March Beauty Favorites

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Those of you following me on Twitter/Instagram know that I am on the brink of moving house. In fact, I am moving this coming Friday! Because of that, almost all of my stuff is packed already. Including my makeup. I’ve been living out of my makeup bag recently.

First, what bag do I use? It’s the super awesome set bag by The Kim Greene Line. The 2nd edition Essential Bag, in pink. It holds a TON of stuff. This bag is my life right now. :) It holds more than the items I’ve been using/am blogging about this month, believe it or not! Sometime I’ll do a “what’s in my makeup bag” post, but these are the creme de la creme. ;)

Complexion

My usual foundation if I am going to wear any is Urban Decay Naked Skin. This stuff is so flawless. I love it. It actually comes light enough for my pale ass self (I wear shade .5!), and it feels weightless once it’s on. My bottle is almost empty, and I’ve already made sure I have a second one to start using as soon as I unpack it. It’s a little on the pricey side, but one bottle will last quite a while since a little goes a long way! ($39, Sephora)

Along with the UD foundation I have been wearing Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Skin concealer in shade Y0. It’s perfect for spots as it blends naturally and wears like iron. Win! ($20, Sephora)

Cheeks

This month’s cheek looks can pretty much always be attributed to The Makeup Show LA and NARS. Both of my favorites are NARS products and I got both of them at The Makeup Show. I’ve been using the new Contour Blush in Paloma ($42, NARS), the lightest shade for contour & highlight. For a color, I am in love with the new blush shade “Love” ($30, NARS). It’s like a non-shimmery Deep Throat. Let’s be honest though, I’ve never met a NARS blush I didn’t like. As per usual, the gals at the NARS booth at TMSLA were very supportive of my crazy NARS addiction very helpful in helping me make my purchases.

Eyes

Since I still get up at the crack of dawn (just a few more days of that! yay!), my eye makeup has been pretty simple. I like the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette because it’s completely idiot-proof, no-brainer eye makeup. I go over the lid with Naked 2, the crease and/or outer V with Faint, and highlight with Walk of Shame. Boom. Done. Sometimes if I wanna get fancy I will do the crease with Faint and the outer V with a mix of Faint and Creep (mostly Faint, little tiny bit of Creep). I can line my eyes with Creep or Faint, so then all I have to do is add mascara and I have a complete eye look with one little palette. Seriously, it might be basics, but they’re AWESOME basics. ($28, Sephora)

I’ve also been sort of addicted to the Make Up For Ever Aqua Color  in 20E. It’s a pinky taupey basic BROWNISH shade with shine/shimmer finish. It’s one of those shades you can just pop over the lid, blend out, and be DONE with it if you want to. And I have, many times. Or other times I’ve incorporated it into a Naked Basics look to add a little ‘oomf’ to the mattes in that palette. ($20, Sephora)

You all know from my review that I am madly in love with the Kevyn Aucoin lash curler. I’ve been using it every day. Want more info? Read my review. ;) ($21, Nordstrom)

Also getting lots of love and previously reviewed? Maybelline The Rocket mascara. LOVE LOVE. Still love. I haven’t loved a mascara this much since I tried that ungodly-expensive Hourglass Film Noir. And Maybelline is MUCH friendlier on the wallet! Check out my review. ($6.99 at Drugstore.com)

Also at The Makeup Show LA, I picked up another Senna Sketch-a-Brow. Brows you can literally throw on in 5 seconds? Yes please. This time I’m actually wearing the shade “Blonde”, which is not too light. It’s just more ashy than the Brunette shade. I’m always really impressed with how these pencils wear, too. They wear like iron! A very important quality in an eyebrow pencil, I say.

Lips

I have been living in 3 shades of Revlon ColorBurst Balm Stain virtually non-stop all month. They’re really hydrating, and the color does leave a light stain. Moreso for the brighter colors, but even for the lighter more neutral colors too. The three I’ve had in rotation are Sweetheart, Honey, and Precious. Sweetheart is a bright bright pink. This one is the most staining of the three. Honey is a rosy pink. Precious is a pinkish beige nude. ($7-$9 depending on the drugstore you go to, $8.99 at Drugstore.com)

So those are my favorites… what are yours?

New Brow Products from NARS

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In addition to the color collection launching later this month, NARS is debuting a collection of new brow products! You know I love brows, so of course NARS + brows = must-have! 

