Happy Halloween! T.E.A.M. Wicked is just so....WICKED!

Here we are, three minutes into Halloween, and I'm celebrating the arrival of our other newest limited edition color which is so unique and so unlike any other color in the LipSense line up. Closest equivalent is Blackberry but this one has so much more depth and possibilities! Meet T.E.A.M. Wicked! Like all Limited Editions, once this is sold out, it's gone!

This color is so unbelievably COOL. Since I had two Halloween events this past weekend, I got the chance to wear T.E.A.M. Wicked ALL weekend long! My first was in my devil costume....I have it topped with Silver Glitter Gloss for an extra sparkle. 

I love this color. It was very easy to put on. The first coat went on a little thin as I expected but after that, the second and third coat spread very well and even and there was very little streaking. I did have to take it off about five hours after the event started after apparently I was scaring some kids trick or treating...I think the blue lips with the red eyeshadow was just a little too much for them to take even though it was high noon!

The second day, I wore it as Elvira for some fun. Excuse my wig...this was the second time I wore this costume and my wig just would not poof up the way I was hoping. However, I wore Blackberry with Elvira the first time and I've showed both as a comparison. Both are dark. Both are bold. But I think the teal blue shimmer lightens it just a little bit and I didn't feel like I was wearing Sharpie on my lips at all!

Take a look at a close-up of T.E.A.M. Wicked if you want to see the teal sparkle. To me, it's more of a pale blue sparkle than a teal shimmer. If you look close you can see the glitter. It reminded me of the color of a pale blue topaz. 

The possibilities are endless with this color. You can use it as eyeliner. You can use it as makeup! You can wear it with Purple Reign, Blackberry, one of the reds to make a deep berry color. You can even use it with face painting to make a really unique look as one of my SeneSisters has so cleverly done here! But look at how it looks on different people. 

To all of my blog readers, customers and friends, have a very safe and happy Halloween! Be sure to contact me if I can make your Halloween day a little more wicked with this gorgeous Limited Edition color!

Dark Circle Eye Treatment: Take the bags to the curb!

Dark Circle Eye Treatment, or DCET for short, is one of the best products that we offer where you can see immediate results within about twelve hours. AND...you don't have to use it all the time. For the longest time, this wonderful product was out of stock, but I was lucky enough to get my hands on a tester so I was able to test it. The skin below your eyes is very thin and delicate, and as such, black circles can develop quite easily for a number of reasons, usually not enough sleep, being sick, sleeping on your stomach, certain medications, rubbing your eyes really hard during allergy season....it's basically a type of bruise from the blood vessels under your skin leaking blood and the light refracting off the delicate skin making the "black" or "blue" show up more. 

I don't really understand the chemistry behind DCET and I'm not going to try, but I can tell you that I don't use this product every day. I use it when I need it. If I am not sleeping well or pulling long days or late nights, I will apply it. If I notice that I have shadows, I will apply it. If my eyes are puffy from crying (yes, I cry, girls do that!), I will apply it. It does contain SenePlex, our patented cellular regeneration serum, so from using it and from the little bit I gleaned in biology class in high school is that it basically hastens cellular growth of the skin below your eyes, making the skin not AS translucent and the circles not as prominent. 

Directions for use: You are recommended to apply DCET on clean dry skin before you moisturize with a small amount day and night. A small pearl-sized amount beaded onto your finger is plenty to use on both eye areas since it is very rich and very concentrated. Use your ring finger so as to not put added strain on the delicate undereye skin and spread it around gently until it is absorbed. Moisturize as usual....I use Climate Control and my Day or Evening Normal to Oily Moisturizer after applying.

I decided to test this serum with before and after pictures the first week I started my blog and I was staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning playing with HTML, so this first picture was taken on Thursday, October 19, 2017. See the black smudges? If you look close you can actually see almost a varicose vein broken in the rounded part of my orbital socket! Imagine that the skin below your eye is like a leaf...and all the little veins in the leaf are the capillaries below your eyes. When one breaks and releases blood into the skin below your eyes, it appears black because blood is actually a blackish-red traveling through your veins when it is deoxygenated. Deoxygenated blood is darker due to the difference in color between deoxyhaemoglobin and oxyhaemoglobin.

