In search of the Holy Grail

The Holy Grail. Not the Holy Grail like what King Arthur or even Robert Langdon were looking for, but that be-all-end-all cosmetic product that you can NOT live without - in which the discovery of calls off all future searches for said product as you have found THE ONE.

Yes, folks, this is a rambling post. No pictures. Just lots of words. Pics will be back soon!

I don't have any holy grails. None. I thought I did. A few years back I completely gave up on wearing eyeshadow because it would crease withing an hour of application. Way back in the day I used to use a L'Oreal product call De-Crease to keep eyeshadow in place, but it only extended the life of my eyeshadows for about 2 hours or so. Then I discovered Urban Decay Primer Potion. My whole outlook on eyes changed. I loved this stuff, my shadows stayed put for over 12 hours. My eyeliners didn't rub off to the lid above my crease. It was great. I began hoarding eye shadows and wearing them again. There was only one problem - I hated, Hated, HATED the genie bottle. Earlier this year, UD came out with the squeeze tube of their primer potions. I had found my holy grail product and time to stop looking.

Wrong. On a whim I picked up a tube of Too Faced Shadow Insurance and I love it. Now I have two products I enjoy using. I guess you can say I have two holy grail products? Better than none, I guess.

I can't think of any other product that I own that would be considered a holy grail. I've tried many different products, haven't found THAT one, yet. Blushes change with my mood, as does pretty much anything that has color (eyeshadows, lipsticks, glosses) Hell, I can't even settle on a brand of lip gloss or lipstick that I'll choose over all others. However, when it comes to colors - lipsticks, glosses, blushes, eye shadows, I like not having one go to - I have a huge (probably too huge for the dearest's liking) variety at my fingers. I'm still trying out foundations, concealers and even cleansers.

There are two items that I would love to find a holy grail for. The first is concealer. I currently use a MAC concealer and while I have liked it so far to repurchase it, I know that I can find a better one. I have heard absolutely fantastic things about Cle de Peau concealer, but I have to say - I'm a wee bit hesitant on plunking down $70 for concealer. So, I'll just keep on searching.

The product that I really, really want to find a holy grail for is mascara. I want that fantastic mascara that you'll buy over and over and over again. The one that you tell all your friends about, and then tell your friends' friends about. The problem? I'm too freaking picky. I want a separating and volumizing formula that will hold a curl. I don't want a wand that's too huge, nor too small. I don't want it to clump together and give the look like you only have 5 lashes. I also don't want it to flake and give me raccoon eyes by 8:00. The one thing I don't care about? Lengthening. I'm ok with the length of my lashes. I just want nice, thick, separated, curled lashes. Am I asking too much? Probably.

I have about 8 open mascaras at this time. Many are sample sizes from various GWPs or 100 pt bonuses at Sephora. I've also tried the range of prices, from $2.39 Essence mascara (barely shows up and flakes within 2 hours) to $30 Chanel Inimitable Intense mascara (will clump like a bugger if you're not super careful with the application) and everything in between. I've found ones that work well, but I haven't found THAT one. So I'll keep on looking.

Happy searching, all. Hopefully you have found your holy grails.

Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss

I'm pretty torn on whether I'm a lip gloss or lipstick type of girl. While on one hand, I do love a nice, opaque, chock-full-o-color lipstick, on the other hand, I'm also a sucker for a nice, shiny gloss. And we can't forget some of the lip balm-type lipsticks (Dior Addict and Chanel Coco Shine). So, Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss isn't helping me in the debate.

It all started, as many of my lemmings do, by reading Elvira's blog, Pink Sith. She waxed poetic about this lip gloss and it placed a bug in my brain. Every time I went into Sephora I lingered around the Hourglass display, pawing at the lovely, thin lip gloss tubes. I tried on many, including the one that Elvira loves so much - Siren - but that was was just a bit too much for me. I kept going back to the color Nectar - a non-shimmery coral.

This is the type of color I have been drawn to this summer. The orangey, coralish, peachy colors. This one is no exception. It's super shiny, however not as sticky as others I have tried. The wear is about average for lip glosses, as it doesn't last through any type of meals, snacks or drinks.

The color is actually quite subtle on my lips, but nice and summery. Yes, I know it's now September, but the weather's still quite warm, so that counts, right? I have a feeling that I may be going back for more of these glosses. The color Primal was also calling out to me. Time will tell if I can resist or not.

On another note, my postings have been getting further and further apart, and they may become more so in the next 2-3 months. I'm due to deliver spitfire 2.0 at the end of September, so this last month is getting a bit rough, and the first few with the new baby will be full of sleepless nights. I'm going to try and keep up some posting, but it may go to the back burner. I do enjoy it, so it's not going completely away, and as soon as I have a good routine down, I'll be back to posting as normal!