Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss

When it comes to makeup recommendations, I usually like to write a chunky big block of a post, encompassing several of my favourites. You get more for your (much appreciated) time that way. However, this item is superb enough to have its very own rave right here.

Lipglosses seem an easy-breezy enough purchase. But, I think, Ye Old Reliable, one to pull out and use with any and every look, is anything but.

A saleslady with a keen eye, remarkably well-versed in gloss, led me to this. Her name was Sakurina. I am forever indebted.

The genius of this, is in what it LACKS: stickiness, a slobby feeling of grease (which inevitably dries the lips out over time), fragrance, flavor, too much colour (can go blotchy after a bit, y'know), ostentatious packaging, sunscreen.

(Sunscreen?? I hear you cry. But! Surely! Come now, dear girl! etc. Look, sunscreen is nice, but with control. I don't want to be eating that stuff, 24/7, am also slightly allergic. I like to apply lip balm with 'screen when, and only when, I am exposed to the sun. Le soleil. Sooraj.)

'Tis simplicity itself. I can't rave ENOUGH! Look, neither Clinique nor this particular item, have much buzz about them. This isn't new, trendy, and the asking price is not obnoxiously "aspirational" either... but this season, it is the savior of my lips (<guess how often you'll be seeing that word)!

Of course am using a dedicated lip balm as part of my skincare routine at least once a day, but this lipgloss is keeping that hydration going strong, for every cold winter's day. It almost seems to morph, from gloss sitting on top of your lips, to a kind of mild treatment, which keeps working throughout the day.

Aesthetics, now! The tube is simplicity itself, and the slanted applicator is not annoying as wand/sponge ones can be, it's practical. The colour? It comes in a variety of sheers. I own "apricot" but it reads as clear. That SLIGHT tint, makes it blend easily into the natural lip colour, so it is more natural looking than clear gloss, which can look too glassy.

It makes every lipstick sit better and appear juicy (not OTT, mind), even if, deep down, in its cold, brutal heart, that lipstick sucks.
Previously impractical ones, become fine, even for a chilly Canuck winter.

I used it under the superbly long-lasting, and therefore, drying, Cover Girl Lip Perfection (Hot Passion) the other day. Result, excellent.
I've used it with NYC lipsticks, Elizabeth Arden, Dior, Chanel, everything in between. It's only been a few weeks, but I think it'll make the rounds with every other lipstick in my stash. The colours don't bleed out, and they seem to "hold" better.

So! Lip primer, conditioner, and gloss in one? Can it be? Ah, but it is.

Basically, you could use many lipsticks in your stash, that you nearly discarded for being dehydrating. You could pick out drugstore lippies based on colour alone, knowing your handy dandy Clinique Superbalm Gloss will make any cheap formula work. Therefore, this little staple WILL save you money!

(Obvious point is obvious: matte lovers need not apply).

Bodacious Lashes...and my admittedly genius combo

I'm not usually one to talk, think, or write about mascara. Gag. Lots of subjects are deeply fascinating. Iguanas, how the Cuban government operates, Venusian storms, or Saturn's for that matter, pomegranate farming, and so on. Mascara is NOT one of them.

Besides, there is not very even footing for discussion. Mediocre mascaras come and go, a good eyeliner is forever.
Preferences vary, as do lashes (curly, straight, sparse...). PLUS it takes at least a week of use in order to assess a mascara properly. The formula needs to be exposed to air, it takes time to dry out to a less goopy consistency, you need to see if it flakes/crumbles/causes allergies... blah di blah.

I've been through the expensive and drugstore ones. Whatever's available, I've tried. (Aside from YSL and Armani mascaras. Just can't bear to fork out my kid's college fund to a bi-monthly mascara habit, ya know.)

The worst one in recent memory was the gaudy gold tube by Guerlain, Le 2. Twas heavily fragranced, burned eyes, causing one to swell up for days so I resembled Quasimodo...
 Horrific. I actually mentioned this to some other makeup nerds  makeupalley forums, and some people said they had had the same experience. Weighed down my naturally curly lashes till they were completely straight, flaked, the works.
PLUS: Unnecessarily double-sided (two for the price of one? not good when both sides suck), a complete gimmick. BOO GUERLAIN, BOO!!


