Beauty Scoop: Best Eyeliner Ever!

I love eyeliner. It's the best.

I have posted reviews on two pen eyeliners in previous blogs (Almay and CoverGirl), and now I want to present to you my favorite eyeliner ever by Mally: 24/7 Professional Eye Lining System.

Now to be fair, I've only tried this kit in "crisp black" so I can't attest to how pigmented the other six colors are, but assuming they all have the same formulation, then they are probably of equal quality. I've actually been meaning to pick up "best brown".

I love the lasting power of this liner. To apply, you first draw on the liner with the pencil, and then set it with the white powder using the fatter side of the applicator. Then I use an angled brush (like you would for eyebrows) and set the eyeliner with the black powder. If you apply it this way, it will stay put ALL day, or all night if you're going out.

I also love how deeply pigmented this liner is and the formula is just so much better than the drug store pencil liners I've tried. It goes on smooth and the powder sets it so it doesn't slide or slip. The powder is the perfect black which definitely adds the most value to this product. This kits runs for $25, which I think is a pretty good deal considering you get a pencil, two powders, and an applicator. While I prefer my angled brush, the applicator sponges are also very user friendly.

I've used this kit for years and it remains my favorite pencil liner. What is your favorite eyeliner? Share it below!

Also, come stop by The Scoop Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

<3 Danielle

Beauty Scoop: Deodorants for Hyper Sensitve Skin

I have had such bad luck with deodorants! Apparently, there is an ingredient in quite a few brands of deodorants that I am allergic to! So when I try a new brand, there's always a chance it will give me an underarm rash. It's definitely not the prettiest or most comfortable thing to experience.  Thankfully, most of the sensitive or "fresh" formulas are safe for me to use in any brand. The exception is the TOMs brand, which I am extremely allergic to! So if you have hyper sensitive skin like me, then I might just have the holy grail deodorant and antiperspirant for you!

Finally, I found a brand that I could buy in multiple fragrances that I am not allergic to and works really well: Secret Clinical Strength.  This brand works amazingly! It's definitely good for 12 hour wear and is great for going out dancing at night. However, it is water resistant, so sometimes it takes a lot of work to wash off the residue in the shower. Though this is probably why it stays on so well during the day. My two favorite scents are the Sensitive Skin Hypoallergenic Advanced Solid and Sport Advanced Solid. The sensitive formula has a light fresh scent that gives you that "just showered" smell. The sport formula is little bit more girly, and it makes me think of summer time. These are definitely my all time favorites!

The only one from the Clinical Strength line that i cannot use is the "waterproof all-day" formula. Again, something in it doesn't react well with my skin. As I said before, the deodorants are water-resistant, and they last all day for me, so the waterproof one isn't a huge loss. 

Have you tried the Secret Clinical Strength deodorants? What was your experience?

Come stop by The Scoop Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

<3 Danielle

Euro Scoop

Hi everyone! If you have been following my other blog, Euro Scoop, then you may know that tonight is the night I leave for Europe! I will be traveling through Europe for two months and return to San Francisco at the end of June. To follow my journey you can subscribe by email or bookmark Euro Scoop in your browser. I will still stick to my normal schedule of posting every week on The Scoop, so stay tuned!

You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook for travel updates. 

Thank you all for reading The Scoop! 

<3 Danielle

Beauty Scoop: Maybelline Baby Lips Review

I had pretty high expectations for this lip balm. Every time I turned on the TV there seemed to be a Maybelline Baby Lips commercial, featuring a gorgeous model which soft, luscious lips. And hey, I wouldn't mind lips like that! However, I was happy with my current lip balms, so it was going to take more than a TV ad for me to switch to a new brand. Luckily, my best friend gave me a pack of Baby Lips to try.

Unfortunately, the Baby Lips lip balm did not live up to the hype, at least not for me. While the packaging was very cute, the consistency feels very cheap to me and it did not absorb into my lips. In fact, I think it made my lips chap, instead of making them soft and supple. 

So I would recommend that you save your money or spend it on a better product. My favorite lip balms are by EOS and Burt's Bees. I've been using both brands for years and love them. Just don't do what I do every summer, and leave them in your hot car! They melt, and they melt FAST!

What are your favorite lip brands? Share them below!

Come stop by The Scoop Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

<3 Danielle

Beauty Scoop: Split-Ends are Dead-Ends!

ABOVE: An extremely bright Before and After picture

Last weekend, I decided it was time to chop off a few inches of hair. I've been growing my hair out for about a year. I had every intention of taking extra special care of it, and getting it trimmed every 6 weeks to keep it healthy. But life happened, I only made it to my hairstylist every two to three months, and I used way too much heat on a regular basis without a heat protectant.

So, to make it more manageable, I really had to cut off all the dead, fried hair to start fresh. Hopefully this time next year, I'll be telling you a very different story!

