Underrated: Maybelline's Illegal Lengths Waterproof Mascara

I'm sure that I'm not standing alone when I say that my lashes are difficult. Yes, they are black as black can get, but they are also sparse, think, short, and point straight down, so I curl my lashes, apply waterproof mascara, and pray that the curl will hold on a daily basis. Out of all the mascaras I've tried, from ones that seem overpriced even for Sephora to the ones in the bottom of the bargain bins in the local drugstore, the mascaras I always go back to are Maybelline mascaras. There's just no beating them in my book. They are true to the color (their black is the blackest black), the brushes are innovative as well as separating and coating lashes well, the packaging is sleek, the price is unbeatable, there's minimal smudging, I can get 12-hour wear without fading, no flaking, and both the waterproof and washable formulas hold curls like nobody's business.
It's obvious (well, it should be obvious at this point after that paragraph of praise) that I really like Maybelline mascara, but the one I've discovered recently that I feel doesn't get as much limelight or love as it should is the Illegal Lengths mascara. When it says that the fiber extensions will make your lashes longer, it means business. Not only did this mascara give me a few millimeters of lengths (2 to 2.5) with just one coat, but my lashes still looked real with a bit of drama with the new length. And the best part? Still no smudging, flaking, fading, or uncurling. Adios, short lashes!

There's a 98% Chance You're Missing Sunscreen on a Crucial Area as You Read This

If you're not wearing sun protection of some kind right now, stop everything you're doing. Go put it on, then come back. Trust me, I can wait.

I bet that everyone's heard that wearing SPF 30 (or higher) no matter the weather and no matter the season is super important, and I've been doing that almost without thinking for nearly all my life. In fact, if someone tells me that they don't wear sunscreen on a daily basis, I think it's super weird. But on a camping trip not too long, even though I applied my sun protection religiously, at the end of the four days, I discovered that I had missed something that was right in front of my eyes: my lips. My face and other appendages had gotten away unscathed, but boy were my lips in pain. Not only were they red as cherry tomatoes, peeling, perpetually dry, and cracking, but they stung. It hurt to eat, drink, or even lick my lips. Putting on lip products to help ended up in an uneven mess, and lip color was completely out of the question. Eventually, my lips went back to normal after a week, but I have learned my lesson since 1) I am addicted to lip products 2) I was completely miserable.

So if you're reading this right now, make sure you didn't skip your lips! Make sure that during the day, you use something with some SPF and avoid a painful week with clown-red lips, 'kay? 

Some of my personal picks as of this moment:

. Nivea's A Kiss of Smoothness Hydrating Lip Care SPF 10 (also in a SPF 15 version)

. EOS (Evolution of Smooth) Lemon Drop Lip Balm (SPF 15)

. Maybelline Baby Lips in Quenched (SPF 20, and I know I wrote something about bad experiences with Baby Lips, but this specific flavor actually outperformed the others that I've tried and I find it quite nice.)

Not Worth The Hype: Maybelline New York Baby Lips

I feel like I might be standing alone when I say this because I see so many people loving this product, but I don't think that Maybelline's Baby Lips are worth all the hype. Or the $3.30 you pay for it. Now before people start marching over to my house with pitchforks and clubs, I just have to say that I tried so hard to like this. I was so excited when I found this at my local Target, and summer had just started and these looked fun and colorful, so I picked it up in Pink Punch (the bright pink one on the far right in the photo above). I used this for four months even though I didn't like it, pushing myself to try to love it like everyone else! But now it's been more than eight months, and I can honestly accept that this product just didn't ring a bell with me.

First, while the packaging is absolutely adorable and really drew me in, it feels really cheap in my hands, like if I were to throw it in my beach bag and walk down the boardwalk for a long, sunny day at the beach, the plastic might not hold up. Like the packaging, the scent is really pretty, like a tropical smoothie, but it smells synthetic. Very, very synthetic. I'm not sensitive to that kind of thing, but just a heads up for people who might not enjoy scents that don't smell like the real thing.

The product itself is very smooth (slippery even) going on and it feels good, but the moisture does not last past twenty minutes, and I haven't noticed any improvement in my lips over long-term use. Also, this lack of lasting moisture also makes the color patch in any crack or dry area, which is not flattering. Of course, my first thought was to try to make it work by applying more often, but that is an absolutely horrible idea. The color is very, very bright for all of the colors, so every time you reapply, the color just builds on and accumulates in dry patches or cracks even more. So while I started with a bright but subtle pink flush on my lips, after about three applications I looked like Nicki Minaj.

I also found that I can't layer this under lipstick or lipgloss because 1) the slipperiness of this makes the color on top slide around 2) the moisture doesn't last.

So, in conclusion, as much as I've tried for eight months to love this, I just don't like it and I don't think it's worth all the hype.

How to Look Good In Your Driver's License Photo

The dreaded driver's license photo. Notorious for making people look lifeless and dreary in the most unflattering of ways. And it seems inevitable with the drab white background, cranky employees, bright fluorescent lights, and generally boring atmosphere. While your driver's license photo isn't a glamour shot for a fashion magazine- rather it is a serious form of identification- gosh, that thing is going to be around for a long time. Ten years to be exact, a decade if you want to call it that. So who can blame us for wanting to look a little better with some tips?

