Lobsters and puffins and whales, oh my!

Sorry my posting hasn't been up to par this week. I've been busy with my day job and trying to figure out how to pack the entire contents of my house so that it will fit neatly into a very small car carrier for our annual family to trip to Maine.

Ahh... Maine. Home of the 24 hour LL Bean, a place where the streets are cleaner, the smell of sweet salt water permeates the air, the lobsters are cheap and the whoopie pies are to die for. Most days I get up and run my fingers through my hair, throw it into a pony tail, slather on sunscreen, curl my lashes--eschewing mascara--and dab a little rosebud salve on my lips before I head out the door. I get back to nature. I kayak every morning and take a long mountain or ocean cliff hike, (depending on where we are at the time), in the afternoon.

Of course, I can't leave the product junkie side of me behind for too long...and since I'm liable to be jonesin' for a fix 3-4 days into our trip, I'm bringing along some natural/organic products to experiment with. Because I hate to smell of Eau de DEET, I'm bringing Anti Bug Badger Balm, Buzz Away Spray, and pretty much the whole "Original" Skin So Soft line, to see if I can come up with a concoction to ward of the vicious deer flies and gigantic mosquitoes without the smell and side effects of all those nasty chemicals. I'm also bringing my fav Korres Watermelon Sunscreen Face Cream, and Kiss My Face Sun Spray, and will most definitely be on the hunt for homemade bath and cosmetic products at local farmers markets...oh and I've decided to try out a crystal deodorant, but not to worry, should it fail I will be bringing along my trusty Degree Clinical backup.

So my lovelies, I will be signing off for about a week. I'm hoping to have some great adventures to share with you when I return!

OPI for Sephora

Hurry up and launch this line already would ya Sephora?????

I've been reading about it and hearing little snippets here and there and I'm dying to play with the new 54 long-lasting, chip-resistant polishes that are free of DBP, Toluene, and Formaldehyde. First on my list to try: "Metro Chic" (a gray khaki-ish shade that looks curiously like Butter London's Fash Pack) and "Never Enough Shoes" (A shiny shade of dense black infused with microscopic silver, gold and multi-colored sparkles).

So here I am Sephora Execs...waiting...ready to book my mani appointment as soon as you give the word...sigh...

Fish Food?

Yet another one to try before I die...
Check out the Jet Set Girls post on the Fish Pedicure at Yvonne Salon, (located in Alexandria, VA). A pedi where garra rufa fish ("doctor fish") swim about your feet and nibble the crust and callus away. Ewww...a shiver just went up my spine...I may need to think a little longer on this one.

Major Lash Deal/Steal!

For the ladies on a fab lash quest like me: Exclusively from Sephora, Limited edition, "The Lash Stash" a mascara kit with seven travel sized black mascaras that allows you to test-drive a new mascara every day until you find your true lash love.

The kit includes: Benefit A Little Bit BADgal Lash, Blinc Kiss Me Mascara, LORAC Publicity Stunt Lashes, Smashbox Bionic Mascara, Stila Multi-Effect Mascara, Sephora Brand Lash Plumper and Too Faced Lash Injection .

And for only $28--that's only $4 per mascara, and considering that a travel sized BADgal normally runs you about $9-- that's what we call a major SCORE!

I'm jumpin right on this bargain train, catch you ladies at the check out!

Tried: Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara

The claim: "This revolutionary formula is packed with elastic 3D-polymers that coat the entire lash and stretch past its natural end, creating a dramatic volumizing and lengthening effect".

My official reaction after two weeks of testing: Ehh....

The product definitely created volume and lengthened my lashes. But with dramatic effect? Not so much. It wasn't what I'd call super lengthening or super volumizing, and took more than a couple of coats to get to the desired effect. I would say that with the mascara my lashes looked like my natural lashes with just a tad of enhancement. It gave me a kind of soft, fluttery, look. Which don't get me wrong, is a great look-- a soft, pretty, look-- but I wasn't going for soft. I want look-at-me lashes, va-va-voom lashes. I want to bat a lash and have men come to their knees...okay, that might be going a bit too far, but you get the point; this mascara didn't quite deliver in that area.

So it's back to my quest for the mascara that will create the most perfect natural but dramatic lashes. I've heard some really good things about Blinc's Kiss Me mascara and one of the bubbly sales girls at Sephora told me that she and the rest of the gals at the Columbia store swear by Fresh's Supernova, so those will be next on my list to try, but for now it's back to my old faithful, BADgal Blue.

For the lazy girl in all of us

New at Sephora: ColorOn Eye Envy kits, ($25), one-size-fits-all mineral cream eyeshadow appliqués. Yep, appliqués. Stick them on your eye, rub gently, set with powder, (provided in kit), et voila a well fashioned eye in half the time it would normally take you and without the makeup mess on your vanity. Kits run from the tame color choices to the extreme, (i.e. the Exotic kit).