Brow Perfector is described as a “velvety” brow pencil that allows you to fill in your brows with the perfect matte color and texture. It has an oval shape for more control, which intrigues me! It comes in 4 shades and retails for $22. The shades are…

Suriname – Black
Caucase – Brown
Kalamata – Light Brown
Salzbourg – Blonde

NARS Suriname Brow Perfector - hi resNARS Caucase Brow Perfector - hi resNARS Kalamata Brow Perfector - hi resNARS Salzbourg Brow Perfector - hi res

Along with Brow Perfector, NARS launches its glossy Brow Gel, which comes in 3 colored shades as well as clear, and retails for $22. The shades are…

Kinshasha – Dark Brown
Piraeus – Medium Brown
Athens – Blonde
Oural – Clear

NARS Brow Gel - hi res

Any of the new NARS brow products catching your eye?

MAC Art of the Eye Collection Info & Photos

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MAC Art of the Eye Collection

Launches 5/2/2013 at all North America MAC locations/counters. (Probably online 4/30/13)
Mid-May launch internationally.

[Read more…]

Got My Brows Done by Eugenia Weston

Hey! I’m blogging from my hotel room at IMATS LA (yes, I got a room – I ain’t driving back and forth between OC and Pasadena every day!!! HELL NO.) and I just haaaaad to share this with you all. I got my eyebrows done by Eugenia Weston!!!!!! For those of you who don’t know who she is, let me educate you!

Eugenia Weston is the founder of Senna Cosmetics! Senna has been around since ’76 and was the first line to ever launch a brow kit with stencils, their Form-a-Brow. They’re truly brow EXPERTS. Eugenia Weston herself is an Emmy-nominated makeup artist and all around eyebrow genius. Not to mention a truly delightful person! I met her last weekend in Chicago, and met up with her again here in LA where she did my eyebrows for me! YAY!! I needed it really bad. My eyebrows were a hot mess. In just minutes she transformed my scraggly brows to gorgeous, arched to perfection goodness! Weeeeeee! The amount of arch she was able to get out of my brows astounds me. I snapped the photo above on the show floor right after she was finished.

Wanna know what’s on the rest of my face? Okay, I’ll tell you.

Face – MAC Studio Fix powder in N3, TheBalm Time Balm concealer in Lighter Than Light

Cheeks – Senna Sheer Face Color powder blush in Clarity (this is from their latest collection -gorg!), Senna Sheer Face Color powder blush in Enlighten (a pale beige highlight)

Eyes – I know it’s hard to see, but I did a look with some shadows from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. I used Bootycall, Chopper, YDK, Busted, and a tiny bit of Blackout. I think that’s all of it. Maybe. haha… Oh and I used Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadow in 30E as a base. LOVE THOSE THINGS. The ridiculously amazing crayons coming out of the makeup world these days is so cool. On my lashes is Maybelline Great Lash (with the Lots of Lashes brush).

Lips – Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle

Oh and loads of Skindinavia makeup finishing spray. Loads. Tons. Take my word for it. ;) How can I say no to hair spray for my face? More fun IMATS stuff will be coming soon…and also fun stuff from The Makeup Show Chicago! lol I haven’t even had a chance to blog that yet because I have been so dang busy this week. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all INSANE days at work.  :)

February Favorites

Hello hello everyone! It’s MARCH, so that means it’s time to talk about FEBRUARY. Err, in other words, my favorites from February. Woot!

Favorite Hair Products


Um realistically my favorite hair product in February was my beloved Stephanie, aka Awesome Colorist, but since calling her a product is kind of rude, I’ll go with the kind that are in bottles!

Ahh the precious. I have talked about the Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Overnight Hair Rescue (long enough name for ya?) before, but it is basically like an intensive night cream for your hair. You put it in at night and then wash it out in the morning. I love it! My hair has been dry (because really I’m overdue for a trim) and this doesn’t make it go away completely (needing a trim is cured by, -gasp- getting a trim) but it really helps. Now, no lies this stuff is expensive, so it’s definitely a splurge item. ($35 at Sephora or Ulta)
Another favorite of mine recently has been the Wen Cleansing Conditioner in Winter Vanilla Mint. This scent was limited edition around holiday, so I’m sorry for talking about it now, but I just now have really been using it the past month, give or take. I already used up a bottle of the Sweet Almond Mint last fall, and reviewed it for Stylebell. I love Wen Cleansing Conditioners! They don’t weigh my fine hair down and they really make it feel bouncy and healthy. The Winter Vanilla Mint smells like candies, and if I had to point out any flaws it’s just that it makes me hungry. (Available at QVC – $29)

Favorite Skin Products

I haven’t really been doing a whole lot differently with my skin. Still using either Caudalie’s foaming cleanser or my Neaclear. I’m also still using The Body Shop’s Vitamin E moisturizers (love love love love love!). But as I’m wearing more makeup lately, I’m adding a few things that help makeup “play nice” with my skin.

