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Lululemon In Movement Leggings Review


This is a long backstory, but bear with me: A few weeks ago, I signed up for a two-day prenatal yoga workshop that I thought would teach me how to modify yoga poses during my pregnancy. The first morning, when I arrived, I realized it was actually a prenatal yoga teacher training, and I was the guinea pig student. The master instructor had a room full of eager, hopeful new yoga teachers, and she was going to show them how to lead a prenatal yoga class by using me and one other mom-to-be as examples. The other student was well past her due date, so that “class” ended up being some swaying around, some chanting, and a lot of laying on our sides. I left a little frustrated (I like a hard workout, what can I say), so before day two I signed up for my normal Sunday yoga class for later in the day to make sure I’d get a real workout in.

But day two of the prenatal workshop was totally different. The overdue mom-to-be wasn’t there, and she was replaced by another woman was a few weeks behind me in her pregnancy. With someone a little more mobile as my co-guinea pig, we got to work. I was sweating and struggling to keep up as we flew through poses meant to test our endurance to prep us for labor. I definitely had done my work for the day. But rather than risk a cancellation fee, I dutifully went to my second yoga class that afternoon. And that is how I discovered how amazing the In Movement tights from Lululemon are.

For one thing, they’re comfortable as hell. The fabric, a new one for Lululemon called Everlux, is baby-hair soft but decidedly not see through or flimsy. The waistband comes up high (a big perk when you’re rocking a baby bump) but didn’t cut into me in any weird spots or roll down when I was moving through vinyasas. I was still happy to be wearing them when class #2 finished.

And this brings me to the most amazing thing: They. Didn’t. Smell. I sat around post-prenatal for about 6 hours before my second class, then wore them to that, then wore them to dinner. Nothing. Not a whiff. And I can tell when I’m a little funky. But even with the two-plus hours of yoga sweat, these pants did not give me away. The Lululemon website doesn’t say anything about them being smell-wicking (is that even a thing?), so I can’t totally explain it, but the site does say they “dry so fast it’s like magic,” so I can only assume the fast-drying magic has something to do with it.

I don’t necessarily recommend a two-yoga-class day (particularly if you’re pregnant!) but if this is going to happen to you, the In Movement tights are the ones you want to be wearing. If they stood up this well to that much work, you know they’ve got you covered for a normal, one-workout day. And no one will ever smell you coming.

Lululemon In Movement 7/8 Tight, $98, lululemon.com



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Lash Star Beauty Full Control Mascara Review


I’ve only had lash extensions once and the experience went something like this: Endure 45 minutes of application, marvel at my newly huge Disney woodland creature eyes, then freak out for weeks while my extensions eventually began to shed (along with my regular lashes). So instead of dealing with the lash loss, upkeep, and cost that comes with extensions, I’ve invested my time (and money) on hunting for my dream mascara.

I’m willing to admit my criteria’s pretty exacting. I want that full-on falsies effect in a non-drying, non-clumping formula—my lashes are long and sparse, so they clump badly—and it needs to be easily removable with a gentle cleanser. Few have come close to fitting the bill, but I think I’ve finally found a product that gives me better-looking lashes than actual extensions, courtesy of the best beauty brand you’ve never heard of: Lash Star Beauty.

I discovered Lash Star’s Full Control Mascara the same way I’ve stumbled upon most of my favorite things: on the Internet, along with a healthy dose of skepticism. A claim for it said the formula can boost lash volume by 4,100 percent. I’m no mathematician, but that’s an absurdly specific percentage. Alluring, if possible—seriously, pick a thing on your desk, close your eyes and try to imagine it 4,100 times larger. You can’t, can you?—but questionable on the basis of specificity alone. There was also the brush to consider. I used to side-eye most double-wand mascaras on principle. (If a product is good, why does it need two brushes, you know?) None have really ever given me both volume and separation in the way they promise.

This really comes through though. Like most double-wand mascaras, Full Control has a big brush and a baby brush. But unlike literally every other mascara I’ve tried, you’re not meant to start out with the big brush and follow it up with the smaller. Nope, the trick of this mascara is that the little one comes first.

It’s called the tightline brush and you use it to prep every lash—the brand’s website calls this “coaxing” which I find adorable and also apt—before using the larger, curved silicone brush to add additional coats (according to the website, a third coat is what delivers the full 4,100-percent volume increase). Basically, you’ve got an itty bitty primer brush to lay a wide-eyed foundation and a big nubby brush to drive it home. As it turns out, this concept is kind of genius.

At first, I worried that my normal application technique—wiggling the brush slowly through my lashes from base to tip—would gunk on too much product, but that’s exactly how the brand recommends putting it on. The mascara itself goes on smooth and deposits the exact right amount of product due to…I don’t know, the dark arts and black magic? Whatever the secret, it layers perfectly and comes off like a dream with mild soap and water.

There’s no way for me to prove or disprove that outrageous volume claim. But all I can say is that I’ve had multiple people stop me and ask where I’ve been getting extensions these days because the results are that good.

