I haven’t bought much during Ulta’s fall 21 Days of Beauty. Gee, I bought something early in the sale, but I can’t even remember what it was. Yikes, I always thought I had such a good memory!
“I bought this and affiliate links”
But I bought something else last week. Since Platinum members get free shipping for the 21 Days daily sale products, I decided to go ahead and order. I bought two things:
- Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in the shade Mushroom
- ecoTools Mask Remover Sponge, 2 pack
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil
As the years roll on, I decided that many beauty experts are right. As I get older, black eyeliner, especially along the lower lash line looks too harsh, and it actually appears to be aging. So I have been trying alternatives.
Several years ago, I bought an Estee Lauder DoubleWear Eye Pencil is the medium gray shade, Graphite. It is down to a nub at this point, and I have been trying to replace it for years.
Estee Lauder still has Graphite, but the shade is darker; in fact, it looks almost black. I have tried charcoal shades from Hourglass and other brands, but I haven’t found anything that I liked.
When I noticed the Ulta had UD’s 24/7 eye pencils as one of their 50% off 21 Days products, I decided to go through their long list of shades and see if I could find anything suitable. Mushroom, a taupe-brownish-grayish shade, seemed to fit the bill.
It just arrived, and I immediately had to give it a try. As always, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On pencils really do “glide on”. The pencil is soft without being messy, and it doesn’t pull on delicate eye skin at all.
The Mushroom shade is going to work very well for me with both gray and brown mixed together. Success! Well worth the $11 that I paid for it during the sale.
ecoTools Mask Remover Sponge
I like to use a sponge when I wash my face. I have some natural sea sponges that I use, but they are not exactly cruelty-free. So over the past few years, I started looking for alternatives.
Ulta used to have some white disc-like sponges that worked for me, but they discontinued them a couple of years ago. Then I found a beige cellulose sponge at Ulta. I don’t know if it was an Ulta brand sponge or another brand. When I was placing my order for the UD eye pencil, I decided to look to see what I could find at Ulta to replace the old cellulose sponge that I need to toss. What I came up with is something that looks similar: ecoTools Mask Remover Sponge.
Now that I see it in person, I would say that it’s exactly the same as my old sponge, just green. It is made of cellulose, and it is soft when it’s wet. The pack comes with two sponges for $2.50. Definitely worth a try.
I also came across Real Techniques Miracle Cleansing Sponge, also at Ulta, that I may try next time. It is shaped like a Beautyblender sponge so it gets into all the contours of the face, but it appears to be made of something like cellulose. It also exfoliates. It costs around $5.99, and looks like it’s worth a try next time.
I still wear black eyeliner but now you have me wanting to check out UD’s Mushroom liner. It looks like a great color.
Paula, I still wear black or charcoal liner sometimes to tightline along my upper lashline or waterline. But using black or even charcoal along the lower lashline, essentially ringing my eyes in black isn’t a good look for me, maybe because I have fair/light skin. So medium grey, browns, greens etc look better on me. Mushroom really is a nice taupey brown-gray. Worth checking out!
Mushroom is a gorgeous shade, and the UD 24/7 formula is fantastic!
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So the Graphite was actually one color, then changed? Yikes! I like the old one. Reminds me of my favorite eyeliner, which is Stone Fox by Marc Jacobs.
Tracy, I think it was weird that Estee Lauder changed the color of their Graphite eye pencil, even though it happened after several years. When I bought the new Graphite replacement, I bought it online so I never got to see the color in person. I was disappointed when I got it and tried it, but it was too much trouble to send it back 😉
I love Marc Jacobs eye pencils, the gel pencil formula goes on so smoothly. I will have to take a peek at Stone Fox!
The Body Shop used to have a cellulose sponge like that but it was more money. I’m glad you found a well priced alternate. It’s a shame that Estee kept the name but changed the product, that feels deceitful.
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That is a beautiful shade, Allison, and a great replacement for Estee Lauder pencil!
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I like that shade. I wear dark eyeliners but I try not to wear black as it’s a little harsh on me
Some how there’s a big difference between a deep purple, navy, brown, or grey eyeliner vs. black!
UD Mushroom is a great color.
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