The best one so far, for me, was the Essence I love extreme volume mascara, about 3 dollars at Shopper's Drug Mart. Under-rated yet it delivers!
Volume, length, the darkest black available (just as black as the super-expensive 'scaras, and far darker than regular drugstore 'carbon black'). Blah di blah. Am on 3rd or 4th tube. Easy to overdo, though.

Coloured mascaras? If you use one that is not pink (ew Hunger Games lady!!), you are awesome.
 I remember using a blue mascara in high school, with sparkly gold eyeshadow. Fun fun.
An excellent reasonably priced blue mascara is Quo's, 15 dollars, and lasts ages! They also do a purple one.

Okay now that I've rambled on and on and lost my sole reader (hi sis! how many cupcakes have you feasted on today?), let me get to the FRIGGIN POINT ALREADY.

Having stumbled upon a splendiferous, fantabulous--and other made-up Roald Dahl words--mascara combo I need to share with the InTeRnEtZzZzZ...or die trying. (Typing takes a lot out of you, you know. Risky. Business.)

The combo is....(pens out. notepads ready.)....is....is...(quick inhalation)...
L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes + Bourjois Liner Effect 'scara!
Do one eye first. Don't want the 'scara to dry in between coats. Otherwise: clumps.

You apply the white side of L'Oreal very fast (it is double sided. but unlike Guerlain, this is not a gimmick). The white side gives GOBS of length. GOBS, I say.

Then apply the black side (again, speed is of the utmost importance). No pause. THEN...the Bourjois just to fill in what you've already done. You can do the bottoms with L'oreals black side if inclined to.

Whew. Done. Fast. Heart racing. Clock ticking...
Move onto the next eye. Quick! Breathing is for amateurs! Hurry scurry little mouse...

Then collapse in a heap and await the ambulances.

Reasons why this amazing combo rocks:
~requires two reasonably priced mascaras, so it's like you're paying for a high-end scara, but with way better results.
~you can often find both of these mascaras on sale, or use a coupon. Or, you know, SDM points if you're lucky enough to be a Canuck.
~no flaking. long-lasting. you can use on bottom lashes and needn't fear charcoal smudges.
~literally: a false lash effect. The kind promised in doctored, photoshopped ads. Sans lash infills as with Penelope Cruz and Rai, Rai, Rai.
Length. Volume. Black. Perfect separation.
~easy to remove. No watery eyes and burning mascara remover required. Just warm water and a teensy bit of rubbing. BECAUSE THE L'OREAL DOUBLE EXTEND BEAUTY TUBES (L.D.E.B.T.) IS A TUBING 'SCARA! Different to a normal 'scara. Other tubing 'scaras include Lise Watier 24 Hours mascara, Clinique Lash Power, MAC Opulash, Blinc, etc.

One might go so far as to suggest this same effect can be achieved with any combination of tubing mascara+separating mascara. One might be right.
Me? Staying loyal to this combo till the devil possesses me. Or till the next mascara drives by, winking, in a flashy car and a flurry of hype.

I don't care to use an eyelash curler, by the way. SO SUE ME, PENELOPE. SUE. ME. (please don't, though. your lawyer's a fiend, I've heard.)




The End
APPLAUSE.

Credits:

Bourjois Liner Effect

          L'Oreal Double Extend Booty Toobz

Quasimodo, aka artist's rendition of the author of this marvelous piece

Penelope Cruz

Aishwarya Rai

A lawyer (Penelope's, je think)
 

Devilish Products and HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK

Fyrinnae as a brand is cool, their loose eyeshadows are my brownies (was going to say drug but brownies are more desirable, n'est-ce pas?).

I may do a further write-up, long overdue, explaining why I am so enamoured with their products. AKA: why, if I had a goat, I would be furious at it, if it swallowed any part my Fyrinnae collection, mistaking it for a can of nails. (Goats don't have the BEST eyesight). Why there is so much ado about them on a certain guilty, geeky pleasure of mine, MakeupAlley (checkittttt)... I can say with full confidence that you can, almost blindly, purchase any three products off their website, and be pleased with them. The price isn't half bad, either.