What I noticed immediately the next morning after this picture was taken was that the skin under my eyes was a little firmer, more even in skin tone and I looked less....well, tired. And I didn't feel the need to immediately reach for some natural concealer or EyeLuminator. 

This picture was taken after 72 hours, Sunday, October 22. 

And this picture was taken after almost a week on Wednesday, October 26. 

I don't know if you can see the difference in pictures as well as I can in daylight, but it's amazing. And trust me when I say that I am TIRED ALL THE TIME!

Like I stated above, I don't see the need to use this every day. I used it twice a day during this testing period to show how great it works, although I might be using it all the time after this experiment. I also made sure I got enough sleep at night and drank plenty of fluids. I am also on blood thinners, so my black circles are a tad more prominent for that fact, so there's my full disclosure. 

It has no odor. It is not oily or greasy. It does not leave a color on your skin and you don't feel it tingling or stinging after application. The only difference I noticed was that the skin under my eyes felt softer and more moisturized. And as stated before, it does have SenePlex in it which will help with aging. I am prone to genetic issues with the skin under my eyes (my mother, uncle and my grandfather all have this problem) so I have to work at this a little harder than the average 42-year-old. 

Black circles, red circles, or puffy eyes.....this could possibly be your miracle skin care item! Contact me if you are interested in ordering it! I have one in stock but this is easy for me to order if you have to have it!

Glam Doll! If Barbie wanted a fall color, this would be the one...

One of this fall's Make It Mine Limited Edition colors, Glam Doll, was released last weekend, and what a release it was! At first glance, it just looks like another wine, another berry, and in the tube, it is similar in appearance to Berry or Mulled Wine.

Me!

Ashley Berry, Crown Princess

Out of the bottle though....wow. What a perfect fall shade! It's really pretty similar to the lettering in the flyer, an earthy, neutral, brown-pink shade....but to me, it looks like a dark chocolate brown with a heavy cherry tint to it. Very deep burgundy that of course, looks different on everyone depending on your natural lip color.

At first glance, my thought was that this was too similar to Mulled Wine, but after doing a comparison test with this color against Mulled Wine, it's nothing like it. More brown, less berry. Please note that Neutral and Currant are retired and no longer available; I added them to this comparison picture in the event that you have them and are wondering if they are similar....which they are not. If you are looking for a nice neutral like Bella but that is darker for fall, THIS IS YOUR COLOR! (And I really think Barbie would approve!)

This color looks completely clean and glamorous....and yet complements warm and cool skin tones alike. It would be at home with a flannel shirt and jeans as well as an elegant formal dress. It has some cherry red tones but enough brown to be perfect for fall without looking purple. It reminds me a lot of a black cherry lip color....similar to Clinique's Black Honey which is known time and time again on Top Ten Lists for the colors that look great on everyone. 

Application of this color is not problematic, but since it is a darker color, I would recommend strongly to apply in one direction and to remember to allow each coat to dry to the touch before applying the next. Due to all of the various tones in this color, any gloss would work well with this color from Sand Gloss (warm) to Pink Glitter Gloss (cool). 

It is the ultimate perfect choice for fall. What are you waiting for, doll? Contact me today to get YOURS before this perfect color is sold out!

Coral-Lina....Delicate as a shell, now retired

I logged in tonight to SeneGence to place my weekly order to find that Coral-Lina has disappeared from the ordering screen. It sold out a few weeks ago, but as they say, it ain't over until the fat lady sings. 

And she sang. 

Coral-Lina is no longer available for ordering.

Coral-Lina is now a retired color for SeneGence. It was released in July as a Make It Mine color by Princess Lina Roth, who was inspired by the corals of the Great Barrier Reef. It is an absolutely wonderful pink coral and reminds me a lot of shells, coral, beach colors, and all things that are so wonderful about the beach. It's so different from any other colors that we have in our line up of colors....I hate to see it go because coral lovers everywhere really need this in their crayon box. But...it is not necessarily a summer color! Coral-Lina is a fantastic color to layer over other colors because of its translucent and shimmery iridescence. You can build it up on its own or layer it over a darker coral or a pink to lighten it up and make it a different color all your own. It is also light enough that you can change the color every so slightly with Bougainvillea Gloss or Orchid Gloss. And Opal or Pearl Gloss will make the iridescent frosty shimmer sparkle even more. 

