ProductWhores

Show Some Moxie

New lipsticks make me so happy.  Like, irrationally, skipping down the street with a smile on my face happy.  So you can imagine how big the grin was when I found out that bareMinerals has come out with a new collection of lip products called Marvelous Moxie Lips.  There are three different sets of products in the collection - Lipstick, Lipgloss and Lipliner - with a total of a whopping 42 new shades in all.  That's a lot of playing around to do!

I tried out a few of each and kudos to bareMinerals because the entire collection is awesome.  I'm not much of a lipliner girl (I think my fear stems from college where there was a girl who used to walk around with the most ridiculously drawn on lipliner - she seriously made herself look like a clown.  How did none of her friends tell her?  It used to boggle our minds.  We called her "Lipliner Girl."  Clearly, we were super inventive with nicknames) so I probably won't use these a ton, but with 10 different shades available, lipliner fans will have a field day picking their favorites.

The lipsticks come in really inventive packaging.  It has sort of a little knob (for lack of a better word) on the side that you slide down to pop the lipstick out of the top.  Neat! The formula on these is great - the lipsticks are really moisturizing and very pigmented, plus they don't seem to have any weird taste or smell to them.  I'm kind of obsessed with Risk It All (a hot pink) and Lead the Way (a dark wine).  I might have to go pick up a few more shades just to round out my collection.  (There are 18 total).

I'm also really enjoying the lipglosses.  They have a minty tingle to them that I love (a slight plumper maybe?) and a great wash of color.  My favorite is Trail Blazer - a nude gold that's absolutely perfect with a smoky eye.  Again, they're very moisturizing and seem to last a good couple of hours on me, which for a gloss I'm very satisifed with.  I need to get my hands on Game Change, a deep red.  I'm perpetually on the hunt for the perfect red gloss and at least online, this one looks like it could be a contender.

Also, I kind of love the word moxie.  I have no idea why, but it just makes me giggle.  It always makes me picture some man in the '40's asking a woman out by telling her, "You've got moxie!"  We really need to bring that word back in a big way.  Who's with me?

Note:  A sample of this item was sent to me by a PR representative working with bareMinerals

Guilt Free Desserts

I am all about the sweet smelling fragrances - they're pretty much all I wear if I'm not spritzing on one of the CLEAN scents.  And Laura Mercier has some of the best dessert-y scents around.  I'm OBSESSED with their Creme Brulee body products - I use them myself and buy them as presents all the time because I am a good gift giver and like to watch people open things I'm crazy about myself.  If you're also a fan of those kinds of scents, you MUST pick up Laura Mercier's new La Petite Patisserie Eau Gourmande Fragrance Coffret.  (I know - what's up with all these super long product names lately?)  It's three deluxe travel-sized Eau de Toilettes in Vanille, Fresh Fig and Almond Coconut Milk - you can use them individually or layer them over each other or any of the scents you already own.  And seriously, I cannot get enough of the Almond Coconut Milk scent.  It's amazing.  Smelling it makes me immediately want to run out to the fabulous bakery in my neighborhood and buy pastries, but it also reminds me of a tropical vacation because it's such a warm, comforting scent.  I want to like, bathe in it.  (Do you think that would bother people who have to stand next to me on a daily basis?  Eh.  They'd get used to it).  The bottles are also a good size - big enough to get you plenty of the fragrance, but small enough to tuck into your bag and take with you. And at $45, the set is an affordable splurge.  (I mean, we could pretend that you're going to buy it for someone else, but let's be realistic, this one's coming home with you.  And it should!)

Note:  A sample of this item was sent to me by a PR representative working with Laura Mercier 

Lock Your Love

When I was at Naimie's last week (if you live in LA, especially in the Valley, you know the awesome-ness that is Naimie's).  Anyway, I was strolling through the store last weekend, preparing to spend a stupid amount of money on stuff I didn't need when I discovered three new fragrances put out by the candle/home company Votivo (their candles are amazing BTW).  I wasn't sure I would be loving a perfume by a well-known candle company, but I was so wrong.  First of all, the bottles are stunning -glass bottles with the old-fashioned bulb you squeeze (yep, pretty sure that's the official name for it) and each bottle is wrapped in a netting which makes the fragrance that much more alluring (you know, the whole whips and chains thing).  The scents are ridiculous (in a great way) and I immediately snatched up Hard To Get - a super flirty scent of citrus and sandalwood.  The site tells me it contains watermelon and some floral and while I can't pull those out specifically, the fragrance is downright sexy.  Love it and especially love the pricetag - $38.00.  It doesn't have the best staying power on the planet (I feel like it was faded by end of my work day) but whatever, who cares if I smell incredibly sexy from 9 to 2 and then just somewhat sexy 2-5.  It's all good.

