Who Has Fabulous Lashes?

Did anyone try the Spoiled Pretty trick for creating fabulous eyelashes?

If you missed it, check My BFF's Beauty Bag from Feb. 18 or click on the video directly from here.

I tried it with my ridiculously favorite mascara, Givenchy Phenomenon Eyes, but it didn't work because the wand is a little ball. So I tried it with a regular wanded mascara and IT WORKS!

It took a couple of tries (yesterday and today), but the technique is easy to perfect and you'll be surprised at the results.

Try it!

And...thanks again @spoiledpretty!

Laura Mercier Eye Pencil

Even though I'm a beauty product junkie, I don't wear much make-up. We all know I love my Sephora Ultimate Blockbuster, but it's not ideal for travel.

For travel, I throw in my teeny, tiny Ziploc bag, a Laura Mercier eye pencil in black violet. I like the black violet, instead of brown or black, because it highlights my hazel eyes differently than the more standard colors. I recommend trying it. Big fan.

Water Hurting Your Face?

At dinner last night, Jessica told me she loves living in Florida, but that the water is killing her face. Having experienced that same thing when I lived in Kansas City, I offered her my best beauty product advice:

STOP USING WATER ON YOUR FACE!

But, she says, I have to shower.

Yes, but you can shower without immersing your face in the water.

I've blogged about this before, but it's worth mentioning again. Use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. You can apply it with cotton pads and remove it the same way. No water necessary.

My mom swears by it - says she hasn't used water on her face since she was 30. I stopped using it when I moved to Chicago and realized I was no longer allergic to the water.

Do you have other non-water cleanser recommendations?

Secret to Fabulous Lashes

Most of you know by now I am a mascara snob (if you didn't know that, read yesterday's post) and am always looking for new techniques and new beauty products to make my naturally long (but very light) eyelashes even longer.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a video yesterday Spoiled Pretty on applying mascara to the tops of your lashes to make them look even longer. I was intrigued!

Watch the video here, try it in the morning, and let me know what you think! I'll do the same..., but with my fave mascara, Givenchy Phenomenon Eyes, and not that crappy L'Oreal tubes stuff.

And...thanks @spoiledpretty!

Review of L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes

I was going to wait to do a review on the new L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes until I'd used the mascara for a month, but I can't take it any longer.

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate this beauty product! Everyone knows I love my mascara, but this is not a good one. At all.

Let's start with the first application. It's white and is supposed to nourish and strengthen your lashes. Okay, I'm willing to apply mascara in two steps, if it works. But the first step clumps and I've not yet been able to get my lashes to separate by using it.

The second step is the mascara, and this is where the tubes extend your eyelashes. As I sat at breakfast with @LoisAtVistage this morning, I could feel my eyelashes hit my eyebrows and it made me feel like they were jumping off my face like two ugly spiders!

Now I'm going to admit that I am a bad person. I never wash my face at night. Partly because I'm lazy and partly because my skin is really dry and washing it twice a day really dries it out. So when I washed my face the day after I tried the mascara for the first time, I thought my eyelashes were falling out. There are actual tubes that come off with soap and water.

IT'S FREAKY!!

Lastly, the brushes are on the wrong side of the tube so you have to get used to applying it differently.

I have nothing good to say about this beauty product. Don't waste your money on this one.

Beauty Web Site Recommendation

Today I have a favor to ask. Check out a beauty product Web site and let me know what you think.

Glimmer. Gloss. Glow.

My friend @ForeverApril writes the content and has the same philosophy I have - don't recommend a product you haven't tried yourself.

Comment here and let me know what you think. I'd love to get her some feedback she can use.

I Swear I'm Over Jo Malone After This Post!

Apparently Jo Malone has beauty products for everyone!

When I posted the link to the hand cream blog to my Facebook items, my friend Cory commented and said...

Jo Malone has amazing men's fragrance too! Seriously, the "Fig" scent is what I wore all through college and got numerous compliments on it! It's awesome because it's a lower alcohol content (I have sensitive skin) and the scent notes are different and people notice it. It's the "Wild Fig & Cassis" cologne. It smells "old man-ish" when you first experience it, but then you notice the subtle notes and it become like an addiction! I bought it back in London and when i came state-side everyone wants to know why I smell so nice!!!

So now you have gifts to buy your men, too!

Jo Malone Hand Treatment

Guest blog written by @angelica7641

I never used hand cream. I always hated the oily feeling it left. In fact, I used to wash my hands after I applied my body lotion because I disliked the feeling so much or I would only apply it to the top of my hands. Ridiculous, right?

