Heather Giustino Blog: beauty smackdown

Makeup Forever Ultra HD Foundation. I've actually had this sitting around for a while now, but due to my extreme love of Bare Minerals I hadn't tried it until recently. Wowzers, it is gooooood! The formula feels like nothing on, but covers flawlessly, without looking like you're wearing foundation. It's basically your skin but better. Coverage is buildable, and they have a huge range of colors (I wear color 140, for reference.)

Dead Sea Mud mask by Bambu Earth. Another awesome product! My skin tends to get greasy, and breakout but also dry at the same time. SO irritating! This mask soaks up excess oil, but doesn't dry me out AT ALL! I also really like using it as a spot treatment overnight, on those lovely pimples that still continue to pop up.

All of Bambu Earth's products are formulated without nasty chemicals, and you can save 20% on this awesome mud with code HEATHERGIUSTINO

L'Oreal Extraordinary Clay pre-shampoo treatment mask. If you have oily hair this is a dream product! I know you're not supposed to wash your hair everyday, so I do it every other day but my hair gets OILY! Enter this amazing new product. You put it on your roots (I also put it on the roots near my ears where I tend to get oily) for at least five minutes before your shower. Then rinse and shampoo/condition as normal. I was skeptical about this, but it truly does work! I saw a huge reduction in oil in my hair the day I washed it, and the day after as well. As someone who typically shies away from drugstore hair products I am incredibly impressed!

Last, but certainly not least is this incredible, little powerhouse. The #InstaReady full coverage concealer by Physician's Formula is quite possibly *the* best concealer I've ever tried. It's full, full coverage, lasts all day long and doesn't crease. You only need the tiniest amount (I learned that the hard way) and it comes with it's own tiny, adorable blender that is perfect for under eyes. Try this bad boy, I promise you won't be disappointed!

What are YOUR current beauty obsessions?! Let me know what I should try out next!

What's up, guys?? Today I have a mascara smackdown for you. For the longest time I was a diehard devotee of YSL's Shocking mascara. I got into the habit of buying "designer" mascara when I worked at Nordstrom, and up until recently it's not a habit that I'd broken. THIS is another one that I absolutely adore! High-end mascaras are generally pretty awesome, but also for that price I could get two or three tops at TJ Maxx. hmm...a few new pieces of clothing, or a mascara that will run out after a couple months. I decided it was time to stop splurging, and a while ago I set out to find a great mascara, that wouldn't break the bank.

Did I find one? Or do the high-end mascaras work that much better that it really is worth it?? Read on...

I went through my drawers and decided to test out all of the different mascaras I had floating around. (Yep. I had that many. Eek!! You'll notice I have a lot of Maybelline mascaras, and that's because they were buy one get one half off at Ulta, plus I had a $3.50 off of $10 coupon. It brought them down to about $4 each, when I paid for each set of two mascaras in a separate transaction with the coupon!)

Anyhoo, onto the competition...

*Maybelline's brand new Falsies Push Up Drama mascara *Julep's volumizing mascara (which it looks like they don't make anymore, and that is a GOOD thing. Trust.) *Maybelline's Lash Sensational mascara *Estee Lauder's Sumptuous Extreme mascara *Maybelline's Falsies Volum' Express mascara *YSL's Shocking mascara *Maybelline's The Colossal Cat Eyes Volum' Express mascara *Tarte's Lights, Camera, Flashes mascara and *Maybelline's Pump Up Colossal mascara. First off - dang. Why are those names so long?!

These guys were lame. The falsies push up drama (again, what's with the crazy long name?!) is brand new, and quite hyped about. The brush is a hard, shorter bristled brush that's supposed to cup your lashes, and flair them upward. It worked just fine, but didn't cup my lashes or do anything special. The Julep one I was reeeeeaaaaaalllllly NOT a fan of. The clear, square packaging was really cool, and I wanted to like it, but ugh. Just NOT good. It was goopy and didn't have any real volume or lengthening payoff. I love Julep's nail polishes, and lip products, but mascara is something they should give up on, in my opinion. The Pumped Up Colossal was just ok. Not bad, but nothing special.

All three of these were GREAT! The YSL Shocking (my once much-beloved) gave me great volume and length, and lasts all day. It smells faintly of roses, like most Dior products, and comes in really beautiful packaging. The Falsies Volum' Express was incredible - did all of the same things as the YSL, but better. The Lash Sensational was also great, and offers up big time volume and length. You cannot go wrong with any of these. I am a one-coat of mascara kind of girl, but all three of these have fantastic, buildable formulas that truly don't clump if you want to add more. I may or may not have gone a bit mascara crazy with the Volum' Express when I was going to a blogging event, and it didn't clump a bit!

(The mascaras not specifically mentioned were all good, but not over the top amazing.)

But there can only be one winner, and in my opinion this race had a CLEAR winner.

The Maybelline Falsies Volum' Express mascara takes the cake. It retails for right around $6, and out-performs the YSL shocking, which rings in at $32. The brand, Maybelline is often on sale for buy one get one half off at Ulta, and they always have a $3.50 off of $10 coupon, so it's worth it to get two at a time. I keep one at home, and one in my gym bag. They have it available with a straight brush, or a curved one (as shown above) and I really prefer the curved version. It contours really nicely to your lashes, and makes application easier.