Thursday, September 26, 2013

I Can't Blog About Beauty Products

I know now why I can't blog about beauty products despite the fact that my mother was an Avon lady for most of my life. It just doesn't hold my interest long enough and I don't find meaning in it. Don't get me wrong. I consider make-up a very important part of life. I don't like leaving my house without it and when I do I feel messy and undressed. But sadly I can't blog about mascaras and what I've found $100 later. I will still write a review because I did buy the mascaras and I did do the research and I owe you all a story about what I found. Maybelline Colossal was still the best.



I realize that I like writing about a lot of other things. I want to blog or write an article about how the Taliban was actually oppressing women in Afghanistan since 1994 and that it took SEVEN years and 9/11 for anyone to do anything about it. The world had been turning a blind eye while women were stoned to death in soccer stadiums. Even then, the US didn't go into Afghanistan to free the women. They went in for political reasons to over throw the Taliban and women just happened to benefit from it. Yeah, those are the kind of subjects that interest me more.

I was so excited to learn about Yahoo Voices. I just joined them and I can't wait to submit articles. I also want to write a travel article about Houston. What a great way to write for the web and to get paid in the process too. Thanks to one of the other bloggers at skirt! who wrote about this great way to get published. I can't wait to get started

I am at a crossroads in my life once again. The summer is over, fall has officially started, and this is when I have to decide if I want to move forward with my own business and give it a go or if I want to get back into the work-force. All arrows are pointing towards me working at my business full time.

The problem is that until I start seeing real money come in on a monthly basis it's hard to envision this as my career. I know that once I make that first big sale it will look like a reality. I already had one close call and I almost tasted victory, only to have it yanked away. Temporarily. I know that if that deal could have happened others will really happen. I just need to keep working at it. It all depends on how badly I want it. And I do.

Life is good. I try to remember that when it gets tough. I have so many things to be grateful for. I have had the amazing luxury to take these four months off from Corporate America. Although things haven't gone exactly as planned, I still had that. I haven't taken this long of a vacation from really working in 19 years. The longest break I've taken since then were the 3 months when Seth was born.

So I write in my gratitude journal (really just my Franklin planner) every day and I remind myself all the things that I'm grateful for. I am grateful for this time to write about what really moves me. I am grateful to have the luxury to decide what I want to do. I am grateful for my abilities that make it possible for me to sell and to make a living. I know I can do this and I will.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Update on Testing Mascaras

I know you all have been wondering what's the deal with the mascaras. I wanted to give each one its fair shot so I've only tried two mascaras for 2-3 days each. I've tried Maybelline's the Colossal Volum Express (Cat Eyes) and Rimmel's Scandal Eyes. So far Maybelline's Colossal is ahead.


When I set out to review these mascaras I received a lot of different advice. I was told that I have to use an eyelash curler first and in between coats. I was told by some women that they use one mascara as a base and then go back over it with another mascara. My niece told me I had to do this sawing and pulling motion to pull the lashes out. Others tells you that you need to separate the lashes. I don't want a mascara that causes my lashes to stick together.

Too much work in my opinion! More power to those of you who do this and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just not for me.

I talked to one of my best friends about this. She agreed that she too was looking for a mascara that was so good that all you had to do was apply a couple of coats with no fuss and go. We are busy women who don't have a lot of time to fuss with our make-up but we do want to look nice. We've never really been that girly girly where we take a long time with our hair and getting dressed.

I thought to myself, "There have to be other working moms and moms with toddlers out there like me. Or just women who don't like to spend a long time on their eyes but who want a good mascara."

I don't expect for my eyelashes to look just like the model's on TV. I know she probably has naturally long eyelashes like my niece.

I applied 2-3 coats of each mascara and the Colossal made my eye lashes look longer and there was minimal clumping. My lashes didn't look as long with Rimmel's Scandal Eyes and there was a lot more clumping.

That is my goal. I still need to try Revlon Lash Potion and I already had Maybelline's Lash Fusion and their Stiletto but I want to try them both again with the same scrutiny that I've tried the other two.

Update: I just tried Revlon Lash Potion and I think my lashes may look even longer than with Colossal but it looks like my lashes are sticking together more. I'll try it again tomorrow in full eye make-up mode to get a better idea.

Thursday, September 05, 2013

In Search for the Perfect Mascara

I very rarely blog about makeup and it's funny that I don't. Especially since I practically grew up wearing makeup. My mom started selling Avon when I was a baby and she sold it until her death. She passed away 1 month before my 30th birthday and 3 months before her 30th anniversary with Avon. Sometimes I will blog about some makeup, like the Mark brand. Love their eye-shadows!



I just recently realized that I have never found a mascara that I am totally happy with. I have tried so many. For years I used an Avon brand because that's all I used. For a little while I used Mary Kay, but I went back to Avon. After a while I realized I was not happy with my mascara and I started using Maybelline Great Lash. I really liked it for a while but it wasn't exactly the perfect mascara. I just kept using it because I liked it better than Avon and Mary Kay.

At 43 I realized that I can not find a mascara that I really like. I've tried so many. Avon, Mary Kay, Maybelline Great Lash, Diorshow, CoverGirl Lashblast Fusion, Maybelline the Falsies and Maybelline Lash Stiletto.

In my search for a good mascara my niece with the natural 6 inch eyelashes recommended Diorshow and she even showed the proper way to apply mascara. But really! WHO has the time that it takes to saw mascara on your lashes and to pull them out? I want a mascara that is fast and easy to apply and looks at least 75% as good as it does on the model on TV. I don't expect to look exactly the same, but who makes a mascara that is fast and easy for a working mom of two to apply?

A friend of mine recently posted Maybelline's the Colossal Volum Express on Facebook. I don't even know if that's how you spell it. I said I would try it next. I think this will be fun. I'm going to start trying all of the different mascaras and I'm going to review them to tell you all what I think, at the POV of a busy working mother. I need an easy to apply no-fuss mascara. I will let you know what I discover.

(note: this is not a sponsored post)

Monday, September 02, 2013

A Blog About Beauty Products

One thing I never blog about but that I mention on Facebook & Twitter a lot is my love of make-up and I'm always in search of the perfect mascara. I have tried so many mascaras in just the past year.  I am going to post a blog about my search for the perfect mascara very soon.



I'm also going to blog about hairspray. I need a very specific type of hairspray and I really can't use just any hairspray. For years I used Paul Mitchell's Freeze and Shine and I thought it was the only one for me until I tried Big Sexy Hair. The other day I found some Paul Mitchell Freeze and Shine and I tried it, after using Big Sexy Hair for a while. It wasn't the same any more. There will be a more detailed blog about that experience.

Yeah, I can blog about beauty too! Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. I just love make-up and hairspray!