I've not worn this color as much as I wish I had this summer mostly because of time, but the times that I have worn it, it has been really lovely with my skin tone. The first time I wore it was at my outdoor booth in Canton, Texas, so as you can tell, I'm pretty tan and well, glistening! But it was taken in the sunlight so you can see the shine and the frost. The gloss I wore with this outdoors shot is Pearl Gloss so you can see it gives it just a hint of a luminosity as only Pearl Gloss does. Tonight I put it on to highlight how it looks indoors now that we are heading into fall. We are fortunate in Texas that our summery clothing with the right accessories can be worn year-round, and I admit that I have been known to wear peach skirts and tops and sweaters in the dead cold of January from time to time since I like bright colors and pastels as well as darker fall and wintery jewel tones. And I do love the ocean!

Coral-Lina applies very evenly and does not streak although I definitely recommend going in one direction as I do with every color. In these pictures, I have paired Coral-Lina with Glossy Gloss, so that the color on my lips is not altered in any way. I did notice that when I was applying it to my upper lip, it did tend to pool a little bit but one more stroke of the applicator and it smoothed out perfectly and dried down into a frosty shimmer. 

No makeup, black Irma tunic, and an orange headband to go with Halloween. Not such a summer color now!

And for fun, how can we layer this beautiful coral? These are my favorites that I'm dying to try! And best of all, these are all layered with colors that you can easily wear for fall or may already HAVE for fall. Mulled Wine is a gorgeous burgundy merlot color, Lexie Beary is a berry color that sides with purple and Nude is a neutral brown that is great for everyday wear. Look what you can create by mixing these with Coral-Lina! (If you would like to save these to your Pinterest board, just click here to take you to my Pinterest Recipes board so you can pin them for later use.)

So, don't wait....make sure and grab this gorgeous color before it's gone! I have plenty in stock and as a parting gift with this wonderful color, anyone that would like to order this color from me by the time the clock strikes 12 midnight on Halloween will be entitled to a special discount! Please email me directly to order!

What is LipSense? The Tutorial

                                                                                What is LipSense? 

I demo and sell LipSense in person every weekend, and most people have heard of it because they either have a friend who is an independent distributor, a friend who uses it and raves about it, or they have been invited to participate in a LipSense party either at someone's house or most likely have been invited to a LipSense party on Facebook. But the resounding question I get more than any other is: WHAT is it? 

LipSense is a revolutionary cosmetic product patented by SeneGence International. There is lipstick, and there is lip stain, but LipSense is neither. It is a lip color. Traditional lipstick is made primarily of mineral oil, petroleatum and wax. It does not absorb into your lips. It sits on the top of your lips like a pair of wax lips you would wear for Halloween and doesn't really do anything to attach to your lips or to moisturize them, which is why it wipes off so easily and why a lot of daily lipstick wearers find themselves with chapped lips or dry lips on a regular basis. Lip stain absorbs into the second layer of your lips' skin and dries them out similar to putting wood stain on an unfinished piece of wood. They can also draw attention to wrinkles and lines.

LipSense does neither. The three primary ingredients in LipSense are cosmetic grade alcohol, plant and fruit extracts and pigment. LipSense is gluten-free, vegan, kosher, non-GMO, contains no lead and no animal by-products. It is also not tested on animals. Due to the fact that the primary ingredient is alcohol, the application of LipSense allows it to dry extremely quickly and not budge once it is applied as opposed to regular lipstick which will smear, smudge and feather. When you apply the first layer of LipSense with the applicator, the color bonds to the top layer of skin on your lip at a molecular level which is why you can't just wipe it off with a tissue once it's on. Each coat will dry within three to five seconds. Repeat the layers two more times, and you have a perfect lip color that will last you between four and twenty-four hours depending on how you treat it, how you take care of it and what you eat during the day. 

