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Product Reviews

Get Fit Over the Holidays with 30 Day Shred

December 3rd, 2009 by Karen 30 Comments

jillian michaels 30 day shred review

No joke, but last week I ate four pieces of pecan pie on Thanksgiving. FOUR PIECES!

What’s that, like 18 million calories!?

Curse you holiday temptation! It’s constant and everywhere I turn, like these blasted Trader Joe’s dark chocolate stars. I think they follow me, nom nom nom…

Throw in cold rain and shortened days — what’s a girl to do?

Yes, Virgina, you can still work out over the holidays

I thank my dark chocolate stars for fitness expert Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred ($10).

The DVD’s from 2007 (the one I have), so it’s a few years old, but the balanced workout really makes me sweat.

So, what’s this shredding business?

JM (the same one from TV’s The Biggest Loser) calls it the 3-2-1 Interval System, a 20-minute mixed workout emphasizing strength training, cardio and abs.

The idea is to work your way through the three levels of difficulty over the course of 30 days, at the end emerging leaner and “shredded” to the max.

Can you say sweat?

To say these workouts are challenging for me would be an understatement. No workout DVD has ever kicked my booty like this one has, but it’s still fun, doable, and I think the exercises themselves are interesting — things like skaters (a motion like speed skating), plank jacks (plank position/jumping jack hybrid on the floor), squat thrusts and high-knee kicks.
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There are 30 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Beauty Tips, Product Reviews

Olay In-Shower Body Lotion Is Cutting Out the Middle Man

December 2nd, 2009 by Karen 37 Comments

olay-in-shower-body-lotion-1

Thank you, Olay In-Shower Age Defying Body Lotion ($7), for turning me into a well-oiled, lotion-applying machine.

A little beauty backstory

I have alligator skin. Consequently, I spend copious amounts of time applying body lotion. Once, I tried to figure out how much time I’ve spent at it over the course of my life, and it worked out to something like 52 days.

52 DAYS! That’s time I could’ve spent learning how to play the lute or drooling over Ry-Ry. 🙂

ryan-on-table-saying-haaay

Depending on how long I stick with creamy Olay In-Shower Body Lotion (I’m fickle when it comes to lotions), I could save hours over the rest of my life because it basically eliminates the five minutes I’d otherwise spend applying lotion after every shower.

Instead, after washing and rinsing off my regular body wash, I just rub it on (taking in the light apple-floral scent) while the water’s still running. The heat and humidity in the shower activate its moisturizing mojo.

Then, after all of my dry skin areas are sufficiently coated, I rinse and pat down with a towel.
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There are 37 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Product Reviews, Skin Care

Carmindy’s New Smoky Eye Kit Makes One Heck of a Stocking Stuffer

December 1st, 2009 by Karen 31 Comments

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Perfect Smokey Eyes box

Leave it to makeup artist Carmindy (of TLC’s What Not To Wear) to make smokey eyes even easier than flipping your hair (well, almost). 🙂

Her new Perfect Smoky Eyes Kit ($23, part of the Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy line) comes with three coordinating eye products perfect for creating understated, elegant, just plain pretty smokey eyes.

What ya get

  • Eye Shadow Palette in Storm: Three shimmery shades in gray, taupe and beige
  • Lift & Define Mascara in Jet Black: A lengthening, glossy black
  • Always Perfect Liquid Eye Liner in Black Onyx: A sheer liquid liner

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Perfect Smokey Eyes products

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Perfect Smokey Eyes swatches
Swatches from left to right: shimmery gray eyeshadow, shimmery taupe eyeshadow, shimmery beige eyeshadow, liquid liner, mascara
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There are 31 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Product Reviews

Taking Care of Business: Lip Fusion Collection Glosses Wear Well at Work

December 1st, 2009 by Karen 13 Comments

Lip Fusion Collection Review glosses

Back when I worked as a legal assistant in the city — what I like to call my cubicle days — I would take quick mental health breaks throughout the day, like whenever I overheard one of my attorneys say, “That shouldn’t take long. Karen will handle it.”

I’d hunker down behind my monitor and start applying lip gloss like a MAD WOMAN!

I think it kept me sane… Mostly, I liked my job, but it wasn’t always emotionally easy. Lip gloss helped me get through the day. 🙂

What kinds of lip gloss? It varied, of course, but I didn’t wear many high shine varieties (many were too sexy for the office). I was partial to work-friendly shades like the ones in Fusion Beauty’s Lip Fusion Collection ($40).

Lip Fusion Collection Review 3
Blush, a sheer and creamy baby pink

It’s a limited edition holiday set with six little Lip Fusion Color Shine Glosses in a mix of basic nude, pink and bronze.

