Paul Mitchell Thicken Up Styling Liquid

I have terrible hair. It's fine, it's thin, it's straight but just frizzy enough that it needs to be hit with a straightener when I want to wear it down, and it doesn't agree with most products. I've searched high and low to find serums, balms, liquids, sprays, and mousses that will whip it into shape and hide the truth from the world, and had fail after fail. So I wasn't expecting much with Paul Mitchell's Thicken Up styling serum, which promises "serious volume, flexible body, softness and big shine." Typically, everything I try leaves my hair stiff or greasy or coated or weighed down or looking like it would have without anything in it in the first place. So no, I had no high hopes, but one must keep trying. 

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On the cheap: Freeman Pineapple Enzyme Facial Mask

Those of you who have been reading this blog for any period of time know that I'm addicted to facial treatment masks. I love them. I love the chance to just chill out for a while as I wait for them to work, then rinse/peel/scrub them off and behold the (hopefully) amazing skin left behind. And I'm not a snob when it comes to masks, either. If it suits my mood and the current needs of my skin, I'll pay big bucks for a 4-ounce tube. Conversely, if I'm at Wal-Mart and I see something that catches my fancy...well, that's where today's mask comes in. Let's see how impulse shopping at Wally World turned out for me!

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Chanel Base Ombre a Paupieres Professional Eyeshadow Base

At a Chanel event the other day, the makeup artist applied a very interesting eyeshadow base on me. I really needed to buy SOMETHING, and I'm kind of disgusted with myself right now with my overabundant makeup collection (don't worry--this will wear off shortly), plus I needed a new eyeshadow base anyway, so it was an easy sell for her. 

Base Ombre a Paupieres was unlike any of the others I've tried in several ways. It came in a click-up brush pen, for starters. Goodbye, doe foot! See ya, tube! Hasta la vista, horrible pump that dispenses 10 times as much product as I need for both eyes put together! It also had a beautiful, subtly shimmery finish which gave my eyelids a luminous glow. She told me it could even be used as a base for concealer under the eyes, and that it would add that glow to the entire under eye area. I was impressed. Of course, the big question was...how would it stand up throughout the day? 

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Ren Frankincense Revitalising Night Cream

I've been told recently that I have sensitive skin. I pretty much already knew this, but in my quest for youth I ignored it so I could pursue all of the exciting active ingredients found in many of the products on the market today. Sadly, my skin is starting to rebel and I've even developed a couple of broken capillaries in my cheeks, so  I've had to back off a bit. So I decided to go on a quest for items specifically made for more sensitive types like myself. 

Enter REN. REN is a line offered exclusively at Sephora. While not all products in the line are touted as being for sensitive skin types, they are all free of nasties such as parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, and petrochemicals. At the REN website, you can learn all about the company's philosophy regarding skin care, ingredients, and a comprehensive list of what they don't include in their products. Their emphasis is on using "hi-tech bio actives" without all of the unnecessary synthetic additives that so many other lines use in their products. 

Currently, REN has a special Sensitive Skincare Kit available at Sephora that includes the following: 

- 0.5 oz Frankincense Revitalising Night Cream

- 0.34 oz Omega 3 Night Repair Serum

- 0.85 oz Hydra-Calm Cleansing Milk

- 0.5 oz Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream

- 0.5 oz F10 Smooth and Renew Peel Mask

Today, I am going to discuss the Frankincense Revitalising Night Cream. Now, for some reason, on the Sephora site when this product is listed alone it is called "Frankincense and Boswellia Serrata Night Cream," but I'm assuming they are the same thing...just for your reference. 

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eos Lip Balms

eos lip balms are the trend of the moment, if there can be a trend in lip balms. I personally never thought lip balms were all that interesting, but hey, it took me until 2 years ago to realize everyone was wearing gloss while I was still a hardcore lipstick fan. Maybe I'm just oblivious to certain issues. What I do know is that I have dry lips and have to wear balm of some sort every night or I wake up chapped and flaky, so when I hear about something new like the eos balms, I usually pay attention. 

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Patricia Wexler MD MMPi Skin Regenerating Serum

If you've been in a Bath and Body Works store in the last several years, you've probably noticed the Patricia Wexler MD skin care display off in the corner. It always looks very clinical and somewhat stark, often in contrast to the bright colors of the bath products that surround it. The line has garnered a lot of buzz, and Wexler is a guest dermatologist in the pages of one of my favorite magazines, Allure. So when I stopped by recently to get my antibacterial hand lotion, I got sucked into trying the MMPi Skin Regenerating Serum, the line's primary treatment line and one of its supposed standouts. 