It is a two-step process due to the fact that the lip color itself doesn't have any moisturizer in it to keep your lips soft and supple, which is where the lip gloss comes in. LipSense is manufactured without the lip gloss in it in order to allow the color to dry down quickly and to set without moving or budging so that you have a lip color that stays on all day. The lip gloss formulated by SeneGence International is specially manufactured and developed to work with LipSense and not against it. You can wear the lip gloss alone without the color, but you can't wear the color without the gloss. Regular lip glosses won't work with it because the majority of them contain oil or petroleatum which will work against LipSense and break it down. The two primary ingredients in the lip gloss that goes with LipSense are Vitamin E and shea butter but it is designed not to mix with the lip color or pick it up off your lips, so the color and gloss stay on your lips and don't come off onto your glass. It's not unusual for the applicator to pick up some of the color onto the tip during the lip gloss application with the more heavily pigmented colors like Fly Girl, Mulled Wine and Purple Reign, but the color won't mix into the gloss itself and you will be able to use the same tube of gloss over and over and over again with colors as pale as Cappuccino and as dark as Blackberry. It is completely vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free, lead-free, and oil-free. The shea butter in the lip gloss is what moisturizes your lips and keeps them healthy. All of the LipSense products are made in the United States as SeneGence International has factories in California and the United States. SeneGence is also present in Canada and Australia, but all of the products distributed in the United States are made domestically and subject to FDA guidelines and regulations. 

Now, if you are reading this article for the first time and have never heard of or applied LipSense before, you’re probably thinking (as I did!) that this is the biggest bunch of crap you’ve ever heard. In fact, there are a lot of people that don't like LipSense at all for various reasons because it's so different from anything out there on the market. Last November was the first time that I finally gave it a try and bought one after being told by my best friend that I would love it. I heard from several other people that it was the answer to my biggest gripe with lipstick which was getting it all over my coffee cups, wine glasses and teeth. I finally bought my first tube and a Glossy and I purposely selected Plum because I remember distinctly thinking that there was no way the stuff was going to work and at least I had a color that I really liked. Even after I bought it, I still didn’t wear it for a couple of weeks! I wasn't shown how to use it from the distributor I bought it from, so I continued to use all of my old lipsticks until I had time to watch videos on YouTube about how to put it on. The first day I decided to try it, I put it on in accordance with what I had learned, made my cup of coffee and went to work. 

The first thing I noticed after a couple of hours of being at work is that I didn't even feel it being there like I do lipstick (I could always feel when my lipstick was starting to wear off) and noticed that I didn't have any marks on my coffee cup other than a shiny lip print from my lip gloss. That day I had brought a meatloaf Lean Cuisine to work. Not highly oily, but not fat-free either. I also had a Diet Coke and a glass of water. By this time, I admit, I had forgotten about the LipSense and assumed that it just came off. It just doesn't feel like you're wearing anything after the gloss is absorbed by your lips. I pulled out my mirror and LipSense and fully expected to see bare lips. 

As you can expect, I didn't see bare lips because here we are a year later and I'm writing to you all about my first day wearing LipSense. My mouth dropped open because I couldn't believe that the color was still there. All I had to do was reapply my lip gloss and I was ready to go again for the rest of the day. I only had the one color, and since I had quite a collection of regular lipsticks, I did switch back and forth, but it just wasn't the same. I kept thinking about how well my LipSense stayed on and how great it felt. I broke down and ordered a red. I think the turning point was when I selected four colors that I had to have! I decided to become a distributor after that. During the day, I'm an insurance adjuster and I inspect houses in the heat. This is the one product that I can wear year-round and know that no matter how much I sweat, it will stay on all day without having to reapply after every appointment. I can wear it swimming. The lip gloss protects my lips from the sun and the wind. I can eat with it on and only have to do a minor touch-up with a reapplication of the lip gloss. It's rare that I ever have to remove all the layers and start over again, but usually a sandwich with oil, vinegar and mayonnaise will do it every time!

