, free shipping & a $50 gift card

Shop online via www.keywestaloe.com

PURE GOLD COLLAGEN

Sunday, November 29th through Saturday, December 19th: Buy one, get one 50% off with every 10-pack of the anti-aging drinkable supplement purchased through ULTA.

Shop online via www.ulta.com.

emerginC

Incorporating clinically proven cosmeceutical and medical-grade ingredients, active botanicals and marine extracts, emerginC ensures incomparable quality and age-defying results with both their signature and eco-friendly scientific organics ranges.

Black Friday: Receive 20% off the entire website, no code necessary.

Some emerginC skincare items to consider:

HairMax Black Friday

Through Tuesday, December 1st: Receive 15% off site wide from the pioneer of at-home hair regrowth technology.

Use code THX15 save on HairMax’s leading laser devices, thinning hair treatments, fibers, supplements and more.

Code valid on all HairMax hair restoration laser devices

Trophy Skin

Wednesday, November 25th through Tuesday, December 1st: Receive 30% off orders from the at-home microdermabrasion device brand, when using coupon code TROPHYHOLIDAY

The price reduction will not appear until the shopper enters the coupon code at checkout.

Shop online via www.trophyskin.com.

Tea Tuesday: Teami Skinny Tea

October 20, 2015 · Leave a Comment

I am always a little hesitant to review weight loss products, but when the folks at Teami sent a sample of their Teami Skinny Tea and adorable infuser, I was pretty enthused. As a constant tea drinker for years, I know what is healthy and what isn’t when it comes to teas. Skinny Tea has an excellent blend of teas and natural ingredients that all work to aid in fat loss on their own, and together they work even better. First off – green tea gets a lot of press for fat burning, and with good reason. It boosts metabolism and gives the body more energy to burn. Teami Skinny Tea contains Yerba Mate, which is an excellent and tasty form of green tea. I was reading an article the other day that noted that polyphenols, one of the antioxidants in green tea, breaks down before it hits your bloodstream, but it stayed stable if you added a citrus like lemon or lime to your green tea. Teami Skinny Tea has Lime leaf extract in it, so that gives a more powerful boost of antioxidants. And antioxidants do the body a lot of good, but they also make your skin glow, so bonus points on that. I still added a squeeze of lime juice to my cup just for flavor, which smelled amazing.

Another (in my opinion, unsung hero) metabolism boosting tea variety is Oolong, which is the first listed ingredient. It works by burning fat, boosting metabolism, and blocking the fat-building enzyme. Oolong gets less press than green tea, likely because it isn’t as readily available, but I personally really love it, and it is a nice combo with the Yerba Mate. I did a quick check and several studies showed that oolong boosts your metabolism by up to 10% for two hours after drinking a cup. Which makes it a fantastic pre-workout drink for a little extra fat-burning boost.

The other ingredients are excellent and synergistic as well. Lotus Flower also has metabolism boosting properties (in addition to being a gorgeous flower.) Ginger root boosts metabolism – I love slicing up fresh ginger and simmering it for an anti-inflammatory and fat burning boost – and also acts as a diuretic, as does Dandelion Root.

Teami also makes a completely adorable tea infuser. Teami Teas are loose-leaf (which is a far superior quality of tea in general), so you need an infuser to steep your tea.It is sturdy, dishwasher safe, and will make you smile every time you look at it. I am impressed with how sturdy it is as well – many strainers let small pieces of tea into your brew, but I didn’t see any with the Teami Tea Infuser.

So just to sum up, no tea will burn fat if you sit on the couch and don’t eat right. But as part of a healthy lifestyle, Teami blends have quality ingredients that will boost your metabolism in a tasty way.

Find Teami Skinny Tea at TeamiBlends.com. Also, during October, they are offering an October Awareness Detox Pack, and all proceeds go to supporting Breast Cancer Awareness!