Eye Creams- Depuffing and Dark Circles

I have dark circles- it's a sad fact of life. I have tried a lot of eye creams, and have yet to find "The One" that keeps me from searching, but here's a comparison of a few I've tried:

Avon ANEW Clinical Eye Lift- $28/oz

In general, my sisters and myself had good result with this, but i'm not crazy about the residue left by the gel. It does lighten circles and lift a heavy brow-instantly which is something of note- but it's pricey and doesn't always absorb so great.

Burt's Bees Beeswax and Royal Jelly Eyecream- $15/oz

This one is waxy and will leave a slightly greasy texture to your skin- i recommend using it at night. This one basically works on the premise of thickening the skin and keeping it moisturized. It works well on bags and does help with circles over time.

100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream- $19/oz

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It comes in a glass bottle with pump



This one works fairly well- the caffeine is great for undereye bags, but it does a mediocre job on circles. It absorbs nicely, but smells like a popcorn-flavored dum dum, a scent i can't stand. DH uses and likes this cream for his eyebags.

Progress in Health-Erzulie Soothe Depuffer Eye Balm- $5/tube

This is another that works on the premise of moisturizing and thickening undereye skin. It's very herbal and takes awhile to absorb. I have worn in under makeup with a problem, but prefer to apply it at night. It's not going to do anything instant, but if you use it regularly- especially before bed- you'll notice smoother more nourished undereye skin in the mornings pretty quickly. It's not too fancy, but I like it.

Silk Naturals Holy Crow Instant Wrinkle Remover-$5.99/10grams

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This is meant for wrinkles, so when you have really bad bags with deep lines, this will improve the look of them. Unfortunately, it doesn't really do anything for circles (nor is it meant to)

Garden of Wisdom

• Pack Your Bags & Say Goodbye Eye Gel-$14.35/.5oz

This is a newly released product and a new favorite of mine. It shrinks bags within seconds- instant visible results. love. I placed an order for the eye products below before this product was released, and a 5g jar was included in my package. I'm so happy it was.

• Waxless Eye Magic-$8.10/3g jar

I use this in conjunction with the other 2 GOW eye products reviewed here as a moisturizer overtop of everything. I'm not entirely sure it does anything, because the other two are so potent, but it's eye safe with ingredients that target eye area issues and i like to put a moisturizer over serums and gels to keep the tightening from causing skin irritation.

• GoAway Circles Serum-$13.95/.25oz

This is light serum that absorbs quickly and does seem to be impacting my circles. I've only been using it for a week, in conjunction with the other 2 GOW eye products reviewed, and I do feel that my overall eye appearance has improved.

Lip Plumpers

I like to layer lip fusion XL and either PF Plump Potion or City Lips

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Physician's Formula Plump Potion
Retail price: $8.95
Flavor: chemically vanilla
Texture: Thick, very sticky, high shine/glass effect, can be drying
Colors: 12 colors available including clear
Application: Lip Brush
Tingle: Tolerable tingle. You do get used to it but the first time i used it, it was a little burny.
Plump Factor: Fantastic for instant plumping. Your lips are noticeably fuller and smoother (and redder, lol) within minutes. Lasts as long as the gloss is on (and it stays on pretty well)


Maybelline Volume XL Seduction Lip Plumper
Retail price: $8.49
Flavor: orange
Texture: slightly sticky, a little glittery, rather drying
Colors: 10 colors available including clear
Application: Lip tube that you twist from the bottom to dispense through holes at the top
Tingle: Just a little tingly
Plump Factor: Decent plumping. It isn't instant wow but you definitely get smoother, fuller lips and great color.

