Skin Care

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. 🙂

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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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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Greetings and good morning, girls. 🙂 How did you sleep? Following yesterday’s makeup look, I wanted to touch on makeup removal, particularly Soap & Glory’s Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths ($7 for a pack of 25).

To find out how these oversized, velvet-soft wipes fare against long-wearing and waterproof makeup like MAC Fluidline, Stila Lash Visor Mascara and Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter liner, I put ’em to the test.

What about the waterline?

Most makeup wipes can handle regular-wear products, but many struggle when it comes to removing waterproof. That, and some take too much effort (read: rubbing) to use along my delicate waterline.

Soap & Glory says they created Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths to help women multitask, with the wipes cleansing, toning, removing makeup and exfoliating in one fell swoop.

How’d they do?
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Does The Greatest Scrub of All ($13) live up to its name? That’s hard to say, but one thing’s for sure: It looks *way* cute. 🙂

Doesn’t the pink/blue/gray packaging have a girly feel to it, like it’s a product that obviously doesn’t take itself too seriously? And, hello, the claim on the front of the tube? — “exfoliating grains that pop when you press them”?

Explosions get me every time…

A scrub for everyone

An exfoliating facial scrub marketed for all skin types, it contains salicylic acid (aka BHA) to slough away dead skin cells, control oil, clear clogged pores and fight pimples, and, as an added Tabs-approved bonus, Soap & Glory claims it was people tested (as opposed to animal tested, meow!).

I really like washing my face with it in the mornings, when the minty, kinda floral scent feels invigorating — much better than a wake-up call and without the annoying ring.
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To streamline my travel beauty routine and the airport screening process, I try to avoid packing products that 1) are liquids and 2) require a bunch of steps to use.

That’s why, for my trip last week, I grabbed a pack of Clean and Clear Makeup Dissolving Facial Cleansing Wipes ($6 for a pack of 25).

They’re pre-moistened and come in a re-sealable bag that fits snugly into my carry-on luggage (a suitcase small enough for an overhead bin).

These beauties do double duty, making them ideal for travel. They remove most kinds of makeup (gloss, foundation, powder, blush and eyeshadow with ease) and cleanse skin at the same time. Even better, you don’t have to rinse.

After late nights playing Kitty Glitter, I liked returning to my room and removing my makeup in a flash.

They feel soft against my skin, have a light soapy scent that smells fresh and clean, and I don’t detect a residue or sticky film (I use them on my face and neck) after using one.

But when pitted against waterproof makeup, they kinda disappoint.

It took a lot of gentle rubbling to thoroughly remove long-wearing products like MAC Fluidline, Stila Lash Visor Waterproof Mascara and Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner.

It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but it does keep them from earning flying colors.

Being just $6 per pack, feeling great on my skin and smelling so nice, I think they’re a great bargain, but I do wish they worked a little better on waterproof stuff… Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Casual Fridays

Tabs is taking advantage of the new MBB Casual Friday work attire policy. What do ya think of his new outfit?

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Girldom Rule #3,654: Within any given group, there’s always at least one girl with an obscenely large bottle of hand sanitizer in her purse.

Homies, I’m one of those girls (bit of a freakshow when it comes to germs). 🙂

And if we were chatting over coffee, I’d be baptizing you in Burt’s Bees Aloe & Witch Hazel Hand Sanitizer ($5).

I blame it on the countless hours I’ve spent people watching. The fingers picking noses and cleaning ears, teeth and, OMIGOD, butts! — I done seen it all.

Purell used to be my standby, but Burt’s stole me away. I think the liquid spray absorbs faster than Purell’s gel does, and it doesn’t leave a film.

My nose feels Burt’s also beats Purell in the scent department. It smells like fresh cut lemons to Purell’s overpowering vodka.
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