Merry Christmas!

I know, I know, I’ve been slacking again, and this week things are still crazy so I’ll have to keep this post short and sweet.

Here’s wishing everyone a beautiful Christmas!

Great Hair in the Storm

Looking out the window at what promises to be one hell of a snowstorm, I’m feeling a bit blue. But I’ve been a little uplifted today by the emergence of great hair in my office.

It sounds shallow, I know, but seeing someone who looks really put together – great hair, great outfit, great manicure, etc. – really inspires me. Lately, one of my co-workers has had especially sassy hair, full of bounce and shine. She told me that she has been using Herbal Essences Body Envy shampoo and conditioner, and following up with the brand’s Tousle Me Softly line.

I’ve also been using the Body Envy Conditioner, and I’m very pleased with the tropical scent and the way it leaves my hair soft and with a reasonable amount of volume. My bouncy-haired co-worker has been raving about how easy it has been to acheive such hair greatness. After shampooing and conditioning, she spritzes her hair with the Tousle Me Softly spray gel and then blow dries it. To finish, she lifts up sections of hair and sprays her roots with the Tousle Me Softly hairspray.

The result looks effortless, and has certainly given her a bit more attitude. All from a few spritzes of product.

A Simple Pleasure

My apologies, loyal readers, for slacking lately in my posting. Like most people, I’m finding less and less time to complete all the things I need to get done. Holiday get togethers and increased work hours mean less time to blog about beauty. Add a little illness and a blown transmission, and I have just not been as on top of things as I would like.

Obviously my past couple of weeks have been bumpy, but in all of the stress and catastophre I have been pleasantly surprised by a body wash and lotion duo that I bought recently, simply because they were the first that I saw when I went to the drugstore.

Johnson’s Body Care Melt Away Stress Lavender and Chamomile Relaxing Body Wash and Lotion both come  in a pleasant light purple bottle and are lightly perfumed with a  lavender scent. The body wash is creamy and moisturizing and the lotion absorbs quickly and leaves skin silky. Every night I rub some on my feet right before bed, and maybe it’s all in my head, but I really do feel the stress melt away.

Thank goodness for simple pleasures.

Who Brought the Bearded Lady?

The other day at work I encountered a woman who clearly cared about her appearance – her hair looked as though it had just been done, her nails were neatly manicured, and her clothes were neat and stylish. Sadly, her whole look was marred by an obvious strip of  hair above her upper lip. With all of her careful grooming, how could she have forgotten her mustache?

Facial hair is, unfortunately, a fact of life for most women. We ladies are not supposed to have facial hair, and as a result it’s often left undiscussed and is frequently unaddressed. This means that, as was the case with my mustachioed client the other day, many women are letting a little bit of fuzz ruin an otherwise well-groomed face. Here, some common types of female facial hair and how to get rid of it.

Fly Hairs: Puzzling and embarrassing, these random hairs are usually dark and stiff, and are some how able to grow to abnormal lengths before you will notice one on your neck or chin. There it stands, all alone, a single long dark hair poking out like the beard of a pubescent boy. Your best bet with these babies is to leave them alone until you can tweeze them. Nothing is less attractive than catching someone twirling or pinching a random neck hair. To catch them early, grab a magnifying mirror once a week and take stock of the area. But if you do notice one while out in public, take heart; chances are nobody else will.

Upper Lip Fuzz: Probably the most prevalent and stress inducing form of facial hair, the female mustache can be as insignificant as a dusting of nearly invisible peach fuzz or as thick and dashing as Tom Selleck’s. The fact remains that, in either case, removing this particular patch of hair will do wonders for your overall look and polish. My recommendation in this case is waxing. At home wax strip kits are inexpensive, easy to use, and work well on this type of hair, as long as you follow the instructions on the package. Some people choose to tweeze errant upper lip hairs, and this is also an effective, although more time-consuming, option. I would urge readers to avoid bleaching their upper lips, as this often has the undesired effect of drawing attention to the problem: the hair often comes out too light, and if you have enough upper lip hair to bleach, you’ll just end up with a blonde mustache.

Eyebrows: I’ve touched upon them before, and for a crash course in grooming your brows you can reference my earlier post, “Taming the Beast.” There are many schools of thought regarding eyebrows, with some women essentially eliminating them while others prefer to keep them full and sometimes bushy. Regardless of your personal style, regular brow maintenance is one of the easiest ways to brighten up your face and keep yourself looking put together. If your brows are out of control, seek professional help and get them waxed. From there it’s easy to keep up the general shape with regular tweezing.

