Mary Kay Review, Plus $100 Giftbasket Giveaway!

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Mary Kay.

I like to think of myself as something of a makeup savant, and I thought I had Mary Kay pegged. I had an admittedly preconceived notion of dated colors, frosted lips, and blue eyeshadow. Also something about pink suits? I don’t even know.

I wasn’t entirely wrong about the blue eyeshadow, but I was totally wrong about everything else.

BlogHer and Mary Kay recently approached me to see if I would like to try some of their products, and share my thoughts with you. Before my prettily wrapped package arrived at my front door, I was asked for my eye color, so they could customize the items just for me. (Yes, JUST FOR ME. My brown eyes are like precious and rare jewels, you guys!)

I opened the box, and found in there some Ultimate Mascara,Tinted Lip Balm Suncreen with SPF in Rose, and a magical little magnetic, swap-out-able compact, loaded with a mineral blush, and three eye shadows. (Including one in –yes—blue. More on that soon.) 

This is the face I make when I see blue eyeshadow.

I immediately began playing around with my new products. I was intrigued by the Tinted Lip Balm Sunscreen; I’m all about multitasking products, and lip balm (gloss, stick, etc.) is a weakness of mine. I was a little scared of the color in the tube…

 

But I absolutely adored how it looked once it was on.

The balm glides on, imparting a dewy, sheer glow. Instant addition to my summer beauty arsenal!

Next, I moved on to the mascara, which, frankly, blew me away. I grade mascara on a VERY HARSH CURVE. And when I find one that gets the job done without clumping up, leaving me with  lashes that basically touch my eyebrows? I am SOLD. 

I then played around with the blush (which came in the “Shy” shade), and noted that while it was very subtle, it imparted that sought-after, lit-from-within, candlelit quality. The eye shadows, too, were a revelation, with a finely-milled quality that rivaled the texture of – yes – my Chanel shadows.  And wonder of wonders, I wound up LOVING the deep blue shade (“Midnight Star”) which I pressed on very close to my lashline, and which made my dark brown eyes pop. 

All in all, I was really impressed with the products, from the standpoint of both quality and packaging.

And now, here’s where you come in! As part of this review, I’m giving away a $100 Mary Kay gift basket. Just leave a comment between now and August 26, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST, telling me which Mary Kay product you would love to try and you will be entered into the sweepstakes! You MUST leave an email address within your comment! I will select a winner at random after the close.

The following list details more ways to win and some more guidelines. In fact, please visit the Official Rules. Here's a quick rundown:

1. Leave your comment on this post
2. Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules and follow instructions for an alternate form of entry.

No duplicate comments. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

In addition, go here to read more Mary Kay-BlogHer blogger reviews so you can enter their sweepstakes for even more chance to win!