5 Beauty Products I Never Knew I Needed

Whoever said, “Less is more”, must not have been a beauty addict. In my world, more is always more… and I’m always discovering new products to add to my “Can’t Live Without” list:

1. Salux Japonese Exfoliating Washcloths
Loofah schmoofah! This nylon exfoliating washcloth is amazing for getting your skin silky-smooth. Just use it with your favorite body wash and scrub your body gently. (It’s best to use it towards the end of your shower, after the steam has had a chance to soften your skin.)

Salux Japanese Exfoliating Washcloth, $8, Amazon.com

2. Clinique Lash Building Primer
On my recent weekend trip to Arizona, everyone was asking me what mascara I use… I had just gotten a sample tube of this lash primer and have been using it under my L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara ever since. Needless to say, I will definitely be buying a full-sized tube.

Clinique Lash Building Primer, $14, Nordstrom

3. Brush Guard Makeup Brush Protector Sleeves
If you’ve ever traveled with your makeup brushes, you know how dirty and misshapen they can get from being thrown into a makeup bag. These sleeves come in different sizes to protect your brushes from getting everything else in your makeup bag all grimy and keep the bristles in tact.

The Brush Guard Makeup Brush Protector Sleeves, $5.50, thebrushguard.com

4. Laura Geller Lip Spackle
If you’ve ever tried to use super-bright lip color, like my beloved Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Anime, you know that color-bleeding is your worst enemy and can leave you looking like Bimbo the Clown. This lip color primer not only keeps your lip color exactly where you want it- it also helps your lipstick’s true color come out, instead of mixing with your natural lip color.

Laura Geller Lip Spackle Lip Primer, $24, CVS.com

5. DHC Revitalizing Moisture Strips for Eyes
These adhesive gel strips contain super-moisturizing and nourishing ingredients for the delicate skin around your eyes… use them overnight when your peepers could use a little TLC and you’ll wake up looking bright-eyed and more youthful!

DHC Revitalizing Moisture Strips for Eyes, $13 for 12, Amazon.com

Have you ever tried any of these products? Let me know if you liked them!

Trick-or-Treat Yourself to Homemade Halloween Goodies on Etsy

I love summer...but when it's 103 degrees out in October, I'm gonna get a little antsy about when I can finally start using my Fall bath and body stuff. Every year, when the seasonal Autumn bath and body products start popping up on store shelves everywhere, I get so excited for all the pumpkin and cinnamon scented goodies. Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite foods in the whole world and nothing makes me feel cozier in cooler weather than sweet, spiced, food-y lotions, shower gels, and bubble bath.

This year, I found a ton of bath and beauty confection perfection on Etsy.com:

Poison Apple Apothecary Pumpkin Marshmallow Embalming Cream, $12

More yummy products after the jump!

5 NEW Ways to Get Longer Lashes

Minnie taught me that when you bat long eyelashes you'll have boys wrapped around your little finger... ;)

I've always been obsessed with long lashes... and for good reason! They're pretty much associated with youth, sultriness, and femininity. (Hey, there's a reason Minnie has eyelashes and Mickey doesn't.) But batting your eyelashes kind of requires having long eyelashes to bat- otherwise you're just blinking.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature can be cruel. I'm cursed with short, stubby, stick-straight Asian eyelashes :( Thankfully, there are tons of products out there to help make my lashes as long and fluttery as God intended:

1. Givenchy Mister Lash Booster ($30, Sephora.com) This lash primer/transparent mascara comes in a wand with massaging bristles to help nourish your lashes from base to tip.

2. Revlon Grow Luscious Lash Liner ($7, drugstores) This super-pigmented creamy eyeliner pencil glides on as smooth as melted butter and contains ingredients that help to nourish your lashes.  

3. Cinema Secrets Lady Wink Eyelash Curler ($30, Amazon.com) This patented, funky-looking contraption won't crimp or twist your delicate lashes, or cause breakage like traditional lash curlers. You can also heat the silicone to help your curl last longer.

 

4. Outer Eyelash Curler ($18, Alconeco.com) This lash curler is designed to help give your outer lashes some extra oomph!

 

5. Preo Japanese Eyelash Curler ($25, Alconeco.com)
This eyelash curler is designed to give even the shortest, stubbiest, straightest lashes sky-high curl. You can use it on bottom or top lashes!
 

Little Luxuries by MOR Cosmetics

While I was out shopping this weekend, I discovered MOR Cosmetics' Pomegranate French-Milled Bar Soap, the most divine berry scent I've ever smelled, and bought all of the bars I could find in the store.

MOR Cosmetics Pomegranate French-Milled Bar Soap, $9 at Amazon.com

MOR is an Australian company that makes cosmetics and bath products that look and smell luxurious. Their products include body butters, lotions, soap, bath soaks, lip gloss, candles, perfume oils, scrubs, hand creams, and more. I love the cute little Lip Macarons:

MOR products would make amazing gifts because of their uber-cute packaging. You can find gift sets on their website and you can also find some of their older products at BeautyTicket.com, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's.

