Hoots of a Night Al

Covergirl Super Sizer Fibers Mascara

July 26, 2016 12 Comments

Hey y’all! Covergirl recently released their Super Sizer Fibers Mascara, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you.

According to Covergirl, “Discover 400% more volume and get the look of long, dark, amplified lashes with Super Sizer Fibers Mascara. Our specialized formula contains built-in fibers for the ultimate false-lash
extension effect.”

As you can see above, this mascara definitely adds length and volume to my otherwise light, short lashes. I’m not sure if I have “400% more volume,” as they claim, but my lashes are definitely more dramatic.

The wand has short curved bristles that wrap around the wand in a twisting formation. The idea is that you’re supposed to turn the wand as your brush it through your lashes. I think this helps deposit the product more evenly while separating your lashes. Using the twisting technique definitely improves this mascara application!

This mascara is very similar to the original Covergirl Super Sizer mascara, I previously reviewed. The wand is basically identical, and the formula seems the same with the addition of fibers for length. However, comparing the two, I think my lashes may actually look longer with the original version. YMMV. (Is that abbreviation common enough to use? Your Milage May Vary…let me know. Hahah)

This mascara is flake-free all day, yet it washes off easily with makeup remover. While my lashes look mostly separated in the close-ups below, it took quite awhile to get them that way. The short wand bristles pick up a lot of product and can make it a little difficult to keep your lashes from becoming clumpy. If perfectly separated lashes are your jam, this mascara isn’t for you.

I have only tried Very Black out of their four available colors. I have to ask, does anyone out there actually use Brown mascara? As a committed Blackest Black Black Black mascara fan, I’ve never even reached for anything but that!

Here, I paired my Super Sizer Fibers Mascara with Covergirl’s Perfect Point Plus eyeliner in Espresso. I know, brown liner right after I bashed brown mascara. Hah. In all fairness, I received this eyeliner for free, and it was my first time trying it. I have to say though, I was very pleased! It glided on smoothly, stayed put all day, and created a softer, daytime look.

I love these products together for daytime because the brown liner is softer than my typical black, and this mascara gives my lashes drama without going full glam. They just create a fresh, pretty look. (And yes, those are Mickey Mouse ears peeking into the bottom of the above photo. Like I said…not going full glam over here.)

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with Covergirl’s The Super Sizer Fibers Mascara. I would probably rate it 7 out of 10. It’s not the best mascara I’ve ever used, but the price, availability, and formula give it plenty of pros.

Have you tried it? What did you think?

*FACE MAKEUP: Maybelline Fit Me Foundation & Concealer

*LIPSTICK: Lighter: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey, Darker: Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor in Kisses

*EYELINER: Black: Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner, Brown: Covergirl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner in Espresso

*BRONZER: NYX Matte Bronzer

*HIGHLIGHTER: e.l.f. Illuminating Palette

I received this mascara & eyeliner for review from Influenster, but all opinions are my own.

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on these links or make a purchase using these links, I may receive a small percentage of the profit at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Hoots of a Night Al!

Beauty

Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor in Kisses

July 14, 2016 12 Comments

Hey party people! Great news! Remember the Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolors I loved in Temptation and Love? Well, Revlon released more colors, and they’re beautiful!

I snagged their new color, Kisses, recently, and it’s so great. It’s a mauve color that I think would be flattering with any skin tone.

I reviewed these lipcolors in detail before, and everything I said then still stands. They are described as a “velvety matte,” which is totally accurate. It glides on so smoothly and sets pretty quickly.

The pigmentation is amazing, so I think it would pop regardless of your natural lip tone. The smell is very unique for a lip product. It’s sort of a vanilla fruit smell, but it goes away once the product dries.

The wear time is also incredible. These lipcolors last on me through eating, drinking, and the crazy Texas summer heat. I love being able to apply it once and forget about it the rest of the day. It’s also convenient because it doesn’t bleed.

Kisses has quickly become my favorite everyday shade, and I think it will work great year-round. I’m so excited Revlon decided to extend the color range of this product, and I plan on getting more shades soon!If you haven’t tried these yet and are looking for a long-wearing, inexpensive, beautifully colored lip product, what are you waiting for? I love Kisses as much as every other Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor I’ve tried, and I think you will, too! Have you tried any of the new shades? Which color should I get next??

