Insta-Awful

Sally Hanson's Insta-Dri sound like the answer to a prayer, nails done in 60 senconds.
The problem is, your quickie mani will last all of 60 seconds before it starts to crack, peel, and otherwise be an awful tacky mess. Another $5 down the drain...

Swoon

Michael Kors Very Hollywood Solid Perfume Cocktail Ring
It's a ring and a perfume in one. How can this not be the greatest invention ever?

Raisin in the Sun

Stila's Lip Glaze in Raisin

The perfect color a little sparkly, dark enough to pinch hit for lipstick, and still glossy

Plumping Power

DuWop's Lip Venom Flash (Gold).

Tastes like cinnamon, stings and tingles. Leaves a great shine, and it does as promised - leaves your pucker plumped and ready to kiss or be kissed!

They now have a Twilight edition out. Not too sure about it, it looks pretty creepy, but it is supposed to be a tint and gloss and pucker in one, so I'll probably end up trying it despite my better judgement.

So Fresh and So Clean

A favorite that I just started wearing again.

L'eau D'Issey by Issey Miyake. mmmmm.

With notes of lotus, freesia, cyclamen, rose water, peonies, white lilies, tuberose, etc.

Greenland

Bergamot Body Scrub from Greenland.

It's a Dutch company, so I'm predisposed to love it, of course.

It smells fresh and clean, lathers really well, and contains no artificial colors or fragrances, mineral oil, or parabens. The bergamot is meant to encourage emotional balance. We'll see about that. I wish there was a little more grit to the scrub, but, oh well, I love it anyway. It was a splurge at $28, but what can I say? I'm supporting my fellow Dutchmen!

Nair

Nair's Shower Power, I tried the Exfoliator.
I'm pretty accident prone, and after cutting myself while shaving the other week, I was a little razor shy, so I thought, hmmm, lets try Nair. They have to have improved it since I was 15, right?
Kinda.

Pros
The smell isn't so bad anymore. Like at all
It doesn't drip, its not messy.
You don't have to stand naked in your bathroom for 10 minutes.
Exfoliating while removing hair
No razor burn or cuts

Cons
Flimsy sponge
Rubbing your leg with a flimsy sponge to remove the hair
Have to use a lot for it to work
Leaving it on full 10 minutes (you aren't supposed to exceed 10, but anything less doesn't really work.)
Burns a tiny bit while its on

Smooth as a baby's bum

Johnson's Baby Oil Gel in Shea & Cocoa Butter

If, like me, you like to use baby oil after your shower every once in a while, but could do without a. the overwhelming baby powder scent, and b. the dangerous slipperyness of the tub the next time around, try this one out.

It smells really good, and the scent doesn't linger, so it won't clash with you perfume, and because it is a gel, there's no mess.

I also use it to remove my eye makeup at night, and on my knees and elbows before self-tanning. It's that multi-purpose.

Secret Lover

I was given a sample of Laura Mercier's Secret Concealer in #2 "a light intensity with warm undertones." I was suspicious, because I have light skin with yellow or blue undertones, depending on where on my skin we're talking about, but definitely no warmth. But, now that I've tried it, I think it's amazing. Like, I'll probably never go back to another concealer again.
If I want to cover up some under eye sleepiness, I dab a little on my finger and smooth it out, it's so creamy and smooth, it spreads wonderfully even.
If I need to cover a blemish, I pick up a teeny tiny bit of the concealer on the tip of a brush and dab away - the blemish miraculously disappears. Good job Sephora, in aiding and abetting my product addiction.

Long Term Relationship

Herbal Essences is so 6th grade, right? Wrong.
Long term relationship split end protector is fantastic stuff.
Creamy, goes in your hair like leave in conditioner, smells light and fruit, doesn't weigh your hair down or leave a waxy residue. Silky smooth, and less split ends!

Butter is better

Burt's Bee's Shea Butter Hand Repair Creme

Pros:

Is really thick and creamy, not thin and runny

Almost all natural (like 99%)

Smells good to me - like lavender and rosemary

Good graphic design on the packaging

Great moisturizer

Cons

Tube a little too big for a purse

Smells strongly... so, even if I like the scent, I'm self conscious about using it when others are around - I have actually gotten the remark "What IS that smell?!?!" from family members

A tad on the expensive side for a drug store product and for something I go through so quickly.

