Beauty Product Review: Stila Smudge Pot

My eyes are hands-down my best feature. They're a pretty unique shade of super pale blue that never fail to garner compliments on a very regular basis. (And it never gets old, trust me.) You can see why with eyes like mine I might be a little more interested in eye make-up than any other aspect of make-up. I'll admit it's why I started wearing falsies more regularly.

Stila Smudge Pot, Sephora, $20

Anyway, all of this is simply to say that I love trying out new make-up products. I always ask people- friends, family, even strangers- what product they're wearing. That's how I learned about Stila's Smudge Pot eye liner. Eye liner is something I've only been using for about 2 years now. Prior to that, I just didn't understand how to apply it on my face and have it look good. Once I got the knack, I was immediately addicted and now I wear it daily. Part of the learning process involved figuring out which type of liner product was the easiest for me to use. Some people swear by pencils, others love liquid and of course there are the gel people. I have always hated pencils unless I'm going for a very (and I mean very) smudged-up look. For about a year and a half I wore liquid liner with a great deal of success. Juhree actually introduced me to Stila's Smudge Pot a few months before I decided to try it myself. There's a special smudge-pot brush that they try to get you to buy in addition to the liner itself, but I didn't want to spend the extra $34. Instead, I found an identical brush in the brush section at Sephora for just $11 and it's suited me just fine.

Sephora Collection Eye Liner Brush, Sephora, $11

Anyway, back to the product. As a long-time eye-liner wearer, Juhree swears by the Smudge Pot for its creamy texture, easy application and rich color. (She wears the chocolate brown just about every day.) When I finally gave it a try, I was an immediate fan as well. I purchased it in black to start and soon discovered that the color is amazing- it's rich and creamy and definitely the best black eye liner I've ever used. I wear it daily and it has completely replaced all my other favorite liquid liners. It took me a month or so to really get the hang of putting it on, since it's a little different from liquid. But once I got some practice in, I was fine. The key (for me, anyway) is small quick strokes to outline the shape and then I go back with one even stroke on top to make sure it's a smooth, crisp, clean line. I only use it on the top unless I'm going for a very dramatic look. Here's my typical daily make-up look using the Smudge Pot eye liner:

As you can see, I'm a fan of the "winged" look. And no, I'm not wearing my falsies in this photo. Also, I completely FORGOT to put on lipstick! AAAHHH!!!

After using the product successfully for a few months, I decided to branch out and try some other colors. That was when my love affair with this product met a bit of a bumpy road. I purchased both "Kitten" and "Bronze" colors with a few ideas in mind. I hoped to use the "Kitten" as a high-lighter on both upper and lower water lines and I planned for the "Bronze" to be used just like I currently use the black, but for looks that I wanted to be a little softer and subtler.

While the black is perfectly creamy and just glides on like a dream, neither the kitten nor the bronze have the same effect. Perhaps it's due to the shimmer element within the color, but they tended to clump and flake and just refuse to cooperate. I gave each one several attempts with several different types of brushes before returning them to Sephora. At $20 each, I just couldn't see myself using them at all and $40 is a lot of money to toss down the drain. Back to the store they went and I drowned my sorrows at Starbucks afterwards.

In summary, I whole-heartedly stand behind the original black smudge pot as an amazing gel eye liner that I recommend to literally everyone whether they are liner lovers or not. As for the other colors, I cannot recommend the kitten or bronze colors at all due to their clumpy texture.

Do you have a beauty product you absolutely love? I am always on the lookout for great new products, so please leave a comment or send me an email or tweet me or whatever and tell me what you love! Thanks so much for reading and have an awesome day!

My Day With Joya Beauty

Remember how excited I was last week for my makeup lesson with Joya Beauty? If not, you can read the post here. Well, today was the big day and I loved every minute I spent with Joanne!

I even made a video to tell you guys all about the experience, so enjoy!



I have to admit, learning to record a video, then edit it and then upload it to YouTube all in one day was a little daunting. Fortunately, Macs are pretty much designed to be user-friendly, and it only took a few minutes of playing around to figure it out. Granted, the video is as simple as it gets, but maybe next time I'll be able to add some music or fun transitions or who even knows what else? They sky's the limit, as they say.

Feel free to comment on anything to do with this post- my makeup, Joya Beauty, my video recording and editing skills- anything at all! And have a great day!

Joya Beauty- Not Just Makeup

I am so excited to share with you guys about Joya Beauty that I just couldn't wait until next week. I know Joanne because of mutual acquaintances in the wedding industry. She's pretty much the bees knees when it comes to make-up artists, and she does make-up for loads of Madeleine's brides. Just last Saturday she came to the store to do make-up trials for brides. Of course she did an amazing job. I love watching her work- she really is an artist.

Last March, I had a facial at her studio and it was an enlightening experience. It was my first facial and I doubt I would ever get a facial anywhere else after experiencing one at Joya. I went in with oily, splotchy red skin and I left with a clean, healthy glow and the products to appropriately address my particular skin issues. You know from the photograph in THIS POST a few years ago that my skin is incredibly sensitive and I'm incredibly sensitive to my blemishes and imperfections. I showed Joanne the same picture that you saw in that post and she delivered not only in terms of the products she used, but in the approach. She really made me feel like my skin was beautiful. That I was beautiful.

After such a great experience and several months with clear, non-oily skin, I decided to experience another aspect of her amazing skills. I booked a make-up lesson. I'm hoping to learn how to use my make-up in better ways. I'm not looking for the basics- I think I've got those down. I'm looking for the tricks. The special tips that only make-up artists know. I'm looking to learn about tools and how to use and take care of them. I'm looking for some mad skillz, yo. And I'm gonna get 'em.

Finally, as a frame of reference, here's a great example of what my daily make-up looks like:

Have you ever had a professional make-up lesson? Or attended a make-up workshop? Where did you go? Who did you work with? Leave a comment and tell me all about it. I will definitely be writing a follow-up post to tell you all about my make-up lesson with Joanne!

Kandee the Make-up Artist

I believe I have a lot of skills and talents, but make-up is NOT one of them. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'd been wearing the same eye shadow for YEARS. And I was not lying. I'm not sure what I was doing when everyone else was learning about make-up techniques. I was probably at my piano lesson or practicing with the marching band. Either way, I somehow ended up as a 30-year-old without a single discernible make-up applying skill. Enter Kandee Johnson, A.K.A. "Kandee the Make-Up Artist."

Her YouTube videos and blog posts are exactly what the doctor ordered. For any girl who has ever wondered anything about make-up and/or hair styling- How do I get a perfect red lip? How do I create the perfect smokey eye? What is the best liquid eye liner to use? How do I add volume to my hair? It's all covered in Kandee's videos. And since she's actually a professional make-up artist who works on TV and movie sets, she knows ALL the tricks. Want to look like Tinkerbell for this year's Halloween? Or maybe you go gaga for Gaga? Or even if all you want to know is how to do the perfect nude lip, she's your girl! Check her out when you have a chance. WARNING: These videos are highly addictive.