Beauty Tips

Detoxify Your Skin the Bentonite Way With a DIY Bentonite Clay Mask

April 30th, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

About the Author
This guest post was written by Nadege of Atomic Beaute. You can also find Nadege on Twitter and Facebook.

Bentonite clay face mask

With what our faces face on a daily basis — sun exposure being the big one — clay masks are a great way to treat common skin challenges. I like to give my face a good detoxing once a week to make up for not taking good care of my skin during the week (I’m definitely guilty of this!).

Take a night, and treat yourself to a nice, calming bentonite clay mask.

Bentonite clay is here to save the day! — scratch that. The week! This soft volcanic clay is suitable for all skin types. It absorbs toxins, draws out blackheads, kills acne-causing bacteria, and it’s great for spot treatments, too (just mix it with a little bit of water). It also has anti-aging benefits, because as it exfoliates the skin, it helps with cell turnover.

So, are you ready to detoxify the bentonite way? 🙂 If you are, here’s…

What you’ll need

A few small stalks of sage
2 tbsp of bentonite clay powder
(carried at most health food stores)
1 tbsp of honey
1 tbsp of coconut oil
Half a lemon

Sage (enough to fit in a small bowl)

Bentonite clay face mask

2 tbsp of bentonite clay (available here and here)

Bentonite clay face mask

1 tbsp of honey

Bentonite clay face mask
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4 Easy DIY Skincare Recipes With Lemon

April 28th, 2012 by Karen 12 Comments

About the Author
This guest post was written by Jenn of Hello Brio. You can also find Jenn on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.

DIY Lemon-based skincare

I’ve been working on switching over to all natural beauty and makeup products for several months now. It’s not an easy transition, and it can be quite expensive.

Growing up, my mom created beauty and health concoctions with plants from her herb garden combined with common pantry items like olive oil, and I thought it was a bit odd. But as a lot of mother-daughter things go, I’ve learned that her practices aren’t so strange: her natural beauty routine is quite admirable – and now I’m following suit! After all, she is in her 60’s and still has fantastic, clear, glowing skin.

So, when life gives you lemons, make all-natural at-home beauty treatments!

Lemons are fruit; they’re natural. They’re inexpensive. Lemon juice has antiseptic, healing and lightening properties, and can also help with acne.

See where I’m going here?

Combined with the right ingredients, lemons can be a staple in many natural DIY skincare treatments. Here are four easy lemon-based beauty recipes: two for face, and two for feet.

And if you’re like me and don’t cook fancy things very often, I picked recipes that call for a small number of common ingredients. I hope you’ll love these inexpensive, surprisingly luxurious beauty treatments as much as I do!

Lemon yogurt peel

For this super-gentle exfoliating mask, you’ll need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best), 1/4 cup of plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt), and about 1 tablespoon of honey. Yogurt combined with honey makes a great gentle antibacterial cleanser.

Lemon yogurt peel

Mix the ingredients together until the mixture is uniform, and apply to clean skin. Leave it on for 10 minutes, and rinse with warm water.

Oh, yeah. And feel free to eat some yogurt and honey if you’re so inclined (it’s one of my favorite treats!).

Sweet honey lemon face scrub

Combine 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and the fresh squeezed juice from a quarter of a lemon. Honey’s natural antibacterial quality gives this nourishing and moisturizing scrub acne fighting properties, and my skin glows after doing this treatment.

Sweet honey lemon face scrub

This recipe yields about four uses for me. Apply about one quarter of the mixture by gently rubbing it on clean skin, and then leaving it in place for about 5 minutes before rinsing.

You can store the rest of the mixture for later use — just not more often than once every 3 or 4 days.

Oh, and if you happen to accidentally taste the mix, I won’t tell. 🙂
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New Milani Powder Eyeshadows, Long-Wear Eyeshadow Pencils, Glosses and Nail Lacquers Coming to Drugstores This Year

April 23rd, 2012 by Karen 36 Comments

milani powder eyeshadow in shocking pink

Drugstores are gonna be hoppin’ over the next few months, babe. Milani, for one, plans to launch a new line of eye shadows, a new shadow pencil and new shades of Crystal Gloss for Lips, Glitzy Glamour Gloss, Color Perfect Lipstick, and some new Nail Lacquers, too.

I’m still tracking down exact release dates for these, but here’s a look at everything Milani has lined up for the rest of the year.

milani powder eyeshadows 1 Powder Eyeshadows, $4.49 each (a brand new product; will be available in 12 shades, exclusively at select CVS/Pharmacy stores)

milani powder eyeshadows 2
More Powder Eyeshadows, $4.49 each

milani powder eyeshadows in white lie, pitch black and shocking pink
Powder Eyeshadows from the left: White Lie, Pitch Black and Shocking Pink
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Sleek and Chic: 3 Easy Party Hairstyles

March 13th, 2012 by Karen 29 Comments

This post is part of a series sponsored by Walgreens.