Protect Your Skin

You guys, I've been doing something very un-me like - hiking.  I know, I know, I can hardly believe it either!  But it's really good exercise and when it's not super hot out, it's actually kind of enjoyable (I mean, let's not get carried away here, it's nothing I'd do if I wasn't trying to be healthier, but it's a good way to catch up with friends if someone comes with you or a good chance to listen to music if you go alone).  But because it's been so hot in L.A., I've been super careful about covering all my exposed skin with sunscreen before I go because if I didn't, I would be burnt before I even made it up the first hill.  Lately, my sunscreen of choice has been L'Oreal Paris' Sublime Sun Sheer Protect Sunscreen Oil SPF 50+.  (I know, it's a mouthful.  Lots of words in that product name!)

Ashley Tisdale is also a fan, which makes sense because it's awesome.  First of all, it's a spray, which is nice because it's super easy to apply that way.  (I usually rub it in anyway though - I just feel like I get better protection that way). For an oil, it's not very greasy at all, which I very much appreciate because I HATE feeling greasy or oily.  It makes me cringe.  I want to immediately shower whenever I feel greasy, so I could not spend all day with this sunscreen on if it felt like that.  And the protection it gives is awesome. It was 99 degrees out today and I went on a hike (don't ask why - I didn't think it was nearly that hot out when I got ready for it at home and by the time I was outside and realized it, I felt like I was too far in to turn back) and about halfway through, I started to freak out a little because I could feel the sun just attacking my bare arms and I was starting to panic that even with the sunscreen on, I was going to get burnt because my fair skin turns red even in the shade.  But nope!  It's 8 hours later and my skin is as pasty white as ever.  You've gotta love that.  And at around $11, it's a definite bargain compared to some of the much pricier sunscreens out there.  Stock up before the summer!      

And in case you were still on the fence, do it because L'Oreal is putting their money where their mouth is with a commitment to the Melanoma Research Alliance.  For every Sublime Sun product sold in the U.S. through the end of this year, they'll donate $1 to the MRA for the L’Oréal Paris-MRA Team Science Award. (Over the next three years, they'll donate over $750K).  Even more reason to buy!   

Hear The Pitter Patter

Okay, I admit it, I'm kinda into this royal baby thing.  It's so ridiculous, but the girly side of me just can't stop squeeing a little whenever I read about them in People (which is often, because they're on the cover EVERY OTHER WEEK. Even as into them as I am, I'm like, "Guys, find someone else to write about.  Just don't make it any of the Kardashians.")  They're just so adorable and Kate has such perfect hair and it's such a fabulous love story because he's a damn prince and she's a commoner (a commoner worth millions of dollars, but still.  Details!)  I guess I just love the fairytale aspect of it way more than I expected, especially because she looks like the world's most perfect pregnant person.  She barely looks like anything's changed!  As someone who will probably become huge and sweaty and spend the entire nine months in sweatpants and a t-shirt, I am seriously jealous of that.  Which is why I must have Butter London's new Pitter Patter nail polish.  It's a really pretty opaque aubergine shimmer that they created as a tribute for the royal baby-to-be.  (I mean, that's the life, right?  To have a nail polish named for you before you're even born?)  It's only available in America (sorry, Brits!) and it's a limited-edition, so snatch it up quickly before it vanishes forever.  (And maybe grab No More Waity, Katie too, which is also gorgeous and deserves to be paired with Pitter Patter.  It's Kate Middleton's life in nail polish!)  Now, on to the more important question... do we think it's a boy or a girl?   

Brighten the Eyes

Is it weird that when I say the name Marajuca, I have the song "Baracuda" playing in my head?  Anyway, Marajuca (oooh,Marajuca) C-Brighter Eye Treatment by Tarte is one of the first eye creams I've tried and can say I've actually stuck with!  I usually try an eye cream out for a few weeks and then give up on it, but this one is a keeper!  First of all, it goes on so smooth, sinks right into skin and leaves my eyes looking fresh (despite the fact I procrastinate all my work assignments and have a toddler who wakes early so I am up half the night and rise early for the day).  I can't speak to the specifics of whether or not it's tightening the skin under my eyes as it claims to do, but I definitely look more awake and the skin is definitely softer.  Great product - affordable at $38.00 and free of all those icky parabens and sulfates and those other -lates (Phthalates) which I can't ever spell and can barely pronounce.

