Got Shine?

Don't get me wrong, I love glossy lips and dewy cheeks. But the oil slick known as my forehead? Yeah, not so much. Since puberty I've tried a number of powders and primers to keep the oilies at bay, but MAC Blot is definitely the standout.

But before getting into the merits of Blot, there isn't enough powder in the world if you don't have a good skincare routine to begin with. I can't tell you how many women I know think they have a serious oil problem but don't use any moisturizer or don't wash their faces on a regular basis. Beauty magazines tend to run regular articles about basic skincare, so if you don't have a routine established yet I suggest going to the library and flipping through some old issues of Allure. Personally, my oiliness has greatly imroved since I've simplified my routine down to a gentle cream cleanser twice a day, a light moisturizer with seaweed extract- The Body Shop's Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream is beloved by myself and my BFF, the Olay at home microderm kit once a week, and the occasional mud mask or serum application when I'm stressed. I've found that consistent daily face washing and moisturizing and a weekly gentle but deep exfoliation goes a long way in improving oiliness.

Although this regimen has drastically improved my skin, I do rely on MAC Blot powder to keep my face looking polished throughout the day. I usually apply with a fluffy brush in the morning, and once again before going out at night and my face stays shine free without looking cakey or ashy. I've used it with and without foundation and it seems to work equally well, although I would recommend gently pressing your face with a tissue after foundation and before Blot; this is a great trick to gently lift excess moisture out of the foundation while leaving the pigment behind so the face stays matte longer throughout the day. If you use powder foundation but still get oily, using Blot underneath other powders is also pretty effective at controlling oil. One piece advice on shade selection- unless you're gothic white, pale ladies should go for Medium, Light is a little too chalky.

If you're not too oily and find Blot a bit on the dry side, Stila Sheer Pressed Powder is great for achieving a polished look but couldn't quite stand up to my oily skin. If you love powder but have normal to dry skin, Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder gives an amazing soft focus glow- I love it, but my oily skin eats through it in a couple hours.

For That Effortless Glow

Me and Bobbi Brown, we're on the same page when it comes to creating a realistic looking glow. For years I've been layering two or three shades of powder blush to get the most natural looking color and as I was flipping through a back issue of a beauty magazine Bobbi listed this as one of her top makeup tips. So hey, we can't both be wrong...

Bobbi recommends using a soft color close to the shade you naturally blush and a brighter pop of color like apricot or coral pink. I don't particularly regard this as a rule that you should absolutely follow, but I do find that using shades from two different color families works best as long as they're colors that work on you and they coordinate well. I.e. don't use something extremely warm toned or orange based with something extremely cool toned or blue based. On my pale skin I love to mix Bobbi Brown's Pale Pink blush-bright cotton candy pink, with Stila Tutu blush- softer peachy pink. This trick is also highly effective with a bronzer, I've used everything from red, plum, pink, and peach with some golden bronzer and it looks amazing.

The only downside with this trick is that it's not time effective, and often I just need something I can swipe on over a little concealer and get out the door. Two years ago my best friend bought Cargo's Beach Blush, and once I saw what it can do I've been hooked ever since. I use Miami Beach, shown at left, which shows up as an effortless healthy dusty pink golden bronze. This shade is great for pale skinned girls whose skin makes most nude beige pinks and bronzes go orangy. My olive toned best friend loves Coral Beach which is a peachier golden bronze, and it flatters her whether she's pale or fairly tan. Besides how easy they are to use, they're also nicely versatile- the two lightest shades make great eyeshadows, so when I go on vacation I usually just take my Beach Blush, mascara, concealer, and a lipgloss. While sometimes these look a little too shimmery in the sunlight, they don't emphasize pores as much as other shimmer blushes out there. Cargo has one matte shade out, and will probably release more in the future. Beach Blush retails for $26, and comes in five ultra flattering shades.

Mmm, Lashes

As some of you may know, I had muscle corrective eye surgery a little over a moth ago, after which I wasn't allowed to wear eye makeup for two weeks. While I could handle not wearing eyeshadow (maybe I cheated occasionally with a touch of highlighter on my browbone), I really began to miss mascara.

In the interest of keeping my eyes clean even after I could wear it again, I decided to toss my almost empty tube of Maybelline Full'n'Soft waterproof mascara and thought it would be fun to experiment a little with a few of the small tube samples I've received over the past year. Generally it's a bad idea to base your opinion of a mascara based off of a tiny sample- generally the full size is probably going to be better. But I was reasonably impressed with Stila's Major Lash and Lorac Lashes, both of which gave me pretty, long, defined lashes that could easily be built up to a little more drama. Generally I'm not willing to buy high-end mascara, I think the drugstore has plenty of awesome options and I'm not going to feel good about throwing away an expensive mascara when it starts to go funny as mascaras often do. But both of these seem like they have potential and they're not too expensive if you prefer a step above drugstore.

When I went to the drugstore to pick up a full-sized tube, Cover Girl's Lash Exact was on sale so I thought I'd give it a try. It's been years since I've strayed from Full'n'Soft and I've never bought anything other than Maybelline as I've always been impressed (aside from the generally hated Great Lash), but I've been curious about the new trend of soft rubber bristled mascara brushes so on a whim I decided to try it. I have to say, I'm less than impressed with the formula- it really tends to flake and smudge throughout the day. And while my lashes were nicely separated and defined, it didn't do a very good job of coating the tips of my lashes which made them look a lot shorter than they usually do with mascara. Overall it was really difficult to build any volume and thickness without my lashes beginning to clump. The brush, however, is pretty useful- it does a nice job of reaching the lashes on the outer corner of the eye although again building volume is problematic. It's also great for doing lower lashes, where you mostly want some tint and definition and not thickness or lenght. If you're looking for really subtle tint and definition, this is a pretty good formula although I would suggest getting the waterproof formula, or if you strive to sculpt perfect lashes you might get this on sale and use it for the brush. Otherwise I'd pass.