There are so many things that I love about LipSense but one of the big things is that it is primarily cosmetic grade alcohol. It will not sustain any bacterial growth or mold growth. Have you ever noticed that your oil and wax-based lipsticks go rancid and start to smell and taste bad after a period of time? That won't happen with LipSense for a very long time, if ever. The expiration date on LipSense is seven years unopened, two years opened. And I know a number of distributors who have some older retired colors that are just fine. The FDA requires that all cosmetics have a shelf life attached to them and ours is two years even though I think it’ll last a lot longer than that. On average, a tube of LipSense will last four times longer than a tube of regular lipstick. If you use the same color every single day, you should expect to get about six months out of it. I just finished my first tube of Icicle which I use as a primer every day under my color and it lasted for about seven months.

To properly apply LipSense:

1) Start with clean dry lips. If you have just eaten, wash your lips off and dry them. If you wore lipstick the day before, wipe your lips off with makeup remover. Even if you just put Chapstick on that morning and you are putting LipSense on to go out that night, you need to take that off. Any kind of oil that is on your lips will prevent LipSense from adhering to your lips and the color will streak and not go on evenly. Makeup remover or soap and water will do the trick. Use a tissue, washcloth or paper towel to dry your waterline. 

2) LipSense is a liquid and it has a small mixing ball inside the tube to properly mix the color since it is not a solid. Shake the tube very well and start at one corner on your bottom lip and apply a thin coat of color from corner to corner going in one direction. With your top lip, I recommend starting at the top of the bow of your lip and going down to the corner in one direction and then repeating in the other direction. Each coat will take about three to five seconds to dry, so to remind myself to allow enough time, I usually cap the tube and shake it again before applying the next coat. The first coat will apply fairly thin since that is the first coat that adheres to your lip. The second coat will go on more opaque and intensify the color. The third coat is necessary as it is what will help the color stay on for the length of time that is part of what makes LipSense so unique. It will take a little practice if you have worn lipstick or lipgloss for a long period of time, but it is important to apply LipSense in one direction for an even and uniform application with no streaking. Remember, your LipSense has no moisture in it so don't rub or press your lips together. 

3) Before applying your lip gloss, your color should be dry to the touch. There are no rules to applying your lip gloss as you can go back and forth with your applicator and rub your lips together. It is very common to see a little bit of pickup on your applicator tip from the color that you just applied, especially if it is one of the more heavily pigmented colors like Fly Girl or Purple Reign. The color won't spread into the gloss in your bottle, but if that bothers you, you might take a little alcohol wipe and wipe off your applicator. It won't affect the functionality of the gloss.

Please note when wearing your LipSense and gloss that eating anything oily or drinking anything oily will possibly have an adverse effect on the LipSense and cause it to come off, especially in your waterline. I usually don’t have problems with coffee but I have heard some people have noticed that their LipSense will come off at their waterline if they use a lot of half-and-half since half-and-half has a lot of fat in it from the cream. One helpful trick to help your color stay on longer is to apply gloss before you eat as it will seal your color and protect it from coming off. If you don’t want to do this, just apply another coat of your color after you eat and concentrate on the areas that have come off, likely your waterline or corners. Even with the greasiest food, you should not have to reapply all three coats again. 

Also, the lip gloss is not the same as the lip color. It will not stay on for 14 hours although it does last a lot longer than most lip glosses. I usually find myself applying mine after I eat, again one more time at the end of the day if I’m going to be going somewhere at night, but compared to the hourly application I had going on with my lip glosses pre-LipSense, it's not anywhere near the same rate of application. You can also wear it alone without the color which is a plus.