You know you want to try it! So stop into a Sephora near you and play with one today!

Practice Safe SPF

E.L.F. wants you to practice safe SPF and is offering yet another beauty bargain to help you on this quest--Free Hydro Tint with SPF 15 with a minimum purchase of $20. And, hello, that amount can get you a ton of cosmetic with this line. My pick on how to spend your $20: the "Get A Glow Kit" or custom made kit with the multistripe organizer bag.

Just use promotion code: EGHYDAR check out

File this under: To do before I die

Check out S.H. Rhee's article: "Lather, Wince, Repeat" chronicling her jimjilbang (Korean spa) experience. Although Rhee describes in detail how the spa’s skin sloughing regime is less than delicate, she readily admits her skin never looked so good post treatment. My curiosity is peaked! A little necessary spa roughness never scared me off in the quest for rejuvenated skin and body,(like the Thai massage at Canyon Ranch Spa, Las Vegas of 2005 that left me with bruised wrists and ankles). And if I'm not mistaken, I believe that a similar spa in Hollywood is the secret to a certain few buffed bodied actresses flawless, young looking skin.

Now, if I can just find a spa buddy to go with me...

Products on my radar this month

Here's a sneak peak at the products I will be playing with, ahem, testing this month:

• Face Boutique Sweep Clean Cleanser on a Cloth - No brainer there. Although, I am a little thrown off by the "for young skin" copy on their packaging...is 34 for too old for this product???
  
• Lipstick Queen Oxymoron in Honest Politician - I'm all about a multi-tasker and this multi purpose matte gloss for cheeks and lips just may fit the bill.
  
• By Terry Soliel de Rose - A tinited skincare enhancer that produces a golden glow and hydrated skin with out the normal self-taning agents, and since I'm a tad inept when it comes to self-taning I'm hoping for great things with this product.
  

You know you didn't do something right when...

The kind lady that hands you the daily paper as you step off the metro does a double take and asks you if you're feeling okay, adding that she never sees you look this bad.

Thanks, random daily paper lady. I get it. A 30 second makeup application doesn't work for me. And, I thought I looked so fresh and Caroline Bisset Kennedy-esque with my multi-purpose Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick, Benefit Posie Tint, and Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara combination (which, p.s. minus one point for the Lash Injection mascara I'm trying out)...apparently I need a little bronzer, eyeliner, and concealer to make myself presentable to the metro riding/newspaper distributing public. I appreciate the random act of honesty.

Note to self: Always carry a handy dandy bag of cosmetic essentials that stays in your work tote for those days it's impossible to get in the proper amount of "face time".

Go E.L.F. Yourself!

Attention all you lovelies out there that are feeling the sky rocketing cost of gas and groceries crunch down on your beauty budget: The fabulous E.L.F. (Eyes, Lips, Face) Line is giving away a full size Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder with purchase.
Enter one of these codes below in the promotion section during check out:
Sunkissed - ECBROAZ
Warm Tan - ECBROBZ
Luminance - ECBROCZ

What are you waitng for? Go E.L.F. Yourself!

Happy shopping!

Everything you need to know about sunscreen

I know I'm not the only one to finally come around to wearing sunscreen everyday, (yes, even when it's cloudy out), especially if you're like me and --gasp!-- found your first age spot before you turned 35, but for those of you who have not become a slave to SPF, check out Jolie Nadine's (aka Jolie NYC) blog entry on "Everything you need to know about sunscreen".

It's a must read!

A new quest for fab lashes

After my close gal pal's wedding this weekend, I'm re-thinking where lashes/mascara fall in my list of priorities. It used to be that I obsessed on clear dewy skin and immaculate brows, thinking that if these two things were in place I could survive with little or no makeup. I'm now adding mascara and false lashes in that line up. J's fabulous makeup artist not only used a couple of great mascaras by Trish McEvoy, but also put individual lashes on us gals of the bridal party, and the results were amazing. J's lashes (pictured above) were definitely dramatic by everyday standards, but for an evening, black-tie, wedding they were simply perfect. The lashes on all of us just gave our eyes a little more pop...made us all look just a little more glamorous, and I truly understood just how much the right mascara and some extra lash could take anyone from pretty to Va-Va-Voom.

My new quest is two fold:

1.) Find the absolute best mascara for me. One that lengthens (sans scary, spidery, clumping effect) and adds volume.

2.) If it takes me till my death bed I will perfect the art of adding individual and bands of lashes with out gluing my own eye lashes together or putting the lashes on crooked.

Wish me luck!

Due to technical difficulties...

Ugh! My cable provider is tinkering with the T1 line and making it virtually impossible to post. I'm hoping to be on-line again shortly.
Boo to Comcast!