I probably won't be straying from my beloved Maybelline Full'n'Soft waterproof again. It really does a great job of giving me volume and lenght while keeping my lashes defined. The waterproof formula never smudges or flakes, and the soft wax formula keeps my lashes from getting brittle and it's really not that hard to remove with just soap and water. I do however use Lush's Ultra Bland cleanser- a rich oily makeup remover- to take off eye makeup a couple times a week to condition my lashes and keep them from breaking. Maybelline Full'n'Soft varies in price and is widely available at drugstores, Lush Ultra Bland is $13.50 for 1.5 oz.

Eyeshadow's Best Friend

After a long night of dancing and socializing a friend asked me what eye makeup I use because it was still vibrant and perfect after eight hours. The vibrant part is easy: skip over drugstore eyeshadow and head to the department store. While I don't agree with MAC's business ethics, they're the first counter I visit when I'm looking for something bold- my favorite is Steamy, a gold tinged teal. Generally I love Stila's eyeshadows the best, which aren't that expensive when you consider the pan size and the line offers a beautiful spectrum of gorgeously wearable neutrals. This is not to say that all drugstore lines are all terrible (Milani for example is generally comparable in quality to mid-end lines), but eyeshadows are notoriously hit or miss and generally a drugstore brand won't deliver the pigment necessary to go uber vibrant. This is especially true of shades in the blue-green range, which look sickly as they start to fade.

The other half of the equation is Urban Decay's Primer Potion. If you want your eyeshadow to last, this stuff is truly a miracle worker. My oily skin makes all eyeshadows crease, it's just a matter of time. While it inevitably does so when I'm using Primer Potion, I still make it about seven or eight hours before any creasing develops as opposed to one or three. I've found that I use less eyeshadow now because I don't have to reapply, so it's definitely a great investment in that regard.

The major issue with Primer Potion is that it takes some time to master. Because it adheres shadow so strongly to your skin, blending becomes more difficult. I had previously mastered blending a wash of shadow to just above my eye crease and I've had to re-learn how to do it, and it definitely takes a few more minutes now to do it correctly. You absolutely must use a good quality fluffy medium powder brush or it will look smudgy, and I've found that loading the whole side of the brush evenly with powder and slowly working it along the lid is the best technique. If you blend shadow unevenly around the edges it's easy enough to gently wipe off with a finger, but if you typically do a wash of a light shade from lash line to browbone and then work in a darker color from lash to crease, I would suggest applying the light shade second which will allow you to correct mistakes and aid in blending out the edges of the darker shade. It's also slightly problematic that Primer Potion flattens the shimmer in frosty shadows. This is a good thing if you're not a big shimmer fan, but I love how pale frosty colors like Stila Kitten almost make the skin look wet, and Primer Potion definitely ruins that effect. These two issues aside, it's still very much worth owning for keeping eyeshadow intact through work and late night social events. It retails for $15, one tube should last you months.

My one and only

I love my hair. I've spent the last three years growing it out so there would be more of it to love. But now that it's reached the middle of my back I'm starting to have a major split end problem. While silicone, listed on labels primarily as dimethicone, is often hailed as a miracle ingredient that protects hair from damage and seals split ends and is used in almost all hair products, I was shocked to read in a back issue of Allure that silicone actually damages hair further with prolonged use. Of course I immediately began scanning all of my product labels to start seriously cutting down. Most leave-in conditioners list silicone as a main ingredient, which will severely dry hair out if used in excess, so I've started slathering my ends with olive oil once a week for about a half an hour before showering. I've also invested in a tube of Frederic Fekkai's Glossing Cream.

This is probably one of the nicest hair products I've ever encountered. It's a thick gorgeously fresh scented leave-in conditioner/styling cream that promises to hydrate, eliminate frizz, and protect hair from heat tools and UV rays. Although it contains silicone, it also contains a healthy dose of olive oil so it doesn't primarily rely on silicone to protect hair. This product has replaced my Garnier Fructis Long'n'Strong leave-in and the Redken Glass that I used sparingly to smooth down the baby hairs at the top of my head. While Glossing Cream seems rather expensive, I only need about two peas worth of product as opposed to twice as much Garnier Fructis leave-in plus 3-6 drops of Redken Glass. Even the travel size will last you ages. This is a teriffic product and is now the only styling product I need to get great looking hair. Retials for 19.50 for 4 oz, or $9 for 1.6 oz

Not that I have time to start a blog...

especially with my senior thesis project, huge digital photography assignments, a part-time job, volunteering at Oregon School for the Blind, starting up the Anthropology club, getting my Little Sister through sorority initiation next week, and upcoming graduation all looming over my head...

But hey, if you're like me then you understand that pursuing beauty is a meditative process- from using luxe soap in the shower once in a while to spending months planning the perfect makeup look to wear for a special night out (hey maybe I do that obsessively). The problem becomes balancing enough beauty time with leading a hectic life. Over the past three and a half years of undergrad I've gone through cycles of exploring the newest beauty items and then cutting my stash down to the perfect essentials. People ask me for advice about all sorts of beauty related things all the time, and as an attempt to improve my general well-being I thought it's past time to create a blog on this subject. The topics I will most heavily concentrate on are beauty items- especially those that are time and cost effective, the answers to questions I get asked repeatedly, and my thoughts on new products when I get a chance to experiment with them (which shall unfortunately be rarely as I don't live in a big city and I have no time for the mall).

You're more than welcome to post comments, especially color suggestions for women with skin tones other than pale caucasian. I don't in any way mean for this blog to be ethnocentric, but at the same time I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on anyone's coloring but my own.

Enjoy!