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.)