Saturday, February 10, 2007

I'm Baaaaaaaack

Hello out there to those of you who have been visiting my little blog!

I'm sorry I haven't updated for what seems like ages. I promise I'm not neglecting you! I have been swamped with school work, a little bit of relationship turbulance, and a nasty cold! Ahh! Hopefully I'll be back to normal towards the end of this week when I'll be off to sunny Florida for four brief but glorious days (a big change from the bitterly cold and drab state of West Viriginia)!

Soon I hope to do a post on "drugstore beauty." Though I love, love, love almost all of the higher-end brands, I also enjoy discovering fantasticly cheap and effective drugstore products that make a big impact on beauty! A few of the products I will be discussing are: Listerine Pre-Brush Whitening Rinse, N.Y.C. Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil, and Jane Shimmering Bronzer.

That being said, do you have a favorite drugstore product that stands up to even your most prized Sephora (or department store) possession? Leave your comments and please
stay tuned! : )

Monday, February 5, 2007

LUSH to Love




So - I don't know if I have very many readers at this very early stage of this little blog's history...but for the readers that I do have, the following post was written by my friend, Geoff. Geoff and I attended middle school/high school together and though we weren't very close back then, we have recently re-discovered one another due to our mutual love of literature, celebrity gossip, and beauty products! He will be contributing to this blog from time to time or whenever the mood strikes him. He really seems to know his stuff (he is an NYU grad afterall...), so please welcome him with open arms! : )
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The idea of organic cosmetics has become appealing in recent years much in the same way that organic food has. But as a fallen vegetarian (who grudgingly scorned tofu for a whole three months and stuck mostly to candy), let me suggest that an organic beauty regimine is much easier to follow than an organic diet.

One of the foremost purveyors of handmade, natural cosmetics is the LUSH brand. Even though its stores are not as ubiquitous as say, Sephora, all LUSH products can be ordered online at www.lush.com — and if you’re willing to make the trek, there is usually at least one LUSH store in every major city.

Walking into a LUSH store, one is overwhelmed by sights and scents. Product names and ingredient lists are scrawled onto chalkboards. Hunks of soap, large and craggy as rocks, reside on countertops. Perishable facemasks are stored in a miniature fridge. It’s like stepping into a mad scientist’s lab, or Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

I was introduced to LUSH about five years ago, and have used their products regularly ever since. And although LUSH makes hundreds of products for every conceivable beauty need, here are a few favorites:

Fresh Farmacy Cleansing Bar — Calms oily, acne-prone, or irritated skin with calamine. Solid pink cleansing bar topped with Marigold flower shavings. Gets rid of redness quicker than anything I’ve ever tried, and face feels tightly clean after washing.

Dream Time Temple Balm
— Massage this stuff into your temples before bedtime, and you’ll wake up the next morning with a lavender-scented pillow. I’ve heard people swear by this balm with more allegiance than sleeping pills.

Black Tooth Gel
— Deliciously flavored tooth gel, made with citrus and Indian sandalwood. It’s black because charcoal, not fluoride, is the active cleaning agent. Teeth are literally “squeaky” after brushing, and much whiter.

Aromaco Deodorant Bar
— Citrus and patchouli-scented antiperspirant bar that has a very natural, hippie-ish smell. Cools underarms, and the scent stays with you all day, which is a good thing. You’ll never go back to regular deodorant again.

Cynthia Sylvia Stout Shampoo - Perfect for dry or thick hair, or for anyone who likes that slept-in, slightly oily look. Contains actual Irish Stout and cognac oil— but you won’t smell like an alchie— plus fresh lemon juice for shine.

- Geoff
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Though I've never tried any of the products Geoff has raved about, I have been in a few LUSH stores, and they are, as Geoff has described, lots of fun. The staff is very helpful (at least at the store in Covent Garden, London) and they have tons of testers so you can always try before you buy. Some of my picks from LUSH include the Bath Bombs (especially the Butterball), Bath Melts, and the Ocean Salt facial scrub. If you order from the LUSH website, pay special attention to their shipping policies. Because many of their products are made with natural ingredients, they may melt, harden, discolor, etc. - but the wesbite will inform you of their shipping suggestions for their various products.

Also, LUSH puts out a ridiculously fun and interesting "newsletter"/catalogue chock full of product descriptions, customer raves, usage suggestions, and cute illustrations.

If you can get to a store, do it! If not, check out the website!

(Again, thanks so much to Geoff for this review!)

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Pleasingly Plump




I admit it. I’m a huge sucker for lip plumpers (pun intended!) Though I have yet to find one that truly gives me that Angelina pout, I’m always anxious to try the newest plumper on the market. Some of my absolute favorites come from TheBalm’s Plump Your Pucker line. With a wide range of shades and flavors, TheBalm plumping glosses offer more fun than function. The site claims that the glosses contain the mysterious “Maxi Lip” ingredient, which is supposed to promote plumping action over a series of thirty days. Hmmm. That’s just too long a wait for me, and I don’t think I’ve ever used the same lip gloss religiously for an entire month - not even glosses that I consider to be my favorites!

However, the glosses have many redeeming qualities, such as cute names and yummy tastes/fragrances. The name of each gloss coincides with its shade and flavor. My three favorites are Cocoa My Coconut (a sheer pinky nude that smells and tastes like chocolate coconut), Water My Melon (a clear watermelon pink with a hint of shimmer), and Spike My Punch (a clear cherry red stain). I was at Sephora a few weeks ago, and I tested Strawberry My Shortcake, and I loved it. It’s a pretty baby pink color with a healthy dose of shimmer – along the lines of Stila’s It Gloss. They neither sting/burn (like DuWop's Lip Venom, Too Faced Lip Injection, and Urban Decay's Big Fatty) nor numb the lips (like LipFusion and Urban Decay’s Blow Lip Plumper). I’m not sure how I would describe the sensation, but it’s more of a tingly, cooling, minty sort of feel. Normally I like the stuff that stings (that’s how you know it’s working!) but I hate the clown-mouth look that those types of plumpers give after the gloss has worn off (with the exception of Lip Venom, the true original, and in my opinion, the best clear plumper!) These glosses are both affordable and immensely enjoyable – and as most of us know, boyfriends and husbands always love glosses that taste sweet! (And for anyone who reads The Beauty Addict, these glosses aren’t nearly as tacky as the adjective-happy Dessert Beauty glosses, so you won’t feel embarrassed to pull them outta your makeup bag for a mid-day touch up!). $14 @ Sephora.com

Oh, and if you look under “Airplane Approved Beauty” at the Sephora website, I believe TheBalm also has miniature Plump Your Pucker lip gloss trios. Each set contains three similar shades, such as “nudes” and “reds.” $21.