Beauty Bite: Curly hair, Curly Lashes, Who Knew?

My day begins with hair.

Not my own, my two daughters'.

Generally the fun choices involve tiny french braids or the proverbial pink sponge rollers. They go to bed with damp hair and in the morning I'll run the blow dryer quickly over their hair, and voila!  Curls where there once were none.

I bet you already know these hair tricks and the magic of blow dryers on something round.

But here's something I didn't know until today. Where have I been? Who knew?

Use your blow dryer to heat your eyelash curler. Once heated, 30 seconds or so, hold the curler at the base of your lashes and voilá!


Curls where there once were none!


*I use the Shu Uemura eyelash curler that I purchased at Nordstroms for $19. I haven't tried cheaper curlers and from what I have read you shouldn't either. 

Beauty Bite: This Little Piggy Went to Market

I have a cheap little secret to soft feet - A&D Diaper Ointment.

You can pick it up in the baby aisle at Target.

Slather your feet after a nice bath, wear some warm cotton socks to bed and wake up with baby feet. (Well, maybe not that great, but pretty darn good)

A&D rivals the expensive foot creams, but will give you better results for less cash.

It's also great on elbows and dry knees.

A Great Concealer - Benefit Erase Paste

I'm always on the hunt for a great concealer. My experience is they're hard to find.

Just like the perfect mascara, marketers claim to have developed many miracles in their newest jars of beauty.

And they lie.

But, I am a sucker for a great name and who can resist something called 'Erase Paste'?  Isn't that my ultimate desire to have my flaws erased? Plus, by and large I love everything Benefit makes - and as I said before, who can resist their great product names?

I read reviews online before purchasing this as it's $26 and I hate to waste my money and/or my time with a return. The reviews are mixed. Some people claim it's all that and a bag of chips and some people stated it was too oily and needed to be set with a powder. 

I bought the product in "Fair". I have olive skin tones, I guess I would call myself 'medium', but I was hoping with a lighter shade I'd have better luck concealing the circles under my eyes. 

I immediately opened the package once I was in the car (hubby was driving) and I applied it to one eye. I  asked if he could see a difference between the two eyes and received an immediate 'Yeah, actually the one doesn't look so dark'. I thought the same thing. I could see an immediate improvement. 

I like the creamy texture of this product and the little spatula that comes with it. I put a small dollop on the back of my hand and dotted it under my eye before blending. I didn't feel the need to add a powder on top. 

I did notice after a couple of hours that some of the concealer had managed to move into a couple of my eye creases (let's not call them wrinkles!) which I blended right back in and it looked great. 

Next, came the true test. How does this product work covering up blemishes? 

I have the good fortune of having a 15-year-old in the house and she has fair skin. And some acne. I applied Erase Paste in the morning to cover a few blemishes - flawless!  I couldn't believe how nicely it covered her skin. (She's more fair than I am).   When I picked her up from school, I could tell some of the product should have been re-touched midday, but all in all this is the best concealer I've found for her. 

Long and short of it? I think this is a great product with immediate results. I like it a lot and wouldn't hesitate to recommend buying it. 

I bought this product at Ulta for $24 (retails $26) because the salesperson at the counter gave me a discount from a coupon she had saving me $2. You may want to hunt down a coupon before purchasing. 

Beauty Bite - Vaseline Revitalizing Gel

While at Target this caught my eye.

Then before I knew it, it was in my cart. I am a sucker for the smell of cocoa butter. Summer anyone? Perfect to buy in the middle of the winter. Right? Wrong!

While Vaseline Intensive Care Revitalizing Gel comes from a brand I love (their intensive care lotion smells great and works beautifully on dry skin) this product falls way below the quality I expect.

After a hot bath I slathered my legs and put on my pajamas. I was a sticky, gooey mess - although I did smell like an appealing candy store. Sounds kind of sexy when I type it out - the reality though was just a mess. I wouldn't buy this product again and will stick with my Neutrogena Body Oil until something better hits the Target shelves.

