All Eyes On Her

I recently became interested in cream and gel eyeliner formulas, after reading some EDS raves about how long-lasting and smudge-proof MAC Fluidline is. And I wound up doing a couple of MUA swaps in which I inherited a MAC Fluidline pot and a Smashbox Cream Eyeliner, so suddenly I had a cheap and easy way to test these babies out. But I was TERRIBLE at applying them! I just couldn’t figure out how to make them go on nicely, even though I consider myself a relatively savvy makeup user.

So I did a little research. The Smashbox description of my newly-received swap item recommended using their #21 Arced Liner Brush, so I checked out that product on their site.

I’d actually never seen a bent brush like this — probably because I’ve never used cream/gel eyeliner before. I picked up a slightly cheaper (but still very high-quality and super-soft) Sephora version, their Professional Platinum Angled Eyeliner Brush #23. It also looks like you can get Bare Escentuals or Benefit versions for cheaper, but I don’t trust those brushes as much as I trust Sephora’s Professional line. (I strongly prefer dense, synthetic brushes that never shed a hair, and Too Faced and Sephora are my go-to brush companies.)

This cracks me up, because I should’ve known the right brush would make all the difference. I could never master those artfully deep-set slightly-smoky triangles you can do on your eyelid, until I got my Too Faced Angled Eye Shadow Brush. And applying mineral powder concealer to blemishes became infinitely easier with my Sephora Professional Concealer Brush #46 and my Everyday Minerals Oval Concealer brush (I alternate them so they have time to dry between applications). I may be a makeup savant, but I’m only beginning to call myself a tool savant. Once I can fully master an eyelash curler without getting that horrible crimp line, I’ll be ready for my certificate.

I’m just loving how my new eyeliners look. They create great definition, without disappearing like a normal eyeliner pencil, and without creating as sharp a line as a liquid liner. (They’re much more forgiving during the application process than liquid liners, too.) I find it a bit more awkward to do my left eye than my right, but I manage okay — the bent shaft of the brush really makes it a lot easier. Now, if only they could make ALL beauty tools so ergonomic — I might never burn myself with my straightening iron again!

So I was finally able to try out my new Clarisonic last night.  I didn’t really want to internalize all the information about how to program it to scrub at different speeds or for different lengths of time, so I kind of just plugged it in and hit go.  My first impression?  …Underwhelmed.

I used the thing on my forehead, nose, chin and cheeks like it suggested, but I guess I was expecting it to be “scrubbier.”  Instead, it’s fairly gentle, and kind of tickles — the same way the Sonicare toothbrush did before I got used to it.  It was particularly ticklish to use it on my nose, as the vibrations kind of resonate even more through the bony bridge… but it wasn’t unbearably ticklish, just kind of odd.

When the auto-cycle was done, I wound up firing it up and using it for another couple minutes, because it didn’t feel like I needed to “take a break” or anything.  And I didn’t even get to my neck or decolette, so I think I’ll try using it in the shower today to see how badly it tickles my throat.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it feels so, well, subtle — the company (and many users) specifically point out that it’s less irritating than traditional “scrubbing” forms of exfoliation.  And I definitely do feel a result the next day — my dry, patchy Retin-A-crazy skin feels smoother and more eve and calm.

I can tell it’s going to take some time to really get a feel for how this thing does, and what kinds of results it produces.  For now, I’m hanging on to the receipt just in case… but I suspect I’ll fall in love with it sometime soon.  I’ll keep you posted!

I was so antsy for Clarisonic cleansing after I spotted my tax return deposit in my bank account. So I called Nordstrom to see if their shipment had by chance come in over the weekend, and lo and behold, it had! So of course, I scheduled the rest of my day around my purchase.

The bummer about this device is that you have to wait a full 24 hours for the thing to charge, before you can safely use it. So cruel! It’s not fair to make me wait after I paid that much. But the good thing is that this allows me to more fully research exactly how to use this alien device.

Thankfully, EDS already gave me some help. A thread about which cleanser to use with the Clarisonic was particularly helpful, since I know I won’t wind up using the stuff that comes with it. (Surprisingly nice in texture and ingredients, but still too synthetic for my natural tastes.) And it turns out there were a few prior threads on this, too.

Yet another good thread (h/t Rachel) gives some general usage tips that may seem obvious, but apparently weren’t obvious enough to make it into the usage manual. I particularly like the point about doing your forehead last so you don’t have cleanser dripping into your eyes the whole time.

Here’s hoping this post can help guide anyone else who’s gone Clarisonic crazy, or at least answer a few questions that Phillips may have neglected to address.

I was chatting with my hairstylist during my last cut, and she mentioned that she saw CHI hair straighteners on sale at Costco for around $70. Considering that they normally retail for about $200, my interest was piqued! So I got inspired and started poking around the Costco website, to see what sorts of beauty deals could be found.

In the past few years, it seems like Costco has tried to branch out into the high-end beauty market — they stock names like Kinerase, Lancôme, Shisedo , Stri-Vectin, Freeze 24*7, DDF, and Prevage, as well as some Costco-brand Kirkland exclusives by Borghese. I always knew they carried higher-end dental care, like Sonicare and some whitening systems, but I didn’t realize they’d also expanded into high-end skin and hair products.