Now it’s the end of the day, you are tired, and you’re ready to take off your LipSense. Start with oil. You can use your Ooops! or coconut oil or baby oil. Put a very thin layer on your lips, rub them together, let them sit for a minute and then wipe them off. That will start breaking down the lip color. You will feel the lip color start to particulate...it almost feels like dead skin flaking off. That is not what is happening. What is happening is that the color is starting to break down and form little tiny particles that will wipe off onto a tissue. You can either repeat the steps with the oil or you can use make up remover to wipe off the remaining color. I do not recommend that you use alcohol wipes to take off your color as that is very harsh on your lip skin. New users to LipSense have mentioned that they have felt a tingling when they first put on their color, noticed exfoliation of the dead skin on the lips after using lip sense, and a little bit of a raw feeling after taking off their LipSense. All of this is completely normal. If you were a long time Chapstick or lipstick user, oil and wax in those products has combined with the skin on your lips to form a thin layer which will start turning into dead skin as soon as you start using LipSense. The alcohol will start breaking through that layer and

exfoliating your lips. You can hasten this process by using a store-bought lip scrub, making your own by combining honey, brown sugar, and a little coconut oil, or you can use a facial exfoliator as long as you make sure that you are being gentle and not rubbing too hard. The raw feeling can come just from the exfoliation process, so if you are noticing this in the first seven to ten days after you start using LipSense, use a mild lip balm (we make a Moisturizing Lip Balm that is fantastic!) or even just a little layer of coconut oil to moisturize your lips and help them heal while you are sleeping. 

In summary, LipSense is a simply delightful product. It is one that I am so glad is available and that I am so proud to represent. It has solved so many problems for ladies that love to wear lipstick but are tired of the constant battle of wiping it off their cups and glasses, having people point out that it is on their teeth, and reapplying over and over again. This won't come off on your loved ones when you kiss them hello or goodbye. It won't rub off on your sheets or your clothes. If you haven't tried this, you're missing out on a wonderful product that could bring you a lot of joy as only makeup can do to us diehard makeup junkies!

Feel like giving LipSense a test drive? Please come and visit me at any one of my local events or contact me to set up a private visit to pick out your perfect first color! If you aren't local to me, contact me and let me help you pick your color out! SeneGence International and I give a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee so if you are not pleased with the product in any way shape or form, simply contact me to return the product for an exchange or a refund. 

What are you waiting for? It's time to break up with your lipstick! Aren't you tired of THIS? (pointing down)

Goddess! Welcome back! Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!

Excellent news! Goddess, the Make It Mine limited edition color from Australia, is now BACK!

Brisbane at sunset

Very funny story about Goddess. Since it was designed by a royal in Australia and released in Australia, the rumor was that it was ALSO going to be released in the states....at 6 pm Brisbane time.

That's 2 am Texas time. 

I have very, very fond (and funny) memories of that night....all of my SeneSisters and I were chatting each other up trying to stay awake so we could see if it was actually going to be released at 2 am or not. Because, as I said, it was a rumor but not confirmed! And sure enough, at 2:00:01, it was ready to order. 

When it got it, it was the perfect pink! It dries down matte with a nice hint of mauve-purple...simply perfect! Great for day, great for evening wear, great on kids. 

And it sold out FAST. FAST FAST FAST. Fortunately, the powers that be were listening and it is now back as a permanent part of the LipSense color line. 

This pink is definitely one that has a purple tint to it so if you have cool-toned skin, it is going to be perfect for you. It is a great combination with pink glitter gloss, silver glitter gloss, matte gloss, pearl gloss, or the classic Glossy. 

So....*singing to the Welcome Back Kotter theme song*....welcome baaack! Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back. I have already placed an order so if you would like to place a preorder with me for when it arrives, please let me know!

Welcome to On My Lips, Not On My Glass!

Long ago, I had a blog for talking about "stuff", mainly work, my cross-stitch and my journey to get pregnant. 

Then, I had a blog to review beauty products...I admit, mostly for something to do while my foot healed. 

Last, I had a blog to promote Lularoe. I remember a consultant asking me why I didn't pour all that energy into my own business, which I brushed off at the time but never forgot about. The two posts below were copied over from that blog. 

I never, not once, until this year found something that I loved enough to actually want to sell it and make a living at. And now, this is the first time I've had a blog to promote MY business! A business that I truly love, work my tushie off at, and that makes me smile! 

Love LipSense? You'll read all about the colors and the new shades and all the latest combos and ideas. 

Curious about the skin care? Here's where you can read about it. 

Want to learn how to apply creme to shadow eye makeup? Let's do it!

