I was ecstatic and super honored when pro-fashion-blogger, Vivian Kelly agreed to write a post for my blog. She is the fashion know-it-all who gets to sit in and watch New York fashion shows live.

Vivian Kelly thefashionexaminer.com

Text, Vivian Kelly

http://www.thefashionexaminer.com/

I unwrapped the envelope postmarked from Tokyo with great anticipation. I already knew that inside the padded envelope was a tube of Kanebo’s Coffret D’Or 3D mascara. A few weeks ago, during a Skype session, my Japanese friend, Yuki and I had engaged in a lively discussion about mascara. I greatly admired my Social Media Advisor, Amanda Razzano’s thick curly lashes and wanted them. For daytime, I’d rejected the idea of wearing falsies even though doing so is commonplace these days. Nor was I willing to try expensive and scary lash extensions. Last summer, I’d invested in Latisse when my dermatologist had offered an enticing 2 for 1 deal. After reading the fine print in the multipage literature included in the package about side effects such as changes to eye color, I chickened out. Rather than applying it on my lash line, I used it on my brows instead. Latisse works, and I now have somewhat thicker brows, requiring a minimal use of my “fling” brow pencil, one of the items in Daphne Guinness’s limited edition collection for MAC Cosmetics.

Having thicker brows was great but my lashes continued to pose a vexing beauty challenge. I decided to go back to the basics, and search for perfect mascara. I’d shied away from that route after an unfortunate mild allergic reaction to Maybelline’s prize-winning pink and green “Great Lash” mascara.

Since then, I’d cautiously experimented at Sephora with my daughter and friend, Demi Schimenti, after the sales assistant swore that the testers were disinfected. While I loved the Dior Show Extase packaging and texture, the $28 price tag put me off. I recalled reading Allure Editor in Chief Linda Wells advising her readers to throw mascara out after a mere 3 months. Also, I was looking for dark brown, as the black was too stark in contrast to my pale skin and hair.

LORAC’s “Visual Effects” mascara that I tested after Siren PR’s Cheryl Buscana sent it over, was nice but felt heavy, and better suited for a dramatic evening face.

I continued to ask friends and acquaintances which mascara they swore by. Kumi won me over on that early morning Skype chat when she dug into her cosmetics bag and pulled out her Coffret D’Or mascara and applied it, eager to show me how nice it was.

The mascara that arrived a few weeks later in the mail was dark brown [BR-26] and the wand’s brush long and straight. It went on smoothly, almost silkily and didn’t irritate my eyes at all – no clumping. Even though it wasn’t thick it added instant depth to my eyes without it being obvious that I had actually put makeup on. As I prefer a natural look, this was fantastic. At the end of the day, I had forgotten that I had anything on. The only reason I remembered was that when I washed off my Michael Marcus “foaming aloe cleanse” and noticed brown smudges around my eyes. An added bonus is that Coffret D’Or comes easily off and you don’t have to battle with a wad of cotton balls and baby oil to scrape it off. This brown tube with the silver disco ball decoration on the cap has earned a permanent place in my cosmetics bag.

**LINKS

Kanebo/Coffret D’Or Link: http://www.coffretdor.net/en/products/pointmake/mascara/

Amanda Razzano Link: http://www.myamandaplease.com/

Daphne Guinness Link: http://daphneguinness.tumblr.com/

Dior Mascara Link: http://goo.gl/0qbPF

I didn’t link to MAC as sadly, the Daphne Guinness collection is no longer in-store.

Michael Marcus Link: http://www.michaelmarcus.com/Skincare/