What’s your current favorite mascara? Have you tried any of the new varieties and loved/hated them?

I’ve launched a new poll on Bionic Beauty: “What topics would you like to see more in Bionic Beauty’s future?”

The new poll is available in the right sidebar of Bionic Beauty (under the appropriately labeled “Vote Now!” section).

I have set this poll up to allow you to vote for as many of the subjects as you’d like.  I really want to get your ideas on what you want from Bionic Beauty in the upcoming year!

Please also feel free to elaborate on your vote in the comments section below.

Below are the results of the previous Bionic Beauty poll…

What is your favorite eyeshadow color?

• Brown/Taupe/Tan (44%, 201 Votes)
• I wear and love ‘em all! (18%, 82 Votes)
• Black/Gray (16%, 75 Votes)
• Purple/Lavender (16%, 75 Votes)
• Greens (9%, 40 Votes)
• White/Pearl (8%, 36 Votes)
• Pink/Mauve (8%, 35 Votes)
• Blue/Navy (6%, 26 Votes)
• Orange/Coral (3%, 15 Votes)
• Yellow (1%, 5 Votes)
• Red/Magenta (1%, 4 Votes)

Total Voters: 460

Thanks for voting, everyone!

I try tons of mascaras every year and the majority don’t pass muster. Hard Candy’s Ginormous Lash volumizing mascaras are ultra-affordable, don’t flake, smudge or wander; and they really do make your lashes look thicker. All for under ten bucks! The Ginormous lash mascaras come in black, bronze, silver, purple and blue. Since I adore unusual mascara colors – I picked up Dime and Purple Haze.

Hard Candy's Ginormous Lash mascaras are a true bargain and colorful to boot!

The application wand is an exact duplicate to Dior Show’s Iconic mascara wand (Dior Show for some reason has tons of fans – it’s way too pricey for me and the formula isn’t really that great in my testing). The wand is a rubberized comb style (very similar to my beloved Physician’s Formula Mineral Wear mascara), with rubber bristles all-the-way-around. It makes the mascara easy to apply on upper and lower lashes; plus it reaches close to your lash line and into the corners.

Purple Haze looks like a bright pastel purple in the tube, but darkens on your lashes to a deeper purple after about five minutes.

Purple Haze on my lashses - subtle but fun!

Dime is simply a bright silver mascara. Love it!

Sporting Dime with black eyeliner and Three Custom's Wallflower on my lid.

Both colors look great alone (with simple eye makeup), or apply black mascara first then use the colorful Hard Candy Ginormous mascaras just on your lash tips as a highlight. Highlighting the lash tips will really pop open up your eyes… hint, hint for those days when you’re lacking sleep.

Another bonus? Hard Candy does not test their makeup, cosmetics or beauty products on fuzzy animals!

Hard Candy Ginormous Mascaras are available online at Amazon or at your local Walmart stores for $5 to $10.

FTC Disclosure: This item was sent to me free of charge in return for an honest review. The opinion in this article is based on my personal experience and was not influenced by any source. I was not compensated for this article. Feel free to read my disclosure policy for more information.

Have you ever been baffled by the endless arrays of mascaras out there? Personally, my ADD kicks in whenever I am near a makeup aisle. “How can I possibly pick the right mascara from all these choices?!?”

After many years of trials and tribulations (not to mention blood blisters on my eyes from a certain pink and green packaged mascara), I’ve finally found my favorites. I love, and swear by, Physicians Formula Mineral Wear mascara ($6.36 at Drugstore.com), Blinc’s tubing mascara ($24 at Drugstore.com), and for color- I am really liking Hard Candy’s lavendar and silver options (great for tip highlights when you feel a little wacky!).

Anyhow, here’s a super-short quiz from Total Beauty that will help you consider what qualities you should be looking for in mascaras.

Some of their suggestions may be pricey or hard to find, so feel free to post your results below and hopefully I can help suggest some additional alternatives.

I’ve never met a woman who didn’t love the idea of long, luxurious lashes. But like many women, I was not blessed with them naturally. If you were, consider yourself exceptionally lucky!