DIY, Fashion

My Experience with thredUP

July 12, 2016 10 Comments

I recently decided it was time to clean out my closet and get rid of some clothes I’ve had for far too long. I’m talking about the sweaters I’ve had since high school. The romper I bought “on a whim” and have never worn. The dress that went out of style three years ago. When I was done weeding out items, I had around five trash bags FULL of clothes, shoes, and accessories.

Most of the items I had were in great condition, so it seemed like a waste to just throw them away. After doing some research, I found thredUP. They are an online resale company offering gently used and like-new women’s and kid’s clothes and accessories. The best part is that you can send your used clothes to them, and they’ll pay you for them!

All you have to do is make a thredUP account and request a Clean Out Kit. They’ll mail you a large bag with a pre-paid shipping label and directions on what they’ll accept and how to ship your bag back. You can give it to your mail carrier or return it to a FedEx Office.

3.5

Once they receive your bag, they will review the included items, keep the ones they can resell, and pass on the rest to their textile recycling partners to be up-cycled. Then, they’ll pay you for the items they plan to resell! You can either use your credit in their shop, or request a Visa gift card.

I found the entire process very easy and surprisingly quick! thredUP has a Payout Estimator, where you can see if they’re currently accepting the brand/type of clothing you want to send, and about how much they’ll pay you for it. They accepted almost all of the brands I had, and any they didn’t accept, I donated to my local Goodwill.
4.5

Also, feel free to send things they say they won’t accept, just in case. For example, their website said they would not take clothes missing tags. However, I sent a suit jacket missing its tag, and they purchased it from me! They also accepted several of my items that were over 5 years old.

In total I sent two full thredUP bags and earned around $70 for about 30 items. Could I have earned more selling each item individually? Possibly. However, it would have taken way longer, and I may have never been able to sell them! With thredUP, I just mailed them away for free, and got paid almost immediately.

Overall, I was super pleased with my thredUP experience. If you want a Visa gift card instead, you do have to wait two weeks to be able to claim it, but I was able to do so and received it in the mail soon after.

If you want to shop on or sell anything to thredUP, you can use my referral link and get a $10 credit! They have women’s clothes, kid’s clothes, designer items, handbags, shoes, and more! Based on the quality of my clothes that they purchased, I’d bet most of their items are in great condition!

Have you ever used thredUP or a similar system to clean out your closet? I sure thought it was an easy way to earn some quick money!

Retro Siggy

Beauty

e.l.f. Illuminating Palette

July 8, 2016 10 Comments

Hey friends! Are you a fan of highlighters? I AM. I’m also a fan of not spending tons of money on them. That is where the $6 e.l.f. Illuminating Palette comes in.

In the picture above, I have my full face of makeup on, except for a highlighter. I think it’s still a great look, but highlighter definitely adds that extra pop. Below, I applied highlighter on one half of my face…can you tell which side?

Here…I’ll give you some help!

It’s not a huge difference, but I think on the right my under-eye area definitely looks brighter, and my cheeks have a nice pop of sheen.

This e.l.f. Illuminating Palette is a pretty good bang for your buck…er…six bucks. I often see highlighters referred to as “bright enough to be seen from space.” I don’t know if this highlighter is quite that impressive. If we’re keeping with the atmosphere theme, I bet it could be seen from the stratosphere, though? Not bad for the price!

I typically apply the highlighter on my cheekbones, center of my nose, cupid’s bow, upper chin, and center forehead. I also use the lightest shade to brighten my under-eye area.

This palette definitely adds a subtle, but pretty sheen where applied. It lasts throughout the day very well on me, also.

According to e.l.f., “This beautiful illuminating palette holds 4 gorgeous complementary shades to mix and match for a custom blended radiance that captures, diffuses, and softens the way light reflects on the skin. The soft-focus powders are great for highlighting around the eyes and on cheekbones to enhance the skin with a luminous effect.”

You can see the four shades included below. I typically use a combination of the top two.

e.l.f also says these colors can be used as shadows, which I think could create a beautiful, natural makeup look. I mean, as natural as shimmering eyelids can look, you know.

Like I said, I don’t think these highlighters will be blinding any astronauts, but they’re a great purchase. If you’re wanting to test out highlighting without spending tons of money, give this palette a try!

Have you had luck with any other drugstore highlighters I should check out?

