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Primp Under Pressure: Beauty Products to Take the Stress Out of Getting Ready

April 12th, 2013 by Karen 35 Comments

The products in this entry were provided by the manufacturer for consideration. For information about my posting policy, please see my Disclaimer.

I could spend days — literally DAYS! — listing all of my stressors.

In fact, just thinking about the length of the list is totally stressing me out.

Right off the top of my head, there’s…

April 15. Also known as tax day ’round these parts. This year will go down in history for me as the year of the Great Excel Spreadsheet Meltdown. And no, not great because it was awesome. It was bad, and all thanks to one accidental click. Forehead, meet desk. Repeat.
Deadlines. They’re always looming, like dark, angry clouds… Yeah, it’s hard to put a good spin on the concept of deadlines. You know it. I know it. In general, they suck.

I’m sure you have your share of stressors, too. Finals, work projects, important things that absolutely must get done, lest you feel the wrath of your boss/co-workers/partner/children/demanding diva cat, and everything whittles away at your beauty time.

One word: argh.

It’s time to take some of those 24 hours back. By equipping yourself with more makeup and beauty products that multitask, you can get more done in less time.

Here are a few products to help you primp under pressure…

Clairol Nice ‘N Easy Root Touch-Up ($6.99)

I don’t know about you, but when I go to get my hair colored at the salon, it can turn into a half-day affair.

Well, when you just can’t stand staring at your roots in the mirror any longer (been there, done that!), an at-home coloring kit like Clairol’s Nice ‘N Easy Root Touch-Up ($6.99) can help, especially if you can’t/don’t want to spend hours in a salon. This one comes in 14-shades, so chances are there’s one for you.

COVERGIRL Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation ($9.35)

I’m not one to shy away from multi-step makeup, but sometimes, I simply have to. If time doesn’t permit my regular primer, foundation and concealer, multitasking makeup like COVERGIRL’s $9.35 Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation saves the day.

A liquid formula combining primer, foundation and concealer in a single bottle, it shaves minutes off my beauty routine (I wear it in Golden Tan).

Oh, it lasts a long time, too, so your makeup will go the distance for you.

Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Eye Cream and Lash Serum Duo ($24.99)

Olay Micro Sculpting Lash Duo ($24.99) — Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Eye Cream and Lash Serum Duo ($24.99)

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Red Carpet Beauty Inspired by Claire Danes and Jessica Alba: Get a Glam Look for Less Using Drugstore Beauty Products

February 27th, 2013 by Karen 33 Comments

Claire Danes Golden Globes 2013 Makeup Inspiration — Get red carpet looks for less with COVERGIRL, Olay and Aussie

Chances are the bustling beauty teams that style Claire Danes and Jessica Alba for regal red carpet events won’t be showing up at my doorstep any time soon, because unlike the stars, we mere mortals must fend for ourselves when it comes to getting ready for parties and nights on the town (or nights on the couch with your cat, if you’re also into that). 🙂

No problem. Getting glam doesn’t have to involve a small army of beauty professionals (although, not gonna lie, if a pro prep team suddenly appeared — POOF! — I would NOT turn them away).

Recreating red carpet looks at home can be easy and fun, and with drugstore beauty products, it doesn’t have to break the bank.

I recently gave two of my favorite red carpet looks a try from this year’s Golden Globes — a look Claire Danes wore with smokey eyes and nude lips, and Jessica Alba’s look with brown eyes and tangerine lips — both of which seemed simple and elegant, which I liked.

Gearing up for a big night? If you are, you can get red carpet ready like Claire and Jessica using makeup, hair, body and skincare products from COVERGIRL, Olay, Aussie and Secret.

Who says that going glam is reserved for the stars?

Inspired by: Claire Danes

Oh, Angela Chase. You’ve come so far since Jordan Catalano wrote that song ~~about you~~ about his car…

I absolutely loved the wavy hair, smokey eyes and nude lips Claire recently wore. Hello, stunning!

1. Let the glamification begin: skin and hair

Start by prepping in the shower with a hydrating body wash like Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash ($5.99), and washing and conditioning your hair with Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo and Conditioner ($3.99 each).

Even if the paparazzi aren’t currently stalking you, there’s no reason to let ’em see you sweat, so swipe some Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response ($7.99) under those ‘pits, girl!

Okay, time to tame the mane. Apply Aussie Aussome Volume Styling Mousse ($4.99) to wet hair for hold and volume, and either air or blow dry.

When your hair is dry, recreate Claire’s waves by curling the ends with a large barrel curling iron. Then, mist your mane all over with Aussie You Can Shine Spray Gloss ($3) for red carpet shine.

