Drugstore Beauty Finds

Garnier Fructis Style Wonder Waves Mousse: A Wave-Defining $4 Wonder

October 23rd, 2010 by Karen 4 Comments

Written by Tori (and Rupert)

Dynamic beauty duo Tori and Rupert scour drugstore aisles and cosmetics counters looking for share-worthy beauty booty like this gem from Garnier.

Garnier Fructis Style Wonder Waves Mousse

For all you wavy-haired girlies out there who love your locks but want to tame those frizzies, have I got a product for you! I discovered Garnier this year after I went on a product testing frenzy. I decided to stop straightening my hair every day (my poor fried locks 🙁 ) and embrace my hair’s natural texture, and I was determined to make it work.

Garnier Fructis Style Wonder Waves Mousse

And lo and behold, I did! Thanks to Garnier Fructis Wonder Waves Mousse (about $4 for a 6.8-oz bottle). It promises to define your waves, leaving them soft and touchably smooth. Of course, I had my doubts about such a claim because it sounded far too good to be true. I squirted out a puff of the foaming mousse (which smells amazing!) and scrunched it onto damp hair and let it work its magic overnight. Sure enough, the next day after letting my hair air dry it came out just as promised.

Garnier Fructis Style Wonder Waves Mousse
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NYX Special Effects Lashes: Crazy False Lashes at a Crazy Good Price

October 22nd, 2010 by Karen 35 Comments

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing nyx special effects lashes in leopard

Wow, how fun are these NYX Special Effects Lashes ($10; available in 40 styles)? I’m building up the courage to wear the brown spotted Leopard ones out in public, and I’m almost there. I’m thinking mall date, perhaps?

Electric blue Midnight Walts is another story… I’m reserving that one for private, in-home displays of cray-cray. I feel trÃ¨s Looney Tunes with ’em on, not gonna lie.

I love how many there are to choose from (40 in all), and at $10, they’re $5 cheaper than the freakiest $15 Urban Decay Urban Lashes and half the cost of falsies from Shu Uemura (which are great, I might add).

NYX Special Effects Lashes Review

NYX Special Effects Lashes Review leopard

NYX Special Effects Lashes Review leopard midnight walts
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What Are Your Tried-and-True Drugstore Body Care Products?

October 15th, 2010 by Karen 73 Comments

Neutrogena Body Oil Light Seasame Formula is one of mine!

Your comments on Wednesday’s Neutrogena Rainbath review got me thinking about drugstore body care all stars. A few kept popping up over and over again (apparently y’all dig Dove body wash!), so I thought it might be cool to compile a list of budget-friendly body care products we love.

Will you let me know in the comments 1) what your tried-and-true drugstore body care products are and 2) why you love them? Lotions, body washes, scrubs, sunscreens, that kinda thing.

I’m always looking for budget beauty that delivers the goods, so I can’t wait to hear about your favorites!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Have You Seen These Sonia Kashuk Pink Products for Breast Cancer Awareness Month at Target?

October 14th, 2010 by Karen 15 Comments

When I popped by Target and Tuttimelon last night to get a few cans of gravy for Tabs and a pint of “premium frozen yogurt” for moi (I the taro flavor), I spied these cute Breast Cancer Awareness products from Sonia Kashuk.

Sonia’s a breast cancer survivor, and every year she releases something cool for BCA. Last year I got this makeup case (cute, huh?).

This year the company’s donating 15% (a sizable chunk) of the purchase price of these BCA products to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

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Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel: The Old Faithful in My Shower

October 13th, 2010 by Karen 55 Comments

Neutrogena Rainbath Review

Hmm… I honestly don’t know what Tabs would have said about me if he’d known me back in my Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel phase ($8 for an 8.5 oz bottle), aka the late ’90s, aka my club kid days.

“Meow,” perhaps?

In his short kitty lifetime, he’s only known me as his cranky, uncool mum — the boring one who hits the haaay every night at 10.

He probably would have liked the late nights and parties because, back then, that’s how I rolled.

My, how things change…

‘Fridge magnet philosophy

Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel sure takes me back… I’ve been using it off and on for years, at least as far back as the mi-’90s. It’s like the Old Faithful in my shower and keeps returning over and over again.
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A Few Reasons to Fall in Love with Sonia Kashuk Fall 2010

October 8th, 2010 by Karen 34 Comments

Clockwise from bottom right: Nail Colour in Tauped, Nail Colour in Stop Whining, Nail Color in Taunting Teal, Nail Colour in Rock Star, Nail Colour in Starry Night, Eye Shadow Quad in Brown Eyed Girl (yes, that pan in the upper left is broken!) and Velvety Matte Lip Crayon in Rosey Nude

Think about it: there was a time before Sonia Kashuk (B.S.K.). Dark days, those were. We had to apply our makeup by torchlight in caves and used reflective pools of rainwater instead of mirrors.