Want some before and afters for how nangai oil can be used on scars, to thin mascara or to moisturize tattoos? Stay tuned. 

If you want to subscribe by email, sign up for text notifications on new posts, or be on my mailing list for coupons, sales and specials, everything you need is on the right hand side. 

Welcome to my tiny corner of the internet. Welcome to On My Lips, Not On My Glass. I'm Erica Gonzalez, your friendly independent SeneGence distributor!

(If you are curious, that tube of LipSense in the picture is Plum, my very first LipSense that I ever bought!)

Glass made by Creative Designs by JDH

Lash Sense and the Sephora Story

LipSense is fantastic. It's what made me become a distributor. I bought my first tube in November, my next two in December, and after that, I was hooked. I won't sell anything that I haven't tried and reviewed myself. I just won't do it. If I have a client that wants something, I'll disclose that I haven't tried it and I won't stop her from ordering, but usually it's a person who has tried it elsewhere or has heard great things about the product first. 

So, one of the first things (other than LipSense) that I was asked about was LashSense, the mascara made by SeneGence. I am extremely picky about my mascara, probably more so than any other cosmetic that I wear since I wear contact lenses, and I knew this would be an excellent product for me to try and review since I would run it through all the tests that I always do with every mascara. 

First, I have to tell you that there is a story here. This is absolutely not Sephora's fault and could have happened anywhere from Ulta to Neiman Marcus, but I happened to be at Sephora when it happened. I am allergic to about 50% of mascaras that are on the market, and did I happen to mention that I am picky about my mascara because I wear contacts? Yes. So I was standing in the middle of Sephora in my pre-Lularoe days when I wore all black, and I think two of the customers mistook me for an employee. When they asked me for my number one choice in mascara, I responded with Too Faced Better Than Sex without thinking. I then proceeded to watch the first one put on the mascara straight from the tester on her eyelashes. If that wasn't bad enough, the second one opened a brand new box, cracked open one of the mascaras, put it on her eyes, put it back in the box, and walked away. I just stood there with my mouth open. And yes, ever since then? I have never purchased a mascara without making SURE before I left the store that it was sealed, and most of the time if I can, I just order it online. And I have ordered mascara since then online from Sephora and I have purchased mascara at Ulta since then as well, but after I buy the mascara, I stand there in front of the cashier, tear open the box, and make SURE that tube is sealed with no tampering before I buy it. 

A few rules that I have on mascara:

1) DO NOT SHARE IT. Period. I don't think you should share makeup period, but I share eye makeup all the time with my BFF because I know she cleans her makeup brushes regularly and so do I. I also share it with my daughter. But mascara? No way, no how, absolutely not. 

2) Always keep it tightly closed so no air gets in there to dry it out. And once you have cracked the seal? See #4. 

3) Always apply it to clean lashes. I don't think it's a good idea to apply mascara to lashes that already have mascara on them because then your applicator is picking up your old mascara and putting it back in the bottle. Ew. 

4) Set yourself a timeline to get rid of your mascara after a certain timeline, and that time clock starts the second that mascara is opened. All makeup has expiration dates, and we can all tell when stuff has gone bad. I have lip glosses and lipsticks that smell bad, and I have some eyeshadows that have clearly had it because they won't blend well anymore, but with mascara? I set a 90-day note on my calendar to change mascaras. Some sites recommend sixty days. It's not worth it. That stuff can breed bacteria and if the right kind gets into your eyes, it can really damage them. To me, it's not worth it. I usually spend between $20-$25 on mascara that I use every day. For grins, let's round that up to $30.00 with taxes and shipping if you order it. That averages out to 33 cents a day. To me, it's worth it to have the peace of mind. If I didn't like mascara so much, I probably wouldn't use it but it is one of those "I would take it with me to a desert island" things so I do. 

So, on to the LashSense. I opened it on Wednesday March 1 and threw away my last tube which was some waterproof thing from CoverGirl that I bought a few months ago. LashSense will NOT be a tester for the public as I will not have one (see #1 above) and I got rid of it on June 1, exactly three months from the date I cracked the seal. I do have disposable mascara wands at my table if someone really wanted to try it but.....meh.

