Make Your Own Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara!

Reading & watching reviews upon reviews going nuts for the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara that recently came out, I thought to myself that there must be a way to do this yourself and save yourself the ridiculous price for a sample size worth of product. The Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara brush is tiny and if you really look at it, you can see what they basically did was chop off the bottom part of a mascara wand, removing the thick part that has a tendency of gooping mascara onto the lashes you don't want nearly as dramatic as your upper ones. When you tilt your brush to the side to really work the tip into your lashes, that fat part kind of sits on them and makes them clumpy and unsightly. So maybe Clinique is a genius for figuring this out after years of regular mascara wands but I for one am not going to spend that kind of money on something so small.

DIY to the rescue.

What you'll need:
mascara*
a pair of scissors**
make up remover/water
paper towels

* I'd highly recommend using a GWP mascara for this (especially since they are free!). The brush/wand should be slightly pointed at the top and should be the non-plastic variety. I'm not sure what it is made out of, possibly nylon?
** I'd recommend cuticle scissors or something similar. These huge ones were awkward!

This shape is perfect!

Step 1: Remove the wand from the container and clean it! 

TIP: Use slightly harder paper towels so they don't leave little bits on your wand. If you use waterproof mascara you'll have to use an oil based remover, plus soap and water to clean it.

All clean!

Step 2: Take your scissors (again I recommend smaller scissors especially if you are using GWP mascaras) and start cutting the fibers on all sides of the brush, coming as close to the actual wand as possible without puncturing it. Do this over the trash can or plastic bag.

TIP: Keep on snipping until you get to the desired length. I'd recommend using a piece of tape as a guide if you want it exact.

All done!

Step 3: Clean the wand again to ensure there aren't any hairs that weren't attached but had hidden their way into the wand.

Look familiar?

Your own version could cost as little as nothing! Save yourself $10 (or more in other countries)!

Beauty Blog Link Love - 2/26/11 - #28

Want your own customizable magnetic palette without spending big bucks? Beauty's Bad Habit shows you how to make your own!

AOYV find her love and joy in NARS Lovejoy.

Take a look at INGLOT's new Chelsea NYC Studio: Kim Porter shares pictures from INGLOT's Grand Opening event.

Inspired by Parisian culture with Asian nuances, The Beauty Nerd features gorgeous beauty products from Tokyo Milk.

Revlon's Super Lustrous line has officially converted Angela at Do Want Makeup into a lipstick lover! Check out her review of Wine With Everything.

Come over to Jeweled Thumb to see some new lipsticks from Essence at a price point everyone will love!

Hot Beauty Health shares the best travel makeup to stay gorgeous on vacation.

Love Rihanna? Musicalhouses attempts to dupe her "Who's That Girl" eye look!

Hot thermal springs, healing white silica muds, soothing spas...sounds a bit like heaven, right? While most of us can't get to Iceland, check out Socialite Dreams review of the Iceland Blue Lagoon Spa Mud Mask that you can use at home.

Take a peek at the toners and moisturisers in Rachel's current skincare routine.

Retrodiva shows how easy it is to use the Kiss Premium Eyelashes. Gorgeous lashes in just a flash!

Blush Fiend Tracy at Beauty Reflections reviews Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush and other blushingly beautiful blushes during Blush Week!!

Sarah from IHeartCosmetics reviews the new Naked Skin line of 97% natural facial skincare.

Missed out on New York Fashion Week? Make sure you check out Krasey Beauty's recap on fall beauty trends.

Ever wondered how to pick the right blush to go with red lips? The Lip Print gives you a few pointers.

At Music and Make Up Jo has lip swatches of her favourite red lipsticks.

Jellyminx shares her first nail stamping experience!

Cindy over at Prime Beauty happily referees the Lip Crayon Smackdown! See who comes out on top between NARS, Tarte and Clinique!

Do Revlon creme glosses live up to the hype? Check out Spiced Beauty to see how she scored them for 2.50 each!

What's the hottest new lipstick in the drugstore? Find out over at theNotice (and don't miss Rae's swatches of the entire line!)

Do men moisturise? Isn't it too macho for them? hellcandy's bf guest posts and reveals all...Click here to read his post.

Katie sounds the dupe alert siren when comparing Kat Von D's Beethoven palette ($34) to the NYX Jazz Night palette ($8) on My Lips But Better.

What did you buy from Mac’s Wonder Woman collection? Check out Anita’s Wonder Woman haul over at Pleasureflush.
***
Feel like there isn't enough nail polish in your life? Beauty Crazed has a nail bonanza contest going on that you should enter! What are you waiting for?!

Phyrra's Indie Spotlight for February is Sobe Botanicals! Learn all about Lex, and don't miss out on entering the giveaway, too!

Motives Eyeshadows (my collection)

Several months ago, I reviewed some Motives Eyeshadows for Beauty Debutante. Since then, I have continued to use these shadows and I wanted to share them over here as a summary (and my guess is some of you didn't read my prior reviews). I received them as testers so instead of keeping them in their regular smaller palette packaging, I stuck them in a Yaby palette (which I love in case you were wondering - I think I have 6 of them).

I was sent 3 different summer palettes, each including 5 eyeshadows, so I kept them in a similar format for this storage.

I used a couple of the golds for my Inara look and really like the matte gray farthest left in the 2nd row (Cosmic) in the crease. These retail for $12 a piece which for me is a bit high for a lesser known brand, but I am quite glad I have them.

And some swatches for you.