As a person with short, straight, very blonde lashes- I always jump at the opportunity to try an eyelash enhancer. So, I was tossed a tube of Arbonne’s newest Lash Enhancer to review. Goody! Per Arbonne’s website, their Lash Enhancer is a “strengthening and conditioning formula (that) revitalizes from root to tip, helping to prevent breakage and promote thicker, longer-looking lashes”.

In case you’re new to the Arbonne brand, here’s a little background:

Arbonne International was founded in 1975 by one man, Petter Mørck, and his team of leading bio-chemists, biologists and herbalists.

Needless to say, I was excited to test out a product that derived from such smarty pants people!

Immediately, I liked the product- the application was simple, and the brush was incredibly easy to use along my lash lines. But, after the first week- I didn’t really notice any changes and honestly almost stopped using the product as I thought it was irritating my eyes.

However, when I got to the second week of testing, I realized it was just my contacts that needed changing. Oops. And so I continued using the product.

Then in week three, I started feeling my lashes brushing the surface of my glasses’ lenses. Hmm… I guess my lashes are even more see-through than I had even thought!

After using Arbonne’s Lash Enhancer for four weeks, I highly recommend this product. And it’s likely to be in your budget at $38 for a 7.4ml tube (much, much cheaper than Latisse, Marini Lash, or similar products)! The tube will also last you quite a few months as opposed to Latisse only lasting you one month. No need to shell out more cash than necessary!

Arbonne Lash Enhancer can be purchased online at Arbonne.com.

Ingredients include: Lash Nutrition Complex, soy lecithin, nettle, horsetail extract, St. John’s wort, hamamelis virginiana, berberis arisata, Indian gooseberry, eclipta alba and apple extracts.

Time to bat those lashes, ladies!

Stay Bionic,

FTC Disclosure: This item was sent to me free of charge in return for an honest review. The opinion in this article is based on my personal experience and was not influenced by any source. I was not compensated for this article. Feel free to read my disclosure policy for more information.

Last year I had a Bionic Asks “How do you do your eyebrows?” and there was a definite mix of Bionic Beauties who tweeze at home, or go to the salon for waxing, threading, or other specialty treatments.

Personally, I tweeze my own brows. I can’t justify the expense to “get them done” or the time; but I totally understand having your brows done by someone else. I will confess that I’ve always wanted Elke Von Freudenberg (the founder of the Beauty Blog Network, and a famous makeup artist brow-specialist) to check out my brows.

I seem to have a knack for my eye brows… but even so, this quicky series by Total Beauty has some great tips to remember when grooming your eye brows at home.

Eyebrows 101

See why having great brows is the best beauty-enhancing tip

This is a TotalBeauty.com makeup tips article If you’ve ever seen before and after brow photos, you know what a difference well-defined ones make. Here are some tips to help you get your best brows yet. Read tips

Imagine if you will…
You are the lucky winner of a $100 shopping spree to your favorite local drugstore!

So for this week’s Bionic Asks… what would you spend that hundred bucks on? Would you load up your shopping cart with beauty supplies, makeup, hair care, or household essentials?

My basket would probably contain a mish-mash of stuff. I’d certainly pick up more of the new Sally Hansen Complete Salon nail polishes, L’Oreal EverPure shampoo and conditioner, a tube of my must-have mascara Physician’s Formula Mineral Wear; and then grab some DVDs, books and chocolate. Plenty of chocolate!

As most Bionic Beauty readers know, I typically avoid outrageously priced makeup; but Christian Dior reached out to me recently and sent a few products for review on Bionic Beauty.

I will say I love their glamorous packaging. Every item is piece of artwork!
So here is my very first foray into Dior makeup – their 5 Couleurs Designer eye shadow palette in Amber Design.

Dior's 5 Couleurs Designer all-in-one eye palette

The palette is a black square compact. Inside there is a double-ended, sponge-tip shadow applicator, and a second applicator with a Taklon eye liner brush on one end and another sponge-tip applicator on the other. The compact has three eye shadow colors (a dark, medium, and a shimmery highlighter), a powder base, and a dark brown cream eyeliner. I’ll admit it’s quite handy to have a complete eye “wardrobe” in one compact! With all those colors and the eyeliner, you can create plenty of looks to carry you through a week-long trip.