Note:  A sample of this item was sent to me by a PR representative working with Tarte.

At First Blush

Uch, CLEAN, you guys are killing me!  Stop coming out with new scents because I can't afford to keep buying them, but not owning them all is seriously hard for me.  So just stop it!

First Blush is the newest Eau de Toilette and it's a limited-edition scent available for the summer.  It has notes of sparkling tea, bergamot, sweet mint, neroli, and woods, so it's an interesting combo of scents.  It's definitely not the "normal" CLEAN fragrance in that it doesn't smell soapy or like cotton or rain.  It was inspired by a summer morning - a new day at the beach - and I think the citrusy fresh notes accomplish that.  It kind of reminds me of being at the Jersey Shore early in the morning at the beginning of summer, when it's still kind of chilly out, but you can smell the ocean and the sea breeze. Really subtle and pretty.  I mean, let's be honest, we all know I'm going to buy this one at some point, probably sooner rather than later.  Damn you, CLEAN!  Why can't you release one I don't like for once?!

Jordin Sparks Loves L'Oreal

L'Oreal makes some of my favorite drugstore hair care products (their EverStrong Overnight Repair Treatment is one of my nightime staples) so it's always nice to see someone else appreciate them too.  (Especially someone who can afford any hair care brand they want).  Jordin Sparks was recently snapped by the paparazzi picking up their EverCurl line at a Walgreens in Los Angeles (a girl after my own heart - the new Walgreens that opened by me is all sorts of awesome).  And not that she's so famous that she can't do her own shopping, but I still kind of appreciate that she does.  Giving up shopping would be the number one thing I would hate if I was super famous, although I guess the tradeoff would be being able to buy anything you want from the privacy of your own home, so not a bad concession, I guess.... 

Tame Your Brows

I don't like to do a lot of things with my brows, mainly because I'm lazy and they pretty much look fine with just monthly Benefit brow bar waxes, but I still do need to comb them every morning and fill them in a little.  And I'm going to be honest, most of the time I just brush them because I haven't found too many brow colors that I like. Which is why I've become obsessed with Pixi's new Natural Brow Duo in Medium Brown.  In one easily portable product, I get both things (my laziness approves!)  It's super easy to use too - one end has a waterproof brow pencil that has a handy angled tip to make it easier to follow the shape of your brows, the other end has a brush with a tinted soft-hold gel on it to hold your brows in place.  It' super simple. Even I, who cannot pencil in my brows to save my life, was able to do it perfectly.  And a lot of mornings, I don't even flll them in, I just use the tinted gel to keep them in place and that looks great too.  At $18, it's a worthwhile investment to keep your brows in tip top shape with barely any effort (the best kind of effort!)  And it gives you an excuse to make a Target run, which always makes a product just a smidge better in my book because I enjoy anything that gives me a reason to hit up Target.  Genius.  

Note:  A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Pixi

Some Lovely Spring Scents!

Now that spring has sprung for the better part of the country (at least it seems according to my Facebook feed filled with people outside enjoying fresh air and sunshine), I thought it appropriate to do a little reviewing of a few new-ish scents just perfect for embracing the warmer weather.

First up is cerisier aux papillons (Spring Cherry), a new fragrance by L'Occitane that I loved so much I ran out to buy the hand cream.  It's super-floral-y (Cherry Blossom and Magnolia) but smells modern-floral if there is such a thing?  I usually don't find myself drawn to a fragrance like this one, but it's so clean and refreshing it's hard not to feel uplifted when I wear it!  It's very delicate and light and even when I wear the fragrance and the hand cream at the same time, it's not overpowering.  Retails for $42.00 and it's limited-edition, so act now or forever regret it!

Another fragrance I have to share is the new Temple Tree Jasmine cologne by Thymes.  While I, myself, am not a Jasmine-perfume-wearing person, this is a definite must-have for any jasmine fan.  It smells actually really pretty and the bottle is stunning!  Aside from jasmine, the fragrance features notes of honeysuckle, ylang ylang and damask rose as well as coconut milk.  The mix is very delicate to wear and I even used it to spritz my bath towels (yeah yeah, not it's intended use) but it was pretty brilliant to do, if I do say so myself!  Retails for $33.00 and would make a fantastic Mothers' Day present - well, if your mom's into florals.  If she's not into florals, than getting her a floral fragrance would probably not be the smart way to go on May 12.

Note:  Samples of the above were sent to me by PR representatives working with L'Occitane and Thymes.