makeup

Kiss Me Heroine Mascara review: What makes it so waterproof and smudge-proof?

What ingredients make Isehan's Kiss Me Heroine's mascara so waterproof? Plus, tips for choosing mascara that won't irritate your skin/eye area.

I have very short, very sparse eyelashes (thankfully, I’m not a character in an old-timey storybook, so I’ve never had to bat my eyelashes like a damsel in distress). When I was younger, I tried out a few kinds of mascara, but I never found one that didn’t smudge after just a few hours…even when the label claimed that it was supposedly waterproof and smudge-proof! Maybe I have a very oily eye area or something. Anyway, I eventually gave up on my search for the perfect…

IT Cosmetics CC Cream Review

This CC cream includes snail secretion filtrate, vitamin E, niacinamide, and other beneficial ingredients. It also helps correct redness.

On a recent trip to Sephora, I picked up a small travel size of IT Cosmetics CC+ cream (yes, I’m a sucker for browsing through those little product bins while waiting in line). This product bills itself as “Your Skin But Better” (and it even trademarked that phrase). After taking a quick scan through the massive ingredient list, I saw that it contained physical sunscreen ingredients (a mix of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide), so it offered full protection against the full…

La Roche-Posay Effaclar BB Blur Review

This BB cream claims to provide broad-spectrum SPF 20 protection, but it's definitely not a replacement for sunscreen. Here's why.

Before I started getting mildly obsessed with sunscreen, I used to think that anything with at least SPF 15 was enough for daily wear. I didn’t know the difference between a physical and a chemical sunscreen. I had never heard about UVA and UVB rays. I spent many years applying a thin layer of Oil of Olay Sensitive Skin Moisturizer with SPF 15 in the morning, and never bothering to reapply any sunscreen throughout the day. Later, I moved on to La Roche Posay BB Blur, which is primarily…