 

Hand Help!

The ice and snow that coated the roads today on my morning commute confirmed what I already suspected – winter is on its way. Another clear (and very unfortunate) sign that the dreaded cold season is rolling in is that, no matter what I do to remedy the situation, my hands are painfully dry.

Cold air and dry indoor heating can wreak havoc on would-be pretty hands, and the fact that frequent hand sanitization is a necessary part of my job does not help.

I’ve tried various lotions and creams, but nothing seems to keep my cuticles from cracking and little rough patches from forming on the palms of my hands.

Readers, I implore you, if you have a secret hand-saving weapon, please share it!

I recently tried Fresh Brown Sugar Body Cream, having heard great things about it and the accompanying scrub. I have to say, I was very disappointed. The cream itself wasn’t any more moisturizing than anything else I’ve tried, and the smell was just plain weird. Very lemony, in a cleaning product way.

On a more positive note, I recently received a sample of Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector, and I am definitely a fan. It’s not waxy or glossy, but a nice, light pink balm that smells fresh and feels nice on the lips.

If only I could find something like that for my hands…

Brand Crush: Clinique

It started a few weeks ago, when I went to the Clinique counter to buy my breast cancer awareness lip glosses and was rewarded with a gift with purchase: an apple-printed cosmetics bag filled with free lipstick, mascara, eye shadows, blush, and skincare products. I’m a sucker for free gifts, and those glosses were perfectly pink, moisturizing, and glossy. They have replaced all others in my purse.

Then, when my face turned scaly when I was plagued by the flu, it was Clinique Dramatically Different Moisture Lotion that soothed and repaired the damage.

The deal was officially sealed this past week, however, when I tried the tiny tube of Lash Doubling Mascara that came in my gift with purchase.

I have a brand crush on Clinique.

The glosses and moisturizer are great, but the mascara is PERFECT. It doesn’t clump, it doesn’t flake off onto my face, and it doesn’t irritate my extra sensitive eyes at all. I’ve been using it for about a week, and I’m loving the natural-but-better effect it is giving me.

My crush is sure to be continued once I open my mail today – I’m expecting a package from Sephora, containing, among other things, a jar of Clinique’s Even Better moisturizer, which is supposed to help even out skin tone. Plus Sephora offered a gift with purchase as well, so I’ll also be getting a Clinique cream blush.

Stay tuned for product reviews.

I’m sure I’ll love ‘em.

 

How to Survive Flu Season Without Looking Like a Reptile

I can safely say that it is officially cold and flu season, having spent the majority of the last week in bed with the worst cold/flu/allergy attack I can remember in recent history.

You might think that spending that much time in bed I’d be caught up on “beauty sleep” and would be positively glowing. Turns out, the only glow I’ve had is that of a fever, and I’ve been rockin’ the puffy-eyed, chapped lipped, dry skin look.

Not cute.

So, in light of my recent foolishness, here are some tips that I’ve found useful in escaping flu season without looking like a crocodile.

1. Stay hydrated. This will not only help speed along your recovery time, it will help keep you skin from becoming dry and cracked. I drank a lot of tea during my recent bout with dryness. Peppermint is my new favorite – it helps soothe a congested head!

2. Moisturize! Even if you can’t bear to drag yourself out of bed long enough to really spruce yourself up, do yourself a favor and always put on your moisturizer. My nose, cheeks and lips all became outrageously dry last week, to the point where the skin on my nose actually cracked and started bleeding. However, after just one application of Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisture Lotion, I was healed. I’ve been using it daily ever since.

3. Hand in hand with moisturizing your face is moisturizing your lips, and for that I say Burt’s Bees! I’ve been layering on various balms and glosses, but only Burt’s Bees was able to soothe and cure my chapped lips. And it’s fortunately available just about everywhere. Drug stores, grocery stores, health food stores, you name it. Get some!

4. Buy Puffs Plus. Totally worth the extra few cents.

5. If at all possible, drag your sick, tired butt out of bed and take a shower. It’ll make you feel like a human.

Following these steps will help ensure you make it out without scales. And these suggestions are all also guy-friendly, so feel free to pass them along to your boyfriend/husband/brother/whiney sick male friend.