Too much packaging (why put the tube inside a box when the tube stands up on its own? That's just wasteful, even if everyone recycles the box)

Keep your clothes on

Hollywood Fashion Tape is great for all kinds of things, like when you aren't sure of thatgap between the two buttons is gonna expose you, for keeping a thin shirt strap from slipping off your shoulder and accidentally showing off your bra strap. You get the picture. I've even been known to use them to do a quickie hem on jeans. The strips can easily be cut (before removing the paper) for small areas, and the strips in general are great because you can take one, put it in your makeup bag or teeny purse (something you definitely can't do with traditional double sided tape.)

A mask for your feet

Earth Therapeutics Tea Tree Oil Gentle Foot Peel. I love this stuff!

Do you remember being a kid and spreading glue all over the palm of your hand and then letting it kinda half dry and then rubbing it around until it sorta came off in squishy balls of half dried glue? (maybe that's why the other kids thought I was a little odd, but whatever, people, I'm an art student.)

This is like that but for your feet, and obviously, not with glue. It really does slough off all the yucky dead skin on your feet - great after a pumice stone mini pedicure.

Stay Put

Finally a hair tie that holds my hair in place through a workout. Before I found Goody's Stay Put Elastics, I was using their Ouchless, the same I use for everyday, and I used to have to stop every 5 to 10 minutes to re-tie my hair. But these are fantastic! And the best news, they come in brown shades too, so it blends in with your haircolor (the lighter shade of brown would even look good with dark blonde hair.) 

Pink with Envy

Gucci's Envy me. Fruity. Light. Makes me happy and reminds me of Yves St Laurent's Babydoll. Perfect for summer.

Pink Slip

Dessert's Deliciously Kissable Plumping Lip Gloss in Slip.

Plumping? Yes. Delicious? Only if you really like the taste of cherry cough syrup.

The sparkle and shine is great, but, the color is way too neon and extreme, and I'm so quickly irritated by the flavor. Maybe another color/flavor is good, but I would only wish this one upon my worst enemy.

What Goes in Must Come Out

OK, not technically a beauty product. HOWEVER, what you put into your body definitely has an impact on how you look and feel, and that goes for you hair, nails, skin, etc. (and I do keep it in my bathroom, so...)

Do your whole body a favor and take one of these little babies a day.

Emergen-C Super Gram 3 tabs have so much stuff in them they are practically a multi-vitamin. They give me tons of energy with all the Vitamin B in it, and it is the only thing I have found with C, Zinc, and citrus bioflavinoids (which, in combination with lysine is unbelievably good preventative medicine for cold sores.)

Ralph

Ralph by Ralph Lauren - The perfect perfume for summer. It is fresh, light, crisp, fruity, flowery, awesome. I forgot how much I loved it until I sprayed it on after laying out in the sun all day. And the bottle is my favorite color :) Kinda reminds me of Davidoff's Cool Water, only better.

Wide load, coming through

Sally Hansen French Manicure Pen, traditional tip.

The whole premise of this is too make it super easy to do a white tip for a french manicure.

BUT, the tip of this pen is too wide to be practical. You are either going to get it all over your skin, or paint half of your nail white. Oops. The pen itself is similar to a paint pen, you have to shake it for.ev.er. and then pump the felt tip on a protected surface for 5 minutes to get the flow opaque enough to be useful. If you get the opacity wrong, it dries kind of powdery and scrapes right off your nail if you aren't quick enough in getting a sheer pink over it. On the plus side, it dries quickly and the fabric of the felt tip is perfect.  In the time it takes me to get the pen working right, I could've done both hands with a thin french manicure brush and cleaned up any errors with a bit of acetone on a q-tip.

You Little Flirt

Victoria Secret Lather Me With Love from their Sexy Little Things line.

Smells so good, is creamy and sudsy when you use it as body wash (it is also a bubble bath, but I'm not much of a bath taker) plus, it's pink!