LashSense mascara comes in two colors-black and brown. That's it. No blue, no purple, no neon green. Just black and brown. The black is a jet black and the brown is a dark chocolate. 

I applied it live for the first time during a live video and it applied fine. The brush is a traditional barrel shape with a wider section in the middle than at the ends, and the point of the brush is narrower which is good for applying it to your bottom lashes on your waterline. It goes on very smoothly with no clumping and no need for an eyelash comb. It's not as thick as other mascaras that I have worn, so there is no spiky lashes, no fake eyelash look, and it's not overly dramatic. It dried to the touch within a few seconds. I used an eyelash curler to curl my lashes, and the mascara did not spatter onto my cheeks when I closed my eyes. I also tested it yesterday without an eyelash curler, and it also did not spatter onto my cheeks, which most mascaras do. As you can see, I did not wear it with any eye makeup at all for take #1.

As I stated, I am highly allergic to most mascaras, so I was watching this to see if I was allergic to this. Usually when I start having an allergic reaction to a mascara, it starts with my contacts starting to go fuzzy and I can't see very well. Not only did that not happen, but after an hour I took one out to inspect it and see if there was any residue or flakes on my contact. Not a one. The next morning, it was still on, but removed easily with waterproof eye makeup remover. Take #2 was later that morning. I did apply full makeup to see how it would look and used Too Faced's Peach Pallette and Urban Decay eyeliner. The mascara went on fine and accentuated my eyes with the eye makeup. I also decided to test the waterproofness of this mascara and put a swirl on my hand at that time which was about 1 pm on day 2. My last test was the morning of day #3 which is where I went to sleep wearing my makeup (not a good idea, but I took a chance because I wanted to test the durability and also the waterproofness) and took a shower the next day with my makeup on. By the time I showered, I had probably washed my hands at least a dozen times since the day before, but look at my hand after the shower. 

So pros of LashSense:

-No allergic reaction.

-Ease in application with no need for my eyelash comb.

-No cheek spatter.

-No eye irritation.

-Long durability.

-Natural look.

And my cons of LashSense:

-I'll be honest, $25 is a tad pricey for mascara, even for me, but my old standby Too Faced Better Than Sex in the pink tube is not waterproof and it is $23 whether you buy the pink tube (regular) or blue tube (waterproof). And I don't play when it comes to my mascara, because if I open one and I'm allergic to it, I either have to toss it or see if I can get the store to take it back. Most of the larger stores now will take mascara back even if it's opened, which is great, and guess what? So will I! If you like what you have read and want to give this a try, let me know, and if you aren't 100% satisfied, I'll accept it back opened or not for a refund or exchange within a reasonable amount of time. 

-The ONLY other thing I didn't like about this was that for me, I prefer a thicker application, and I couldn't get that without a lash thickener. Yes, I admit it, I like my lashes once mascara is on to look one step below wearing false eyelashes. However, SeneGence has a solution for that. If you like THIS look that I am modeling, which is very nice, you can order just the mascara, but if you are like me, and want a more dramatic eye, you can buy the combination tube which has LashSense on the top and UnderSense on the bottom. UnderSense is like a primer for mascara. I haven't used it since I wanted to review LashSense all by itself but from the pictures that I have seen, it appears that using UnderSense would give me the look that I want, so when the combo double-ended tube is back in stock, I'll be ordering it for myself to try it for sure. 

I have LashExtend in stock in clear. It is a product that helps your lashes grow. I haven't tried this and to be honest, I don't need to because the one thing I was blessed with was very long eyelashes. LashExtend comes in black and brown for day use and a clear formula to wear at night and is to be used for fuller and longer lashes within three weeks.

So here is the price breakdown for all the "lash" stuff.

LashSense in black or brown all by itself is $25.00.

UnderSense (the primer) all by itself is $20.00.

The combo LashSense/UnderSense is $20.00. 

The Lash Extend in clear is $50.00.

The Lash Extend in brown or black is $55.00.

And I have it all!

Hope everyone has a great day and please let me know if you have any questions about LashSense!