My first Nail of the day (NOTD)  post! I promise I’ll be more careful next time I paint my nails. Today’s NOTD is Nina Ultra Pro nail polish in Ruby Fire. It’s a red-ruby jelly with subtle gold shimmer. It looks more metallic on my nail than it does on the bottle. I like it on the bottle better.

The bottle:

Nails with flash:

Nails without flash:

A couple weeks ago I went to the M.A.C. store to buy a specific foundation, but the M.A.C. artist who attended me offered to do my makeup. Who was I to say no? So he removed my makeup and did it all over. I was actually very pleased with the results and fell in-love with every single one of the products he used on my face. But the one thing that he used that I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it, the one thing that did BOOM to my look was…. the mascara!

I couldn’t believe how huge and black this mascara made my lashes look! I’ve only heard bad things about M.A.C. mascara. All those negative reviews I’ve read about it were the first thing that came to my mind. But it was hard to resist when it’s right there making your eyelashes look fabulous! So I told him I was definitely taking that mascara. And I did. It was reasonably priced at $13, which is even comparable to the price of some drugstore mascara.

The applicator looks… ordinary. Usually when I review mascara I take a good look at and comment about the applicator. But this one doesn’t have anything particularly special. I like that it is small enough to be able to get the lashes over the inner corner of my eyes, plus it allows for a clean application on my lower lashes. The tube is sleek and beautiful, typical of M.A.C.; it is also small enough to fit comfortably in my stuffed makeup bag.

I got it in “zoomblack” and I have to say it has very rich pigmentation so it really is the blackest black. The bristles don’t do a lot for separation but you can achieve good separation by going over the parts that you think need to be separated. I’ve read reviews from people saying it clumps, but this isn’t the case for me at all. It is very manageable and easy to apply and get it to look exactly as you want it to look. You can do a light application or you can build it up for a more dramatic look. This mascara does add lenght to my lashes, and I mean it, a lot of noticeable lenght.

My eye with no makeup at all:

Using one coat of M.A.C. Zoom Lash Mascara, no curling

Same thing, different angle

I only have two minor complaints about this mascara. First, it doesn’t dry very fast. While it doesn’t take an eternity to dry, it does take a bit more time than other mascaras I’ve used. I kinda like that it gives me time to get it to look how I want before it dries, but the downside, at least in my case, is that it lengthens my lashes so much, that when it is still wet, my tip of my lashes stain the skin above my eye with mascara. You know, it leaves like little dots where each lash touched the skin. So I have to be cleaning that up. The other thing I don’t particularly love about this mascara is the smell. It doesn’t smell bad, it just smells weird. And this weird smell is a strong smell. Of course it goes away soon after you apply mascara and it dries.

This mascara lasts on my eyes all day without ever smudging. I am a compulsive eye-toucher and guess what? No raccoon eyes. It doesn’t make eyelashes brittle or flaky. It just gives your lashes that flawless black, long, sleek look. In general really love this mascara.  I especially recommend this mascara if you are mainly looking for a way to add lenght to your lashes. And I think I will be repurchasing this after I run out!

Note: I bought this product with my own money, I am not getting paid to write this entry, I’m not affiliated with the company who makes this product and this review represents my own honest opinion.

When the Maybelline sales girl recommended this CoverGirl mascara, I knew I had to get it. The Covergirl Lashblash volume blasting mascara, also known as the Lashblast in the fat orange tube, is pure awesomeness in a tube. Fat orange tube, that it.

I have this mascara in very black, non-waterproof formula.

The bristles of the applicator impressed me as soon as I opened the product. They are big fat rubbery spikes. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work separating my lashes, but it does give me incredible lash separation. I have other mascaras that are very clumpy, and when I use them I apply this Lashblast mascara over it to separate them and it adds instant boom to my lashes. I wouldn’t say it does a lot to lengthen my lashes, but it does add some length as opposed to no mascara at all.

The wand is big but it allows you to apply mascara comfortable to your inner lashes. One thing I don’t like much about the wand is that the tip is completely flat with no bristles, and right after you take the wand out of the tube there is almost always like a chunk of mascara just stuck there on the flat tip. I usually just clean it up against the border of the tube, because if I don’t it can result in that chunk of mascara sticking somewhere to your face. Not pretty at all!

This mascara doesn’t clump, and it doesn’t make my lash tips touch and mess up the skin above of my eye, like some other mascaras I’ve used have done. The consistency of this product is rather creamy so it doesn’t run; it goes on clean and easily, plus it dries in a reasonable amount of time. I love the staying power of this formula. I can wear it all day long with no smearing or smudging, so it doesn’t give me raccoon eyes at all! Even if I touch my eyes, I won’t get product all over my fingers or smudged around. At the end of the day my lashes still look great, not flaky or brittle at all.

To remove it I use makeup remover wipes from Walgreens (no fancy makeup remover here!) and it comes off just fine. Now, have in mind this is the regular formula, not the waterproof. I’ve only heard amazing raves about the waterproof version though! According to CoverGirl’s claims, the formula is hypoallergenic and suitable for contact lens wearers, which is always a plus since I don’t want my mascara to mess around with my contacts!

The famous orange tube is very cute but not very practical, since it’s a bit too big, so it’s hard to fit into my makeup bag which is not that big and is already stuffed with other makeup that I must carry around everyday.

And now, here are some pictures of how it looks on me. Please excuse my untidy brows and my eye bags, in the pictures I’m wearing no face makeup at all.Click the pictures to enlarge them!

First, here are my naked eyelashes:

Then here’s my eye with Lashblast. This ONE coat WITHOUT CURLING.:

Same thing, different angle (hey, just for fun!):

Overall I think this is a wonderful mascara, possibly one of the best ones I’ve used. I totally recommend it if you want fuller-looking lashes in one easy step.

Have you tried this product? Let me know in the comments what you think about it!

Note: I bought this product with my own money, I am not getting paid to write this entry, I’m not affiliated with the company who makes this product and this review represents my own honest opinion.