It used to seem like I had endless amounts of time to get all dolled up for different things, like parties, dancing and baby showers, but now? What I wouldn’t give to have a whole afternoon to get ready.

These days, on the rare occasions when I actually do have something to get dressed up for, it seems like I’m always rushing. I’m lucky to have enough time to fill in my brows, let alone do something special with my hair.

Still, even when I am rushing, running ragged and far behind, the last thing I want to do with my ‘do is just throw on a hat and call it a day (although I am totally guilty of doing exactly that more than a few times).

When all I can swing is 5-10 minutes on hair, I’ll shoot for one of these three quick party hairstyles. Each one is light on muss and fuss, and can be done with styling products from the drugstore.

First things first: the prep work.

This stuff is gÃ¼d

Assuming a shower isn’t completely off the table, I like to start with one, and lately I’ve been bringing two products by gÃ¼d from Burt’s Bees with me.

I love how citrusy Orange Petalooza Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner smell ($6.99 each), and the combo leaves my hair feeling silky soft, lightweight and conditioned.

If I had my druthers, I’d always air dry my hair, but sometimes that’s not an option. Hair dryers do speed up the process, and when I’m going to use one, I try to work in a heat protecting product, like the new Suave Keratin Infusion Heat Defense Leave-In Conditioner ($3.49), to protect against heat styling damage.

When I can’t squeeze in a shower at all, well, that’s when I turn to dry shampoo. Definitely not ideal, but the good ones do freshen my â€˜do and give some lift to my roots. I really like Suave Keratin Infusion Dry Shampoo. It’s designed for all hair types and costs just $3.49.

With the prep work done, it’s time to pick our hairstyle! 🙂

1. Retro in a rush

I’ve been wearing my hair a lot like this lately. I call it my “Ode to Mad Men,” and it’s kind of a rushed take on an old-school beehive.

I start by parting my bangs to the side, but if you don’t have bangs, just take about a two-inch chunk of hair in that same area, and part it to the side. Then, to get the look of long side-swept bangs, secure the chunk in place with bobby pins, like the Styling Essentials Bobby Pins by Conair ($1.39).

Next, I put my hair into a low ponytail secured with an elastic ponytail holder in a color that matches my mane. I like Goody Ouchless Gentle Hair Elastics, 1) because a pack of 27 costs just $3.99, and 2) they don’t break my strands when I pull them out.

To build some height at my crown, I grab a pencil (here, I’m actually using an eyeliner), stick it into the roots up there, and then gently pull up to loosen the style and create some height.

I don’t usually worry about it looking too neat, because with this style, I kind of like how it looks a little undone.

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Look Taller, Slimmer and Curvier in the Anthropologie Pieced Column Dress by Bailey 44

February 23rd, 2012 by Karen 76 Comments

This has been a brutal winter in the war I’ve been waging against my natural tendency to dress like a 12-year-old skater boy. Some battles, I won. Others, well, I fell back, retreating into my old routine of jeans and t-shirts.

Still, I feel like I’ve made a little progress here and there…

After the dust settles, when all is said and done, I think I’ll look back at the day I came across the Pieced Column Dress by Bailey 44 ($178) on the Anthropologie website as the turning point in the war — the day I took a major step toward dressing like a 30-something-year-old woman with a quirky sense of style.

It was the reviews that made the difference. So positive, so encouraging. They convinced me that this war could actually be won. People were talking about how the dress made them look taller, slimmer, curvier and cuter. Basically, they made it sound like the fabric equivalent of a minor miracle, so of course I had to try it on.

I drove down to the closest Anthropologie store and tried on the dress in Neutral Motif (it’s also available in Navy).

I was careful not to get my hopes up too high, though, remembering that stripes usually make me look wider and shorter, but I’ll be a monkey’s uncle — I think it had the opposite effect.

Man, I really love this dress. 🙂 Everything about it except the price (and the fact that it’s dry-clean only).

I feel like I look 10 pounds lighter and three inches taller when I have it on, which must have to do with the design, with its stripes that zigzag at different angles. They seem to slim the tummy and highlight curves at the same time.

The gal who was helping me said that she’d seen a whole bunch of women try the dress on, and it looked good on everyone, women of all different body shapes and sizes.

So cool. And it’s even comfortable. Very comfortable. It’s made from rayon and spandex, so it’s soft and stretchy like a pair of yoga pants for your whole body.

I usually dress it down with boots and a denim jacket, but I also like the way it looks jazzed up with heels and a black blazer.

