loreal

Not to get all Real World confessional on you, but can you keep a secret…?

I’ve been holding it in so long that I’m going to explode if I don’t tell someone!

Here goes… Deep breath, Karen.

I’ve been cheating on the love of my life, and I don’t plan to stop any time soon.

Wait — did you think I was talking about El Hub? Oh, gawd no. I’m stuck on that man like cheese on macaroni. I’m referring to my other love, my favorite black gel liner in the whole wide world, also known as MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack.

I don’t know why I did it… Boredom, perhaps. Blacktrack and I have been rolling deep since 2007, and despite dalliances with many other gel liners along the way, I’ve always, always come home to Blacktrack. I think it’s just the smoothest, longest-wearing, darkest black gel liner around.

But then my eyes wandered to a new gel liner last week called L’Oreal Paris Infallible Never Fail Lacquer Liner 24H in Blackest Black ($9.95), looking all mysterious in its little pot, and I couldn’t restrain myself.

It actually reminds me of Fluidline in some ways. Both of them deliver smooth, dark lines, either sharp or smudgy, on my lash and water lines in just a swipe or two.

L’Oreal claims Blackest Black is able to last 24 hours, but after spending time with it for a while, I sense a bit of beauty bravado there. I get more like 6 hours along my water lines and 9-12 along my lash lines when I wear it without a primer on my combination dry/oily lids.

Not too shabby, cocoa tabby, and again, comparable to Blacktrack.

So what’s the attraction? Why haven’t I been picking up one of the five pots of Blacktrack scattered around the house (no, seriously!)?

Two words: glossy finish.

Each pot of Infallible Lacquer Liner comes with a brush, which works surprisingly well!

[Continue reading…]

Wearing L’Oreal Paris Infallible Eye Shadow in Endless Sea

I’ve been kind of feelin’ the spirit lately with my eye makeup, you know, wanting to wear looks with 20 steps involving primer, 10 different shades of eyeshadow, liner (pencil, liquid, gel AND cake) and false lashes. Basically any and all eye makeup I can get my furry little hands on.

SIDE NOTE: And I’m so not kidding about the fur! Here’s what nobody tells you about your dirty thirties: they’re hairy, as in you start noticing hair growing in odd places (LIKE ON YOUR FINGERS), and suddenly questions like, “Is it faux pas for a woman to shave her hands?” cross your mind.

Ahem! Inside voice, Karen.

Right. But what about those days when Tabs is blowing up my phone with “urgent” pet assistant requests, like, “Please alphabetize my gravy cans, thanks!” and I have the inkling, but don’t have the time, to indulge in complicated eye makeup?

Well, there’s always one of the six new L’Oreal Paris Infallible Eye Shadows ($7.95 each). 🙂

Liquid Diamond, Golden Emerald, Endless Sea, Glistening Garnet, Bottomless Java and Smoldering Plum join 12 existing permanent shades in L’Oreal’s faboo Infallible Eye Shadow line of long-wearing, easy-to-blend powder shadows so satiny smooth that they make velvet jealous, and so shimmery that I keep expecting cherubic angels to emerge from the clouds and say, “DAYUM, GINA!”

And did I mention they’re long lasting? Worn with a primer, they cling to my lids for 8-10 hours without creasing.

Endless Sea

Golden Emerald

Glistening Garnet
[Continue reading…]