Different Shades of Kisses

My very, best friend neighbor does not understand my lipstick passion. She once asked me in all seriousness, "Why would you have more than one lipstick?"

How can I explain the way both the texture and color of a great lipstick can fill me with euphoria? The glee that overcomes me when the UPS man shows up with my latest order from MAC? The way a subtle change in lip color can set my mood and my entire tone for the day? 

I own a lot of lipstick. More than I can count and possibly more than I will admit on the off chance my husband ever reads my blog. He knows I have a lipstick addiction. I don't need to confirm anything.

I do have four shades that I love above all others. I tried to photograph them for you, but it's a little difficult to tell the difference in shades, unless you, like me, appreciate subtlety. 

From left to right:

1. Mica by L'oreal.You can buy this one at Target and it's my go-to color of women of all ages especially 13-year-olds who are just beginning to experiment.This color has a slight pink hue, but not too pink. L'oreal makes a great product that wears well, is affordable and easy to purchase anywhere and the color lasts throughout the day with minimal touchups required.This is the ONE shade I was able to convince my neighbor to buy and she never fails to tell me that she's wearing it when she see me. As though I need to be told. I am a color maven.

2. Bamboo by Clinique.This color was talked about in a book, "How to Look Ten Years Younger". It has more of a brownish color than the pink Mica, wears well and looks natural. This is a little bit of a pain to purchase as Clinique is not sold at Target, Sephora or Ulta and will require you hit the mall. (Once you are at the Clinique counter, check out their under eye concealers too)

3. Plum Dandy by MAC. I must admit this is my current favorite color and was suggested to me by another makeup loving pal. She said if I buy it, it would change my life. I'm not sure I would go that far, but it certainly has given me pleasure. This color is again in the mauve family, but it has a gold shimmer and I just love the way it brightens my face, especially when I have brown eye makeup going. I order my MAC products on line and always wait for a free shipping deal. I get the added pleasure of the UPS man ringing my bell, with a gift for moi! I like to pretend I didn't have to spend any $$ for this pleasure and at $14 a pop for MAC lipstick, it's hardly something to worry about. If you're feeling a little down and ready for a little spring brightening this is the shade for you. 

4. Tickled Pink by Watkins. I'm not sure how easy it is to find this product, a local hospital carries it in their pharmacy. I love this lip tint so much more than Burt's Bees colors. This lip tint is a sheer pink with a pearly white glitter, it looks great layered on top of your favorite shade, or by itself. 

These are my current top four lip picks you can find in my purse.

How about you? Let me know your favorite shades and brands and why. I'd love to have an excuse to buy more lipstick. I could never stop at one.

DISCLAIMER: I purchased these products. Your results may vary, but I think you'll end up loving these shades. 

Whiter Teeth = PAIN IN THE NAME OF BEAUTY

People talk about Chiclet white teeth as though they're a bad thing. I LOVE Chiclet white teeth and want them for myself. 


So, off to Target I went with a $10 off  coupon from the Sunday paper toward the purchase of Crest 2-Hour Whitestrips. The marketing on the package touts professional results, whiter teeth!, best product on the market. Yeah!  That's what I want!  Professional results at an affordable (relatively) price. ($49, but look for a coupon and buy them for $39)


I peeled the strips from the paper backing and easily stuck them to my teeth. These strips are indeed thicker than other strips on the market and stuck amazingly well to my teeth. I could see my teeth underneath appear to change before my eyes!  White chiclets here I come!


I pulled the strips off after the alloted timeframe (30 minutes) and rinsed my mouth with warm water. My teeth were indeed whiter, I was impressed. 


Then....an hour later all hell broke loose.


Holy Hannah it felt as though there were firecrackers going off in my mouth, one tooth at time. I quickly grabbed some ibuprofen and warm water. Still. PAIN!  Thankfully I had Vicodin on hand (yes, it was that bad) which I took and felt a lot better.


I also brushed with Aquafresh Sensitive toothpaste (way tastier and effective than Sensodyne) and rinsed with Act Flouride rinse which is supposed to help alleviate tooth sensitivities. 