Colors swatched: Bronze Beauty, Green Tea, Sunkissed, Hazelnut, Goddess, Enchanting, Twilight, Galaxy, Drama, Blizzard, Starstruck, Sex & The City, Plum Frost, Twinkle, Cosmic


Some are better than others. I am not a fan of the ones with chunky glitter though Galaxy and Cosmic manage to look more metallic than glittery. I hope this post will serve as a decent reference as the 'swatches' on the Motives website are lacking. If they come out with summer sets this year as they did last year, they may be worth taking a look at. I believe these shadows will fit in MAC palettes but I haven't tested it myself.

Disclosure: These shadows were received for review for Beauty Debutante. All opinions are my own.

Everyday Minerals Freebie

Well mostly free. Thanks to Sisi Sparkles for posting about this!

Everyday Minerals used to always offer this option for a free kit of samples to help figure out the color you would need to order but a couple years ago (I remembering ordering a similar kit in college), they discontinued this deal (and I presume lost a few customers in the process). Well, it's back! And you only need to pay shipping, plus 1 cent. I paid $3.09 for my sample colors.

The options are: Fair, Ivory, Light, Medium, Tan, Mocha, Olive

I ordered the Fair kit myself.

Skincarerx Deals

I have $20 of SkincareRX rewards dollars burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided to take a look on the site, and they have a significant portion of sale and clearance products including a couple of my favorites so I thought I would share in case you were considering picking any of these products up after reading my reviews.

La Roche-Posay Physiological Micellar Solution - You know how much I love the gel and right now the liquid version is on sale for $14.03 down from $18.90!

Some of the darker shades of the Neostrata Exuviance Skin Caring Foundations are on sale (discount is around $10!)

Quite a few of the Cargo Suede Blushes are on sale (including other items) on the Skincarerx sister site Apothica. If you haven't tried a Cargo blush, now is your chance!

Don't forget Ebates or Mr. Rebates too. Use code SKIN10 to take 10% off your purchase!

Disclosure: I used referral links for the cash back sites. I am not affiliated at all with Skincarerx, just a loyal customer!

Michael Todd Giveaway Winner

Whew, keeping track of all these giveaways has worn me out and my guess is you guys are too as I only had 17 entries for this one!

The winner is:

Pamela xiong***(at)gmail

Pamela, I'll be e-mailing you to get your mailing address and Modnique.com will send out your package shortly!

Giveaways will stop for a little while. Do you guys prefer the smaller ones with more winners or larger less often ones with 1 winner? Let me know your throughts. In a perfect world, I'd send a prize to everyone but I don't have the funds nor the time for that!

Eyeko Blush Giveaway Winners!

The 2 winner of the Eyeko Blush are...

*drumroll*

Paige B paigeb****(at)yahoo.com
Nesha F chicangel**(at)yahoo.com


I'll be e-mailing the winners shortly so they can claim their prize! Don't forget the Michael Todd Giveaway ends tonight!

Modnique.com

Before I go into any detail, be sure to check out my Michael Todd Giveaway over here. I'm giving away a full size mascara from the line!

Modnique.com is rolling out their beauty flash sales and as I mentioned in the giveaway post, I'll be working with them to bring you inside information regarding the sales. I'm not going to list all the products included in their sale beginning at 10am EST, however, I thought I'd give you an idea of the products included. All product will be up to 73% and first time joining members receive a $5 credit upon opening an account. From what I've researched on the site myself, the only thing negative about Modnique.com would have to be shipping costs. You pay a more substantial "flat" rate (higher for international) and then an additional dollar amount for each extra item.

Since you only have a few hours till you can get your shop on, let me cut to the chase and give you a taste of what's to come in their first Beauty flash sale!



Great Length Mascara
Fiber Lash Volume XX Mascara
6 Pan Palette prefilled with eye shadows (various combinations)
Long Wear Crème Shadow (10 color options)

Gel Eye Liner (7 color options)
Naked Kiss Lipstick (10 color options)
Compact Powder Bronzer (4 color options)
Powder Blush (6 color options)

Shimmer Blush (5 color options)
Eye Shadow Base (2 color options)*
Crème Glace Lip Gloss (9 color options)

... and others, more lipgloss, eyeshadows, empty palettes, etc.


* Popular Item

Will you be checking it out? If you do participate in the sale, I'd love to hear your experience with Modnique!

Disclosure: This post includes a referral link.

Weekend Beauty Reads

Gloria of DivaShop reviews & swatches 3 $1 e.l.f. eyeshadow quads.

Megan from Painted Ladies talks about Maybelline's Great Lash and other beauty pet peeves.

Phyrra has partnered with Apothica for a giveaway! Go enter!

A Touch of Blusher reviews RMK's spring 2011 makeup collection.

Cinnamon Kitten tests the herbal waters with a review of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo & Conditioner.

Jeweled Thumb looks at one of the most peculiar NYFW trends of the week Caviar just isn't for eating.

Michael Todd Giveaway

I was recently contacted by Modnique.com, an online sample site. They are in the process of rolling out their beauty & skincare flash sales and asked if I wanted to partner with them. I took a quick look around their site and saw that unlike most of the sample sale sites, they ship (more or less) worldwide. Their first beauty-related sale is for Michael Todd Cosmetics and I have one of their mascaras to giveaway!

Michael Todd Great Lengths Mascara in Black, retail $19
Take your lashes to new heights with Great Lengths Mascara.
Our exciting new lash-lengthening formula contains Keratin, which moisturizes and protects the lashes to encourage lash growth.


Rules:
1. You must be a follower of Jeweled Thumb either through Blog Lovin' or Google Friend Connect
2. You must 'like' Modnique on Facebook

3. You must fill out the form below
4. You must live in one of the countries included in their Registration pull down list.



This giveaway ends the day the Michael Todd sale starts, February 22nd!

disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Modnique.com; there is also my referral link for the site included, more info regarding the site forthcoming