Fafi!

I'm a sucker for good marketing and the packaging of the MAC FAFI collection was so cute, I couldn't resist. The pic (Fafi is a French graffiti artist) is from the four limited edition eye shadow set - two color palettes are available. And if you really like the art, they're selling everything - bags, scarves, brushes. The set is color inspiration and from the drawing, you can get the general color palette. Fun & Cute is what they're going for and unless you're a politician, what girl doesn't want fun and cute in their lives?

Squeaky clean!

So a good chunk of my youthful years (I'd still like to consider myself so but you know what I mean right?) I had a awesome hair salon person. Okay, the official title of hair cutting person escapes me...beautician, salonist, not barber...but I digress. She was a korean lady about 40 something years and can always cut my hair so beautifully with tons of body, shine and texture. Whether I was able to truly maintain is another story. She has done long, layers, trims and even a super short boyish haircut with style and flare--all for the cost of--say what what? $20-$30. That's right. When you go to korean ladies for hair this is the lovely cheap price you get to pay. Anyways, as you can tell from my past tense language, she retired from cutting hair and so I had to look for somewhere else to have my hair cut. Next to my work is a ritzy hair salon, so I go and get my hair cut there. I think that was where I learned of shampoo cleanser. Ok, if you already knew about this, than for shame on me for not knowing. But different from a regular shampoo, you use this once in awhile (they say once a week but me whenever I feel icky) to get rid of all the buildup, skin stuff, hair product things, oil buildup in your hair. I had a younger friend who said that when she went to the salon and the salon, beautician, not barber person was like "do you know about shampoo cleanser?" and she was like "what's that?" and he held a handful of her hair and used a special scraper thing (or maybe just a comb) and scraped the hair, and there was all this stuff--and that is the stuff that the shampoo cleanser cleans.

So in conclusion, I am recently using BB sunday shampoo for the once in a while cleansing I need. I used it once so far, and man it really strips the hair clean! Maybe I put too much cuz my hair was really squeaky clean. You can literally hear it I think if I rubbed my hand on the hair.
Okay, so I went all over the post in this one but hope you enjoyed and learned. :)

Shadow

I kind of joke around that, except for my husband, I have commitment issues. I try and try all types of different hair and makeup products, with no real preference for brands, just looking for something that works for me. I find something, get bored, and try to find another one.

Back before I got tired at 10:30 PM, when going out for the night started at 11:00 PM - had so many different colors of eye shadow. MAC had one of the best varieties of color to choose from and was relatively cheap. The color came on vividly and more importantly, did not dry my lids - I'm not really sure why this was a problem for me with some of the drugstore brands. Recently, the last couple of years has brought a comperable drugstore brand - think you can now get the same vivid color palettes now from Loreal's HIP line. Tried some, color was indeed opaque, but nothing too memorable about the wear time or application.

The post is going to end with my current favorite - Shiseido's "the makeup" Silky Eye Shadow Duo. Colors aren't very exciting, but there are some brights. They don't go on as opaque as the HIP or MAC colors - really more subtle. But as the name promises, the application is very smooth. Makes blending with the included applicator, brush, or finger pretty easy. Color hasn't creased on me yet (though to be fair, I'm not overly generous with my shadow any more). This is definitely a recommended shadow for anyone looking for a subtle, clean, eye shadow.

Bare Essentials

I definitely understand the hype on this product! I did get to try it out--I was eating lunch downtown and lo and behold there was a bare essentials store that must have recently opened up. So I go check it out. The service is nice and they are able to come and match your skin tone with the foundation. I believe they have 9 different shades divided into 3 groups (light, tan, dark) so doing the math, 3 shades of light, 3 shades of tan and 3 shades of dark.
The foundation powder comes in I believe a 2.5" pot and has two levels. The bottom level stores all the powder and the top level is separated by a disc thing with holes in it that let the powder come out. So to apply, you shake the pot and let some powder out onto the lid. Then you swirl a face brush for the powder, tap off the excess and then swirl the brush around your face. FYI: I got their medium size face application brush. Not the large one. Medium size is big enough where you don't sit there all day putting on your face but small enough to go around corners.
The first time I had it applied on one side of my face and then I said I'll think about it. I had it on the rest of the day and I could definitely tell the difference between the non made up side of the face and the foundation side. I gotta say, gives a nice smooth look and looks very natural. (cakey face look sucks--boo!) ok enough beauty rant for today. Hope I didn't go too crazy with all the "math" and such. haha

You're making me blush!

Didn't start becoming a blush person until a friend's wedding. The bridesmaid put some on me and guess I underestimated how a little color could brighten up the face. Before that I always had an image of people who used blush as those crazy old ladies with too much mascara on their fake eyelashes, primary color lipstick, and blush looking sort of like it was stuck on their face like adhesive. I know, it's a little unfair, it's all about the application right?
That said, my sister had been colorswatched (not really sure what it's really called) at MAC and they recommended a powder sheertone color "blushbaby". She's a little more tan than I am, but we have the same undertones so I tried and ended up buying and using that color. Like the name suggests, it's not crazy opaque and goes on smooth to give some color, but not so much like you look like a faded hollywood starlet. It runs about $18.00 and unless you're piling that on your face, lasts a while to make the cost worth it.
As a gift, I got a diordazzle compact (it was a limited edition palette that I don't think they sell anymore). It had 4 eyeshadow colors, dior addict ultra gloss (lip color), terra bella (a bronzer/highlighter), and diorblush. These are AWESOME products. The eyeshadows go on smooth, the colors go on with one application and are easy to blend with your fingertips if you don't have a blending brush. But this post is for blush, so I'll elaborate on that. The blush is (I think) in rose - the closest I found for their regular diorblush compact (runs about $38.00) was the english rose color. The blush goes on smoother than the MAC product and goes on sheer as well. You can build on the color with more applications. By itself, diorblush is pretty expensive and comparably, the difference in the application is slight. They're both really good products, it just depends on your makeup budget.