I didn’t see any CHIs on Costco’s website, but I did see T3 and GHD straightening irons, which both look cheaper than retail (though still more expensive than I’d hoped). And I saw some other hair goodies I liked the look of, like an affordable 6-pack of microfiber hair towels, and giant bulk-priced vats of the much-praised Terax Crema conditioner.

I may have to take the plunge here — I’ve always wanted to try microfiber towels for their alleged faster drying time, but I figured I’d want several and I never wanted to splurge for a bunch of them at $30 a pop. But $15 for six — now THAT I can get behind! And while I’m not about to try Terax Crema for the first time by grabbing a Costco-sized pump bottle, I’ll definitely keep it in mind once I try out a sample someday.

I guess I always breeze through the beauty section of Costco after I grab my obligatory 24-pack of razor blade refills. I always assumed they only carried cheaper drugstore lines, but now I see that they’ve upped the ante a bit. I may have to extend my Costco shopping time in order to take in some of the affordable beauty treats! Now if only they had Clarisonics…

My tax return showed up via direct deposit this week. So now I can officially afford to indulge in a Clarisonic. I have to find out if Nordstrom has gotten any back in stock yet! I don’t want to wait another day. Darn that Oprah for making it so popular!

The more I delve into low- or no-preservative skincare, the more I can appreciate the idea of a bathroom fridge. Dear Grant thinks it’s a bit crazy, but the fact is, all my favorite products are prone to early spoilage!

I’ve started glancing at a bunch of different options, but I’m finding it difficult to track down a fridge that’s tiny enough to fit underneath the medicine cabinet in our bathroom. The smallest “normal” mini-fridges are all 1.7 cubic feet, which puts them at about 19″ high at the shortest. And this is still too tall for the nook we’re envisioning! Our medicine cabinets are exactly a foot up from the counter, so any fridge would ideally have to tuck under there.

But I’m starting to think I might have to just cave and get a bigger fridge, and have it sit on the counter in the guest bathroom. Sure, it’ll probably puzzle more than a few houseguests. But that may just be the price I have to pay for great skin! Even if I do go this route, normal 1.7 cubic foot fridges are still too big to allow for things like sinks and mirrors. But I’ve found a few teensy fridges that might fit the bill.

The first one I’m considering is a Sharper Image Hot+Cold Mini Fridge/Portable Wine Cooler, for $99. This little thing is billed as being pretty quiet, which is nice since we can hear the drip-drip-drip from our leaky master bathroom sink while we’re trying to sleep. So a little noise-free model sounds great. I have this fantasy, too, of just storing it on its side, since it’s only 11 inches wide. Not sure how healthy that is for a fridge, though — I may have to check with The Sharper Image about that! If I can get a clean bill of fridge health even if I set it on its side, then this little guy will probably be the winner of the Fridge Contest. I’m not sure if I’ll ever use the “hot” function, but this isn’t the only tiny fridge to boast such a feature. Call me old-fashioned, but I thought fridges were for chilling! Ah well, I suppose it could also double as a warmer in… winter? When the power’s out and all my skincare freezes? (I think this thing can run on batteries! The strange features never end!)

Next up we have a little devil from Wal-Mart, the Koolatron 21-Qt. Designer Fridge. It sure sounds nice, right? This one isn’t billed as being super-quiet, but it has the added bonus of being able to plug into your car’s cigarette lighter for trips. Probably, I’d use it in a picnic way rather than a skincare way, but who knows!? Could be useful. This one’s a bit bigger, though, and I’m not sure the price drop down to $88 makes it worth the extra space in an already-tiny bathroom. Still, it’s nice to have yet another option.

The last one that caught my eye is the Chambrer Chambrer Silent 4 Bottle Countertop Wine Refrigerator from Sears. This little wine cooler is a whopping $159, and Sears has kindly neglected to include the sizing specs on their web page. But this baby looks like it might actually be the tiniest of them all, and I just might be willing to spring for the extra cost if that’s the case. It’s out of stock right now anyhow, and heck, I’m out of work — so this is more a fantasy right now! Let’s call it “research”. I submitted a question on their site about the dimensions, so I may have an answer by the time I’d be ready to drop money on a mini-fridge.

Alas, maybe I’m crazy to think fridge in the bathroom. I know I *could* stumble on out to the kitchen to retrieve my products every morning, but I just know I wouldn’t wind up bothering. I’d be too annoyed at the extra hassle, and besides, I don’t love the idea of party guests pondering over my nicely chilled lotions and potions.

While extreme, a fridge would mean I could go back to my favorite eye cream, knowing it wouldn’t go moldy. I could start ordering the gorgeous-looking stuff from The Body Deli that’s allegedly so fresh, it arrives packed on ice. And most importantly, I could enjoy my own DIY concoctions without having to worry about finding a safe yet natural preservative to use, since temperature control could substitute. This is the main reason for me, since lab tests show that natural preservatives are often less effective, but I’m not inclined to use scary paraben-filled stuff just to make sure no fuzz grows on my homemade lotion.

