Shout out to the Blog Squad (part dos)

Among my other activities, I have been trying to lose weight. The good news is that it’s working! I’ve lost a few more and some of my clothes are looser. Yay! Which meant I needed to go shopping! Yay! More good news: I found some great stuff at the mall and now have some snappy new clothes that I don’t need to hold up with safety pins. Yay! Bad news: I’ve used all up of my beauty “allowance” for a while (a moment of silence, please).

Like just about every non-celebrity/non-heiress/non-AIG executive, I am on a budget. I’ve always said that if I was a superhero my name would be “EL CHEAP-O” (since I’m female, it really should be “la cheap-a,” but that doesn’t sound superhero-ey at all). Anyway, El Cheap-o’s super power would be to fly through the air, hone in on unbelievable bargains and swoop down to take advantage of them while supplies last.



Alas, El Cheap-o is only a dream, but there is hope! Roxy at for the love of beauty has a splendid blog that is beautiful, informative and really STYLISH! But wait, there's more...

This is the very first beauty blog I ever read. I was looking for bargains and Google directed me to her “beauty offers” page. That’s right, folks. In addition to all of the advice, news, reviews, beautiful pictures and overall stylishness, there is a “beauty offers” page. She also created a page dedicated to shopping deals, codes and discounts. After nearly fainting at all the savings, I started reading the rest of her blog and was hooked. Then I started reading more blogs. Thus I was drawn into the beauty blogosphere where I remain to this day.

As time goes by, I will post the few paltry bargains, giveaways and budget-friendly news that I hear about; but rest assured that there is already a beacon in the darkness. And right now this beacon has a post about Cosmedicine. Roxy, El Cheap-o would be proud.

Halleluiah! Awake!

Tomorrow is Sunday. Sunday is the day that I get up way too early. I am a singer. Many of us singers have jobs in churches that require getting up early to rehearse (in order to sound halfway decent by the time the service starts). Singing is fun and rewarding. Getting up early on a Sunday morning is punishment for my transgressions.

The way to make this work is go get lots of sleep Saturday night so I can wake up in plenty of time to have breakfast, drink some tea, warm up a little, then shower, get dressed and put on my makeup in a leisurely manner. So far I have managed to do this ZERO times. What really happens is that I get up at the last possible minute, rush around, run out the door and eat hard boiled eggs in the car.

Getting up at the last minute leaves a teensy amount of time to get dressed and put on makeup. My clothes aren't such a big deal because I'm wearing a choir robe. But everyone can still see my face. And THIS week, I will be getting up extra early because it's Palm Sunday (we need extra time since there's foliage involved). What's a girl to do? My face is blotchy. No time for primer. No time for foundation. But wait! There is time for one of my all time favorite products ever created in the universe: Awake Stardom Aqua Trans Powder.

Blurb: This water based loose powder releases hydration upon application to adhere close to the skin with a cool, refreshing touch. It has a translucent, semimatte finish to provide a glowing complexion.

Get it? Awake? Morning? Okay, sorry, anyway…

Awake is a wonderful skincare and makeup line, and this powder is crazy good. It's light, translucent and slightly minimizes pores. Going on, it feels like nothing else. Even though it's a powder, it feels like cool water (or mist) that kind of melts into my skin. It's great over foundation or alone. When worn by itself, it doesn't give a lot of coverage, but its color-correcting properties really even out blotchiness and the finish is gorgeous! I use the color 05 Sea Lavender (yes, it's lavender!) for my olive skin and get a beautiful, natural glow...at 7:30am.

It comes with a pretty good applicator, but I prefer a kabuki brush. Also, be sure to close the lid tightly so it doesn't dry out. It comes in several colors (depending on your color correction needs): Venus Sea, Sand Dune, Sea Lavender, Moon Glint and Pink Sunset.

The luxurious feel and luminous finish are what sold me. But it also controls oil. And it doesn't cause me to break out. And it lasts. And it isn't cakey. Nuff said.

My Love is for Lava

Possibly, the beauty item I love most is eyeliner. And I mean LOVE. And I also mean the kind of eyeliner you put on with a brush. Gel liner, cream liner, liquid liner and eyeshadow used as eyeliner. Matte liner, shiny liner, shimmery, sparkly…sigh!