How to Swap Your Unwanted Beauty Products, Clothes, Shoes, and More on MakeupAlley

I swapped this top and these boots on MakeupAlley...

...for all of this! MAC, Smashbox, and NARS makeup and 3 mini perfumes

Every girl has stuff lying around that she doesn't wear or use anymore or things she bought but never ended up using. (Impulse buys are a bitch, aren't they?) When my sisters and I were young, we had these garage sales called "Sister Swap" (I know, shut up) where we gathered up all of our unwanted stuff and displayed everything out in the hallway in front of our bedrooms. Then, we bargained with each other and traded our rejects for something we wanted.

Now, it's impossible to swap stuff with my sisters because we all live in different places and we all wear completely different styles of clothing and makeup. But there are places online where I can still trade in the stuff I don't want for stuff I do want, like MakeupAlley.com. Here's how:

5 Weird Ways to Get Gorgeous

We've all tried a few unorthodox things in the name of beauty- but have you heard of these?

1. Poke your face with hundreds of tiny needles
Whoever said "Beauty is pain" wasn't kidding! A process called "dermarolling" involves rolling a tool with hundreds of needles (the length of the needles vary for depending on the results you're looking for) all over your face. The thought process behind it is that, by pricking your skin, it stimulates collagen production in those injured areas. The longer the needles, the more "injured" your skin gets and the more collagen you'll produce. A dermaroller with 1.5mm needles would be good for wrinkles, scars, and cellulite on thighs. For acne, or for making serums/treatments penetrate the skin better, you'd only need .5mm needles. Some people even use dermarollers on their scalp for hair loss. If you're interested in learning more about dermarolling, check out Dermaroller.com.

No pain, no gain?

2. Rub coffee grounds on your face to reduce bloating and bags under your eyes
We all know that drinking coffee makes you feel and look more awake and also acts as a diuretic to rid your body of excess water. But did you know that caffeine works topically as well? When you rub freshly-used coffee grounds on your face, it helps get rid of that puffy-faced look that happens when you consume too much sodium. Scientists believe that it may even help burn fat cells. Caffeine also acts as a vasoconstrictor, which means it helps shrink blood vessels- which means it'll help diminish bags under your eyes.


3. Use Monistat Chafing Relief Gel as makeup primer
One of the weirdest things I ever learned from a makeup forum was that Monistat Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder-Gel, a product meant to be rubbed on your thighs so they won't chafe, makes a great face primer. Basically, it's a silicone gel, which is the same main ingredient that gives Smashbox Photo-Finish Foundation Primer and many other popular primers their "slip". So, if you're looking for a really cheap alternative for primer, definitely try the Monistat Gel. I've tried it before and it works! Makeup applies like a dream on top of it!

Monistat Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder-Gel as Foundation Primer

4. Use a coil to rip out facial hair
Many people love threading because it quickly plucks hair out from the root, which means less stubbly regrowth, but few people can actually do threading themselves. This Bellabe hair removing coil takes the complication out of the threading process. It has foam grips on either side of the coil, and you just bend and roll it from side to side.

5. Exercise your facial muscles
Many women believe that, by strengthening certain muscles in your face, their skin gets better support, which means less sagging and wrinkles. It sounds odd to workout your face, and for good reason: most of it involves making funny faces and other methods that you should probably do in the privacy of your own bathroom (otherwise people might think you're crazy). You can find many videos and tutorials with a simple Google search of "how to exercise facial muscles"

Exercising facial muscles? She's starting young!

Orange Hair: Tolerable on Muppets, Tragic on People

My new 'do :)

I got my hair cut and highlighted yesterday! I've bleached my hair in the past, so I know that going lighter means a lot more upkeep. (Brassy hair is the worst.) To keep my hair color looking fresh, I looked up sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners that wouldn't strip the color off of my hair.

Enjoy Sulfate-Free Luxury Shampoo and Conditioner, $40, Amazon.com

Enjoy Luxury Shampoo and Conditioner have rave reviews all over the web. I don't think many people have heard of Enjoy Hair Care yet but all of their products look promising. Unfortunately, this is a salon-quality line, so it's pretty pricey, so I looked for the best prices and found them at Amazon.

5-Piece Enjoy Luxury Travel Kit, $15, SkincareChoices.com

I just ordered a Enjoy Luxury Travel Kit to test the products out before I drop a ton of money on full-sized (or even Costco-sized) bottles. I like that these products don't contain harsh sulfates, which irritate my sensitive skin, or oils, which break me out.

Ardell Red Gold Corrector Plus

To counteract any brassiness or yellowing when I get my hair highlighted, I always add a few drops of Ardell Gold Red Corrector to both the shampoo and conditioner bottles to deposit a very sheer violet-blue color (opposite of yellow-orange on the color wheel) each time I wash my hair. This helps tone my hair to keep it from looking orange.

I'd be upset, too, if my hair was that orange...

I'll write a review on the Enjoy products as soon as I can. I'm hoping that my hair will look healthy, gorgeous, and vibrant for the full 2 months until I go back to the salon :)