I’m still learning how to deal with my dry skin. For years I had oily skin, and I’ve really only had dry skin for the past year or so. It’s a whole new experience! I took for granted that I never had the problem of my skin looking too matte. Now, even on days where I’m not wearing any makeup, I like to go over my whole face with MAC Strobe Liquid. It’s just a thin, slightly hydrating lotion that has a very pretty pearly pink luminescent quality. It gives my face that natural glow that has since left me along with my overactive oil producing skin, lol. I’ve also been using my MAC Fix+ more, as it takes down the powderiness of face powders. (Strobe Liquid and Fix+ are available from MAC for $30 and $20 respectively.)


Favorite Color Products

Wee! The fun part! Like I said, I’ve been wearing more makeup lately. I made you a collage!
These are all the things I’ve been feeling much love for over the past month. I’ve been wearing very little in the way of foundation or concealer, but I do sometimes wear a little MAC Mineralized SkinFinish Natural just to even out my complexion. Sometimes you just wake up looking a little blotchy, yanno? Yeah.  And NARS Laguna is a staple product that I’m obsessed with because it adds warmth/glow without looking orange or dirty. (MSFN is $29 at MAC; NARS Laguna is $34 at Sephora)
The drugstore lip products are killing it right now, and I’ve been wearing my Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipglosses and Revlon Lip Butters pretty much exclusively day to day. Revlon Lip Butters are another one of those products that have been getting a ton of hype lately, and they’re TOTALLY worth it. I have three (Creamsicle, Candy Apple, and Sweet Tart) and I LOVE THEM. I was just saying on Twitter that I want more. :) (Price varies on these from drugstore to drugstore.)
I’ve been on a bit of a NARS Eye Shadow kick, using the heck out of my Doceurs de Paris palette and my Best of NARS palette, particularly a couple shades from the Kalahari and All About Eve duos. But as usual, I’m using drugstore mascara. Rimmel ScandalEyes is my lash of choice lately. It’s really dramatic. It’s not my absolute favorite mascara, but I like it. I will be reviewing it more in-depth soon. If you liked MaxFactor 2000 Calorie mascara but are living in the states and can’t get it anymore, try Rimmel ScandalEyes. I think you’d like it. For my brows, I still love my Billion Dollar Brows brow powder (holy grail!) but I have been really liking the new Senna Cosmetics Sketch-a-Brow pencil too. The effect is very natural-looking and it’s so simple to use. (NARS eye shadows vary in price at NARS; Rimmel ScandalEyes will vary depending on the drugstore, and Sketch-a-Brow is $18 from Senna Cosmetics)
I just realized I completely forgot another product when I was making my collage!
The Magic Hair Pad is one of those genius inventions that makes you think “why didn’t I think of that?!”. The concept is super simple– it’s a square of velcro. Really. That’s all it is. But you press it into your hair to hold it out of place while doing makeup, washing your face, doing a facial mask, etc. GENIUS. The picture shows black, but they come in pink too. I like them so much sometimes I will sport one just to hold my bangs out of place while I’m hanging out around the house. Not the most fashionable statement, but the rest of my outfit usually consists of flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top when I’m doing this, so I have thrown fashion to the wind at that point. ;) But pretty much any girl with hair needs to own these. I think that’s most of you. (Available in a pack of 2 for $7 at MagicHairPad.com)









Samples of some products mentioned here were sent by PR for consideration.
All opinions are my own, and not sponsored by any brand/company.
No compensation was received for including these products as favorites.
Disclaimers are fun to type because they are super tiny and stuff. xoxo <3

