Drugstore Beauty Finds

Burt’s Bees $5 Honey & Shea Conditioning Body Bar Is a Sweet Bar of Soap

September 2nd, 2011 by Karen 14 Comments

Burts Bees Honey and Shea Conditioning Body Bar

You da man, Burt! Give those bees of yours a big bonus because they’ve been going above and beyond the call of beauty duty lately with some really top tier, affordable products, like the new 100% natural Burt’s Bees Honey & Shea Conditioning Body Bar ($5), available now at drugstores, most grocery stores and also online.

I’ve been using it for about two weeks, just lurving the heck out of the honey-vanilla scent, and I don’t have a single complaint. Frankly, I’m shocked that something this good is so affordable AND natural. Seriously, Burt, you’re kind of a big deal.

Ingredients: Sodium rapeseedate, aqua (water, eau), sodium cocoate, glycerin, parfum (fragrance), butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, mel (honey, miel), royal jelly extract, sodium citrate, CI 77492 (iron oxides), CI 77891 (titanium dioxide)

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I’m Sensing Some Friction Between the New Nuance Salma Hayek Walnut Body Scrub and I

August 28th, 2011 by Karen 24 Comments

Nuance Salma Hayek Walnut Body Scrub

If you’re an aeronautical engineer, a NASCAR driver, a lawn bowler, a professional cycler or an Olympic swimmer, friction can be a nuisance, but if you’re a body scrub, it’s essential. I am sensing some friction between the new Nuance Salma Hayek Walnut Body Scrub ($7.99) and I; unfortunately, it’s just not the right kind.

I thought that after trying and loving my last two products from the new Nuance Salma Hayek line — the Nuance Salma Hayek Cucumber & Rosewater Dual-Phase Makeup Remover ($7.99) and Salma Hayek My Secret Super Moisturizing Body Cream ($14.99) — I was bound to like the third.

Nuance says the gentle scrub, which contains moisturizing acai and passion flower seed oils, can be used every day.
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Nuance Salma Hayek Cucumber & Rosewater (and Agave) Dual Phase Makeup Remover Isn’t Afraid to Face Anything

August 24th, 2011 by Karen 36 Comments

These days, the only resident of Casa de MBB who regularly parties like a rock star is Tabs, but back in the day, gurl, my middle name was margarita (on the rocks with salt, please!).

Kidding, of course (sort of). 🙂

Interestingly enough, the new Nuance Salma Hayek Cucumber & Rosewater Dual Phase Makeup Remover ($7.99) contains two ingredients that also appear in my former favorite drink.

No, not cucumber and rose water, although I bet those could make a tasty drink. I’m referring to aqua (water) and agave.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Isohexadecane, Butylene Glycol, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract, Opuntia Ficus Indica Stem Extract, Physalis Angulata Extract, Agave Tequilana Leaf Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Glycerin, Benzophenone Centrimonium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Red 40 (CI 16035), Blue 1 (CI 42090)

Listed above both rose water and cucumber in the list of ingredients, agave, the botanical du jour, has been quite the trendy ingredient lately, popping up in numerous skin care products for its alleged hydrating properties (I haven’t seen any clinical evidence to show what it supposedly does), but it’s not the star of this show.

That honor goes to cucumber and rose water, the two botanicals that get top billing here.

Cucumber & Rosewater Dual Phase Makeup Remover is, as the name implies, a dual-phase remover. Phase One: shake well (like it’s a bottle of salad dressing). Phase Two: remove.

It cuts through even long-wearing stuff in a flash, probably due to the solvents, silicones and alcohol it contains. I tested it against the big guns — NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, MAC Paint Pot, MAC Fluidline, YSL Crayon Yeux Haute Intense Long-Lasting Eye Pencil, Urban Decay Cannonball Waterproof Mascara and MAC Pro Longwear Concealer — and it whisked all of them away in about two minutes.

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I’m Feeling the Sting from Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes

August 24th, 2011 by Karen 45 Comments

Burts Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes

A Burt's Bee If there were an award for Best Bees in the Beauty Biz, it would have to go to Burt. Those benevolent little bees of his have been cranking out some really fantastic products lately, so when I spotted something from the line I hadn’t seen before at Target, I reached for it quicker than you can say “bzz!”

Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes with White Tea Extract ($6 for 30), pre-moistened wipes designed to remove dirt, makeup and oil in a single step (no rinsing required), boast being made from 99.1% natural ingredients. The all natural cloths also carry an FSC certification, meaning that the ingredients used to make them come from a well-managed forest (as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council).

The moment the first cloth touched my skin I thought, These are so soft that I’ll go through 30 of them quickly. One wipe easily removes whatever foundation, powder, lipstick, blush, eye primer, eyeshadow and non-waterproof mascara I might be wearing (waterproof and long-wearing eye makeup, however, require something stronger, like a dedicated eye makeup remover).

Two big considerations for me when it comes to wipes like these are the scent, if they have one, and whether they leave behind a film on my skin. I think these are great on both fronts; I love the white jasmine and citrus scent, and I don’t detect any residue or film.

burts bees facial cleansing towelettes
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I’d Gladly Stay Awake Till Sunrise for This Vibrant Sula Beauty Lipstick

August 23rd, 2011 by Karen 32 Comments

sula beauty awake till sunrise lipstick

Just how pigmented is vibrant orange Sula Beauty Lipstick in Awake Till Sunrise ($8)? Well, if I were ever going to scribble a note on a bathroom mirror with a tube of lipstick, I’d use it, because “YOU’RE MINE FOREVER!!” scrawled on a mirror in sheer baby pink just doesn’t have the same impact.