Sally Hansen Lip Inflation Extreme
Retail price: $7.79
Flavor: clove
Texture: slightly sticky
Colors: 4
Application: Lip wand with sponge tip
Tingle: not tingly
Plump Factor: zero

Celebrity Sexy Pout
Retail price: $29.99
Flavor: clove
Texture: smooth/ non-sticky
Colors: 1
Application: Lip wand with sponge tip
Tingle: not tingly
Plump Factor: zero

City Lips Advanced Formula
Retail price: $35
Flavor: a little off scented. don't love the smell but it is subtle
Texture: smooth/ slightly sticky
Colors: 8 including clear
Application: Lip wand with sponge tip
Tingle: minimal tingle
Plump Factor: extreme within minutes. Bonus: lasting results

Lip Fusion by Fusion Beauty Micro-Injected Collagen Lip Plump
Retail price: $36
Flavor: orange blossom
Texture: smooth/ non-sticky, slightly drying
Colors: 20 including clear
Application: Lip wand with sponge tip
Tingle: none
Plump Factor: lips are visibly smoother
Lip Fusion XL by Fusion Beauty
Retail price: $50
Flavor: minty
Texture: smooth/ non-sticky, moisturizing
Colors: clear
Application: Lip wand with sponge tip
Tingle: minimal tingle
Plump Factor: lips are visibly smoother. Noticeably fuller lips over time.

Patricia Wexler Advance No-Injection Lip Plumper
Retail price: $17.50
Flavor: unflavored
Texture: smooth/ non-sticky
Application: Lip brush
Tingle: slight tingle. If you lick your lips, your tongue numbs a little
Plump Factor: lips are visibly smoother and fuller. 3.5 out of 5 stars for plumping.

Silk Naturals Smooth & Full Black Label Lip Treatment

Retail price: $5.95
Flavor: unflavored
Texture: smooth/ non-sticky
Application: Slim Tube/balm
Tingle: none
Plump Factor: lips are visibly smoother and fuller. 3.5-4 out of 5 stars for plumping

Mascara

I have tried a fair amount of mascaras in search of "The One"- the one that gives long full lashes without too much flaking, smearing, and most importantly (to me) without clumping!!!

A background: my lashes are already quite long and fairly full, but bleach out quickly and are nearly invisible without mascara. The right mascara definitely gives my lashes a wow factor. I don't do fake lashes (i just don't have the patience) and honestly think it should be illegal for mascara ads to use fake lashes- it feels like false advertising to me.

Tips & Tricks:
1) I have found that handedness does, in fact, matter when it comes to applying mascara. For a long time, I had a problem where my right eye always came out better than my right (i'm right handed). When I use my left hand for my left eye and my right hand for my right eye, both sets of lashes come out perfect!

2) using a darker shadow color in the corners of your lids or drawing your eyeliner thicker at the outer edges creates a backdrop for your lashes that makes them look fuller.

I have tried a lot of mascaras: jane be pure, maybelline, the "pink and green tube", lash stiletto, covergirl, silk naturals, sheer cover, lure beauty, etc. ALL fell short of expectations in some way (they flaked, they didn't give enough volume, they clumped big time, they had really weird applicators, they took forever to dry, they came scented, etc.) and I absolutely refuse to spend $20+/tube for some of the more popular brands.

I present to you, the holy grail: Avon Supershock Mascara

I only buy this when it's on sale- it's often part of a BOGO promotion and at the time of this posting is on sale at 41% off ($4.99/tube). This mascara is regularly priced at $8.99/tube and can also be found on amazon (i have found the black at $2.99/tube on amazon). I buy the regular (not waterproof) version in brown. It's a nice large tube with one of those great spiky brushes that tends to curl, coat, and separate all in one.

Caution: While both the regular and waterproof versions give you wow lashes, the waterproof version is "wetter" to begin with (read as: takes longer to dry) and is what i call a "tubing" mascara, which means that when it comes time to remove this mascara you can pinch the base of your eyelashes and little rubbery tubes of mascara will slide off your lashes. It's not my thing ergo i buy the regular version, but feel you should be informed that the formulas are different.

Also, another fun little product from Avon is their mistake proof mascara- which I buy specifically for the eyemakeup remover end which has a doefoot applicator and removes mascara smudges easily.