Physicians Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner

I have hooded eyes and the older I get, the more hood my eyes get (I know this isn’t grammatically correct but you get the message).  I’m a positive person, I’m a firm believer of smiling even when you’re in a bad mood.  A smile always makes everything better.  But my eyes always look sad to me because they are hooded.  And as you know, I love eyeshadow and I love putting eyeshadow on my eyelids but when I open my eyes you hardly see anything of it.  It’s the one thing that really bothers me about my face.  My hoods.

Winged eyeliner is also a big no-no for me, well it can be done (pixiwoo did a tutorial on it, you can find it here) but a cat eyed look isn’t for every day and a small wing is just really hard when you’re hooded.  So I skipped the eyeliner for years, but not anymore.  I find a little line above my eyelashes just bring out my eyes more.  It gives my eyes a little extra.  But finding a good eyeliner that easy to work with isn’t as easy as it sounds.

I’ve tried gel liner (which I like for a night out) and all sorts of eyeliner pens but none of them really pleased me.  And then I walked in to a Lookiss* store in Leuven and came across the Physicians Formula display.  Because it’s a brand that’s quite hard to find in Belgium, I always give it the necessary attention when I come across it.  And that’s when I saw they had the Eye Booster eyeliner pen.  I’ve read about this on internet and almost everyone was positive about it so I decided to buy it in the color deep brown.

According to Physicians Formula it’s a lash serum and eyeliner in one.  Here’s what they have to say about it on their website:

- High-tech formula enhances the appearance of lashes while providing the instant definition of a liquid eyeliner, in one easy step!

- Lash Boosting complex targets the base of lashes where it is most effective.

- Innovative and easy to use eyelining tool delivers effortless definition.

- High-tech Japanese formula is long-wearing, water-resistant and smudge-resistant

Promises, promises … I haven’t been using it long enough to really see a difference as far as my lashes are concerned but I have to say that the eyeliner works like a charm.  It’s just so easy to use and it stays put al day long.  It’s so easy that I’ve even incorporated it into my daily make up routine because it doesn’t take any time at all.  I hardly ever have to do a touch up either.  It just slides on like it was meant to be there.  A very thin line, a medium line or a thicker line, it can all be done by playing with the ‚pressure’ you put on the pen.

Pigmentation is great and I can only get it off with an eyeshadow remover (so you don’t have to fear it sliding all over when your face gets hit by the rain).

I’m so glad I got this one and I’m definitely going to keep this in my eyeshadow routing … who knows, I might even try a cat eye with this one.

*Lookiss is a Belgian make up store that’s related to the Di drugstores

Where to buy:

In Belgium you can buy Physicians Formula at Lookiss and selected Di stores.  There will be a 20% off promotion on Physicians Formula from August 19 until September 8.

My morning skincare routine

A few years ago I read an article on allure.com about creams that contain retinol and a dermatologist recommended the Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair range saying it was the best drugstore buy and even better than some high end creams.  Naturally my interest was sparked, especially since you can’t find the Neutrogena skincare range in Europe (well, you’ll find some product lines in Boots in the UK but not all of them).  I only knew Neutrogean from their very moisturizing, very effective but also very no-nonsense hand creams so learning about their skincare range made me very very curious.

Back to spring 2014 when we went road tripping in the USA.  First stop as usual: Walmart, first beauty product I bought: Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle repair night cream and eye cream.  I remember putting on the eye cream and the wrinkles around my eyes actually started to tingle. Tingle is good I thought, that means that it works.  And so it did.  After using the products for a few weeks I saw myself in an elevator and thought ‚where are my wrinkles, my skin looks good’.  Of course the lighting had a lot to do with that but nevertheless, my skin looked good.  Ever since then , Neutrogena has become a regular in my skincare routine and every time I visit the USA I bring home a new supply.

So, my morning skincare you wonder?  Well, I start by cleansing my face with the Neutrogena Pore Refining daily cleanser.  Aside from wrinkles, I don’t like big pores and for that I love to incorporate my Alpha and Beta hydroxy acids.  

This cleanser is a gentle one though, it doesn’t make my skin feel dry in any way and I feel really fresh and clean after using it.  

Next up: toner.  In the morning I try to use more gentle products than at night just in case my skin turns a little red.  I do not want to go through the day with a red face, if it turns red at night at least there are 8 hours left for it to calm down before anyone sees me.  This Alcohol free toner is very gentle, it’s a very watery solution, not at all creamy like some toners are.

Step 3: serum.  To stay true to my Neutrogena love I put on the Rapid Wrinkle Repair serum.  I put my contacts in while this sinks into my skin.  It doesn’t take long before it’s almost completely gone.

Serum is on, contacts are in, time for some eye cream.  As I mentioned before I love the Rapid Wrinkle Repair eye cream, I still have a new tube in my closet yet I’m currently using something else.  Simply because I had it, it was open and it would be a waste to not use it before it turns bad.  So I put on the Kiehl’s Eye Alert eye-cream.  Made to combat puffiness and dark circles, now dark circles I have not but puffiness is a bit of an issue.  So does this one work, not as much as a gallon of coffee does but it does freshen up the under eye area.  

I finish with my Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair moisturizer with sunscreen (spf 30).  After that I start my daily makeup routine.

I’m very strict about the steps of my morning skin care routine, the products may vary over time but the ‚system’ stays the same.  I never skip this, if I ever skip something it’s usually my evening routine.  I know, I know but hey, sometimes I feel like I’m sleepwalking to my bedroom and taking care of my face is the last thing on my mind when I’m in such a state.

So there you have it, my morning skincare routine.  Later this week you can expect my nighttime skincare routine to pop up on the blog.