Clarisonic Mia 2 Review

Hello loves, I know what you're thinking, another review and so soon?! YES! It is! I've been working on this one for awhile, even though I know that there are tons a videos and blog posts about the Clarisonic Mia 2. I still wanted to tell you what I think about it.

Let us back track a bit. So I got the Mia 2 as a gift.. sort of... from my boyfriend. Actually, I was thinking about buying one, but they are so gosh darn expensive. I found one on Ebay up for bid starting at like $40 and gave myself a limit for $75. I know what you're thinking... Ew off of Ebay was it used?! And no it wasn't. It was still in it's originally packaging never opened, never charged, nothing. (Even if you can find a cheap used one that works... GET IT. Just go out and get yourself a new brush head. Good as new) Anyways.. I started bidding... and ended up getting it for $70. Which is a great deal considering that it is more than 50% off. Once I told my boyfriend about it he said... well then... that can be my anniversary present to you. (we decided on no presents this year) Thanks babe...?

Anyways, I received it like 3 days later. Let me tell you how awesome my skin is now. I have a lot of redness on my chin from acne scarring, and acne in general. It seems that because I am so fair skinned, if I get a pimple the redness stays on my skin for what seems like forever. Now, I feel 100% confident going out without any makeup on my face. I don't wear a ton of face makeup as it is, but it is seriously amazing. With anything skin care, you are supposed to give it approximately 2 weeks to a month, to be able to see any benefits. The first time I used my Mia 2, my skin felt so much cleaner. It was such an odd feeling for the first couple days. My skin broke out a little bit from it not being used to the brush, but cleared up fairly quickly. I notice that I'm having less breakouts than usual. I only get hormonal break outs on my chin, but it used to be when I did, they were big and angry and red and there would be 3-5 zits that would pop up randomly one day (oh the joys of PMS). Now I'm down to like 1 - 2 a month so that's pretty awesome! The redness in my skin is dulling down a bit too which I'm loving.

More about the product: If you have ever looked into a Clarisonic, then you know they always show a picture of skin that has been cleaned with hands, and skin that has been cleaned with a clarisonic. To me, the picture was never convincing. Not until I actually purchased one, did I believe it. A really good way to look at it though, is in terms of money. When cleaning your face with your hands, and then putting your serums, eye creams, and moisturizers on afterwards, you are only getting about 40% of the benefits of those products. So it dollar form... if you purchase an eye cream that is $100.. you are only receiving about $40 of that product. With the Clarisonic in conjunction with your other face products, you will get the full benefit. I honestly think that this is very true.

When I'm working on clients, a lot of them say that they own a Clarisonic. I have never had a client tell me that they didn't like it. Every person I have talked to has given me the same exact speech. "I haven't used mine in awhile, but I need to because I can already tell my skin isn't looking how it generally does when I use it" or something along those lines. And I can 100% agree with this statement. If I skip a day using my Clarisonic.. which happens from time-to-time (I'm lazy..), I will immediately break out. And the moment I use it again, it will clear up within a couple days. That's crazy right?!

I have the white Mia 2. But there are tons of colors. You can purchase them at dermatologists, Sephora, Ulta, and I'm sure a few others. The Mia is $125. The Mia 2is $150 and The Aria is $200. My district manager says that if someone is just starting out in the world of clarisonic to get a Mia. It has one speed. Then as time goes on, you can upgrade. Honestly, I would have been okay with just the Mia, but you can get some really cool bonus packs at Sephora with the Mia 2. I think right now for Giftopia they are doing a Mia 2 that comes with a bunch of other face products(cleansers, masks, moisturizers) for $150. Or you could just go to Ebay, and take a look.

If you have a Clarisonic -- comment below to tell others what you think about it? If you don't have one, do you think it is all a gimmick?

XO-Stacey

Buxom Eyeliner Review

Beauties! It has been quite awhile since I have posted and I am extremely sorry for my absence. I've been in this crazy process of moving and trying to get my new house set up and it's been a stressful mess. Long story short, we were supposed to get new carpet and hardwood installed the day before we moved, but we didn't get it until the same day that we moved in, and of course it rained all day long while we moved. Then the wood for our kitchen/dining room and entry way didn't come in on time (and we are still waiting for it) so the house looks a bit a mess. We also haven't had a day off together in forever so we still have to paint basically every single room. We only have one room in the house completely finished but I've been taking lots of pictures so that way I can post some painting ideas and the before and afters of the rooms, and DIY's for the rooms. It's coming along slowly. Unfortunately, we are kind of at a stand still until we get the hard wood put in, and make it past the Holiday's before any major renovations being taking place.

On to what I actually want to talk about. It seems that the posts I am getting the most feedback from are the ones where I review products. Because of my job, I get and purchase a lot of new products/products I haven't heard much about so I can try them before trying them out on customers.

I've been testing out the Buxom Hold the Line Waterproof Eyeliner(s)for about a month or two, and let me tell you, I have found my new favorite black eyeliner. It is a pencil eyeliner that comes in 8 different shades. I only own the one in Jet Black, however, I have tried about 5 of the other colors and it seems to me that they all perform the same.

The eyeliner is $17 at Sephora and it comes with a pencil sharpener which is always nice. It is paraban free, sulfate free, and phthalate free. It comes in matte, metallic, and sparkling shades. (I have only used the matte and metallic shades) The texture of this eyeliner is so creamy and the pigmentation is awesome. I have no trouble with it staying on my eyes all day long. The product claims "14-hour wear" but I think the wear of a product really depends on the person. It stays in my waterline all day long. I generally only put eyeliner on my upper water line, and I do occasionally see some product transfer onto my lower waterline. This isn't a huge deal to me because that's a hard thing for an eyeliner to accomplish, but it could be a deal breaker for you?

I think that this product is definitely worth a try. Reading the reviews on sephora.com -- it got a 4 out of 5 star rating which is pretty darn good for an eyeliner in my opinion. It looks like many of the people are saying the sparkling eyeliners are giving them troubles, I am also seeing a lot of people complaining about the staying power of any of the eyeliners. I use a primer and have no problems with it smudging. It could be that people aren't using a primer with it, or that these people have oily eyelids. I don't have oily eyelids, so I cannot attest to this issue. If you have oily eyelids and have tried this product let us know in the comments if it worked for you or not?

Here is the eyeliner, and a swatch of the eyeliner... Great pigmentation right?

Here is the eyeliner on my top eyelid and all the way around my waterline.

I love you all much! I hope you liked this review. If you have any requests or specific products you want me to review, just comment or email me or DM me on twitter and I'll do it for you!

XO-Stacey