Latisse Review

Hello BB Fans! Today I'm going to review Latisse, the eye lash growth product by Allergan.

Let me start with some basic information about the product. Latisse is actually a prescription eye drop that was originally formulated to treat glaucoma (high eye pressure), accelerated eye lash growth was just a happy side effect. The makers of the drops have renamed it Latisse and promoted it as beauty product for a much higher price, as the glaucoma drops are not considered a high tier drug anymore. Is this dirty? Kind of, but it if you were in business, you'd say it was genius.

I purchased mine for $120 dollars from the Medical Spa that I go to regularly. It does require a prescription, so a physcian is required. If you can find an eye doctor willing to prescribe it for you as the glaucoma medicine, good for you! You can buy it cheaper. However, I doubt many will do it. Liability and false diagnosis' you see.

Now for the review!

If you are an impatient person, this may not be the product for you. Results do take time. For the first month I noticed thicker lashes, more new growth. Instead of 1 or 2 rows of lashes I noticed 3 or 4 and much closer together. Months 2-3 no real changes. By month 4, wow! That was when I really noticed the length starting to increase! So now I have thick and long lashes. Another bonus, the longest lashes on the outer corner of the eye have started to curl on their own!!

Bonus #2 I use the left over product on the brush and put it on my eyebrows. I had a bald spot on my left brow from a waxing burn, which was very noticeable. It is almost gone now. I have brushed the product over the entire brow and have notice that they have become much fuller.

I do not use the applicator brushes included with the product. They are crap! I use an eyeliner brush (not the flat square shaped kind) and use one drop per eye. Then I brush it over my brows and clean afterwards. It is important to do your brows last so as not to introduce any dust or dirt to the lashes.

Another tip I have learned from experience, use 1 drop per eye. Yes, there is enough product to do both eyes with 1 drop, but I noticed that the 2nd eye did not have the same results. I little bit shorter. Since I have been doing 1 drop per eye, they are now even. I'm sure if you wanted to save some money you could still do 1 drop for both and alternate which eye you start with to keep things even.

Yes, I understand that it is pricey and the economy is bad, but know this! One bottle has lasted me 4 months and there is still plenty of product left in the bottle!

I hope this has helped anyone who is considering this product. I highly recommend it! Once I'm done with this I might try Lilash or Lash Fusion, but I still have a lot of Latisse left to use.

Until next time, smile like you mean it!!

Project 10 Pan Update

Hello BB Fans! Here is an update on my P10P progress. I have successfully completed 7 products. I must admit that I stretched my definition of the products to include anything that is beauty related. Lets face it, we're going to go through skin and hair care products faster than actual makeup, so I've included them in my count.

Completed products:

Cetaphil Facial Cleanser
Origins Eye Cream
Bottle of Perfume
Jar of Eye Makeup remover wipes
Mascara (Past the 3 month opened date)
Glycolic Acid Peel Wipes (Dr. Denese)
Redken Clarifying Shampoo

Yeah! 7 down, 3 to go!!

Fell Off the Wagon-P10P

Here's an update on Project 10 Pan (P10P), I fell off the wagon. I got my Ulta rewards coupon last week and I had every intention of just buying some brushes with my coupon, but there was a sale on NYX and I was weak. There were two trios that just spoke to me and a lipstick that looked promising, so I caved. I have finished one product this week. Not a makeup item, but my facial cleanser. My makeup remover is almost out too, I'm going to count these items as they are "beauty related." Perhaps this is cheating, but I'm counting'em.

Check out my youtube page for tutorials using my forbidden cosmetic purchases!

Back on track now!

Until next time...smile like you mean it!

Project 10 Pan

Hello BB Fans! How many of you are familiar with Project 10 Pan? Are you interested in learning more?

My understanding of it is this, for those of us that are makeup addicted it is a project/way of life to help us conquer said vices. The general concept is that you must use up or “hit pan” on 10 makeup products before you may purchase any new makeup. Now, the specifics of it are a bit confusing to me, can you buy 1 product for every 10 you use up or is it 10 for 10? I’m going to go with 10 for 1 to help me narrow my collection down and actually use everything I’ve purchased.


I’m blogging about it in an attempt to keep myself honest. I wish I could say that I have a number of products that I’m close to finishing, but sadly it is not so. I know of 1 product that should be gone by the end of the month, maybe sooner if I use it every day. The product is my BE mineral foundation. I got the Everyday Minerals Sampler and I’m dying to buy some full sized products, but it doesn’t make sense as I have 2 more Ulta Mineral foundations to use up. (Yes, I’ll do a compare and review!) I must also admit that I’m tempted to sharpen pencil products before every use to help speed up the process, but that seems like cheating.

I will be updating my progress weekly and invite any of you out there to join in and help support the cause!!

Good luck! Until next time, smile like you mean it!

Pans To Go - 10

Pans Used - 0

Fall Smokey Browns

I have been a big Kandee fan for some time. Her perky personality and excellent tips bring me back for more time and again. I always felt like she was too hip for me to pull off her looks, but I was so wrong. I took her advice and just went for it!

I wish I had filmed the first eye I did, because I was so freaked out about how dark it was. I know it would have been funny to see the faces I was making when I laid down the dark colors. I’m so glad I stuck with it, because the final look is awesome. But more importantly than that, the confidence I gained in the process was even better!

It’s not something I’ll wear to work, but it’d be a fun date look. I have to get up super early in the morning, 4 am, so my everyday look is simple and fast.

For those of you out there like me, who are nervous about going dark, give it a try. After all, it’s only makeup! It washes off! My next big plunge will be to try bright colors like maybe a teal or something. The sky’s the limit!!