Lip Fusion Collection Review 2
Bare, a shimmery and sheer nude

The colors look pretty work appropriate — noticeable yet subdued — and deliver medium shine.

Lip Fusion Collection Review 6
Goddess, a shimmery golden bronze
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There are 13 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews

Sephora Brand Cuticle Pens are Mightier than the Sword

November 30th, 2009 by Karen 47 Comments

sephora cuticle pen review
I promise I’ll write you

Did you know that some gals carry hot sauce in their purses? It’s true! I saw an episode of Cheaters where a woman busted out her own personal bottle of Tabasco sauce at a restaurant. Her dedication inspired me — in an unrelated but equally silly way — to start carrying cuticle oil with me everywhere I go.

Why cuticle oil?

Because I wash my hands, a lot. Consequently, my cuticles look like shredded carrots, and regular hand lotion just wasn’t cutting it.

But then disaster struck when a bottle of cuticle oil accidentally opened in my purse… Oily phone = beauty grouch.

It put an end to my cuticle carrying until I came across this little miracle at Sephora last weekend: Sephora Brand Cuticle Pen ($12).

What is it?

Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s a click pen filled with moisturizing cuticle oil. 🙂

It comes in three different flavors — Healing Eucalyptus, Stimulating Lavander and Original. I have it in Original, which moisturizes and softens with shea butter and the oils of Aloe vera, jojoba, apricot and evening primrose.

As you can probably imagine, it’s not complicated to operate. Just twist the bottom of the click pen to deploy the oil through the brush at the opposite end, and paint with the oil-soaked tip directly on your cuticles.

sephora cuticle pen review brush
Brush it good… brush it REAL good
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There are 47 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Nails, Product Reviews

Clarins Wonder Volume Mascara in Black Reflections Adds a Little Sparkle and Shine

November 27th, 2009 by Karen 20 Comments

Clarins Wonder Volume Mascara Black Reflections Review swatch2

I gotta hand it to the cooks in Clarins’ kitchen. They consistently cook up fun mascaras for their seasonal collections (remember the teal terror?).

This time they went all sparkly on us with limited edition Wonder Volume Mascara in Black Reflections ($24), from the Palazzo d’Oro holiday collection.

First I was afraid; I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never liiiive without you by my side. But I spent so many nights, thinking how you did me wrong, I grew strong. I learned how to carry on!

Sorry about that… Gloria Gaynor moment. 🙂

What I mean to say was, at first I expected Black Reflection to be too glittery for me. While it’s a traditional black mascara, Clarins really loaded it with silver shimmer.

But I think Clarins did something remarkably well with it that makes it doable for a range of daytime looks.

Hold me closer, tiny glitter!

They milled and milled and milled! The glitter bits in Black Reflections are so tiny and elegant — no disco diva glitter here — that some folks may not even notice at first glance. Upon closer inspection, however, the glitter dances and shimmers in the light.

This is what I call *really good glitter.*

I usually reach for black mascaras (more often than tinted ones), but sometimes I find myself wanting a little something extra — exactly the times I think Black Reflections will come in handy.

Clarins Wonder Volume Mascara Black Reflections Review no mascara
Nekkid lashes

Clarins Wonder Volume Mascara Black Reflections Review one layer
One layer
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There are 20 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews

Ash Me About Vaseline Sheer Infusion Body Lotion

November 25th, 2009 by Karen 17 Comments

vaseline sheer infusion botanical blend body lotion

Be warned: When your cat swipes at your shins, he may be trying to warn you about dry skin.

We’re talking ashy ORANGE ALERT, and in my case it was looking exceptionally bad (remember the aliens from the original V?).

Luckily, I think I may have found something to help, and it costs less than $10.

Vaseline’s Sheer Infusion Body Lotion ($8) has been on store shelves for a few months, but I only recently gave it a try.

It contains a complex Vaseline calls Stratys-3, which they claim gets down and dirty to moisturize the deeper layers of skin.
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There are 17 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Product Reviews, Skin Care

Straight Sexy Hair Smooth and Protect Packs Some Serious Multitasking Mojo

November 25th, 2009 by Karen 33 Comments

straight sexy hair smooth and protect

El Hub threatened to revolt over my hoarding of hairstyling products in the bathroom, which he compares to the beauty aisle at Rite Aid :), so in the name of marital harmony, it’s time I find more hair products that multi-task.

My latest discovery: Straight Sexy Hair Smooth & Protect Flat Iron Hairspray ($14).

Like four products in one, it’s a Vitamin B5-packed aerosol to protect hair from flat iron heat damage while smoothing out frizz, adding shine and moisture and imparting soft, touchable hold (smells faintly of coconut). All that, and it works on either dry OR damp hair.
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There are 33 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Hair, Product Reviews

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

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