However.
This post is concentrating on the SOLE failure in their extensive range of eyeshadows. Every brand has them, Fyrinnae only has one....Mephisto! Imagine a gathering storm, a thunderbolt!

I'm sure you have items like this. Products that cause a veritable mutiny against your face, so that suddenly NOTHING looks right...

In this case, my defence is: the swatches compelled me!

Online, swiped on many an arm, it photographs beautifully... Like crushed velvet, the perfect marriageof purple/burgundy. It hit my aesthetic sweet spot. However, I had a rough dozen rounds with it, perhaps more...and didn't fare well.

Mephisto would come out triumphant each time, glowering red eyes raised to the heavens, as it beat its chest, roaring. Then it would return its pitiless gaze to me--handing over a pocket mirror, it would sneer as I, aghast, scrutinized the damage.

Patted on, with or without base, the glitter particles that lend it that lovely complexity, apply and fade off unevenly. It looks patchy. It blends out to an unattractive dark, purplish grey. It makes me look as though I had a rather unpleasant evening at a shoddy restaurant. ("you want a sand'ich? I'll give you a sand'ich! Here...have a mouthful of KNUCKLE!").

However, I decided I would damn well MAKE it work, or perish in the process! So, taking my tube of DuWop Lip Venom, nicely transparent, I mixed in the offending eyeshadow. I now have a perfect dark, extremely pigmented, lipgloss. Which I have been complimented on many times, many a day.

Here is a FOTD from, ohh, ages ago.

Eyes: Fyrinnae Polar Bear, Meerkat, THE MEREST HINT OF MEPHISTO (promptly blotted out with other shades of Maybelline Designer Chocolate and a cranberry from Cargo)

Lips: Mephisto mixed into a tube of clear gloss.

Might add that this was taken a few hours after application, and yes, the franken-gloss lasted through tea.

So: HOW TO SALVAGE COSMETICS - a few ideas:
-If a reasonable colour, try it as a brow product (as I have done in above pic with the brown shade in the Maybelline palette)

-If a pigment or eyeshadow, mix it into gloss, clear or not. (The eyeshadow can be crushed and mixed in, or patted on top)/ or pat on top of lip liner

-If a mascara, try dipping an eyeliner brush into the tube and using as liner. Often this can make for a very long-lasting liquid liner.

-Mix into nailpolish.

-Speaking of nailpolish, you can use it to freakin' DECORATE STUFF. That's what I did a couple of years ago, with my iphone case, a black bland thing. I decorated solely with eyeshadow pigments mixed into clear nailpolish, and a broken necklace.

-If an unflattering eyeshadow, it may make for a highlight/blush (depending on the colour). This is how I use MAC expensive pink. People without babies, may dispense with their free time by going to the extent of crushing said eyeshadow, mixing it into Strobe Lotion or what have you, and creating a liquid cheek colour! Whoo! Exhausts me just thinkin' bout it...

-Melt 2 lip products into one, for a new, more flattering colour (see my lip palette post for instructions)

-Or, the lip product can function as a cream blush (go easy). This is the only way I use my Revlon Suede lipsticks now, they did a number on my poor, unsuspecting lips, rendering them parched as a peach stone. In fact, drying lip products are perfect for cream blush, because once blended out, they last so so well!

-If a lipliner, use it with a balm, blot, et voila: lips...stained.

-If a foundation or concealer that's too matte/cakey, use it with a serum or lotion. (Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair has never done anything for my skin, but it works well to dew-ify any foundation!)

-Or just take the WHOLE LOT of unusable, devilish makeup, and use it to create a BIIIIG work of art (GO CRAZY), before discarding. AT LEAST YOU GOT -some- USE OUT OF IT! (I have done this as a teenager many times....and regret NOTHING).


Ok. That was a marathon, wasn't it. Well.

A motorcycle's going off, my husband. Excuse me as i follow suit...
Snooze or you'll lose.