Today is the halfway point of my countdown. In the past 6 months (plus) I have been blogging, I have reviewed well over 225 products. Number 5 in my countdown is the one product that has made a visible, lasting, amazing result. The halfway point is also the day where I remind my Mom I was kind of chased by a bear. Atleast I didn't break an ankle while escaping. Anyone who knows me knows that breaking an ankle is the most likely ending to that story...
Favorite Thing #5: Marini Lash
I have mentioned that I have puny lashes. In fact, I have mentioned this over and over. While I have had success in the past, I have also tried products that left my lashes limp.
I recently tried Jan Marini Lash. Unlike Latisse, Marini Lash contains no prostaglandin, which is an FDA-approved drug to help those with minimal lashes grow longer, thicker lashes. Latisse has a great track record for results, but can also permanently darken your skin where the medicine is applied and it may change the color of your iris permanently.
According to their website, Marini Lash is totally safe to use and claims to help grow longer, thicker lashes by conditioning them with proprietary peptides. I used Marini Lash for 5 weeks. But for $160, can it possibly be worth it? When I started, my lashes looked like this:
You can see how short they are - they are almost impossible to curl! Even the best, most thickening and lengthening mascara can only do so much.
Here is what my lashes look like five weeks into this experiment. These next photos were all taken on the same day at the same time, with and without mascara. While my lashes will never be enviously long like some of my co-workers, they are border-line long for me.
It worked! I love it!
While Marini Lash is expensive at $160 (compared to Latisse's $115, one tube of Marini Lash, will last about 6 months. Latisse only lasts for one month. Compared with the cost of lash extensions or the prescription solution, for those with short, thin lashes who are nervous about the permanent side effects of Latisse, this is definitely worth considering. UPDATE! I have now been using this product for several months and my lashes are continuing to grow. It's truly amazing stuff!
This product was sent to me for the purposes of review.
Glamping Day Four: The Bear
On our last day in Gatlinburg, I was awoken by Abz yelling, "OMG! A bear got into our trash! It's everywhere!" Like any good sleuth, I immediately put on shoes and ran outside to the scene of the crime. It was there that my father-in-law and I, he in his robe, discovered that our large protective trash bin had been carried from one end of the porch to the other. (These are claw holes from where the bear grabbed the bin.)
Our house happened to have a wrap around porch that went almost the entire distance around the cabin. You could only exit from the one side. The bin had been carried past several chairs that did not give a wide berth, a grill and my wet clothes from Zorbing.
The bear then apparently shook the large bin until the metal piece that kept it closed fell off. The doors then opened, the trash cans fell and the bear dragged the trash bags into the woods. It was everywhere. However, the bear kindly did not disturb the chairs, grill or my wet clothes, which was really nice, all things considered.
Everywhere we went in Tennessee, I saw the same message. Garbage Kills Bears. Being an animal lover and certainly NOT wanting to kill bears, I decided to pick up the garbage. While my mother-in-law later pointed out I didn't need to clean it up (??), I couldn't fathom leaving the trash there.
Picking up the stuff on the driveway was easy. Climbing down the muddy, steep hill in my MBT shoes and a skirt was a different matter. Not wanting to negligently kill a bear, I risked falling in mud to pick up gross leftovers. I continued to brace myself (which always yields a 50/50 chance of falling) on branches and rocks down the short incline to the tree line to retrieve the trash. (It is steeper than it looks here. Trust.)
When I made it to the tree line, I stood up and took a breath, looking back over my shoulder at all of the trash I had cleaned. Feeling proud, I looked down the mountain and then up at the clear blue sky. I was filled with pride from my good deed.
In the next breath, I heard the loud crackle that is only accomplished when something very large and very heavy moves in the woods. Instantly knowing the bear hadn't yet left the very trash I was collecting, I did what any good non-bear killer would do. I hiked my skirt up to my hoo-haa so my legs could take wide steps up the steep hill and I ran like nobody's business back into the house.
I would like to point out a few things:
1. I carried the collected trash with me and left it in the drive way.
2. I pulled my skirt down before running into house, where I almost smacked into my father-in-law, who looked perplexed as to why I was running.
I then hurried around telling everyone what happened. Loxy's bro and sister-in-law actually went outside looking for the bear. Don't ask, I don't know what they would have done if they found it. Perhaps just photographed it, I suppose. Loxy himself saw the bear from an upstairs window, but I was the only one with a close encounter of the bear kind.
What does this have to do with makeup?
After my encounter, I was visibly shaken and looked a little "off". Not wanting to go to breakfast at "Little House of Pancakes" looking disturbed, I turned to my new favorite trick to make your eyes look naturally amazing.
I used Mally's Lash Illusion Liner under my eye, just along the base of my lower lashes. Then I lined the inner corner of my upper lash line with the same liner. 
Here is the key. I used Tarte's Rest Assured pencil on the inside rim of my lower eyelid. Then use the Rest Assured just under the line I already created under my lower lash line with the Mally pencil. I finished off my eye with the creamy shimmer part of Rest Assured just dotted and smoothed out in the inner corner. This makes your eyes pop while looking refreshed, without looking like you are wearing any makeup!
Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement Copyright 2009, Gouldylox Reviews. All rights reserved.
Favorite Thing #5: Marini Lash
I have mentioned that I have puny lashes. In fact, I have mentioned this over and over. While I have had success in the past, I have also tried products that left my lashes limp.
I recently tried Jan Marini Lash. Unlike Latisse, Marini Lash contains no prostaglandin, which is an FDA-approved drug to help those with minimal lashes grow longer, thicker lashes. Latisse has a great track record for results, but can also permanently darken your skin where the medicine is applied and it may change the color of your iris permanently.
According to their website, Marini Lash is totally safe to use and claims to help grow longer, thicker lashes by conditioning them with proprietary peptides. I used Marini Lash for 5 weeks. But for $160, can it possibly be worth it? When I started, my lashes looked like this:
You can see how short they are - they are almost impossible to curl! Even the best, most thickening and lengthening mascara can only do so much.
Here is what my lashes look like five weeks into this experiment. These next photos were all taken on the same day at the same time, with and without mascara. While my lashes will never be enviously long like some of my co-workers, they are border-line long for me.
It worked! I love it!
While Marini Lash is expensive at $160 (compared to Latisse's $115, one tube of Marini Lash, will last about 6 months. Latisse only lasts for one month. Compared with the cost of lash extensions or the prescription solution, for those with short, thin lashes who are nervous about the permanent side effects of Latisse, this is definitely worth considering. UPDATE! I have now been using this product for several months and my lashes are continuing to grow. It's truly amazing stuff!
This product was sent to me for the purposes of review.
Glamping Day Four: The Bear
On our last day in Gatlinburg, I was awoken by Abz yelling, "OMG! A bear got into our trash! It's everywhere!" Like any good sleuth, I immediately put on shoes and ran outside to the scene of the crime. It was there that my father-in-law and I, he in his robe, discovered that our large protective trash bin had been carried from one end of the porch to the other. (These are claw holes from where the bear grabbed the bin.)
Our house happened to have a wrap around porch that went almost the entire distance around the cabin. You could only exit from the one side. The bin had been carried past several chairs that did not give a wide berth, a grill and my wet clothes from Zorbing.
The bear then apparently shook the large bin until the metal piece that kept it closed fell off. The doors then opened, the trash cans fell and the bear dragged the trash bags into the woods. It was everywhere. However, the bear kindly did not disturb the chairs, grill or my wet clothes, which was really nice, all things considered.
Everywhere we went in Tennessee, I saw the same message. Garbage Kills Bears. Being an animal lover and certainly NOT wanting to kill bears, I decided to pick up the garbage. While my mother-in-law later pointed out I didn't need to clean it up (??), I couldn't fathom leaving the trash there.
Picking up the stuff on the driveway was easy. Climbing down the muddy, steep hill in my MBT shoes and a skirt was a different matter. Not wanting to negligently kill a bear, I risked falling in mud to pick up gross leftovers. I continued to brace myself (which always yields a 50/50 chance of falling) on branches and rocks down the short incline to the tree line to retrieve the trash. (It is steeper than it looks here. Trust.)
When I made it to the tree line, I stood up and took a breath, looking back over my shoulder at all of the trash I had cleaned. Feeling proud, I looked down the mountain and then up at the clear blue sky. I was filled with pride from my good deed.
In the next breath, I heard the loud crackle that is only accomplished when something very large and very heavy moves in the woods. Instantly knowing the bear hadn't yet left the very trash I was collecting, I did what any good non-bear killer would do. I hiked my skirt up to my hoo-haa so my legs could take wide steps up the steep hill and I ran like nobody's business back into the house.
I would like to point out a few things:
1. I carried the collected trash with me and left it in the drive way.
2. I pulled my skirt down before running into house, where I almost smacked into my father-in-law, who looked perplexed as to why I was running.
I then hurried around telling everyone what happened. Loxy's bro and sister-in-law actually went outside looking for the bear. Don't ask, I don't know what they would have done if they found it. Perhaps just photographed it, I suppose. Loxy himself saw the bear from an upstairs window, but I was the only one with a close encounter of the bear kind.
What does this have to do with makeup?
After my encounter, I was visibly shaken and looked a little "off". Not wanting to go to breakfast at "Little House of Pancakes" looking disturbed, I turned to my new favorite trick to make your eyes look naturally amazing.
I used Mally's Lash Illusion Liner under my eye, just along the base of my lower lashes. Then I lined the inner corner of my upper lash line with the same liner. 
Here is the key. I used Tarte's Rest Assured pencil on the inside rim of my lower eyelid. Then use the Rest Assured just under the line I already created under my lower lash line with the Mally pencil. I finished off my eye with the creamy shimmer part of Rest Assured just dotted and smoothed out in the inner corner. This makes your eyes pop while looking refreshed, without looking like you are wearing any makeup!Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement Copyright 2009, Gouldylox Reviews. All rights reserved.