Best Beauty Gifts for Mother’s Day

Okay so Mother’s Day is not quite a week away. Do you have a present yet? I’ll admit it – I don’t! It’s kind of one of those things that I remember only when I run in to the grocery store and see a big sign in the floral department reminding me. So since I’m a last minute shopper, and you might be too, here are my picks from the beauty world for mama. Also, as an added bonus, all of these things are available in an actual store. Because you might not want to wait for something to get shipped. We’re such slackers.

For The Techy Mama foreoheroIf your mama loves a nifty gadget, run– don’t walk (wait, who ever walks anywhere?) to your nearest Sephora and grab her a Foreo Luna. Okay come on you knew that was coming if you’ve read this blog before. I love the damn thing. It’s a gazillion times better than the Clarisonic because it’s way more sanitary and way more gentle. There’s also no add-on cost since you do not need to go out and buy brush heads. However, the initial up-front cost is $199. Ain’t your mama worth it?

Conair-Infiniti-Pro

 

Another great gift idea for your techy mama at a more affordable price point is the Conair Infiniti Pro hair dryer (available for around $30 at Ulta). This dryer comes with 2 different concentrator attachments, include a cold shot, and packs quite a punch in the power department. Not wild about the orange color? Ulta also carries a cobalt blue version, and a limited edition pink (may not be available everywhere).

For Mama Who Loves a Classic chanelIf your mom is a classic beauty who loves timeless, fail-safe beauty items, you can’t go wrong with Chanel. Head on over to your local Nordstrom and hit up your Chanel counter! The Chanel Le Brilliant Glossimer Duo is a perfect gift. It includes 2 Glossimers (the most luxurious lip gloss there is!) in Crushed Cherry and Wild Rose, along with a lip liner in Nude and a sharpener. They all come in a cute little zipper bag emblazoned with Chanel Beaute. The whole set runs you $64.00.

For Mama Who Loves Manisnail-polish-resort-2014-collection-mini-cube-4x-5ml-p8585-35047_image

Got a manicure-loving mama? Nail kits are the way to go. Ulta has the Essie Resort cube. It’ll run you $17.00 for 4 pretty minis. While you’re there, pick her up a bottle of Zoya Remove+. She’ll thank you later.

For The Girly Girl Mama

lavieIf mom loves all things pink and girly and feminine, she’ll love Lancome’s La Vie Est Belle. It’s a new version of an old favorite, and it’s divine. Depending on the size bottle you get, it runs $58 to $98 at Ulta (and lots of other places).

All that said, mom, if you’re reading this — none of these are your present!!! I’m saving another idea as a surprise. ;)

Nails From The Bottom Up

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This week’s Monday Mash-Up is all about NAILS – my favorite base & top coat combo.

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Cosmoprof North America 2013 RECAP

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This past week I attended the biggest (easily) beauty trade show in my usual lineup: Cosmoprof North America. Literally hundreds of vendors from all over the world gathered together to meet with buyers, educators, salon distributors, and of course – ME. [Read more…]

Matte Metallic Manicure

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I haven’t mentioned Julep in a little while on the blog, but I’ve still been getting my monthly Julep Maven boxes almost every month.  [Read more…]

October Favorites

So what it’s a week into November already…I’m doing my October favorites and you’re gonna LIKE IT. :) As usual I don’t know what to use as a picture for my ‘favorites’ post so in keeping with tradition, here’s a random fun picture. This time it’s Barack Obama holding a book. :D My favorites for October are pretty simple, because I was SICK during October. That means my favorites all kind of go along with that…read on to find out more!