Whitestrips

This is still beauty related right? Awhile ago, I just wanted whiter teeth. Now going to the dentist regularly and taking really really good care of my teeth (floss everyday, electronic toothbrush, replace brush around recommended time). Anyways, going back to when I wanted white teeth before I had heard good things about Crest white strips (btw: don't remember if this was the exact box I purchased but you get the idea)

Back when I did it, I believe I got the first version they had created. This product requires one to place a strip on their top teeth and bottom teeth for I believe 20-30min twice a day for 14 days. I did this without missing a single day and dedicated myself completely to following this routine. And you know what, 14 days later, they were noticebly whiter. They really really were!

My routine was to brush my teeth in the morning then afterwards I would put the strips on and made sure they were nicely wrapped around each crevice of my teeth and get ready to go to work or whereever I was headed. By the time I'm headed out the door I'm done with the strips. At night it was much easier since I have the entire night to do it. I did have this paranoia about tasting and swallowing the saliva mixed with the whitening chemical thing with toothpaste like flavor. So to avoid that, I stuck my tongue out between my top and lower teeth. Paints a lovely picture right? Ah, the price of beauty!

Clear skin?

Sheercover--ever heard of it? Neither have I. I recently got my car into the dealership to get the ol' regular maintenance. (Don't worry I'll tell you where I am heading with this) They said it was gonna be an hour and a half wait, but I didn't mind. Why? This place is loaded with FREE, yes FREE, breakfast breads, Starbucks coffee, cocoa, sodas, juice, water...on top of that, they have nice leather recliner chairs, tons of magazines to look at, free internet access and a large screen TV. So while I was taking advantage of as much of the free amenities as I can, a infomercial came on TV talking about this product called Sheercover. They claim their makeup is made of environmental friendly mineral powder, that works as a foundation. Not only that but it is light and apparently hides flaws on skin quite nicely. Now, I'm usually a bit iffy when they start to sell entire package products for not only 59.99 but no 49.99 but wait! If you call now, we will sell for 29.99!!! The infomercial did show many before and after pictures and people actually applying on the makeup. I did a Google search on this product and found some awful stories of folks who have never broken out--breaking out, and then the other side of the coin where folks claim just as the informercial did. I guess this post isn't about a recommendation more so than have you ever had experience with this product and does it work?

Tinted Moisturizer

I was never blessed with beautiful skin. Thankfully, the older I got, the nicer it actually became. Or maybe it was that I started taking care of myself a little better, drinking more water, less alcohol, sleeping the recommended hours, eating fruits... you get the picture. Whatever it was, I didn't need that much coverage. Still needed something though, just to give a nice even finish and to continue that "taking care of myself" thing, putting sunscreen on my face daily.

A complimentary make-up session at an Aveda salon got tinted moisturizer on my face for the first time. It still gave some coverage, but (at least the way she put it on me) it felt heavy. And isn't the point of not using foundation to have your face feel like you have no make up on? Like a typical engineer - research brought me to Laura Mercier. They just came out with the oil-free version when I looked and picked up a tube in the sand color. It's a bit - about $35-40 - but lasts about three to four months. I put it on with my fingers and it goes on like lotion, but adds some color and most importantly, SPF20.

QuickStyle - Quick Slip

Paul Mitchell Express Style: Quick Slip... If that sounds a little tawdry, you should get your mind out of the gutter. Or maybe I should.
Just ran out of this last month and wanted to try something new to tame my wavy locks. Well, I did try something new and it just isn't the same. The big sell of Quick Slip is that it cuts your drying time. Not quite sure how much, but it did the trick. Only downside is the light playdoh smell. You put it on after towel drying your hair but before you use the hair dryer. Okay, if you don't use a hair dryer to blow out your hair, I can't really say how much effect this will have if you air dry - with my waves, I use the round brush and hair dryer when I want it straight. So if you need something to tame your frizzies & cut dry time, definitely try this.

Colorful Pots of Liner

Back in college, used to use a liquid liner by Urban Decay (about $14). I'm not particularly graceful, but I managed to make a nice line along my lashes with this. Getting older, not really into the glitter liner that was replacing most of the other colors for urban decay led me to use MAC powder shadow, water or spit (just kidding), and an angled brush. Unfortunately, this would not always stay put so looked again for something new. Tried Smashbox's Cream Eye Liner (with a flat or angled brush) and it was easy to put on, smudge if you didn't have the perfect line, then for the most part, it stayed put most of the day. Except it didn't always. This tended to migrate to my lower lids making me look a little like a raccoon at the end of the day. Been using MAC's fluidline (about $14) now for a couple of years and this is it... This really does stay put. Same type of application as the Smashbox product, but this just doesn't migrate. Sounds like it wouldn't be, but it's easy to wash off too.