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The Year in Review: 20 of My Favorite Makeup and Beauty Blog Posts of the Year

December 31st, 2011 by Karen 9 Comments

Some of my favorite posts of 2011

According to my blogging software, I clicked the “Publish” button on exactly 1,770 blog posts in 2011, and at an average of about 300 words each, that’s about half a million words!

I wish I could say that I remember writing most of those posts, but yeah, no way. A few of them do stand out, though, like these 20, which were some of my favorite posts of the year.

Are You a MAC Wonder Woman?

A Tour Through the Urban Decay Offices in Newport Beach

I Love MAC Evolution Revolution Lipglass

12 Ways to Wear MAC Evolution Revolution Lipglass

The Bobbi Brown 1991 Lip Palette

Saying Hi to The Urban Decay Naked2 Palette

Lessons learned from going away to college

NYX Slide-On Eye Liners or Urban Decay 24/7 Pencils?

The Essie French Affair Collection

Benefit Watts Up Face Highlighter

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Remove Glitter Nail Polishes Quicker With This Little Trick

December 12th, 2011 by Karen 51 Comments

A tip to remove glittery nail polish

I love glittery nail polishes, and I suspect that you may love ’em, too. Lately, I’ve been having a blast with glittery ombre manicures, which have taken my lacquer love for glitter to whole new levels, but they’ve also opened my eyes to a downside of having so much glitter on my nails…

It can take forever to remove!

I can usually remove non-glittery polishes in 2-3 minutes, tops, but getting the glittery ones off can easily take me 10 minutes or more.

Until last weekend, my technique for removing glitter polishes involved soaking a cotton pad in an acetone nail polish remover, wrapping the wet pad around each nail, and then massaging the moistened pad around the nail for a minute or so before firmly sliding it from the base up to the tip. Sometimes, I’d have to repeat the process three or four times per nail to get them nice and clean.

Then, last weekend, I stumbled upon something that really helped move the cleaning process along.

It was Saturday night, and I was just about to remove my sparkly Raiders mani my normal way when I decided to hop in the shower first (three words: hella greasy roots).

After the shower, I moisturized, got into my jammies and sat down on the floor with my polish remover and cotton pads.

I started going through my regular routine, soaking and massaging a moistened pad on the first nail, but this time it was working much better than usual. On some of my nails, I only had to repeat the process once; on others, the first pad did the job.

A process that usually takes me 10-15 minutes ended up only taking 5 — still a little longer than usual for non-glittery nail polishes but a big improvement nevertheless.
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3 Makeup and Beauty Packing Tips to Prep for Holiday Travel

December 7th, 2011 by Karen 27 Comments

3 Holiday Travel Makeup and Beauty Packing Tips (2)

This post is part of a content series sponsored by Clarisonic.

2011 will go down in my diary as the Year of the Suitcase. I took a total of five trips this year, which is nothing, I know, compared to hard-core travelers, but it was a lot for me.

And one fantastic side effect of those trips was that they forced me to upgrade my approach to packing. I went from starting the year as a contender for “Crappiest Packer Ever,” and ended it as a middleweight semi-pro packer with a handful of new tricks.

If you have plans to fly (or drive) over the next few weeks, here are three things you can do to eek out a few more cubic feet for makeup and beauty in your luggage.

1. The door is a jar

I’m a gal with a weakness for products, and there’s only so much room in those TSA-approved plastic baggies. By filling up little sample jars with your must-have skincare and other liquid products, you can fill your allowed plastic bag to the brim.

Sometimes you can find the little bottles at drugstores, places like Bed Bath & Beyond and even Target, but I like the free ones from Nordstrom. They hold less than an ounce, but for most things that’s usually enough product to last me a couple of weeks.

(I ask my favorite makeup artists if I can have a couple of them every so often when I visit a counter.)

Don’t forget 3-1-1

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) 3-1-1 program limits the size and number of liquid-filled products that can be brought aboard planes in carry-on bags. Travelers can bring aboard liquid-filled bottles no larger than 3.4 ounces (100ml) by volume and must store those bottles in a single quart-sized, clear plastic zip-top bag.

Oh, and ever since the time I accidentally used my face cleanser on my hair, I’ve taken to putting labels on the jars, small rectangular ones from Office Depot, and I write the name of each product with a waterproof Sharpie, just in case the outside of the jar gets wet.

For my next trip — and yes, I admit it sounds a little OCD — I plan to add numbers to the labels to indicate the order in which the products should be used.

I guess I just like the idea of seeing the jars all lined up on a shelf… 🙂

(TIP: Empty contact lens cases will also work in a pinch.)

3 Holiday Travel Makeup and Beauty Packing Tips (1)
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