It Cosmetics Favorites

Okay so. I wanted to get this brand on everyone’s radar if it isn’t already. The “IT” in IT Cosmetics stands for Innovative Technology, and so far I’m really liking what I’m seeing! I’ve been playing with and wearing several IT products for a while now, and I will be going more in-depth on each one in the future, but I just wanted to introduce them all to you in one place. 
These products are available at QVC, Beauty.com, Beauty 360, and of course their own website. QVC has lots of good sets that will save you some money, and who can’t use a little savings these days yeah? 
A couple of my favorite IT Cosmetics products are available for a really good price on QVC as a set. They are the Bye Bye Pores HD finishing powder and the accompanying Heavenly Brush. Normally the powder is $24 and the brush is $48, but you can get the set at QVC for $38.
Now I know there are tons of HD powders on the market right now since HD is the marketing buzz word of the year, but I really like this one. It is formulated to have anti-aging benefits as well as make you look airbrushed. And then there’s the brush. Oh. The. Brush. It’s called the Heavenly Brush for a reason people. It’s a super dense synthetic brush with an oh-so-luxe soft touch handle (the lid to the powder is a soft touch finish too). 
The next one had me really skeptical at first because anything that is “universal” immediately makes me pause. Universal? But there are so many different faces! All I know is this product works for me, and for my personal stash I guess that’s all that really matters…so, behold the Brow Power Universal Brow Pencil!
It claims to match any brow, but what I do notice is it actually is brown enough on me and not red. So many dark brown brow products go red on me. The attached spoolie is nice too. The pencil is formulated with ingredients to help your condition and grow your brows, but I haven’t been using it often or long enough to know if it’s helping. QVC sells this bad boy with another product called the Brow Power Lift that I have also been enjoying. It’s a dual-ended highlighter (matte & pearl) in a fleshy tone used to highlight and define the brows.
Those are my favorite items from IT Cosmetics, though they’re not the only ones I will be reviewing. There are some simply glorious eye shadow trios too that I just love (neutral loving gals will swoon!) as well as an eye shadow primer. 
Samples provided for editorial purposes.

June Favorites & Un-Favorites

It’s that time again…! Favorites time! I hope all of you who are in the U.S. are having a safe & fun holiday weekend so far; the boyfriend and I will be going down to San Diego on Monday for fireworks and yummies by the beach with his family, but we’re starting the celebration early by grilling some burgers tomorrow with my family. If you’re going to be outside, remember the sunscreen!

So lets talk about the products that I reached for the most in June, or just enjoyed a lot during the past month.

Skincare

With all of the events I went to in June I wanted my skin to look its best, so I was using my Clarisonic Pro religiously all month. I have been using it about every other day or every third day, with a gentle cleanser by LeAine Dehmer. On the days I wasn’t using the Clarisonic, I used my beloved Caudalie foaming cleanser! I can always tell when I have been slacking off with my Clarisonic because my skin stays so nice and clear when I use it. I’ve also been relying on Renee Rouleau Anti Cyst Treatment as a preventive measure, using it just occasionally on my chin, where I’m most prone to those ouchy breakouts. Special occasions call for special products though, and with that in mind I used a couple masks (just once and a while) to pamper my skin – Bliss Triple Oxygen Mask and Lush’s Bb Seaweed mask, which is a delightfully soothing concoction you can only get in stores.

Makeup

I haven’t been wearing foundation much at all unless I’m going to an event, because it’s been so hot I didn’t even want to bother. I will say that Skindinavia’s makeup finishing spray kept my face looking great without breaking me out! It was my little secret weapon for IMATS, along with Cover FX Clearprep FX primer. I wore different foundations throughout June, but one thing I still used very frequently is Tarte’s illuminating serum. I reviewed it and raved about it, and I’m still sort of obsessed with this stuff. I guess technically that’s a skincare product, but I think of it as makeup because I get a tiny bit of sheer coverage from it. Not so much even coverage actually, but it just seems to blur any imperfections or slight unevenness I have going on.

I have one makeup un-favorite, and that’s Hourglass Superficial Lash mascara. I loooooove Film Noir mascara, but Superficial Lash was a letdown. It doesn’t give me the oomph of Film Noir. :(

Favorite Tips of the Month


Fill in those brows!    Pro makeup artist Donna Mee suggests that if you are filling in patchy brows, to fill against the direction of the hair. Why? Because the product will adhere better to your skin that way, and not the scant few hairs you’re trying to amplify. It makes filling in a patchy brow much easier, and then when you brush through your brows to neaten them and blend the brow product with a spoolie, you aren’t brushing all your work away.