Have fun and keep smiling!!

To see the video for this look.

www.youtube.com/user/BeautyByte

Maybelline Pulse Perfect Mascara Initial Review

Hello BB fans! Today I'll be discussing my initial response to the new Maybelline mascara, Pulse Perfect.

This is a decent everyday mascara if all you're looking for is definition. If you prefer big fat bold lashes you should probably pass on this one. The packaging is a black tube with gold writing. There is some assembly required which consists of removing a sticker to expose an electrode thingy.

The brush is a small rubberized brush with short bristles. The instructions say to place brush at base of lashes while vibrating and move slowly towards lash tip. The vibration takes a bit to get used to, but is not unpleasant. The vibrating action does cover the lashes quickly and completely, requiring few brush strokes. I applied 2 coats and achieved a nice everyday look. Nothing special, just meh.

I purchased the waterproof formula in very black in the hopes that it will hold a curl. I will update on how it wears through the day and the ease of removal.

It is pricey for a drug store mascara at $14.99 at CVS. There was a $2 coupon on the box which brought the price down to $12.99. We shall see if it is worth that price tag or just the price for the hype.

Stay tuned....

Keep smiling!!

Drop Dead Diva Filming

Hello BB Fans! This is just a random observation that I thought you might be interested in.

I went to Ulta Monday morning around 9:30, but ended up having to kill time at Barnes and Noble since they don't open till 10:00. Looked at some beauty books, but didn't end up buying anything. When I left the bookstore it was still a bit early for Ulta to open, so I sat down on a bench to enjoy the lovely day.

I guess I should explain that I was at an outdoor mall, so while waiting for Ulta I looked across the street and noticed a bunch of metal poles leaning against one of the store fronts. I didn't think too much of it as there are still alot of empty stores and new stores moving in, but I did notice a handful of women walking around in front of Dillard's that were dressed to the nines. I thought it was strange, cause people around here don't get that gussied up this early in the morning. Next thing I know I hear someone yell "Action!" and a guy walked buy with a big lighting rig. I assumed they were filming a commercial, but I was wrong. They were filming the Lifetime TV series Drop Dead Diva.

I honestly have not seen the show, because up until Monday I thought it was a Lifetime movie which I thought I had missed. But now I realize that I will have to start watching it. The premise of the show is that a beautiful young woman gets hit by a car and in the process of her soul going to heaven there is a mix up. Her soul ends up in a chubby lawyers body and the lawyers soul goes to heaven. But wait, the plot thickens! It turns out that the lawyers boss is the, now considered dead, models boyfriend!

Sounds like a pretty cute show. The few people I've talked to about it have said that they love the show, so I'll be checking it out!

Until next time, keep smiling!

iSkin Review/Clarisonic Dupe

I have been a You Tube guru fan for about a year now and have yet to see anyone discuss the iSkin system from Sally's Beauty Supply. I too, watched the videos about the Clarisonic, but could not justify spending $200 on one product. So my search began for an inexpensive dupe.

My first try was with a product by Artemis Woman that I picked up at Ulta for maybe $10. Let me save everyone some time and money by NOT recommending this product. It was flimsy, the brush head was tiny and it was not water proof. The RPM's were practically null and I was tempted to toss it after one use.

So my search continued. I admit that I would fondle the Clarisonic whenever I found myself at Sephora and even walked around with it in my basket for awhile, but alas, my common sense prevailed. (I find that if I put an item that I'm coveting in my basket and walk around for a bit, I come to my senses and buyer's remorse sets in, which ultimately prevents me from making many unwise purchases. Hey, it works for me!)

During a trip to Sally's I came upon the iSkin facial brush. I was waiting out a rain storm and scouring the shelves in the face products and saw it on the shelf. It looked so much like the Clarisonic that I did an immediate double take. What's this? I picked up the box and looked at the pictures and read the claims, which were very similar to Clarisonic. I couldn't belive it, so I opened the box to get a better look. To my amazement it is the spitting image of the Clarisonic! The brush size is comparable, it's waterproof and has 2 speed settings. I was sold!

The two differences that I noted are the brush is more tear drop shaped, which helps with getting in between the nose and the cheek, and only one type of brush. Clarisonic has different brushes for specific skin types, i.e. sensitive.

The iSkin cost $30, but was on sale for $20 and came with a 2oz bottle of the cleanser. A great bargain in my opinion.

I immediately tried it out and used it twice a day for about 3 days, before the problems started...

I did read the instructions which stated for sensitive skin to lightly brush skin for approximately 30-45 seconds 1-2 days a week. I didn't think it would do it's job in such a short amount of time and thoroughly scrubbed my skin until it tingled. Tinglings good, right? Not really, after 3 days I found that I could not use the brush anymore as my skin was red, swollen, flakey and yucky!! I looked like I had 3rd degree burns on my face!! It took 2 weeks to heal and even longer before I would try the product again.

2nd time I used it as directed and have had no problems at all! I really like the cleanser it came with and have repurchased it already. The fact that I like and can use the cleanser is saying something as I have terribly sensitive skin! Mind you, use a light touch and do not use everyday.

I have been using this for about 4-5 months now and can happily recommend it. It does a nice job of gentle exfoliating if used as directed. I only use the low setting and use a light touch.

Now, to play devil's advocate. Having used this product, I must say that the Clarisonic hype is just that. I enjoy the brush, but I find that acid peel pads do a better job at keeping my skin soft and flake free.

Which leads to the next review......MD Skincare Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel and Dr. Denese Advanced Firming Facial Pads.

Until next time! Keep on smiling!!