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July 2011 Favorites

So, it’s August. August rocks. Even though I hate the heat (I’ve been basically sweating for three months straight – TMI maybe? I’m miserable, people!). August rocks because it’s my birthday month. Duh. ;) But here’s what I was digging this past month. This month I was kinda all about hair. Being that I’m in a constant state of being super hot and sweaty and gross (this is a beauty blog, I swear) I have concentrated on my HAIR because makeup just sweats right off. In that vein, my favorites are more hair-centric. 
I have been just loving Sojourn’s Thermal Protection Straightener ($24) lately. Since my hair is fine, somewhat dry, and color treated, I try to take extra good care of it when it comes to thermal protection. I’ve been straightening my hair a lot more lately since I got it highlighted. For the first time, I really feel an improvement in my hair from using a heat protector. And it smells like coconuts! Bonus! Sojourn products can be purchased from their website, or from one of their authorized salons.
I also have a continuing love affair with Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray ($5.99 @ Ulta). I think I have mentioned this in a favorites post before, but it’s worth mentioning again because it’s 1) inexpensive 2) smells nice 3) gives me fantastically beachy hair. I’ve been thinking of doing a tutorial on how I do beachy hair. What say you?
Oh yes, highlights. I got them. Which brings me to a new love I want to share with all of you So-Cal readers: Images Salon in Corona del Mar. I was invited in to Images to experience Redken products (believe it or not, I never had!) and had my hair done by the fabulous and lovely Paige Cavender. I’m in-freaking-love with my hair and it’s all thanks to her! I let her have almost carte blanche with the color, and I’m thrilled. If you’re in So-Cal, definitely give her a try and let her know you read about her here, yeah? She’s so sweet (and talented!).
No makeup, chapped lips, and recovering from oral surgery, but still feeling gorgeous with my awesome new hair… ;)

Not everything I was crazy about in July was a hair product (almost!). I am also super in love with the Essie Resort Collection this year. Check out Scrangie’s swatches since I’m a failblogger and don’t have any of my own at this time (too busy frantically swatching Essie Brazilliant and Zoya Smoke & Mirrors). I got this little mini cube of gorgeousness very inexpensively on Amazon and I love all four colors so so much. Bonus: the green color (Da Bush – stupid name) is a dead-on dupe (with a better formula) of OPI Stranger Tides – see what I mean?

Samples from Essie and Sojourn Beauty provided for editorial consideration.

On My Nails – Essie Sew Psyched

I’ve been on a total nail polish kick lately thanks to some fellow bloggers who have a way of making everything look amazing and sound like I absolutely need it. ;)
At the very top of my list of blind zombie-like “must haves” was Essie’s fall collection.
You’re gonna wanna click to view that sucker full size. Trust me.
LOOK at the gorgeousness! I recently got a little cube of minis, 4 from the collection. How nice of Essie to make the mini cube be the 4 I wanted most from the collection, right? It’s fate. Who am I to get in the way of fate? Exactly.
L to R: Limited Addiction, Sew Psyched, Merino Cool, Little Brown Dress
I got my minis cube from ebay for about $6. Not too shabby since each full-sized Essie polish retails for $8. The color that absolutely blows my mind from this collection is, hands down, Sew Psyched. So of course when the package arrived I chose it to be my first mani from the group.
Sew Psyched dries darker than it is in the bottle. I describe the color as a sort of greyed/muted khaki-esque green. It’s beautiful. I definitely have absolutely nothing like this in my collection. I’m considering grabbing a full-sized bottle of this before it’s too late because I know this color is going to catch on. I really like this color because it’s basically the color of my eyes. On my pale, pink-toned skin it’s very flattering and looks so elegant for fall/winter.
The application was pretty smooth. I have three coats on just to make sure it was super opaque and even. I’m not the best manicurist so lots of coats is my method, haha. Topped it with Seche Vite, which gives it that amazing shine. I think this polish would look really cool with Essie’s Matte About You top coat over it as well. I think an experiment is in my future.


If you can only get one color from the collection I absolutely recommend Sew Psyched. I’m totally enamored with this color! I know it will be getting a lot of use!!


Retail – $8 ; Availability – Ulta | TransDesign | Head2Toe Beauty