Review - Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions Waterproof Mascara VS. Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

I mentioned a couple posts ago that I hate the Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara I've been using for the past few weeks. I started using it because it claims to make your lashes appear "117% longer after just one month." Uhhh...yeah right. After using it for a few weeks I see absolutely zero difference in the length of my lashes. It also clumps and smudges everywhere, and doesn't hold a curl. My lashes almost look even worse after putting the mascara on, if that's even possible. I kept using it even though I hated it, hoping to see a long-term difference in the length, but that's not happening so finally I decided to chuck this horrible mascara.

I used to use a Maybelline mascara with the white primer wand on one end, and I remember really liking it so I decided to try one of those again. I read a tip somewhere that waterproof mascaras hold a curl better, so I settled on this Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions Waterproof mascara. It claims to "tame unruly lashes" and boost length up to "85%."

I LOVE this mascara! It's one of my favorites that I've ever tried. The Step 1 primer side does seem to separate and straighten out my lashes that like to poke out every which way, although it doesn't weigh down my curl. The Step 2 mascara side builds on top of the primer to add length and volume, again not weighing down the curl. I also really like the brush on this mascara. The Rimmel brush would ALWAYS get mascara on my eyelid, but this brush doesn't do that. The only thing I find annoying is that because of the dual-sided packaging, the wand is really short so the tube bumps against my cheekbone when I'm trying to get the lashes on the very ends. But that's really not a big deal. The formula isn't "wet" like the Rimmel one so I can use the tip of the brush to get the baby lashes without getting clumps all over the place.

Here are some photos of the process:

Bare, uncurled lashes. Yeah, I know they suck.

Curled lashes using the hair dryer method (see below).

Step 1 primer side. 2 coats.

Step 2 mascara side. 2 coats.

Comparison shot! Ignore the fact that I look cross-eyed.

So yeah, pretty awesome results for my short, stubby, straight blonde lashes. I realize now they look a bit clumpy, but I'm willing to give and take a bit when it comes to having curlier, longer lashes.

Edited to add: I wrote this review before I actually wore this mascara out and about for the day. At the end of the day I had black smudges all over my under-eye area! Not good. I'm not sure if it's just because it was super hot and humid today, or if it's the mascara. That's a big negative, although it probably won't deter me from continuing to wear it until I find something better.

P.S. Here's a tip for curling your lashes that I just discovered! Blast your lash curler with a hair dryer for a few seconds before curling. It made a HUGE difference for me! Just make sure it's not too hot...burning your eyelid would suck.

Any other mascara recommendations out there?

EOTD - Autumn in Summer?

This eye look ended up looking a bit more autumn than summer, but it's still gorgeous! I used a heck of a lot of products in this look so brace yourselves!

As always I started with Urban Decay Primer Potion. Then, I blended Urban Decay Half Baked, a light golden shimmer, into the inner third of the lid. I patted MAC Rule, a light matte orange, into the center, then MAC Red Brick, a darker matte orange, into the outer third. Into the crease I blended MAC Embark, a dark matte brown, and darkened the outer crease with Urban Decay Snakebite, a shimmery dark bronzey brown.

I lined my lower waterline with Wet N' Wild Coloricon eyeliner in Dark Brown and set and smudged it with Embark, Rule, and Red Brick. I lined my top lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Demolition. Finally, I finished my lashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara in Extreme Black.

Hey, that wasn't so bad! Love the pop of bright orange in the center with golds and browns! What do you think; is this summery to you, or does it look too autumn-ish?

EOTD - Pink and Grey

I sure have been posting a lot of eye looks lately! I have been challenging myself to use shadows I haven't used in a while (or ever!) before buying any new ones. So far I'm resisting the temptation...I'm sure when I get paid next week it'll all be for naught, though. The new Sugarpill palette is calling my name...

To start this look, I used Urban Decay Primer Potion as I always do. On the inner third of the lid, I blended Urban Decay Free Love, a light shimmery pinky coral. Then, I packed MAC Free to Be, a matte pinky coral, all over the bottom of of the lid. This shadow is a little hard to work with so you really just have to keep packing it on to get it to be really opaque and bright. It's gorge though so I give it a free pass. In the outer half of the lid, I blended NYX Greyish Brown, which is a matte dark grey with a bit of bluish-looking shimmer (totally don't get why it's called Greyish Brown. there's no brown in it whatsoever). I blended NYX Dune, a dark grey shimmer with a bit of golden shimmer in it, into the crease.

On the bottom lashline, I used NYX Eye/Eyebrow Pencil in Grey and smudged it with a bit of Greyish Brown. I highlighted the browbone and inner corner with...I can't remember. I think it was either UD Bootycall or Mary Kay Moonstone. To line the upper lashline, I used Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Perversion. Finally, I coated my lashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black.

I love the combination of pink and grey! What do you think of this color combo?

EOTD - Beachy Golden Eyes

I saw a look like this on, I believe, a promotional image for Too Faced's new summer palette. It's a shimmery golden lid with a light turquoise bottom liner. I love how summery this color combination is! It makes me think of sitting on the beach watching the ocean.


As always, I started by prepping my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion. I blended Urban Decay Baked, a shimmery gold, all over my lids. Then I (carefully!) patted a Mojo Spa loose eyeshadow in Havana, an insanely sparkly dark brown, into the crease. I darkened the outer corner with MAC Embark, a dark matte brown. I lined my upper lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Demolition, a dark brown.