So it follows that eyeliner palettes have a special, special place in my heart. My current favorite (I am also fickle) is my Proof Cream Eye Liner Palette by smashbox.

Company blurb: This sleek portable palette holds 10 shades of our best-selling cream eye liner. A must-have for every makeup artist.

Even though I'm not a makeup artist, I couldn't agree more. This palette has colors (10 of them!) ranging from "Putty" (top right), a very neutral, wearable medium-brown, to deep evening tones like "Midnight Purple" (top middle). In between are browns, blue, grey, etc. One of the things I also appreciate about smashbox eyeliners are the fact that they stay soft and smudgable for a minute or two; then the color sets and stays put all day. The case is slim, closes securely and slips easily into a little bag. I prefer using my own little liner brush, but the one that comes with the palette isn't bad.

Today I finally tried out the color, "Lava" (top left). In the tray it looked silver and I thought it might be too light and glittery. I was wrong. So very wrong. Can you ever forgive me for doubting you, Lava? On the eyes, it is a gorgeous smoky charcoal with a hint of sparkle. The effect is a soft, flattering shimmer. Today I'm wearing a "daytime" amount; but I'm pretty sure that if I wanted to, I could build up another layer or two and get a beautiful, dramatic evening look.

I keep running to the mirror to look at my eyes. They are sparkling with my love for Lava.

P.S.: And get this! According to their website, smashbox will soon be offering personal color picks for this palette! Whoa, man. Whoa.

Shout out to the Blog Squad…

This is my second day as a blogger, so I guess that means I'm old news since there have been god-only-knows-how-many new blogs created since I posted yesterday. Yay – more to read! The cool thing about the whole blog phenomenon (for me, that is), is the great writing and all of the fabulous beauty information I've gotten! Tons of it!

Now like any crazed beauty junkie, I love my huge spectacular beauty products that have all kinds of glamour and impact. But this has turned out to be a demanding week, and I am really appreciating the tried and true work horses of my beauty routine. Like the little things that keep my skin soft and my nails nice. And I know about many of them because of recommendations by beauty bloggers. Here are two:

#1 Thank you, spoiled pretty! Daneen at spoiled pretty reviewed the Sephora glass nail file and I got one. It rocks. It really, really rocks. For some reason, I can't come up with any thing better to say and I can't seem to find her wonderful review, so I will just repeat my thanks and think of her every time I look at my smooth, smooth nails (that have stayed smooth all week).

#2 Thank you, babyassface! In addition to having one of the most hilarious and brilliantly written blogs, she introduced me to the Salux Nylon Japanese Beauty Cloth. Again, words fail me and all I can come up with is: It rocks. It really rocks. For a more lucid description of how and why it rocks, read her review here.

Again. Thanks. You have made my days prettier.

Eye Feel Pretty

They say the best way to start a blog is to just start a blog. Sooooo…here I go with my very first blog entry/review ever. And it seems only fitting that this post be about the product that started me back on the road to beauty junkie-dom: Estēe Lauder Lash Primer Plus.

My super fashionista friend, Nancy, and I went to a trend show (at Nordstrom) and Estēe Lauder had a fabulous GWP. Super fashionista friend (Nancy) told me that I just HAD to get their lash primer. Now at the time I hardly ever wore makeup and lash primer sounded to me like some fussy, time/money-consuming thing that I didn't need. I may have even scoffed. But Nancy is persuasive and I really wanted the GWP, so I bought a tube.

Woweee! HG would not be the adequate description since I didn't even know I was looking for this. I will just say "Woweeee!" again. This stuff makes any mascara go on more evenly and easily. Even better, my mascara stays put. No more flaking or smudging. But wait, there's more! This primer actually conditions my lashes (even under waterproof mascara). Before primer plus: my long lashes tended to dry out and break (creating a weird multi-length look). Now - no more breakage. And because of that my lashes actually are longer because they grow out fully.

After trying this out I realized: "Hey, I can wear mascara every day!" This led to other things such as: "Hey, some eye shadow would look really great with my long, conditioned lashes!" And, "I wonder if I should get the eyeliner palette?" You get the picture.

I've tried a couple of other primers since and none of them even come CLOSE to Estēe Lauder's. This stuff does what it says it does. Nuff said.