Makeup Alley Love

Have you heard of Makeup Alley?  No?  Well, you should have heard of it because it's awesome.  You might be familiar with the more recent (and more popular) Beautylish, which has a much better app, but that's a post for another time. 

On a side note, I have been trying to upload two pictures to Instagram, for them to sell and not pay me for, for an hour and they WILL NOT LOAD.  I am going to scream.  It's Christmas Eve Eve and I'm going to scream at Instagram.  Next time you're sad, just imagine me screaming at my iPhone in front of the Christmas tree because Instagram refuses to cooperate and you are sure to feel better.  Moving on...

Makeup Alley was the first website that I ever used to look up consumer reviews of cosmetics, bath and body, and fragrance.  I love, love, love it!!  There are thousands of products reviewed on the site, with popular products having hundreds of reviews each.  I also love that the reviewer lists their age, skin type, eye and hair color next to their reviews so the reader can take this into account when considering the review.  Do I care what a ninety-five year old woman with extra-dry skin thinks about an oil-free moisturizer that is only designed to give a bit of hydration to normal/combo skin types?  Not so much.  The reviews have been particularly helpful to me when I'm looking to purchase a bigger ticket item like a Clarisonic or my Babyliss straightener.  I'm sure as heck not going to pay $150 for a hair straightener that half of the people who own them say doesn't heat after six months!  I also love to read the reviews to compare similar-ish products.  It really helps to make an educated guess as to which one will be the best for me.  I used this most recently when deciding which luminizer to buy to mix with my matte full-coverage foundations.  If you haven't been in the market lately for luminizers, there are plenty to choose from, let me tell you.  Stila, LORAC, Smashbox....just to name a few.  I ended up choosing the Artificial Light from Smashbox and love it, by the way. 

Obviously, there are a zillion places to find consumer reviews online...but wait, there's more at Makeup Alley!  There is also a swap section where you can swap with other beauty junkies!  No selling here, just swapping.  I reach point break every so often and go on a swapping binge to get rid of the overwhelming crap-ton of stuff I have AND I get new happies to play with.  Like now for instance...I want matte lipsticks and I want some warm tone blushes (there are WAY too many pink blushes in my life right now), um, and I want some Stella by Stella McCartney (this list could get really long if I let it so I'll stop there).  I recently swapped a Benefit Bad Gal Lash I had lying around for a "Pretty Sexy" MAC lippy and hubby is taking two other mascaras and a toner sample to the PO tomorrow to swap for a MAC blush and NARS lippy.  I LOVE this idea...love, love, love it.  My only word of warning is this: PLEASE be careful of germs and clean anything you swap like it is covered in AIDS.  Just assume it is.  And don't swap for used mascaras/other things that hold onto germs/things you can't clean...that's disgusting and not worth getting pregnant and dying over (Mean Girls anyone? no?  ok). 

You can also find message boards here where you can post questions and find answers to any beauty/health/fitness question you could possibly dream of.  I like just scrolling through these.  I always get great ideas, have a few giggles, and marvel at what other people actual use their brains for.  

Makeup Alley does have an app but it only has the consumer reviews on it.  I'm pretty apathetic about it honestly.  I guess if I was shopping and an emergency came up where I had to compare products this might be helpful, but I wish the app had all of the great features that the website does.  The app gets pretty crappy reviews and I'm sure it's because it doesn't sport all of the fancy features of the website.  

So come join me on Makeup Alley, I'm "efjones".  I have a few reviews on there and my swap list and wish list.  But guess what I still don't have...INSTAGRAM PICTURES!!

Hoarding: Lip Balm Edition

Lips: the entryway to the mouth.  Profound, wasn't it?  I love, love, love lip products.  Lip sticks, lip liners, lip gloss...I could go on, Bubba Gump style, all day, but I'll refrain.  Right now, I am using the mess out of lip balm.  My lips get so confused when it's getting cold and the weather can't decide what it's going to do.  They get dry, they crack, they flake, they look like crap.  It's just generally no good.  So, a few weeks ago I decided I needed some lip balm.  I started with one EOS and one Burt's Bees in my nightstand...I sort of wish I could still say the same.  But, in the interest of fun, I'm going to embrace the hoarding and share what's been happening on my lips lately. 

As I previously mentioned, I went from two lip balms...to this:

I really just bought three...three three packs:)  

I think I've previously posted about my undying love for EOS lip balms.  They rock my world, and my lips.  The Alice in Wonderland Edition is adorable and just plain enchanting.  Just look at the packaging!!  The babies in this one are Vanilla, Watermelon, and Blueberry...yummy!  These are nice b/c the flavors are soft, not overbearing, which I completely can't stand.  I don't want to feel like I've eaten a blueberry, just that a blueberry has kissed my lips while they are being moisturized.  Additionally, and maybe the best part, instead of just the circular indention in the crease to open the container...it has been added to to make a Mickey face!!  Sold and sold.
The Korres came second.  These amazing lip butters, the only tinted ones I've ever found that actually feel good on my  little lips, are $12 a pop, but Sephora had a Holiday set for $25 for 3.  How could I NOT buy them?!  That would have been ridiculous.  Also, they are tinted so they really shouldn't even count toward to total of "general lip balms owned." 

Last but not least are the Body Shop lip butters.  Yes, this brings me up to 6 lip butters, but these are not scented to it's totally different.  This is the fruit and nut set, which is hilarious, agreed?  Don't love sticking my finger in the pot, completely unsanitary and messy, but nothing a Q-tip can't fix.  The flavors of these are a little stronger than the EOS and the texture is less waxy.  One of these guys lives in the bathroom for use before bed and one lives in the car.  I think I already lost the other one...woops!  If I had to compare I would pick the EOS over The Body Shop but that's just like picking a favorite child, I think it's a sin or something.