
It's that time of year again! I've been invited, once again, to share with you all my Favorite Things from the past year. Now, not all of these products were released in 2008, however, 2008 is the year I became aware of them and fell in love with them. I'll be adding a link to my previous review of each pick, so you can see my initial thoughts.
MAC Cream Colour Base in Crushed Bougainvillea. Okay, I just lied. 2008 was the Year of the Lip and Cheek Stain. This past year, my normally uber-oily skin started having patches of dryness and I've had a great time finding more moisturizing products. Cheek stains are awesome. This one matches the above-mentioned See-Thru Colour and I almost always wear them together.
I know that all the MAC Holiday Collections are out now (and yes, I'll get to reviewing those, too, soon - but my goodness, there's a lot of them!), but before I get into those, I have to let you know about a gem from one of their latest collections, Emanuel Ungaro for MAC. I got the See-Thru Lip Colour in Not So Shy, but have just been letting it languish in my lip product drawer. For some reason, in the last couple of days, I decided that I should pull it out and give it a try. And wow, is it awesome!
The See-Thru Lip Colour is a lip stain product. It goes on with a sort of watery gel texture. Once you swipe it on your lips, you just need to give it a few seconds to dry and it leaves a lovely deep fuschia stain to the lips. I like to top it with either a clear lipgloss or, even better, one of the MAC Tendertones. My favorite way to wear the See-Thru Lip Colour is to pair it with the MAC Cream Colour Base in Crushed Bougainvillea (also from the Emanuel Ungaro collection), add a swipe of black eyeliner, some mascara and I'm good to go - fresh faced, but looking oh so awesome!
Y'all. Y'all! I have found it! The mascara to end all mascaras! It is awesome! It is Givenchy Phenomen'eyes! Okay, okay. I know I'm late to the party. I know that many of the other beauty bloggers out there have already talked about this mascara. But I'm not a bandwagon jumper. I like to wait until some hub-bub has died down before I try something. But, my Lord. If I had known how great this stuff was, I would have jumped on that bandwagon faster than you can say "boo."
The little wand thing looks like a prickly pear, admittedly. It's kind of strange - it's a prickly ball. But it works! Because it's so tiny, you can get into all those nooks and crannies, where stray little short, straight lashes reside. By the time you use this mascara wand on all of your lashes, they are separated, lengthened, darkened and plumped. They look like those really natural false lashes. Except ... not false! Sheer awesomeness, I tell you. Yes, it costs more than your regular drugstore mascara, but it is worth it, I tell you! If it'll make you feel better, after you're done with the mascara, wash off the wand and use it with your favorite drugstore mascara - you'll get to keep the wonderfulness of that little bally wand and save a bit of moolah.
Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes is a Sephora exclusive! So, run off to your local Sephora or get it on Sephora online.
Usually I have really oily skin on my face, but dry skin on the rest of my body. After a recent bout with dermatitis, I wound up with patches of dry, scaly skin on my cheeks and chin. And what worked to clear up the dryness? Plain old Cetaphil, cleanser and lotion. Now, I've always been a fan of Cetaphil Daily Cleanser and bounce between that and Paula's Choice One-Step Cleanser as my cleanser of choice. But I've never used Cetaphil Lotion. However, I remembered that, when my daughter was a baby, because of her eczema, Cetaphil was the perfect moisturizer. If it's gentle enough for a baby's skin, it should be good for mine, too, right? Well, it is! It has been wonderful at smoothing out the rough, dry skin and the patches have cleared up beautifully. Yay!
Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion ... Ladybug Loves!
You can find Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion at your local drugstore or market and it's only around $10, so it's a beauty bargain, too!
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