So, is the buzz worth it? 

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Chanel Ultra Correction Line Repair Eye Cream

I am an eye cream fanatic. I'm really only showing signs of aging around my eyes so far and it's really kind of freaking me out, so I'm willing to try just about anything to keep the damage at bay. Promise me the moon in an eye cream and I'll believe you. Enter Chanel Ultra Correction Line Repair Eye Cream, which adds a new term to our arsenal of age-fighting vocabulary: glycation. 

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Bronze Universel de Chanel

I was the lucky recipient of a big huge goody basket of Chanel products in a raffle last weekend, and Bronze Universel de Chanel was one of the goodies. I'm not a huge fan of bronzers, preferring to just own my paleness and work with it, summer or not, but this one seems unique and is a cream, so I was very interested to try it. I wasn't disappointed!

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Kate Somerville EradiKate Acne Treatment

Image Courtesy of Me

I don't know that much about Kate Somerville, other than the fact that she's one of those "dermatologist to the stars" types and she has a pretty expensive line of skin care. And frankly, I wasn't intending to get any better acquainted with her until the other day. I was the unfortunate recipient of a huge spot on my face that had to go NOW, and I was actually looking for Mario Badescu's famous drying solution (which I had never tried but had heard raves about for.ev.er.). 

Anyhow, turns out Sephora doesn't carry old Mario. When I asked if they had anything similar, the SA told me they had "exactly the same thing" from Kate Somerville. I looked at it, and it certainly looked the same. Same clear liquid with pink sediment on the bottom, same clear glass bottle. It was $5 more than the Mario Badescu, but I really didn't feel like taking a trip over to Ulta, so I went for it. 

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Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadow in Variations

I had the best thing happen to me the other day! I went to my favorite Chanel counter for an event, and they had a raffle, and I won! I won a big basket full of all sorts of goodies including nail polish, Ombre Paupieres Eye Shadow, Bronze Universel de Chanel, Aqualumiere lip gloss, and a big honkin' bottle of Chanel No. 5. Yay, me! Of course, many of these items are discontinued now, but I've done searches and they can still be found on big, bad ebay, so I'm going to tell you all about them anyway. 

Today I'm going to tell you about the lovely quad I got in the shades Variations. 

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Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Cleansing Pads

Image Courtesy of Me

Aveeno has been getting plenty of press over the past few years for its Positively Radiant line. I was never terribly interested in it, but was recently at BJ's Wholesale and saw a great deal on a 2-pack of these wipes. I figured they'd be great to share with my 13-year old daughter who, shall we say, does not share my obsession with skincare. 

The wipes are technically called "Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Radiant Daily Cleansing Pads," so I was surprised when I opened them and found them to be fairly heavily fragranced. Big red flag for me, as fragrance often causes me to break out. However, I wanted to give them the old college try, so I moved forward with trying them.

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On my way back!!!

Image Courtesy of Photobucket

Hi all! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get back in the saddle, but, well, it just has. It was a very tough 6 months leading up to February 21, and it's been a tough 6 weeks since, but I'm finally ready to get back to writing about what I enjoy the most (aside from my family and friends, of course!)...makeup and skincare!

This month, I'll probably be focusing on getting out 3 entries per week, hopefully building up to 4 or 5 within a few weeks. 

Before we officially get started, I thought I'd share with you one of my other shopping weaknesses: shoes. Turns out for me, grief equated to buying an irrational number of new shoes, many of which I will probably never wear (and one pair which has already led to a very embarrassing public ass-busting, even for me, the girl who never leaves the house in heels less than 3 inches high). Sigh...

Enjoy the pics, and let me know what you think...more on my normal lotions and potions in the next day or so!

For the record, for all I know about brands of cosmetics and skincare, I'm fairly clueless about shoe brands...I just know what I like and get it while it's on sale...so don't be looking for the highest-end names here! 

These are my favorite boots of the season. They're from Bisou Bisou and for those of you out there who are vegan, they are from all man-made materials, but look great close-up. They're actually quite comfy all things considered, although I can't wear them shopping the way I can similar boots in my closet. 

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