Lash Star Beauty Full Control Mascara, $35, bluemercury.com

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Farsali Jelly Beam Highlighter Review: How It Works and How to Use


Like the persistent, seasonal cough hovering around your office a la the black plague, viral beauty products have a way of following you around. They get into your brain and Instagram feed, and it’s only a matter of time before you find yourself stumbling feverishly into Sephora, desperate for the latest inescapable, must-have “it” makeup. Sometimes, the hype turns out to be totally true (see Rituel de Fille’s black highlighter and anything with the word Fenty on it) and you float through life knowing you’re glowing with the light of a thousand likes. Other times, the results are less than magical. Spend enough time slapping trending makeup onto your face and you learn to spot the duds before it’s too late, which is why I immediately volunteered as tribute to test the new Farsali Jelly Beam highlighter. I had a gut feeling it was going to be amazing. (Fine, that’s a lie. I just really wanted to play with this hyped up shiny jelly and you can’t even blame me.) Just look at the hype storm that’s been brewing:

Aside from repeating I don’t think I’m ready for this jelly in my head to the point of annoying myself almost to death, the application process was pretty dreamy and foolproof. There’s none of the guesswork that comes with using a highlighter brush—I don’t care how precise your makeup brushes are, you can’t control how a powder deposits the same way you can control a cream or, in this case, a jelly—which made me feel bold enough to experiment with the kind of highlighting I normally shy away from.

I like my cheekbones, but I’ve always been nervous about forcing passersby to shield their eyes from my uneven highlight. A good glow basically recreates a dying sun on your face. Imagine two dying suns in slightly different positions on your cheeks: it’s hopelessly unsymmetrical. But because this jelly goes on like a magnet and stays where you put it, I felt confident about amping up my glow game.

PHOTO: Jen Mulrow

Jelly Beam also means what it says when it says “buildable” as in please start small and then build your way up, otherwise you’ll blind your co-workers, friends, and family. As my own experience and these Instagram posts prove, this jelly is not here to play.

Like many salivating beauty bloggers have pointed out, the Farsali Jelly Beam really does dry down from jelly—it only looks gelatinous in the jar and goes onto your skin like a gel—to powder. It gave my skin a soft, powdery, but not cakey finish that I am entirely into. Plus, unlike liquid or cream highlighters that soften as you blend, the highlighter keeps up an amplified wattage no matter how much you rub. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely a good thing because it gives you next level control, but just take the high beam shine seriously all right? Price-wise, it’s around the same as what you’d spend on a quad of nearly identical highlighter shades, is way more fun to play with, and, again, that glow is not playing around. With great jelly comes great responsibility. Apply it wisely.

Farsali Jelly Beam, $40, launches on November 1st at 1pm EST, exclusively on Farsali.com.

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Hanacure Face Mask Review 2017: We Tried Instagram's 'Grandma' Mask


I’ve always taken more of a “double-tap only” approach to Instagram beauty. I’ll watch as bloggers do weird stuff to their face in the name of entertainment all day, but I’m intensely critical of what I’ll put on my own skin. (Rosacea plus derm horror stories will do that to you.) So when the Hanacure face mask starting popping up all over my feed earlier this year—thanks mostly to a viral endorsement by Drew Barrymore and the fact that you look a thousand-years-old once it dries—I politely kept my distance.

But that was a few months ago, and still the hype wasn’t dying down, so—caving to the FOMO and the curiosity of what I’ll look like 40 birthdays from now—I added myself to a wait list and got KiraKira on standby. What’s the point of using this thing if you don’t Insta Story it, right?

Currently you can buy the Hanacure treatment mask in only one spot: its own website. If you’re a binge-masker with some cash to spend, there’s a $110 kit minimally packaged and impossible to open (until you figure out, you’re an idiot, and it’s a flip top from the side) that includes four vials of serum, four peel-back gelling “solutions,” and very fancy brush to apply the mask with. Or, if you’re just mask-curious, there’s a $29 single-facial kit option.

The steps are easy enough to figure out using the guide inside, and prepping the mask is fun in that geeky, playing-your-own chemist kind of way. You peel back the foil top of the solution, pour in the serum, and shake it all together to activate. Then it’s time to paint it on. I didn’t do a spot test because, sorry, I know better, but who actually does that? And then went straight to putting the cold, serum-y goop all around my chin, cheeks, and forehead—evenly, as the directions stated.

From there, you’ve got 30 minutes: optimal time to catch up on Riverdale, laugh at yourself in the mirror, and blast off a handful of Snapchats. The drying effects are almost instant, and by 10 minutes in, you’re wondering how the hell this stuff is actually supposed to make your skin look better. It tightens so much moving any sort of muscle on your face becomes near impossible—sort of how I imagine Botox would be: not painful, just odd and uncomfortable. By the 25-minute mark, my boyfriend, amused by my frozen, expressionless face, started showing me cat videos, and with each restrained smile a new line on the mask emerged. At this point I’ve sworn to be more diligent about my skin care routine (this look into the future ain’t great) and returning to KJ Apa’s abs can no longer distract me. This mask is tight AF, and not in the way your kid brother uses that phrase.

