Wow. I can’t believe it’s been so long.

How’ve you been?!

I am feeling fierce these days. Here’s why:

LASH BLAST.

CoverGirl’s newest mascara is rocking my world. I usually don’t try mascaras that aren’t waterproof because—like my “the dog ate my homework” excuses—they never seem to work.

Funny thing about LashBlast is that I actually thought it was waterproof.

A few weeks ago, I spotted the orange tube in my mom’s Makeup Bag which set off a few sirens in my head because 1) I’d seen the Drew Barrymore LashBlast commercials and was dying to try it, and 2) when my mom doesn’t immediately tell me about a new beauty product she’s trying it means only one thing: SHE’S HIDING IT FROM ME!

Of course, I had to assume the LashBlast was waterproof because my mother would have no need to hide it if it wasn’t. (Just so you know, she hides her spearmint Orbit from us, too!)

The brush on this mascara is the chubbiest ever, with TONS of teensy little plastic bristles. At first glance I thought I would hate it, but I soooo do not. Somehow, this chubby orange mascara makes my lashes thicker and darker and longer than any other mascara I’ve used.

Which is why I was shocked to find out the tube we have isn’t waterproof— it doesn’t smudge or smear or flake AT ALL. For someone who wears contacts, this is huge.

The thing that sucks is that I can’t buy it anywhere—it’s completely sold out of every drugstore near my house.

This means that between me, my mom and my sister (it didn’t take Bailey long to catch on) we play musical chairs with the LashBlast every morning. Bailey even yelled at me this morning for applying an extra coat that she felt I wasn’t entitled to. The nerve!

If you find one of these chubby orange tubes in the CoverGirl aisle of your local drugstore, do yourself a favor and pick one (or twenty seven) up. You won’t regret it.

Back in October we gave you a sneak peek at the Lancôme Holiday Collection but there’s two items we didn’t mention:

Three super sparkly Color Fever Gloss in Heatstroke, Up in Smoke and limited edition Precious Light make up the Makeup Artist Shimmering Lips Set—a gift we’d like to have for ourself.

And this Holiday Mascara Set with several best-selling Lancôme eye essentials and a sweet cheek color thrown in for good measure.

Includes full-sizes of Définicils High Definition Mascara in Black, Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Base, Courbe Virtuôse Divine Lasting Curves Mascara in Black, Le Crayon Khôl Waterproof Eyeliner in Raisin Noir and Color Design Blush in Freeze Frame. Bat your eyes at that!

Avoiding eye-makeup-meltdown in triple digit heat is a breeze with Make Up For Ever Aqua Essential Waterproof Eye Set.

Included in this $85 value is Eye Seal (a cult favorite formula that transforms any powder into a waterproof liquid liner), Sens’Eyes waterproof makeup remover, Waterproof Lengthening Mascara, Waterproof Eyeliner, and Aqua Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil.

For only $45, these essentials will take your eyes through summer and beyond without smudging, running or melting.

A definite must-have!

We love us some Lancôme mascara, and Courbe Virtuôse is no exception.

With a unique curved brush that grasps the tiniest of lashes to lengthen, thicken and curl– this non-waterproof formula is remarkably long-lasting and smudge-free.

Our lashes looked perfect at 1:30 this morning when we woke up and realized we had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a movie a few hours earlier. (This rarely happens to us, but we’ve been run ragged this week watching our girls play in a volleyball tournament for hours and hours and hours each day.) (When we say hours– we mean a minimum of TWELVE HOURS each day since Monday. No joke.)

Courbe Virtuôse means “curving genius” and that is precisely what this luxurious mascara is. Tested amongst consumers, Courbe Virtuôse received the highest rating ever in the history of Lancôme consumer testing of a mascara.

Courbe Virtuôse is available at lancome-usa.com and Lancôme boutiques and counters nationwide for $23.

You all know that we’re part Japanese, right?

One-quarter to be exact.

While some people can instantly see the asian in us, many people have no idea. That is, until they see our eyelashes. We’ve whined about them before, and we’ll most certainly whine about them again, but waaaaah! our lashes suck.

This morning we finally tried Japan’s number one selling mascara, Imju Fiberwig, that claims to create “false eyelash-like” results with its fiber-filled formula.

Hmmmm. If it’s good enough for the Japanese girls, it has to be good enough for us, no?

NO.

We are sadly disappointed in this mascara. While it does slightly lengthen lashes with its tiny fibers, they point off our natural lash tips in different directions giving us a look we’re not particularly keen on sporting.

After 4 coats of this, our lashes were slightly longer with no volume whatsoever. Also, it did not hold the curl we had crimped into our lashes with our new Shu Uemura eyelash curler, leaving us with our normal stick-straight lashes.

With no time to remove and re-apply our makeup, we turned to our favorite pair of Brown Cross lashes and we’re now good to go.

Our cousin, Cindi, just moved to Japan last month and we’re going to ask her to scoop this out for us. Is it really the must-have mascara in Japan? Because, really, we find it hard to believe.

We love the simple chic look of eyelids sporting nothing but liquid liner and a coat of black mascara, and Bourjois has just what we need to make it happen.

Eye-elegance has never been easier with Bourjois Petite Guide de Style Expert, a duo of Liner Pinceau liquid eyeliner and Volume Glamour mascara.

Available in La Nuit Noir (rich black) and Mauve Fantastique (deep royal violet), your eyes will be thanking you for this little style expert.

Bourjois Petite Guide de Style Expert, $25

We’ve told you before about our unfortunately skimpy, stick straight lashes, and how we’re forever trying to improve on their short, sad state.

Last week we got our hands on a tube of CoverGirl’s new VolumeExact mascara and in it, we found exactly what our lashes were looking for. We haven’t opened the mascara section of our makeup bag since.

Much like its popular cousin LashExact, this mascara has a special brush formation that detangles and separates lashes allowing for a clump free, smooth application EVERY TIME.

But here’s the kicker: 4x the volume.

Let us repeat that for you.

FOUR TIMES THE VOLUME.

If you’re lucky, you might find this in your local drugstore but it won’t be available at mass-market retail outlets until January. (In case you didn’t know this: Good things come to those who wait.)

CoverGirl VolumeExact Mascara, $6.99

Ever since our friend Ann tried Estee Lauder’s Lash Primer Plus for the
first time last week, she has been singing praises for its lengthening, volumizing, non-clumping qualities.

We finally gave it a whirl for ourself today and you know what? She’s right!

Even on our very skimpy, stick-straight lashes that normally don’t respond to anything extra on our lashes (primers have been known to weigh us down!) this primer just WORKS.

Tip: For added benefit, use two coats. Trust us.

Estee Lauder Lash Primer Plus, $18.5