2. Gotta prep

Ready to play with makeup? Me too, but let’s get our skin ready first with face products from the Olay Professional Even Skin Tone Line, and disguise any uneven areas or imperfections by applying a liquid foundation like COVERGIRL Outlast 3-in-1 Foundation ($12.99).

If your skin tone’s similar to Claire’s, try the shade called Classic Ivory. I have a little — okay, a lot! — more of a tan, so something like Classic Tan works for me.

3. Sights set on smokey eyes

Now for my favorite part — the eyes!

Start by applying your favorite eye primer to your lids, curling your lashes and filling in your brows.

Next, for your smokey eyes, line both upper and lower water lines with COVERGIRL Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner in Black Onyx ($5).

With the same pencil, line your upper and lower lash lines; soften the lines by smudging the edges with a flat eye shadow brush.

Now, it’s time to add the smoke!

Load your flat brush with a combination of black and blue shadows, like COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers 1-Kit Shadows in Shimmering Onyx and Sapphire Sparkle ($4.50 each). Combining the shades here adds depth to the smokey effect.

Pat the mix on your lids and barely into the creases. Then, using a domed blending brush, blend away any harsh edges.

To refine your smokey look even more, take your domed brush, and load it with your favorite blush. Something like COVERGIRL Instant Cheekbones Contouring Blush in Sophisticated Sable ($6) should work great for Claire’s look.

Sweep your loaded domed brush into your creases and along your lower lash lines to soften the edges. This helps everything look a little more polished.

Finish up your eyes by applying a few coats of COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara ($6.99).

4. Wrapping it up

From here on out, the rest is cake!

Sweep that same blush, Sophisticated Sable, on your cheeks, apply a nude lip color, like COVERGIRL Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in Toffee Twist ($8.99) on your lips, and wrap up with a coat or two of COVERGIRL Outlast Nail Gloss in Forever Frosted ($5.99) on your nails.

Claire Danes Golden Globes 2013 Makeup Look Products COVERGIRL — Products Clockwise from the blue pan in the upper left: COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers 1-Kit Shadows in Sapphire Sparkle, COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers 1-Kit Shadows in Shimmering Onyx, COVERGIRL Jumbo Gloss Balm in Toffee Twist, COVERGIRL Outlast Nail Gloss in Forever Frosted, COVERGIRL Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner in Black Onyx and COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara

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Break Out of a Winter Beauty Rut With a 5-Day Winter Beauty Boot Camp

January 22nd, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

Okay, okay. Sure, I haven’t painted my toenails in — well, I can’t even remember how long it’s been because I figure, why bother? This time of year, I’m always wearing boots, closed-toe shoes and/or socks.

Same goes for shaving and my legs. I think the last time was a month ago? Something like that, and now it’s like I’ve got built-in boots with the fur from my knees down.

I’m usually pretty good about my beauty routines — tweezing my brows, waxing my ‘stach, painting my nails — but come winter, many of my beauty habits fall by the wayside.

I didn’t realize how lax I’d become until about a week ago, when I had a shower revelation.

I was lathering up the pelt of fur on my calves when it occurred to me that the hairs were long enough to weave a small (yet tasteful) wall tapestry.

Yeah, that long.

As surprised (and appalled) as I was, excuses to leave well enough lone kept springing to mind, like, “It’s soooo cold. Who’s gonna see my legs anyway? People didn’t even used to shave back in the olden days…”

Thankfully this time, I ignored the excuses and decided enough was enough.

My mission: to embark upon a five-day winter beauty boot camp, of sorts, to get my beauty groove back. 🙂

Each day, I committed to doing one little thing to break myself out of my beauty rut. I thought it would be easier than trying to do it all in the same day.

First, I drafted my plan, identifying its major components and dividing them up among the days.

If you also feel like you’re stuck in a winter beauty rut, here’s a copy of my plan. Maybe you could use it as a template to draft one of yours.

Day 1: Time to polish the silverware, or the benefits of exfoliating

There’s something so, I dunno, rejuvenating about exfoliating from head to toe in the shower. Like, “Out with the old, in with the new.”

On day one, gently buff and polish away dead skin cells from your face and neck with an exfoliating face scrub. Then, scrub your bod for smoother skin with a moisturizing oil and sugar scrub.

Day 2: Moisturizing mania!

Nothing like a little extra hydration to help dry, winter skin.

Quench your skin’s thirst on day two in the shower with a luxuriously rich bath or shower gel like Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash ($5.99 for a 23.6-ounce bottle). Then, after stepping out of the shower, slather up with a thick body butter.

Day 3: Sasquatch legs, be gone!

Say it with me: “I am not a Sasquatch!”

Dedicate day three to eradicating wayward winter body hair with your favorite shave lotion and razor.
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New Year’s Eve Looks in 5, 10 and 15 Minutes

December 29th, 2012 by Karen 56 Comments

Ahh… Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas — done, done and done. We’re almost through another holiday season, babe, and from here on out, as Tabs loves to say, it’s all gravy.