Swatches from Dior's 5 Couleurs Designer eye compact

The color payoff isn’t nearly as pigmented as MAC or Milani, but it’s better than average. If you’re into bold and dramatic eye looks, you will probably have to layer these colors to get the look you want; or apply them wet. However, if you prefer a natural makeup look – this palette is spot on! As you can see from my swatches, the colors are visible, but very subdued.

The Dior 5 Couleurs Designer eye shadow palette is a bit spendy with prices ranging from $35-60. For some reason it looks like this palette has been discontinued, but you may find it at your local Nordstrom’s or on eBay.
Have you tried Dior or another luxury makeup brand? What are your thoughts on more expensive makeup items?

FTC Disclosure: This item was sent to me free of charge in return for an honest review. The opinion in this article is based on my personal experience and was not influenced by any source. I was not compensated for this article. Feel free to read my disclosure policy for more information.

Urban Decay launched their “Ink for Eyes” cream eyeliners in the fall of 2009. I finally got my mitts on Zero which is a true pitch black. Five other colors round out the collection: a deep blue (Binge), forest green (Loaded), dark violet (Empire), dark cool-toned brown (Demolition) and a clear sparkly liner (Pyrotechnics).

Bionic reviews Urban Decay's Ink for Eyes cream eyeliner

All of UD’s Ink for Eyes eyeliners come packaged in a long, thin rectangular compact complete with mirror, taklon liner brush and a sponge-tip smudger. The packaging is a bit edgy and certainly different than the typical pots of cream or gel eyeliners that I’m used too. It fits well in my purse makeup case.

The black wasn't very inky for me... but it was super soft & smooth!

The pigmentation wasn’t as true as I had hoped- I had to apply layer after layer to get a dark smokey line. You can see from my photos that it was still slightly sheer on me. However, there was absolutely NO drag, pull or clumping thanks to UD’s new proprietary “Nylon 12″ ingredient. The Nylon 12 is probably similar to the silicone or dimethicone ingredients in other eyeliners that glide on effortlessly. However, I say probably because I’m not a UD chemist, so I can’t give a definite answer.

I also didn’t have any problems with loss of color or smearing through the day.

No clumping, no smudging; but not enough pigment for my taste.

I like the Ink for Eyes cream eyeliner well enough, but I’m not in love. It doesn’t hold a candle to my Black Cherry gel liner from Purely Cosmetics!

You can find the Urban Decay Ink for Eyes liners at Ulta stores for $22 each. Have you tried the new Ink for Eyes liners? Do you have a favorite gel or cream eyeliner?

Here’s a new brand for Bionic Beauty readers- MakeUp Designory, also called MUD. I’ve got two of their eyeshadows to swatch and review for you as a “quick intro” to this makeup brand!

First up… Cajun Spice eye shadow ~

Joycey Couture reviews MUD's eye shadow in Cajun Spice

Cajun Spice is a brilliant copper eye shadow packed with mica (i.e. shimmer). It applied nicely with no dusting or fallout. It didn’t even drop into my lashes! MUD’s packaging is cute. Their single eye shadows are packaged in a sleek circular compact with a clear flip top. The packaging is sort of a cross between Sephora’s single shadows and Milani’s shadows.

This color would work year-round, regardless of trends. It’s perfect for playing up your faux tan in the summer, and warming your face during the doldrums of winter.

Cajun Spice from the side, in natural/soft light.

But I saved the best part for last… Cajun Spice is very pigmented! This shadow formula is the closest I’ve found to Milani’s in terms of ease of application, wear, and color payoff.

My second MUD eye shadow is Tinsel ~

MUD's Tinsel makes a wonderful all-over highlighter!

Tinsel is a bright, pure silver. It’s not as pigmented as Cajun Spice, but acts as more of a glimmer-loaded highlighter. I’ve been using it on my browbone, inner eye corners, bridge of nose, or just a bit above the cupid’s bow of my lips. Apply it over a matte eye shadow to instantly add shine and shimmer. I can see Tinsel dominating my makeup looks during the winter holidays!

Besides Tinsel and Cajun Spice, MakeUp Designory offers 39 other colors of eye shadows. There’s sure to be one to suit you! MUD’s eyeshadows run $13.50 each and are available on MudShop.com.

Stay Bionic,