1) Look like you. So ditch the bright red lips and Hollywood-ready smokey eyes. Again, a driver's license is a serious form of identification used for official, important matters, so it is important to look like yourself, and not like Angelina Jolie or Nicole Kidman just before the Oscars (though they are absolutely gorgeous!).

2) Embrace your natural hair texture. Again, try to look like yourself, so if the case ever arises that a police officer or some other official person (sorry, it's late at night, my vocabulary left the office at 6 o'clock), they will know what you actually look like.

3) Pull hair out of the way. Obviously, if your fringe is covering your eyes, they can't see your face clearly, but also if you pull all of your hair over one shoulder, it will unbalance how your face looks in the picture, make the picture more cluttered, and look like your hair is one giant glop. Pull it out of the way, or split the hair into two sections and put one over one shoulder, and the other over the second. However, don't go for the slicked-back, strict-as-a-corset, "Russian" ballerina bun either, because that's a bit more severe.

4) Add some color back into your face. Now this doesn't mean that we should go out and buy clown makeup. The fluorescent lights and bleak background will wash your face out, regardless of skin tone. Unless the hungover zombie look is desired, blush and bronzer will be your best friend. Use bronzer that is a few shades darker than your natural skin tone, and a natural, healthy-looking blush.

5) Find a good angle. If you take selfies a lot, I'm sure this is something you already have an idea of. Straight-on shots are not always flattering, so if you can find an angle that makes you look great without blocking the view of any of your features, you're golden.

6) Don't pile on a store-full of luminizer or highlighter, and don't overdo the shimmer/sparkle. Yes, I love sparkle, shimmer, and highlighter as much as the next person, but using too much of these products will backfire and make your face look wet or shiny. Use these with a light hand and caution in mind.

7) Look friendly. Some states have banned smiling in photos, and we can't really do anything about that then, but if you are allowed to smile, then go ahead and look friendly and happy with a little, cute, closed-mouthed smile, or a Tyra Banks-approved "smize".

Showdown of the Perfume Travel Atomizers: The Travalo vs. FLO

So, I've been getting really into perfumes lately, and my collection has just been growing and growing. I just noticed how when I smell nice all day, my happiness, confidence, and general mood goes up, and that's always a good thing. However, sometimes my perfume doesn't quite last the ten hours I'm away from home, so I decided to invest in a perfume atomizer to carry around my favorite scent with. The two most popular ones seen to be the Travalo and the FLO atomizers, and I was really confused as to which one I should buy. But after doing some research, I finally set my dollars down on the FLO (eBay, $7.50 with free, 3-day shipping), and here are the pros and cons of each product that led to that decision.

The FLO Atomizer: Pros (7 mL fluid capacity, around $10.00)
. The bottle is glass, so it won't tamper with the fragrance's composition
. Sleek-looking aluminum casing that is elegant, sturdy, and pretty
. Universal to all types of perfumes (spray perfumes with nozzles of all types, pour perfumes)
. Casing protects perfume from sunlight (which breaks down the molecules).
. Small, easy to carry around, and travel-friendly/compliant

The FLO Atomizer: Cons
. Only 3 colors (pink, silver, black)
. A little product may come onto fingers (but I'm a really careful person, so I don't think this is a big deal, and I see how if one would angle the FLO so that the nozzle of the perfume bottle is pointing slightly downwards, the leakage would be minimized, or maybe even eliminated)

Travalo: Pros (5 mL fluid capacity, around $10.99)
. Many, many colors
. Small side window to see how much fluid is in the case (or in the older models, the entire thing is clear)
. Small, easy to carry around, and travel-friendly/compliant

Travalo: Cons
. The older version is plastic, so sunlight can break the perfume down and plastic isn't quite as sturdy as aluminum, the newer version seems a little better
. Only works with removable spray nozzles

In my opinion, just looking at the pros and cons, the FLO atomizer seem better, and I like that the FLO is universal (works with all perfume). The Travalo only works with spray nozzles, and only the spray nozzles that are removable.
 I watched some videos of people loading both the FLO and the Travalo, and while in the FLO, the bottom lid has a small piece on the cap to plug the bottom, sealing off the perfume, the Travalo seems like it would leak because there's no bottom part, and I'm not sure how the makers intend for the perfume to stay in there.
Also, there is more fluid capacity for the FLO than the Travalo, and the price is less for a product that is higher quality and more aesthetically pleasing. Win!
Finally, I change perfumes quite a lot, and the FLO states that it can be cleaned easily with some rubbing alcohol, or just putting in new perfume and flushing out the old one with a few spritzes. However, on the Travalo's site, it says that they don't recommend reusing a Travalo. So to change perfumes, you have to buy a whole other Travalo for another $10.99? They states that if you really wanted to clean the Travalo, you had to find an empty spray bottle (detachable nozzle, of course) and use that to flush it out. That's more money or time digging around for stuff.

My Verdict: FLO wins!