At 30 minutes, I was at the sink, using only water and circular motions to get all the remaining bits of wrinkled, dried-up gook off my face. As a disclaimer on the instructions warns pale people, the lifting compounds that stimulate blood flow to your face may leave you red, which is a slight understatement. Immediately after my face is angry. But trust the process. The ingredients do have reputable workhorses: calming botanicals with anti-inflammatory properties, several peptides that brighten and minimize lines, and—my most needed component—moisturizing compounds responsible for delivering the promised afterglow, which actually arrived for me the next morning.

Upon waking, a glance in the mirror tells me this thing isn’t only pure spectacle. My jawline looks a little tighter, my cheeks a little dewier—it wasn’t exactly enough of a difference that someone else could tell looking at a before-and-after. But I know my face and how much I love salt, and this looked like I hadn’t touched a fry in days. (Ha. Joke’s on my ass!) There was still some residual redness, but if I can find something that solves that problem, rest assured you’ll know about it.

Hanacure Multi-Action Treatment Mask Starter Kit, $29, hanacure.com

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Watch Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn Hilariously Review Kids Toys


When you throw Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn in a room together and ask them to discuss what it’s like to be a kid, you’re going to get an ab workout just from laughing so hard. These are, after all, the same women who made grocery shopping funny in Bad Moms.

So in order to get into the holiday spirit early, we gathered a selection of the finest children’s toys for these A Bad Moms Christmas stars to review.Right off the bat, the women were not fans of Sweet Tears Baby (as you can tell by their faces in the photo above). Bell even went so far as to call the doll a murderer. Note to self: Avoid that doll at all costs. Holiday Barbie, meanwhile, went over a little better with the crew. Still, they thought she would look better with a hamburger. But, then again, so would everyone. The Furreal Roarin’ Tiger was the clear winner among the group. The women all thought their kids would love it, and Kunis, a grown woman, couldn’t stop petting it.

Watch, below:

A Bad Moms Christmas, the sequel to last summer’s hit Bad Moms, comes out November 1 and pays tribute to all of the hard-working moms who try to make the holidays magical for their families. “Christmas is a magical time, full of wonderful and exciting joy. A time for making lasting memories with family and friends,” Kunis narrates in the movie’s trailer. “But do you know the secret behind what makes Christmas so special? Moms. Moms working their asses off cooking, wrapping, decorating, and shopping.” We co-sign that.

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Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm Review: It's the Best Drugstore Purchase I’ve Ever Made


No Broad City bit has resonated so deeply with me as the time Abbi and Ilana waltzed into a thrift store with gusto (and a wind machine), ready to make bank off of second-hand clothes—which is pretty much how I feel whenever I go to the coupon machine at my local CVS and score ExtraBucks to spend on beauty products I definitely don’t need.

I’m a proud, card-carrying member of the CVS Pharmacy Extra Care club, largely because that’s where I buy all of my makeup, for no other reason other than I’m too lazy to go elsewhere. (Plus, coupons.) How I decide what to buy is simple—I get whatever’s on discount—but it’s actually led me to discover a handful of great products. There’s Sally Hansen’s Strengthening Top Coat, which makes all of my at-home manicures look way more expensive than messy; Revlon’s Colorstay Eye Liner, which I own in two different colors; and my latest love, Revlon’s Colorburst Matte Balm.

As most of my beauty purchases go, I bought this lipstick on a whim and with a 25 percent off coupon. I don’t wear a lot of makeup, but I do love me a good red lip. In recent years, I’ve exclusively been buying matte shades, since I find that they go better with my minimal routine. So, one recent evening, after I went through the list of things I actually needed from CVS, I rewarded myself with a quick detour down the beauty section, where I stopped in front of a photo of Olivia Wilde. (She has incredible brows and taste in makeup, can you blame me?) And so, I lingered at the Revlon section, eventually making my way to the lipsticks, where Standout beckoned.

It’s a darker red shade that strikes that delicate balance between berry and wine. I was amused by the fact that it’s shaped like a crayon, and when I actually put it on, I really appreciated that, although it was a matte, it didn’t totally dry out my lips—thanks to the trio of shea, mango, and coconut butter in the formula. Revlon’s Colorburst Matte Balm delivers on every single part of its name: You get an eye-catching shade in a matte finish without having to worry about a cracking lip.

Since its discovery, I haven’t gone anywhere without it, should I have any last-minute events or appointments and I feel obliged to put in some effort. (That’s what I love about a solid red lipstick: It makes me feel like I tried.) What’s best is how I always get compliments on the color—which is why I also now own, Passionate, a brighter, magenta shade. Now, I pass along the good beauty fortune to you. Just don’t go buying out the Colorbust Matte Balm stock in Brooklyn just yet—I’m in the market for a purplish-burgundy shade.

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm, $9.99, CVS

PHOTO: Katie Friedman

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