Okay, no, that’s not how it was, but the drugstore beauty landscape did dramatically improve when Target started carrying Ms. Kashuk’s stuff.

She made drugstore beauty cool again, and judging by her massive 22-piece winter/fall 2010 collection of makeup bags (the majority of the collection) and makeup for eyes, lips and nails, she’s still going strong.

Let’s pretend we’re walking through Target together, and we stop in the beauty aisle. Ooh! Look at those Nail Colours, that Brown Eyed Girl Eyeshadow Quad and the Velvety Matte Lip Pencil in Rosey Nude (available at Target stores now).

What do ya think? 🙂

NAIL COLOUR IN TAUPED, STARRY NIGHT, TAUNTING TEAL, ROCK STAR AND STOP WHINING ($5)

These polishes feel even better than they look with a thin, cooperative texture that’s easy to apply. They pack a lot of pigment, too, requiring just two layers to reach opaque. While the colors themselves aren’t necessarily groundbreaking, I think they’re very pretty overall. Starry Night, a shimmery silver glitter polish in a smokey black base, has, however, been speaking to my soul. It’s saying, “You’re a rock star, baby.” I haven’t been wearing these long enough to gauge wear time, but based on ease of use, price and pigmentation, these are big time bargain stars.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-

EYE SHADOW QUAD in BROWN EYED GIRL ($11)

Hello, glitter! If you like the Urban Decay Stardust Shadows, then here’s a quad for you. Each of its four shades — a taupe, an espresso brown, a mahogany brown and a moss green — scream “I LOVE GLITTER!” followed by a whisper of color. I like how well the glitter adheres to the skin on my eyes without any annoying fallout, but I do wish these weren’t so sheer. A little more pigment wouldn’t hurt.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B-

VELVETY MATTE LIP CRAYON IN ROSEY NUDE ($8)

This matte pencil is like the love child of a lipstick and a crayon. Its shape makes it easy to wield, but I’m not quite sure why SK named it Rosey Nude, since I think it’s more of a bold rosey red, but I’m not complaining; the color’s hawt! It’s also a wee bit drying on my lips, but at least the formula lasts all day long.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

Nail Colour swatches clockwise from lower left: Tauped, Starry Night, Taunting Teal, Rock Star, Stop Whining

Swatches from left on NC35 Skin: Eyeshadow Quad in Brown Eyed Girl (first four swatches), Velvety Matte Lip Crayon in Rosey Nude (fifth swatch)
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The Boots No. 7 Opulence Eye Palette: When Russian Tsarinas and the ’80s Collide?

October 4th, 2010 by Karen 43 Comments

Does your Target have a produce section? Isn’t that the most convenient thing ever? I was at ours yesterday, allegedly there to buy grapes, when I ran into the Boots No. 7 limited edition Opulence Eye Palette ($10).

It comes with five powder eyeshadows (four shimmers and one matte) in shades of gold, brown, navy, beige and black. The colors, Boots says, were inspired by Russian Tsarinas and the 1980s, because, ya know, those two things totally go together so well. 🙂

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Have You Met Davines Love Shampoo and Conditioner?

September 30th, 2010 by Karen 17 Comments

“Oh, Davines Shampoo! I’d love to love to LOVE YOU! I’d love to love to LOVE YOU! Oh, Davines Shampoo!”

Oh, come over, girl! Just for a second. There’s someone here you just HAVE to meet. Jane, this is Davines Love Shampoo. Love Shampoo, this is Jane. He’s visiting from Italy and staying at drugstores and salons here in the U.S.

I know! Isn’t he handsome?

But — sorry! — he’s attached, wouldn’t you know it? And here comes his better half now…

Love Conditioner, this is Jane. Jane, Love Conditioner.

Yeah, both of them are priced in the Bumble & Bumble range, and the entire line of products hover around $22 each.

Yikes! I know, right?

I’ve partied with their cousins, LOVE Shampoo and Conditioner for Wavy & Curly Hair ($22 each). Ah, the memories… They were totally into kinky stuff, you know, curly and wavy hair, shh! 🙂

I’ll never forget the way they smelled, too, like yummy oranges. OOH! And I loved how they made my waves so bouncy and defined. HAWT!

Unforch, my locks were still a touch frizzy afterward. Yeah, I don’t think the conditioner and I ever really hit it off. It refused to untangle my knots.

Tabs striking a pose with Davines Love Shampoo (left) and Love Conditioner (right)

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