I’m actually feeling much better and am mostly back on track, skin-wise. Although I’m currently sporting a volcanic pimple on my cheek.

Time for Queen Helene!

Shop for the Cause

As I’m sure everyone knows by now, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To show support for the cause, virtually every designer and cosmetics company has created a special, limited edition pink product, the proceeds from which go to various breast cancer awareness and research organizations.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this week I’m urging readers to do two things. First of all, flip through all your October magazines, do a little online browsing, and find a pink product you just can’t live without. Some of my picks this year? Sonia Kashuk’s target line is featuring adorable pink makeup brushes, as well as a pink eyelash curler. Lacoste has several pink items available this month, including an alligator emblazoned towel. OPI has a pale pink lacquer called Pink Of Hearts that would make any girl’s feet look lovely. And my personal favorite, and the item I purchased for myself this week, a set of mini pink lip glosses from Clinique. They are the perfect way to perk up a pallid October face.

Secondly, do what you know you should and give yourself a self exam. Yes, you may feel a little silly feeling yourself up, but we should all be doing it monthly, so get used to it. I found a lump while I was still in college, and though it thankfully turned out to be a false alarm, it was a scary time and I’m diligent about doing my self exams. A few years ago, a close friend of mine found a lump that did have to be removed, but her early detection of it kept it from getting out of hand. All women, young and old, can benefit from doing regular exams. As my doctor has often pointed out to me, simply knowing what your breasts normally feel like will make it easy for you to detect any abnormalities.

So please, in honor of all of the aunts, mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends who have battled or are battling breast cancer, remember to check yourself for any unusual lumps. Then go buy yourself a little something pretty.

Five Steps to Pretty

On America’s Next Top Model last week, the would-be models were given a makeup lesson. They were told that all they needed to enhance their natural beauty and finish with a pretty face were four essentials: concealer, bronzer, mascara, and gloss.

While I agree that these are all great tools in creating a pretty, natural look, I’d like to add something to the list, if I may.

Ladies, don’t forget your eyelash curler.

In college my very un-makeup-y roommate would watch in horror as I curled my lashes every day before class.

“That looks like a medieval torture device,” she’d say.

In all honesty, lash curlers do look a little intimidating, but they don’t hurt at all, and they make a world of difference. Even when I’m too lazy to put on anything other than moisturizer and lip balm, I still curl my lashes. It opens the eyes, and your mascara will pack a more powerful punch when applied to curled lashes.

My favorite trick for bright eyes/big lashes? After curling lashes and applying mascara, I blink my lashes against the side of the mascara tube. This not only gets rid of clumps, it helps reinforce your curl.

Eyelash curlers range in price from really cheap (I’ve seen 99 cent versions) to pretty pricey (my favorite, Shu Uemura’s lash curler, is between 19 and 24 dollars). In my experience the high-end ones are worth the money; they curl instead of crimp, and the curl tends to be longer lasting.

So ladies, conceal your blemishes, gloss your lips, bronze your cheeks, and do your lashes. You’ll look naturally pretty. I promise.

Trial Sized

I have a ridiculous love for products in tiny packaging. Maybe it’s because they’re so cute, or perhaps it’s because I’m not great at sharing and thus prefer individually sized portions, of everything ranging from snacks to detergents to, naturally, beauty products.

Of course I’m a sucker for free samples, but I’m also a huge fan of beauty minis and trial sizes. They are good for travel, or for tossing into your purse, but most of all they are great for testing. When a hot new product comes out, or a big brand boasts its quality, I certainly want to see what the fuss is about. But I don’t necessarily want to drop a huge amount of money on a product I’m not sure I’ll love. Which is why you’ll often find me in the 99 cent aisle of the drugstore, stocking up on deodorant and conditioner minis. Or ordering travel sets from my favorite online beauty stores. Sephora has a beauty-to-go section that features pages of hair, body, and skin products, not to mention makeup and perfumes. Sephora also puts together deluxe sample kits that you can purchase for a pretty reasonable price – you usually get around 10 products for between 30 and 40 dollars.

My favorite mini set, also available at Sephora, is the Bliss Sinkside Six Pack, filled with travel sizes of 6 very popular Bliss Lemon  & Sage products. The products work great, the smell is refreshing, and for $25 you get to revamp your whole shower experience.

And those bottles are adorable.