After and Styled

The bright side is that it takes me about half the time to style my hair in the morning. It also looks a lot better when I air dry it compared to before. I plan not to use much heat on it over the next two months while I'm traveling in Europe. My new (or quarter?) year resolution is to air dry
my hair whenever possible and refrain from straightening it! Wish me luck (and patience)!

Do you have a hair fail or success story? Share it with me on the new Scoop Facebook Page!

Thanks for reading!

<3 Danielle

Beauty Scoop: Makeup Brush Care

Cleaning your make-up brushes regularly is important, not only to make them last longer, but also to keep your skin clean and clear. I have a few brushes that I use everyday that need to be cleaned once a week. The ones I use less frequently get washed once I notice they are dirty.

The cleansers I use for my brushes are the Bare Escentuals Well Care For Brush Conditioning Shampoo and Purity Made Simple by Philosophy. Both work perfectly well, but I find Purity conditions the brushes a little bit better.  Since you only need about a pea sized amount per brush, both will last you quite a long time.

First, I dampen the tip of the brush in the sink, and apply a tiny amount of the Purity to the bristles. I really work it in and then I wash it out thoroughly. Then I repeat this. After, I rinse the brush really well and gently squeeze out the water in the direction of the bristles. Then I shake the larger brushes (in the motion of cracking a whip) to get rid of any excess moisture. This allows the bristles to fall in their normal pattern instead of being squished all together.

Then I sit them in a mug by my window so that the extra air flow helps them dry out over night. I found that laying them on a towel resulted in my larger brushes still being damp in the morning.

Something else I started to do a while ago was to use a natural oil to deep clean my brushes about once every four normal washes. I first saw Kandee Johnson do this on Youtube with olive oil in 2009, but thought it would make my skin break out! It totally doesn't. It's actually super good for your brushes, because using them all the time can cause them to become dry and scratchy. Using a natural conditioner like olive oil restores that store-bought softness to the bristles. Since it takes a little more effort, I don't use oil every time. You can use olive oil (cheapest), avocado oil, or almond oil to clean your brushes. You can use coconut oil as well, but make sure you rub it together in your hands to melt it before rubbing it over the bristles. You watch Kandee Johnson's tutorial HERE.

What cleanser or shampoo do you use to wash your brushes? Share you tips at the new Scoop Facebook page! Or share it with me on Twitter!

<3 Danielle

Beauty Scoop: Makeup Remover Do's and Don'ts

Spring is here! That means more sunshine, more days spent outdoors, and...allergies.

Honestly, on some Spring days, the last thing I want to do is wear eye makeup, and on the days that I do, the first thing I want to do when I get home is take it off. Of course, since my eyes do become watery this season, that means I'm wearing waterproof and smudge proof makeup, which is not the easiest thing to take off.

Usually when I remove my makeup, I will first wash my entire face with Biore 4 In 1 Detoxifying Cleanser. It's extremely gentle and moisturizing, so I don't feel like it's stripping my skin when it washes off my make-up. I follow that with a scrub. My favorite right now is St Ives Blemish Control Green Tea Scrub. Of course, washing your face with eye make up on makes you look like a raccoon when your eyeliner starts to gather underneath your eyes. But it doesn't wipe off all that easy, does it? That's why I'm here to tell you about the best makeup removers out there!

Do's
Do use a natural oil to remove your make-up.

Don't
Don't use a makeup remover with alcohol in it. This will dry out your skin, and if you use it everyday, it will probably prematurely age it. We want to keep that delicate skin moistened! That's why eye creams exist! Check the ingredients in your makeup remover, if you don't know what is it because the scientific names of the chemicals are completely foreign to you, then I would not recommend putting that on your eyes.


Best Make Up Removers
Avocado Oil
Avocado Oil is very gentle and a little bit thicker than Coconut Oil. You just apply a pea size amount to your fingers or cotton swab and use it to gently remove make up. It breaks up the make up without any effort and moisturizes deeply. I prefer the Now Foods Avocado Oil.

Coconut Oil 
Coconut Oil is actually my oil of choice, mostly because if you look at the cost per oz, it's much cheaper than Avocado Oil, and they're both equally effective. The difference is that coconut oil comes in a jar. So you have to scoop out a pea sized amount of the solid form and rub it between your finers to warm it and create the oil. Then you remove your make-up the same way you would with Avocado Oil. I use Dr Bronner's Fresh-pressed Virgin Coconut Oil White Kernel Unrefined. I buy both oils at Whole Foods, but you can usually find them on Amazon, or in your local vitamin or health shop.

Do you have any tips for fighting off allergy season? I'd love to hear them! Share it with me on The Scoop Facebook page and on Twitter!

Thanks for reading,

Danielle