This — THIS! — is what I’ve been hoping for from the Sula Beauty line. Creamy reddish coral Awake Till Sunrise totally hits it out of the park (think MAC Hibiscus), and I wouldn’t be surprised if it and the other lipsticks in the line skipped right past “Go” on their way to the Drugstore Makeup Hall of Fame. 🙂

Not only did Sula peg the price at a reasonable $8, they omitted the parabens and phthalates, refrained from testing on animals and loaded this particular shade with so much pigment that it could easily pass for department store.

Awake Till Sunrise even feels more expensive than it is, with its creamy, moisturizing and slightly thick texture. For a minute there, I almost forgot it wasn’t a Chanel Rouge Coco.

sula beauty awake till sunrise lipstick

sula beauty awake till sunrise lipstick
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That New Nuance Salma Hayek My Secret Super Moisturizing Body Cream Drenches Dry Skin Isn’t a Secret Anymore

August 22nd, 2011 by Karen 30 Comments

nuance salma hayek body cream

Some words just belong together, ya know? — like “super” and “secret,” especially when the super comes before the secret.

Maybe that’s why I keep wanting to call Salma Hayek’s new Nuance Secret Super Moisturizing Body Cream ($14.99) “My Super Secret” body cream instead. 🙂

Of course, it’s no longer a secret; this cat’s out of the bag, as it and the other products in the new Nuance line of makeup, skin and hair care are available now exclusively at CVS/pharmacy stores.

I applied the cream before bed both nights last weekend, and color my dragon scales impressed! Not only has it soothed and smoothed the thirstiest parts of my bone dry bod (my legs, ankles and elbows), it even gets a paws up from Tabs.

Salma’s cosmetologist grandmother whipped up the secret sauce herself, or so the story goes, to nourish, relieve and restore dehydrated skin. The tube lists a bunch of plant-based and natural ingredients (many of them up near the top of the list) like shea butter, honey and macadamia nut oil.

nuance salma hayek body cream
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Butter Before Bed? You Betcha! If It’s Burt’s Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm with Kokum Butter

August 21st, 2011 by Karen 19 Comments

Burt's Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm

Do you have any bedtime beauty rituals you like to do right before you hit the haaay? I have a few. First, I slather lotion all over my crocodilian hands and feet. Then, I slip on a soft, stretchy headband (because I can’t fall asleep if I can feel my hair all over my face) and apply a moisturizing lip balm.

A Burt's Bee Speaking of balms, I’ve been cheating on my go-to Clinique Superbalm lately with the new Burt’s Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm with Kokum Butter ($4).

Superbalm will always have a special spot on my nightstand, but sometimes you just gotta have variety, ya know?

Burt’s new colorless lip balm is 100% natural, cruelty-free and contains some interesting ingredients. Along with the usual balmy suspects like shea butter; cocoa butter; and sunflower, coconut and olive oils, it also has something called kokum butter. I’d never heard of it before, but apparently it’s derived from the seeds of the Garcinia indica tree, a plant indigenous to western India and believed to have some medicinal properties, although I couldn’t find much on the benefits of its use topically.

Ingredients: cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed wax, persea gratissima (avocado) oil, olus (vegetable oil, huile vegetale), cera alba (beeswax, cire d’abeille), sclerocarya birrea seed oil, soybean glycerides, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, garcinia indica seed butter (kokum butter), butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) unsaponifiables, cymbopogon martini oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) oil, salvia sclarea (clary) oil, tocopherol, myroxylon pereirae (balsam peru) oil, vanilla planifolia fruit extract, illicium verum (anise) fruit/seed oil, cananga odorata flower oil, glycine soja (soybean) oil, citric acid, geraniol, linalool, benzyl benzoate

Whatever kokum is or isn’t supposed to do, I’ve been applying the balm before bed every night for the past week and waking up the following morning with soft, smooth lips.

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Try $9 L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Waterproof Mascara for Great Lash Separation at a Promising Price

August 19th, 2011 by Karen 26 Comments

If I were on a surf trip right now somewhere miles from the nearest Sephora and had lost my precious tube of Urban Decay Cannonball mascara ($20), I’d head for the closest drugstore to grab an emergency tube of $9 L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Waterproof.

The original Million Lashes and I had issues with clumping when we spent time together last fall, but it looks like L’Oreal worked out some of the kinks this time around. The waterproof version doesn’t clump up on me, barely smudges at all and doesn’t drop a flake. It’s smoother than Ryan Gosling, and two layers deliver beautifully separated lashes able to hold a curl through three sweaty miles on the treadmill.

Not bad.

No kidding, this stuff is really, REALLY waterproof, which is great, but that also makes it a little tough to remove (without the right cleanser). I find myself having to use an extra pump of MAC Cleanse Off Oil, which barely blinks in the face of other mascaras, to thoroughly remove every trace.

As for lash length and volume, you know me. 🙂 It’s go drag or go home. In this case I’d love to see both attributes upgraded. If we were talking about Project Runway, L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Waterproof Mascara would be, like, the middle of the season, but I want the kind of length and volume we see in the finale at NY Fashion Week.

It’s almost there, but not quite. I think my lashes do look much longer and thicker wearing Urban Decay Cannonball, fo’ sho’. Of course, Cannonball costs more than twice the price.

Before (top) and after (bottom) two layers of L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes; Lloyd says hi, btw
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