Lash combs are your friend!    A good lash comb is an essential part of any makeup kit. I’ve seen gals separate their lashes with needles, thumb tacks, and safety pins. Scary! Get a metal or plastic one with the skinniest teeth you can find, like this one from Royal & Langnickel or this one from Tweezerman. They’re easier to hold so you won’t poke yourself. But how to clean them, you ask? Don’t just try to pull the clumps of dried mascara off. You’ll end up ripping the teeth out of your lash comb and ruining it. Instead, I wet the comb with makeup remover and then use dental floss to get the yuckies out. Piece of cake!

Non-Beauty Favorite

Oh my gosh. iPhone users, I’ve had an obsession lately with a game called Word Shaker. If you like word games, especially word searches, you’ll love this one! Check it out in the apple store on your iphones. I just have the free version, but you can pay to get the version w/o ads too. This game is a source of hours of entertainment, sadly. I am so addicted.

My Eyebrow Evolution

My eyebrows. Oh my goodness. They have really been through the ringer, style-wise. I am one of those oh so fortunate people to have naturally heinous eyebrows. They’re not terribly bushy, but naturally they just don’t have much shape. They’d take over my face with strays slowly over time if I let them. Observe:

My “virgin” eyebrow – age 14. My freshman class photo. Ugh!
In high school, I discovered tweezers. The first time I plucked my eyebrows was like a gateway drug or something. I plucked and plucked until my little eyebrows were almost gone– which by the way is NOT a good look for ANYONE. Witness the painful aftermath…
Just a year later, what the hell happened? This is my sophomore class photo.
Just as a warning to you all, the damage I did took years to grow back. YEARS. Do not let this be you, lol. Over the next few years I let them grow out again, cautiously. The part closest to the bridge of my nose would not grow in. That took a few more years.
Me at 18 (or freshly 19, I forget which). My brows had grown back, but I was afraid to pluck them again so they didn’t have a whole lot of arch. Flat certainly beats plucked into oblivion though, no? p.s. I love that hair. I will get it back…
My 21st birthday – brows still not fully grown back in.
By the time I turned 21 most of my eyebrow woes changed. The front part of my brows (the part closest to the bridge of my nose) still wouldn’t grow back in. I turned to filling in my brows, now generally knowing “sort of” where they were supposed to be. Except I wasn’t very good at it, and ended up with brows that looked kinda like tadpoles, or -ahem- sperm. Not cute. I had a tough time finding something that looked okay on my eyebrows too. So many things I tried pulled really red. But at least by this time I knew where my brows should go, and had embraced a fuller brow. The color thing remained an issue, but hey, my brows looked good in black and white!
Somewhere between age 21 and 22 I settled on using the Shu Uemura Hard Pencil in Seal Brown as my brow color, and things improved dramatically. It was still sort of easy for me to get carried away when filling in, but at least the color finally matched. I also found a fantastic brow lady, who was able to give me a really great shape and help me get better at filling them in.
Finally getting somewhere!
Then one day, I was listening to Adam Carolla’s morning show on the radio (back when he was actually on the radio), some gals from a brow studio in Beverly Hills were visiting his famous unibrow in the studio. The name stuck with me because it was cute – Billion Dollar Brows. They sell a brow (and now lash) serum to help overplucked brows grow back. I tucked it into a corner of my memory for later. 
Then IMATS happened. My very first IMATS, that is. It was in 2009. I actually had my brows done by the girls at the Billion Dollar Brows booth! And it was love. Their brow powder in Taupe and brow brush have been by my side ever since that summer. I’ve tried other products, even some that I like (like the MAC Impeccable brow pencil in Taupe, for example), but I always end up going back to this amazing brow powder & brush combo. It’s so good because…
  • perfect match
  • looks natural (can go on existing brow hairs or on skin for areas that are bare/overplucked -ahem-)
  • brush is the perfect size/shape for brows
  • stays put (even when I don’t use brow gel)
  • lasts forever (I have been using this product almost daily since summer of ’09. I have barely made a dent in my pot of brow powder. This will last me for AGES!)

