Butterfly Kisses

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been obsessed with eyelashes.  It’s kind of a secret of mine, but it’s gotten out over the years (my sister even highlighted it in her maid-of-honor speech at my wedding – ha!).  Probably beginning at the age of 5, my eyelash obsession began.  Every time my parents bought me a new baby doll, barbie or even a stuffed animal, I would soon be caught with a permanent magic marker in hand drawing dark, black eyelashes all over their eyelids.  Now…even years later…when I go home and look through my old toy chests, my family is easily able to distinguish which baby dolls were mine and which ones were my sisters – mine are the ones whose eyes are brightened with black, perfectly lined, long eyelashes!

So as I grew up and was finally allowed to darken my own eyelashes, I fell in love with mascara.  In middle school, I would spend hours in the morning perfecting my makeup, especially my mascara, and ensuring that each eyelash was in its place, just so.  This morning routine has continued through my life and now my husband now has to be patient while I perfect my eye makeup each morning.  I guess you could say I’m a perfectionist, but it just shows how much time and effort I put into every thing I do.  Why should my makeup be any different?!  One great thing about my obsession over perfecting my eyelashes, I have bought, researched and tried almost every mascara known to man!  All brands, brushes, colors have been experimented with…I have even tried the vibrating mascara brushes!  But with all the mascaras I have tried and money spent, I always seem to go back to my favorites.  I have listed my favorite three below.

1.)  MAYBELLINE Define-A-Lash in VERY BLACK (I don’t leave the house without this!) – I used to wear Black Brown or Dark Brown, but then I thought, HEY, if I am going to wear Mascara, I AM going to WEAR mascara!  This mascara is amazing for separating and lengthening my lashes.  I haven’t found a mascara that can do a better job!!  Maybelline has always been such a great product for mascaras.

2.)  CLINIQUE High Impact Mascara in Black – I use this mascara to thicken my eyelashes after applying a couple thin coats of the Maybelline Define-A-Lash mascara.  The key to mascaras is balance…balancing volume, definition and length is hard, but I am able to do it with these two mascaras.  So layer!

3.)  LANCOME High Definition Mascara in Black – Lately, I have been using this mascara only on my bottom lashes.  It’s great at separating and applying a quick sweep of color without smudging and flaking.

Through the years I have been complimented many times on my eyelashes, which means so much to me.  Some have even thought that my lashes are fake!  But I’m telling you, there are some great mascaras out there to help you get the beautiful, thick, long lashes you are going for.  And if mascara isn’t your thing, there are always false eyelashes.  Although I have never worn false eyelashes, ever, I do know there are some great ones out there!  Email me and let me know what false eyelashes you may have tried and/or love!

As for eyeliner, to be honest…I have never really worn it until recently.  My secret was to quickly brush the mascara wand along my lower eyelashes simulating the look of a subtle eyeliner.  The color always lasted all day long and never ran under my eyes or looked smudged.  But most recently, I have been trying out some pencil eyeliners and branching out a bit more in the eyeliner department.  Lately I am loving:

1.)  MAYBELLINE Define-A-Line in Brownish Black – I usually wear this everyday now!

2.)  BOBBI BROWN Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink – I wore this for my wedding and it lasted all day and night without any smudges or problems!

3.)  CLINIQUE Cream Shaper for Eyes in Brown Sugar – I have only tried this a few times, but look forward to wearing it out for a girl’s night out!

And have you seen this new eyeliner trick by DIOR?  It’s DIOR’s Velvet Eyes stick-on eyeliner!

Okay, so I hope you enjoyed some of my eye makeup tips and got to know me a little bit better a long the way!  Here’s the finished product, well, after a long day at work today…