On the bottom, I lined my waterline with NYX Slide-On Eye Pencil in Tropical Green, a dark metallic aqua green. I set this and smudged it ith Urban Decay Flipside, a bright shimmery turquoise. It showed up much brighter and bluer in real life; for some reason it doesn't pop as much in photos. I highlighted the browbone and inner corner with Urban Decay Bootycall as usual. Finally, I coated my lashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black.




I absolutely love this eye look and basically want to wear it all summer long. It goes great with bronzed skin ;)

EOTD - Vibrant Purples

I recently got a slew of new MAC eyeshadows. I created my own palette full of purples, because I adore purple eyeshadow on me. It really brings out my greenish greyish eyes, in my opinion. Here's a look I did with some of my new shades:

First, I prepped my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion. Then, I patted MAC Vibrant Grape, a matte reddish purple, all over the bottom part of my lid. I blended MAC Plum Dressing, a shimmery reddish purple, into the crease. I darkened the outer part of the crease with MAC Fig. 1, a dark matte eggplant color. I lined my lower lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Rockstar, a dark eggplant, and set it with Fig. 1. I smudged Urban Decay Blackout, a matte black, into the upper lashline.

I highlighted under my brow and in the inner corner with Urban Decay Bootycall, a light champagne shimmer. Finally, I curled my lashes and finished them with Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara in Extreme Black.

I love these purples. The warmer, reddish purples really work with my skintone and eye color. Vibrant Grape was a little hard to work with because it was on the dry side, but with some work I got it to build up to opacity. What's your favorite color eyeshadow to use to bring out your eye color or skintone? 

EOTD - My interpretation of Mac's "Call Me Bubbles" quad

A couple months ago when Mac's "Call Me Bubbles" quad came out, I was dying to have it but by the time I had the money to spare, it was sold out. :( So I became determined to replicate it with other shadows. The quad consisted of a matte pinky coral, a shimmery light orange, a beige highlighter, and a metallic copper. Since then, I've acquired shadows that I think are as close as I'm going to get to Call Me Bubbles, and I'm pretty happy with it! Here's the look I did.

I started by prepping my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion. I used Mac's Free to Be, a pretty close dupe of the matte pinky coral shade in their Call Me Bubbles quad, on the inner half of the lid. This color is gorgeous, but it's pretty dry and takes some time to get the opacity right. On the outer half of the lid, I used Mac's Rule, a matte light orange that's really soft and buttery. It's pretty close in color to the orange shade in the quad, but matte instead of shimmery. In the future I think I could mix it with Urban Decay's Half Baked to get that gold shimmer in it.

In the crease, I used NYX's Copper, with some NYX Rust to darken the outer crease. Both of these shadows are gorgeous in color, but a little sheer and powdery. I could probably use it damp next time to make it a little easier to work with. I lined my lower lash line with  NYX's Slide On Eyeliner in Golden Bronze, and smudged it with NYX Copper. On the upper lash line, I used Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Demolition, a dark brown. I finished by sweeping my lashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black.

Overall, I'm pretty excited about my interpretation of this Mac quad, although now that I see the colors on my actual face, I don't think I love pink and orange together on my skintone. I love pink and I love orange, but together on my eye, they make me look like I've been crying! Hah. Oh well. At least I tried!

EOTD - Fairy Eyes

My best friend loves this shop in Wicker Park called Mojo Spa. They sell all sorts of delicious-smelling body products and adorable soaps shaped like cupcakes. They also do nails, makeup, and I think even massages and waxing. I've gone in a few times with her but never bought anything before. We went there last Friday evening so she could pick up some lotion, and the owner (who was awesome and hilarious) coaxed us to get our makeup done, which they were doing free that evening. He also mixed us up couple cocktails!

While my friend was getting her makeup done, I sipped my vodka cranberry and scoped out Mojo Spa's makeup range, which I hadn't even known they sold. The loose eyeshadows stole my attention and I spent about 20 minutes agonizing over which colors I wanted the makeup artist to use on me! They had at least 30 loose eyeshadows in a wide range of colors, most of them extremely sparkly and gorgeous. I knew I wanted to buy a couple, and when the awesome and hilarious owner told me they were buy 2, get 1 free ($10 apiece) that sealed the deal for me.

One of the loose shadows I walked away with is a GORGEOUS sparkly mint green shade called Garden Party. The next day I couldn't wait to try out a look with it.

To start, I prepped my lid with Urban Decay Primer Potion Original. I then smudged NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Horse Raddish, a light mint green that matched Garden Party pretty closely, all over the bottom half of the lid. I had never used a loose eyeshadow before, so I was nervous about spilling it or getting green powder all over my face. I used a flat eyeshadow brush, dipped it in the powder, tapped off the extra, and patted the shadow into the area where I had smudged Horse Raddish. Some of the extra did sprinkle off, but I tilted my head downward while I was doing it so it landed on my mirror, not my face. I patted Garden Party all over the bottom half of the lid.


Then, I lined my lower waterline with Wet n' Wild Color Icon eyeliner in Dark Brown. I set it with Mac eyeshadow in Embark, a matte dark brown. I also lined the top lash line with Embark. I smudged a bit more Garden Party on the lower lash line. To finish, I swept my eyelashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in black.

blurred to show the sparkle

I absolutely loved Mojo Spa's loose eyeshadow and I want to go back and get more! It was so pigmented and sparkly, and Garden Party made me feel like a fairy! Also, anyone that lives in Chicago should definitely check out Mojo Spa on Milwaukee Ave. It was a fun, girly place with some really adorable products, and an awesome and hilarious owner.