Attack of the Deadly Spider-Lashes!!: KISS False Eyelash Review

Well, Halloween happened, and I think the neighborhood kids enjoyed Mom's spooky front-yard cemetery. A very confident little Harry Potter made the low-lying fog "expelliarmus", and at least one mom thought Thomas' Batman was "sexy". Me? I fought my false eyelashes all night.

Note to self: Do NOT try something new on a day when you will NOT be able to do anything about it if it sucks. 

Okay, so a couple of weeks back, I received the Beauty Blogger Influenster VoxBox, which was filled with products for me to play with and report back to you on. For the most part, I've been impressed with the items, and even gave some mini-reviews on my box opening post. However, I decided to save the KISS false eyelash kit to use on Halloween...'cause I'm an idiot. 

I should have known better than to wait until the day of to try out a foreign object that must be attached to my eyes with glue. I mean, seriously, there are way too many things that can go wrong! Yeah...idiot...

Luckily, for me, the glue did not irritate my eyes. It's actually a very nice glue. There was a slight odor, but, as I said, no irritation, and the stuff really held. I wore these lashes for twelve hours straight, with no worries of the lashes coming off. That said, they did remove easily, and the glue wisked away with a little makeup remover. My only complaint with the glue is that it took ages to dry enough to apply, but I can deal with that. 

The applicator was a nice idea. It didn't work as well as a pair of tweezers, and I ended up just using my fingers, anyway, but it was helpful for clamping the lashes to my natural lashes. 

The lashes, however, were terrible. They looked fine when worn, but the strips were ridiculously stiff. Normally, I flex my strips a few times to help them contour to my eyes, but these wouldn't flex. I had to bend them in half--so that there was a crease and a point--before I could attempt to apply them. On top of that, I still couldn't get the inner corners to lay flat. I tried bending, I tried trimming, I tried yelling obscenities at them (that probably worked the best, believe it or not), but nothing did the trick. I spent the next twelve hours checking, clamping, re-checking, and re-clamping. On top of that, they were so heavy that they weighed down my natural lashes and impaired my vision. I had to close my eyes, from time to time, just to have a rest from the weight! Let me tell you, it sucked. When the last trick-or-treater exited the graveyard, those furry little spider lashes went straight into the trash can. I'll reuse the glue, and I'll hang on to the applicator, but I'm not bothering with any more of those strip lashes. 

Final Verdict: 5 out of 10. You can make 'em work...just don't plan to wear them too long. 

They look fine, but they just don't feel good. 

In unrelated news, I'm starting a challenge Monday! It's self-imposed! 'Cause I don't have enough on me, already! 

It's, ready or not, the Holiday season. I know a lot of you will be looking for makeup gifts to either give or put on your own lists, and I thought this might help you out. Last year, my "had to have" item was the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. I didn't do a review on it because it seemed unnecessary. We all knew that the shadows were fantastic quality, the packaging was amazing, and the brush was pretty darn good for a freebie. The colors, themselves, were completely open to debate, but it all boils down to personal preference. Me? I love it, and use it a lot. Other bloggers...not so much. The main complaint I run into is that it's not versatile. I haven't really run into that, but that could just be me. So, as a public service, I am going to wear and photograph a different eyeshadow look, made exclusively with shadows from the palette, every day for a week. God, help me. Then, you can judge for yourself if you think that the palette is versatile enough for you or your loved one. I know it's still a very popular, wished-for item, but it's also a fairly pricey item. I'd hate for anyone to spend the money on it, only to be disappointed. Conversely, I'd hate for anyone to miss out on something that would really enhance their routine. After all, 'tis the season for coupons and sales. 

Box Opening: Influenster Beauty Bloggers VoxBox

A month or so ago, I heard about a program called Influenster. It's sort of a cross between Birchbox and BzzAgent, in that you sign up for it, complete a profile and surveys, and if you're chosen, receive a box of full-sized and deluxe-sample goodies to test out and discuss on your social media outlets (blog, vlog, twitter, etc.). I thought it sounded interesting, so I signed up. This week, I received my first Beauty Blogger VoxBox, so this is my box opening, plus some reviews on the items I've been able to try. I'm going to be completely honest and impartial, despite the fact that I did receive all of these items for free. If you've been around this blog for any length of time, you know that I don't pull punches in any of my reviews, solicited or not. With that, let's get started!

Here's the box, straight off of the front porch.

The contents, just as they were. I didn't touch anything. There wasn't any packing material, but there was a coating of some sort of powder all over everything.