 I did wake in the night again with the pain, took more illicit drugs and woke in the morning pain free.


It's a tough call. Would I do this again in the name of beauty? Probably.


But only if I have Vicodin on hand.

Weight Watchers Online Review

Pretty people are thin. Period.

I would love to say weight doesn't matter, beauty comes from within, love yourself, blah, blah. But. We all know the bottom line is we're fat in America.

At least I am.

I decided in January (cliche I know) to join Weight Watchers online. I've had success with WW in the past and I know their program works, when I work it.

Part of the online appeal for me was not having to write my food and points on a pad of paper which I constantly misplaced. Also, my hand writing is illegible. I figured online would make things easier to manage. But, I was wrong.

I have quit Weight Watchers online because it SUCKS it's not a good product. 

At first I thought the slow processing was because the WW servers were being overwhelmed with New Year's resolution folks. But, it's still slow and it's February 15th.  

Half the food I eat is not listed in their online directory. Every time I try to change a portion size, their program automatically adds a zero - so a 2 point item becomes a 20 point item until you manually change it.

These are nit picky things, but I expect excellence from the WW brand and they're falling short.

I've thought about what they need to do to make their online product better and here are my suggestions:

* Team up with DLWZ.com where you can find points easily for common and not so common restaurants. This is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.

* Start a blog from the WW site.  Pick someone who is not obese - that's all been done before. Pick an average 160 pound woman and follow her until she reaches her 130 pound goal.

* Expand the food catalog - everything that is in the WW points booklet should be online and it isn't.

* Fruit is now free which is complete and utter bullshit. I know I am not overweight from eating too many bananas, but I also know bananas are not free and I want to count them as 2 points. Don't fence me in with the 0 crap.

* How about a daily, motivational something emailed to participants? I read weight loss/exercise sites every day - they inspire me. Why aren't you doing this WW?

I may email this post to WW. I want them to be better than they currently are.

So I can be inspired to be better than I currently am.

Book of the Week - Thumbs Up!

I am a book lover.

A major book lover.

Reading a book that is a waste of my time pisses me off. When I find a book I love, I can't wait to share the title.

The title this week is, The Fates Will Find Their Way, Hannah Pittard.

This isn't a long book and it's written in an easy, conversational tone. The premise is a girl goes missing and is never found again. The children, especially the boys from her school, wonder what happened to her. Was she killed? Did she run away?

We follow the boys as they age, have children of their own, suffer life's indignities and through it all they never forget their lost classmate. It's almost as if it's a love for her they were never able to realize.

Some of the boys create stories claiming to have seen her on business trips. others suspect her sister knows where she is and others wonder if the bones found in the woods were really that of a dog instead of a young girl.

If you've ever been fascinated by the stories of abducted children, what happened? Where are they? Buy and read this book and let your imagination run wild. This book is not morose, it's more of a realization that life goes on. If we know the answers or not.

Mascara Monday - The First in a Series

I have been searching in vain for the world's perfect mascara. 

For 25 years. 

As Bono so aptly sang, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

I am going to dedicate Mondays as 'Mascara Monday' and each Monday bring you a new mascara I've bought and tried. I also have two daughters who will also try the mascara and weigh in with their opinions. They will also serve as my mascara models. 

I am looking for length, volume, little to no clumping and some drama. I don't want a mascara that flakes or smudges easily. 

This week I tried Maybelline's The Colossal Volum' Express Colossal Mascara, waterproof. It cost $5.99 at Target. 

This product gave instant volume, but little to no lengthening. I had some clumping which I didn't like. This wears well through the day and is easy to remove with a gentle eye makeup remover (I use Boots Eye Makeup Remover). 

Overall, an adequate mascara, but by no means perfect. I rate it an 'Eh' and will continue on my search. 

Here's my model with the mascara on one eye, it's a little hard to see in the photo, but the eye with the mascara does have a little more definition and drama, but no added length.

ADD Anyone?

I have so many things I want to share with my readers. Products, books, athletic wear, recipes and the list goes on.

