Tarte Haul and Lights, Cameras & Flashes Statement Mascara

Tarte had a deal that I couldn't pass up recently called the Gift or Get Beauty Set ($59). I found it impossible to resist because (a) it was customizable, (b) it contained the airbuki brush, and (c) all of the items were full sized.  The value of of the set was $163, not counting the makeup bag.  Today I'll be showing the Lights, Cameras, & Flashes Statement Mascara ($23).

Dressed in a gold lamé snakeskin jacket, Lights, Camera, and Flashes aims to make a statement with it's ultra-black matte pigment and the supposed ability to increase the volume of lashes by 752%.  That's quite a claim there, gold lamé jacket or not.

The brush has a mixture of short to long rows of spikes which are supposed to deposit (short spikes) and then comb through (long spikes) as you rotate the brush.  The mascara spreads easily enough as it's on the wet side, and the longer spikes did help brush out what would have been lots of clumps otherwise.  My biggest issue was that the large brush and longer spikes tended to deposit color on my eyelid if I'm not rather delicate with my application.  I've got small eyes and that's a problem for me more often than not, but larger brushes are particularly at fault.

I also found the large brush difficult to maneuver on my bottom lashes and  the mascara had a tendency to smudge there anyhow.  However, I liked how black and matte the mascara was on my top lashes, so I can use another mascara for the bottom.  The formula does feature some ingredients to help strengthen lashes, namely:

• Provitamin B5: vitamin B derivative that helps treat and thicken lashes.
• Beeswax: a protective barrier between the skin and the environment that has been known to naturally stimulate collagen production.
• Mineral pigments: soothe and soften lashes.

Bottom line, I'll use it as long as I don't get frustrated with the large brush with it's mess-making potential on my small/narrow eyes.

Fragrance of the day:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Gingerbread Snake with it's gingerbread and exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.  I needed something that would go well with Bubble & Bee's Sugar and Spice body butter, a favorite of mine for this time of year (full review here), and Gingerbread Snake fit the bill.  It's time for a new Sugar & Spice, which I better get soon as it's only available for a limited time each year.

Song of the day:  We've had our first cold snap and I'm resisting turning my heat on.  It was 56 in my house this morning, but it will be getting back up into the 70's later this week so I think I can tough it out.  Why do I do this?  I do not know.

Cold by Annie Lenox (partial lyrics)

Winter has frozen us 

Let love take hold of us

(Cold cold cold)

Now we are shivering

Blue ice is glittering

(Cold cold cold)

Worth viewing for her purple eye shadow alone, but the song is also fabulous.