Here's the insert that explains the program and the box contents. It says: "Since you're a blogger extraordinaire,  you've been specially selected to receive this Beauty Blogger VoxBox! These are the products your followers want to hear about, so test, evaluate, and recommend, so they know what's what." Then it gives instructions on logging in the box online, and so forth.

Here's a rundown of all of the products, along with descriptions and prices. We'll get to those in a bit.

This is a product that I was actually really excited to find in the box. I've seen these, but always doubted they would work in my long, thick hair. I have a hard time getting even clips to hold. After trying them out for a couple of days, I'm happy to report that they do work, and I can now throw my hair into a messy bun in, literally, seconds. Would I recommend them to dancers who need buns for rehearsal or class? Not even slightly. They hold, but even with practically zero exhertion, my knot slid down the back of my head an inch or two over the course of the day. These are more for work, school, or bumming around on the weekends. Bonus: no itty bitty pins to keep up with! Goody SimpleStyles Spin Pins run $7.29, and come with instructions for three looks.



Messy, but off my neck. That's all that matters.



Next, I found a sweet little candle from Bath & Body Works. It smells woodsy, and I really like it. I think it's going to end up in my bathroom. Mini candles are $3.50, and definitely worth it. I've used these for years.

There was also a coupon for $10 off a 3-wick candle from Bath & Body Works. They're normally $20, so that's a super nice coupon. I used mine today to pick up one in Fresh Baguette, off the recommendation of a super-cute youtube blogger. It smells like baking bread, and I think it'll be a nice way to freshen up the house without sending anyone's allergies into a tizzy.

Another product I was already interested in trying out: false lashes with an applicator. I've used my fingers; I've used tweezer; I've even used that weird little pink clampy thingy (technical term), and they all kind of suck. This actually looks like it might work. I'm holding off on these until Halloween, but I'll keep you posted. The whole kit'll cost you $5.99, in case you were wondering.

This was an either/or item. Either you received Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves (Thomas has been cracking up over that name, by the way) Curl Defining Hair Cream, or you received Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream. Now, I don't have curly hair, so I'm not entirely sure how much use I'll get out of this, in that regard. It is supposed to smooth frizz and fly-aways, though, so I'll give that a shot. It's a really cute little package, and not super expensive ($6.00 for a much larger, full-sized bottle), so I hope it works out.

Alrighty! Remember how I told you there was a layer of powder over everything in the box? Well, this is where it came from. There's a little tear in the back of the package. It smells really good, and I've had luck with other suppplement powders in the past, but I had to toss this one before I could try it. I hated to do it, too, since they're kind of on the pricey side. A box of 20 will set you back $28.

Somehow, I managed to score one of two bonus products! According to Influenster, "Based on scores and demo info, select members may receive one of the following bonus products": either a two-step skincare system brom Boots No.7, or this Vitabath Fragrance Mist. My mist came in Green Tea and Sage, and smells wonderful. It reminds me of the sleep-enhancing aromatherapy linen spray from The Body Shop, actually, and retails for $9.99.

Okay, this one has me perplexed. Not because of the product--that's self-explanatory--but because of the availability. I can't find this particular shade variation anywhere other than Amazon! There are other shade variations all over the place (Walmart, Target, drugstores, etc.), but this "Dark Shadows" edition from NYC is a rare find. That's a shame, because it's actualy a really nice product, and would be lovely around the holidays. It's not a Holy Grail product, so don't kill yourself trying to find it, but if you happen to stumble across it somewhere, it's worth looking at.

The set comes with four coordinating shadows, a primer, and an illuminator. Here are the four shadows and the illuminator swatched. The primer is just a fleshy base, along the lines of the E.L.F. $1 primer, both in texture and slightly greasy feel. The shadows are okay. They're not powdery, and I experienced very little fallout, but the pigmentation isn't wonderful. I'd say poor-to-fair, with the silver and charcoal colors being the best, the white shadow as a middle ground, and the black glitter being the worst. It barely shows up, and the glitter doesn't transfer at all. Even with the primer, there is some fading and creasing, but not a ridiculous amount. The illuminator, surprisingly, is downright beautiful., and has pretty flecks of microglitter to boot. It's not a very versatile palette, but you can get a couple of all-over lid colors and a pretty silver smoky eye out of it. If you're looking to test out a silver look for the holidays, or just want to expand your collection on the cheap, you could do a whole lot worse for $4.99. I've used this twice and have been very happy with the outcome both times.

The finished eye, as instructed by NYC. I did add some black eyeliner to the top lashline.



That's it, folks! The entire Influenster VoxBox, along with first impressions and mini-reviews. I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll be back with more Halloween-y stuff tomorrow (God willing). Have a good one!