Foundation: Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless

Concealer: Maybelline Fit Me

Bronzer: NYX Matte Bronzer

Blush: Wet n Wild Color Icon Blusher Pearlescent Pink

Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

Eyeliner: Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner

Mascara: Covergirl Clump Crusher Extensions LashBlast Mascara

Lipstick: Le Marc Lipstick by Marc Jacobs in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Fashion, San Antonio

Bless Your Heart Gift Shop & Boutique

June 30, 2016 10 Comments

0 Bless Your Heart Bracken Village

Sitting nestled among countless arching oak tress off a beautiful country road is what may be the cutest boutique in San Antonio, Bless Your Heart. It’s part of Bracken Village along with several other shops, restaurants, and antique stores. The setting couldn’t be more quaint, and Bless Your Heart is the star of the village in the big, red barn.
1 Bless Your Heart Building

Once you grab a parking spot, walk up the paved path past the other buildings and cute windmills to the front of the structure.
1.5 Bless Your Heart Windmill

Before even walking inside you can see how adorably decorated and themed everything is! Pink, antique, and shabby chic!

2 Bless Your Heart Sign

The front porch holds huge, metal marquee letters hanging down to welcome you in. Both sides are are spilling over with antiques and furniture both as decor and for purchase. 3 Bless Your Heart Entrance

I couldn’t believe how excited I was about shopping before I even stepped inside! The exterior was so cute on its own, I knew the inside would hold just as many precious items. 4 Bless Your Heart Door

Let me tell you. The inside did NOT disappoint. There are 4 rooms and a lobby area downstairs as well as a section upstairs, and each one is OVERFLOWING with adorable things to purchase. The kind, helpful employees greeted me, and I began my shopping! 5 Bless Your Heart Jewelry Gifts

I don’t think it’s too bold of a statement to suggest that you could get shopping done for ALL of the women in your life completed here. This first room I stepped into had such a fun, bright summery feel. It was filled with colorful, jewelry, adorable baby gifts, sassy tees (that said things like “I know guacamole is extra”), and embellished denim shorts perfect for the Texas heat.
6 Bless Your Heart Gifts Clothes

8 Bless Your Heart Gifts

The next room over had a sort of southwestern vibe. It had these amazing, painted cement candle holders filled with fragrant candles, customizable cowboy boots for tons of colleges (I admired the A&M boots for quite awhile!), painted picture frames, and tons of clothes with cacti, which made me extremely happy. This room also housed an entire section of gifts perfect for teachers for the end of the year!

7 Bless Your Heart Clothes

One room focused strictly on clothes, which they have no shortage of! The styles I saw were unique, bohemian, southwestern, casual, dressy, cool…such a huge range! There was definitely something for everyone. I couldn’t resist buying the cobalt blue peasant top centered above.
9 Bless Your Heart Pillows

If you want to decorate your home as well, they had tons of fun, amazing pillows! That pillow with the red double decker bus came home with me! 🙂 I found these pillows in the fourth room among more boots, sandals, cute tees, and the dressing rooms. 10 Bless Your Heart Texas Shirt

I obviously had to step into the dressing room to try on some items myself! I didn’t purchase this Texas Love shirt, but it was so soft and cute, I’m already planning to return and buy it! There were so many cute styles, and I had so much fun trying them all on. They had several tunics and dresses perfect for layering and a huge range of color options. 11 Bless Your Heart Clothes Toms

I love those TOMS booties pictured above so much, I may need to return and buy them this fall! Yes, I haven’t mentioned it yet, but the lobby area has an entire wall of TOMS! Everything from their classic slip ons to their sandals, wedgies, and booties! The lobby also has a huge selection of Kendra Scott jewelry, several colors and patterns of Swell water bottles, and a section of seasonal apparel and gifts. When I visited, they had a huge display for 4th of July. 12 Bless Your Heart Gift Shop

I love everything I purchased at Bless Your Heart, and I can’t wait to go back soon and get more! If you’re in San Antonio, or just want an adorable place to shop for unique items with your mom, sisters, and girlfriends, Bless Your Heart is the perfect spot! I’m so happy my fellow San Antonio blogger, Christina of The Social Butterfly Gal, told me about it! Thanks again, Christina!

Have you ever visited Bless Your Heart? Add it to your weekend plans if you haven’t!

Retro Siggy

Disclaimer: I used a gift card won via The Social Butterfly Gal for a portion of my purchases, but, as always, all opinions are strictly my own. I just loved the boutique so much, I wanted to share it with all of you!

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