Having stick straight lashes that don’t hold their curl keeps us on the constant lookout for the perfect mascara. In addition to being tall, dark, and handsome, our perfect mascara must also be thickening, lengthening, and most importantly, able to hold the curl provided by our ever faithful Shu Uemura eyelash curler.

At our sister’s urging, we tried Loreal’s Original Voluminous mascara in Blackest Black this week and were truly impressed with how the chubby wand deposits the perfect amount of product (on us, too much at first means heavy, wet, lashes and buh-bye curl.)

Also, the unique formula of ceramide-R and panthenol condition lashes while thickening leaving them healthy and supple.

No wonder our sister swears by this product.

L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara, $6.59

A business trip to Las Vegas this week found us standing in front of the Sisley counter at Saks Fifth Avenue on the Las Vegas Strip.

We have never before used Sisley, a french skincare line that uses botanical products and essential oils to accelerate surface microcirculation and promote toxin elimination, resulting in radiant skin.

Our favorite product by far is the Sisleya Eye/Lip Contour Cream, which after only three days has left the delicate skin around our eyes more firm and hydrated than it has ever been.

(We normally use La Mer eye cream, which, according to the lovely Sisley representative, we have been doing ALL WRONG! Apparently, after applying La Mer eye cream, you need to seal with a layer of Creme de La Mer in order to hold the moisture in and allow the eye cream to penetrate the skin. Lovely Sisely Representative used to work for La Mer which is how she knows this very important detail about applying their eye cream, but OHMYGOD why didn’t anyone tell us this when we bought it?)

In addition to the incredible eye treatment, we have been literally blown away by their other products, especially the Intensive Night Cream and the Buff & Wash Facial Gel. The only drawback is that we might have to sell our car in order to keep up with this regimen.

Sisley Sisleya Eye and Lip Contour Cream, $165

This week we had the opportunity to interview David Ray, author of Makeup Beat, an insightful and witty blog about beauty and fashion and everything that goes along with it.

David Ray began his career as a makeup artist and hair stylist and has managed to work in nearly every aspect of the beauty industry since. He has worked with many celebrities and supermodels and contributed to several beauty publications such as Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and French Elle.

Makeup Bag: Hi David. We love your blog and are so excited to be able to get to know a little more about you, thank you for giving us this time with you.

You have such an impressive resume in the beauty industry that spans from freelance to advertising to creative directing to consulting. Obviously, all things beauty is your calling, but which aspect do you feel best encompasses your talent as a creator?

David Ray: I have enjoyed every aspect of the beauty industry and as the creative director I am able to combine them all. I’ve always worked conceptually. As an advertising makeup artist I took my inspiration from the model, what she was wearing, the type of product, the colors of the set, etc. So it is even more fulfilling to be the person making all those decisions from the start by creating the original concept. I love photography plus with my makeup artist and fashion styling background I can communicate my vision more effectively to my team.
Consulting is an opportunity to use my years of experience helping cosmetic companies develop new products which is also very rewarding.