Hell No! The Mustache Must Go!

Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit.

I’ve never grown a full-blown mustache, but just a hint of unsightly fuzz on the upper lip can make a girl feel like she’s a candidate for a barbershop quartet.

An appointment with an aesthetician isn’t always practical – especially if you only noticed the fuzz an hour before a big event where you need bring your ‘A’ game.

And honestly, a lot of those drug store strips just don’t work.

A few nights ago I gave Olay Smooth Finish Hair Removal Duo a try.

Sigh. I didn’t have high hopes, thinking it would be as unremarkable as most drug store products I’ve tried in the past.

The box contains two tubes: one is a skin guarding balm and the other is the hair removal cream. First, smooth the balm over your upper lip and rub it in for a few seconds. Next comes the removal cream, which I left on for eight minutes.

Tick…tick…tick…

Next I removed the cream with a cotton pad, rinsed and dried the area.

No obnoxious smell.

No pain.

No redness.

No irritation.

And most of all, no more fuzz!

While I’ll continue to keep my regular appointments with the waxer, I’ll also definitely keep a box of this Olay product on hand!

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Traveling Pretty: Clarisonic Mia

I jumped on the Clarisonic face brush bandwagon early. (Click here for my review)

Two years later, I’m hooked on the professional facial results it delivers in merely 60 seconds.

Last week, I picked up the smaller Mia (with a much smaller charger) for travel.




I tossed the Mia into my carry-on and was able to keep the Clarisonic glamour going during my Labor Day weekender.

*NOTE – The travel case did NOT come with the Mia.

Now I’m in the market for a good facial cleanser. Help me out! What’s your favorite facial cleanser?

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Oh, no! Don’t go!

I just love stepping out of the salon on hair day. My short bob is shiny, swingy and bouncing with body.

For the past year, I’ve kept the salon-fresh look of my blowout going all week by giving my hair a few spritzes of Kerastase Noctogenist Voile Nuit for Thin Hair before wrapping it at night.

Kerastase promises the overnight treatment will have you waking up to soft, radiant and renewed hair - and they’re absolutely right.

So imagine my shock when I read it was being discontinued.

Noooooooo!

Initially, I wanted to hoard as many bottles as I could find and stock my cabinets, but the $65 a bottle price tag calmed me down.

Instead, I bought just two bottles (one lasts me nearly a year). I’m hoping by the time I run out, they’ll be something even better on the market.

Soooo, what are some of your discontinued favorites?

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Product Review: DERMAdoctor Body Guard SPF 30 Sunscreen

I’m a big girl, so I know the first rule of summer.

Use plenty of sunscreen.

But for me following this edict hasn’t been as easy as picking up a tube from my local drugstore and slathering it on. They’re either too greasy, cause breakouts or worst of all leave me covered in chalky residue.

This year, I bypassed my drug and discount store haunts and headed to Sephora. I explained my concerns to a SA, who marched me right over to the DERMAdoctor display and handed me a tube of their Body Guard SPF 30 sunscreen for face and body.

I glanced at the $25 price tag and started to place it right back on the shelf. Then she squirted a dollop of the stuff on my arm and rubbed it in.

The light cream immediately vanished into my skin without leaving a telltale coat of oil or white-tinged residue. EUREKA!

Body Guard’s oil-free, sheer formula offers broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection, along with free-radical fighting anti-oxidants. I use it on both face and body with no hint of the clogged pours or breakouts I’ve experience with other brands.

Also, the 4-ounce bottle lasts a surprisingly long time.

For me, it’s worth the more-than-I-want-to-pay-for-sunscreen price tag.

So what products are you using to protect your skin from the sun this summer?

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Review: CoverGirl LashBlast Length Mascara

You’re on a date with a new guy.

He’s good-looking. He’s nice.

There’s nothing much wrong with him. However, there’s nothing to hold your interest either.

That’s pretty much the way I felt after my test drive of Cover Girl’s new Lash Blast Length mascara.



Meh. It’s okay.

This mascara’s promise is extremely long lashes that hold all day, and the new nylon formula boasts no-flaking.

My experience was so-so long lashes that held a few hours. However, I didn’t experience any flaking, which I usually do with mascaras. I also liked the longer brush on this one. It discovered tiny lashes, I didn’t even realize where there.

Still, I don’t think the good things about this mascara are enough to warrant a long-term relationship or even a second date.

If you’re just looking for an average daily mascara, with no bells and whistles, this will do fine. However, if you’re truly looking for longer lashes stick with Maybelline’s Lash Stiletto Ultimate Length Mascara.

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Review: Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick

You don’t come across them often.

In fact, it’s more rare than a 99-percent off everything sale at your favorite department store. That’s right, it just doesn’t happen.

So when I came across a brand, new lipstick display at Target – untouched by dirty fingers and chapped lips – I pounced on it before the red-shirted salesperson could finish setting it up!

Yet my excitement was tempered with the fact I’ve never had much luck with discount and drug store brands. I find their formulas to be either too dry or oily, and the colors to have little or no staying power.

I should have taken the pristine display as a hint that my luck had changed, because I am loving Maybelline’s Color Sensational lip colors!

Glides on smoothly, great color payoff and a variety of gorgeous shades that will make you think you’re in a department store. I picked Broadway Bronze and Mauve-ulous. But I wish I’d also bought the colors I waffled and then passed on.

So if you’re pocketbook isn’t quite up to a M.A.C. attack, definitely give one of these color-rich lippies a try.

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