Thursday, June 28, 2012

The Eyes Have It

It's time for more Things I Recommend to My Friends, a somewhat irregular series of items I've found that I feel the need to pass along because I like them that much.

I don't know about you, but occasionally I like to feel like I'm reinventing myself without really doing much of anything. These moments usually are accompanied by a trip to a nearby makeup counter for a new eye look. Easy, painless, no sweating. I had one such occasion not long after I had my son. I was feeling particularly frumpy, lumpy, and tired that day, so I thought I'd boost my self-esteem and buy myself something that always fits: makeup.

I stopped by the Bobbi Brown counter on a whim where a girl did my eyes, and I bought the whole look. Before I had only used a pencil eyeliner (MAC eye kohl or technakohl, both very good), so the idea of using a gel was a little out of my comfort zone. But the movies always make applying things like this with a brush so glamorous, so I thought I'd give Bobbi Brown long-wear gel eyeliner a try. For a while.


The while turned into a permanent home in my makeup bag. I have both cobalt and espresso. And when I picked up InStyle's Best Beauty Buy edition a couple of months ago, I felt validated since it held their top gel eyeliner spot. They described it very well although I'm not quoting them exactly: it's very dry, but with the perfect amount of slip to fix any issues before it sets. It's almost like clay, in my opinion. Anyway, I love it. It works best with the Bobbi Brown liner brush. (I've tried it with a MAC 211. It doesn't go on quite as well, but it works too.)

But you get a two-fer today, because it took me about 6 months to find an eye makeup remover that can truly take this stuff off without using 10 cotton rounds. I tried quite a few brands, from expensive to drug store, and the winner was Neutrogena Oil Free Eye Makeup remover. Listen, I have no idea how this is oil free because there are clearly two substances that separate overnight, but it works to take off even the most waterproof of mascara. At less than $10 a pop, it's a great product for your beauty vault.


These products both pass months of my daily testing. I simply had to pass them along. Find more Things I Recommend to My Friends here.

10 comments:

  1. I purchased Bobbi Brown makeup for my wedding (long, long ago) including this eyeliner. Then I got lazy and stopped using it, but I should revisit it because I've had a hard time finding a good eyeliner recently. Thanks for the reminder!

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    1. I think the others I've used in the past serve great purpose. MAC eye kohl is great for smudging, but this is a great daily stay in place one. Plus, Kate Middleton! ;)

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  2. I've used that makeup remover for years and I've wondered how it's really oil free, too! It definitely does the job...but what is it? Ha!

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    1. I can't tell, but it says it doesn't leave an oily residue. I kind of think it does. It is so weird.

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  3. Interesting! It's so hard to find a good eye liner. On another note, though, I love your E cup. It makes your space look happy. :)

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    1. Thanks! I have another one on my desk at work for pens and pencils. It definitely makes my cube happier!

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  4. Have you tried the Neutrogena make-up face wash in the blue bottle? Best make-up remover / facewash all in one. Hands down. I stockpile it.

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    1. No! I will try it. I just switched from Bliss Foaming Face Wash to CereVe. I'll have to check that one out next.

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  5. I love Neutrogena's make-up remover!!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I can't believe it took me so long to find it!

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