Beauty Bargain! 20% Off Bobbi Brown

'Tis the season to not pay retail for beauty products.  It may take a little extra effort, and you may have to search for online coupons (or find them here!) and buy direct from your favorite brands, but it makes sense to stock up on the essentials while you can save 20%.  The good ones never go on sale at department stores, and rarely at big-box beauty retailers.

The latest comes from Bobbi Brown, which in my opinion carries the best gel eyeliners out there.  Pick up a basic, and a fun color for your holiday parties. The deal is 20% off and free shipping with any order totaling more than $65 - not hard to rack up when shopping at Bobbi Brown.  Click here to start your shopping!

Wish List: Skindinavia Makeup Finishing Spray

Ever wish you could spray your face with hairspray (hypothetically) the same way you can to your hair so your makeup will stay in place all day? Well now you can, with finishing sprays from Skindanavia.  Available at drugstore.com, various formulas are available that promise to keep makeup in place, keep skin looking dewy, matte, or whatever you like.  Word on the street is that they use it on the models of Project Runway.  I guess they don't advertise this since it's not part of the L'Oreal line...

Review: CoverGirl Lash Blast Length

It seems like once or twice a year there's a big drugstore mascara launch, and the most recent is CoverGirl's Lash Blast Length.  The original Lash Blast Volume mascara was a big deal, so I was fairly excited to try out this new one, since frankly what girl couldn't use a little extra lash length? 

I've been using this now for several weeks, and I have mixed emotions.  I can't argue that it makes my lashes appear longer.  The long, thin brush is specially designed for this apparently, and a couple of coats makes a noticeable difference.  However, I've been using CoverGirl's Lash Blast Volume mascara before, and maybe I was expecting too much - like an improvement on that formula.  This mascara doesn't thicken at all.  Zero.  Zilch.  I might try combing the two, doing a couple coats of each to see how that works out.  For now, I'm using this as my daytime mascara since it looks pretty natural and doesn't flake off, but I probably won't buy it again.  Frankly, I need more from a mascara.

Bottom Line

Product: CoverGirl Lash Blast Length Mascara

Website: www.covergirl.com

Retail Price: $7.99

Category: Mascara

Recommendation: Pass on this one if you're looking for more than length

Beauty Bargain! 20% Off Lancome Friends & Family Event

A friend who's family actually works at Lancome (so lucky!) passed this deal along.  Now through November 30th, take 20% off everything AND get free shipping on all purchases by entering HOLIDAYJOY2 at checkout.

My pick to try is the new Oscillation Power Foundation - a mineral foundation with a vibrating applicator, similar to the vibrating mascara wands that have been popping up all over the place.  Supposedly it offers up flawless coverage and smoother skin.  It sounds like a gimicky concept, but I'm always a sucker for new things.

Beauty Bargain! Perricone MD Friends & Family 25% Off

Perricone MD is having a pre-Thanksgiving friends & family sale.   Score some products you've been wanting to try at $25% off through November 25th.  Go to perriconemd.com and enter code friends at checkout. Happy shopping!

Tip: Leftover Bananas

Bananas are my cheap go-to fruit.  No matter what season and how broke I am, I can still feel slightly virtuous about getting some sort of fresh produce into my system by buying bananas.  However, sometimes I do overestimate how many I'll actually eat, and they do all ripen at the same time.  So what to do when you're left with an extra banana or two that's just a little too ripe for your liking?  Put it on your face, not in your face.  Mash up half a banana and apply to clean skin like a mask.  Leave it on for 15 minutes to fight dry winter skin.  Rinse off well (you don't want to walk around with food on your face).  Now you don't have to feel guilty about not eating all your fruit, and you'll have soft skin too.  A win-win situation.

Wish List: New York Nat Headbands

Hair accessories count as beauty products, right?  I am currently lusting over several styles from New York Nat's Fall 09 and Holiday collections.  Two of my favorites are

The Sophia:

The Cleopatra

 

Unfortunately these are pretty pricey - $88-$98 a piece.  However, DailyCandy is offering a 25% discount for a week if you enter DCNYNAT at checkout.  These would look great with party dresses for New Years Eve!

Tip: Use Body Scrub Before Showering

It's important to exfoliate the skin on your body, just as it is to exfoliate the skin on your face.  Now that it's getting colder outside, and dryer inside, skin starts to suffer.  For an extra super treatment, use your favorite body scrub on dry skin before you get into the shower next time, for a spa-like experience.  Rinse off and shower as normal, with the added benefit of getting a smoother shave.

I find that I do this almost exclusively now (as opposed to using body scrub while showering), as long as I remember before getting under the spray.  It just seems like a lot of scrub slips off of wet skin and is wasted.  Plus, the lack of moisture on dry skin causes more friction with the scrub and violia, more dry skin gone.

Beauty On A Budget: Baking Soda Exfoliator

If the economy has got you down, and you can't spend as much on products as you would like, eliminate the need to buy an additional product by making your own face exfoliator with products you already have on hand.  Add a small amount (1/2 tsp or so) to your regular facial cleanser, and apply as usual.  Take extra care not to get in your eyes, and for God's sake don't use the baking soda that's been sitting in your fridge for 2 years.  Otherwise, you're good to glow!

Beauty Bargain! 40% Off Shu Uemura

Hautelook.com is having a sale on Shu Uemura - 40% off select items from the line.  A must-have is the Shu Uemura lash curler.  It's the only kind I use.  If you're not a member of Hautelook, sign up here: http://www.hautelook.com/invite/66257

Beauty On Board

So I have a hard time packing light in normal circumstances, but flying across the country with a dog as my carry-on called for some serious purse cleaning.  Even though I checked a bag, there are necessities that a girl needs on hand for 12 hours of travel.  Since I wasn't sure if lipgloss would count as a liquid or gel, I wanted to make sure everything fit into my little 1-Quart plastic bag.  I wasn't about to risk having lipgloss or expensive hand cream getting confiscated. 

I realized on my return (I'm still carrying around my little ziploc bag in my purse - it's kinda convenient) that even though I took out at least 6 lip products before I left, I still went with 3 glosses (including my Amber and Destiny), a lipstick, a lipstain, a lip balm, and a long-wearing lipstick/gloss.  Is that too much?  Apparently, since I only used about half of them.  But I've realized they are my safety blanket, so I'm okay with it.  Do you have a beauty safety blanket too?