We shall see — this may be one of those far-off things, that I don’t purchase until we own a house and I really know what kind of dimensions I’d be dealing with, space-wise. For now, I’ll cling to my fridgie fantasy, and dream of perfectly frigid cosmetics and skincare that stay fresh ’til the last drop!

Okay, the post title may not be 100% accurate. But I fully intend to purchase a Clarisonic with my tax refund, which is money that the US government owes me. Give it back so I can have pretty skin!

I filed my return really early this year, so I expect to get my dinero in the next few weeks… which should be awesome! I usually put off filing until close to April 15th, but this year, what with being unemployed and all, I figured I had no excuse. So for once, I should see my refund money before my birthday in late March. And what better birthday gift is there than perfect skin?

I’m still a little nervous about making such a big purchase. And I’m worried I’ll hate it, despite all the hype — but I’m getting it from Nordstrom, so I shouldn’t have to worry too much, since I can always return it. (Although, Nordstrom being what it is, I’ve had some really unpleasant customer service experiences there recently, so I’m paranoid even though they have that great reputation.) And despite the return policy, I somehow feel guilty and crazy spending that much on skincare, even though I’m sure I’ve spent well in excess of $200 on products I didn’t wind up liking all that much. Just not all at once!

But thanks to Oprah, anyone wanting one of these babies has to pre-order. Thankfully, my local Nordstrom is very accommodating, and they’re putting me at the top of the list so I can get one in March. Should be perfect timing for taxes, which should make for perfect skin on my birthday, in theory. (Which, as it happens, falls on Easter this year. Wouldn’t you agree that both God and the Government want me to be Gorgeous? C’mon, help me justify this!)

Makeup Alley is a skincare and makeup discussion board similar to the Essential Day Spa Forum, but because I discovered MUA second, I’ve never really participated in their forums.

However, they have a couple of fabulous features that EDS does not — namely, a wishlist function, and a swap function. These two work in conjunction with each other — you place items you’re yearning to try (or just stock up on) on your wishlist, and you also post items you’re happy to get rid of on your swap list. People take a look at your swap list, and offer to trade you for stuff they want and you don’t. And you can search other people’s swap lists for items on your wish list, and try and get them to trade.

Sure, the system has some flaws — many members have complained of “swap-lifters” who receive but never send, and you never know if the item you receive will be in the condition described. But there’s a pretty good system in place for rating users and giving feedback, kind of like eBay. And so far I’ve only had experiences ranging from medium to great — never overtly bad.

A couple times now, I’ve gotten ahold of items I was dying to try, but didn’t want to shell out money for. And my main goal was to pare down my excess surplus of beauty goods, which I’ve definitely been able to do. I’m still getting rid of things all the time, and the shipping cost is usually pretty nominal.

Swaps have been great for me, and I just wish I weren’t so insanely picky — but since certain ingredients always send my skin haywire, I’m fairly conservative about what I’ll swap for. A couple times I’ve just sent users items of mine without asking for anything in exchange, just to put some good swap vibes out there and to see products I never use go to a good home. When you’re as invested in products as I am, it’s nice to see them appreciated!

You do have to create an account to use Makeup Alley for these purposes, but accounts are free and totally private. Nothing but pluses in my book!

Lots of skincare-savvy gals have been gaga for the Clarisonic face brush for years. It’s from the same folks who make the Sonicare tooth brush, and Grant and I absolutely adore our shared Sonicare. I’ve been hearing more and more good stuff about the Clarisonic, so I started looking into at least trying one out.

Turns out EVERYONE heard about the Clarisonic from Oprah, and now they’re sold out everywhere! Couple that with the fact that there was a pretty major recall due to a manufacturing error that caused many brushes to overheat, and you’ve got a massive backlog of purchase orders. Nordstrom wasn’t even able to guarantee me one in time for my birthday in late March. (Not that I’d be ready to spend $200 on ANYTHING so soon, but I wanted to at least have the option!)

Normally, I’d be fine with waiting and really being sure. But I figured I might as well check out a tester model and just see how it felt and how it worked up close. Turns out all the testers are gone too — SAs from Nordies and Sephora revealed that fellow employees were the culprits! Apparently, since no one else can buy them, neither can they, so they just hijack the store ones to satisfy their Clarisonic cravings in the meantime.

I tell ya, I never knew something that expensive and creepy-looking could get so popular! Grant’s horrified at the idea, and keeps asking me not to buy the brush that “flays my skin”. (No matter how much I try to explain to him that it’s not actually very abrasive, he’s understandably freaked out — I’d be horrified, too, if someone tried to use an actual Sonicare on their face.)

Anyway, I guess I’ll have to wait in line like all the other good girls, which is just as well since I haven’t actually landed that new job yet. Rather than hunting it down from some random store that still has a few in stock, I’m determined to get it from somewhere like Nordie’s that has a really good return policy, just in case I hate it. Or in case it flays my skin. ;)