It Cosmetics- Bye Bye Under Eye

I was born with bags under my eyes.  In addition to being tired every moment of my life for about 13 years now, genetically, I was gifted by my foremothers with under eyes that could carry the vacation luggage for a family of four.  Even my daughter, at age two, has the bags.  We also have extraordinary Anthony Davis-esque Unibrows, so in general, our eye regions need help.  We did all end up with fairly pretty and interesting eye colors because God is a fair Guy.

I started wearing makeup in the first place because I was sick of people telling me that I looked tired all the time (even though I was, in fact, tired all the time) and ever since that day, I have been on a quest for the perfect potion, the snake oil of my dreams, to banish these under eyes.

The elevator at my job is filled with nothing but mirrors, which leads to a lot of examination by me.  I noticed today that my under eye area was looking pretty crepe-y.  I'm 35 now and these "fine lines and wrinkles" are upon me.  I'm of two minds about this.  There is the wise part of me, who recognizes the gift of aging and who tells me I should embrace my laugh lines as a sign of a life well lived, and then there is the Norma Desmond part of me who wants to draw the shades and find the nearest plastic surgeon to handle this shizz.

My current under eye area regime consists of the following:

Smashbox Color Correcting Primer

Benefit The Pore-Sessional primer (I don't really love this primer.  Some people do.  I prefer Smashbox.  But I bought it, and it was expensive, so... its getting used.  I usually put the Smashbox on first all over my face, and then the Benefit under my eyes and down my nose into my smile lines, because its thicker.)

Laura Geller Baked Liquid Radiance Foundation in the shade "Fair"

Too Faced Air Buffed BB Cream in the shade "Snow Glow" (note, this is for brightening, which is why it is so light.  This would look insane on the rest of my face.)

And then over that, I use the highlight color from the Balm Voyage II Palette, its called "Kuwakaribisha," according to their helpfully informative website.


So all of that together is about $200 worth of stuff I spackle under my eyes in the morning, and it still isn't enough to get rid of the dark circles, except in very forgiving lighting.

I have tried everything I can think of, but there isn't really anything, and probably won't ever be anything short of surgery that totally takes the bags away.  So, I'm left with doing what I can for the circles at least.

The one product that I keep hearing about, but have yet to try is It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye.  Since I was already at Ulta today, taking advantage of their after Christmas savings, I decided to pick some of this too.  Also, I really decided today was the day when I looked at myself up close in the elevator and had to call on the name of Jesus.  Jay-Z says 30 is the new 20, but he only has one child, two if you count Kanye.

After trying out their supply I couldn't really decide between the shades "Fair" and "Medium."  The salesgirl asked me if I was looking for brightening or concealing, and though my first instinct was to say "brightening" I had to be honest with myself that this mission was about concealing.  This stuff is powerful, and to use it for brightening could, I think, end up looking really scary.

Someone on the internet once said something along the lines of "though she is tiny, she is fierce."  That's this stuff.  I know what you're thinking, "$24 for .28oz?? I thought this was a budget blog??"  Well, yes, okay, but I am telling you, this tube will last forever.  My grandchildren will be using this tube.  Not really.  If Donald Trump doesn't kill us all, and I am actually lucky enough to have grandchildren, they'll probably wear holographic makeup. Or we'll all be avatars by then, who can say.  The point is, this tube actually has a lot of product.  Only the teeniest tiniest dab is required to do both eyes.  This cream is THICK.  It is serious, and it isn't playing around.

Hopefully, the before and afters here are pretty obvious.  While it didn't take the dreaded bags away, I feel like it did a pretty great number on the dark circles.  All of these pictures were taken within just a few minutes of each other, so as to get basically identical lighting and have really the only difference be the Bye Bye Under Eye.  I have to say, I was impressed.

The only down side (because there is always a down side) is that after about an hour I noticed that the product made itself niiiice and comfy down in the fine lines under my eyes.  I went into the bathroom at work (fluorescent lights are nobody's friend) but in absence of just avoiding bad lighting for the rest of myself, which seems a viable if laborious option, I feel like I need to find yet and still another primer to keep the makeup from settling.  I'm very open to suggestions if anyone has any that they love.

I tried to get a photo of the creasy line action here. You can sort of see it, but it does not do justice to the settling that was occurring in real life.  You've been warned.

The interwebs tell me that Ulta also sells a travel size version of this product, it was not available at the store I went into.  It also only seems to be available in the shade, "medium" which happens to be what I have on, but then wouldn't really work for everyone.  If yours happens to have it, and you happen to wear medium, you might give it a try and see if you like it.

My verdict is that I really, really love how much it covers my dark circles, so I will definitely keep using it.  I wish it didn't settle so much though, and if anyone has an under eye primer that they love, please let me know!

Essence Long-lasting Lipsticks+ bonus Liquid

For almost as long as I have been obsessed with Red Lipstick (yes, it is a proper noun) I have been obsessed with the perfect nude.  As I slowly but surely feel more confident in my makeup skills and branch beyond the lips, nude colors allow for a lot more in the eye region.  Coco Chanel told us that before we leave the house we should always look in the mirror and take one thing off.  In makeup, its either a bold eye and a passive lip or the other way around.  If you wear busy eye makeup and a bright red lip at the same time, you end up looking like a baby prostitute.  Not a good look.

Anyway.