Then @annagabbert introduced me to Jo Malone's hand treatment. She assured me it wasn’t greasy and she was right! It was creamy and light and smelled amazing. I wasn’t sure what the smell actually was but I found out it’s a hint of pomelo (the largest citrus fruit there is) and cassis. It’s a subtle, rich and sweet scent that lasts for hours.

You can get it at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf or Nordstrom. Just a little of the lotion goes a long way!

P.S. @joyfulbathco - You might want to add this to your shipment!

Jo Malone

How many of you have Jo Malone among your beauty product staples? If you don't, you should.

I was introduced to her perfume by a friend who said, "I think you would like Jo Malone. Check it." So I did.

The thing I like about the perfume is there is something for everyone. There are spicy, citrus, fruity, light green floral, floral, and woody scents. Among the scented groups are another 20 "flavors."

My favorite is nectarine blossom and honey, which I wear almost daily. It comes in both a 30 ml and a 100 ml. The 30 ml is small enough to fit in your Ziploc bag while you travel.

The best part, though? You can mix scents for something that is all your own. And if you happen upon a store that sells it (I've only ever seen it at Sak's and at the Jo Malone store at the Wynn in Vegas), they will give you lots of little samples to try mixing at home.

One more thing...@angelica7641 says the hand cream is to die for, as well.

Jo Malone. Check it!

Sephora Celebrates Birthdays

I love that Sephora sends beauty products to their Beauty Insiders on their birthdays.

This year's gift is a set of three lipglosses, which I LOVE. I am a lipgloss junkie, as you know, so this makes me very, very happy!

If you're not already a Beauty Insider, join today (it's free) and you'll get a nice little gift in your mailbox on your birthday.

Sugar! Sugar!

On Saturday, I saw Torrie pull her beauty product bag out of her purse. She searched for a lipgloss and then pulled out a brown tube and I realized we haven't talked about Sugar yet!

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment has SPF 15 and is fantastic for making your lips soft. I don't like it, however, for use during the day. I prefer C.O. Bigelow mint or Buxom Lips because they're minty and tingly and they have a bit of color that is great for running to a meeting, without having to apply lipstick.

But use your sugar lip treatment right before you go to bed and you wake up the next morning with soft, kissable lips.

Which Eye Creams Do You Use?

One beauty product I was never concerned with is eye cream. Until, a few weeks ago, my husband innocently said, "I love your wrinkles."

EXCUSE ME?!?

I have wrinkles AND you love them??

Resisting the urge to run out and get botox at lunch, I perused the eye creams at Walgreen's.

I bought Oil of Olay eye cream and have been using it underneath my PerriconeMD moisturizer (which, as we now know, claims to reduce fine lines...not WRINKLES!).

I need some eye cream experts...desperately!
Which eye creams do you use?

Week of Moisturizers: PerriconeMD

Yesterday we discussed the beauty product I travel with. Today is the daily moisturizer that I cannot live without.

My skin is overtly dry. I don't know if it's from growing up in the mountains or if it's hereditary, but every time I have a facial, I hear, "Your skin is really dry. You should drink more water." Well folks, I drink at least 10 glasses of water every day. So that's not what it is.

And then I found PerriconeMD Face Finishing Moisturizer. It came as a sample with my Beauty Insider from Sephora.

It claims to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while providing antioxidant protection. It also says it helps firm skin and give it a dewy, radiant look.

I should have taken a photo of my face when I started using it and one now to see if that's true. What I do know is that I haven't broken out in more than two months and that my face feels thousands of times better.

The only problem? No SPF in it. But I use Rebel Lite over it every morning, which has SPF 15. I think, in this case, I can have my cake and eat it too.

Week of Moisturizers: Hope In A Jar

I have an old stand-by beauty product that I travel with because it's easy to find in less than three ounces and fits nicely in my teeny, tiny plastic bag that is supposed to hold all of my "make me pretty" secrets as I go through security.

The Philosophy Hope In A Jar claims to have been created for the medical market and "is a world-renowned skin cream. For years, plastic surgeons have been recommending this formula to patients in pursuit of younger, healthier skin. Results can be seen, and felt, within days. A healthy, rosy glow to the skin that doesn't require make-up or cover up."

Now, I don't know about all of that. What I do know is my skin is rosy (but that might be due to three days of skiing), but I think it's called Hope In A Jar because we all secretly hope it does what it says. I don't use it every day so I can't tell you if it gives me younger, healthier skin, but I do like it for traveling purposes.