[in which the future Aesthetician posts about beauty]

And yet another red lippie look.

This will probably be the first time you’ll see my navy blue eye liner look up close.

An alternative to the traditional look of black kohl liner or black liquid/gel liner, navy blue pencil is a softer, more subtle, attenuated way to emphasize the eyes. It doesn’t have the almost invisible, earthy and natural effect of brown liner, but lacks the impacting, stark line of a black liner. Black liner is most unnatural and very strong on most lighter skin types, especially those without dark hair. So dark blue can be a way to get nice definition, without the in your face kind of look. This is a very muted, soft blue by Ulta. I think it’s so soft and wipsy of a color, because the pencil is sort of hard wax, and isn’t very pigmented. If I gave the pencils by Ulta a grade, it would be a c-, but I’m not about to throw away makeup based on that.

Here’s the look up close.

Of course, rocking the YSL Opium 131 red.

Now the main thing here I like is how “lashy” I am. I’m a big lashes girl. But I hate the look of fake lashes, because they can be done so badly, and I’m not particularly good at applying them. So I have to rely on good mascaras and good eye lash curlers.

However, being the total “granola hippie” I am, I decided not too long ago, that I need to uphold more ethical principals when it comes to makeup, and only purchase and support and endorse brands which are committed to refraining from testing on animals. That said, most of the makeup companies at the makeup counters and in drugstores do not uphold such ethical morals, which means my Holy Grail products that I rely on to help me remain on budget are no longer options. Items such as L’Oreal Double Extend, L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black, Maybelline lipsticks, Covergirl Lash Blast, etc., are no longer options for me.

Sadly, that means I am stuck with a paltry selection of brands that cater to my newfound cruelty free awareness.

Revlon, while not an animal tester, has always been a lipstick brand to me, and nothing more. I’ve never been particularly enraptured with their mascaras. So what does that leave? Department store makeup brands. And sadly, a lot of them do test on animals, though not to the extent that drugstore brands do. Chanel, Bobbi Brown, MAC, Nars (owner is Vegan), Origins, Smashbox, Dior, Stila, the Body Shop, Laura Mercier, Tarte and Urban Decay–just to name a few–do not test on animals.

In addition to needing a mascara to be cruelty free, I also need it to lengthen, define, separate, volumize, and hold a curl. I really do ask a lot. Not only does it have to be a roundhouse of mascara, but it has to be affordable.

That said, I am not about to dish out 24-28$ on a department store mascara… so when I stepped into Ulta and found Urban Decay’s Skyscraper Multi-Benefit Mascara for $20–a revolutionary product that claims it “lengthens, strengthens, thickens, brightens, separates, and curls”, with conditioning agents of vitamin E, panthenol (which gives the glossy shine of Pantene hair), and silk proteins–I had to snatch it up to try it.

I’ve tried it out, and I think it looks pretty lashy. It doesn’t clump MOST of the time, it doesn’t flake, it lasts all day, and it gives good length and volume. I’m kind of iffy so far on whether it holds a curl well. My lashes are very curl resistant.

It has an interesting brush that is larger near the end of the barrel, and has no tip. The bristles are very stiff, but not totally inflexible. And it deposits a nice amount of mascara onto the lashes without gooping or clumping. You do, however, be careful that the suction mechanism sucks off enough of the mascara off the brush, or else it will clump.

I like it a lot so far, but I think I need more time with it.

What do you think?

Final rating: 3.75/5 or a decent B-ish grade.