In my search for the perfect nude, I discovered Essence Long-lasting Lipstick in shade 06 Barely There.  I'm in love with it.  The problem is, so is everyone else, so it is REALLY hard to find, and the jerks at Ulta won't let you buy the tester tube, no matter how hard you protest that this is not your first rodeo, and lipstick is actually really easy to sanitize.  The lesson you should take away from this is, if you are somewhere that actually has this shade in stock, buy it.  Buy two. Buy three, and send one to me.  At $2.99, it is not a bank breaker, and, I'm telling you, not matter your coloring, it is going to look AMAZING on you.  You're welcome.

I tell you all of this to come full circle in the story, which is, that I DID find ONE tube a few weeks back, and bought it, and promptly lost it, after putting it in a safe place and then not remembering where that safe place was.  Clearly, it was very safe.  Fast forward to this morning, where I found it, zipped inside the tiny little pocket of the bigger of the two wallets I carry at any given time, that holds my medicine, whatever important papers we need, and the lipstick that's too important to just be tossed in my purse.  Imagine my happiness!  I had on a lot of pink and purple and gold eye shadow today in what I lovingly refer to as my Tequila Sunrise Look, so a nude lip was definitely just what the doctor ordered.

I haven't been to Ulta in a few weeks now, but I decided to go on my lunch break today and see if there were any good after Christmas sales that I could get into.  Spoiler alert: 40% off.  Get thee to Ulta.  Really, I was going to see if they had any of the Ulta 12 Days of Christmas sets I talked about a few posts back, because I really want that rock gold foil eyeshadow, but, alas, it was not to be.  Guess what I did find though??

The whole thing ended up costing literally about $4.50 with the sale.  I did see that it contained my favorite 06, and that there was an above average chance that I would like at least one other color, so it seemed like a good deal.   In addition to the four Long Lasting Lipsticks in shades 04, 06, 07, and 12 (aka "On The Catwalk," "Barely There," "Natural Beauty," and "Blush My Lips") there is a bonus Liquid Lipstick in the shade 06 Make A Statement.

The shades pictured here are in the same order as mentioned above, with the liquid across the bottom.

Essentially (see what I did there?) we have two nudes, a reddish pink, a hot pink, and the liquid is sort of a berry color.  And I ended up really loving all of them.

One of the main things that I love about this product, besides it being cruelty free, and besides the price point, is that it is super duper moisturizing, which is especially fantastic in the winter time.  Also, the extra moisture is a little bit more forgiving if you are wanting to wear a red.  A classic matte red lip takes more practice to apply and maintain, but with something like this, that is really like a lipstick mixed with a chapstick, it goes on a little easier and isn't so hard to keep in the lines.  So its a really safe place to start if that is what you are looking for.

Top Left is the 04- On The Catwalk would be a really great "starter red."  Its full bodied and has just a hint of berry to it, which makes it great for winter time.  Its super easy to apply-I did all four of these at stoplights, it has a cool tone to it, but I feel like even if your coloring was warm, it would still look killer on you.  Because it does have the moisture component to it, it also isn't going to have staying power and is going to get all over everything your lips touch, but its such a pretty, fun, festive red that you probably won't mind too much.  It might be a little heavy in the summer time depending on your coloring, but hey, its still going to be really cold for several months around these parts.

Top Right is 06-Barely There, which we have already covered.  Like most of the nude shades I gravitate to, this one has a a heavy mauve undertone.  For me, this is probably just about as dark as I could wear and still call it a nude.  If you have darker skin than I do, which should be pretty much everybody, its going to read lighter on you.

Bottom Left is 07-Natural Beauty, which I feel like really lives up to its name.  Its on the pinkier side of nude, and if you have light to medium skin, its going to come across as a pink nude.  If you have darker skin, its going to come off very light pink in that sort of retro 60's kind of way.  It would be very Darlene Love or Dixie Cups, which is to say, pretty freaking fabulous.

Bottom Right is 12- Blush My Lips, which is probably the only one of the bunch I wouldn't have ever bought on its own.  The photo doesn't do it justice, it is BRIGHT PINK.  Sort of hot pink, mixed with a little berry, mixed with a little dark pink.  Its hard to put my finger on it exactly.  The main takeaway here should be that it is really, really bright.  They will see you coming.  I am actually glad to have it, I really like it, I'm just not sure how to categorize it, and what exactly to wear with it.  It could be fun to try some ombre lips with a lighter pink.

The Liquid Lipstick color is called 06- Make A Statement.  Calling it liquid lipstick is pretty generous.  This is really just lipgloss.  A true liquid lip is going to dry, probably matte, and be set in place.  This is none of those things.  This is lipgloss.  But, when the whole thing cost me less than $5, I'm not going to pick at what they want to call it.  Its a pretty pinky color, much lighter and brighter than how it looks on the website.  That is actually something I could say for all of the colors- the way they display on the website is pretty inaccurate.  If I were you, I'd try them on in person or find other reviews like this one online (or hell, just by them all, they're only $2.99) because if you try to pick a color just by looking at the website, I think you'll be disappointed.

Overall, this line is going to give you fantastic bang for your buck.  The colors are pretty and cheerful, but the formula is unfussy and very easy to work with.  It feels great on, especially in the winter time.  All the berry colors can move with you right into spring, and then you go back and buy up the summer colors, because did I mention $2.99?

If you scout out your local Ulta in the next few days, you might even be able to find this particular gift set.  I'd get it, if for no other reason than it has the Barely There in it.  Its seriously so, so hard to find, if you spot it in the wild, don't miss your chance!