A Few of My Favorite Things / Clinique Naturally Glossy / The Holy Grail Mascara

In the beauty blogging world there is a term "holy grail", or those products which you just can't possibly imagine going without. Much like Oprah and Julie Andrews, I prefer to call these a few of my favorite things. (Faaaavorite Thiiiiings! Oprah-style.) To use the term "holy grail" edges too close to Monty Python for me! Can you believe an Anglophile like myself doesn't get into Monty Python? Oprah and Julie are more my speed.

In thinking about sharing my beauty favorites, the product I most wanted to wax poetic about is such a staple for me that it was the chicken before the egg...or the egg before the chicken. It is the reason I know and understand what "holy grail" status is and the reason why I decided to write about my "favorite things" in the first place. If you've held a conversation with me about products, chances are I've forced this one upon you like a pusher. I would shrivel up in a corner and cry if it were to go off the market.

I could not live my life without mascara, specifically Clinique's Naturally Glossy Mascara. It currently holds the distinction of being the only mascara I've ever repurchased. I experiment with different mascaras a lot, and when I do I feel like a cheater. (As I mentioned, trying to reign in this free love/experimental attitude with mascara.) I try other mascaras and some I like. Some are fine. Some I hate. But I always go back to Naturally Glossy with my tail between my legs wondering why I've allowed my wandering eyelashes to forsake a favorite. In the mascara world, it is my first and only love.

I'm willing to bet this is the first mascara I ever purchased. I've used it faithfully since '96 when I saved my babysitting monies to get a Clinique makeover at Younkers. It was my first successful foray into make up, having learned the hard way that things can turn Ooma Loompa very quickly. Thanks for nothing but a lesson learned, Jane powder. Whomever did my make up that day at the Clinique counter was a genius and sold me colors that were appropriate for a teenager and colors that I've been able to stick with for a lifetime.

Little is written about it. Any reviews I've found in recent Google searches yielded pretty old reviews. I think the reason this gets little hype is because we live in a Kardashian-lashed society. Or, to use another phrase from Oprah, young women today seem to go for "Bessie-the-Cow" lashes. (Tori Spelling, Number One Suspect.) I will admit to wanting dramatic lashes sometimes, like when I'm going for a 60s look. But never have I wanted my lashes to wave in the breeze, hanging on by a strip of glue. More often than not, I just want a darkened, natural lash to play up what I have and take me to the office.

Granted, the reviews I have read have copped to the fact that this mascara is for lovers of the natural lash, who probably already love the lashes they were born with and just need a light coat of something simple to darken them. But I think this mascara has a lot to offer lovers of clean, clump-free mascara, too.

Description from Clinique.com:

Gel-based formula defines lashes naturally. Lengthens, glosses, enhances. Lashes stay silky, pliant, clump and flake-free through multiple coats. Ophthalmologist tested.

Formula

This is a gel-based formula, which is not something I see often. I think this formula is the reason why it's never, ever flaked on me or given me raccoon eyes. This mascara is so slick, it doesn't even clump on the brush. (Suck it, DiorShow.) It gives incredible definition. The description on the website is accurate--I can coat and coat and coat and coat my lashes some more, and it never flakes or clumps. It also holds a curl. My hair and lashes are poker straight, so they definitely put up a fuss when attempting any sort of curl. This mascara will hold it for me! (My hair, I give up!) I don't need much in the way of extra length, but it does give some. 

Packaging

The packaging is beautiful and sleek. It comes in a silver tube. There is a "C" stamped in the top of the wand, and a product details sticker on the bottom. Good things come in simple packaging.

Color Selection

Two colors are available: Jet Brown and Jet Black. I always have both on hand and use whatever I'm in the mood for. The brown gives a slightly softer look than the black.

This is the cleanest, slickest mascara I've ever encountered. If you're tired of heavy, volumizing mascaras that make you look like a Kardashian, I highly recommend this product. This is great for lovers of natural and classic looks alike.  

Retail Price $16.00 USD

I Love the 90s / MAC Dubonnet

I have waited (impatiently) through the Renaissance of 1980s styles today's youth find hip. I think it's in everyone's birthright to hate (whether or not they chose to) the decade of their birth. I find little charm in the 1980s and have found little I would like to resurrect from that time in terms of fashion and beauty. (All rights to anything Princess Diana reserved, of course.) Knowing the sequential laws of the universe, I have patiently waited my turn to bring back the 90s: that heroine chic-cK waif-babydoll T-and combat boots-time that I was never really waif enough (even as a 90 pound middle-schooler) to fully embrace but did anyway. And I'll embrace it all again. People Style recently heralded the inklings of its return with an article on combat boots. As I anxiously await the full blown return of grunge, I decided to jump the vamp lips trend this fall and winter. Enter MAC's Dubonnet.

Dubonnet is my first MAC lipstick. I know! Let's take that one step further and reveal that I bought it as a gift to myself for turning 30! Let's all take a moment to let that sink in! By the time I was able to afford to splurge on MAC, I was over the whole teal glitter up to my eyebrows thing. Frankly, I did very little club trolling in college anyway. I always wished I had the guts and the funds to wear those little peacock tinted loose pigments...but it never happened for me. So, it is with a sigh of ripe old age that I say how very little into MAC I am. I'm a seasoned cosmetic counter patron with very little patience for their ever-limited latest collections. The turnover is obnoxious. Downright slutty, if I may say so. But I am willing to be swayed by their permanent selection.
I've only been willing to wear bold lip colors within the past couple of years. My makeup wearing years went full-tilt in the nude- and frosty-lipped late 90s, but I always admired those gutsy enough to wear shades from the vampier side of the spectrum. Upon the urging of my previously mentioned friend, Manicure Maggie, whose signature shade is Nars Cruella, I dared to try red lipstick. As she predicted, it changed my life. It started with a classic red (Make-up Forever's Moulin Rouge), but before I knew it, I owned Revlon's Black Cherry. Then when I saw a favorite YouTuber of mine (essiebutton) wearing MAC Dubonnet, I had to have it.

I underestimated how much translucent hair I have on my face...

This bordeaux beauty is one of MAC's amplified creme shades. It gives bold, creamy color with a hint of shine. I pair this with their lip liner in Brick to prevent feathering and prolong its wear. I get a few hours of wear with this, but I don't mind reapplying product. As it's such a bold red, it wears off pretty evenly and fades into a stained look (which looks quite pretty).

It gets the dachshund sniff of approval.

Overall, I'm very, very happy with my first ever MAC lipstick. I am a changed woman because of red lipstick (I call it my whore of Babylon look) and, as is my nature, I appreciate anything that can make me feel like I've gone back in time! Taking vintage literally is my greatest skill.