Don't get lippy with me

Jason Natural Care SPF 20 Lip Balm
Natural is always good, especially when its something you're practically eating. This one smells beachy keen, doesn't give a minty sting (I'm against mixing flavored lip balms and practical purposes, mainly because when I lay in the sun, I drink frozen cocktails, and I don't like to mix the flavor of my lip balm with delicious alcohol slushies), has SPF 20 to protect your pie hole, and has a little grit for exfoliation. All in all, not too bad!

New, and improved, now with clumps!

Ulta's Maximum Length Soft Curl Mascara in black brown. A bad idea.
I figured, hey, length is great, I can always do a second coat if I want some extra volume. Forget it. You don't need a second coat with this stuff. One coat, and it's almost as if you have one solid lash. I didn't even have to wait 3 months to replace this baby. 3 weeks, and it was in the trash.

Calypso

I'm getting some real sun today to balance out that orange glow from sunless tanner.
And if I could roll myself around in a vat of this stuff, I would.  Australian Gold Dark Tanning Accelerator plus Instant Bronzer - it's delightful.

Pros:
Smells awesome
Instant bronzer
Indoor or Outdoor tanning
Only $5

Cons:
Product is kinda hard to find, finally got it at Publix
Bad for a white bathing suit (i love white bathing suits)

All Soft

Redkin's All Soft Shampoo and Conditioner are outrageous.

Pros:
Smells great
Squeaky clean
Thick conditioner without being heavy
Soft hair, even if yours is a little rough around the edges
Not hair color specific
Good for colored hair

Cons
Nope

Two in one!

We all want soft skin, and that, of course, is impossible unless you are exfoliating.
Why not skip a step in the shower and save yourself the trouble of soaping up a loofah, and then taking the precautions to dry it lest it mildew and form bacterial growths (ew). I tried Earth Therapeutics Loofah Exfoliating Soap in Kiwi Aloe.
I was skeptical about the exfoliating power of a bar of soap, but I really like it. If you can master your grip on the slippery fella, it feels like getting a back scratch, which is pretty cool.
The kiwi aloe one smells really amazing, but not overpowering enough to clash with a perfume.
For $3, you really can't beat it.
One thing to beware of, it makes your shower a wee bit slippery, so make sure you rinse the floor of the shower clean before attempting any shaving in the flamingo position or other acts of in shower yoga.

Oooh! Shiny!

Philosophy Lip Gelato.
Ahhhh. It's a beautiful thing. Smells good, tastes good, feels slick on your lips, doesn't get sticky when your hair flies into your face. It's just all around fantastic. I didn't think I'd be into lemonade or tangerine flavored lipgloss, but once I tried them, I realized they kinda remind me of Lipsmackers from when I was a kid. Remember those? Yeah. This is that, but for grown ups!

Fake and Bake, the orange edition

Summer is on its way, which always puts me in a panic about the pasty-ness of my fair skin.
Personally, I like to remedy my sickly pallor with a wee bit of sunshine, and a wee bit of sunless tanner. That way, I can't get too much of the cancer, and I can't get too much of the orange tinge.

If you were thinking about trying the Neutrogena Sun Fresh, its just meh.
Pros:
foam equals fun
dries fairly quickly (5 minutes)
claims that a "delicious scent features hints of grapefruit and nectarine for an overall fresh experience"

Cons:
makes my elbows and ankles ORANGE (even with extreme precautions against it)
leaves a line at my wrist when i wash my hands
does NOT smell like grapefruit or nectarine, although it doesn't smell as bad as other tanners.

It definitely isn't the worst self-tanner I've ever tried, but it's not the best either. Next time I think I'll take my 10 bucks to a gradual daily self tanner that has a bit more of a golden brown.
'd rather smell like a nectarine instead of look like one (and Sun Fresh didn't even do that!)

I have it, you have it, we all have it

There's a big mess under my bathroom sink, and unless you are some kind of alien, I'll bet there's a big mess under your bathroom sink too.
It happens to the best of us - we buy a beauty product, hoping against all odds that it will do as promised, or at least satisfy a basic beauty need. Then it doesn't, and we just can't throw it away.
Or maybe its a mess of all the products we really do like, each with a specific purpose.
You aren't alone.