Which brings me to my modern day brows. :) Finally at 24 I have brows that look like they belong on my face (and like the whole thing belongs to me, instead of being able to tell where I’ve filled in so easily). Of course I still have off days (like the day my hand slipped and I trimmed part of one brow way too short!), but at least now I know what I’m doing!
I’ve become a bit of a brow perfectionist these days. I think a good pair of brows can really make or break the face! 
My total eyebrow arsenal:
  • ELF Tweezers (For some reason they changed the design. The OLD ones were good. The NEW ones suck really bad!) or Tweezerman Hot For Dots mini tweezers (these are SO cute and little and very good!)
  • Neosporin pain relief cream (I use this religiously every time I tweeze to lessen the irritation after tweezing. It also helps prevent post-tweezing breakouts!)
  • Billion Dollar Brows brow powder in Taupe
  • Billion Dollar Brows brow brush
  • Anastasia Brow Gel (This is a splurge item as it’s quite costly for what it is. When I run out, I will go back to using Maybelline Great Lash in Clear, even though I think the Anastasia stuff is great.)
  • Brow Scissors (I got some little pink ones in my local Japanese supermarket, so I can’t tell you the brand sorry!)
And that’s pretty much it! If you want a tutorial or how-to post on how I actually maintain my brows, let me know in the comments! I have not had my brows done professionally since late 2009 for a special event. I do it all on my own now!

Unwanted Facial Hair

Hey everyone!

I got a note in my suggestion box asking me how I get rid of unwanted facial hair and how long it lasts me, so dear reader (who sent the suggestion anonymously, so that’s all I can call them), here is your answer!

First of all I’m really only concerned with 2 things: my brows, and sometimes my upper lip. I don’t have much of an issue with the peach fuzz some gals have on their cheeks, and thankfully for me those crazy chin hairs that some women get with age are still a bit far on the horizon for me. I do have suggestions for those issues though and I’ll add them in with my recommendations below. :)

Eye Brows

I have insane brows. Genetics bless us in awesome ways sometimes, and not so awesome in other ways. I got my dad’s good hair and mom’s big expressive eyes, but I also inherited a crappy metabolism (really mom, why can’t I have yours????)  and some crazy eyebrows. They’re crazy in that they have very little natural shape. Left to their own devices my ‘eyebrows’ would cover half my face, I think. They’re just creative, I guess…not the color in the lines type. So yes, I have strays all over the place and a “unibrow” area that need tending to on a very regular basis. My weapon of choice is:

Semi-regular threading. I get this done at a threading studio local to me. I reviewed it on Yelp, so you can find the review on my Beauty Destinations widget over on the sidebar on the right if you are in Orange County and looking for a great threading studio. Threading is a very old Middle Eastern technique for getting rid of unwanted facial hair where the hairs are pulled out using a piece of thread. There are tons of videos on Youtube about how to do it yourself, but I’d prefer to let the experts handle it. It costs $8. Like most beauty procedures there is an up side and a down side. Pros are: no hot wax that could burn you, cheap, fast, easy to get a precise shape, significantly less irritation/redness afterwards. The catch? It hurts! A lot! Like waxing the first few times are the worst and it gets progressively easier, but it is painful. Luckily the pain doesn’t last very long. Just suck it up and get ‘er done! I only have my brows threaded, but you can have your face/lip etc. threaded as well. I’m just too much of a wuss for my lip and don’t need anything else.

How Often: Every 3-4 months. I can go this long between threadings because I maintain with trimming and tweezing when necessary. My E.L.F. tweezers (all 3 pairs!) are my lifesavers. They’re great little slant tweezers that really get all the hairs, and they only cost $1 a pair. For trimming I’m ashamed to say I use desk scissors. But this is VERY dangerous. Do not follow my lead. Use little tiny cuticle scissors or something. MUCH safer.

Upper Lip

The upper lip thing mostly started as me being overly self conscious and a little bit nuts. I mean really I don’t need to worry about this, but it makes me feel better so why not, right? It’s just a little lip grooming and if it makes you feel good, go for it. For getting rid of the little hairs on my upper lip I like…

Hair removal cream. I got a box from Sally’s for a few bucks. It contains baby oil and some other soothing ingredients. I swipe a little on the desired area for hair removal, let it sit as many minutes as it says on the directions (I think it’s 5?) and then rinse it off with cold water. It’s easy, effective, and totally painless. The reason I prefer to do this for my upper lip is this area is particularly sensitive to waxing and threading, and for me I am prone to break out in this area when I thread or wax it.

How Often: Every 4 months or longer. Like I said, the hair here is very fine and just being honest, not very noticeable. I’m just a spaz and I like to get rid of it.

Other Areas

If you are interested in getting rid of hair in other areas (such as cheeks, the “sideburn” area, or maybe your chin), I highly recommend the Lindo Twist ‘n Roll Tweezers I reviewed semi-recently. They are PERFECT for this. It hurts a little bit and takes some getting used to, but it really is simple and very effective. Or try the cream I mentioned from Sally’s. That’s about as easy as it gets and it is very effective.

