have a gay day!

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jacket. tank (similar). shorts. sneakers. sunglasses (get 25% off your order with my code CLUNKSTER25!). perfume.

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concealer. foundation. blush. eyeshadow (from a Sephora Collection palette). mascara. lipstick. setting spray.

Hello, cutie patooties of all genders and sexualities! Happy last week of Pride Month! This year was the first time I attended a Gay Pride Parade, and I had SO much fun.

For the most part, I kept my outfit pretty basic. I wore my jean shorts and denim jacket (love a good Canadian tuxedo) with a basic black tank and Converse. I really went ham with my makeup! I’m bisexual, so I decorated my face with the colors of our flag. I used pink eyeshadow on my lids, lined my eyes with purple eyeshadow, and wore bright blue lipstick. I wore my hair in two half-up-half-down pigtails, which looked hella cute, but gave me a nasty scalp sunburn!

I know Pride is a time for us to run through the streets and be proud of who we are, but let’s not forget the people who fought to get us to where we are today, like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, and the people whose lives have been taken because we haven’t come far enough yet. Go for it, hug your gay friends, but take some time to educate yourself on our history today. 

Did you do anything fun for Pride? Let me know in the comments!

benefit's BADgal BANG! volumizing mascara

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Hey beauties! If you’re new here, I love mascara. I have really small eyes and very long eyelashes, so I like to play them up when I do my makeup to make my eyes stand out. I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect cruelty-free mascara for a while now, and I think I finally found it. I’m so excited to share it with you guys!

I had heard a ton of buzz when Benefit first released their BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara, and I knew that I needed to give it a try. This mascara is formulated with aero-particles similar to those used in space. Yeah, like outer space. They’re super light, so the formula boosts your lashes without weighing them down.

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For the most part, when I apply mascara, I go for precision instead of length, quality over quantity, if you will, which is why I’m such a huge fan of this wand. The brush is longer, so it covers more surface area at one time. Its bristles are perfectly spread apart so it really grips your lashes and gets the formula on very precisely. Sometimes a little bit of excess comes out, but it’s easy to work with it to get the amount you need. I love how flexible the wand is.

Because of the lightness of the formula, I never look clumpy or cake-y. I get a really natural look from it, which I love. I never use mascara on my lower lashes because it looks too clown-y on me, but when I use this mascara they look very natural and defined. I love using the brush to shape my lashes in general. Now that I’m at the end of my little tube, I’m using it to top off my lashes when I use other mascaras.

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I bought the smaller tube at first because it was cheaper and I wasn’t sure how I would like it, but now I’m definitely running back to Sephora to get the larger tube. This is definitely my new favorite mascara, hands-down. I’m so happy I gave it a try. I very highly recommend it! Have you use anything from Benefit Cosmetics? Let me know in the comments and maybe I’ll grab it on my next Sephora haul!

Physician's Formula's Organic Wear Natural Origin Work It! Full! Flared! Fit! Mascara

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You all know how much I love my eyelashes. Mascara is the most important part of my makeup routine, so I’ve been on the hunt for a mascara that I really, really love. Last year, I tried out Physician’s Formula’s Organic Wear Natural Origin Work It! Full! Flared! Fit! Mascara. That was fun to type.

The reason I took a look at Physician’s Formula’s products in CVS was because the mascara that I was using previously was starting to make my eyes really itchy, and I knew that Physician’s Formula uses hypoallergenic ingredients. I wanted to find something that stayed on really well, since that was also a problem I was having, but my number one concern was the itchiness. Thankfully, I found this mascara (I can’t type all those exclamation points again), which claimed to address both concerns.

The packaging of this mascara claims that this formula is “guaranteed to last through your toughest workout,” and “delivers maximum strength adherence.” So I figured this was the one to try.

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The Pros

This mascara definitely didn’t make my eyes itchy, but I’m not sure if I can attribute that to the organic ingredients. I love a good all-natural formula, but since I bought this mascara I’ve used organic formulas that make me itchy and non-organic formulas that don’t. So I don’t really think it’s relevant.

I’m a really big fan of the brush. It covers a lot of ground and its bristles get in between my lashes, which I really love. I like mascara better when it helps me define and lift my lashes as opposed to giving them volume, which is exactly what this mascara did. I love the way it looks on my lashes. This mascara indeed makes me feel both “Full!” and “Flared!”

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The Con

I’m such a fan of Physician’s Formula’s mission to use organic ingredients to help sensitive skin. But I can’t ignore that the claims that this mascara is “10K Proof. Gym Proof. Sweat Proof. Water Resistant,” are completely untrue. After about a week of wearing this mascara, I found myself crying in public (hey, it happens to the best of us). I wiped away my tears and honestly didn’t think about how I looked because I was wearing my new rigorously waterproof mascara.

Guys. I got home and looked in the mirror, and I had mascara all over my face. Literally all over my face.

Usually, when I cry with makeup on, my mascara gets clumpy and stubborn, so when I wipe my tears things just get a little sticky but I only look a little bit like a raccoon. In this case, however, my tears took the formula and collected it into small pools under my eyes which then descended down my face in small rivers. And wiping my tears didn’t help things at all!

I really don’t mean to be harsh, but I was very disappointed with this part of the formula because Physician’s Formula claimed that this mascara is “rigorously tested to withstand your most athletic activities,” but it couldn’t withstand an anxiety attack on the T. Since this was a big part of why I decided to purchase this mascara, I felt really let down.

We were rooting for you, Physician’s Formula. We were all rooting for you.

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Overall though, I definitely recommend this mascara for days when you know for a fact you won’t be crying or for days you don’t care if you have Physician’s Formula decorating your cheeks. I really loved the way this formula made my lashes look, so I would only use it when I would go out or to top off my lashes after I used another mascara. I’m done with the tube now, and I don’t think I’d purchase it again, but I’m happy I gave this brand a try. I probably won’t buy any other Physician’s Formula products in the future because I don’t trust a lot of what they say now, to be honest. But if Physician’s Formula works for you, I’m so happy!

For more information about going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database or Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands.

More Cruelty-Free Mascara

You all know how much I love my mascara, especially when it's cruelty-free! A while ago, I switched out my old mascara for another one of e.l.f.'s mascaras, and I absolutely loved it. So when someone posted an unopened bottle of this e.l.f. mascara on my school's Free and For Sale page, I had to jump on it.

What I'm Using Now: e.l.f. Lash Extending Mascara

At first, I used this mascara by itself to see what it would do. Basically, the brush of this mascara is much thinner and has a lot of spikes. It's basically made to separate your lashes finely, which is great since I hate it when my eyelashes get super clumpy. Also, the brush can move and bend like the other mascara's, which really makes a difference for me. 

Though I do wear this mascara on its own every now and then, I do prefer my e.l.f. 3-in-1 Mascara, mostly because the brush has so many shapes that it can really get everywhere it needs. I do like wearing this mascara on its own when I want a more feminine look, but most of the time I use it to top off the mascara that I already have. Like I mentioned before, the brush is super fine, so it helps me separate my lashes when they get gross and stuck. Usually, I use it to top off my eyelashes and give them that extra spidery kick.

Overall, I would 100% recommend this mascara, as I do with basically everything I review with e.l.f. For more information about going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database or Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands.

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