Here's what I've noticed so far: it isn't easy writing a blog - and this after two entries!  I have to find an interesting idea and then make the other 1,000 ideas in my brain shut up. I am trying to write in a way that is appealing, not pretentious and also quick to a point.

I've concluded screw all of the above.

I have no idea if anyone ever will read this.  If you do, hang on tight because I'm going to take you all over my brain's map and we'll see where we end up.

I look forward to hearing from you with your ideas and snarky comments. All of which I will  most likely ignore.

Unless you're nice and helpful. Then we can talk.

First Love and How I Ended Up at Target

Oh the magic of first love.

Mine was a product my mother used by Merle Norman. It was a pink facial mask that you would put on your t-zone and promised to clear your skin and make all your woes fade away. I loved the smell. I loved the texture. I loved how I would put the mask on my skin and it would dry into a crinkly, pink hard shell.

I was 4.

The magic has since continued.

I used to spend a lot of cash at the department store counter hoping beyond hope that their products would clear my skin and make me the gorgeous, flawless person I was pretty sure resided within, underneath the acne. I tried Clinique, Philosophy and others to name a few. And the stuffs not cheap. A lot of my extra college cash went to paying for products that didn't work, which made me spend a ton more money on concealers and foundation.

Guess what? I still looked like crap.

Fast forward a couple of decades and I now have my skin care routine down to a Target run.  I'm 40-ish, have an olive complexion which is prone to breakouts, which I treat, which then leads to dry skin. I imagine you know the drill. Here are the products I have found I cannot live without. Pick them up and I'm sure they'll make a difference in your life too.

By the way, this is the Holy Grail to improving your skin.

For cleansing at night I use Cetaphil. I have had several doctors tell me this is the best cleanser that won't cause dryness. They were right, I'm not sure why it took years before I listened to them. Maybe because it costs less than $10?

In the morning prior to putting on my foundation (MAC Studio - more on this in a following post) I use Boots Sensitive Skin Lotion. I have never had a break out from this product nor have I had any issues with it making my foundation appear oily halfway through the day. This lotion doesn't contain an SPF, but in the winter I'm more concerned about getting some Vitamin D than I am about skin cancer. This lotion is also under $10.

The coup d'etat of my skin care regimen is Neutrogena Rapid Clear Fight and Fade gel. I cannot even begin to tell you how awesome this product is - I noticed an immediate improvement of clearer skin, less breakouts and blackheads. Seriously. Prior to this product I would fire up my heavy duty all seeing 10X magnifying mirror and pick away (I know, EW, but true). Not anymore. My skin looks great, isn't dry or red and scaly as it becomes when using prescribed RetinA. Again, less than $10 at Target and I highly suggest you run out and buy some RIGHT NOW if you're suffering adult acne. 

There you have it. A perfect skin care routine for less than $30 and all conveniently located in your nearest Target's aisles.  

Tomorrow: looking for the perfect mascara. This will be a Friday series. I don't have the answer yet, but I know it's out there, waiting for me to find it. Perfect Mascara, oh Perfect Mascara, the most important of makeup tools, where are you? And, more importantly what's your brand?

First Blog Post - Ever

You know how you go out with a girlfriend and you tell her excitedly about a good book or product you've just discovered and she must run out and buy it RIGHT NOW! Only to have her respond, "Oh. Yeah. I've been using that product, read that book, wore that athletic brand for years,etc....".

And you think to yourself, 'Well why the hell didn't you tell me so I could have gotten in on the goods sooner?'

Well, I'm aiming to be your friend who lets you in on the goods.

I've thought about writing a blog for a couple of years now. I love reading blogs, I follow several beauty and fitness blogs, but I have yet to find exactly what I am looking for, so I'm going to try and create it. 

I have no affiliation to any beauty, athletic wear or publishing companies (although I wish I did!).  What you'll get from me is the honest opinion of a Midwest consumer.

Consider me the girlfriend who is more than happy to share her secrets. I want you to be happy and successful. I'll share what I love, and maybe you'll find a shortcut to finding what you love too. Albeit easier with my help.


Welcome to my blog!