Next up, New Year’s. Do you have any plans yet? More specifically, do you have any New Year’s makeup plans? 🙂

None yet for me. I mean, none that I know of, but El Hub might be planning something special behind the scenes, and I hope that he is (hint, hint!), because I’m in the mood to get gussied up.

I like taking my sweet time with my makeup on New Year’s Eve, just buffing and blending for hours. That’s my idea of a perfect start to a perfect New Year’s night, but sometimes, like when your demanding, diva kitty employer sends you on a last-minute Petco run for feather toys and catnip at 9 p.m. on Monday, December 31, things don’t always work out. You see, diva kitties can throw even the best laid beauty plans completely out the window.

Luckily for us, there are lots of ways to pull together a last-minute New Year’s Eve look when you don’t have all night to get ready.

Whether you’ll be chilling at home, watching the ball drop on TV, or braving the elements and the rowdy crowds with your crew, you can still look pretty and primped with these 5-minute, 10-minute and 15-minute New Year’s Eve looks.

A casual 5-minute makeup look

Plan to ring in the new year with a comfy, cozy group at home? Expect impromptu camera phone pics, and be ready for them with this easy, natural-looking 5-minute makeup look.

For this look, I started by using my fingers to work a sheer tinted moisturizer, Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting CC Cream ($22.99), all over my face to even out my skin tone. Then, on the areas where I needed a bit more coverage, I dotted and blended concealer.
Next, for a natural-looking matte finish, I dusted powder lightly on my oily areas to cut down on shine. Here, I used COVERGIRL + Olay Pressed powder in Medium ($11.99) on my forehead and nose.
Then, for a healthy hint of a glow, I blended a pink blush (COVERGIRL Cheekers Blush in Golden Pink, $3.99), on the apples of my cheeks.
To open up my eyes, I filled in my brows, curled my lashes and coated them with a tinted mascara. COVERGIRL LashBlast 24HR Mascara in Blue Black ($7.99) adds a little color without going over the top.
To complete the look, I slicked a moisturizing, peachy pink lip balm on my lips.

nye-products-look-1 — From the left: Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting CC Cream, COVERGIRL LashBlast 24HR Mascara in Blue Black, COVERGIRL + Olay Pressed Powder in Medium and COVERGIRL Cheekers Blush in Golden Pink

A casual 10-minute makeup look

Got a few more minutes to get ready? If you have 10, then you can spend one or two on your skin, incorporate a little more color, and do a quick hairstyle to embrace 2013 in more polished, yet casual style.

The winter winds strip every ounce of moisture from my skin and leave me with dry patches, so I started this look by prepping my face first with moisturizer, which also makes blending my foundation easier. One to try: Olay Age Defying Instant Hydration Day Cream ($12.99). It absorbs quickly and doesn’t feel like a heavy wool blanket on my face.
A medium-coverage foundation like COVERGIRL + Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation Base ($16.99) helps even out my skin tone. I applied the Golden Tan shade all over my face with my fingers and, so that the finish didn’t look too “done,” gently blended everything together by going over it all with a skunk brush. Then, to set the foundation and bring down the shine, I dusted powder on my oily areas.
To kick up the color content a little more, I applied a shimmery golden bronze eyeshadow on my lids (COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers in Golden Sunrise, $2.99), a nude blush (COVERGIRL Cheekers Blush in Soft Sable, $3.99) on my cheeks and a nude lipstick (COVERGIRL Outlast All Day Lipcolor in Forever Fawn, $8.49) on my lips.
To finish the look, I filled in my brows, curled my lashes and added three coats of COVERGIRL LashBlast 24HR Mascara in Very Black ($7.99).
With the couple extra minutes I had left, I ended with a quick hairstyle. I gathered my mop into a low ponytail, sprayed a small amount of hairspray (in this case, Pantene Pro-V Stylers Shaping Extra Hold Hairspray, $5.99) on my fingers, and then used them to guide my bangs and tame flyaway and stray hairs on the top and sides of my head.

nye-products-look-2 — Clockwise from the bottle of hairspray: Pantene Stylers Anti-Humidity Hairspray Maximum Hold, COVERGIRL Outlast All Day Lipcolor in Forever Fawn, COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers in Golden Sunrise, COVERGIRL Cheekers Blush in Soft Sable, COVERGIRL LashBlast 24HR Mascara in Very Black, COVERGIRL + Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation Base in Golden Tan, Olay Age Defying Instant Hydration Day Cream

A casual 15-minute makeup look

Got a few more minutes to play? If you do, you could start with the 10-minute look above, and incorporate a few extra touches in step 3 to take casual to the next level.
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