Post Hair-Removal Care

A lot of people don’t like to mess with their facial hair because after removing it they might break out or have irritation. The skin on the face is very sensitive and delicate, so this issue is common. Here are my tips to avoid it.

– Start with a CLEAN face and hands. Even better is after the shower. For some reason hair comes away easier after being in a steamy shower.

– If you’re tweezing or using a facial threading device, make sure to keep those clean as well.

– If you experience redness or irritation after hair removal, apply a soothing topical such as azuline oil (available at most beauty supply stores), witch hazel, or noni gel. I do not recommend aloe vera even though it’s very soothing in general just because whenever I get it near my eyes they water like nobody’s business.

– If you don’t want to purchase another product to soothe irritation with, or for severe redness, soak a cotton ball with cold milk and apply to the affected area.

– If you are removing hair with threading or tweezing it is possible to open your skin a little which will bleed a tiny bit. If this occurs, clean the area thoroughly and apply polysporin.

– I actually prefer to apply polysporin to the entire area after I’ve done hair removal. I swear by it for preventing post hair removal breakouts. Every time I get lazy and skip that, those red bumps appear. D’oh!

Hope all of that info really helps you with your grooming and primping. :) If you have any tricks or tips, let me know in the comments!

Get Billion Dollar Brows

I used to be a huge fan of Adam Carolla’s radio show on Free FM out here in so-cal until Free FM went away and was replaced by a Top 40 station.

What does this have to do with Billion Dollar Brows? Everything. That’s where I first heard of them. They appeared on his radio show to wax his major unibrow. You can even listen to the audio of the show at BDB’s website (highly recommended– hilarious!). Billion Dollar Brows is a California-based company and brow salon with their own unique product line.

For a long time I just kind of tucked the knowledge away. Then I saw BDB at this past year’s IMATS LA. I went over to investigate. I actually sat in their demo chair, so if you were there on the first day, you might have seen me sitting up there getting my brows did. I hope not though, because my hair was a godawful mess!! :P Either way, I was immediately impressed. I’m always skeptical when someone says “most people will use X color”. Almost all brow powders look too red on me and don’t match, and since my brows use a bit of filling, it looks really patchy and fake. However, I could see that taupe was a great match.

I learned a new technique, too. My brow artist taught me that when you fill your brows, you should start with the center of your brow at the arch when the product is fresh on the brush because that’s where your brows are naturally the thickest (or should be anyway, hehe), and then fill in the front bit with whatever’s left on your brush so it doesn’t look too harsh. It was like I had a brow enlightenment. Instead of shaping my brows from the front and then scribbling my arch somewhere in there and having it look wonky, I now do the arch first. Putting the arch in first makes figuring out where the rest goes much easier!
In case you’re wondering, yes, I was sent BDB products to try, but I wouldn’t have even wanted them if I hadn’t already experienced that brow makeover at IMATS. I’ve been using the brow powder for a few months now, along with their spiffy brow brush seen here:
The combination of this brush and the brow powder plus a tiny smidgeon of brow gel is pretty magical. In fact, I hate to say it, but I’ve barely touched my Shu Uemura brow pencil since I got this stuff. Yeah, seriously. I mean no one has sung the praises of Shu’s brow pencil more than I have, and yet this brow powder lead me astray in about a day. 
I did receive BDB’s brow gel, but while it works pretty well it’s not quite as good as Anastasia’s. However, Anastasia’s is $21. For brow gel. Um, right. The tube I have I got at some ridiculous discount when Bliss was having a major sale. It’s not something I’d normally spend any amount of money on. In fact, BDB’s brow gel is $12 and I probably wouldn’t pay that either. Anastasia’s brow gel is damn awesome. Your brows won’t budge. But $21. Not sure I can justify.
So, do you need this? The brow powder abso-freaking-lutely. It’s $16, and it will last you ages and ages. I mean I use mine every single day and there’s the slightest little dip in it in the middle and that’s all. The brush? It’s great, but if you already have a brow brush you like, maybe not. The brow gel? Honestly, just use clear mascara, or spritz a tiny bit of hair spray on a spoolie brush and brush it through your brows. If someone offers you a free tube of brow gel by all means go for it, but it’s definitely not a product anyone needs to splurge on. 
Oh, and here’s what the brow powder looks like on: